On a wet July weekend we held our first Project Kainga hui of research team, and community leads from across the motu in the Bay of Plenty.
The first Project Kāinga hui began on Te Pākira marae, Whakarewarewa hosted by Ngāti Wāhiao/Tuhourangi. Present were representatives from partner marae-based teams, including Karetū, Whirinaki, Tautoro, Waitangi, Tumunui, Mataraua and Te Rereatukāhia; and researchers from Otago and Massey universities, Ag-Research, Takarangi, McTaggart and Ōrangahau. The hui was an opportunity to share data and observations; provide insights into potential opportunities and assist managing current or upcoming challenges.
The kōrero exchanged under the roofs of Wāhiao and on the mountainside woolshed at Tumunui. The Tumunui chair and his team hosted the hui and associated workshops on the ancestral whenua of wider Tuhourangi and Ngāti Whakaue. A key outcome of this hui and subsequent discussions has been the identification of marae disconnection from land trusts across the project’s eight regions. If this is not resolved then this growing disconnection will have a direct social and economic impact (low self-esteem/poor consumer choices/poor health/low educational attainment as already identified in the Rereatukāhia community
The hui capstone was on Te Rereatukāhia marae near Katikati, hosted by Ngāi Tamawhariua elders under the roof of their wharekai, Whakahinga. A sense of whakawhanaungatanga binded us as we concluded the hui with the realization that marae communities are not isolated, nor alone. They can come together, share resources and ideas and innovatively begin addressing both the trauma of colonization and the accelerating impact of climate change for everyone’s benefit.
