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Māori music is hitting the mainstream

Māori music is everywhere. It’s on airplanes, at the café, in the gym, at your local supermarket, in your earpods, all over Instagram and TikTok. It’s not by chance, either. Long carried by the Iwi Radio Network, waiata reo Māori have made a reinvigorated transition into mainstream consciousness with the support of a strategic campaign led by master orchestrator and visionary, Dame Hinewehi Mohi (Ngāti Kahungunu, Tūhoe).Passionate about growing the repertoire of waiata reo Māori, ...

Annual drowning figures

New Zealand has hit its worst annual drowning rate in a decade – with three days of the year left.Provisional statistics from Water Safety New Zealand show 91 preventable drownings in 2022.Recent deaths include a 69-year-old American tourist who was found unresponsive after snorkelling at popular north Auckland beach Goat Island on Wednesday.Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and the incident will be referred to the coroner, a police spokesperson said.Link to video and article: Annu...

Is it appropriate to sell kākahu

The sight of a traditional Māori kākahu (cloak) being sold in a tourist souvenir shop “chafes a bit”, one university professor says.Two styles of kākahu, made out of feathers, were on display in the shop window of Christchurch’s At the Square this week, and sell for $400 each.The owner of the central Christchurch shop refused to answer questions about the traditional cloaks but said they were not purchased from iwi. A sales assistant in the shop said they were made in Rotorua.Māori kā...

Seven rescues in a week leave Hawke’s Bay lifesavers

Hawke’s Bay surf lifesavers are wary of a new year rush on beaches after a busy first week of the season saw them conduct seven rescues on beaches south of Cape Kidnappers.All seven rescues from Christmas Eve to Thursday were at monitored sites at Waimārama and Ocean Beach, while the three other sites Waipatiki, Westshore and Ahuriri Beach have yet to have any significant dramas.Brendon Hamilton-Gibbs, Surf Life Saving regional guard supervisor for Hawke’s Bay, said as well as the rescues, ...

Documentary follows four whānau

A documentary project has been following the lives of four Maori children since they were born in 2000.The Whānau documentary series first broadcast 22 years ago when the four babies were born.It revisited them at ages seven and 14, and now the latest installment meets the cohort as they turn 21. Whānau is the brain-child of veteran TV producer Kay Ellmers, who was fed-up with the negative representation of Maori young people in mainstream media.She speaks to Kathryn along with one o...

Transliteration and

Tomorrow being Christmas Day, it might be appropriate to wish readers “Meri Kirihimete” – and follow this up with some comment.“Meri Kirihimete” of course, is a transliteration of English words.Transliterating means endeavouring to replicate the sounds of one language in the sound-system of another – and consideration of this example offers an opportunity for reviewing the basics of the sound-system of te reo.Link to article: Transliteration and the sound-system of te reo | Stuf...

Study to investigate importance of Mātauranga Māori

A study in mid-2023 is exploring the biosecurity decision-making processes aligned with Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles, cultural values and mātauranga.The study’s findings will be used to consider ways to improve cultural decision making so that “Māori values and mātauranga can be carefully implemented in a robust, consistent and meaningful way”, says University of Canterbury senior lecturer Sascha Mueller.“Mātauranga can provide valuable insights when meeting biosecurity challenges...

Too many Māori and Asian people are drowning –

With summer here, families and tourists will flock to New Zealand's beaches, rivers and lakes to paddle, swim, surf, fish, boat and kayak. But despite our love of the water, New Zealanders have a terrible record of drowning deaths.Last summer was the worst year for drownings in a decade. Our ten-year average beach and coastal drowning rate is 44 percent per capita higher than Australia's. According to Water Safety NZ chief executive Daniel Gerrard, "Drowning is the leading cause of recreational ...

The tragedy of being Māori

My family are the only Māori in South Taranaki who can’t sing. Perhaps there’s a gene we’re missing or our tongues are too fat for our mouths. Either way, long drives have always been a problem. Here is how the public has described Carpool Karaoke with the Ngarewas: “Couldn’t tell what was them or their worn brake pads.”“I felt like Beyonce by comparison.”“The audible equivalent of stepping on glass.”Waiata is a significant part of Māori culture. Whether sharing kai in...

NYE:

Police in Wanaka have bought in a rugby giant to hammer home the message of keeping young people safe this New Year’s Eve.Sir Steve Hansen has fronted a video targeting teenagers from Christchurch secondary schools in an effort to reduce the amount of alcohol-related harm experienced in Wanaka over the New Year period.In the past few years, hundreds of Christchurch teenagers have converged on the town to ring in the new year, and with that has come more alcohol-related harm.Many of the inciden...

Kōrero is key to learning te reo,

For mana wahine and reo expert Pānia Papa (Ngāti Korokī-Kahukura, Ngāti Mahuta), the journey of te reo Māori revitalisation has paralleled her life experience.Read this story in te reo Māori and English here. / Pānuitia tēnei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki konei.Over the past 30 years, Papa has been a television presenter, language consultant, language teacher, curriculum and resource developer, adult performing group leader, translator and language strategy and education programm...

Vandals destroy indigenous

The indigenous art in the Koonalada Caves in Australia has been destroyed by vandals.The art dates back 22,000 years and is sacred to the First Nations people of Australia.News.com.au reported the people who destroyed the art, allegedly dug under a steel gate earlier in the year and destroyed a section of the finger-marked cave art at the heritage site.Link to video and article: Vandals destroy indigenous 22,000-year-old Australian cave art | Newshub...

Te Urewera hut case

The Tūhoe settlement entity, Te Uru Taumatua, says responding to a High Court injunction to stop the demolition of Te Urewera huts may cost $200,000.On November 9 the High Court at Rotorua ordered an immediate halt to the destruction of 48 huts following an application by Wharenui Clyde Tuna of Tūhoe, who was concerned about the loss of access to use the huts “as a base for food gathering, recreational and cultural purposes”. He said Te Uru Taumatua failed to consult on its plan.Justice Ma...

2022 in review:

He ao hou, he ao hangarau. This year has seen a strong presence of digital elements infused within our Te Karere stories.Link to videos: 2022 in review: Kaupapa Māori hit big online (1news.co.nz)...

Oranga Tamariki,

longtime Oranga Tamariki employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, explains why she could no longer work for the state child protection agency and says despite being well-funded, the money is not being used where it’s needed most.I have spent more than half of my life working for the government, beginning with the Department of Social Welfare in 1980. I left Oranga Tamariki this year when I found I could no longer have my integrity as a social worker compromised by the organisation.I have exte...

2022 in Review:

TVNZ's Te Karere takes a look at some of the major issues in Te Ao Māori and how they made a significant difference for Māori.Te Aka Whai Ora is bornThis year saw a major shake-up in the country's health system.Twenty District Health Boards were amalgamated into one and the Māori Health Authority, known as Te Aka Whai Ora, was established.Chair Tipa Mahuta said an authority like this has been a goal for Te Ao Māori for a very long time.“Kua pau te kotahi rau tau tātau e whai ake i te hauo...

High Court halts proceedings of 501 deportee case

The High Court has granted a stay in proceedings for a bombshell decision which ruled a 501 deportee should not be subject to specialised bail conditions.Justice Andru Isac decision tonight follows that of Justice Cheryl Gwyn’s on Tuesday.Justice Gwyn ruled that a former drug dealer, known as G, deported from Australia in 2019 should not be subject to special conditions including residing at a particular address, supplying fingerprints and DNA, and attending a rehabilitative assessment or trea...

Locals want longest place name sign removed,

A much-photographed and (somewhat) famous sign celebrating the world’s longest place will be staying put for now after the council that owns it and a local whānau, which wants the sign removed and replaced with a new sign on their own private property, agreed to taihoa on next steps until next year.The sign tells of the story behind the name of a nearby hill: Taumatawhakatangi­hangakoauauotamatea­turipukakapikimaunga­horonukupokaiwhen­uakitanatahu.Peggy Scott, whose whānau owns the priva...

Māori research to benefit from

Whānau are set to benefit from a multimillion-dollar research grant aimed at developing Māori-led wellbeing programmes and tikanga-based play spaces.It will see Otago University’s Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare, a kaupapa Māori health research centre based in Wellington, partner with three Māori community organisations, alongside international indigenous collaborators led by theJohns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health over a five-year period.The group received more than $40 mill...

Māori sites of significance

Relief is in sight for a number of West Coast property owners who found their land had been mistakenly captured in mapping errors for sites of significance to Māori in the proposed Te Tai o Poutini Plan (TTPP).The errors are mainly around Paroa Lagoon, affecting parts of Gladstone, and at Cashmere Bay on Lake Brunner.Poutini Ngāi Tahu had asked that those sites only extend to the waterway and foreshore.However a number of private properties had been mistakenly included and the owners advised t...

A lot of these young people are actually hurting too’,

A Hamilton youth organisation manager says more measures need to be put in place to help troubled young people rather than just having an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.There has been a spate of crimes in Waikato and four young people have so far been arrested after three burglaries, a home invasion, a car theft and shots fired at police early on Monday morning.Another six young people are being tracked down in connection to the offences, and the mayor of Waipā has sped up plans to instal...

Horrific child abuse case

Oranga Tamariki’s review of a horrific case of child abuse has found that staff should not have taken information from whānau at face value and should have explored contradictory information in greater depth.The Ministry has, under the Official Information Act, provided its practice analysis summary carried out following a brutal assault by a Hawke’s Bay couple that left a 4-year-old boy fighting for his life in January 2020.The boy’s father, Whare Ramsey, 28, was jailed for three years a...

Māori undercounted and under-resourced

A report released in the New Zealand Medical Journal confirms what Māori health providers and social services organisations have long been saying: Māori were undercounted by the Ministry of Health, thereby under-resourced in the health sector - and justifies their decision to take and beat the ministry in court.The NZMJ report outlines that Māori who had not been to a GP were not included in vaccination targets.“We need better leadership, co-ordination and accountability to improve ethnicit...

Rotorua teen to become

Koan Hemana of Rotorua Boys' High School will study at Harvard College in Boston, US, with the hope of eventually getting into its prestigious post-grad medical school.The dire shortage of Māori medical practitioners was what drove him to be of service to his local community, he said."I'm very passionate about Māori health inequities. We dominate the wrong side of health in this country, suffering more from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, suicide and things like that. I've witnessed that wit...

A teen girl reveals

An Auckland teenager says inadequate mental health help in New Zealand has robbed her of years of her life. Bridgette, now sixteen, was a happy but shy child. She had a close group of friends and enjoyed socialising.But by the time she was 11, she was struggling with severe anxiety and was referred to the Kari Centre for help.Things went from bad to worse when she developed anorexia and was transferred to Starship Children's Hospital after she lost 26 percent of her body weight in just four...