Well known Māori musician and haemophiliac graduates

Well known Māori musician and haemophiliac graduates

Whainoa Te Wiata, who has to inject himself everyday with a clotting agent to control his severe haemophilia A, graduates from the University of Auckland today with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Linguistics and Māori.

“Having excuses was never going to allow me to progress,” says 33-year-old Te Wiata, who is co-leader of Piritoto – the Māori arm of the Haemophiliac Foundation of New Zealand (HFNZ).

Te Wiata is also the national Māori representative on HFNZ and has been involved internationally in AFFIRM – a worldwide leadership programme for haemophiliacs. This has taken him to cities like Berlin, Houston, Milan and New York educating and building resources for haemophiliacs.

“We need to be very diligent in the way we look after ourselves,” he says. “There is still a need for a lot of education around haemophilia.”

Te Wiata grew up across the Waikato river from Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruwahia. His mother was in the army at Waiouru and he was brought up by his grandparents who were loyal followers of the King Movement. He spent much of his early childhood in hospital with bleeding joints. When he was four, he was one of many haemophiliacs who contracted Hepatitis C from contaminated blood products.

“I was lucky to survive, there were many boys who didn’t.”

With not much to do in hospital and a grandfather who was a talented guitarist (Ianui Te Wiata is still a member of swing band TPM), Te Wiata quickly mastered the guitar. In his twenties he travelled overseas singing and playing with New Zealand bands such as Cornerstone Roots and NRG Rising. He also played with King Kapisi at the Glastonbury Festival in the UK.

Te Wiata was in New Mexico with NRG, when he witnessed the extreme effects of colonisation and language loss. It had a profound impact on him.

“The last native speaker in one Pueblo Indian village we visited had died a couple of years previously. They said their language disappeared overnight. It scared me and I began to think I would love to do something to prevent that.”

Back in New Zealand, he realised his own native language was on the decline.

“The old time Maori that I grew up with isn’t spoken now. I decided I wanted to get a better idea of how I could add to its preservation. That’s why I’ve studied linguistics.”

Te Wiata got into University under the Targeted Admission Scheme. He says “university has been harder than life.

“I’m using a completely different side of my brain. But I’ve loved it. The challenges, the people I’ve met.”

He is now doing a postgraduate year in linguistics and would like to go on to a masters majoring in Māori. He is already a Te Reo teacher.

“But I don’t feel like my work is done,” he says.

“We have a saying in Māori: “Do what is needed for the benefit of the people”. (Mahia te mahi hei painga mo te iwi)

“I haven’t been able to help in the usual physical way.

“All that I do now is for the betterment of my people.”

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