Murihiku Polyfest 2015
It was another successful year for the team who ran the Murihiku Polyfest. This year the festival was run over four days at Stadium Southland. You can go online and check out photos from Polyfest. Ruffer Photography took many wonderful photos of all the schools that took part. You can find Ruffer Photography online or check out their Facebook page: http://rufferphotography.pixieset.com/
Newfield Park School. Photo credit to Ruffer Photography.
Fusion wānanga
We had another very successful fusion wānanga on 14-17 April. A total of 34 tamariki along with our kaiako, Miriama White and Shanita Mason also not forgetting our kaimahi Nelly Mason, Te Rua Mason, Caleb Robinson, Hamiria Hutana made our wānanga all the more successful.
We had the pleasure of welcoming the Department of Conservation and the Whitebait Connection Programme group to our wānanga for the week.
The Whitebait Connection (WBC) is a non-profit action based community conservation education programme offering concrete and specific ways in which all New Zealanders can come to understand and be involved in the future health of our local streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands.
Our tamariki really enjoyed the week learning more about the biodiversity of our waterways. We also had the pleasure of having Sampson Karst from Manu Media come along to help us document our week with a video of the week for our tamariki to deliver to our whānau on their performance day.
Our tamariki loved getting involved at the fusion wānanga.
A kaimahi presenting to the tamariki.
He pēpi
Nau mai, haere mai Neve Jovie Rose Witkowski, born 5 August weighing 8Ib 6oz. Congratulations Maggie Te Koeti and James Mark Witkowski.
Baby Neve with her Tāua, Bronwyn Te Koeti.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Dennis and Robert Kihi-Forsyth who have been selected for the West Coast U14 rugby representative team.
They have already played two games in the red and white jersey, with a loss to Buller and a win against Nelson Bays. The team have four more games to go. Ka pai kōrua.
Congratulations also to Dennise Robinson on her selection to participate in the Arsenal Football Club Gap Year Programme.
This is a huge opportunity for Dennise, who is a year and half into her Bachelor of Sports Coaching degree at the University of Canterbury.
She was selected out of thousands of applicants who apply internationally each year for this programme. Arsenal are one of the biggest football clubs in the world with over 100 million fans worldwide.
Dennise will go to Arsenal to learn and develop her coaching knowledge for five months, before being sent abroad to one of their partners to help develop football in that country. Examples of the countries involved are South Africa, Greece, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Israel.
The programme is not a paid one and Dennise will need to find a substantial amount of pūtea to cover the first two stages of the three-stage programme. It not only fits perfectly with her aspiration and future career goal of coaching at a national level, but is an opportunity too good to pass up. Karawhiua e te kōhine.
Dennis (right) and Robert.
Dennise with one of her teams.
Congratulations
Wairewa Rūnanga extends congratulations to Metua Cranwell, who won the sportsmanship trophy for the U7 Blue Northern Bulldogs (Kaiapoi).
Coached by Michael Tuuta, Metua scored six tries and one conversion during the season. Her team went on to win seven of their 14 games. Kei a koe Metua.
Wairewa Rūnanga also extends congratulations to Toby Simon who won the 2015 player of the year for the five-year-olds at Ōhoka Rugby Club. He scored numerous tries every game this year. Toby is the middle son of Belinda and Izaac Simon (son of Rei and Jill Simon).
Toby’s big brother Oli, who plays in the Ōhoka U7 grade, takes credit for teaching Toby how to play. Well done boys, you both must get your skills from your Pōua Rei.
Well done to Little River Primary who held their first pōhiri last month guided by Wairewa Whānau. Tau kē koutou, me mahi te mahi.
Wairewa Rūnanga wish you well for the coming rugby season.
Toby Simon.
Metua on the run.
Metua with her sportsmanship trophy.
Taiaha wānaka
A taiaha wānaka was held at Puketeraki Marae from 31 July to 2 August.
Tamariki in the early stages of their performance at the taiaha wānaka.
Rongomaitawhiti Parata-Taiapa and Piripi Matthews talking to the young warriors.
Noho marae for students
One of the bookings at the marae this month was Te Rangatahi o te Moana – year 11 marine biology high school students.
Peter Ellison commented on the interest from the rangatahi, including his daughter Samantha Ellison who took part along with students from Timaru South to Bluff.
This was a five-day wānanga run by the University of Otago with staff including Zoe Bristowe and Dr Joanne Baxter.
The noho marae was sponsored by Toni Evans who also doubled as top chef.
The students were split into four groups and studied benthic, oceanography, sharks and plankton. Three nights were spent on Quarantine Island and three days out on the Polaris II, which is based at the Portobello Marine Laboratory and skippered by Bill Dickson. They also spent a night (two days) in wānanga at Ōtākou. Our photos show the final wānanga in Tamatea with students making their presentations that were based on the past four-days findings.
Parents, staff and peers listen and watch one of the presentations.
From left, Tara Marshal, Teremoana Hamblin, Jayden Gallagher and Katherine Inder giving their findings on sharks.
Congratulations
In 2015, Zak Thomas (Ngāi Tahu) who lives within our Ōraka Aparima rohe, entered in the Language Perfect Worldwide Championships.
Zak,14, answered 7,433 questions earning him over 3,000 points, giving him a gold award and placing him in the top two percent of over 300,000 competitors worldwide.
He achieved the highest score by over 1,000 points in year nine Japanese at James Hargest College. Well done Zak.
Zak Thomas.
Wānaka
Following our earlier wānaka manu Aute (Te Anau) another was held at the rooms of Ngā Kete Mātauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust in Invercargill for some of our tamariki living in the city. It was a great afternoon with music, waiata, kōrero, craft, yummy kai and enthusiastic whānau learning with Tracey, Muriel and Merenia.
Tamariki with their creations.
Concentration time as the tamariki work on their designs.
Mōkihi wānanga
In early July, we were fortunate to be provided the opportunity through Riki Bennett and Te Kaunihera o Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland Council) to hold a mokihi/mogi wānanga at Arataki Visitor Centre in west Auckland, as part of the Auckland-wide Matariki celebrations.
This was part of the kaupapa of ‘sharing of knowledge’ and revitalisation of traditions/cultural practices of Matariki.
Nei rā te mihi no te ngākau ki te iwi o Te Ākitai Waiohua, hoki ki te iwi o Waikato, we wish to acknowledge the mana whenua /people of the land from which the raupo for building these mokihi was harvested. He mihi nui hoki, a big thank you also to the Auckland Airport staff members who helped with much of the harvesting.
The raupō for building the mokihi was kindly gifted to us at the Waitangi 175th anniversary celebrations in January 2015 in Auckland, by a roopu made up of Riki Bennett, Rewi Spraggon, Pita Turei, and Taiaha Hawke who were performing Ngā Pakiwaitara o Tamaki, Stories of Tamaki at that event. No reira, he mihi nui ki a koutou mo tēnei tautoko.
Approximately 25 participants, about half of whom were Ngāi Tahu were involved in the learning and building process throughout the day. The wānanga began with a karakia by Papa Bones Rissetto, then relevant mihimihi (greetings/acknowledgements) by Jonathan Sargisson, followed by a waiata and everyone taking part in whakawhanaungatanga by introducing themselves/doing a short mihi.
Bones and Jonathan gave a brief korero about the historical background of mokihi and then the skills demonstration and mahi of constructing ngā waka began.
Antony Thorpe (who studied mokihi at university and learnt from Ngāi Tahu kaumātua including Papa Bones) and his young whānau came along to help out and we had quite a few tamariki, some rangatahi as well as pakeke and kaumātua involved.
It was awesome kotahitanga with everyone working well together to produce a three person mokihi waka and a smaller christening mokihi.
We formally gifted the larger one to Te Kaunihera o Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland Council) and the Arataki Visitor Centre as a tohu of our gratitude for their awesome tautoko of the event. We carried the big waka up into the main part of the visitors centre to go on display.
Ka nui te mihi (anō) ki Te Kawerau a Maki mo to koutou manaakitanga ki a mātou. It meant a lot to us to have the blessing of Rewi Spraggon and the tangata whenua, Te Kawerau a Maki for this event and in general for our ongoing Ngāi Tahu events in their rohe: west Auckland and the Waitakere Ranges. Nō reira, ngā mihi nō te ngākau ki a koutou.
Papa Bones brought his usual high level of enthusiasm, knowledge and skill to teaching this kaupapa, as well as harvesting the harakeke flower stalks and leaves ready to take out there on his trailer. Papa you are a continual inspiration. Acknowledgments also go out to Maha Tomo, our official photographer for the day and to Mereana Robinson-Silbery and her sister Elizabeth Robinson for working wonders in the wharekai and present a stunning kai for everyone for lunch.
Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou ngā kaimahi katoa. He mihi nui hoki ki Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu mō ta rātou putea tautoko ki tēnei kaupapa. A big thank you to Te Rūnanga and the Ngāi Tahu Fund for contributing funding towards this event. Thank you also to anyone else I may have neglected to name here who contributed either directly or indirectly towards making this wānanga a success. Nō reira, ngā mihi nui, ngā mihi nō te ngākau ki a koutou katoa. Nā Jonathan Sargisson.
Whānau who attended the mōkihi wānanga.
Whānau testing out the mōkihi.
The Thorpe whānau and Leo Wilson.
Jonathan Sargisson holding harakeke for the mōkihi.
Papa Bones christening the waka.
Mokopuna reo o Arowhenua
The puna reo – Mokopuna Reo o Arowhenua, run under the much-valued guidance of Tāua Lavinia Reihana-Moemate – has been a familiar sight at the pā of Arowhenua since 2012.
The group, which currently includes 12 tamariki and a number of dedicated mātua, meet on a regular basis at the pā and out in the local community.
Kāi Tahu reo is used whenever they are together and their activities always include karakia, waiata and pepeha – for both tamariki and mātua. According to Tāua Lavinia, “Te reo o Tahu is important for our mokopuna and mātua – to hear our dialect, our tikaka, kawa and waiata, to have a sense of belonging to Te Hapa o Niu Tireni and the wairua of the pā.”
The group’s activities are based around whanaukataka, kotahitaka and mātauraka and provide relaxed and fun environments for whānau to learn and use te reo together. As well as supporting pōwhiri at the marae, the group’s recent outings have included visits to Waimate when they hosted their cultural kapa haka competitions, to the Aigantighe Art Gallery at Timaru to support the art exhibition of Tāua Moana Tipa, and to hear pūrākau at the Temuka Library.
The whānau of Mokopuna Reo o Arowhenua are also seasoned performers in the Korohi o te Pēpi section of the annual Flava Festival in Timaru and were once again well represented this year. Mokopuna Reo o Arowhenua is a past recipient of KMK Kāika Reo funding.
Mokopuna Reo o Arowhenua whānau; Tāua Lavinia, Ana Henry (front) Rona Brown, Tamatea Sheed, Otis Buckingham, Marama Harrison.