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'Unsafe environment':

Te Pāti Māori won't stand a candidate at the Tauranga by-election "on the basis of a safety issue", claiming the party's co-leaders have received threats and hate speech from residents there.The by-election, forced by the resignation of National MP Simon Bridges (who is Māori), will take place on June 18, with a number of candidates already confirmed. That includes National's Sam Uffindell, Labour's Jan Tinetti and ACT's Cameron Luxton.But the Māori Party won't be standing a candidate, ...

More to ram raids

Child welfare experts say locking up offending kids will not stop a spate of ram raids.More than five ram raids a week were reported around the country last year, and nearly 90 percent involved youths.In the latest smash and grab, a dairy in Onehunga was hit by a stolen vehicle this morning.Yesterday another stolen vehicle was used to break into a fuel station in Ōrātia.The Waihou Dairy and Takeaway store in Waikato has been ram-raided twice in the past month.The first time, tee...

Mature race relations debate

As the country embarks on a debate about race relations, some MPs are calling for it to be a mature conversation, while others are happier slinging personal attacks.Analysis: It’s not unusual for Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson to use colourful language to make a point.Even Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson noted his colleague’s “useless Māori’’ attack on ACT leader David Seymour wasn’t particularly surprising.That doesn’t mean it was helpful though, and Newsro...

Parents must be passionate advocates

OPINION: It is well known that the New Zealand education system is under huge stress and, with exceptions, under-performing. For decile 1-3 schools full attendance is around 40% and 2021 NCEA results saw not only a decrease in overall performance but ever widening gaps. This worries a lot of parents.The very best thing about the Tomorrow’s Schools system is that much of the power resides with parents. This is appropriate given they pay for the system, and it is th...

Māori interests 'seriously neglected' in camera rollout

NZ's largest Māori-owned fishing company Moana New Zealand is claiming the government has "seriously neglected" Māori interests in plans to install cameras on up to 300 inshore fishing vessels by 2024."We support the initiative and see it as positive, but we are concerned about the inadequate inclusion of Māori, both in terms of people and perspective, in the consultation process," Moana New Zealand CEO Steve Tarrant said in a statement on Friday.Fisheries Minister David Parker's office has b...

Tikanga Māori and Privacy:

Wednesday 11 May, 12-1pm This session will reflect on the judicial review decisions involving the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency and Ministry of Health, specifically, the role of tikanga Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the decisions.At the heart of these proceedings were government decisions about the use of Māori data in responding to the pandemic and mitigating the serious public health risk and specific risk to Māori. This raised important questions about the role of tikanga Māori in ...

The dripping tap

Explainer: UNDRIP is an unfortunate sounding acronym which stands for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It also lends itself to all sorts of puns. Indigenous peoples must at times feel that waiting for the declaration to be fulfilled is like waiting for a dripping tap to fill a bath.  The political fight over UNDRIP sometimes goes on without any actual reference to the document or the obligations it outlines. UNDRIP w...

Deb Rewiri:

Tākai is a concept of wrapping around, she says, informed by her research into historical Māori parenting practices“I'd like to read you something that Samuel Marsden wrote down in his journal in 1814.‘I saw no quarelling while I was there, they are kind to their women and children I never observed either with a mark of violence upon them, nor did I ever see a child struck.’“So, suddenly, that opened up a doorway of interest or intrigue for me about, actually, we've always heard the de...

Māori music artist Theia

Talented Māori music artist Em Walker (Waikato-Tainui and Ngāti Tipa), known as Theia, is today releasing her new te reo album, Te Kaahu.She released her debut single, Roam, in 2016 and was nominated for three awards at the Vodafone New Zealand music awards in 2017.Walker started her musical journey when she was releasing her music on SoundCloud and through "major determination" sent her music to be played on iwi stations and student stations "and it naturally took off from there".Link to arti...

What's the price to pay for trampling marae tikanga

A warning to all those who trampled marae tikanga during the mass anti-mandate protests earlier this year: restore balance or the burden of shame from those transgressions could be carried by your descendants for generations. Florence Kerr reports.During the 23-day occupation of Parliament by anti-mandate protesters, *Rawiri, a designer based in Auckland, was tasked with trawling social media.His job was to check protest footage and report back to his koro. “They’re not on there,,” Ra...

Business tackling homelessness

A new business aims to help address poverty and homelessness in Northland by walking whānau through the process of getting a prefabricated house.Twenty-year-old Matenga Ashby heads the Kaikohe-based business, PreHomes, which gives whānau a hand-up to get their own liveable prefab house – from sorting issues on communally owned whenua to getting building consent.Ashby said the aim is to address the problems of homelessness and poverty that he saw in his home town, which of...

'Everyone has a place here':

“Do you mind if I tell you a story?” Glen Denham asks.The newly-appointed headmaster of Wellington College has gathered colourful stories throughout his varied career – first as a national basketball player, then as a teacher and principal.Denham was a Tall Black for 16 years in the 1980s and 1990s – 11 of these spent as captain – and has been rated as one of New Zealand’s best players.“I wasn’t very good,” Denham says, laughing, “just tall”Link to video...

Five years, $100,000 cash,

Multibillion-dollar progress came knocking but the Kāpiti Coast just wasn't ready for the new Māori road names that came with it. Joel Maxwell investigates.The sweeping vistas that tug at your peripheral vision – those thronging hills, and the glimpses of the ocean – all that natural beauty colliding with all that human technology and design: pure eye candy.We heard that it wasn’t easy, though. There was a 100-year wait from its first recorded suggestion; then, finally, the $1.25 billion...

Artist showcases weaving talent to revive Māori art

From an idea, to a programme in kura, to an exhibition and now a business, Awhina Murupaenga is reviving the Māori art of tukutuku.An artist with a vision to revive mahi toi (art) is showcasing weaving talent in Te Hiku o te Ika (the Far North) in an exhibition plagued by delays. Awhina Murupaenga (Ngāti Kuri) developed Tuku atu tuku mai, a collection of contemporary tukutuku (woven panels) at Kaitaia’s Te Ahu Centre, to promote storytelling.Link to article: Artist showcases weaving tal...

Indigenous communities and COVID 19

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Journal of Indigenous Social Development

https://www.ucalgary.ca/journa......

Whānau fundraise for Māori centre

The Northland whānau were inspired by their son Manga Tangaroa, aged three, to build a fully accessible, full-immersion te reo Māori puna reo. The toddler was born with a rare brain condition and in his short life has already had six brain surgeries. His mum Clara Aperahama Kopa told Seven Sharp there was nowhere that could cater to all of his needs - a connection to te ao Māori, and extra assistance for his health issues, which is where the idea of Te Puna Reo o Manga Tangaroa was born.Link ...

Marks of Mana: Moko Kauae Stories

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Moko Kauae:

Over the past few days I have been watching from afar the debate raging over moko kauae and who does or does not have the right to wear this taonga that has been gifted to us by our tupuna. I have been honoured to carry moko kauae for 17 years after being guided and supported by wahine of Taranaki. I remember the first time Mahinekura Reinfelds visited with me and said that it was time. My initial avoidance response was ‘time for what?’ which she ignored and continued to say “It ...

A day in the Havelock North sun

A circle of about 400 people was formed on a Havelock North reserve today to signify the learning message that has come out of a woman's revelations of objections to her moko kauae facial tattoo in the same park.The formation of the porowhita - symbolising the circle of life as a journey of discovery and learning – came at the end of a rally recognising the value and importance of moko kauae and other body tattooing, and supporting mum Jay Scott who last month revealed she had been approached ...

Kaitiakitanga key to Māori milk

The Māori milk company says its carbon footprint is 94% lower than its global competitors.“I think the rest of the world is finally catching up to the fact that Māori and kaitiakitanga is really central to everything that we need to consider in business and our lives,” Karl Gradon, chief executive said.The 20-year dairy-industry veteran and Ōhope native is no stranger to the Māori economy, after heading the NZ Manuka Honey Group.Link to article: Kaitiakitanga key to Māori milk comp...

Māori medium classes on hold

A shortage of te reo teachers is being felt across Aotearoa, and there’s no quick fix, say education leaders.New Zealand Principals' Federation national president Dr Cherie Taylor-Patel said the issue was a problem right across the country.“We’ve never had enough,” she said.“And now that we have a bit of a renaissance happening, with people really realising the value of te reo and te ao Māori world view, teachers who are fluent in te reo are like hens’ teeth.”Link to video and art...

Concerns Māori and Pasifika students

A planned tightening of the NCEA literacy and numeracy standards may see Māori and Pasifika students left behind, educators say.The new standards will be implemented from 2023, and will include standardised tests to assess the skills of students, starting from year 10 and 11.Carol Jarrett, the deputy principal of Aorere College in south Auckland’s Papatoetoe, said the new standards were being implemented due to New Zealand’s shocking literacy and numeracy rates.Link to v...

Bilingual school traffic signs

The Land Transport Rule: Traffic Control Devices (Kura/School Signs) Amendment 2022 came into force on April 5 which sees bilingual wording now a requirement for any new school signs. It’s part of an initiative that aims to inspire communities to speak and learn te reo Māori. Waka Kotahi NZTA and Te Mātāwai - an independent Māori language advocacy agency - on Friday launched the sign.Link to article: Bilingual school traffic signs launched in Napier (1news.co.nz)...

Surviving Battalion soldier says

New Zealand's oldest, surviving member of the legendary 28th Māori Battalion believes the sacrifices he and his comrades made in World War II achieved little for Māori back home in the years that followed the war.Sir Robert Nairn Gillies (Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Kahungunu) says the racial discrimination and inequities his people suffered before the war were unchanged after it, and for that reason - if he had his time again - he would have refused to go."If I had my time over again," Gillies tel...