The word heathen is a word which conjures up thoughts of darkness and savagery, people living and interacting in a way that is primitive, without science, philosophy, understanding or self-worth, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.

Often in Te Maeva Nui, when the theme is around what we call heathenism, we see them as ruffled hairs, primitive clothes, and wandering around aimlessly, but is this accurate, and what do we say about our Tupuna when we classify them as heathen – without God, without knowing God or hearing from God – primitive and without understanding or knowledge.

Because if we look at the story of Uia, the prophetess from Atiu, Enuamanu, it is clear that God was more then able to speak to us as a people and forewarn us of the things to come.

That he was able to speak to us about the cosmology of the stars, the wind, the oceans and the planets, and guide us across the vast expanse of ocean we know as Moana Nui a Kiva and get us safely to the shoes of our island homes, awaiting the arrival of this message we have celebrated over the past two weeks.

If we look at the prophecy of Uia and other prophets in Hawaii and Aotearoa, its clear that God was more then able to speak to us as a people and if so, were we then heathen?

We had a philosophy, a way of understanding each other and the world we lived in, an oral history and rich tapestry of words, chants, Pe’e and stories that carried our way of knowing, of our place in the world long before the pen and paper arrived, a pen and paper that has often been used by others to write about ourselves.

We had a Lunar calendar, that taught us to plant and grow, to Ra’ui, so as the land could rest while we planted on other lands. We fished according to the Moon as well, and despite being called heathens, we loved, we had families, we married, we died, we voyaged and worshiped Io Metua Kore, the God with no beginning, with no parents, the supreme God above all others. Long before the missionaries came with their message, I believe God was already speaking to us and guiding us, drawing us down through the Pacific Ocean, long before (Reverend John) Williams and others made their way also.

To begin the story of our interaction with God at 1821, I would suggest reduces God to a single time and a single place, a single messenger and a single encounter, and yet every Bible story we read, from Sunday school to adult bible studies, talks of a God that walked with his people, even when they didn’t know him, or looked through, as Paul said, a dark glass dimly. When we know this simply to not be true, let alone when we look at our own lives, and the footsteps behind us of the divine that walked with us, from our first breath.

So back to the story of Uia, the prophetess from Enuamanu, who as an old woman (tupuna tuatini) prophesied the coming of Rev. John Williams and his message, his ship, his clothes and his God.

People of Atiu, Uia announced, the sons of the source of Avaiki will be coming to our Island. Their vaka has no outrigger, their bodies covered from head to foot. They have a God who lives in the sky and Jehovah is his name. From the i’i-a Matarau to Maroro-a-Iro, from the Maroro-a-Iro to Toruea, from Toruea and so forth. Therefore Uia warned the people of Atiu Enuamanu, our Gods will not last, but will be overturned and cast aside into rat eaten chestnuts. Such was the prophecy of Uia, and of a woman and people who God had been speaking to long before Gospel and it messages arrived. Heathen, that may well be yet another term by others that we should choose to reject.

Atiu e ka tae mai te ānaunau ā te Tumu o Avaiki ki runga i to tatou enua

E vaka to ratou kare e ‘ama.

Kua vaī'i ia to ratou kopapa mei runga mai i to upoko, e tae uatu ki raro i nga vavia

E ‘Atua to ratou tei runga i te rangi ko Tiova tona ingoa.

Mei te I'i a Matarau , ki te Māroro a Iro

Mei te Māroro a Iro, ki Toruaea, mei Toruaea e aere uatu.

To tatou ‘Atua e Atiu kare ia e mou ka uri ia te reira ki roto I te ii-Poukiore.

(Sourced from Hon Vainerere Tangatapoto OBE, Book “Atiu an Island Community” and Janet Holmes)