Young Maori achievers celebrated, encouraged
BE proud and ‘‘unapologetically Maori’’.
That is the advice from University of Otago Te Tumu School of Maori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies lecturer Gianna Leoni to this year’s Mana Pounamu Young Achievers’ Award recipients.
Dr Leoni, herself an award winner in 2001, said she underestimated the value of the award at the time, but looking back she had seen the confidence it gave her.
‘‘I felt validated in my ethnic identity and confident in my own skin.
‘‘It enabled me to see value in pursuing te reo me ona tikanga as a subject of learning.
‘‘From leadership I’ve received since, and in particular from Maori mentors that I look up to, I’ve learnt more from those who have given me the opportunity to solve my own problems, and encouraged me to believe in my ability to do so.
‘‘It’s also about being able to lead in a way that I’m comfortable with.
‘‘My beliefs and values, as a wahine Maori, are central to how I carry myself and complete any task, particularly in a world that might not always be accepting of those values.
‘‘And I think that’s what is so critical about awards such as Mana Pounamu. They remind us that we can be proud to be unapologetically Maori.’’
The Mana Pounamu Young Achievers’ Awards were the vision of the late Otago and Southland Maori teachers’ adviser and Nga Puna Waihanga National Council member Alva Kapa, and were named as such because they were first held in the year of Mana Pounamu (2001).
Traditionally, the award recipients were celebrated in a ceremony that brought secondary schools, whanau and community together.
Due to Covid19, this year’s ceremony was cancelled, but schools are still celebrating the achievements of this year’s winners.
The awards also aim to inspire the recipients to consider tertiary education as a natural next step, and showcase the future leaders as inspirational role models to other Maori youth across the province.
This year, there were 48 award recipients consisting of 24 tuakana (seniors) and 24 teina (juniors). Mana Pounamu is a Ngai Tahu initiative, supported by Ka Papatipu Runaka ki Araiteuru, the University of Otago, Otago Polytechnic, Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, the Ministry of Education and the Otago Daily Times. Mana Pounamu Young Achievers’ Award.—
Senior recipients: Kiara Gray (Bayfield High School), Olivia Reihana (Blue Mountain College), Maia Joseph (Columba College), Jordan Paranihi (Cromwell College), Elizabeth Wells (Dunstan High School), Shaunae Coombes (East Otago High School), Caine Taylor (John McGlashan College), Sara Dore (Kaikorai Valley College), Piata RapataHanning (Kavanagh College), Tomuri Spicer (King’s High School), Odin Jacobs (Logan Park High School), William Becker (Maniototo Area School), Tawhiri Rupapera (Mt Aspiring College), Lachlan Williams (Otago Boys’ High School), Analies MacDuff (Otago Girls’ High School), Maisy Costa (Queen’s High School), Aroha Stapleforth (South Otago High School), Summer Phillips (St Hilda’s Collegiate School), Jayden HatetMorris (St Kevin’s College), BrookeLynn Hallett (Taieri College), Patrick Norman (Tokomairiro High School), Joseph Riwhi (Waitaki Boys’ High School), Safiya Hunter (Waitaki Girls’ High School), and Dillion Bouchier (Wakatipu High School).
Junior recipients: Maita McGinty (Bayfield High School), Ripeka Potiki (Columba College), Trieste Kerr (Cromwell College), Xavier Sanders (Dunstan High School), Patrick Reid (East Otago High School), Ben Joseph (John McGlashan College), Nirvana HepiBreen (Kaikorai Valley College), Manaia Burns (Kavanagh College), Orlando TuhegaVaitapu (King’s High School), Eva Woodhouse (Logan Park High School), Cassidy Pont (Maniototo Area School), Anataia White (Mt Aspiring College), Eric Peita (Otago Boys’ High School), Lily Welsh (Otago Girls’ High School), Vanessa Munro (Queen’s High School), Jakhiya Hayworth (Roxburgh Area School), Paige King (South Otago High School), Hannah Langsbury Phillips (St Hilda’s Collegiate School), Josephine Bennie (Taieri College), Georgia Tiatia Fa’atoese Latu (Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Otepoti), Tipene Gunion (Tokomairiro High School), Brennan Keno (Waitaki Boys’ High School), Meadow Neill (Waitaki Girls’ High School), and Kaiya Collins (Wakatipu High School).