Watch: Magele Maria Uluilelata recites Waves and shades of brown excellence
As part of remembering Dawn Raids, a talanoa was held at Pātaka to reflect on the time 50 years ago and share testimonies of Māori and Pacific stories of the trauma, injustices, and impact on their families and lives.
Here, Magele Maria Uluilelata shares some of her reflections and a poem she wrote when she was 15 years old.
Watch Magele recite a poem she wrote as a teenager in response to learning about the history of the Dawn Raids.
Transcript
Talofa lava, my name is Magele Maria Uluilelata. I have lived in Porirua all of my life, which means I've been here for 51 years. I hail from the villages of Luatuanu'u, Afega, Iva, and Nofoali'i.
This is a poem that I wrote when I was actually 15 years old as a young student at Mana College. It was during a time where I was just learning about the Dawn Raids through an incredible mentor and teacher that I had, a history teacher named Dr Mark Sheehan.
He was able to teach us about things that I don't think were actually part of the regular curriculum and one of the things he said to us was that we needed to learn about some of the history of Pacific here in New Zealand, and this was an opportunity for us to learn about the Dawn Raids.
From thereon in, it kind of invoked a bit of a curiosity in finding out what this actually meant and then I was able to explore and look into what was, I guess, an incredible shame in the history of Pacific people here in New Zealand and the way in which they were treated.
So this particular poem is a reminder to not only our people but also to our parents, whose glass ceiling is now our foundation that we do come from shades of brown excellence.
Waves and shades of brown excellence
Brown like the earth that cradles the seed
rich as the soil from which dreams proceed
our brown is a tapestry woven in resilience,
a colour of depth, of beauty, of brilliance.
Our story’s not just tales of survival
but epics of triumph, cultural revival
each word, each step, an ancestral display
telling the world we are here and we pray
telling the world we are here and we slay.
In a world that often overlooks our presence
we rise, we shine in our magnificent essence.
For our shades of brown are not any shade
it's a legacy that will never fade.
Our excellence is a journey, an endless sea
where each wave is a story of victory.
Today we stand proud, our spirits unbroken
for we are the dreams of our ancestors spoken.