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This state-of-the-art facility is a symbol of the strong relationship that has developed between Te Rūnanga o Kaikōura and Crown agencies in the wake of the devastating earthquake in 2016. More importantly, it provides a home for the many taonga and artefacts discovered during the recovery and rebuild, safe in the guardianship of manawhenua.
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It’s now 12 months since the seismic events that ripped apart Kaikōura and its surrounding communities, changing lives and landscapes forever. The town is slowly rebuilding, and the locals putting the pieces of their lives back together again.
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Twenty years ago we gathered at Takahanga Marae, Kaikōura, to execute the Ngāi Tahu Deed of Settlement with the Crown. It was only after weathering another storm-tossed year of litigation and political stress, both internal and external, that the agreement was finally passed into law by Parliament – that year was to be another story in its own right. It was the Deed of Settlement, though, that marked the turning point in the several histories that comprise the seven-generation story of the Ngāi Tahu Claims – Te Kerēme o Ngāi Tahu.
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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.”
When a massive magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck North Canterbury just after midnight on November 14, Takahanga Marae in Kaikōura opened its doors to distraught locals and visitors with characteristic manaaki, promptly setting itself up as a welfare centre for the community.
This was the third largest earthquake in New Zealand in a century and it took the lives of two people. It wasn’t only the marae that showed whanaungatanga to Kaikōura – within hours Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu staff also set out to help whānau in need.
Today Takahanga Marae stands proudly overlooking the ocean on an historic pā that has been occupied for generations. Kaituhi Tony Bridge reports on how the long-standing vision for the marae…
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