Ellis Bryers
A journey of self discovery that took him back to his roots
Story written by Sonya Bloomfield
It’s not everyday that you get to see your husband perform in a group taiaha ceremony at a work conference. And it’s not often that this sort of cultural event is even woven into a conference. But it was an amazing example to show the power of the group as a collective and I was impressed with the leader and teacher of the group Ellis Bryers so I had to find out more.
Growing up in Opononi, a little seaside settlement in Northland, Ellis was very much a product of his time when it came to learning and celebrating Te Ao Māori – The Māori world in 1970’s New Zealand society.
This played out early in his high school years when he was faced with a decision about what to take for his subjects. He was keen to go down the Te Ao Māori pathway, as he was interested in Maori studies. But when he asked the advice of his peers and mentors the general message he received back was “It’s a waste of time learning about things Māori Ellis, we live in a Pakeha (non-Māori) world now, you need to learn a skill that you can get a job in”.
So based on that advice he chose woodwork – It was the wrong choice for him!
A few years later the next ‘pivot point’ for Ellis was when he was playing semi-professional rugby in Australia. He had always had a childhood dream of playing rugby for Northland, and so he returned to Opononi to make his dream a reality. Unfortunately, the dream never materialized, a badly broken leg saw to that!
With his future career in rugby now over and with time on his hands he decided to pursue his interest in Te Ao Māori and enrolled on a Maori tourism course to learn more about his culture. What happened next would have a profound impact on Ellis and set him on a course of personal empowerment and development that still continues to this day.
On the first day of his course, when his tutor became aware Ellis knew nothing about his self-identity as a Maori, his teacher turned to him and said to “Ellis, how can you teach others about Te Ao Māori if you don’t know the Māori within you?”
This phase of life is what Ellis calls ‘the opening of the greenstone door’. The effect on Ellis over the next few months as he learned the ancient prayers/songs/genealogy of himself as a descent of the tribe of Ngā Puhi was that he began to walk a little taller, with his shoulders a little higher, and he felt proud to be Māori.
It was not long after the completion of this course, that Ellis moved to Tauranga with his partner at the time, shortly afterwards she became pregnant. Once more through the necessities in life Ellis was pulled away from his cultural journey to set off on another path that was all about providing for his family. So he returned to his vocation as a commercial fisherman and got a job on the fishing boats.
His Te Ao Māori while still very much a part of him, was also kept, but very much under wraps.
It was a lucrative job but the long times away from home and his daughter saw him often questioning his purpose in life. When his relationship eventually dissolved and his partner left Tauranga with their daughter, Ellis felt ‘freed’ to ask himself that age-old question. “What have I been put on this earth to do?”
He remembers often looking up at the stars at night in the peaceful tranquility of the deep ocean “I thought a lot about my ancestors and my journey, and what it really was that I wanted to do in life. For me this time in my life was a real awakening about who I was and what I wanted to experience in my time on this beautiful earth. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I wanted to find out.”
It was a chance situation that changed things for Ellis. Some friends wanted to have a ‘commitment ceremony’. As they were both Maori and knowing that Ellis was ‘up on the play of things Maori’ they asked Ellis if he could do a ceremony of some kind and incorporate Maori culture into it. Ellis just winged it and enjoyed it immensely.
After some encouraging from his wife he stepped away from a good job to become a marriage and funeral celebrant (which he subsidized by mentoring ‘at risk’ Maori youth). His point of difference was incorporating Te Ao Māori values and cultural acknowledgement into his client’s ceremonies i.e. upholding their wairuatanga –spirituality. He uses these concepts to bring true love into their very personal celebrations.
Ellis was genuinely surprised by how much demand there was for his ‘Te Ao Māori’ ceremonies with only 25% of his clients Māori. The rest was made up of New Zealanders and immigrants to New Zealand who felt a huge connection to New Zealand through Māoridom” and wanted to celebrate that unique cultural identity.
With this in mind he asked himself this question. “How much do people really know about the concepts they are claiming” e.g. why is greenstone so special? What is happening during the different sections of a powhiri? Why is there more than one haka? Etc.
Ellis had found his place.
He began to teach public workshops and promote himself to businesses with Māori stakeholders and/or businesses wanting to engage with Māori. Ellis’s business has grown in other ways; The NZ Trade Group conference is one of them. With each opportunity he applies Māori concepts and frameworks to his solutions, embracing our unique New Zealand identity.
His range of services is varied and includes: helping CEO’s to write speeches that better connect with their Māori audience and providing tailor made cultural training to meet the needs of a particular business.
Ellis has now remarried and has a Swedish wife and nine year old son named Te Arai.
Second time around Ellis has worked hard to prioritize being a Father around his working life. He’s had wonderful opportunities to travel overseas and share the Maori culture on a global stage. He also sits on a few boards that allow him to serve the community.
Ellis has found his place in the world by helping people to tell their stories in a rich, deep and meaningful way and has tapped into what makes New Zealanders and Māori so special.
He’s come to realize that his role in life is to;
Be of service through empowering others through Te Ao Māori.
This may take shape in many different forms; however, the end result is always the same.
Ellis achieves this by ‘tapping’ into his ancestors, being a role model, and living a deep and meaningful quality of life. This is summed up in the following proverb:
He toa taku tini taku toa
Ehara te toa taki tahi
Tihei Maori Ora!
Mine is not the strength of one but the strength of many
If you find yourself reading this and would like to contact Ellis you can email him at ellisbryers@yahoo.com or call 021245700 for further details.
