Our Stories - Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

From hook to plate

Bluff fisherman Nate Smith is on a mission to change the face of commercial fishing in the deep south. A third-generation Ngāi Tahu fisherman, Nate is the owner/operator of Gravity Fishing, and has made a brave personal commitment to return to sustainable fishing practices in a bid to preserve precious southern fish stocks.
In July last year, Gravity Fishing switched from the bulk harvesting techniques that are in common use by the fishing industry to a more traditional style of fishing with hook and line. Nate specifically targets a handful of fish species, and takes only what his customers have pre-ordered.

Tino rangatiratanga: mō tātou, ā, mō kā uri ā muri ake nei

When Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu first reached a settlement with the Crown in 1998, our iwi leaders knew that we would need a robust strategy to consolidate and grow our newly acquired resources.
Over the next two years, a working group of nearly 100 Ngāi Tahu whānau members undertook extensive planning and consultation to identify and define a single tribal vision that would carry us into the future. This was: Tino rangatiratanga mō tātou, ā, mō kā uri ā muri ake nei – the ability to create and control our destiny for generations to come.

Regional Regeneration

Stories, myths, and legends of southern Māori occupation of the Mataura River valley will be brought to life in a multi-million dollar redevelopment of the Gore Arts and Heritage Precinct.
The Maruawai Project is the culmination of many years’ work developing and refining an ambitious arts, heritage, and cultural hub in the heart of Gore’s central business district.
Plans for the Maruawai Cultural Precinct include a new Maruawai Centre, which will celebrate close to a thousand years of human occupation of the Mataura valley.

Home is where the heart is

“Let there be peace in this home” – a simple sentence from Koata Te Maiharoa that wrapped his granddaughter Samantha’s new Christchurch home in a korowai of love.
“And people do love this house,” laughs Samantha. “They come and visit, say what a comfy home it is, and then fall asleep on the couch.”
After six years of sharing her parents’ house with her daughter, Brooklyn, the opportunity to now have friends over for dinner in her own home is the culmination of a three-year journey to home ownership.

“Hey Bro.”

For Damien Petersen, the creator of 0800 HEY BRO, it was about recognising the failure of our system to provide preventative support for vulnerable tāne. Generally, the first time people come into contact with the support they need is after a crisis – the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, rather than the fence at the top. “I was sitting in a room full of men who were mandated to be there, but with no preventative support, and I saw a need. This wasn’t a want, it was a need for our people,” says Damien, who is the Family Harm Reduction leader at He Waka Tapu.

Tai Wātea
Waves of Freedom

The Live for More Charitable Trust is a values-driven programme that offers troubled rangatahi a second chance. Based in Tauranga, Live for More strives to steer young people away from drugs, alcohol, and crime. It empowers them to live happy and healthy lives, filled with hope for their future.

Predator Free Rakiura

For many years the Tītī Islands off the coast of Rakiura have been a hard-won sanctuary for our taonga species, thanks to the efforts of a group of dedicated Ngāi Tahu whānau who have been working to safeguard these islands from the predators that threaten our rarest and most endangered wildlife.
Predator Free Rakiura is the ambitious next step in the fight to protect these species, with stakeholders travelling to Rakiura in July to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reflecting their commitment to ridding the island of predators.

Hiwa-i-te-rangi

Ask anyone who has ever built a boat and they will tell you the experience is all about the journey, rather than the destination. For members of the Hauteruruku ki Puketeraki Waka Club, the journey started more than a decade ago with the vision to build Hauteruruku, a lightweight 18-foot double-hulled waka unua based on a traditional Polynesian design. Ten years later the club has just launched the newest addition to its fleet, Hiwa-i-te-rangi, an 18-foot outrigger-style waka ama based on the same hull design of its double-hulled sister.

Project Whare Paku

Sitting on the hilltops of Banks Peninsula, dreaming of how we wanted to live our lives together, Jared and I conceived a dream of rangatiratanga. Rangatiratanga over our decisions, rangatiratanga over our kai, rangatiratanga for our whānau and the generations to come. Little did we know that in the years to follow, we would make some bold decisions that would allow this journey to take shape in ways we could have never foreseen.

Te Ao o te Māori

For Amelia Taylor (Ngāi Tahu) her relationship with Kaikōura Whale Watch is as deep as her love of the sea and the magnificent whales that make their home off the coast of the small township. It was the foresight of Uncle Bill Solomon that led four Kaikōura families to mortgage their homes and finance the fledgling eco-tourism business in 1987. More than 30 years later it is an international success story and the backbone of the local economy.