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'Nasty class politics':

Minister Michael Wood has lashed out at NZME's talkback station's use of an inorganic collection day photo as the main image on a story about a new Kainga Ora development being built in New Plymouth.Newstalk ZB host Heather du Plessis-Allan shared a piece on-air and online about the new development, titled 'I don't think they are being judgemental. I think they're being realistic'.In du Plessis-Allan's piece, she said locals "have very good reason to oppose it and should continue to oppose it an...

Māori students earn opportunity of a lifetime

They have been awarded Te Ara a Kupe Beaton Scholarship, which aims to support tauira Māori to gain entrance into the world's most competitive tertiary education providers.Each student receives mentoring and education services up to $20,000 to help them gain entrance into their dream course at their dream university - helping them pave the way for more Māori representation within tertiary education on the word stage.Lytton High head prefect Rhiannon Kapa wants to use the scholarship to become ...

The Taranaki school melding

Mixing Māori traditions with the booming world of e-sports is one way a Taranaki college is weaving Te Tiriti o Waitangi into the fabric of student learning.A key focus at New Plymouth’s Spotswood College is digital fluency and finding ways to bridge the technology divide, which exists between home and school for some whānau.Principal Nicola Ngarewa said the Education and Training Act puts Te Tiriti o Waitangi at the forefront of learning and there was an expectation on schools to deliver cu...

It's taken 61 years,

At 61, Hari Rapata feels his te reo journey has only just begun, but it has already changed his life in the best of ways.It wasn't through receiving the strap at school after asking his teacher to pronounce his name correctly that prompted him. Nor was it his job as an adviser to former Māori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia.It was simply that he felt he was being called home.Link to video and article: It's taken 61 years, but Hari Rapata has found his Māoritanga | Stuff.co.nz...

Can they cope with

Some broadcasters on our publicly-funded national radio station have steadily increased their use of te reo Māori. This is excellent for Māori language enthusiasts and Māori-speaking audiences.Having more te reo through news media means that te reo is heard more often by the whole population, helping to achieve the goals of Māori language normalisation in a country that is heavily English-speaking.But while the Broadcasting Standards Authority no longer accepts complaints about the use of te...

$188m Māori Health Authority boost

A $579m Māori health and wellbeing package was revealed on Thursday as part of Budget 2022. Of that amount, $188.1 has been set down for the Māori Health Authority to commission services and develop iwi partnerships. Māori Health Minister Peeni Henare defended the amount during a media conference following the announcement, and said it was one he could be proud of.Link to video and article: $188m Māori Health Authority boost 'not enough' - experts (1news.co.nz)...

Sizing up the world:

Shairae Taepa has walked a path like no other.The 28-year-old wāhine toa from Wainuiomata, whose first language is te reo, has been working as a metrologist, a scientist who develops measurement systems, for the past four years.Now, she has been named as one of two inaugural “Emerging Metrologist of the Year” as part of World Metrology Day celebrations, the other being Annalyse Ryan from Auckland.Link to video and article: Sizing up the world: emerging wāhine Māori scientist win...

If New Zealanders won’t listen to Māori,

Anything that upholds mātauranga Māori as a solution to the many woes of the climate crisis is a positive, writes Te Kuru o te Marama Dewes. But the least the Duke of Sussex could’ve done was share his platform of influence with Māori.I think it’s fair to say that many Māori in my generation are ready to divorce the royal family, and would happily see the Queen removed as head of state. But concerns remain around how our founding documents, He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which...

ICOM apology prompted by renowned Māori curator

It follows reality TV star Kim Kardashian's appearance at the Met Gala in a dress famously worn by Marilyn Monroe while singing Happy Birthday to President John F. Kennedy in 1962.It sparked outrage online - with many arguing it should stay in a museum and not be used.It prompted the ICOM's Costume Committee to release a statement condemning it. "Historic garments should not be worn by anybody, public or private figures."Although the dress belongs to a private collection, the heritage must be un...

Budget 2022:

Māori initiatives are again getting more than $1 billion from this year's Budget, including $299 million towards health reforms.It comes after a record $1.3b package last year, but with the health package representing just over 2 per cent of total health funding there are likely to be questions over how it seeks to address longstanding inequities.But Associate Minister of Health (Māori) Peeni Henare said he was confident the funding would support the work that needed to be done."What Māori ha...

The Lion King reo Māori

A version of Disney’s The Lion King dubbed entirely in te reo Māori will launch at the Māoriland Film Festival next month.It’s the second Māori version of a Disney hit to be screened in cinemas following Moana in 2017. A dubbed production of Frozen will release in a few months to line up with Te Wiki o te reo Māori.The Lion King production comes from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Chelsea Winstanley and Tweedie Waititi of Matewa Media. Winstanley said it was “always our dream” t...

Māoriland Film Festival

Māoriland Film Festival, the largest international indigenous film festival, has today announced their 2022 lineup. It includes the te reo dubbed version of The Lion King, Dame Whina Cooper biopic Whina, and the premiere of te reo animated film Tama Kaiātea.It’s the ninth time the annual film festival has been staged, and this year will showcase 106 films from 132 indigenous nations over five days during the Matariki period (June 29 – July 3). The theme for this year’s festival...

Hints at Budget spend on Māori health,

Finance minister Grant Robertson has already dubbed it a 'health budget', saying there will be significant investment - including for the Māori Health Authority. Last year saw $1 billion invested in Māori initiatives, but since then there's been Delta, Omicron and a vaccination rollout, which brought Māori health providers and their years of inequities and under-funding to the fore.The Budget is expected to continue those projects, with more funding for Māori health expected. University of A...

Māori growers

A Māori environmental researcher and organic farmer says Māori need to rebuild their food systems in preparation for climate change.Dr Jessica Hutchings from Papawhakaritorito Charitable Trust teamed up with the national Māori organic growers rōpū Te Waka Kai Ora to run an online wananga on soil and climate issues, which attracted more than 250 participants.She says Māori have become trapped in a global food system that colonises their foodscapes.“We’re eating whiteness. We’re eating...

'Pageants are uplifting, not demeaning'

Beauty pageants. Objectification or empowerment? While opinions are divided, Māori women are entering and winning too.Three Māori beauty queens shared their experience with Te Ao with Moana about how entering pageants have empowered them in their career and helped them build confidence.Harlem-Cruz Atarangi Ihaia, of Ngāi Tahu, won Miss Universe New Zealand 2017. During the national competition, she raised $12,000 for charity by organising her own fundraising events. It taught her the skills t...

Top of south te reo symposium

Haka tutor and mau rākau exponent Hemi Tai Tin (Ngāti Hine, Hāmoa) has a message for teachers of te reo.“Be committed, be steadfast ... for a whole generation. Be in for the long haul, for those of us who were left in ignorance.”Tai Tin spoke today at Te Kaiaotanga o Te Reo, the second Māori language symposium in the top of the south following last year’s inaugural event in Blenheim.Around 700 people attended the first day of the two-day event at the Trafalgar Centre in Nelson. Organis...

Children's commissioner

Judge Frances Eivers says child welfare and criminality are social issues and increasing poverty can not go ignored.Her comments come on the day of new ram raids - including one in which a digger was used to smash through the front of a petrol station in Wainuiomata and another in which three teenagers and a 20-year-old were arrested after fleeing the scene of a burglary north of Auckland, ramming police cars and driving on the wrong side of the road on the motorway."We'd be very ...

Oranga Tamariki spends bulk of funds

Spending on sexual violence services by Oranga Tamariki is on track this year, following major underspending last year.The children's ministry by April had spent all but $1 million of the $11.5m allocated for this financial year.Two thirds of this has gone on sexual violence crisis support services, through about 30 community providers.The remaining $4m has gone into services where concerning sexual behaviour is identified, through five providers.Last year the agency underspent its sexual violen...

'It's an enduring partnership':

As the debate over co-governance continues, experts are explaining what it means to them and other New Zealanders and why there's no reason to be "afraid".In a special episode on Monday night, The Hui delved into the co-governance debate and discussed what shared power looks like in contemporary Aotearoa.For Tukoroirangi Morgan, chairperson of Te Arataura, who helped spearhead the iwi's Waikato River settlement claim, he said co-governance is about equal numbers working together with treaty part...

Understanding kaitiakitanga

Kaitiakitanga has been described as guardianship or protection. The basic meaning of ‘tiaki’ is to guard, but depending on the context in which it is used, it also means to preserve, keep, conserve, nurture, protect and watch over. The prefix ‘kai’ with the verb ‘tiaki’ denotes the agent of the action of ‘tiaki’. Therefore, a kaitiaki is a guardian, keeper, preserver, conservator or protector. The addition of ‘tanga’ denotes preservation, conservation and ...

Locked out:

The land, which is leased out to a number of groups, provides a paltry income for its beneficiaries and is subject to legislation which severely limits the owners' options.In Tokomaru Bay, about 90km north of Gisborne, Tina Olsen-Ratana is one of the beneficial owners of Māori Reserve land known as the Tuatini Township Blocks.The three blocks contain a total of 13 sections, home to old shops, accommodation, and residential property.But Olsen-Ratana says the group has no control over who leases ...

Moana Jackson:

Broadcaster Moana Maniapoto reveals how she persuaded her namesake, Moana Jackson, to talk about his life and groundbreaking work in Māori criminal justice and constitutional reform in the last days of his battle with cancer. The resulting documentary feature, Moana Jackson: Portrait of a Quiet Revolutionary, is proudly hosted by the NZ Herald and E-Tangata, with support from NZ On Air.Five things you should know about Moana Jackson (1945-2022)• He wrote He Whaipaanga Hou (Report on Māo...

The prejudice Nadia Lim has faced

Eurasian fluff. It got me thinking.Since the story broke, we have had our newspaper and social media feeds spill over with equal measures of outrage and contempt. Calls for resignation and investor boycotts intermingled with good old unrestrained venting and reporting about the reduction in share price and associated personal wealth.The ire of many a New Zealander was directed at the person who dared to undermine someone whom we easily recognise by Christian name alone. In all that I read, I thi...

Revitalising te reo symposium

Janis de Thierry has spent over quarter a century working towards growing te reo and tikanga at the top of the south.She and her husband Anthony were instrumental in the establishment of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Tuia te Matangi – a kura kaupapa Māori in Richmond.But like whakataukī (proverb) in which the kūmara does not speak of its sweetness, Janis says there were a lot of people on the ground before the de Tierrys came on board.Anthony is now tumuaki (principal) and a pouako (teacher) and...

Oranga Tamariki social workers failed to assess boy's ongoing safety

The Child Protection Protocol is meant to ensure effective joint action by Oranga Tamariki (OT) and police to investigate and safeguard a child where there is a risk of immediate serious harm, or serious abuse is identified or suspected.But in the case of a Northland boy who accused his mother's partner of abusing him, before retracting the allegation soon after, social workers failed to follow protocol in more than a dozen different ways - including not following up on the boy's "ongoing safety...