TAIOHI–TAIAO YOUTH JAM 2015 - Home - Bay of Plenty ... Arrol and Husnul Gray (Edgecumbe College)...

Toitū te wai, toitu te whenua, toitu te tāngata The water remains, the land remains, the people remain

TAIOHI–TAIAO YOUTH JAM 2015

POETRY

TAIOHI–TAIAO YOUTH JAM 2015 event organised by

3

TAIOHI–TAIAO • YOUTH JAM 21/22 MAY 2015

Youth Jam is a free event for Bay of Plenty secondary students to foster environmental awareness, leadership and participation. All secondary schools in the region are invited. Youth Jam 2015 attracted 61 year 11-13 secondary students and teachers from nine Bay of Plenty schools.

This year, the focus for the event was “Freshwater from Source to Sea” based around Tauranga Harbour. Youth perspectives were collected during the event to feed in to both the Tauranga Harbour and the Freshwater Futures Programmes.

During the event, two-time national Slam Poetry champion Te Kahu Rolleston, from Matakana Island, inspired us all with a Spoken Word Slam Poetry workshop. What followed was a hugely entertaining evening of student and teacher poetry performances.

We have collated the poems in this resource to share the eco-conscious voice of our youth and pass on the inspiration.

Toitū te wai, toitu te whenua, toitu te tāngataThe water remains, the land remains, the people remain

Here, this is our space, our place, to remember our role of kaitiakitanga, In this beautiful bountiful bay, surrounding my home of Tauranga,I Wake up on Paradise, a.k.a MATAKANAJump on my horse aiming his nose for Matahui as I ride across the harbor.

What’s up Katikati and Bowentown nei ra te mihi to the home of my hapu, The women warrior chieftainess of there and her tapuNgāi Tauwhao.I say chisel a path whakairo to ake ara ki tāu-whao

Omokoroa can’t just slide landslide troubling your world. Te horowhenua E whakararu I tou aoThru Te Pirirakau, Te Puna and their taiao to the wharekura o Mauao.The school with wicked wetlands that act as a liverMihi to Ngati Hangarau, Bethlehem, and the mighty Wairoa river.

Canter over to Brookfield and Matua for some good vibes.I greet the glistening sea of pipi at OtumoetaiOats students say wassup to my lil cuzns Dylan n Keryn Ngatai

Gallop over Cameron road to Girls College.The estuary on Fraser Street I have to acknowledge.Tga wat!!! You know Tauranga brings the noise. But girls, Next time please can you drag along the boys.

Here's my mihi to the warm beautiful shoresAnd presence of Tangaroa in Pāpāmoa

Now it's a long haul ride on to Rotorua lakes.Mihi to, the power of Mokoia islands sacred state.

Then I holla at western heights chuck a mihi at you.Special shout out to my main man Matthew!!!

Here

Now Edgecumbe College are lucky with their cool teacher1.8 kg kumara? Only when I saw the picture I became a believerJust know if I'm those ways I'm gonna be popping in for a feed kuz

Last but not least a mihi to Trident College Trident, Te Tao Roa o tō Poseidon knowledge

Straight up. I just want u guys to know that I'm thankful So thank you

You allowed me in this space. You got amongst the poem writing and did so with grace.

I’m all about the connections we make with the places we go and people we meet with.You explored this land and environment in our home region. Taiohi to Taiao, this group truly is tomorrow's leaders Sharing their space has made me believe it!!!

Taiohi to taiao, we are here for the waters, our wai.And if it ever becomes endangered we will stand up and ask why?When they ask, ko Wai au, who am I.I am of the tides of Tauranga moana shall be my reply.

Te Kahu Rolleston, Ngāi te Rangi

5

TAIOHI–TAIAO • YOUTH JAM • POETRY6

Enviro-taleThe land of the long white cloud I say it proud.

You see she looks like a pink sheep… but she ain’t no little bo peep.

But to protect my land… I seek knowledge… not picking from the fruit baskets or…

Eating Goldilocks’ porridge, see in the end my friend,

Keep it green like you should so I can see my nana,

I’m little red riding hood.

Sophie Kalman and Maggie Rapana (Rotorua Lakes High School)

The lightning flashes before my eyes,

I was quite surprised that I didn’t die,

So I open my eyes and see the ground burning –

The smell of the burning leaves, my stomach turning,

I look at the flames and wonder who’s to blame, for the big oil stain that stains our beaches.

Jamie Arrol and Husnul Gray (Edgecumbe College)

Future Generation We came from Whakatāne, you get the gist,

We’ve simply come to clear the mist that was settled,

On the shoulders of our children and our children’s children,

Whose responsibility is it?

To keep our waters and land clean, when we are the future generation?

It is us who must keep it green,

Our activities today will inspire us in many ways,

We are the future generation, our actions change the misdoings of yesterday.

Trident High School

Sust

aina

ble

Use

The vertical text throughout this

book are the freshwater values

students felt were important.

FRESHWATER – FROM SOURCE TO SEA 7

Healthy Environment Clean,

We want a lively planet filled with creation,

Green conservation taking action,

Pristine freshwater,

Mean. Tasman Burell (Katikati College)

The world is a candle slowly burning,

The pages in the book of pollution keep turning,

Litter, it’s not a small issue, pick up that tissue,

Surely that carbon footprint is a big enough hint,

So do your bit, it’s time to be stout, stand up for our planet, don’t let our wick burn out.

Ruben Andersen, Millie Hubbard, Teigen Heidkamp, Sophie Gordon (Otumoetai College)

Food chainFood is a connection of life,

Food is a circulating cycle, creating a neutral balance to our environment.

Losing the balance of the food chain,

Sinking deeper into a sinister society,

Losing our only communication with the beautiful nature, we will perish.

Chains, chains, connection,

Fading grass, cows would die, there would be no vegetation, nature would burn,

We are one.

Grace Choi and Knoah Saunders (Otumoetai College)

Bio

div

ersi

ty


Humans destroying the natural worldComing to a world that’s not our own,

Stealing and destroying what was on loan,

Water,

Earth,

Earth seed,

Grow,

Life.

Stand up, stand tall, speak up, speak loud.

Use your voice, te reo, reach out, be proud.

In your heart and head, the future you hold.

Your visions, ideas, let the truth be told.

Don’t shy away, don’t be whakama.

You are our future, E kore mutu te aroha. Andrea Crawford (Otumoetai College – Teacher) .

Surely that carbon footprint is a big enough hint.

Traffic lights,

Mosquito bites,

Squiggling eels,

Tickle my heels,

As I paddle about,

Checking the water out.

Matthew Gibbs (Western Heights High School).

Youth uncouth?

We say no,

They know the way to go.

Cle

an a

nd h

ealt

hy


Youth Jam,

We love it,

We hate it,

It’s exhausting,

It’s, exhilarating,

Youth, the fountain,

Leading the charge,

50 youth jam at large,

2020 Bay of Plenty?

No fear,

I hear the call of a rocking chair,

Ki roto i te ngahere, me te awa, rongonga te tangi o te tui, Sitting in the bush by the stream hearing the tui call

And letting the youth stand tall.

I want to apologise to the future generation.

It may be too late or maybe I’m early, but I just want to say: that I’m very sorry.

Future generation, I’m sorry for co-operating with the destruction,

For using resources that we have today and wasting them with none left for you one day.

We’ve pulled out the trees, we’ve drained the lakes,

For what we thought was for humanity’s sake.

So again, I’m sorry, I apologise truly,

For what once seen as plenty is now so empty.

So now we’re restoring the environment for you, for my future children and yours too.

Celine Villaluz (Edgecumbe College)

Fres

hwat

er m

anag

emen

t an

d p

lann

ing


Mangrove massacreMangrove massica,

Man this ain’t no brassica,

You can’t eat it,

So go ahead and beat it,

Slash it, splash it,

Sloshing through the silt,

Don’t you know that’s how the land is built?

Can’t you see the sea?

Oh, what a piteey,

You think that be-heading will stop the mangroves spreading,

But what you need to see, is the reality,

That nature’s evolution, can create its own solution,

So let the estuary breathe and worms and crabs seethe,

In silt that is nutritious, to mangroves it’s delicious,

They grow and clean the air,

Their roots are like a filtair,

So let the mangrove grow,

Put away your skinny hoe,

Stop treading on our roots,

In the silt that sucks your boots,

Don’t cause more destruction,

Stop your brain malfunction,

Leave our leaves and stalk alone and take your chopping boat and sail off home.

Co

mm

unit

y ac

tio

n


The world and our rubbish,

Should it be fed directly to the mouth of our beloved?

Rubbish is found in the Pacific Ocean, but still do we take precaution?

NO! Instead we sit and discuss these issues, yet the problems pour in amongst our pacific relatives and ancestors,

So watch our rubbish proportion, take precaution, don’t let our earth be distorted.

Lisa Miller (Otumoetai College)

It was dark when it all started,

This world of his that he once crafted,

Te Orokohanganga o te ao

The ups and downs all the way until now,

As Tāne pushed apart his parents,

My koroua and kuia tell me about the separation,

I was coherent,

It all started at the slightest glimpse of light,

Rangi and Papa struggling to hold on tight,

As the light ignited through the core of the earth,

Ranginui the sky,

Papatūānuku the dirt, cloaked in plants and trees, everything.

Heremaia Bidois (Te Wharekura o Mauao)

What has this world become?

What was once green and natural is replaced by grey and artificial,

Is this what we want for our future generation and lives?

Do we want our kids opening their eyes so plastic on the ground with no disguise slowly suffocating our earth’s skin, destroying everything there was to begin,

Let’s take a stand and lend a hand, to save this next generation.

Bree Bates (Pāpāmoa College)

Dri

nkab

le w

ater


Nature, what are we doing?

Where people are dumping, dumping and just straight up polluting…

The water how we supposed to make it fresh, if Facebook, Twitter and no one cares about the rest.

And if you’re feeling any doubt, just look at the Mount,

Just remember I don’t even know what I’m on about.

All these hunters shooting deer, trynta make a career, better take off all your clothes, it’s getting H.O.T in here.

Malachi Fidow (Te Wharekura o Mauao)

1080 sodium flurocetate, manufactured in the States,

Made 2 keep our whenua safe,

Pests aren’t the only ones to blame,

We claim 2 be clean and green, but

How can we when it affects our wai, kāore he pai,

Possums, stoats, rats and cats,

They’re not the only ones who impact.

DOC where you at?

We’re here to lay down some facts,

Tukirotanga ka pā ki te tangata,

He mate rereke ki ngā kararehe,

Kiwi, Kererū, Kea, where?

1080 has made more disappear,

Ki te rūpeke o te anakorukoru ō Hinemuri i te pō,

Moe mai, moe mai tēnā tātou katoa.

Jayda Hopping, Paris Nuku, Kiritea Smith, Whakawa Kakau (Te Wharekura o Mauao)

To f

eel s

afe

aro

und

wat

ers;

d

on’

t ha

ve t

o w

orr

y ab

out

tox

ins


Tikanga forgottenBut we are the bridge, the reforming and informing,

The structure of support,

That nothing can distort.

Strength, mana like no other,

Built from respect me, you, us, this, life cycle,

A circle round and round,

Dependence upon dependee,

Reliance on relianee,

Life cycle,

Our lungs the forest,

Snip, snip, snip,

Our blood the water,

765,

The diversity our own,

Personal university,

Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling,

Kaitikanga broken, our connection stolen.

Victoria Rhodes-Carlin (Pāpāmoa College)

Open beaches, clear springs, deep rivers, un-polluted waters, clear and untainted,

Now they’re painted,

The colour of mud, full of sediment,

And many do nothing, like we’ve got an impediment,

People feel restricted to a pool,

When once, we would jump into that lake, run into that stream, fly into that river and live our lives,

I see a future where my kids will jump in without question, no surprises, just suggestion.

Melanie Hayden (Pāpāmoa College)

Co

mm

unit

y w

ork

to

kee

p

wat

erw

ays

unp

ollu

ted


Clean and green, that’s how we want to be seen,

From our rivers, streams and lakes, people never see the mistakes that we have made,

If no action is taken our environment will continue to fade,

We need to be people of action rather than reaction,

Putting the environments’ needs before greed,

Intensive aquaculture and agriculture, they are a disease, choking our seas,

Is this what you want?

Dominic Koch (Pāpāmoa College)

WaterFalling, falling down, water,

Moving swiftly from mountain to sea,

Carving its path across the land, stretching, twisting and flowing,

Living, seeping and growing,

Rising up by the suns heating,

Going to the top for another meeting,

Falling, falling down, water.

With the belief we were the only ones who belonged,

We thought the earth was so incredibly strong,

Coming to a world that’s not our own,

Stealing and destroying what was on loan,

Roses are red,

Violets are purple,

Let’s keep our sea blue,

Jazzhands!

Joana Unteregger (Western Heights High School), Nikita Thompson, Hayley Wolfenden (Katikati College)

A li

feti

me

sup

ply

of

clea

n,

dri

nkab

le, s

wim

mab

le w

ater

.


KidsWhen the kids at school, who think they’re cool,

Are all fools, what am I supposed to do?

I mean, I want to be cool too,

But these kids don’t behave like they’re supposed to and the movie I saw last weekend wasn’t as good as it looked in the movie poster,

And Christmas is never as good as Christmas Eve,

And real life looks like a breeze,

And I know that these kids don’t know that it will be, I’m trapped here, but do I want to leave?

Because if you ever mentioned your achievements,

These kids will tell you to leave them,

And if you raise your hand in class these kids will hate you,

I ask myself, will these kids ever care about nature?

I know I’m preaching to the choir, you’re all converted.

If we tried to teach these kids something useful, disaster averted,

Because if we tell them to do something, they nod, but they don’t hear it.

Our message is blurry and we need to clear it,

Because if we get them to care then the problem is solved,

Re-think what you’re saying, we need to get these kids involved,

School teaches is about providing for oneself instead of the lonely you’re family.

Tai Ramsey (Katikati College)

Sust

ain

and

imp

rove

bio

div

ersi

ty

in a

nd a

roun

d w

ater

way

s.


The OceanNever still, forever changing, failing to adapt to an existence that is wanting,

Poisoned by veins meant to be lifeblood,

Tainted by our existence, a flood, of death as our rivers run dry,

But don’t cry, hope still remains as the rain begins to fall, drawn by those who hear the call,

Nature holds her breath and here we remain, the catalysts to change.

Steven Hasnip (Rotorua Lakes High School)

WarThis history of our memories, a memory none of us experienced, yet we are so accustomed to the teachings and lessons that it is like we never missed it,

We never missed the fighting, the lighting of the fires, the ever so heightening increase of deaths that lead us to know and what we think we know.

But is what we know, what we understand? How we poison and poisoned the land, with the blood and the blood our irony.

Find the blood coloured poppies grown in the meadows, but if only they could know how the earth is really fertilised, would they still grow with the same symbol of love and hope that has been so called ‘realised’.

But that is only a memory, a memory we have been taught to remember in the hope that our lands will no longer be poisoned with irony but bloom with the blood coloured poppies.

Elise Connor (Tauranga Girls)

Co

ntin

uous

ly

heal

thy

envi

ronm

ent


WaterWho?

What?

When?

Where?

Why?

Water,

Water is not the question, it’s the answer.

Water *wink wink*.

Esther Braithwaite (Tauranga Girls College)

PrioritiesYou and I we both know how we get by,

We thrive, survive but ask yourself what’s the price?

Day by day we take and borrow,

Never thinking about tomorrow,

Priorities we must get them straight,

So our earth can last a longer date.

Andrew Knox (Katikati College)

Deep in the depths of blackness, twists a silver vein,

A vein that swirls and swarms uncomfortably,

Feeding from that silver vein is a small yet bright green glow, emerging and fighting back the darkness,

The darkness of destruction, the darkness of death,

The glow, so full of hope for a future will fade and go out,

It’s only change is if there is help, that should leap from hiding where it stays in the corner relishing life, but not blooming,

Help must come or the light will go out.

Lucy Douglas (Katikati College)

Co

mm

unit

ies

dev

elo

pin

g

stra

teg

ies


Environment Action/Sympathy IgnoranceRemoved, people - feel, sight, lifecycle, choice, crowd mentality, blood, development – isn’t it, kaitiakitanga, reality, future, connectedness, selfishness, tikanga - right, decisions, bias, reliance, humanity, wrong, technology, protection, infection, care, respect – me, you us, pass, irony, persist.

It starts as a simple drop,

The essence of life falling falling, going to the calling of the beat, the beat pumping, pushing through valleys, carving through the dark alleys, the poison seeping in, like an infection taking hold, the protection forgotten like something old, the ignorance taking over persistence, the will to care the will to share, gone like a forgotten song,

It bleeds across the land, contaminating the pure, even though they try to ignore it,

It that has raised us, that infected us but not what birthed us,

The crowd mentality needs to be awoken to reality - our bodies cleansed to be pristine,

Then our blood may flow across the land, to be ingrained in the sand,

Once we remember our humanity, only then our environment has sanity.

Victoria Rhodes – Carlin (Pāpāmoa College)

Fish, not those on your dish, those that fill your waterways and our oceans,

Suffering from so much pollution, we need to find a solution.

Leonie Hitchman (Katikati College)

Pra

ctic

es t

hat

mai

ntai

n an

d

enha

nce

ind

igen

ous

bio

div

ersi

ty


Deep amongst the flora and fauna of the kaimai ranges, a mother weka scavenging amongst the scraps of meals had before.

Endeavouring to survive, to provide, to care for its family of endangered lives, but it can’t cope with the humanity induced changes.

Trees falling faster than its meagre population, pests being introduced too fast, too out of control for any adaptation, food sources being consumed, inhumed pruned and entombed in the stomachs of the intruders, the weka is dying.

The weka is dying. It’s starvation, lack of elation, constant discrimination and massive inflation in predation as it witnesses it’s families blatant alienation in their own bloody nation!

The weka is dying, The weka is a symptom of a sickness in the earth that it stands, runs, eats and sleeps on, the weka’s home is sick and like a tumour their rapid decline is a sure sign, of the problems we will surely find if we look deeper, insist on a detailed analysis of the persistent relentless cesspit this pest infestation consists of, the weka is dying.

Hamish Dodd (Rotorua Lakes High School)

The

wat

er q

ualit

y an

d b

iod

iver

sity

is

put

bef

ore

pro

fit

and

gai

n.

We want…Our water and everything in it, to be clean and healthy and accessible for those who need it and for our next generation, with healthy biodiversity and riparian planted waterways.

Kia kore ai a mātou uri whakaheke e āwangawanga mō ētahi kinotanga i roto it e wai

TAIOHI–TAIAO YOUTH JAM 2015 - Home - Bay of Plenty ... Arrol and Husnul Gray (Edgecumbe College)...

Documents

Transcript of TAIOHI–TAIAO YOUTH JAM 2015 - Home - Bay of Plenty ... Arrol and Husnul Gray (Edgecumbe College)...