Posts Tagged ‘Adrienne Rewi’

The Right Stone

Mauri Tau Mauri Ora is the 270 kilogram pounamu kōhatu that sits on a Carrara marble plinth at the entrance to Oi Manawa, the Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial. Gifted by Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio, it marks a place for those affected by the Christchurch earthquakes to reflect and remember the people and places they have lost. It signposts a memorial to whenua, whānau, and memories.
For carver Fayne Robinson (Ngāi Tahu – Ngāti Māhaki, Ngāti Waewae; Ngāti Apa ki te Ra To – Puahaterangi), it is also a metaphor of sorts for the before and after of Christchurch city. Its rough crust, he says, resembles rubble; and the “little windows of potential”, showing in places, reflect where we are heading with the city rebuild.

Advancing bioenergy

As the largest Māori commercial forest owner in New Zealand, Ngāi Tahu Forest Estates is keen to ensure a sustainable future. It is working with Development West Coast in the hopes of establishing additional bioenergy plants there, starting with a feasibility study. Bioenergy, as the name suggests, is energy from biological sources like wood and other plant materials, and can be used as a solid, liquid, or gas. It is renewable, unlike finite fossil fuels such as coal and oil. It is the most-used renewable energy globally, ahead of hydroelectricity and wind. It has become a major industry in many European countries and there is potential for this to happen in New Zealand as well.

Walking the talk

Tā Mark Solomon is not the kind of man who speaks at length about himself. He values his privacy and he’s prone to under-playing any suggestion that he’s made a significant contribution to Māoridom, to Ngāi Tahu.
The fact that he was knighted in 2013 in recognition of the work he has done for Ngāi Tahu and for Māoridom is a case in point. His initial reaction was to baulk at the honour, but there were those who told him to “pull his head in,” that it wasn’t just for him, it was for the tribe. He relates how he was told firmly to “get up there to Wellington and receive the honour on behalf of the tribe.”

Reviews
Books

There’s a chapter for every object, written by historians, archivists, curators, and Māori scholars. They look into the “lives” of treasured family possessions such as family diaries, a cherished kahu kiwi, a music album, Katherine Mansfield’s hei tiki, a stamp collection, and of course, those fabulous tāniko slippers.

Global Mana

“There are lots of high points in a job like this. I’ve met the President of Japan, the Emperor of Japan, and Hilary Clinton for instance; and in Japan, I was involved in launching an education promotion project called ‘Game On English’, aimed at improving English language skills in Japan in the lead-up to Japan’s hosting of the 2019 Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Olympics,” says Rebecca Adams, senior advisor on MFAT’s China desk.

Remnants of the past
What can ancient raranga fragments tell us about our tīpuna?

Kaituhi Adrienne Rewi investigates. Ngāi Tahu weaver Tania Nutira still remembers the day she stood on the sand dunes of Kaitōrete Spit near Taumutu in 2003 and looked down on ancient raranga fragments that had just been unearthed. “At that moment, I had an overwhelming sense of being privileged to be involved in the discovery….