Latest news with #MātaurangaMāori
Scoop
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Communities Can't Foot The Bill For Climate Crisis
Te Pāti Māori sends aroha to whānau, and communities impacted by the recent severe weather across Nelson Tasman, Banks Peninsula, Northland and beyond. While dozens of people are still unable to return home, National and Labour are already hinting at a Climate Adaptation plan that would see impacted communities pay for their own recovery. 'These so-called 'once in a lifetime' events are now happening every year. It's only been one year since Wairoa flooded, and a year before that we had Cyclone Gabrielle' said MP for Te Tai Tonga, Tākuta Ferris. 'Communities need more than short-term fixes. They need urgent, sustained investment in both recovery and long-term climate adaption. 'The corporations who are fuelling the climate crisis should be the ones paying for adaptation and recovery – it's not the community's fault that their houses are flooded, why should they have to pay?' Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, MP for Te Tai Tokerau, says the government's continued failure to resource Māori communities is a symptom of Māori being too resilient. 'What we are seeing today is the perverse consequence of our resilience. When our communities are this resilient, their hardship becomes invisible. 'It is our Māori communities who bear the brunt of these climate disasters-isolated and under-resourced. But despite being the most impacted, they are also the first to respond. 'But this resilience is not new, it is a natural part of our Māori ecosystem, an in-built response born of whakapapa, whanaungatanga, and the knowledge that no one else is coming.' Te Pāti Māori will empower Māori to implement our own climate adaptation solutions, we will provide funding to impacted communities, and we will ensure that Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Mātauranga Māori form the basis of our climate adaptation strategy. 'Recovery must be driven by those who know their whenua, whakapapa, and communities, not dictated by distant bureaucrats with no connection to the realities on the ground' concluded Ferris.
RNZ News
15-07-2025
- Science
- RNZ News
Getting hands on with science creating 'good scientific citizens'
A student from Rotorua Girls' High School explains her project at Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā Mātauranga Māori Science and Design Fair in 2024. Photo: Supplied/Te Arawa Lakes Trust Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā - a science fair based in Rotorua - is hoping to attract more young women into the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā Mātauranga Māori Science and Design Fair is run by Te Arawa Lakes Trust and this year will be held from 23-25 July at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre. Rotorua Girls' High School science teacher Geraldine Cunningham said this will be the third year students at the school have entered exhibits of their own. The fair helps learners who might find classroom learning a bit more difficult, with the teachers mentoring them to find the knowledge themselves, she said. Cunningham said getting more young wāhine involved in STEM requires them to have people they can model themselves after. "If they see somebody in there that's succeeding then they tend to go 'oh yeah I can do this too.' In my earlier years teaching science it was all textbook stuff and I just looked at the kids and they just weren't engaged or anything." As part of the fair, the schools year 9 and 10 classes work as part of a collective on a pilot program called Manaaki Mauri, which involves the ecological restoration of the Sanatorium Reserve, a nationally significant geothermal landscape on the edge of central Rotorua. "So the long term goal is to get it back to what it was before the human impacts and so most of our projects revolve around that," Cunningham said. Students have the chance to look at plastic pollution and its affect on native species in the reserve, including the endangered tarāpuka or black billed gull and a colony of long-tailed bats, she said. Students from Rotorua Girls' High School with their projects at Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā Mātauranga Māori Science and Design Fair in 2024. Photo: Supplied/Te Arawa Lakes Trust Giving students the chance to engage in hands on science out in the field helps to create "good scientific citizens," she said. "I've watched these kids go from 'I can just litter anywhere, it doesn't affect me' to actually thinking more about our effects that we have on our taiao (environment). "With that connection comes immediate engagement because it's real, it's not going away, it's not fairytale atoms and chemicals... it's actually robust and real for them." Cunningham said she had absolutely seen more of an interest in science from her students since they began to enter the fair. Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā has given the teachers an avenue to teach science through Papatūānuku and through mātauranga Māori, she said. "Rather than teach to the curriculum actually make it real and engaging for our young people, especially our young women, because they are going to be the ones that in the future need to look after our whenua and taiao." Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā event coordinator Keeley Grantham. Photo: Supplied/Te Arawa Lakes Trust Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā event coordinator Keeley Grantham said engaging with students directly was often the best way to get them involved. "I think the best way to get any young rangatahi but especially young wāhine involved is actually just having a kōrero to them from our perspective as wāhine in science. "To showcase that its not just this scary environment of labcoats and Bunsen burners and that science is much broader than that, you can be out in the field, you can research a whole heap of different things and having that face to face engagement and showcasing them things in the field is what I find has the biggest impact." Grantham said since the fair began five years ago there has been a gradual increase in the number of young wāhine entering, but having Rotorua Girls involved specifically has really given it a boost. "This event is growing every year, I mean we've got nearly 250 kids coming along to the event next week to actually participate and share their ideas, so that's 250 minds combining to look at issues in our taiao." Grantham acknowledged the effort from the tamariki who have entered projects in the fair this year, as well as our kaiako (teachers) and whānau who support them. Event coordinator Keeley Grantham congratulates tamariki at Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā Mātauranga Māori Science and Design Fair in 2024. Photo: Supplied/Te Arawa Lakes Trust Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
10-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Te Tai Tokerau Impact Fund Supports 15 More Regional Initiatives
The final round of the Te Tai Tokerau Impact Fund has been allocated, with 15 Northland-based projects receiving a combined $230,000 in support. The second round attracted 42 applications seeking over $700,000, highlighting strong demand for early-stage investment in community-led development. A third of the funded projects from the second round are Māori-led. 'The quality and ambition of projects coming through this fund has been very high,' says Vaughan Cooper, Head of Investment and Infrastructure at Northland Inc. 'From community wellbeing, promotion of our districts, and Mātauranga Māori, it's clear that Northlanders are ready to lead the change they want to see.' The Te Tai Tokerau Impact Fund is administered by Northland Inc and NorthChamber, with support from Transpower and Omexom. It was created to back community and kaupapa-driven projects that contribute to long-term regional resilience. Across two rounds, the fund has now distributed $430,000 to 32 projects throughout the region. Projects funded through the two rounds of allocations are already underway, with initiatives such as Girls Who Grow launching its climate-positive agriculture programme for young women into Taitokerau Northland, and the Kerikeri District Business Association and Bay of Islands Business Association rolling out a groundbreaking project focused on CCTV and community safety in the Mid and Far North. NorthChamber Chief Executive Leah McKerrow, who was part of the fund's decision-making panel, says the calibre of applications highlighted the region's determination and desire to make a difference. 'This fund gives communities the chance to lift up great ideas and turn them into action. The panel was keen to support those ideas that will make a tangible and far reaching impact. It's positive to see the difference this funding is already making on the ground in Te Tai Tokerau.' Transpower's Executive General Manager Customer and External Affairs Raewyn Moss supported this view. 'We are so pleased to see this funding empowering real opportunities for development, community-building and increased resilience across Taitokerau Northland. We look forward to the stories of the impact the funding has and the achievements from the initiatives that were successful in this funding round.'
Scoop
05-07-2025
- Science
- Scoop
Mātauranga Māori Science Fair Applies Traditional Thinking To Modern-Day Problems
A Rotorua-based science fair engaging tamariki in mātauranga Māori is expanding its registrations to the entire country for the first time. Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā Mātauranga Māori Science and Design Fair is run by Te Arawa Lakes Trust and, this year, it will be held from 23-25 July at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre. Te Arawa Lakes Trust environment manager William Anaru (Te Arawa) said the fair began as an idea five years ago to engage more tamariki around Rotorua in science. "The science fair wasn't just aimed at your traditional western science model, we also incorporated mātauranga Māori, sustainable design, we've got an art component and, this year, we are looking at climate resilience." Since it began, the fair has grown significantly, with a huge variety of projects, from exhibits on rongoā Māori to a camera used to identify invasive catfish, he said. "Last year, the winner of the science fair, their team actually put in an exhibition that looked at whether or not Hinemoa could hear the flute of Tutanekai, when the sound was going across the lake, so the level of things that kids are testing these days is pretty remarkable." The team determined that, yes, Hinemoa could have heard Tutanekai's koauau] (flute) across the waters of Rotorua, although Anaru said, these days, there was a lot more background noise. "It's not just baking soda volcanoes - there's quite a lot of variety," he said. Anaru said Te Arawa Lakes Trust had always intended to expand the fair beyond Rotorua. This year, students as far afield as Fielding, Tokoroa, Auckland and Whangārei had entered. "We just want to continue to grow it and grow it and grow it, because some of the ideas that these kids have, they are pretty awesome to hear. "It's all about providing a platform for them to showcase their ideas and show it to an audience that is open to soaking up some of that stuff." Mātauranga Māori has assisted larger projects in the Rotorua, such as uwhi - a large harakeke mat that was used to suppress invasive weeds on the lake beds, he said. "There are definitely things that our ancestors - not just the ancestors of Māori, but from around the world - there's ideas that have been shared for thousands of years between different groups. "There's elements of all those ideas that input into modern science, as well as mātauranga, so I do think there are solutions for everything that we've got facing us." Anaru said people just had to be open and willing to adopt some of those ideas, and that was why they wanted to give children from around the North Island a platform to showcase their ideas. Whangamarino School principal Rehua Mihaka (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Rongomai) said they have been involved with the fair for the last two years. Last year, projects among the school students focussed on the water quality of Lake Rotoiti, which was right on the school's doorstep. "This was really good for our tuākana [older class] to actually monitor the mauri - or the life of our waters - how clean it was, how polluted it was and gauge what can we do as kaitiaki to fix te mauri o te wai." At this stage, Mihaka said having a hands-on experience might not mean a lot to the kids, but one day, they might look back, and realise the connection between water quality and health. "Ko te kōrero ka hoatu au ki ngā tamariki, ki te ora te wai ka ora te whenua, ka pērā hoki ki te ora te whenua ka ora te wai, ki te ora te wai me te whenua ka ora te tangata. "It's all about us giving back to our taiao [environment] and those are the sorts of teachings we want our tamariki to come away with." The fair definitely improves the tamariki's understanding of the western sciences, as well as mātauranga Māori, he said. When the kids see mātauranga Māori and western science being treated equally, they get very excited. "Ka tino harikoa ngā tamariki ki te kite i te tauritetanga o ngā mātauranga Māori ki tō ngā mātauranga pūtaiao.
Scoop
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
‘This Is A Dream Fulfilled': Tā Hirini Moko Mead Launches Most Extensive Work At 98
In this book, T Hirini defines mtauranga Mori as the beating heart of culture living, interconnected and all-encompassing. He dedicates chapters to astronomy, language, spirituality, art, time, values, and our relationship to the world through … Huia Publishers and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi are proud to announce the upcoming release of Mātauranga Māori by one of the foremost authorities on kaupapa Māori topics, Tā Hirini Moko Mead. In this book, Tā Hirini defines mātauranga Māori as the beating heart of culture – living, interconnected and all-encompassing. He dedicates chapters to astronomy, language, spirituality, art, time, values, and our relationship to the world through Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the Pacific Ocean. Highlighting how new knowledge is integrated, he also explores how successive generations have contributed to the growth and refinement of mātauranga Māori in a rapidly changing world. When asked why now, at 98, was the right time, he replied, 'This book is a dream fulfilled – it is informed by every book, paper and article written across 73 years. You can understand mātauranga Māori by looking at its branches as they are interlocking and interdependent with each other. That is – language, art, ceremony, values, science, time, place, spirituality, environment and belonging – come together in the mātauranga Māori formula.' Mātauranga Māori is the companion publication to the bestselling Tikanga Māori. Chief Executive of Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, Professor Wiremu Doherty spoke to the book's importance for the Wānanga: 'Tā Hirini has played a role of unparalleled significance elevating the status, prominence and revitalisation of Māori culture. Dedicating this book to the mokopuna generation of our nation represents him passing on the baton to our rangatahi, having shaped entire networks and support systems for them to be equipped – Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi is one of these.' Huia Publishers' Director Eboni Waitere spoke to the importance of Tā Hirini's work and Mātauranga Māori, 'This is the first book from our MOU with Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi and we are so pleased that, of all books, it is this one. Tā Hirini has spent his life advocating for Māori to tell our own stories, to define our own knowledge. Seeing his 'why' realised so completely is a full-circle moment.' Authoring the foreword for Mātauranga Māori, Justice Layne Harvey notes how Tā Hirini also created a book that helps non-Māori better connect to Aotearoa, ''Cultural capacity also helps non-Māori identify more positively as New Zealand citizens.' In this way, Tā Hirini writes for everybody.' Mātauranga Māori by Tā Hirini Moko Mead is available to preorder now from all good bookstores and from Huia Publishers' website for $45.00. The book will be launched in Whakatāne on 28 June. About the author: Distinguished Professor Tā Hirini Moko Mead (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Manawa and Tūhourangi) is a writer, commentator, composer, artist and tribal leader. He is the author of over seventy books, papers and articles. He was foundation professor of Māori Studies at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington and was an inspired founder of Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi in Whakatāne. A scholar of Māori language and culture, Tā Hirini was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2006 and received a knighthood in 2009 for his services to Māori and to education. About Huia Publishers, Bologna Prize Winner for Best Children's Publisher 2024: HUIA is a Māori owned, award-winning publisher championing stories that resonate with our people, reflect our aspirations and value our culture and language. This has been our simple and uncompromising purpose since 1991. About Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi: Founded in Whakatāne in 1992 by Ngāti Awa and officially registered as a Wānanga in 1997 under s162 of the Education Act 1989, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi is the only wānanga that delivers programmes from foundation studies through to Doctorates of Philosophy.
