Please see feedback given from Sharleen Morton who recently secured funding from the Ngāi Tahu Fund for a whānau reunion.

The Hamuera and Kauriki Reuben Reunion from 18-20 March at Tuahiwi Marae was a huge success. Around 100 whānau members attended – this exceeded our estimated number and we had whānau come from as far as Western Australia and Queensland plus others attended from all over New Zealand. Four of the remaining children of Hamuera and Kauriki attended the reunion and they met whānau they never knew existed.

During the reunion we did all of our own cooking and cleaning, this helped us to form new bonds as a whānau and reconnect with each other. We were able to introduce our tamariki to the marae and we taught them some of the protocols and tikanga.

Ngāi Tahu Whakapapa Unit Manager, Arapata Reuben and Dr Terry Ryan came out to the reunion and everybody was really interested in their knowledge and everything they had to say regarding whakapapa. They also traced our whakapapa back to the North Island and they gave us some history on how we ended up down here in Te Waipounamu. With assistance from the Whakapapa team, we compiled four to five generations of whakapapa for each of the 18 children of Hamuera and Kauriki Reuben. These whakapapa records will ensure our whakapapa files are up-to-date and valid.

The reunion was such a positive experience for all who attended – we are already being asked when we will hold the next one, and our Uncle wants to hold another reunion in the North Island.

We would like to thank the Ngāi Tahu Fund for their support towards our reunion. We have told people that the Ngāi Tahu Fund helped to cover the marae hire fee. The Ngāi Tahu Fund came through for us and we found the funding/application process really easy.

Reuben Reunion 2016 1

Reuben Reunion 2016

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