Issue 58

Mana whenua approve pilot dairy farms

An accord between mana whenua and Ngāi Tahu Farming has been hailed as a template for the tribe’s future projects. Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu has approved three pilot dairy farms at Eyrewell, 40 kilometres northwest of Christchurch after a mana whenua working party was satisfied the pilot farms recognized and provided for Ngāi Tahu…

Homecoming

Once upon a time there was a sea captain who sailed to the bottom of the world in search of adventure and good fortune. He conquered treacherous seas to eventually make landfall on a remote but beautiful place on the southern coastline of Te Wai Pounamu.

The Constitution Question

How do you want the future to look for your grand-children? That is at the heart of conversations taking place all over the country about New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements, says Tā Tipene O’Regan, co-chair of a 12-strong panel of academics, law professors, local government officials, media specialists and Māori community representatives charged with driving the conversation.

A sense of pride

Ngāi Tahu language leaders were recognised at a glittering awards ceremony at Ōtākou Marae that also honoured te reo heroes of the past. In his opening speech, Tā Tipene O’Regan told the audience that the rebirth of Ngāi Tahu reo was in good hands. He said while previously the tribe had been consumed with the Claim, it was time to move on and promote revitalisation of Ngāi Tahu reo.

Peeling The Onion of Evidence

During the Waitangi Tribunal hearings into the Ngāi Tahu Claim, three historians played an integral part for Ngāi Tahu. Where are they now? In many ways it may have been the making of the young historian. Three years plus in the hothouse atmosphere of Te Kerēme, and the Waitangi Tribunal hearings that would deliver the Ngāi Tahu Deed of Settlement and end more than 150 years of petitioning the Crown.

Future Vision

Out of the wreck of what was Christchurch, a new city is being planned. It may be a world first situation. In the wake of a devastating natural disaster, the local indigenous people are involved in the redesign and reconstruction of a city from the highest governance level right through to the actual physical reconstruction.

Tā Mark Solomon: then and now

Toi Iho
Pounamu Eyes

Russell Beck is New Zealand’s foremost expert on pounamu, an international authority on jade and a successful author on the subject. Kaituhituhi Rob Tipa sits in on a hands-on workshop for children that Beck ran at Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki Marae, Karitāne.

From the Editor

From the Editor, Mark Revington.
The anecdote I like best about Mark Solomon’s knighthood is one he told about initially balking at the honour and being told to ‘pull his head in’. It wasn’t for him, it was for the tribe, he was firmly told and it was his job to get up there to Wellington and receive the honour on behalf of the tribe.

From the CEO

Chief Executive Officer, Arihia Bennet.
At Hui-ā-Iwi in November last year, kaumātua were treated to a delightful High Tea event hosted by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. Among the waiters was the kaiwhakahaere who donned an apron and displayed skills in tea pouring that could have landed him a job at The Ritz.