Mahi Tahi – a Gift Towards Partnership
“O God, our God, we renew the covenant to be keepers of one another, to honour the Treaty, its obligations and promises, that justice and peace may cover our land and that our life together grow in new forms of partnership.”
These words were spoken at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand in 1990. That year marked the 150th anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The preceding years had brought a growing awareness of Māori voices, from the Māori land marches and occupation of Takaparawhā Bastion Point in the 1970s, to the beginnings of the kohanga reo movement and language revitalization, and the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal in 1987.
The 1990 celebrations brought an increased public awareness of the bicultural nature of New Zealand society. This was also becoming true of the churches. By 1983 the Methodist Church had already established a bicultural committee to give both Māori and Pākehā a voice in the running of the church.
In 1988, Te Hinota Māori, the Presbyterian Māori Synod had stated in its report to the General Assembly,
“If this is to be a shared venture or journey within the Church, then it requires that you who are not Māori should now set out to learn something of the Māori people who are the tangata whenua, and who are also a part of this Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand.”
The result, four years later, was the production of a series of five books, He Taonga hei Whakatu Honohono: A Gift Towards Partnership, which have become known informally as “Mahi Tahi” (Working Together). A set was given to every Presbyterian parish in New Zealand.
The five books in the series are; Te Hinota Māori; Te Maungarongo: the ancestral house of the Māori Synod; Te Kakano: the church marae of the Wellington Māori Pastorate; Kawa Marae: a detailed guide to marae visits; and Mahi Tahi: practical resources for bicultural partnership.
The books outline the history of Te Tiriti and of the Māori Presbyterian Church, and through a series of short essays explore aspects of Māori spirituality and Te Ao Māori. They also provide an in-depth guide to the two church maraes, Te Maungarongo at Ōhope, and Te Kakano in Lower Hutt, along with a guide to marae protocol. The final book also provides a selection of karakia and waiata, along with a Te Reo pronunciation guide and a glossary of frequently used words in Te Reo Māori.
These five books remain among our most popular archives resources and they have now been digitized to make them more easily available. They can be found on our Recollect website: Other PCANZ Publications | Presbyterian Research Centre (recollect.co.nz).
The series of five books, He Taonga hei Whakatu Honohono: A Gift Towards Partnership, known informally as “Mahi Tahi”