Kia ora whānau
Spring has finally arrived and we hope those whitebaiters among you are enjoying a bountiful harvest. It is hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. Talking of Christmas, please mark in your diary 15 December as our whānau Christmas lunch. More information to come.
If you have enjoyed a birthday in the last month or have new additions to your whānau, congratulations and very best wishes for the year ahead.
Over the last month the executive komiti have been busy attending and organizing hui. Takutai O Te Tītī Marae has been utilised for a number of these hui and another working trip to Rarotoka has taken place.
Hei pēpi hou
Welcome to Callan Jason Harrington, son of Alana Harrington, who was born at Queen Mary Maternity Hospital in Dunedin, on 8 August, weighing 1.510kg. Baby Callan Jason is the eigth generation of the Howell family of Riverton.
He is descended from Captain John Howell and his second wife, Caroline Brown of Fairlight Station, Riverton. Callan is pictured here with his mother, Alana, his grandmother, Monique Evans and his great-grandmother, Dinah Harrington.
From left, Alana Harrington, Dinah Harrington, baby Callan Jason Harrington and Monique Evans.
Membership
We are making some changes to the format of our membership database. This has involved an alignment of all our current registered members with those on the Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu database. Naturally this exercise has produced a few anomalies due to some members updating on one but not the other system. We are now looking at how best to share the information we have, in order to keep this information as accurate as possible. So if you have recently changed your contact details please let us know.
We also have a number of “historic” members. These are people who have been involved with the rūnaka for many years and are accepted as members but have never been through the formal registration process with either Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu (TRoNT) or Ōraka Aparima Rūnaka. We ask that, if any of your whānau are in this category, that you take the necessary steps to help them get registered. If you are registered with TRoNT and you whakapapa to Ōraka Aparima then please register with us. The registration forms can be obtained through the office.
Annual general meeting
The Ōraka Aparima Rūnaka Inc annual general meeting will be held at Takutai o Te Tītī Marae at Ōraka/Colac Bay on Sunday 10 November at 10am.
Research hui
Te Rūnaka o Ōraka Aparima and Waihōpai Rūnaka met with University of Waikato researchers on 27 August, at Takutai o Te Tītī Marae, Ōraka. The hui was organised to discuss a project called ‘Te Mata Ira,’ which is led by Te Kotahi Research Institute (University of Waikato), who are investigating Māori views on biobanking and genomic research. The overall aim of the research is to develop guidelines that will contribute to the protection of Māori interests in this area.
The hui was facilitated by the project’s principal investigator, Maui Hudson, and also Khyla Russell, who is part of the Te Mata Ira research team. Fourteen members of the rūnaka attended and there has been a committment from the research team to return to present on the progress of the guidelines, and possibly support the development of iwi policies on biobanking and genomic research.
From Kyla Russell
The evening before the hui, it was nice to meet with Lynley at the office and the members who popped in and out during our time there. Also Lynley, thank you for getting the accommodation for us. I had stayed there but it was in the other unit, Abalone. Eleanor Murphy also attended with me, as both my driver and one of the small number who met the team early this year when Maui and Kim were down for a university seminar.