The story of my middle name change those few months back
As quite a few of you have asked about it this
So the yearning to change my middle name to Meihana from Jane
Has sat so strong in me for years
You see my Paternal Māori Grand parents changed their surname from Meihana to Mason
I’m not sure exactly when
I know it was pre 1960
To a more colonised version of Mason
Maybe one of my cousins could tell me when this was?
So a few months back I changed it here on FB and on my Instagram too
It felt right so right on so, so many levels
and in some way it felt like a huge sigh of relief
oh so many emotions that I could speak of
surged through me
reclaiming a part of myself, my whanau(family)
that was lost those three generations back
Decolonising myself
our whanau
Ohhh I have so, so much I could say on this.
I soon realised though that with having my website as Lisa - Jane Myers that would mean I’d have to change quite a few things up
Including the big job of creating a new website
I knew this but I just hoped it wouldn’t matter
I wished it could somehow be simpler
Well it’s not
So I’m going to go back to Jane for now- but for me it’s Meihana and will always, always be Meihana
In my ngakau - heart
In my wairua - spirit
In my tinana - body
Just as all my Grand parents, Great Grand parents and my Ancestors are within me.
This beautiful photo is of my Great Grandmother - Ngara Mason (Meihana) , Ngati Tama, Takaka.
One of my beautiful Tupuna ~guiding me always.
Have you also had this experience of your whanau name being changed ? I’d loved to hear from you.