TE KARAKA Archives - Page 10 of 77 - Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

Wairua – a labour of love

Ask Rua McCallum to describe how her retelling of the kāi tahu creation narrative came about and you quickly draw parallels between the birth of her immersive performance piece and the stories it weaves. To call Wairua a labour of love is to understate the obvious. Theatre practitioner Rua (Kāi Tahu – Kāti Hāteatea ki Moeraki) has chiselled away at the bicultural, multimedia work in one form or another for 13 years, although it is within the last five that the story really began to take shape. The result is a work that explores a distinctly Kāi Tahu viewpoint and the whakapapa that connects us all.

GMO – A matter of rangatiratanga

“Back in the 90s you only had to mention gmo at hui-ā-tau and people would be on their feet because that was the passion that was around at the time,” says komiti chair Edward Ellison (Ngāi Tahu – Ōtākou). “Most of our people back then immediately saw the potential impact of genetically-modified organisms on our rangatiratanga, kaitiakitanga, on our taonga species and our whakapapa.”

Te Ao o te Māori

Keri Whaitiri is reluctant to give the work she does a label, instead she has a collection of words that when combined, help to describe it: public realm design, seeding, facilitating, scoping, building of understanding, developing, interpreting and maintaining design strategies – lining things up! But whatever word or combination of she chooses, the results of her labour are clear to see throughout Christchurch city and further afield.

Hei Mahi Māra
Plasma: the future of agriculture

Previously I wrote about how I was going to conduct an experiment in my māra with new GANS plasma products, developed from the theories of Iranian nuclear engineer, Mehran Tavakoli Keshe. For the past three years I have used GANS plasma products in my māra and I’ve had astounding results, with health and productivity boosted by between 50 to 100 percent. This could be a real game-changer for organic agriculture, making it more productive than conventional farming practices.

Reviews

The year 1987 was significant for Māori and New Zealand as a whole. Parliament passed the Māori Language Act, thereby giving te reo Māori official status, while the New Zealand Court of Appeal defined the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in a case centred on the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986.

Aukaha
He kōrero

He kōrero is a new series of digital pūrākau, produced by the team at NAIA and supported by the Ngāi Tahu Fund and Te Mātāwai. Led by Chief Storyteller Rocky Roberts (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Rarua, Ngāti Hinematua), the short 2D animations capture the stories of our tīpuna and their incredible exploits, with the intention to educate, inspire and encourage connection.

He Tangata
Caleb Robinson

I was born in Christchurch in 1984, but raised in Hokitika. I spent my adolescence between Levin and Wellington, before returning home to Westland in 2004. I worked in a fish and chip shop and sawmill, until I was given the chance to train in traditional wood carving under Ngāi Tahu master carver, Fayne Robinson.

Ngā Hau e Whā
From the Editor

Humble, selfless, courageous and humanitarian are just some of the words that spring to mind when reflecting on the subject of our cover story for this issue of TE KARAKA (page 10). Therefore, it came as no surprise to learn that Aroha Reriti-Crofts was made a Dame in the Queen’s Birthday honours earlier this year for her lifetime of service to Māori and the community. It is no exaggeration to say Dame Aroha is an extraordinary wāhine whose work has always been dedicated to her iwi, hapū and whānau, with a particular focus on the wellbeing of wāhine and tamariki.

From the CEO
The New Normal

As we race towards the end of 2020, this past decade has been marked by several devastating events right on our doorstep, and our vulnerability is once again being tested as we navigate the ongoing impacts of a global pandemic. We are so used to watching CNN thinking that what makes world news is often far from home, and now the long-term lingering presence of COVID-19 everywhere has shown us just how small this world is and that we are very much a part of it.

Whenua

Te Awa Whakatipu (the Dart River) flows from its headwaters in Kā Tiritiri-o-te-Moana (the Southern Alps) and the Dart Glacier, into the northern end of Whakatipu Waimāori (Lake Whakatipu).