Our Stories - Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

Kendall Flutey
Tech entrepreneur

“I’ve had a few careers that didn’t stick,” she says from a meeting room at GreenHouse, a Christchurch business incubator. Banqer, the company she co-founded and is now the CEO, uses a nearby co-working space in the Christchurch CBD. On Twitter, Kendall calls herself “a reformed accountant on a mission”. That mission is educating Kiwi kids about finance. Her product, Banqer, is an online tool for primary and intermediate schools (years 2 to 8) to teach students about money. Earlier this year Kendall was named Young Māori Business Leader of the Year at the University of Auckland Aotearoa Māori Business Leaders Awards.

Ki Te Hoe
Innovating into the future

For generations, Māori have been increasingly disadvantaged in New Zealand society, a fact reflected by disproportionate representation of Māori in low-paid, unskilled professions, and in the criminal justice system. While the settlement of the Ngāi Tahu claim allowed the iwi to re-establish their economic base and build political clout, it was never equipped to reverse the effects of 200 years of colonisation. Twenty years on from settlement, Ngāi Tahu are now in a position to address the social inequities that confront our whānau, and Tokona Te Raki: Māori Futures Collective is paving the way with social innovation.

He Rautaki mō te Huringa Āhuarangi

The physical and biological effects of climate change are already being felt around the world, and we are at a critical juncture as the window of opportunity to mitigate the impact of these changes is closing. In response to this, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu has developed the Ngāi Tahu Climate Change Strategy to address the complex and varied challenges that face the iwi.

Holistic Healing

Tanya Filia had a successful career in education when a serious illness forced her into early retirement. When doctors gave her just months to live she turned to te ao Māori, rongoā Māori, and the principles of Te Whare Tapa Whā.

Te Ao o te Māori

Keefe Robinson-Gore has a formidable rugby pedigree, but jokes that it hasn’t necessarily rubbed off on him. Keefe (Ōnuku, Wairewa, Arowhenua) is playing his first ever season of rugby for the LGBT team Christchurch Football Club Heroes – the first gay rugby team in Canterbury and one of only two currently competing in Aotearoa.

For the love of her iwi

Koa Mantell has worn many hats over her 72 years, describing every one of them as amazing. A recent move to Ōtautahi marks the beginning of her reluctant retirement, and provides an opportunity to reflect on a career characterised by a passion for her iwi – from Ngāi Tahu history and arts, to improved health and social outcomes for all whānau members.

Hei Mahi Māra
How to grow artichokes

The dark days and rain of winter are receding, with the extra light and warmth of spring starting to kick in. I love getting stuck into the māra at this time of year; getting it ready by clearing away the winter weeds, digging in the lupin cover crop, and fertilising the soil with dolomite lime and compost in anticipation of the food delights to come.

Reviews
Books

Rob Tipa artfully weaves together mātauranga (knowledge) from an array of sources in Treasures of Tāne. He displays a true knack for research, with references from early settler records, Pākehā anthropologists’ observations of Māori life, and the scant (and therefore all the more precious) pieces of oral history some Ngāi Tahu whānau preserved through the past century.

Aukaha

C.A.J. Williams is a Ngāi Tahu poet. These poems are taken from his second collection 50 Historical Footnotes, due to appear in 2019.

He Tangata
Charisma Rangipunga

Charisma Rangipunga is the Chief Values Officer at Ngāi Tahu Holdings, and is also an author, composer, mother of three boys, and above all, a passionate advocate for the revitalisation of te reo Māori.