Our Stories - Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

Te Rangitaki a Te Ranui
Eat noodles, find husband…

I remember when asking locals which places are best to visit to learn about the Chinese jade culture, they directed me south to an area where jade is commonly sold. Not to where you source or those who have the rights to collect it, or even to those who carve, but to where the finished product was sold. Perhaps I was asking the wrong question, used words they were unfamiliar with, or they wanted to protect their industry. In any case, out of the numerous people I asked and countless internet searches, only one person suggested that I go one province south to Hangzhou and Liangzhu.

Te Ao o te Māori

Tiaki has a wry smile as he reflects on the journey that has led him away from Te Waipounamu to the rugged Raglan west coast, where he has lived for the past four years with partner Madi Watson and their two-year-old son, Tāwhai.

New day rising

The Kāti Huirapa marae at Arowhenua has been a focal point for Kāi Tahu for more than 100 years, and has entered a brand new dawn with its redevelopment.

A rangatahi voice with impact

Hinepounamu’s ability to weave words into powerful discourse saw her take out the annual Māori speech competition, Ngā Manu Kōrero Nationals earlier this year.

Te Kura o Te Tira Mōrehu Reo o
Moeraki

The wānanga represent a revitalisation of their own, as they emulate the renowned wharekura Ōmanawharetapu that Matiaha Tiramōrehu held in Moeraki until 1868. Tiramōrehu, widely known as the father of the Ngāi Tahu Claim, was also a renowned scholar with extensive knowledge of Māori traditions and whakapapa. He sought to share this with others, and in his wharekura taught Ngāi Tahu tamariki the traditional knowledge and customs that had been handed down for generations.

Warming the South

Insulating homes is holistic, although I don’t like that word. But by insulating homes we create multiple outcomes for families. There is a warmer, dryer atmosphere in a house, people get sick less often, they are able to work more often… it has been estimated that every $1 spent on insulation generates $5 return on investment for the community through better living conditions and quality of life.

Tāku Kupu ki te Ao

We’re starting here because this was one of the first places where Māori and Pākehā met regularly in Christchurch,” Joseph says on the brick forecourt of Victoria Square. “This used to be known as Market Square, and it’s where Ngāi Tūāhuriri came to sell various goods to the early settlers.

Waka revival

Waka play an integral part in our migratory history, as the means by which our tīpuna voyaged here from the ancestral homeland of Hawaiki. They are woven throughout our mythology, with Ngāi Tahu stories asserting that Te Waipounamu itself is the waka of Aoraki, our tipuna mauka, capsized in the ocean with he and his brothers turned to stone along its back as the principal mountains of the Southern Alps.

Te Pōkai Tara o te Ao

Ten Ngāi Tahu taiohi or rangatahi, preparing for the trip of a lifetime to Silicon Valley to hopefully become part of the next generation of Māori innovators, scientists, and entrepreneurs.

Toi Iho
Ngā Ringa Toi o Tahu

Ngā Ringa Toi o Tahu not only celebrates the work of Ngāi Tahu artists and looks at what a Ngāi Tahu art aesthetic is – it also gives recognition to people for the work they’re doing on the ground to encapsulate the sense of what it is to be Ngāi Tahu in a solid form for future generations to look back on.