- Kia ora Koutou,
If you are reading this you have found your way to the inaugural post in my new Taiao Huru Huri blog. I wanted to start a blog for years - and made an earnest attempt on one called Psychogeographic Gnosis
My hope is to be able to share thoughts, questions and mysteries in blog form once a fortnight or thereabouts.
Over the next few months you can expect hopefully thoughtful and titiliating vignettes on issues pertinent to the vision and mission of Taiao Huru Huri:
- Tuna Kuwharuru - NZ Long-finned eels
- Goats and stoats
- The archeology of NZ brick fireplaces (for real!)
- More project case studies and photo galleries of Taiao Huru Huri projects and initiatives
- Reviews of books, tools, online resources and notable thinkers and presentations
I would love this blog to become an open hearted discussion for exploring ideas on how we can all better care for people and places - and would love to hear your thoughts on any of the issues or phenomena discussed.
For this first blog however I thought I should do my best to outline the meaning and import of the name of this consultancy - Taiao Huru Huri.
I won’t spend too much time discussing my work before Taiao Huru Huri - as that is explained better on the about me page, (and also on my Linkedin if you’re truly interested!). However I will recap here that I loved my career at NZ’s Department of Conservation, but after more than 7 years I was ready to stretch my wings, venture out on my own (though ALWAYS working collaboratively with others) and commit myself to taking on challenging projects that further the deep visions I have for unlocking human potential and the true depth of landscape connection…far beyond mechanical conceptions of sustainability, 'conservation', sustainability or order.
Taiao Huru Huri is established to be vehicle through which I can share my experience, skills, insights and passion for whānau, whenua and taiao; supporting individuals and groups to design, initiate, maintain and evaluate projects that clarify and progress their aspirations.
I’m a passionate (Pākehā) student of te reo rangatira māori, and while I would never portray THH as a Māori business, it was deeply important to me to express my commitment to te ao māori, manawhenuatanga and the whakapapa and whanaungatanga of landscape through all the work I do - and to advocate for and model te reo māori usage as best I can. I am also deeply touched by the power of kupu māori to convey complex BIG feelings and ideas that come naturally to me, but are also often difficult to elucidate in english. The first time I had a kupu māori have a transformative effect on my thinking and cognition was when I learned the word matemate-ā-one at a Māori perspectives training run through The Toimata Foundation - see the definitions below from the Te Aka online dictionary below… and maybe you’ll see what I mean.
So, I knew that my new business would have a te reo name, and one that would hint at the deeper layers of meaning and movement in landscape that inspire, challenge and give me what is truly my life’s work. In that light, Taiao Huru Huri came to me in a flash one morning as soon as I woke up.
Let’s start with some more definitions, again drawn from Te Aka and you might start to ‘see what I’m seeing’.
While I will certainly explore this further below, I don’t want to give a definitive english translation of Taiao Huru Huri, as that is not the point - the point is to try and understand what it MEANS not what it means in The Queen’s tongue.
To me, the phrase Taiao Huru Huri refers to the ever-changing, ever abundant and fecund evolving life with an ecosystem; undergrowth, biodiversity, gain, loss, succession and the complex interconnected whakapapa of ALL beings. The word huru is key here, as it alludes to forest undergrowth, hair, and the feathers of manu (birds) - to Papatūanuku i takato ake nei, to Ranginui e tuku iho nei, to Tāne-Māhuta and all his mokopuna.
I choose to no-longer let the grief of loss allow me to lose the vision of deep ecosystemic connection and the continuous relationships between whānau and whenua, between people and place. I rather choose to ‘stay with the trouble’ become anti-fragile and do what I can to weave things together, remove barriers, heal landscape wounds and birth the ever-changing new.
On the principle of advocating for daily te reo māori use, you may notice all the core content of this website has also been render in beautiful reo. While I have 15+ years of reo education myself, this prose is far beyond my level of competence and enormous thanks must be given to Tania Tiare Tito and Kemara James Kennedy for tēnei mea whakamāori - ngā mihi nunui kōrua e hoa mā.
Developing the logo and āhua of Taiao Huru Huri was also very important for me, not because I am marketing focused, or obsessed with brand recognition, but because it is how I and my work will be seen and known in the world. While I am a creative person myself, graphic design is certainly not my fortay, so I called in the help of my friend, confidant and aesthetic adept Jon Osiris of The Sacred Serpent house of design. Following discussions on the kaupapa and wairua of Taiao Huru Huri Jon rendered the image below as a mauri of sorts for Taiao Huru Huri.
The image, from which all general theming of this website (and the THH brand if you will), derives draws on all the symbolism and intention discussed above, along with aspects of my personal mahi wairua; presenting me standing in a nexus point of deep ecological movement - holding space for the ancestors, and for those beings yet to come.
I penned this blog as my final action before launching this blog in early July 2022, and it is a great joy to re-introduce myself to you all, celebrate the birth of Taiao Huru Huri and let you know I am hear to listen, and help if I can - I'd love to hear from you, so whakapā mai!.
Mauri ora ki a koutou,
- Nā Charles Barrie