“E hoa mā, nāhi mā – don’t be afraid to join the hīkoi mō te Tiriti.”
That’s the message from Auckland-based nurse Rangi Blackmore-Tufi who is walking much of the 1000km journey for the hīkoi from the top of the North Island that is scheduled to reach Parliament on November 19.
“To our Pākeha nurses, there’s nothing to fear when you see thousands of Māori marching down the street. Come and join us, you’ll have fun and learn a lot about tangata whenua and our country’s founding document.
“The atmosphere or wairua of this hīkoi is beautiful – marchers are calm and focused. Everyone who joins is being embraced.”
Blackmore-Tufi, also known as Tiger, began her hīkoi, accompanied by her husband and baby in a motorhome, at Te Kāo in the Far North on Monday. When Kaitiaki spoke with her yesterday, the hīkoi had reached Whangārei.
The staunch Ngāpuhi woman says she is not only marching for her whānau, hapū and iwi but for all nurses and a fairer health system.
“As a nurse, I see the poor health and inequities facing so many Māori people every day.
“We need Te Tiriti to make a more just health system but if we allow this Government to tamper with it, that will not happen – Māori will continue to suffer and that will affect everyone else too.
“Te Tiriti is tapu, it is sacred and it should not be tampered with.”
“Te Tiriti is tapu, it is sacred and it should not be tampered with,” says Blackmore-Tufi.
“This hīkoi is not only about defending that tapu from the Treaty Principles Bill, but standing up for Māori rights across many issues from health to language and the environment.”
Blackmore-Tufi is one of the representatives for Tāmaki Makaurau on Te Poari o Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa – the tāngata whenua arm of NZNO.
She gained her nursing degree at Te Matau a Māui in the Hawkes Bay (Eastern Institution of Technology). She moved to Tāmaki Makaurau to start her nursing career which began in stroke rehabilitation under the nurse entry to practice programme. She wanted to become more specialised, so made the shift to perioperative care at Middlemore Hospital.
While working in the perioperative department, Blackmore-Tufi identified culturally unsafe practices. She wrote an article about that based on lived experiences.
Blackmore-Tufi also won best article of the year at the Perioperative Nurses Conference in 2022 at Christchurch. She is now employed as a kaiārahi nāhi clinical nurse specialist working with Māori patients on the planned care pathway awaiting surgery. She also works part time in the community for an outreach team providing services to Māori and Pacific Island whānau.
For more information about the hīkoi, go online to: https://toitutetiriti.co.nz/