Pair win prizes for te reo games
Two youngsters from an O¯ taki team won two major awards at the inaugural Indigi Hack competition.
Eight teams of Indigenous youth from Western Australia, Sydney and New Zealand competed over two days at the University of Technology Sydney, with support from industry and university mentors.
The two day Indigi Hack targeted indigenous youth aged 8-18 aimed at developing new app-based technology to revitalise and retain indigenous languages in line with UNESCO’s International Year of Indigenous Languages.
Ma¯ oriland Charitable Trust (MCT) transported seven rangatahi from O¯ taki to take part in Indigi Hack. The trip was part of the MCT’s M.A.T.C.H —
Ma¯ oriland Tech Creative Hub programme.
“Indigenous knowledge will save the planet” was the central statement for O¯ taki teenager Kaea Hakaraia-Hosking’s winning pitch.
The 15-year-old pitched a game called The Protectors in which players use cultural knowledge to defeat an invading force.
As the winner of the Bamban Prize for first place, Kaea was awarded $5000 and will receive ongoing help from the university to develop the game.
She aims for this game to have a real-world impact — by sharing indigenous knowledge players will be encouraged to change their behaviour in their day-today lives.
Te A¯ kauroa Jacob, 15, won the Jankaji award for cultural knowledge after pitching a game that will expand the vocabulary of Ma¯ ori youth.
A fluent speaker of te reo Ma¯ ori, Te A¯ kauroa identified that when rangatahi have a limited vocabulary in te reo Ma¯ ori they will default to speaking English to communicate. By putting Ma¯ ori words into a puzzle game format, rangatahi can be encouraged to grow their vocabulary and communicate better.
Kaea and Te A¯ kauroa were accompanied in Sydney by Te Rangihuia Silbery-Henare, 15, Hinerau Henare-Taiapa, 16, Oriwa Jury, 15, Te Ata Baker O’Connor, 14, and Retitia Raureti, 15.
The seven were selected from a workshop held at the
Ma¯ oriland Hub as part of M.A.T.C.H Korakora Matihiko in May. Now home in O¯ taki, the Ma¯ oriland Charitable Trust intends to continue to support all seven rangatahi to develop their game concepts within M.A.T.C.H. They will also be encouraged to share their experiences and knowledge with other rangatahi participating in M.A.T.C.H programmes.