Leading from the front issuu

shop for lunch. Pat has great Mana. He is known to most
in the group, which he joins after lunch. As the Treaty
Workshop proceeds Pat goes into deep meditation.
Pat is one of the main drivers behind the workshops
in Hawke’s Bay. He estimates that we have now provided
Treaty Workshops for over 800 local people. Pat
does not discriminate between Councillors and CEO’s
and the wider community. If you have not done one of
“Robert’s Treaty Workshops” he will want to know why/
when. I have sometimes suggested to Pat that people in
Napier probably cross the street if they see him coming!
The Treaty book Healing our History — the Challenge
of the Treaty of Waitangi co-written by this writer (with
daughter Joanna), is one of Pat’s bibles. I am told that he
never goes anywhere without it and currently he is paying
for the book to be mailed to influential people.
We are both excited at the evolution of changes in
Aotearoa, emanating from the Treaty, driven and inspired
by the Tangata Whenua. The richness of this debate, and
the inevitable resistance is enabling Māori to move away
from an adolescent relationship with the Crown and begin
to share real power envisaged at the time Te Tiriti
o Waitangi was signed in 1840. The Treaty relationship
is beginning to permeate nearly all areas of Aotearoa.
The settlements, minute as they are, have enabled some
Hapu to begin to build an economic base.
Pat is in his 95th year. At 78, I still feel like an adolescent
when I meet him. His life has had the tragedy of losing his
beloved wife and great joy in his six wonderful children. I
am in awe of him as the former President of the Hawke’s
Bay Rugby Union and a successful businessman. The joy
of his presence, his compassion for all humanity.
There are no words in my heart that can describe the
love and admiration I feel for Pat. He has been a role
model for me for a long time. I bless the gift of his presence
in my life.
A golden field in Napier. Photo Stephen Paterson.
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Healing our History through Te Tiriti