Ā mātou kōrero

This week we have been celebrating and reflecting on our first three years since we opened a new chapter in Whānau Ora in Te Waipounamu with the birth of Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu. We have looked back on our…

Haramai te kōnehunehu! Haramai te hāuaua, Haramai te tarahī! Haramai te patapataiāwhā! Takataka mai i te kōmanawa o te hei tapu, whāinumia e koe e Waipuna-ā-rangi ka tupu te whenua, ka tupu te tangata! Welcome the misty rain! Welcome the…

He hono tangata e kore e motu; ka pa he taura waka e motuUnlike a canoe rope, a human bond cannot be severed.   This week Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu had the honour of accompanying the Minister for Whānau…

Rēkohu.  Wharekauri.  Chathams Islands.   A land of exquisite beauty, where the dawn rises from behind the shore and sets the world alight.    And in the stillness of its silhouette on the waters, just as suddenly the sun appears to dazzle…

Across Aotearoa, whether by lantern festivals or star-gazing, hākari or hui, our whānau, hapū and iwi are celebrating Te Iwa o Matariki, the rising of Puanga / Puaka.   This is the time in days gone by, when the pātaka…

  This week our kura had its preparation for Manu Kōrero.  How proud was I to see our son stand and deliver his speech, ending with the message, ‘Nō reira, ka tū rangatira au hei raukura mō tōku iwi ko…

Whakatika te Huarahi – Harenga Whakamua Ready the Path and Move Forward – Move Forward Together What an incredible night we all had at Rehua Marae on Tuesday 6 June. That was the night the Three Taua (not to be…

“We looked!   And we saw him!   The Cat in the Hat! And he said to us, Why do you sit there like that? I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny. But we can have…

Paradise. That’s what those from Koukourārata call home. And who can deny the stunning vistas of Port Levy are a source of sustenance, an energizing environment that makes everyone feel in a better place. This week, our Navigators spent a…

Tautuku Estuary.   The Cathedral Caves.   Purakaunui Falls.   Tokanui.   Cannibal Bay.  Waikawa Valley.   Tahakopa.   Owaka.     Up until this week, all these sites were known to me only as place-names in an atlas.   Placenames that carry with them a powerful…