Training the next generation of kaitiaki
Hokonui Rūnanga is blending mātauranga Māori with Western conservation practices. Louisa Steyl reports.
It’s a crisp autumn morning and the sun has just risen over the Mataura River in Southland. The distant sound of grazing cows fills the air while a group of young lads are unpacking and setting up their gear.
Someone cracks a joke while they’re pulling on their waders, readying themselves for today’s classroom.
And in being here, they’re helping to preserve the mā tauranga Mā ori of their takiwā (district) for another generation.
The teens are the first cadets to be a part of the Hokonui Rū nanga Kaitiaki Taiao Tauira Programme.
The three-year programme was created in partnership with Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand to bring practical conservation skills and mā tauranga Mā ori (Mā ori knowledge) together under one qualification.
The cadets are learning how to be kaitiaki (guardians) of the land while also learning about their spiritual connection to the whenua.
They are working with freshwater ecologist Matt Dale who’s guiding them through monitoring methods.
He’s set some hinā ki (eel traps) the night before to catch tuna (eels) and the cadets start their morning with collecting the nets and measuring their contents.
This is a delicate process. The tuna must be mildly sedated and carefully handled to avoid hurting them.
Dale takes the lead and the cadets follow.
Their size and weight measurements are being collated for use by researchers, and to inform future mahi to restore the Mataura River.
‘‘You can get a good idea of the health of a river based on the fish,’’ Dale says.
The Mataura has historically been an important source of mahinga kai for Ngā i Tahu iwi, but now, with industry on either side of the awa (river), Hokonui Rū nanga’s Taiao team are working hard to restore balance.
There’s much more to te ao tū roa (the natural world) than just wai and the cadets have been learning about pest control and land management, and in the
spring they’ll be spending time at Te Tapu o Tā ne – a native nursery co-owned by four Papatipu
Rū nanga.
Here they’ll learn about seed collecting, growing indigenous ngā i tipu (flora) and catchment rehabilitation.
At the end of the programme, the cadets will be able to specialise or take their skills into other fields with NZQA accreditation.
‘‘It’s pretty mean,’’ 17-year-old Kaloni Taylor says. ‘‘We get to do heaps of different stuff every day.’’
He’d usually ‘‘do stuff like this’’ with his mates, so he reckoned the programme would be a good fit for him.
Taylor plans to go into pest control, because he enjoys getting out into the bush.
The cadets are also getting numeracy and literacy training to prepare them for tertiary study, while a cultural adviser is helping them individually learn about their whakapapa.
Kaitiaki Taiao Training Coordinator Abby Evans says not all the six cadets whakapapa to Te Whā nau O Hokonui Rū nanga.
‘‘Everybody is at different levels, and they have their own interests,’’ she says.
The programme is open to students older than 16 and cadets are chosen based on their willingness to learn and desire to work in environmental conservation.
‘‘It gives our rangatahi the opportunity to work in the taiao space and to build capability in the Rū nanga’s Kaupapa Taiao programme,’’ Evans says.