Kaitiaki Maori converge on Ahipara
Close to 200 kaitiaki Maori gathered at Ahipara’s Korou Kore Marae over four days earlier this month to learn and contribute knowledge within the national Taiao Ma¯ori — Te Ao Tu¯roa hui.
The hui attracted kaitiaki from the length of Aotearoa, from Ngai Tahi to Ngati Kuri, which was deeply gratifying to host Te Rarawa and Kiwis for Kiwi.
“We’ve been really honoured and excited to host a hui of such significance for Aotearoa,” Te Rarawa Angua Mua chairman and hui facilitator Abraham Witana said.
“We hope the exchange of information and relationships formed will go on to benefit the whole country and the areas we have responsibility for looking after. ‘Mai nga mahi ngatahi, ka ora ai to tatou taiao; When we all work together, our environment will be sustained’.”
Ian Tarei, who leads the Omataroa Kiwi Project at Te Teko, near Whakatane, said the hui had brought kaitiaki together, pushing the boundaries of what they already knew and were doing.
“It gets pretty infectious when you’re in a hui of people like this, learning new things and thinking about how we’ll incorporate them into what we do back home. It would surprise me if everybody didn’t get this kind of benefit,” he said.
Te Runanga o Te Rarawa chairman Haami Piripi agreed.
“The enthusiasm and levels of interest among hui participants clearly demonstrated that kaitiaki nationwide are mobilising as the cutting edge in conservation management, and this is supported by Maori communities like ours, who are seeking to rejuvenate our knowledge and cultural practices as vocational pathways for the next generation,” he said.
The hui hosted speakers on a variety of urgent kaupapa including kaimoana under pressure from exploitation, climate change and collapsing native forests, supported by workshops and haerenga/trips within Te Hiku o Te Ika to understand local history and the contexts within which kaitiaki were working and leading.
The programme included hikoi (visits) to Te Rerenga Wairua, Te Oneroa a Tohe, Herekino State Forest, the Ahipara gumfields, Tauroa Point and Lake Ngatu, while workshops covered making changes to culverts to allow for free movement of native fish, harvesting kuta and pingao, followed by raranga/weaving, recognising native rongoa plants, how to use them and traditional Maori games.
Attendees were working on large-scale projects around Aotearoa, including returning kiwi and kokako to ngahere where they had become extinct or where their numbers were very low, protection of the moana from over-exploitation, resilience and taking action on climate change.
One of the strong themes was the successes and difficulties of carrying out environmental work with limited resources in pre and post-settlement negotiations of historic Treaty claims.
This was the third hui of its kind, following gatherings at Te Teko, in the Bay of Plenty, and Waikaremoana (Te Urewera).