Our Stories

From the CEO
A time to give thanks

As another year draws to a close, I can’t help thinking of the extraordinary heartfelt reaction to the harrowing events of March 15 in Christchurch. This changed not only the city but also the country; and had a profound impact across the world. We give thanks to the bravery of all those affected, especially our Muslim communities both near and far. At a time of great sorrow they brought a loving and compassionate response that has left an everlasting impression across our wider society. In this time of great trauma, I watched how kindness prevailed to bring inner peace. We need to imbue this within our way of being.

Whenua
Te Wehi-a-Te-Wera

Te Wehi-a-Te-Wera is the Māori name for The Neck, the long, narrow peninsula at the entrance to Te Whaka-a-Te-Wera (Paterson Inlet) at Rakiura (Stewart Island). The name refers to the well-known Ngāi Tahu tipuna, Te Wera, who escaped to Rakiura following a series of inter-tribal conflicts in Otago.

Ka hao te Rakatahi
The dodgy world of deepfakes

A big step up from simply “fake news”, a deepfake is a particular kind of manipulative media in the form of doctored videos. Deepfakes present real challenges to democracy and our electoral process, especially at the hands of those with the money to drive influence.

The term “deepfake” is a combination of the words “fake” and “deep”, as in “deep learning”, an Artificial Intelligence function. Using deep learning, a machine can analyse thousands of images and recordings, and use this to convincingly transpose one face over another in a recording. This creates increasingly hard-to-spot videos of deception. Increasingly, believable-looking videos are depicting people doing and saying things they have never said or done. It’s sometimes described as “Photoshop on steroids”.

He Whakaaro
Tragedy strikes Samoa

A sombre centenary is being marked in Samoa presently as the small Pacific country grapples with the enormity of the measles epidemic sweeping its shores. It’s just over 100 years since the island trader steamship Talune docked in Apia, with six seriously ill passengers who came ashore, bringing with them influenza. Within a week the flu had spread through Upolu and over to Savai’i, and consequently 8,500 Samoan people died – around one-fifth of the population.

Growing Future Leaders

Te Pōkai Ao is an initiative by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu to grow new generations of innovative leaders who are in touch with our history and prepared for our future. Each year, successful applicants attend noho marae in Te Waipounamu, before travelling to Silicon Valley in San Francisco or O’ahu in Hawai’i – opportunities that allow them to connect to their Ngāi Tahutanga and learn more about career pathways in STEAM-related fields. Three years in, the far-reaching impact of these haerenga are beginning to be felt.

Ka Tū Te Tītī

The Te Atakura Kapa Haka Festival at this year’s Hui-ā-Iwi 2019 in Murihiku took kapa haka to a new level. Like the theme of the iwi festival – Ka Tū Te Tītī, our whānau were indeed the tītī, flying from all over the country and the world, to share waiata and haka on the stage. Teams adorned their performers with an array of colours, to match the vivacious waiata and haka numbers.

Making it big in London’s West End

Aotearoa may be small in size, but we have always punched above our weight on the global stage. From Maruawai to the bright lights of London, James Buchanan is living the dream of a small town boy making it big

Ensuring our tomorrow today

As we look ahead to the dawn of a new decade, Ngāi Tahu must consider the best way to cultivate a new generation of leaders to steer the waka in the years to come. ‘Succession planning’ is the much-touted phrase used to describe the process of identifying and developing tomorrow’s leaders today – but what does it mean within Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu?

Essential Healing

For Tremane (Ngāi Tahu) and Jytte, the move to buy Zurma was a good fit with their values. Jytte had been buying Zurma oils for more than 20 years in her work as a massage therapist, and Tremane has long been interested in organic gardening.
But just two weeks after purchasing Zurma, Tremane was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. He was told that his cancer was untreatable, and terminal.

Tuia250 – Encounters

The Tuia250 – Encounters national commemoration was organised by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage to celebrate Aotearoa New Zealand’s Pacific voyaging heritage and acknowledge the first onshore encounters between Māori and Pākehā in 1769–70.