​The Ngātiwai Trust Board are delighted to announce the appointment of Alyx Pivac (Te Popoto, Ngāti Whātua, Te Uri O Hikihiki, Ngātiwai) as the new Manager of the Ngātiwai Trust Board Resource Management Unit.
 
Chairman Haydn Edmonds says “Our panel has taken a number of months to ensure we get this important appointment right and we have interviewed some outstanding candidates during this process.   We have selected who we believe is the best person to be the new kaitiaki of the Ngātiwai Resource Management Unit”.
 
“I would like to welcome Alyx, who is young, vibrant, very qualified and with a strong history of working in the Environmental space.  She grew up in Whangārei and knows the area and the landscape very well.  She is fiercely passionate about what she says is her inherent obligation as kaitiaki."

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​Alyx has been based in Auckland, but has now moved home to Whangārei as she begins her new role at the Ngātiwai Trust Board.
 
Newly appointed Ngātiwai Trust Board Resource Manager, Alyx Pivac says “I’m thrilled to be able to return to Te Tai Tokerau to contribute my skillset and expertise in this space.  I’m grateful for this opportunity and looking forward to joining the Ngātiwai Trust Board whanau.”
 
Alyx begins as the Board’s Resource Unit Manager today, and the Board were pleased to hold a mihi whakatau with her whānau and the Ngātiwai kāhui kaumātua to officially welcome her on board.
 
Nau mai haere mai Alyx!

Today the Waitangi Tribunal released its report on the funding and resourcing arrangements that the Crown put into place to support applications under the Marine and Coastal Area (MACA) Act 2011 Inquiry, Stage 1 Report.
 
The Ngātiwai Trust Board participated in the MACA inquiry along with other claimants at hearings that were held in Wellingtons Waiwhetu Marae in March 2019.
 
Ngātiwai Trust Board Treaty Claims Committee Chairman Aperahama Edwards says “We see today’s report as very favorable and clearly confirms our argument from the hearings that we are being trapped in an expensive High Court process with costs that are beyond our control.”
 
“The report tell us that Te Arawhiti cannot operate as as the funder and the negotiator.  This is a conflict of interest.  However of greater concern is a process that can result in damage to whakawhanaungatanga relationships.”
 
Keatley Hopkins who submitted evidence on behalf of Ngāti Takapari, says “The Crown’s approach potentially causes division and tension amongst the various applicant groups, pitting whānau and hapū against one in another in a fight to have their respective customary interests recognised.”
 
Waitangi Tribunal Claimant of this inquiry, Mylie George, says "Ngātiwai ki Whangaruru applicants are heartened by the tribunals findings.  It acknowledges and reflects our true experience as whānau and hapū of Te Uri o Hikihiki, Ngāti Te Rahingahinga, Ngāti Te Awa and Ngāti Rehua ki Tuparehuia.”
 
“We maintain and uphold the mana of our whenua and Moana as we continue to fight and refuse to be subject to the winds and power of the coloniser"
 
The Tribunal report warns the Crown not to create further overlapping interest conflicts and points out that there are obvious comparisons with the approach the Crown takes to resolving interests in Treaty Settlement negotiations.
 
Aperahama says “This report and our own experiences with overlapping claims tells us that the Crowns approach to resolving overlapping interests inevitably creates further Treaty breaches.  We have always advocated for tikanga-based process to resolve these types of issues.”
 
“In this Crown-designed process, the Ngātiwai Trust Board are expected to respond to hundreds of resource consent applications that are received, but the Crown does not resource us to be able to respond.”

“As a consequence, we are unable to respond to applications for consents that will see the construction of private jetties, moorings and structures and discharge in the Ngātiwai rohe, without our input.”
 
 “This process has the potential to change the face of the Ngātiwai Takutai Moana forever, and we will not stand by and allow this to happen.”

 
ENDS
 
Contacts:      Aperahama Kerepeti-Edwards, Chairman Ngātiwai Treaty Claims Committee
                        Phone:  09 430 0939
                        E-mail: aperahama.edwards@ngatiwai.iwi.nz
                       
                        Barry Caldwell, Communications Advisor, Ngātiwai Trust Board
                        Phone:  021 728 291
                        Email: barry.caldwell@ngātiwai.iwi.nz
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When Ngātiwai tohunga Hori Parata called “Ko wai te ingoa e tenei tohora? (what is the name of this whale?)” the cry came back “Te Kowhiti”.

Te Kaurinui Parata laughs when he explains “The name Te Kowhiti is for COVID.”

“We were told during the last week of Alert Level 4 lockdown, that a Tohora had stranded on a remote beach just around from Ngahau Bay in Whangaruru.  Due to all the COVID lockdowns, we have not been able to come down until now.”

Ngātiwai tohunga Hori Parata says “The mahi we do is more than just about the jaw, teeth and bones of this and other whales we have worked on, it is much more than that.”
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“It is about the maintenance and the protection mātauranga Māori and taonga tuku iho, that is what  it is about.”

The reconvened Annual General Meeting of the Ngatiwai Trust Board will be held 10am Saturday 4 th of July 2020 at McKay Stadium, Lounge 1, 93 Western Hills Drive, Kensington - Whangarei.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH LATEST UPDATE 
Māori tikanga and gatherings – UPDATED advice

The Ministry of Health has now issued its advice:
• The situation has changed, and our Prime Minister’s address to our country yesterday highlights the need for all of us across Aotearoa, New Zealand to play our part to refrain from physical contact to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
• Physical contact is a way that COVID-19 can spread from person to person. We now have a strong need to vary our Māori tikanga and kawa to protect our whānau, hapū and iwi particularly those who are more vulnerable such as our kaumātua and kuia.
• This includes no longer hongi, kissing on the cheek, harirū, hugging and other forms of physical contact.
• Alternatives include, waving, smiling or other non-physical contact greetings.
• We want to acknowledge there are some marae and iwi (such as Te Atiawa and Ngāti Kahungunu) who have made adjustments to their usual tikanga and kawa practices in response to COVID-19. We know our people will do the right thing to protect our whānau, hapū and iwi.

Mass gatherings/events – NEW advice
The Government has recently issued advice about when to cancel mass gatherings/events. This is an important aspect of our public health strategy to delay the onset of community transmission of COVID-19, and to limit the infection’s spread if community transmission occurs.

Cancelling mass gatherings can help slow the spread of COVID-19 in New Zealand, reduce the number of people infected, and protect those who are more vulnerable to severe illness (such as our kaumātua). This framework will apply to non-essential gatherings (sporting events, music festivals, arts festivals and private events) and not to essential events (parliament, school, preschool, work, university).

Many groups including kapa haka groups, sports teams, whānau, hapu, iwi and Māori organisations and marae committees will need to work through how the cancellation framework impacts any upcoming events they are planning – including whānau reunions, hui/wānanga, and celebratory events like birthdays and weddings. It will be disappointing to have to cancel planned events, but this public health emergency will come to an end eventually and we will get through this. However, for right now, it is about doing what’s right to protect our people and our guests - manaaki tangata, otirā manaaki manuhiri hoki.

For more information about when to cancel mass gatherings, please go to: https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-novel-coronavirus-information-specific-audiences/covid-19-advice-public-events-and-mass-gatherings

For those who sadly have tangihanga, we kindly ask that you consider what variations to tikanga and kawa can be made to ensure manaaki tangata for all who attend. For example:

• If you are sick, please do not attend and please do not prepare or handle food intended for the tangihanga
• Consider carefully how to protect our most vulnerable people including limiting attendance and/or other measures to protect our koroua and kuia (our kaumātua)
• Consider limiting attendance generally including for instance sending whānau representatives, who can go on behalf of the wider whānau
• Consider alternatives to physical attendance including utilising technology that allows social connection without physical connection
• If you are attending, giving advance notice to the haukainga at the marae so they know who will be attending and can prepare for your arrival, and being supportive of any changes to tikanga and kawa put in place by the haukainga to enhance their ability to manaaki manuhiri
• As haukainga, make sure you are clear with manuhiri on changes to tikanga and kawa to and have sufficient cleaning products to support hand hygiene

Nororthland thland DHB Advice DHB Advice -- Tangihanga/ Hura Kohatu/ Other events

• Our initial guidance for Tangihanga (based on Maori health provider advice), and should marae continue this kawa we are recommending that coffins, caskets and waka tūpāpaku kōpaki (flax woven casket or covers) remain closed and there is no contact with the tūpāpaku. We are also requesting that if waka tūpāpaku kōpaki are used, body bag linings must be used to prevent body fluid seepage. All surfaces should be wiped clean regularly as per Ministry of Health advice.
• In regards to Hura Kohatu and other events we are recommending that unless required these should be stopped (as per Ministry advice) until further notice to limit any possible unnecessary spread of this disease.
• Some marae in Tuwharetoa and other locations are choosing to close their doors for a period of time. We are supportive of this happening and ask that Marae committees and trustees review their decisions regularly in line with the advice provided by the Ministry of Health. The link to the COVID-19 website is provided here: https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus
• Northland DHB Kaunihera Kaumatua will issue further advice once they have been briefed on 26 March 2020.
• Northland DHB will work with Iwi and hapu to distribute communication to marae and whanau.

With the recent announcement of COVID-19 being up scaled to a world pandemic the Ngātiwai Trust Board will take all necessary precautions to reduce its spread and protect our people.

Therefore, from today Tuesday 17th March 2020 the Ngātiwai Trust Board will have the following precautions set in place:

Visiting the Ngātiwai Trust Board Office:
Whānau, manuhiri and all other visitors are asked to limit visits to the Trust Board premises to urgent only at this time. If you have query or would like to speak with someone at the Trust Board, please phone our office in the first instance on 09 430 0939 or email us on ngatiwai@ngatiwai.iwi.nz. You can also send us private messages via our Facebook or website pages.

No large meetings:
There will be no large meetings or wananga held at the Trust Board’s premises this includes the Education Unit. All large meetings will be held via zoom videoconferencing or teleconferencing where necessary.

Our Staff:
Our staff have been advised that if they are feeling unwell for any reason, not to come to the office and contact their GP or the Ministry of Health on 0800 358 5453 for any advice. Most staff have the remote capability to be able to work from home if necessary.

General Information:
The best protection for whānau is good hand hygiene, coughing and sneezing into your elbow or a tissue and maintaining a good social distance. If whānau need and further information regarding COVID-19 please visit the attached link to the Ministry of Health website: health.govt.nz/covid-19

If you want information about the response beyond the Ministry of Health, visit https://www.govt.nz/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/ or call the 0800 Government Helpline on 0800 779 997.

Other Government Assistance:
For travel advice, visit the Government’s Safe travel website at safetravel.govt.nz/contact

If you are unable to work or have lost your job because of COVID-19, visit https://workandincome.govt.nz/…/emerg…/2020/coronavirus.html

If you are concerned about an event, reach out to the people organising it for information.

We will keep in communication with whānau as this situation evolves.

As there was only one nomination received for one vacancy, no election is required for Oakura Marae, and Simon Phillip Mitchell is declared elected unopposed.