Back to Blog

Alison Jones:

The legendary Māori-language advocate Sir Tīmoti Kāretu says about Pākehā learning te reo: “Anyone who wants to come on board, we say: ‘Hop on the waka and let’s go. If you don’t want to, then stay on shore.’” Timoti’s big-hearted invitation to join the waka is being taken up with enthusiasm by Pākehā. Free classes in introductory Māori language are crowded, and many have waiting lists. Pākehā presenters on RNZ National make valiant, though sometimes excruc...

'We cursed ourselves for not seeing the signs':

Tears and raw emotion have been laid bare in Parliament as MPs tackled one of the heaviest and most personal topics: suicide prevention. The special parliamentary debate on Thursday afternoon was an acknowledgment of the Zero Suicide Aotearoa report released last year on World Suicide Prevention Day. The report was commissioned by the Mental Health and Addiction Wellbeing Group, a cross-party committee including Labour MP Louisa Wall, National MP Matt Doocey, ACT leader David...

'Nothing to be scared of':

A senior Labour MP says there's "nothing to be scared of" in how the Government plans to live up to a UN declaration the National Party signed New Zealand up to. In 2010, the National-led Government - in coalition with the Māori Party - said New Zealand would support the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The previous Government, led by Labour under Helen Clark, refused to sign it, then-Māori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia saying it was "fu...

Sick babies cared for in playroom

The number of beds for older children is also down, leaving families and already busy staff stressed as they decide who can be admitted and who should be cared for at home.The bed cuts were because of building work taking place and come as a big spike in respiratory illnesses hit the hospital.Counties Manukau District Health Board said the hospital was initially down 26 beds across both neonatal and paediatric care.But since a surge in sick children about three weeks ago, it set up eleven beds i...

Concerns raised over training of Oranga Tamariki staff

None of the staff at a care and protection residence where youth workers allegedly used excessive force on a teen had received refresher training on techniques for physical interventions, a union says.Oranga Tamariki chief executive Sir Wira Gardiner announced on Thursday that the agency would close care and protection residence in Christchurch, Te Oranga.It comes after a video, published by Newsroom on Tuesday, showed three staff members at the facility twice tackling a boy aged about...

Simon Bridges is proof Māori don't need

Dr Brash, who also led the ACT Party for a short time and currently spokesperson for lobby group Hobson's Pledge, says the controversial He Puapua document is "dangerous for our future" by forcing Kiwis to "choose between their Māori ancestors"."Every single person who identifies as Māori in this country also has Pākehā ancestors," he told The AM Show on Thursday.He Puapua is a report written by the Government's Declaration Working Group, but not Government policy. It's essent...

Oranga Tamariki tackling video

Condemnation of Oranga Tamariki continues to pour in thick and fast after video emerged of staff assaulting a young teen at one of its care facilities.Oranga Tamariki acting chief executive Sir Wira Gardiner told a select committee at Parliament on Tuesday "a number" of staff had been stood down since the video was posted on the Newsroom website on Tuesday.That video showed the young person being surrounded by staff, tackled, restrained and held in a headlock at one of the ministry's c...

Lake Alice abuse:

Solicitor-General Una Jagose has acknowledged the courage and persistence of survivors of abuse at the Lake Alice Psychiatric adolescent unit in the 1970s.Jagose is giving evidence to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care in Auckland.She also acknowledged those who had bravely spoken in public before the commission about their experience at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital, the pain and suffering they had endured and the impacts on their lives."Along with many other survivors you wil...

Whistleblower video

The boy is around 13 years old. He takes a couple of steps towards the Oranga Tamariki staff member, who is wearing black gloves. The man grabs the boy’s legs and tackles him to the ground. Two more staff members join in. The boy is held on the floor on his back. They hoist him up and walk him a few steps before pushing his face into a wall. Soon after, in a secure timeout room, his arms are twisted behind his back and he is again thrown to the ground. Our whistleblower says if police did this...

Trade courses offered for rangatahi

A Hamilton high school principal is hoping that trade papers translated into te reo Māori will allow students to see the value in their language.The Building, Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) have released the first building, construction and allied trades skills (BCATS) units in te reo Māori.Presented and blessed at Hamilton school Ngā Taiātea Wharekura the qualifications have been developed to help engage with Māori secondary schools and encourage more Māori to conside...

Māori ancestor-inspired mural in Auckland

Urban artists Janine and Charles Williams of The Most Dedicated crew have painted a new mural in central Auckland inspired by the Māori ancestor Hape.It's part of a global campaign called Converse City Forests. Instead of using traditional spray paint, they used innovative paint that cleans the air and is the equivalent of planting 182 trees.Janine, of Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara and Ngāti Pāoa, says the art piece was inspired by the legend of Hape and connects the essence of staying true to yo...

My stars of Matariki

I would like to imagine that the Matariki cover of Woman magazine, out this week, has set a precedent for the industry. When have you ever seen a collective of wāhine Māori in a gate-fold front page on a mainstream consumer title?Like, never.That constellation of nine captured with such splendour by Taaniko and Vienna Nordstrom of Soldiers Rd epitomises tino rangatiratanga – each of those women has forged her own path in a uniquely wahine Māori way, from the venerated author Patri...

Supporting Māori to be successful

Tamati and Jude Campbell are on a mission. They live and breathe academic excellence and are raising a whānau committed to te reo and tikanga Māori in their home and communities.Through pure grit and dedication, Tamati Campbell topped his faculty in his undergraduate studies, came away with the Dean's Award, Top Academic Scholar across both Auckland University campuses, was awarded a Kupe Leadership Scholarship and received a master’s degree with first-class honours.Jude Campbell is as dedic...

Mount Maunganui marae still on quest for industrial neighbours to move:

But a nearby company say their staff do not suffer poor health and local councils believe a managed retreat of heavy industry would be very challenging.Whareroa Marae is tucked into the inner Tauranga Harbour moana and its community have been voicing concerns about air quality for years.In 2019, the air over the Mount Maunganui industrial area - which includes the marae - was officially classed as polluted and last year, a working group was set up to address the issue.This year, alarm ...

Report complaining about use

A community board member’s report complaining about use of te reo Maori at a local government conference has been deemed unacceptable by the Dunedin City Council.Brian Peat, of the Mosgiel Taieri Community Board, referred to ‘‘a young Maori chap’’ talking in te reo for at least 20 minutes without translation into English, but his recollection has been challenged by one of the conference organisers.Mr Peat has called for all Maori content to be translated.His rejected report included th...

Christchurch teen elevating te reo Māori usage -

A Christchurch teenager has elevated her native language by battling for two years to get te reo Māori programmed into her school lifts.Rangimarie Te’evale-Hunt was only 13 and new to mainstream schooling when she made moves to have te reo Māori spoken in the lifts at the inner-city Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery school.It took research, a consumer hero award on television show Fair Go, and the commitment of the lift company to realise the idea, which Rangimarie believed should not...

Universities must ‘indigenise’

The University of Auckland's Te Kawehau Hoskins writes on the challenge faced by universities to ‘indigenise’ in order to be relevant for contemporary Māori agendasOur people have always valued higher learning and operated sophisticated systems of formal learning prior to, and beyond contact with the outside world. Māori were keenly interested in new knowledge and innovation offered by the wider world to supplement Māori knowledge and ways of interaction in order to be successful str...

Learning to live by the maramataka:

Nau mai haere ki ngā whetū o te tau hou, kia Matariki me Pūanga.Click here to learn how to set the maramataka dial, and you’re on your way to setting the New Year dates!The bright tohu stars Matariki (Pleiades) and Pūanga (Rigel) will soon rise to indicate the New Year. Matariki is used throughout Aotearoa, especially towards the east coast, and Puanga is often used around the West Coast. When Puanga rises in the east, the summer star, Rēhua (Antares) sets in the west, Rēhua being a...

Māori likely first humans

A new study has concluded that Māori were likely the first humans to set eyes on Antartic waters and even the continent itself.Researchers from Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu connected oral histories and published literature to better understand Māori connections to Antarctica - connections that go back as far as the 7th century.University of Otago Associate Professor and conservation biologist Priscilla Wehi spoke to Guyon EspinerLink to Recording: Māori l...

Employment Opportunity: Social Worker: Ngati Whatua Orakei

Social Worker Ngati Whatua Orakei Whai Maia Ltd AucklandAuckland Central Community Services & DevelopmentChild Welfare, Youth & Family Services Full TimeWhai Māia is the tribal development arm for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. We are a diverse business that encompasses Education and Learning, Careers and Employment, Housing, Health and Wellbeing, Culture, Environmental and Resource Management Areas.The opportunity:We are seeking to employ a skilled and experienced Social Worker who thrives...

Effective teaching for Māori

Building relationships is the key to educators helping marginalised students achieve, a Māori academic has told the Timaru North/South Kahui Ako (Community of Learning).The group of 395 early childhood education, primary school and high school teachers, as well as support staff, attended the presentation on more effective teaching by Waikato University Emeritus Professor of Māori Russell Bishop (Tainui) at Craighead Diocesan School on Friday.Bishop developed Collaborative Storying, the subject...

Waikato teachers partner with local iwi

Waikato teachers were asked to “open their hearts” and to remember “the hurt is still there” in an emotion-filled day led by experts in Waikato history as schools across the country begin to set the scene for the New Zealand history curriculum.Around 1000 teachers from 22 schools in the Waikato gathered at a teacher development day in Hamilton on Friday to learn about some of Waikato’s conflicts from 1863 to today and how to address decolonisation in the education system.With New Zeala...

Long waitlist stopping many from

Checkpoint understands those who fall ill waiting for a bed at Pitman House are instead advised to go to already-overloaded emergency departments (EDs). Waitematā DHB, however, contends EDs provide an adequate short-term solution. Meanwhile, it has emerged some staff are concerned about the medical detox unit's move into Auckland's CBD. Whaea Michelle Kidd's walked the halls and entered the cells at Auckland District Court for decades. She supports the vulnerable, addicted and homeless as they ...

Five of the most sacred Māori sites

Blessed be Aotearoa, a land full-to-bursting with sacred sites. Many of our best-known landmarks have strong spiritual significance to Māori, helping tell the stories of how our nation came to be.Heritage New Zealand recognises more than 180 wāhi tapu – which it defines as places sacred to Māori in the traditional, spiritual, religious, ritual or mythological sense – but there are many more scattered throughout the country. In some cases, the stories behind them are recorded in official h...

Govt to inject $20m funds

The three Maori boarding schools in Hawke's Bay will get the lion's share of a $20 million government investment, to enable them to address significant declining property issues and maintain their operations.Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri said the investment, announced on Friday, would help grow New Zealand's future leaders."This government believes in the unique role Māori boarding schools play in helping to shape and develop rangatahi," the Labour Party MP said."The rangatahi who attend the...