Ko Ana he wahine toa nō Te Arawa, ā, kua uru ia ki Te Pūkenga mai i tana tūranga ō nā noa nei hei Kaiwhakahaere Matua – Hononga Rautaki me te Angitu Māori i Toi Ohomai Kuratini.
Mai i ana tohu Pūtaiao, Ture hoki i tīmata te ara mahi a Ana i runga i te ara ture rangatōpū i Russell MaVeagh, kātahi ia ka haere ki tāwāhi i mua i tōna hokinga ki Rotorua ka uru ia ki ngā tūranga whakahaere i roto i ngā ratonga hauora ā-hapori, ratonga pāpori kaupapa Māori hoki, ā, atu i reira, ki te rāngai mātauranga i Toi Ohomai. Ka kī ia “Kia whakaaro au ki taku tūranga hou, kātahi au ka kite ko aku mahi e pā ana ki te Tiriti, i oti i au hei rōia tuarua ki a Martin Dawson kua mate, koia te tīmatanga o taku haerenga ki Te Pūkenga.
Ko Martin tētahi o ngā kaitaunaki ā-ture pai rawa i tōna wā, ā, he kaitohutohu ohaoha hoki.
I whai wāhi ia ki te take whenua SOE, koia i takoto ai hei tūāpapa mō te whanaketanga o ngā ritenga o te Tiriti o Waitangi, hei whakakōkī hoki i te whakaaetanga he kawenga anō tā te Karauna hei tiaki i ngā āhuatanga Māori. Nā i āianei kua riro māku e whakatinana i te mana ā-ture whānui, hou hoki mō Te Pūkenga e pā ana ki Te Tiriti. Ko te tūmanako ka tika taku mahi kia noho whakahīhī a Martin.
Ko Ana hoa wahine a tētahi kaiako kura kaupapa Māori, he whaea hoki ki ngā tama e rua e ngākaunui ana ki te poitūkohu, kei Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Koutu. Rite tonu ki te nuinga o ngā ahikā, he pononga ia ki tōna iwi ake – ko Ngāti Whakaue, nā āna kawenga kaitiakitanga, hapori hoki. “Ka tohe tonu au ki tū hei tauira pai mō aku tama, kia mōhio rāua me pēhea e whaikoha ai ki tō rātou iwi, whānau ki Te Ao Māori hoki. Kei te hiahia au kia tipu ora, kia whai koha ki ngā kaupapa e ngākaunuitia ana e rāua, ā, kia tipu hei tangata pai.. Ko tāku e ngākaunui nei ko te mana motuhake me te oranga o te iwi me te taiao,” tana kī.
“Kua tae mai au ki Te Pūkenga i runga i te hiahia ki te whakatutuki panoni ā-pūnaha me te noho o te Tiriti o Waitangi koia hei pūtake, ā, ko te ōritetanga mō ngāi Māori hei otinga matua. Ehara tēnei i te mahi ‘whakapai kanohi’ noa iho, engari he hoahoa anō i te pūnaha, tōna whānui me tōna katoa. Ko au nei he puna waihanga, he kanohi matara, ā, ko te ara e whāia ana e Te Pūkenga e hāngai ana ki aku tikanga mahi. Me kī pēnei, kāore au e pai ki te hanganga me ngā tikanga here. Ko te mānuka ia kua takoto ki mua i te aroaro ko te whai kia tuwhera te hinengaro. Ko te ture me ōna ritenga he mea kaikaha – me whakamana, me whakatinana hoki i Te Tiriti o Waitangi i roto i ā tātou mahi katoa. Ko te tikanga ko te āpōpō hou mō te mātauranga ahumahinga me Te Tiriti hei poutokomanawa, nō reira me hinengaro tuwhera, me ngākau hou, kia hoe tahi tātou katoa.”
I te pōhiri i taku rā tuatahi, ka mahara tonu au ki ngā kupu a te kaikaranga, nāna i whakahua i te pā harakeke – ki au he mea pai tērā mō te pāpātanga me te whakaumutanga kei te whāia e Te Pūkenga, arā he kōtuinga tūhonohono kua puāwai e tuku ana i te tōnuitanga hekeheke iho ki ngā whakatipuranga o muri.
“Ka whakawhanake tātou i te ngā tikanga ā-ture me ngā tikanga mahi hou mō Aotearoa e pā ana ki te Tiriti – ā, e tōiriiri ana au, e ngākau hihiko ana hoki ki kawe ake i tēnei mānuka. E anga whakamua ana au kia ārahi i tēnei whakawhitinga kōrero, kia whakarite kia whai wāhi mai ngā pūkenga mō Te Tiriti, ngā kaiarataki ohaoha, kaiārahi hapori Māori, ngā iwi, ngā hāpu me ngā whānau ki tēnei kaupapa.”
Ka pātaihia a Ana mō tana mahi tuatahi, ko tāna i kī ai, “I taku taenga mai ko ētahi o ngā ara mahi kei raro i au, kua mārō kē te haere, nā ko te tino ko te whai kia tutuki ērā i te wā tika –
Ā, ko te whakaanga ki ngā āpitihanga me ngā ITO whakawhiti mō runga i Te Pae Tawhiti Anga Hiranga mō Te Tiriti o Waitangi tētahi kaupapa nui. Mōku, ko te aronga nui e haere ake nei, ko te tūhonohono ki ōku hoa DCE me te mahitahi, me ngā hoa Tiriti, me te kōtuinga whānui.
I te rā tuatahi ko tā mātou hui tuatahi me tō mātou hoa hoahoa tauira whakahaere (EY me EY Tahi), i reira ka whakatakotohia ko ngā tikanga Māori hei tūāpapa mō tō mātou hononga, ā, he mea nui tērā. I te rā tuarua ko te Hui Kaunihera, ā, i reira ka tāpaetia e au tētahi pepa, ā, ka wānanga mātou i te kaupapa o te Ōritetanga. Mō ngā rā e toru o muri atu, ko te ‘Mahi i te Mahi’ te karawhiu. He hihiko te haere o te mahi, he rawe tērā ki au.”