Taiawatea – Rangatahi Cultural Leadership Fund

Taiawatea is a Ngāi Tahu rangatahi fund, which aims to help shape rangatahi who are strong, vibrant champions of Ngāi Tahu culture. It also aims to empower Ngāi Tahu rangatahi to connect and express their leadership in Ngāi Tahutanga.

Rangatahi who are aged 13-25 can apply for funding to start cultural projects aimed at strengthening their Ngāi Tahutanga; and or to support their attendance at regional and national cultural events.

This fund was named by the late, Piri Sciascia, who was a Ngāi Tahu Funds Committee member for a number of years.

“Our rakatahi are the tide of the new day – Te Tai Awatea. For Kāi Tahu, Taiawatea is ever the new dawning tide, as is the taiahiahi the ever nightfall tide, representing incoming and outgoing generations of our people” – the late Piri Sciascia.

Taiawatea is managed and supported by the Ngāi Tahu Grants team. To be eligible to apply, your project or participation at a cultural event must align to at least one of the following pillars:

Whakapapa – kinship
Tikanga – protocols and customs
Te reo – language
Mahi toi – creative expression
Whenua – landscape, place and locality
Mahinga kai – customary food gathering, species protection and restoration
Ngā uara – values and beliefs
Ā kāinga, ā hapū, ā iwi – community engagement and participation; and
Mana tangata – self-determination and self-confidence.

*As the Fund is likely to receive requests for more funds than it can provide, priority will be given to projects that the Ngāi Tahu Funds Assessment Committee considers best meet the Fund criteria.

Applications will be considered from registered Ngāi Tahu rangatahi aged 13-25 and Ngāi Tahu associated groups that are made up of registered Ngāi Tahu members (rangatahi aged 13-25).

The full criteria for accessing Taiawatea funding is contained in the Taiawatea Application Form

Please note: This application is an editable pdf. Please remember to download the application to your computer and send it back to us once it is completed. If you fill out the application online without saving it to your computer first, you may lose all of your information.

For more information please contact the Ngāi Tahu Grants team on 0800 524 8248 or email: [email protected]