Our theme for this year’s annual report is Celebrating Kāi Tahutaka. This is a fitting theme given that we are in the final stages of confirming our updated tribal vision, Mō Kā Uri – Ngāi Tahu 2050. The development of Mō Kā Uri has offered us a chance to reflect on our journey since our first intergenerational strategy, Ngāi Tahu 2025, was published in 2001, and to put a spotlight on all we have to celebrate as a tribe.

Ngāi Tahu 2025 helped us move on from the grievance mode that dominated our collective mindset and focus during Te Kerēme, and move instead towards a collective spirit of optimism about the future. Mō Kā Uri represents another evolution in our tribal journey, and we are both grateful for the opportunity to hold leadership positions within Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu (Te Rūnanga) at this pivotal time.

Our shared view is that we owe it to our tīpuna to approach our leadership of Te Rūnanga with a great respect for the framework they have handed down to us. In the past year, we have found the wisdom contained in Te Kawenata’s Kaupapa Whakakotahi to be particularly instructive:

‘The Kaupapa Whakakotahi is that the poupou of the House of Tahu are the Papatipu Rūnanga of our people each with their own mana and woven together with the tukutuku of our whakapapa. In them resides the tino rangatiratanga of Ngāi Tahu. Its collective voice is Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.’

As we navigate a volatile political and cultural landscape and make the transition to our new tribal vision, this short statement from Te Kawenata is a clear stake in the ground reminding us of the mission that sits at the heart of what we do here at Te Rūnanga. The rakatirataka of Kāi Tahu resides in our Papatipu Rūnaka. The role of Te Rūnanga is to draw on and represent our collective strength to ensure that our identity as a tribe – that is, our tino rakatirataka – survives and thrives, both now and into the future.

We are united in our commitment, and it will be this philosophy that underpins our leadership and our approach to the implementation of Mō Kā Uri. The progressive development and implementation of tino rakatirataka is our opportunity to own the problems we face in our communities and to have a genuine stake in contributing to their solutions.

Two examples of Te Rūnanga fulfilling this role well in the past year are worth highlighting briefly:

The Ngāi Tahu Archive has further enhanced its internationally significant repository with the integration of the two archive websites, Kareao (online archive website) and Kā Huru Manu (online digital atlas). This newly created functionality has effectively realised the long held aspiration of Tā Tipene to create a fully integrated Ngāi Tahu archive search engine.

Another was this year’s National Matariki Hautapu held in Wānaka. It was a proud moment for Kāi Tahu to witness a number of Kāi Tahu rakatahi, who were born into the iwi language strategy Kotahi Mano Kāika (KMK), leading ruruku and proudly displaying Kāi Tahutaka on the national stage. Over the last 25 years KMK has contributed to a new generation of fluent te reo speakers, who use it as the language of first choice in their homes. This is an extraordinary achievement that serves as an exemplar of what intergenerational planning can achieve.