Barry Brailsford - Song of the Stone

SONG of the STONE

Barry Brailsford

Song of theStone

Copyright 2008 Barry Brailsford

The author asserts the moral right to beidentified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of thispublication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permissionof StonePrint Press.

StonePrint Press, NewZealand. www.stoneprint.co.nz

Cover Design: Renzie Hanham

Ebook conversion of text andcover: Peter Harris www.ebookuploader.com

SMASHWORDSEDITION 1, September 2012

DEDICATION

To theancestors who walked with wisdom and courage to keep the dream ofpeace alive; to all who honor the circle, to my family, to friendswho walked the trails with me; to the spirit of the stone and itscarvers and keepers; to the song of the stone and the hope we maylearn to hear the music of the land.

GUIDANCE

The kaumatuaand kuia, who are guardians of the old knowledge, have kindly givendirection to my words by asking that the sacred places and thebones of the ancestors remain hidden, that the old lore stillwrapped in the baskets of knowledge remain unopened and that thewisdom keepers and the families remain in the shadows.

We are shapedby the touch of stone and fire to reach beyond ourselves.

Ka hihi

Ka kori

Ka puawai

Ka whakarae

Toku hinengaro

Hei whaka manaai

Okuwhakaro

Ko te pouritonu

Ko te po o tekori

Ka tipu tonumai

Te haeata, kit e Rawiti

Ko te po o teAwatea

Mai i te AoMarama

Ka tu teAo

Ka piki teRa

Ki teRangi

Tihei mauriora!

Every stone onthe journey and all the waters, forests and mountains along the wayhave heard the sound and mystery of this prayer. It is a gift fromWaitaha, an ancient treasure given into my keeping for the trails.I thank them for trusting me to carry it to the world.

Seeds crackopen

Beneath theEarth

And rootsgrow

Shoots pushthrough

As does themind

Leavingdarkness behind

Seasonsturn

Bright theMoon

Joining allwith the Universe

Central Sun -Sky Father

Light

AwakeningSpirit

Life

(Poetic translation)

Te Hei Mauri Ora

Ko Barry Brailsford

Ko Tuhua te maunga

Ko Mawhera te awa

Ko Te Aka Aka o Poutini te marae

Ko Rakaihautu te tupuna

Ko Waitaha te iwi

My name is Barry Brailsford

My mountain is Tuhua

My river is Mawhera

My marae is Te Aka Aka o Poutini

My ancestor is Rakaihautu

And Waitaha is my iwi

Andyou Barry

Kia ora koe.

You have been chosen to write the record ofour ancestors and tell the story of Waitaha because of your skilland the awhi you gave the people of Ngai Tahu during the Tribunalhearings. This is not the easiest of tasks because of the thingsthat have been hidden away from the majority of the people. Peoplewill ridicule all the things you say and do in the name ofWaitaha.

If you accept the task you must first returnto the old trails, for they belong to the people of Waitaha. Youhave already written of the greenstone trails. It is not going tobe easy for you to go back onto the trails, but they will be openedagain and the numbers will be from the old Wananga.

Be humble, listen to the land, listen tothose who will guide you through the land.

For every rule of the Wananga that is brokenby you, there is a required payment. It is a dangerous journey, itis a hard journey, you must walk it as a student.

Do not confuse the old world with the new.Write what you learn and hear in peace and love.

Learn humility and love, go in peace. Carryyour cross well for it is a heavy cross that you bear.

Te Pani Manawatu at Tuahiwi, 1988

Chief of Tuahuriri Ngai Tahu

Contents

Journeys on Five Trails:

Five trails opened to the sacred stone

and each was walked with a companion

from the animal realms.

W hy a new edition?

What prompts this return to thewords written a decade ago? The intent of the original book stands,for it was written to share the story of the people of peace whosettled New Zealand long ago. Yet, it was more than that. While itrevealed how the sacred lore of the ancestors was brought into thelight of day in the book Song of Waitaha, it also told of journeyswith stone to the nations of the world. It opened doors into themystery, to the realms of spirit and underlying truths shared bythe wisdom keepers of many lands.

When I opened the ancient stone trail overthe Southern Alps of Aotearoa New Zealand, I had no idea that trailultimately spanned the planet. Why take the sacred stone of thisland to North America? Why continue on in later days to reach outwith it to Europe? And after those journeys why was I told to seethat stone carriers gifted it to every nation and placed it in themost remote of lands?

These questions deserve answers for it istime to see this world of ours in ways that reach far beyond stateborders, barriers of the mind and smallness of spirit. Time tobring the old wisdom and old stories into a new space.

What does the story told within these pagesoffer the future? What gives the words and the story credence? Notthe writer, nor the way the sentences are structured and the wordswoven. Those things are nothing on their own. Its the people, thepower of the people walking through the pages, the ancestors ofyesterday and the families of today.

They are the keepers of a great mystery, apower bound in contradictions - their strength arises fromgentleness, their courage stems from the willingness to withholdthe blow, their wisdom grows from a humility that says lets justlisten and wait because sometimes we just dont know.

They believe words are sacred; there are noswearwords in their language. They seek truth, seeing no advantagein lies and deceit - they hold fast to justice, seeing corruptionof the spirit in the unjust - they embrace love, knowing thedesolation of the unloved - they offer kindness, understanding thewounded soul of the abused and betrayed - they soar to the freedomof mind, heart and spirit, being slave to no one or anything.

Meet them in an old name, meet them asWaitaha, the water carriers, the life givers of long ago. Theycreated a nation of many peoples who lived together in peace, andin harmony with the land. Meet them and see if their song is yoursong, if their ways and their story is part of your remembering,your seeking and your journey.

Who are Waitaha?

Today the indigenous people of New Zealandare called Maori, The name Maori was bestowed on them when Britaincolonized these islands; a convenient word to be thrown over themany tribes of the land by the administrators of the day.

When Maori stand in ceremony to announcetheir presence, they name their mountain, their river and theirtribe. They do not stand and say, I am Maori. Their tribe alwayscomes first.

Waitaha was a nation, an ancient gatheringof many peoples from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Thatnation, founded in the ways of peace, was swept aside by invadingwarrior tribes several hundred years ago. Yet, when it wasdestroyed, the sacred knowledge it had cradled for fifteen hundredyears did not die. The women who survived carried it into the newtribes.

In this new edition much that was hiddenwithin the shadows now stands revealed. The ancient WaitahaProphecy that came to pass in 1990 now walks on the worldstage.

The Waitaha Prophecy

The arrival of Song of Waitaha was writtenin the stars centuries ago. When warrior tribes sailed out of thePacific to invade Aotearoa New Zealand, Waitaha met them withcloaks of peace to take the life of another was to destroy yourown. So Waitaha refused to take up weapons even though they vastlyoutnumbered the invaders. That does not mean they did not resist,for they understood the power of the mind, the heart and the spiritto overcome violence. However in the end, when the anger of thewarriors would not be turned aside, Waitaha remained true to thepath of peace. They believed that how they lived was more importantthan how they died. So when the time came they gathered into familycircles, hand holding hand, to take the deathblow.