Ka pai tamariki mā

He pēpi

The Tūrei-Taukiri whānau welcomed baby Isaiah Braxton Tangaroa Taukiri, who was born in Brisbane on 16 November. He is the son of Ramari and Riki and another treasured moko, nephew, cousin and wee brother for Navarah, Te Aoturoa and Trayvahn. Congratulations whānau – kā mihi aroha ki a koutou.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Josh Blair, who received the Te Ngātoroirangi Te Awara award at his senior prizegiving, on 3 November. It is an award presented to a senior Māori male student in recognition of overall academic success.

Josh is 17 and is in year 13 at Newlands College, in Wellington. He is a quiet achiever who gets on well with his peers. He is funny, intelligent and kind.  He is the kind of person who doesn’t always seem to put in 100 per cent.  It can be frustrating to see that he achieves but doesn’t realise that his potential is far greater than what he actually puts forward.

Josh has already begun his NCEA Level 3 exams and will gain more credits to go towards furthering his education at a higher level at Victoria University, where he will study towards a Bachelor of Commerce. Nā Vanessa Thomas.

Basketball success

We would like to celebrate the success of one of our North Island-based tamariki, Kopere Tanoa. He is the son of Terry Tanoa and Tess Petley, eldest grandchild of Ruth and Anton Tanoa, and great-grandson of Lorna Waitai Wanhalla (née Brown) of Ngāti Moki, Taumutu.

Kopere is only 12 but he has already racked up sporting successes. He is a member of the Whanganui U13 and U15 representative touch teams but his main passion is basketball. Kopere’s love for the game is evident in the amount of time he spends training to become stronger, faster and more skilled as a player. His hard work and commitment is paying off.

Father and son are the proud coach and captain respectively, of the unbeatable Wanganui Intermediate School boys’ basketball team, which has been a consecutive winner of the local intermediate A grade competition this year. The team recently travelled to Tauranga to compete in the 2014 NZCT International Aims Games Tournament. Out of the 36 competing teams they finished in sixth place and Kopere was selected for the tournament team.

Kopere is also captain of the Palmerston North U13 Boys Basketball team. They travelled to Dunedin in October, to compete in the National U13 Basketball Tournament. There were 16 competing teams and they came third, and once again, Kopere was selected for the tournament team.

From this tournament and his efforts during the year, he has been selected for the New Zealand Koru Tour to Albury, Australia, to compete in the Australia Country Cup. This is a huge honour and an amazing achievement for a boy his age.

Kopere is an all-rounder, balancing his sporting success with leadership and academic success. He is class leader of his year eight class at Wanganui High School and he is also a house captain. He will be attending Cullinane College next year, as a joint recipient of the 2015 Junior Sports Scholarship.

Kopere is a very humble and talented young man who is an excellent role model for his two younger brothers, Kalem-Billy 10, and Jacey, eight, who are both following in his footsteps. He coaches both junior touch and basketball teams in order to give back to the sport that has given him so much. His advice to other Ngāi Tahu rangatahi is to work hard, never give up and chase your dreams. He has a quote on his wall, from his favourite basketball player, Kevin Durant. It says, ‘Hard work beats talent – when talent fails to work hard.’

Well done Kopere. You are our taonga. We are very proud of you and your whānau for the love and support they give you. We wish Kopere well this month as he travels to Palmerston North to compete against other touch rugby teams from Taranaki, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, Horowhenua and Wellington, in the Junior IPS Tournament.

Hīkoi to China

Kia ora, my name is Tahu Russell and I am a 16-year-old student at Kaiapoi High School. I am a mokopuna of the late Maurice Nutira and son of Paul and Sharon Russell.

In September, I was honoured to be selected as one of the six students to travel to China. Eighty-five schools nominated students for this trip, so I felt very humbled to have been selected. I was the only Māori student selected, so I was extremely proud to share my heritage with the Chinese students in the town of Chengdu, in Sichuan province.

With only two weeks’ notice, I would have struggled to have been able to make this life changing trip without the support of Taumutu Rūnanga. The purpose of the trip was to strengthen the alliance between Ōtautahi and the Sichuan province and to promote education in Ōtautahi, in the hope more Chinese students might travel here to further their education.

Being my first trip away from home it was a huge adjustment. There was the obvious language barrier, which proved difficult at times and the change in diet was definitely interesting. I travelled to school each day in a tuk-tuk and the school hours were from 7.30am until 8.30pm. As you can imagine, they were huge days, which made me appreciate my own New Zealand school schedule.

Some of the highlights of my trip were meeting students of other nationalities who were boarding at the schools in the Sichuan province, spending the day at the panda sanctuary and shopping in Shanghai. The most memorable moment for me was when I stood proud and taught 1200 Chinese students the All Black haka, Ka mate – my chest bled and I had no voice for four days but the incredible response I received made it all worthwhile and I had never been prouder to be Māori.

I will never forget this experience and it has only strengthened my desire to travel more and share my te reo and my Kāi Tahu heritage with as many people, from as many countries as I can. This is just the beginning of my journey.

Taylor’s trip to Japan

I studied Japanese for three years and I absolutely loved it. Everything about the culture and the language fascinated me, and I was given an amazing opportunity to visit Japan.

On 1 July, myself and 14 other Hornby High School students embarked on a trip of a lifetime to Sendai, Japan. We were in Sendai for two weeks, where we stayed with host families and attended our sister school, Tokiwagi Gakuen High School.

While in Japan, we visited Japanese landmarks, made friends, tasted new food and made unforgettable memories. This was my second time visiting Japan and it gave me the opportunity to experience many new things.

Once the two weeks came to an end, we took a bullet train down to Tokyo and spent the day at Disneyland. We then flew back to New Zealand and had a stop-over in Singapore for a couple of days.

Japan opened my eyes to culture and experiences that I was completely unfamiliar with and I have now discovered a love for travelling. It has inspired me to travel the world when I am older.

I will definitely return to Japan one day, in the hope of discovering new things and revisiting old friends. I couldn’t have done this without the help of Te Taumutu Rūnanga and I’m so thankful for the opportunity. Nā Taylor Polwart (Teihoka whānau).

Kura kaupapa birthday

Rūnaka members were invited to the recent 20th anniversary celebrations of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti. A moving part of the celebration was during the pōwhiri when whakaahua (photographs) of deceased kaumātua who had been supporters of the kura were brought onto the kura. The Parata whānau were among those who brought a photograph of their pōua, Barney Taiapa.

Activities on the day included a hāngī, kapa haka performances, a uniform fashion parade, stalls, games, mirimiri and weaving. It was a pleasure to hear the former pupils who had attended the kura in the earliest days recall their memories – all in te reo Māori.

Although the kura has had its ups and downs it has recently received an excellent Education Review Office report. And the roll has climbed to 25 pupils – its highest point in more than a decade. Many Puketeraki Rūnaka members have been supporters of the kura over the years, so it is gratifying that the kura is now growing. The kura is being led by tūmuaki, Tiahuia Kawe-Small with support from board chair, Tori Campbell, who was once the rūnaka co-ordinator for our LEOTC programme in its early days. Tori is now a KMK co-ordinator and her son, Tūmai attends the kura. Rā whānau ki a koe, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti.

Rangatahi success

On 31 October, the 14th Mana Pounamu Young Achievers Awards were held in Dunedin. Forty-one pupils from Otago won awards, recognising both achievement and potential of rakatahi Māori. Josh Arana Hill (Ngāi Tahu nō Awarua Rūnanga, Ngāpuhi) was a recipient and he also received a Hands-on Science Scholarship, which enables him to attend Otago University for one week during the holidays with all accommodation and course fees covered; the scholarship is valued at $650.

We are very proud of Josh’s achievements and thoroughly enjoyed being part of the awards, celebrating all of the students achievements throughout Otago.

Josh was also recently invited to be a part of an upcoming Highlanders Under 17 Rugby programme.

We would like to include the letter, which Josh’s deputy school principal kindly wrote. Nā Nicky and Allan (parents) and Diane Hill (Grandmother).

School endorsement letter for Joshua
Josh is a Year 11 student at South Otago High School (SOHS). He is currently undertaking full studies for NCEA Level 1 English, mathematics, science, geography, accounting and economics. He has gained all of his available credits to date at merit and excellence level and is well on his way to achieving his academic goals of both subject and overall endorsements at Level 1.

Josh has been heavily involved in the wider realm of school life. Within his leadership role as a sports captain he has been a school haka leader. He was also the designated haka leader for his house, Blaikie House, in the recent Interhouse haka and waiata competition. Josh takes his cultural roles seriously and is always happy to help out.

Josh is also an outstanding all-round sportsman, having represented SOHS in a range of sports, most notably cricket, athletics and rugby.

Josh has performed with distinction in athletics, where he has represented the school at regional and South Island level. This year, Josh broke a long-standing school record for discus at the SOHS athletics day. He is also the SOHS U15 athletics champion.

Josh was a member of the high performing SOHS 1st XV in 2014, having also played age grade rugby within the club. He was a starting member of this year’s team, a significant achievement for a Year 11 student. He was also the captain of the SOHS U15 team, which won the recent South Island U15 Junior Rugby Tournament in Queenstown.

He led the team superbly and was rewarded by being selected in the overall tournament team. This was Josh’s third trip to this tournament, having been in both the 2012 and 2013 squads also.

Josh has also represented Otago Country in age-grade rugby at secondary school, having played in the U14 team, which won the South Island age-grade tournament in Invercargill last year. This year he was a member of the Country U16 team and they participated in the South Island Tournament in October. In 2013, Josh was also awarded the Southern Region (South West Otago) U15 player of the year and most promising junior player.

Josh is always personable and wholly reliable. He takes his academic studies and sports training very seriously and has a strong motivation to be the best young man he can be.

Although quiet in nature, he serves as a much respected role model within the junior school and is therefore a very worthy recipient for this award. Nā Greg Heller, deputy principal of South Otago High School.

Kura Reo Kāi Tahu

Tēnā koutou kā pākaiahi o kā hapori katoa, huri noa i te motu. He karaka tēnei ki kā whānau reo Māori. Nau mai, karapinepine mai anō i raro i tō tātou korowai o te reo Māori. Hai te rā 12 ki te 16 o Iwa, ka tū te Kura Reo Kāi Tahu ki Arowhenua. He wānaka tēnei mō kā whānau kōrero Māori, he reo rumaki te wānaka nei. Ko te reo Māori te tino kaupapa kia tūhonohono ai a tamariki mā, a mātua mā, a pakeke mā hoki. Ki te hia haramai koe, kotahi atu ki tō tātou whāraki ipuraki www.kmk.maori.nz, ā, whakakīkīa te pepa whakauru, ā, whakahokia mai ki [email protected] ki tō tātou nei wāhi mahi rānei.

Arowhenua, Kāti Huirapa have been confirmed as our hosts for Kura Reo Kāi Tahu 2015, which will run from 12-16 January 2015.

Kura Reo Kāi Tahu is an opportunity for Kāi Tahu te reo speaking whānau to participate in an immersion learning environment that aims to teach specific Kāi Tahu reo, waiata, whakataukī, kīwaha, kōrero pūrakau and associated tikaka.

Kura Reo Kāi Tahu is aimed at intermediate and advanced learners who wish to increase and develop the quality and depth of their reo Māori skills.

It is essential that all tamariki are conversational in te reo and can cope within an immersion environment. Visit our website www.kmk.maori.nz to access the registration form. Please fill it in and return it to [email protected] or send registrations to KMK Advisor, PO Box 13046, Christchurch.

Iwi encouraged to ‘think ahead’ at Hui-ā-Tau

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Kaiwhakahaere, Tā Mark Solomon challenged Ngāi Tahu whānui to think out to 2050 at this year’s Hui-ā-Tau at Arahura. He said that post-Settlement the iwi had prepared a robust vision to take it to 2025 but as that was now only ten years away, the time had come to start thinking beyond the next decade.

This year’s Hui-ā-Tau coincided with the opening of the magnificent, new Ngāti Waewae whare tīpuna, Tūhuru, at Arahura, which was formally blessed at a dawn ceremony on 21 November, the day before the Hui-ā-Tau.

Around 500 Ngāi Tahu whānui braved the wet weather to support the kaupapa of this year’s event, which saw the introduction of three new concepts: live steaming where whānau could log-on to their personal computer or mobile device and view the Hui-ā-Tau from anywhere in the world; the Te Here and Te Apārangi wānanga, which allowed whānau to ask questions kanohi ki te kanohi; and the introduction of Ngāi Tahu cadets as kaimahi for the Hui-ā-Tau.

Speaking at the Te Here wānanga, Tā Mark said that while solid delivery of 2025 aspirations would continue – especially in the areas of culture and identity, environment, education, whānau wellbeing and Papatipu Rūnanga development – it was also important to consider what the world might look like for future generations and what the iwi needed to achieve for them.

“Technology is advancing rapidly and we will find unique ways to keep ourselves connected and grow our presence in the region and beyond,” Tā Mark said.

Despite cold winds and torrential rain, whānau were unanimous in their praise of both the whare tipuna opening and the Hui-ā-Tau kaupapa. The office of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu would like pass on its deepest gratitude to Ngāti Waewae for their many months of hard work, their manaakitanga and their coordination during both events. It was a memorable weekend.