Reprinted from The Common Good, No 9, Spring 1998
The Hikoi of Hope
Te Hikoi mo te Tumanako mo to Rawakore
Rev. Tony Church
The Hikoi of Hope began for me at a tangi last week. In my capacity as an Anglican priest I was officiating at evening karakia. Janie was a psychiatric patient who had visited our urban marae, Te Whare Roimata, and here we were gathered to farewell her in death.
It was a tangi which stood out in stark contrast with other funerals I had remembered taking. These had also been ex-psychiatric patients who had been left in total isolation at the time of their deaths. At these burials there was usually only the funeral director, the grave diggers and me.
But Janie was not alone. She lay in state surrounded by whanau and friends, many of whom were patients from various institutions. All were empowered to stand tall during their whai korero on a newly founded turangawaewae. I was deeply moved at the spirit that engulfed us all.
During the Hikoi, we will be walking with, not for, those who were standing tall that night at the tangi. And the tens of thousands more like them who have been pushed out of the mainstream and into the margins of our society.
During a recent gathering to plan the Hikoi, one of my key workers, Tom, a 71 year old rest home resident with a history of psychiatric illness, called out to me several times during the meeting, ÔCount me in, TonyÕ. When we later returned to our horticultural site at GovernorÕs Bay, he decided to walk back to the city over the Port Hills with a view to getting himself fit for the Ôwalk for a changeÕ, which is one of our Hikoi slogans. We are all challenged to walk with Tom and others who have been disenfranchised by the policies of successive governments over the past 15 years.
What exactly is a Hikoi and why are we calling one? At the General Synod in May, the Anglican Church decided it wanted to demonstrate in a tangible way its concerns about the way peopleÕs lives had been gravely affected by government social policies. Many participants shared their personal stories and those of associated community groups. These reflected the deep anger and sense of powerlessness that so many feel at what is happening around them. These personal stories undergirded the call for the Hikoi of Hope.
A Hikoi is a uniquely New Zealand concept. It is a pilgrimage, a time honoured journey of expectation, a form of providing a united voice and a physical presence against injustice. Each Hikoi has its own focus. Many will remember the Hikoi led by Dame Whina Cooper in 1975 which called on the government of the day to return the land stolen from Maori. This one is an expression of deep concern within the Church at the pain resulting from the intolerable levels of poverty in New Zealand. The Church has for years made submissions, statements, resolutions and sent delegations to Parliament, but has felt these concerns have increasingly fallen on deaf ears.
The mandate to build a society free of poverty dates back to the vision of the prophet Isaiah. He told of all GodÕs people having the right to build houses and inhabit them, to plant vineyards and eat their fruit, to benefit from the work of their hands and to grow old with dignity.
We remember too the vision of Jesus when he set a mandate for himself and his Church, drawing from the same Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the LordÕs favour.
In response to that vision we make our own Hikoi with Christ. This Hikoi is a form of pilgrimage expressing a hope for new policies which will address structural issues contributing to hardship, ill health, lack of employment opportunities and social exclusion. It is a way of letting physical presence do the talking. It is not simply a protest march against an issue. It is a Ôwalk for a changeÕ in political priorities so that people do not remain trapped in poverty. As Bishop Whakahuihui Vercoe says, Ôthe Hikoi is a statement of where we are as Church and the concerns of our people. The concept is that of Te Heke, the great migration. We seek to rediscover what God calls us to be. It begins with Genesis, the whole Hikoi of GodÕs creation. The story of Abraham is a Hikoi. The movement of Jacob and Joseph is part of Te Heke. The Exodus is a Hikoi. It is allowing ourselves to be led by the Spirit to a new understanding of human relationships and of ourselves. We must create the environment of being on a spiritual journey, confronting not so much Parliament but ourselves and the Christian Church, with what we need to correct. It is a journey of discovery, of our destiny, of who and what we are. We are awakening our nation to the erosion of our community caused by economic policy in which we have become entrapped. We seek the rediscovery of human values and GodÕs values within our lives. The challenge is to join our brother and sister churches and to communicate that to the rest of the community and the world.
The Hikoi of Hope draws its strength from a commitment to GodÕs justice and to those who are being impoverished and excluded by cruel and harsh policies, many of which are driven by a global and not a local agenda. It is organised and led by the Anglican Church yet it is open to all who support its progress through the country, men and women, boys and girls, willing to look at what they can do themselves in their situation before making demands on policy makers. Invitations have gone out to individuals, whanau, hapu, community groups, iwi and other organisations that are closely involved with working with people in need in the community. They are being asked to put together an account of how they have been affected by government policies that have been introduced over the past 15 years. There will be public meetings and hui along the route of the Hikoi where these stories will be aired.
What then are its primary goals? The Hikoi is united in its demands for policies which will
create real jobs
provide a living income for low income workers, beneficiaries and their families, an income which will take them out of poverty
provide access to appropriate education
provide health care that is affordable, trustworthy and accessible to all
provide affordable housing
(These five demands are developed more fully in the inserted supplement).
The Hikoi began on 1 September and is proceeding right through the month, with people walking from four extremities of the country - Cape Reinga in the north, Te Araroa on the East Coast, Karamea on the West Coast of the South Island and Stewart Island - and converges on Parliament in Wellington on Thursday, 1 October 1998. En route marchers will meet with local communities to discuss the five demands and the issues surrounding them. The Hikoi will have activities and events in towns along the route to highlight why people are walking. PeoplesÕ stories of how social policies have impacted on their lives will be collected. These the walkers will take to appropriate MPs, who will then be invited to further meetings and discussions throughout 1999, after the Hikoi is over.
Typical of the structure of the Hikoi can be seen in what is happening in and around Canterbury. Having left Stewart Island on 1 September, the Hikoi will reach the Waitaki River by 9.30am on 15 September. From there it will leave for Waimate, where walkers will stay overnight. On 17 September, the Hikoi will walk through Timaru and Temuka and head for Ashburton. On Saturday 19 September, the Hikoi will leave from Hornby at 8.30 am for Cathedral Square in Christchurch where it is due to arrive at 11 am. In the afternoon it leaves for Kaiapoi and heads further north.
This is a Hikoi of Hope - a sign to every New Zealander who lives in poverty that we know their plight, find it intolerable and are walking to change it. We dare to use the word ÔhopeÕ because it belongs to the vocabulary of every Christian and we are no longer willing to leave it to economists and politicians to define hope for us.
Tony Church, priest, climber, organic gardener, works with the unemployed and, as chaplain to the Christchurch Courts, spends up to 6 hours most week days locked in the cells with prisoners on remand or awaiting trial or sentencing.