Our Stories

Ngā take Pūtea
Guarding your identity

Identity theft happens in Aotearoa more often than you’d think.

He Tangata
Neena Woodgate

Neena Woodgate, 17, was chosen for the Aotearoa Māori Netball Secondary School team this year, the only kōtiro from Te Waipounamu. Within 10 days of being named in the squad, Neena was immersed in a two-day training camp in Auckland, and was then off to Adelaide for the Trans-Tasman Secondary Schools tournament.

Postcard from Antarctica

The journey for many Ngāi Tahu has involved tracing the steps of their tīpuna. Irene Schroder documents the journey of three Ngāi Tahu women on a ship to Antarctica.

Ahikā Kai – Food from the home fires

Wild, Māori food – it’s what Ngāi Tahu tīpuna ate and traded. Now iwi pilot programme Ahikā Kai is set to revolutionise the way small whānau and iwi-based food businesses operate and market their products.

Tuna Tactics

Habitat loss and decades of commercial overfishing of eels are causing a worldwide trend in declining eel stocks. The issue is of great concern for Moeraki, Arowhenua and Waihao rūnanga, as they seek to turn back the environmental clock for tuna in Te Waipounamu.

Last Stand

Ngāi Tahu has joined a last-ditch stand to save Te Hāpua Waituna (Waituna Lagoon) from an ecological disaster with a ban on further dairy development in the catchment.

Pots of gold

From the remote seas of Fiordland to the restaurants of China, kōura are at the heart of Ngāi Tahu Seafood’s operations. The thriving trade is also attracting a new generation of Ngāi Tahu fishers to the industry.

From the Editor

This is my first issue as editor of TE KARAKA. Am I a little nervous? Of course. The phrase ‘big boots to fill’ doesn’t seem quite the right metaphor to describe the challenge set by my predecessor, Faumuinā Tafuna’i, but as editor of TE KARAKA, she set a high standard.

From the CEO

For Te Rūnanga it feels like we are in good shape to discuss the significant issues confronting the iwi and the nation. Our governance initiatives of the past year mean we are ready for some robust good high-level strategic debates. And there are plenty of debates to be had.

He Kōrerorero
Surviving vs Living vs Thriving

I am a locavore, an eater of fresh food from my regions.

Of course I eat other things – I’ve got free-range chook and vegetables in the deep freeze because there aren’t any local producers of chook or peas or carrots or corn let alone the more exotic vege mixes in Big O. And I do have at least a bucket (sometimes a pōhā) of birds around for winter.