​Stage one of the Whakapaumahara Marae rebuild in Whananaki has begun.  Stage one will see the building of a new Whareiti (toilet) and ablution block, new septic drainage system and new water treatment system.

Jim Peters has done many things in his long and extensive career.  To name a few, he has been a teacher and Principal, a Member of Parliament with the New Zealand First Party, Chairman of the Northland Regional Counsel and for the past twelve years he has been the Vice-Chancellor (Māori) of the University of Auckland.
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In the 2008 New Year Honours list, Jim was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to local-body affairs, education and the community. However at the age of 81, Jim’s term as Vice-Chancellor came to an end, and on the 19th of November a celebration of Jim’s service to the University was held in Auckland.

​Ngā mihi atu ki tō tātou nei kaihanga, māna mātou te huarahi pai e arahi, otirā, ki ō tātou nei tini mate maha kua whetu ki te rangi, o te tau, o te marama, o te wiki kua pāhure atu, nō reirā, haere koutou, haere koutou, okioki mai.
 
Ki ngā uri o Ngātiwai whānui, mai i a Rākaumangamanga tae atu ki Piki Pāria, puta noa i te ao katoa, nei rā ngā mihi ki a koutou. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa
 
On behalf of the Ngātiwai Trust Board I am pleased to again report on our activities for the year ending March 2018.

Whānau sharing their whakaaro after the screenings of the movies "Maui's Hook".

On 19 – 22 October 2018, a group of rangatahi representing Ngātiwai competed in New Zealand's biggest pro-am basketball tournament – “HoopNation”.

HoopNation is New Zealand’s premier basketball event hosted each Labour Weekend, attracting the hottest teams and players across many grades and ages groups.  This tournament is viewed as “a must” for basketball players and fans!

This year’s HoopNation has seen the tournament grow to nearly 10 times the size of the original tournament in 2011 which had just 15 teams.  This year has seen the biggest competition yet with more than 1300 players across 143 teams and with more than 380 games of basketball being played on 12 courts across five venues in the Tauranga rohe over four days.

The Ngātiwai Soldiers are an Under 16’s Team that is made up of boys from Whāngarei, Kerikeri and Kaitaia who travelled to Tauranga to compete in HoopNation.

With the team being spread out across Te Taitokerau, coming together for training was always a challenge.  To get around this, the team would base their trainings around wananga, where they would come together to train on a Friday evening and all day Saturday and then go home to their whānau on a Sunday.
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Coach Johnny Sadler says “When we come together and train at these wananga, developing the boys’ skills sets, the team dynamic and game tactics are obviously important.  But equally if not more important to us are the relationships, whanaungatanga, whakapapa, tautoko and awhi.  These are important as we see these skills and morals transferable for these boys in their everyday lives.
But the most important skill we teach the boys is how they use their taringa (ears).  Not just here at training, but at home, at school or where ever they may be.  It’s about being engaged in the moment.”

Mother of Te Hauroa Tawhara-Crown, Micah Tawhara says “These boys have been training hard and have developed some great skills and knowledge of the game. When they are in sync they are unstoppable which is what was witnessed by many in Tauranga.”

“Many people were coming up to us asking; where the heck did we come from!  Our boys are so respectful and genuinely supportive of each other, and with some more training and hard work they'll be soaring.”

The Ngātiwai Soldiers won all their games in the lead up to the finals.  Unfortunately the team lost in their semi-final, going down in a closely fought game by just three baskets.  Many teams and supporters were constantly amazed at the team and how well they played against some more well-known high performing teams.

Coach Johnny says “It was exciting when random strangers would see our boys and come up to us to make Whakapapa connections to Ngātiwai whānau, and whenua.  We were greeted from players and teams from all over the motu.”

“I am so so proud of our boys.  It’s great to see them represent Ngātiwai and to be seen on that stage.  In typical “hard ballin” Ngātiwai fashion, these young rangatahi made a statement!!”
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“We would like to give a big shout out to the Ngātiwai Trust Board for its massive support in helping our Under 16 Ngātiwai Soldiers basketball team to participate in the HoopNations Basketball Tournament.   I also want to give a big mihi to my fellow coach Kape Murray and all our whānau that supported our team to make this happen.”

The Ngātiwai Trust Board has contracted Carla Klink to work with in its newly formed Social Development unit.

Carla is Ngātiwai, with her whakapapa connecting her to our hapū Ngāti Rehua and both Motairehe and Kawa marae on Aotea – Great Barrier Island.  She has built up her extensive experience in social services for the past 16 years, and it has always been a dream of hers to one day work for and give back to her people.

Since working with the Ngātiwai Trust Board, Carla has been instrumental in leading a number of new initiatives and building strong new relationships.

One new partnership established is with E Tu Whānau.  E Tu Whānau is a movement for positive change developed by Māori for Māori. Their kaupapa is about taking action in communities and supporting whānau to thrive.

With a mission that whānau are strong, safe and prosperous, living with a clear sense of identity, cultural integrity and with control over their destiny – Ngātiwai will be driving the E Tu Whānau philosophy of “Te Mana Kaha o te Whānau” via E Tu Ngātiwai.

Working with Mikaira Pau, Area Manager for E Tu Whānau, the Social Development Unit will be reaching out to whānau with the kaupapa of E Tu Ngātiwai, focusing on creating positive change for Ngātiwai tamariki and whānau using the values of Aroha, Whakapapa, Tikanga, mana manāki, kōrero awhi and whānaungatanga.

Mikaira Pau, Area Manager for E Tu Whānau says “it is our intention to work with the E Tu Ngātiwai team to lift the spirit of whānau within Ngātiwai.

Our strength and power comes from whānau – whānau is the key to eliminating violence”

Project Manager Carla Klink says “My role is to set up a social service to meet the needs of our people”.

“Having a strong relationship with E Tu whānau is important as it allows us to walk on this journey together and bring about change.  Being able to work with an organisation that has the same values and kauapapa as ours, gives us strength in knowing we are not alone on this journey.”

A significant project that the Social Development unit is on working on with Dr Lily George is Youth Development/Youth Suicide prevention via the Ngātiwai programme - Kokiritia Te Aroha.
“Kokiritia Te Aroha is a big project for Ngātiwai, with a very important kaupapa affecting many of our whānau.”

Beginning in January 2015, this is the third project in the Kokirtia series.

“Kokiritia Te Aroha is a marae- based taitamariki development programme which has suicide prevention strategies that we have developed along with our taitamariki, a toolbox of resources that they can use along with their whānau.  It is about the restoration of identity for our whānau and their Ngātiwaitanga.

As Ngātiwai we are so fortunate to have someone of Dr Lily George’s calibre lead this programme.  Dr Lily has come home, and we are so pleased to have her as part of our team.”

Recently the Ngātiwai Trust Board Social Development Unit led, supported by Bright Sunday productions, the screening of “Māui’s Hook” at Ngunguru Marae and Whāngarei Te Rerenga Paraoa Marae.

A feature film by Māori psychologist and filmmaker Pāora Joseph, director of Tātarakihi: Children of Parihaka, Māui’s Hook is a raw, compelling road trip of loss, forgiveness and redemption. It invites open discussion of suicide through the brave testimony of five grieving families travelling to Cape Reinga.

The film has been touring the country to create a platform for kōrero.   Following the screenings, whānau were invited to discuss and challenge the stigma associated with suicide by opening up our hearts and minds through the stories of whānau.  Through the movie and associated discussions after screenings, the messages of awareness, enlightenment and hope are spread and shared throughout the community.

Chairman of the Ngunguru Marae, Jesse Williams says “We at the marae have been extremely impressed to have witnessed the absolute sense of positivity received by those of our community who attended the screenings.”

“While there was certainly an understandable level of emotion, controversy and a very critical element of honesty that was tapped into as part of the screenings, we at Ngunguru can do little more than simply commend Carla and the Ngātiwai Trust Board, for the leading role they have played in organising the event.”

“We commend the bravery shown by Carla and the Trust Board who, in our view, have recognised the power that the movie had to be able to first of all, put forward a view of suicide in Aotearoa today that looks at this epidemic through a māori lense, recognising at the same time that suicide is not just a māori issue, instead it is a national and global issue at large.”

“Among so many other things, you have helped dispel some of the myths around suicide, and you have most importantly, stoked the fires of debate and discussion in the hope that, as a first step at least, we as a people can use the medium of 'discussion' as a starting point towards tackling this taniwha, te whakamate taurekareka!” ​

​Hui with Ngāti Hako – Whakapaumahara Marae, Whananaki

Kia Ora Whānau, i am very pleased that as a board we continue to provide educational scholarships to registered members studying at a tertiary level.

A total of 41 scholarships were awarded to Ngātiwai tauira for 2018.  Although slightly down on 2017, I was delighted with the number of scholarships that we are able to award this past year.  I am a firm believer in the education of our people, and to be able to assist them on the right path for a prosperous future is exciting for me. 
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It is with pleasure that I am able to share this letter from one of our scholarship beneficiaries, Dakota Sorensen of Whakapaumahara Marae in Whananaki, acknowledging our support in her studies.  I wish Dakota all the best in her studies and her future aspirations.
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Ngā mihi

“Kia Ora Ngāti Wai Trust board,

Ngā Mihi for selecting me to receive a Ngātiwai Trust Board Annual Education Scholarship in 2018 and 2017.  Your generosity means I can support myself through my degree.  This money for the past two years has helped me immensely and has been a huge help throughout my studies.

I am currently in my final semester of a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Screen and Media and minoring in Tikanga Māori.  Once completing this degree I am going into a full year Māori immersion course to learn our beautiful native language - in doing so I will gain a graduate diploma in Te Reo Māori and aim to be able to speak it fluently.  Once completed I hope to then go onto my honours and then apply for a job.  I hope to work in the indigenous film area in New Zealand and other countries and be a part of the story telling.

I have enclosed a recent photo of myself that was taken for my staff photo at the University of Waikato.
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Thank you again for selecting me for the Ngātiwai Trust Board Annual Education Scholarship. Scholarships like these make it possible for Māori students from our Iwi continue to study and earn a degree!
 
Ngā Mihi
Dakota Sorensen”

Kia Tūpato!
Ka tangi a Tūkaiaia kei te moana, Ko Ngātiwai kei te moana e haere ana;
Ka tangi a Tūkaiaia kei te whenua, Ko Ngātiwai kei tuawhenua e haere ana!
 
Beware!
When the Tūkaiaia calls at sea, Ngātiwai are at sea;
When the Tūkaiaia calls inland, Ngātiwai are inland!

The Ngātiwai Trust Board’s logo has been around for about 35 years, and is an iconic symbol of Ngātiwai as an iwi. Many of our uri may not know who designed it.

The design itself depicts the prime Ngātiwai kaitiaki – “Tūkaiaia”. It has an interesting kōrero behind it.
Some say that Tūkaiaia was a now extinct sea hawk, and some say it is a mollymawk, a small compact albatross that flies out at sea in the Ngātiwai rohe moana.

In the Te Ao Hou 1961, our chief talks about the guardian manu in the first two verses of recital of our mōteatea – “Tākina ake rā te taitara ki Motukōkakō. Whakatahia rā te tikitiki o Tū-te-Mahurangi, he manu kawe i ngā ki o Pouerua” “Let the peaks of the waves crash on Motukōkako”. The kōrero then referred to our eponymous tupuna Manaia and his ability to move islands in Motu Kōkakō by feathering them with the tikitiki of Tū-te-Mahurangi, a bird that carries tidings to the pā of Pouerua, near Ohaeawai. Tū being the name of the bird, and kārearea, or kāeaea being a hawk. Hence Tū-kaeaea, or Tūkaiaia.

Traditional kōrero also talks about how this manu accompanied Ngātiwai war parties on the move at land and at sea. It would shriek or tangi to warn Ngātiwai were arriving.

In the 1980’s organisational logos were a new thing. The Board at the time, approached Whangārei based artist Ron de Rooy to design a suitable logo using our Tūkaiaia. He can’t quite recall the details of the brief but said he hoped his design had captured the “strength of the bird, particularly in its wings”

Ron was born in Indonesia in 1934. His family moved back to Holland when he was five where he developed his skills in art by attending Art School in Holland, specialising in design and has been passionate about commercial art all his life. Ron is also an accomplished bone carver and has designed and commissioned many pieces over the years.

Ron spent some time living and working in Holland before moving to New Zealand in 1961.  Ron had two elder brothers living in New Zealand who said it was a great place to live, so they convinced him to move out here with his family and he attests that it was everything that they described it would be.

His early years in New Zealand saw him working for The Northern Advocate newspaper. 

Ron says, "Starting at the Northern Advocate as a photographer was great for someone like me having only just moved to New Zealand”.  It gave me the chance to see here, there and everywhere and gave me a chance to get to know a lot of people throughout Northland and New Zealand.  It was the best job for someone new here.”

He then went on to set up his own printing services business, Baigent Print.  Ron found that business cards and logos were not common in Whangārei when he arrived, so he made this a specialisation of his business, and over the years has seen him design many logos for businesses throughout Northland. Ron has also had a long association with The Quarry where he established Te Kowhai Print Trust.

 “I just love Northland and there is nowhere else that I could see myself living.”

​Now retired, Ron lives on a lifestyle block in Matarau with his wife Colleen.

To recognise Ron’s contribution and design of the the Ngātiwai logo, Ngātiwai Trust Board presented Ron with a Tūkaiaia taonga in the form of the logo that Ron designed all those years ago.

Kris MacDonald says, “The logo which Ron designed 35 years ago has been an iconic representation of who we are as a people and as a tribe.”

“There was controversy at one point in the early 2000s, even to the extent that the design was to be abandoned and replaced by another representation. But the Board and Kaumātua of the time decided they wanted to keep it, It is used today on our stationery, work wear, flags, digital media, communications, business cards – everything”

Ngātiwai also have another Tūkaiaia logo designed by Te Wārihi Hetaraka which sits with Te Au Here O Tūkaiaia – Ngātiwai’s Education Unit. This logo also has pride of place amongst Ngātiwai and will be featured in a future newsletter.
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Kris says, “The Tūkaiaia is one of the most important kaitiaki of Ngātiwai, we always acknowledge it in our mihi, our mōteatea and in our waiata.  I think all those years ago, Ron captured the symbol of it perfectly.  Thank you Ron for your contribution to our iwi.”