Our Stories - Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

Devoted to Dance

Arawyn has only just turned 10, and Mileena turned 12 the day after we spoke. “She’s going to be a teenager soon,” Arawyn says, sticking out her tongue and making a noise her older sister playfully mimics. The sisters have just returned from a big trip to the United States, an early birthday present for Mileena, who won a coveted spot in one of the largest ballet competitions in the world. Of the 10,000 applicants to the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) Ballet Competition in New York, Mileena was amongst just 1200 selected to attend a week of master classes, mentoring, and the chance to be discovered by directors of the most prestigious dance companies from around the world.

Beyond the Cow Shed

Ash-Leigh Campbell is an up-and-coming leader in the primary sector. At just 28, she already has a solid decade of experience, from milking dairy cows to sustainability management and sector-related technology and innovation training. The hands-on dairy farm work saw her named the first wahine finalist in the 2016 Ahuwhenua Young Māori Dairy Farmer Awards and recognition for her leadership qualities at the New Zealand Young Farmers Excellence Awards. And for the past 18 months, Ash-Leigh (Ngāi Tahu – Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki) has been employed by the iwi as Technical Farm Manager with Ngāi Tahu Farming – a role she says has grown in scope alongside her.

Oranga Tamariki
Where to from here?

In April 2017, the statutory care and protection agency for Aotearoa (formerly Child, Youth and Family – CYF) re-established themselves as Oranga Tamariki, committing to a five-year transformational plan to overhaul the culture and practice of the entire organisation. In November last year, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and Oranga Tamariki entered into a Strategic Partnership, in keeping with the government agency’s intention to work more closely with iwi to improve outcomes for Māori.

When life is the learning

When you’re 17 and the Disco Queen, the world’s your oyster. And if you’re earning lots of money dancing, there’s not much point in continuing your education, is there? Especially if it means doing something tough like business law! “Well, I don’t know if I would give my 17-year-old self that advice now,” muses Kera Baker, who is the Associate Director of Māori Health at the South Canterbury District Health Board (SCDHB), as well as a director of Aoraki Environmental Consultancy, and former deputy chair of health provider Arowhenua Whānau Services. “Don’t get me wrong. I’ve had a wonderful life, and many fantastic experiences, but I should have stayed at school and educated myself.”

Festival of Colour – Wānaka

Wānaka’s Festival of Colour brings together a diverse spectrum of speakers, musicians, performing arts groups, and artists across a range of venues over 10 days and nights. Against a backdrop of autumnal oranges and reds, the festival, now in its 16th year, brings a warmth and vibrancy to the growing lakeside town as the temperature drops and daylight hours shorten.

A Step Closer to a Treaty Partnership

The Treaty of Waitangi partnership with the Department of Conservation (DOC), the government agency responsible for the management of the natural environment, is a top priority for iwi throughout Aotearoa. A recent Supreme Court appeal by Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki Tribal Trust delivered a landmark result that will change that relationship forever.

Maruhaeremuri Nihoniho – Creator of Digital Worlds

Maru Nihoniho has been making plays and smashing stereotypes as the founding CEO of game development studio Metia Interactive, and providing a platform for rangatahi to transform their thinking. In creating games for companies like Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox, she’s putting Aotearoa on the map.

In search of the elusive Eyrewell Beetle

Scientists love a good mystery, but ecologists from Lincoln University have truly been left scratching their heads after an exhaustive but futile search for a rare and endangered species of flightless Canterbury ground beetle. Only 10 specimens of the Eyrewell ground beetle (Holcaspis brevicula) have ever been captured. All were found in the Eyrewell Forest, an exotic pine plantation 40 kilometres north-west of Ōtautahi, which was returned to Ngāi Tahu in 2000 as part of the Ngāi Tahu Settlement Act of 1998.

150 Years Young

Around midday on Saturday 4 May a familiar sound echoed around the seaside kāika of Rāpaki on the shores of Whakaraupō. As has occurred for the past 150 years, the tolling bell was summoning Rāpaki whānau to church. A large group soon gathered outside the newly constructed fence surrounding the church and urupā. Among the familiar Ngāi Tahu faces were numerous members of the Couch whānau, at least two former Sunday School teachers, and officiating ministers and members of ngā hāhi katoa including Rātana, Katorika, Mihinare, Mōmona, and Weteriana.

Te Ao o te Māori

When Max’s girlfriend Carley “busted out” her pepeha, it was the perfect motivation the young videographer needed to start learning his language. “It really inspired me that Carley, who isn’t Māori, could stand up and introduce herself in te reo and tell everyone her whakapapa,” says Max Tiweka, who is Ngāi Tahu on his mother’s side and Ngā Rauru on his father’s side. A year-and-a-half ago, Max started work as an intern at Ariki Creative, an Ōtautahi-based Māori creative studio specialising in digital and print media. It’s that career change Max credits as the beginning of his journey to learn about his Ngāi Tahutanga.