Te Whanake - Our Blog
Explore Te Tau Ihu - Places to visit this long weekend
Our rohe has many beautiful places all with a story to tell. A great way to connect with the whenua, understand more about our history and learn some kōrero from our tūpuna, is to go out and visit these special places in our home. So, this Whakatū Anniversary (29th January) – why not take your whānau out and explore the lands of Te Tau Ihu. Here are some places we think you should check out.
Abel Tasman National Park
Not only is the Abel Tasman National Park an area of stunning natural beauty, with golden beaches, islands and estuaries, it is also a place that holds historic significance. Head over for a day trip to learn more about our whenua with the series of interpretation boards, walk along a short section of the track, or jump in the water and kayak through Awaroa Bay.
Māori have had a long association with the Abel Tasman National Park – with Ngaitara as the first known iwi to live in the area, followed by Ngāti Tumatakokiri. Ngāti Rārua and Te Ᾱtiawa acknowledge the ancient people of Waitaha, as tribal traditions say they came to the area from the ancient homeland, Hawaiki.
While visiting the park, you can visit the first two poupou of the planned eight, that were installed last year. The pou of Turangāpeke has been placed at Anchorage, and the pou of Hōhaia Rangiāuru can be seen at Medlands.
These pou have been installed as part of the project that was more than a decade in the making, to ensure our legacy and our kōrero are not lost, and people from all over the world can learn about the tangata whenua, while also experiencing the natural beauty of the rohe.
Te Waikoropupū Springs
Just a short drive over the hill into Tākaka, you can visit the wai ora Te Waikoropupū Springs. This is a culturally significant site to Manawhenua ki Mōhua (Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Rārua and Te Ātiawa). They are the largest cold water springs in the Southern Hemisphere.
Kahurangi National Park
Kahurangi National Park is where you will find our two sacred maunga of mana whenua ki Motueka, Pukeone and Tū Ao Wharepapa.
Our maunga Pukeone and Tū Ao Wharepapa replenish us when the rain falls, produce plants that kept us dry, send messages of great importance, and for some provide a historical and spiritual link to the natural world.
Pukeone (Mount Campbell), is the smaller of our two maunga and was used by our tūpuna to light signal fires to communicate important news or events across large distances. It’s still used today as a communication point, as the radio tower sits on the summit.
Tū Ao Wharepapa (Mount Arthur) is the highest peak of the Wharepapa Range (Arthur Range) – where it guards the tablelands below.
Riuwaka Resurgence
A special place to visit is the Riuwaka Resurgence. Te Puna o Riuwaka (the Riuwaka Resurgence) is wahi tapu for our people, a sacred, supernatural place where our tūpuna would come to cleanse and heal their bodies and sustain their spirits. Many of our tūpuna lived beside the Riuwaka River, including a revered tōhunga (expert/priest), named Tamati Parana, who made his tūāhu (sacred place) near the healing white stones of these waters.
For a short walk to the healing waters of Riuwaka, take SH60 from Riuwaka up the Tākaka Hill and at 5km take the left fork in the road, signposted to the Resurgence. Drive another 7km alongside the river and you’ll come to a carpark and picnic area and find our beautiful waharoa at the start of the short (7 minute) walk to Te Puna o Riuwaka.
Walk to ‘The Centre of New Zealand’
For something a little more local, why not head into Nelson and visit ‘The Centre of New Zealand’ monument.
The top of Botanical Hill was used as a central survey point, by John Spence Browning, the chief surveyor for Nelson in the 1870’s, for doing the first geodetic survey of New Zealand when earlier isolated surveys were combined. However, a survey in 1962 determined the centre of New Zealand was in fact a point in the Spooners Range in the Golden Downs Forest.
While not exactly ‘The Centre of New Zealand’, this short climb uphill gives you stunning views of Nelson City, the Tasman Mountains and Tasman Bay.
Start at the Botanical Reserve in Hardy St, Nelson, and follow along the uphill track. It takes about 15 minutes to reach the top.
We hope you enjoy your long weekend, taking some time off in the sun and spending time with whānau. If you visit any of these places this weekend, please send us your photos on our Facebook page. Or if you have any other special places in Te Tau Ihu to visit, please share that with us too!
How do our whānau celebrate Christmas?
We all celebrate Christmas in different ways with different traditions, and with our whānau living all over Aotearoa, and outside of the country – we wanted to share some kōrero on how our owners celebrate and spend the day.
We’ve asked three NRAIT owners how they are celebrating Christmas this year.
Matua Jansen
We will be having an Orphans Christmas in Coogee, Sydney.
Quite a few of my friends have no family in Sydney so often we put on a BBQ on the beach and invite around whoever does not have family. We like to BBQ NZ flounder and mussels to feel like home, then enjoy playing cards and drinking some NZ white wine. We do not have a Christmas tree or do presents, and instead keep it focussed on food and making connections with new and old acquaintances.
Matua and Te Kahu Jansen.
Sydney, Australia.
Emma Park
To us, Christmas is a time to connect with loved ones and gather as a whānau from near and far, eat lots of soul food, and have a really good catch up and reminisce and laugh.
For us, we go to Mums for Christmas Day lunch, this has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember. Mum cooks the most amazing lunch, with many types of food, some have a few drinks and some of us find a nice olive tree to have a snooze under in the afternoon. Then on Boxing Day we repeat the eating and drinking and maybe another snooze, with the other side of the family.
However, this year is extra special because it will be our son Milo’s very first Christmas and the start of his traditions. We have some very excited siblings, grandparents, aunties and uncles and of course parents to share Christmas with Milo.
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with lots of whānau and kai, and have a safe New Year.
Park family
Taranaki, New Zealand
Jeremy Banks
Christmas for us this year will be a bit different in that there will be less people travelling, as most of us are now all in Nelson!
The day will inevitably start with the excitement of Hana Kōkō (Santa) for our girls and after the whānau have all arrived in the same place we play a Secret Santa present stealing game.
Good food and wine is the focus of the day with Christmas lunch, which will be followed by plenty of games and some pool or beach time.
Banks family
Nelson, New Zealand
It’s great to see how our whānau connect with their friends and family over the holiday period, enjoying the kai and the sunshine. We are glad that we can connect with our owners, even those who live outside of Aotearoa like Matua.
From all of us here at NRAIT, we would like to wish you a happy and safe holiday. We hope you enjoy spending time with your whānau and friends.
The year in review - our wrap up of 2017
Another year comes to an end - 2017 was a great chapter for the Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust with some memorable occasions at Ohu Maatu, wonderful events we were excited to be a part of and as always, another year we’ve been able to connect and grow with you – the owners – the manawhenua ki Motueka.
Firstly, we want to say a big thank you to all of you who have connected and engaged with us online, namely our Facebook page. We made the shift several years ago to communicating with you more online through social media, the website and e-Pānui. At that time, we had just 146 people on the Facebook page, and now have over 800. So, if you want to see more of what’s happening in our online community on Facebook check us out here.
Here are some of the highlights from 2017 at the Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust.
Whenua Planting
Ohu Maatu 2017 was a special time to remember our tūpuna, and an opportunity for reconnecting, learning and celebrating. It was also a time to give back, and acknowledge our ancestors for our legacy. During the weekend we visited Te Uma, to plant the whenua of our new born babies.
Planting the placenta of our new born has been a cultural custom for us for centuries. It was a great opportunity to connect with our whenua (land) as well as our whānau.
NRAIT owner Emma Park shared her perspective of the whenua planting experience, which you can read here.
Kai Fest
Motueka had its very first Kai Fest this year. With performances, great kai and beautiful weather, it was a great way to celebrate the abundance of kai that is sourced from our rohe – the land and the ocean.
We are looking forward to being involved again next year!
Watch the video from Kai Fest 2017.
Education
Following the success of our newly launched education framework in 2016, we were pleased to be able to award more scholarships and grants in 2017 to hard-working NRAIT owners.
Our 2017 scholarship recipients were:
Matua Jansen (supreme award), Andrew Howard, Mariah Hōri Te Pā, Benjamin Kaveney-Gibb, Eden Millan, and Isabella Martell. You can read their stories here.
We also had a fantastic number of grant recipients across a broad range of options including sports and cultural as well as education assistance grants:
Leanne Clayton, Hana Goodwin, Renee Hayes, Tui Henry, Rangi Kaveney, Waimaire Mana, Kaitlyn Moylan, Baylee Niwa, Hayel Niwa, Zayed Studd, Renee Thomas, Wainui Witika-Park, Kylie Willison, Dante Matakatea, Kirsty Willison, Xanthe Banks, Haelyn Ngaia, Hunter Ngaia.
We are pleased to provide our owners with ongoing support in their studies.
NRAIT Music Video
This year’s Ohu Maatu had a great turn out, with many owners returning to Motueka for a weekend of activities and reconnecting with the homelands. At Ohu Maatu this year, we were pleased to premiere the NRAIT music video, written and performed by Tamai Henry, Jayme-Rae Anae and Adrian Wagner. You can watch the NRAIT music video here.
Again, thank you all for being part of our online and offline community, those that make the trip to Motueka each year, and most importantly those that are always around helping to make every hui a success, it makes all the difference to our mahi, and to each other.
Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te Tau Hou!
A tale of two chiefs - Motueka River kōrero
The Motueka river is a significant feature of Motueka and our Whakarewa lands. Many of the occupied land areas that were wrongly sold to the New Zealand Company in the 1840’s were alongside the river. But the river was also a point of dispute between two Ngāti Rārua chiefs.
In one version of the early settlement of Motueka, Ngāti Rārua chief Te Poa Karoro and Horoatua of Te Ātiawa, were the first people to occupy the lands about Motueka, and in fact they named the area known as Te Maatu, situated on the south side of the Motueka River. Horoatua claimed the land for him and about 70 others of the Puketapu hapū of Te Ātiawa who were with him, one of which was Merenako, a high-ranking Te Ātiawa ancestor.
Sometime after arriving in the Motueka district, Merenako journeyed up the mouth of the Waiatua stream, situated near Old Pā Hill (Puketawāi). She followed the hillside up the valley to the neighbourhood of what is called Dehra Dhoon. From here she crossed the river and travelled along the foot of the opposite hills, to a place close to the Riuwaka butter factory. Here she saw the Riuwaka swamp which, at that time, covered a significantly large area. Disappointed by what she saw and considering it of no value to her, and difficult swampy land to walk upon, she called it Turi Auraki (tired knees). Merenako and her second husband, Te Poa Kararo (Chief of Ngāti Turangapeke, a hapū of Ngāti Rārua) as well as Merenako, had large land holdings, including in Motueka. This was seen as the catalyst for Te Ātiawa and Ngāti Rārua of Motueka to settle in Motueka as one. Both iwi retained their own identities, with Merenako and her Te Ātiawa land and mana to the south and west of Te Maatu, and Te Poa Karoro retaining his land and mana to the north and east of Te Maatu.
When Pukekōhatu (chief of Ngāti Pareteata, a hapū of Ngāti Rārua) arrived at Motueka he lit a fire on the Motueka side of the river and proclaimed the land as his and his hapū.
Te Poa Kararo however, who arrived in the district with Horoatua, had already claimed the land for him and his hapū, through whenua kite hou (discovery) and taunaha (naming the land) at Te Maatu.
To ensure his desire was fulfilled, Pukekōhatu placed a kanga (curse) over the district by personifying himself as the Motueka River, saying that, “The source thereof is my head and the mouth is my feet.” In other words, Pukekohatu made himself to be the river. The thought, which is quintessentially Māori, was an absolutely effective way of holding onto a tract of whenua, as it brought into operation the iron law of old. The kanga (curse) lay a short distance south of the Motueka River and beyond the area known as Te Maatu.
Te Poa Karoro took up a very defiant attitude towards Pukekōhatu and the laying of his kanga. He went as far to say, “Kia maoa taku umu tangata māna kē Maatu,” meaning, “If anyone occupies Te Maatu, I will cook them in my oven.”
It is said that the argument had originated through Pukekōhatu going to cultivate the land at Te Maatu, which is also said to have been given to him by Merenako. This incensed Te Poa Karoro, as he had apparently made available the land for Te Manutoheroa and the Ngāti Kōmako Te Ātiawa to cultivate. Others say Te Poa Karoro was controlling Pākehā settlement on the land, authorising where Pākehā could and could not live on the Riuwaka side of the river. This was disquieting for Pukekōhatu, who was concerned that if Pakeha settlement continued, there would not be enough land left at Te Maatu for Māori to live upon.
In later years, Pukekōhatu removed his kanga in order to facilitate the opening of the land for development.
This blog was put together from kōrero with kaumātua and kuia.
Raising the level of education – our 2017 scholarship recipients
NRAIT were pleased to again offer our education funding programme in 2017, with a variety of grants and scholarships available for NRAIT registered owners. Our aim is to make education accessible for all owners and to prepare our children and young people to become employable adults with skills that will benefit them and society. So rather than just focusing on tertiary education, we also offered grants towards trades training, adult education, and study assistance for primary and secondary students, a new model we started last year.
As with last year, we had a focus with the scholarships on STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). STEM subjects are the future required skills and knowledge our whānau need to fulfil jobs, innovate and create new products and services. Aotearoa currently has a skill shortage in these subject areas. We were pleased to receive significantly more applications this year than previous.
We are pleased to announce our 2017 scholarship recipients.
Scholarships
The supreme scholarship is awarded to one recipient each year. It is open to any NRAIT registered owner, enrolled with a New Zealand tertiary institute or training provider. This scholarship is awarded to students who maintain a B+ average throughout their year of study.
Matua Jansen
Matua was our Supreme Scholarship winner this year, and is continuing his post graduate Masters in Business Administration at Auckland University. Matua is enjoying his studies and the sense of purpose and direction it provides towards his future. He is committed to contributing to the Trust in the future by using his background in medicine and his growing experience in administration and management.
Andrew Howard
Andrew is our 2017 Postgraduate Scholarship winner. He is currently enrolled in a Master’s of Science (Research) Program at the University of Waikato. In the future Andrew aims to undertake a PhD.
Mariah Hori Te Pa
Mariah is one of four tertiary scholarship recipients. This award grants her a maximum contribution of $2,000 per annum to help her fund her studies. She is in her sixth and final year at Victoria University, studying Law, Māori and Anthropology and will be graduating in May next year. She is very motivated to finish her conjoint degree because of the support of her whānau back home. Mariah is passionate about serving the community and helping some of the most vulnerable people in our society, which she has been doing through volunteering while at university, and intends to keep doing this when she finishes her studies.
Benjamin Kaveney-Gibb
Ben is another recipient of a tertiary scholarship. He is currently a second-year medical student at Otago University in Dunedin. During his studies, he completed a clinical placement in a rest home, interacting with patients with diseases and disabilities. He has been exposed to many options the medical world has to offer, and is trying to keep as open minded as possible, but still sees himself strongly driven towards becoming a Māori GP with a keen focus on Māori health.
Eden Millan
Eden also received a tertiary scholarship, and is currently in her final semester of a Bachelor of Science majoring in Anatomy. She has always had a passion for health and the human body and is now studying what she loves and has an interest in. Eden has picked up two Māori papers this year which have helped her to understand her culture to a deeper level and she plans on continuing studying Māori.
Isabella Martell
Isabella is the final recipient of a tertiary scholarship for 2017. She is currently studying Health Sciences First Year at the University of Otago in Dunedin. Isabella has always had a keen interest in science so has enjoyed broadening her knowledge. She plans on moving into medicine or medical laboratory science.
Grants
Our grant winners are all on the pathway to furthering their education. The grants applied for were across all areas of education, including sports & cultural grants, education grants to assist with fees, and study assist grants for primary and secondary school students wanting additional education support. Congratulations to the following recipients of our 2017 grants; Leanne Clayton, Hana Goodwin, Renee Hayes, Tui Henry, Rangi Kaveney, Waimaire Mana, Kaitlyn Moylan, Baylee Niwa, Hayel Niwa, Zayed Studd, Renee Thomas, Wainui Witika-Park, Kylie Wilson, Dante Matakatea, Kirsty Willison, Xanthe Banks, Haelyn Ngaia, Hunter Ngaia.
We are very proud of all our winners and wish them the best in their future studies and careers.
Taiohi wānanga with Wakatū Incorporation
In September each year, our sister organisation Wakatū takes a group of rangatahi (young people) into the Abel Tasman National Park for a week long wānanga. Each year alternates between boys and girls, and this year, it was the boys turn.
26 descendants of Wakatū tūpuna (ancestors), which includes Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Tama and Te Ātiawa, attended this year’s Wakatū wānanga. Of the 26 young men who attended, five are also registered owners of Ngāti Rārua Ᾱtiawa Iwi Trust.
The wānanga, a week-long educational pursuit, is designed to advance the personal and cultural development of rangatahi through self-motivation, outdoor pursuits and traditional values. This year, the wānanga involved spending a week in the Abel Tasman National Park, undertaking mentally and physically challenging activities.
Throughout the week, and with these activities, it was a great opportunity for the young men to learn the history of their tūpuna and tikanga (customs) and connect to their culture, language, whenua (land), as well as each other.
The wānanga also taught these young men what the traditional male roles were in Māori society, as well as what it means to be a good role model, thanks to engaging discussions with strong male role models and kaiako (teachers) from the community. These Kaiako on the wānanga made a contribution to the next generation, by supporting the boys’ learning, and teaching them leadership skills. Of the kaiako on the wānanga, three were also NRAIT owners; Eruera Keepa, Bentham Ohia and Tairoa Morrison (pictured below).
All attendees of the wānanga were kindly gifted a Wakatū hoodie, and our NRAIT owners will be receiving their NRAIT basketball singlets in the mail. NRAT has been supporting its members in the experience since 2012.
Wai ora - The significance of our awa
“Rivers are the veins of Papatūānuku, Earth Mother, and the water in them is her lifeblood. Rivers nourish all living beings and link us with ancestors.”
Water is the essence of all life, it is the blood of Mother Earth (Papatūānuku) that supports all people, plants and wildlife. It is a significant part of our culture, as it played a large role in how our tūpuna travelled, lived and survived.
As a source of mahinga kai, a place to collect materials and hāngi stones, as well as being access routes and a means of travel, rivers hold significance for not only for our ancestors, but for us today. Our tūpuna valued rivers and waterways as they were in close proximity of other wāhi tapu, settlements or other historic sites. Many of our people settled near rivers for these reasons.
Not only are rivers and waterways practical, but they also form a large, necessary part of our tribal identity, with many particular rivers and waterways playing a significant role in tribal stories.
Te Puna o Riuwaka (Riuwaka river)
Just 16km out of Motueka, in the Kahurangi National Park, you can find the Riuwaka river. Te Puna (meaning spring of water) o Riuwaka is where the northern branch of the Riuwaka river rises from the Tākaka Hill. The pure water flows underground through limestone caves and marble rocks beneath the Takaka Hill, and pours into a deep, clear pool. The river continues flowing down the hill, running into many pools along the way such as the Crystal Pool. Not only is Te Puna o Riuwaka a place of natural beauty, it is also wāhi tapu for our people. It is a sacred, supernatural place where our tūpuna would visit. Many of our ancestors lived along the Riuwaka river, and would visit Te Puna o Riuwaka, to sustain their spirits as well as cleanse and heal their bodies.
Read more on the healing waters of Te Puna o Riuwaka here.
Motueka river
As with the Riuwaka river, the Motueka river runs through rough hill terrain, with its source at Mount Owen, it then flows down towards Tasman Bay. The river is a large part of Motueka and our Whakarewa lands. Many of the occupied land areas that were wrongly sold to the New Zealand Company were alongside the river. Motueka river is commonly used for recreational purposes such as fishing, swimming and kayaking. Check out this video from Motueka High School, with some students kayaking down the awa.
Make sure you incorporate your awa/roto/moana (river/lake/sea), that you affiliate with in your mihi. If you aren’t quite sure, reach out to extended NRAIT whānau, a kaumatua, or send us an email: info@nrait.co.nz
To include your awa into your mihi, say ‘Ko Riuwaka te awa’ or ‘Ko Motueka te awa’. You could also mention your roto (lake) and/or your moana (sea).
Coming home
It is important to our history and culture to grow and develop in the place you belong. Traditionally, that is our tūrangawaewae, and for Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa hapū, that is the Whakarewa lands of Motueka.
Traditionally hapū would stay in the rohe of their marae and move together, but today we move around so easily, and as a result, we live throughout Aotearoa and the world. Even though we’ve spread, we encourage Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust members to reconnect and return home in the hope that members develop a sense of unity and belonging, deepen their connection and embrace the legacy of our tūpuna.
This year, Jeremy decided to move himself and his whānau back home to Te Tau Ihu from Wellington. Which means his tamariki will grow up alongside their cousins, as well as learn more about their tūpuna. Reconnecting with the whenua and their whānau is important to Jeremy.
Check out this video, and listen to his kōrero about how being home and reconnected has impacted him and his whānau.
The Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust Board - Our kōrero
The Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust Board represents a hapū made up of unique members from two iwi, Ngāti Rārua and Te Ātiawa. The members of the hapū are unique because they all descend from a key group of 109 tūpuna, the original owners of the Whakarewa lands in Motueka.
As a Trust today, we own, manage and nurture the land holdings on behalf, and for the benefit of the hapū. But we haven’t always been here, in fact we are a result of hundreds of challenging years. This is our story of how we got here.
Origins
The origins of our Trust lie deep within the history of our lands. On October 1841, a hui was held on the shores of Kaiteriteri beach involving 12 Motueka Chiefs and members of The New Zealand Company (the Europeans).
This was a defining moment in our timeline as it marked the day where a promise was made to us that a particular area of land, Te Maatu, would remain ours. The Europeans were granted the right to settle, but not to take all the land, and more certainly, this specific area of land.
It was 12 years later when the land was officially taken by Governor George Grey for the purpose of building a school. He made two Crown Grants to the Bishop of New Zealand, which saw the transfer of 1078 acres of our land that belonged to our ancestors in Motueka given to the Anglican Church. These lands become known as the Whakarewa Estates and the Trust established to manage the estate was known as the Whakarewa School Trust Board.
Although individual Ngāti Rārua and Te Ātiawa descendants were recognised as being the rightful land owners, their permission and compensation was not sought or given for this land transfer, and so began our fight, our struggle and our hardship over the next five to six generations to have our tūrangawaewae returned to us.
We fought by way of submissions, petitions and deputations, which resulted in three major investigations into rightful land ownership.
Yet our lands continued to remain in the hands of Whakarewa School Trust Board.
In the early 1980s, the Ngāti Rārua Council brought up the issue of ownership of the land when the Whakarewa School Trust Board underwent yet another restructure. It was found that the way the property was being used at the time was not in line with what was stated in the Trust deed.
Finally, we started to make some ground.
Support from many Pākehā and Māori people assisted the cause, and in the early 1990s dialogue opened between the Anglican Church and manawhenua tribes.
Whakarewa belongs to us
The efforts of our ancestors were rewarded in 1993 when the Honourable Doug Kidd sponsored a Private Members Bill to return the Whakarewa Estate to the rightful Ngāti Rārua and Te Ātiawa ki Motueka descendants. Nearly 137 years later, the ownership of the lands and assets were returned to the descendants of the original owners, thanks to the passing of this bill. The act called the Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust Empowering Act 1993, established the Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust Board we have today.
Prospering but not forgetting
Just like the Whakarewa School Trust Board who had a deed to follow, we too have the same in the form of our Empowering Act. It sets out the purpose of the Trust and the nature of the benefits we provide to the owners of this land.
We separate our work into two sections – asset management and investment so that we can continue thriving and providing benefits to our owners, and the social and cultural arm which assists our owners in areas of education, sporting ambitions and cultural events. Our focus is to provide the Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa ki Motueka hapū with a hand up to achieving their goals and aspirations.
We are proud to be able to continue providing benefits to our members and ensure they have a great quality of life, while recognising the struggles of our tūpuna.
That’s why it’s important to continue telling this kōrero, so the next generation, and the generation after it, know what happened to our tūpuna, why Motueka is important to us as a hapū and to know that together, we are stronger.
To learn more about our kōrero you can read the history stories on our website, or read more from our blog.
Hanareia Ehau-Taumaunu – 2015 Post Graduate Scholarship Recipient
During the current three-month period of our education funding programme (1 June – 31 August), we received a wonderful update from one of our previous recipients on how they have progressed in their education journey so far. Our latest blog is to share NRAIT owner Hanareia Ehau-Taumaunu’s kōrero on what she’s been up to.
In 2015, Hanareia received the NRAIT Post Graduate Scholarship after graduating her Bachelor of Science in biological science, and a Bachelor of Arts in Māori studies and writing. After completing her Bachelor’s degrees, she began studying a Master of Science at The University of Auckland.
Hanareia has just recently received her final grade for her Masters, from these results she will be awarded a Masters in Biological Sciences with First Class Honours. Not only did she achieve this with a top grade, Hanareia was also recently awarded the Fulbright Science and Innovation Graduate Award for 2017 at a ceremony at Parliament.
Hanareia and her whānau at Parliament in June to receive her Fulbright Award.
During her studies, she took a variety of papers based in plant biology, biotechnology, plant pathology and protein interactions. In her research, Hanareia spent time working alongside the Next generation bio pesticides programme, which is aiming to develop environmentally safe alternatives to pesticides currently used to control insect pests and diseases that limit productivity in the pastoral and horticultural sectors.
As Hanareia puts it, this area of study is beneficial to Māori, especially for Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa ki Motueka hapū, as our whenua is fertile land for growing kai, and diseases and insect pests can have a devastating impact.
“Take all the opportunities that come to you and do not be afraid to seek them out yourselves. Putting myself out there and connecting to people is the best thing I have done to further my career and networks in science. Always give back to those that have helped you on your journey and inspire those that will be ngā rangatira o āpōpō. Connecting science and Māoritanga can give you a uniqueness that is desired in Aotearoa and is needed to assist Māori iwi, hapū and whānau to grow and support their goals and aspirations.
I would like to once again thank NRAIT and whānau for the support I received, as it without a doubt allowed me to pursue my goals and the fantastic outcome for my MSc.
Hanareia hopes that one day Māori scientists will be leading the charge on many fronts to ensure Māori are being heard and represented. Protecting our taonga species and crops are important in a world that is constantly changing and new threats are forming.
You can read more about Hanareia’s journey here.
This isn’t the final step in Hanareia’s education. Next month she will be travelling over to America to pursue her PhD in Plant Pathology at Penn State University.
Whakamihi Hanareia, NRAIT and your whānau are extremely whakahī (proud), and we’re grateful to you for sharing this kōrero.
We are proud to continue our support for our hapū’s education pathways. Through our education funding programme NRAIT owners can apply to receive grants for anything from trades training through to post graduate degrees like Hanaeria. To apply for an education scholarship or grant click here.