The Strength of the Totara Tree : Joseph Harawira

He considered himself an ordinary, uneducated Maori man but Joseph Harawira, QSM, was a tireless worker who became spokesperson for an organisation called SWAP (Sawmill Workers Against Poisons). SWAP relentlessly presented their evidence to authorities, for work place poisoning causing ill health, for thirty years until those authorities finally listened. Post-colonial New Zealand had seen huge developments in industry and farming alongside extensive use of toxic chemicals in forestry, polluting the land, waterways and poisoning people. Joe mainly worked at the Whakatne sawmill between 1963 and 1992. The two main chemicals of concern were PCP (pentachlorophenol) and dioxin. Still working and in declining health, Joe had been looking for the 'right' person to record his journey. A series of unexpected events led to his choice of author, a retired Pakeha woman, a stranger with a Master's degree, with whose partner he had recently reconnected through work.