I te Pipiri i haere au ki ‘Sapmiland’ ki Te Porowhita Mātaratara hei māngai mō Ngāi Māori ki te ‘Indigenous Terra Madre’. Ko te ‘Indigenous Terra Madre’ te huihuinga, e whiriwhiria ai te kōrero mō te kai a ngā tangata whenua o te ao.
Nā te roopu ‘Slow Food’ i whakahaere i ngā hui. Ko te kaupapa o te roopu Slow Food, ko te kai ‘Reka, Parakore, Pono.’ I tēnei tau, nā te iwi Sapmi i karanga ai te hui ki tā rātou tāone matua o Jokkmokk. I haere āhau hei kanohi mō Te Waka Kai Ora, te Mana Hua Parakore o Aotearoa. Tōku waimarie hoki i te manaakitanga o te iwi Sapmi.
Ko te rohe o Sapmiland mai i te raki o Nōwei, Wītana me Whinirana ki te rāwhiti o Haipīria, ā, ko te nuinga o te rohe kei te raki o Te Porowhita Mātaratara. He iwi tawhito te Sapmi; kua tū te maungārongo i Sapmiland mō ngā manomano tau. Ko te whenua tō rātou kainga, ko ngā kararehe tō rātou whānau. Ko te kararehe tino whakahirahira ki a rātou ko te renetia. E kī ai rātou i te whakataukī, “ka āpiti hono te wairua o te tangata ki te wairua o te renetia.”
Engari, i te rautau tekau mā ono, ka taumanu ngā whenua kaikai a ngā renetia ki Sapmiland. I te timatanga o te rautau rua tekau, e kāwanatia ana te iwi Sapmi e ngā tikanga o ngā momo tauiwi. I whakawaimeha i ngā tikanga Sapmi ki tā te Pākehā. He mea pouri hoki, kua ngaro ētehi o ngā tikanga Sapmi mō te manaakitanga. Nā ngā mihinare i whakatū atu ngā tikanga Karaitiana hei whakakapi. Nō reira, i te hui, i whakaputa ai te Sapmi i te manaakitanga nā ngā tikanga Karaitiana mō te nuinga o te wā.
Heoi anō, he whakatauki anō tā te iwi Sapmi: “Ka ngaro te tumanako i ngā kaiwhakangau, ka ngaro te kai.” Kua mau tonu rātou ki te tumanako; ka whakahaumanu ngā whakatipuranga hou i tō rātou ake tikanga. Kua whakatutukia taua tumanako nā te mahi kai tuku iho. Kua whakatūwhera anō te iwi Sapmi i ngā roopu hēpara renetia. I ēnei rā, ka angitu te mahinga renetia. Nā, ia rā ia rā, ka whakaratohia he mīti renetia hei kai, kia whakamana i a mātou ngā manuwhiri. Ko te mutunga kē mai nei o te pai te mīti renetia nā te mea ka kai te renetia i te kai parakore anake a Tāne-Mahuta. Anō hoki, ehara te mīti i te hinuhinu, a, kī tonu ki ngā huaora A, B, C me te E. Te reka rawa atu hoki!
I te pō whakangahau o te hui, ka waimarie mātou ngā manuwhiri ki te kai i te kai motuhake, tapu hoki. I waenganui pō, ka arahina mātou e ngā tangata whenua ki tētehi waerenga i te ngahere. Kei Te Porowhita Mātaratara i te raumati, pou tū tonu te rā i te waenganui pō. He mea whakamīharo tēnei. Nā, i tēnei pō ka whiti tonu te rā. Katahi ka tae mai mātou ki te waerenga, ka whaikōrero te rangatira o te hapū nō Jokkmokk. Ka whakamōhio ia i a mātou, kua patu ia i tētehi pea, ina hoki, kua whakamate tēnei pea i ngā reneti maha. Ki tō te rangatira whakaaro, he tohu tino pai te whakahere o te pea, hei kai whakamana i a mātou ngā manuwhiri. E ai ki ngā pūrākau, he uri tēnei hapū nō ngā pea. Nō reira, he tino tapu te kaipatu o te pea, te tinana o te pea hoki. Nā, ka tukuna e te hapū he rīngi mō tētehi, mō tētehi. Ka tohutohu te rangatira, me titiro ki a ia ma roto i te rīngi, me kai i te mīti pea ma roto i te rīngi, hei whakanoa i te tapu. He mea hou tēnei ki a au! Heoi, a ngā ra e heke mai nei, ka maumahara tonu āhau i te koha o aua tāngata, i te tino reka o te mīti o te pea hoki, i whakamana ai i a mātou ngā manuwhiri.
Nō reira, ahakoa kua ngaro ētehi o ngā tikanga Sapmi o te manaakitanga, kaore e kore, nā te reka o te kai e whakaratohia ai e ngā tangata whenua, ka pāngia te manuwhiri i te aroha o te tangata whenua, ā, ka mau tonu te iwi Sapmi i te mana o ō rātou mātua tūpuna. Tēnei te mihi ki a koutou te iwi Sapmi, mō te kai, te aroha, me te manaakitanga.
Mahina-a-rangi Baker