Saving for an emergency? A reflection from a child raised by the village

Te reo Māori version

(Pictured above: Erin’s ancestral house, whare tīpuna, Te Poho o Tāmanuhiri.)

In my childhood, I don’t recall our whānau having a conversation about money. My parents worked hard, took care of our needs and as long as we were home before the streetlights came on, life was good. I do remember being excited on Thursdays, when we’d get 50 cents to buy a pie and a cream bun from the school tuck shop, or 20 cents to deposit into our school bank account. How my parents made sure we had what we needed each week, I don’t know. 
 

Emergency savings for whānau wellbeing 

From time to time, they’d bundle us up and hit the road to Te Muriwai, Gisborne for important whānau kaupapa. In 1988, we returned to Te Muriwai to a tangihanga and into the eye of Cyclone Bola. As a young teenager, I didn’t care too much about what that meant. I was excited about being with my cousins again. For our parents, though, it was a frightening time. Cyclone Bola flooded most of the east coast, leaving us stranded in Te Muriwai for almost two weeks.  
 
When I think about it now, I wonder: how did my parents prepare themselves for an event like that? Did they have an emergency savings plan to keep us going while we were stranded? Did anyone? What is an emergency savings plan? How did our tīpuna/ancestors prepare themselves many generations ago? 
 

Our tīpuna provided a plan 

There are stories of tīpuna who brought to Aotearoa the kūmara as a source of kai/nutrition many generations ago. They were tasked with the role of selecting and preparing the plants, understanding how to make them grow and thrive, and how to store them away for a time when they’d be needed. They’d make sure they had enough to sustain the tribe, and sustain this practice by passing on the process from generation to generation, so each would be prepared for times they needed kūmara the most. 
 
Our tīpuna provided a plan to help us understand the importance of protecting resources for when they were most needed. Today, we can apply this thinking to money, and we can also apply it to how we continue to care for the environment that nurtures and provides for us. 

How to shift your whānau from stressed to sorted 

Having an emergency or ‘rainy day’ plan means we’re prepared for events beyond our control. Deciding how much we need to sustain our wellbeing and putting a plan in place to set those resources aside for the ‘Cyclone Bola’ days is important. Some whānau pool together their pūtea to create a financial fund for emergencies like attending tangihanga or helping family members in need. Other whānau maintain customary practices in their communities so they can care for, protect and maintain their access to kai.  
 

Let your emergency fund take root and be there when you need it 

In 1988, in a small village called Te Muriwai, my whānau enacted their ‘emergency savings’ by reaching into their food stores at a time when they desperately needed it – not only for themselves, but for the village. As a child raised by the village, I know that the knowledge handed down from generation to generation to ensure our whānau wellbeing in that time is deeply rooted and will never be lost. 

‘He kākano i ruia mai i Rangiātea.’*
 
*This translates as ‘A seed from Rangiātea’, which refers to the transfer of knowledge that reaches back many generations to the time when my ancestors resided in Rangiātea. This means our knowledge systems and practices span several generations and remain timeless and relevant.