“Ko te kaupapa o ngā whakanui i a Matariki ā tērā tau, ko Matariki herenga waka, he pepeha whakatinana i te kotahitanga, i te tauawhitanga, me te ngātahi o te whakaaro ki ngā taonga tuku iho” te kī a te Tumu Whakarae o te Manatū Taonga, a Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae.

“E koa ana hoki au ki te pānui, mā Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei e manaaki te pāhotanga ā-motu i te hautapu hei te 10 o Hūrae 2026” te kōrero tonu a Leauanae.

“He ngangahau, he kanorau hoki te tāone o Tāmaki Makaurau, e kīia nei ko ‘Tāmaki herenga waka’. Ko Matariki herenga waka e tohu ana i a Tāmaki hei taunga, hei wāhi hui, hei kāinga hoki. Ko tāna, he whakaata i te whakaaro ki tā Matariki tūhono i a tātou katoa ahakoa ō tātou ao o mua, ō tātou ahurea, ō tātou pūtakenga mai rānei.

E kī ana te Kaihautū o Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust, a Marama Royal, kua hiamo rātou ki te manaaki i tēnei kaupapa i runga i ō rātou whenua, i Takaparawhau.

“Mai rā anō tā Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei pōhiri atu i tō tātou tāone ki Takaparawhau, ki konei a Matariki maharatia ai, ā, e pupuke ana ō mātou ngākau ki te hāpai tonu i taua kaupapa. Nā te mea ko mātou ngā tāngata whenua o te puku o Tāmaki, he wāhanga nui tēnei i roto i ā mātou kawenga. Nō mātou te waimaria i te toronga atu anō o ō mātou ringa manaaki, ā, nā te kōtuinga ki a Manatū Taonga, kua wātea tēnei hui mana nui ki ngā whānau puta noa i te motu” te kī hoki a Royal.

“Mā roto i tana whakanui i te whakataukī o Tāmaki herenga waka, e whakanui ana hoki a Matariki herenga waka i ngā hononga kaha i waenga i te rohe o Tāmaki ki te kāhui whetū o Matariki, ki te tini tāngata hoki kua whakatū kāinga ki Aotearoa.”

Te whakanui i te tauawhitanga me te ngātahi o te whakaaro ki ngā mātauranga tuku iho

E ai ki te Kaitohutohu Matua mō te Mātauranga Matariki, ki a Rangi Mātāmua, “ko tā te kaupapa o te tau e tū mai nei, he akiaki i te katoa kia piri tahi ki te whakanui i a Matariki, ki te hāpai hoki i ngā uara o te huritao, o te whakanui, o te whakarite hoki. Ka pūmau tonu ēnei uara i ia tau ahakoa te whanake haeretanga o te kaupapa.”

“Ko Matariki tētahi wā e rere ai ngā kōrero, e kawea ai hoki ngā tikanga tuku iho, e tūhonotia ai hoki ngā mātauranga; kaua ko ō Aotearoa noa iho nei, engari ko ō te whānuitanga ake hoki o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Ko te whakanui i a Matari’i hei hararei ā-motu i Tahiti Nui o nakuanei tētahi taunakitanga i tōna mana ki ētahi atu o waho atu i konei.”

“Ehara nō te tangata kotahi, nō te wāhi kotahi anake rānei te mātauranga – engari he mea tuku iho nā tētahi whakatipuranga ki tētahi kē, i Tāmaki, ā, puta noa i te motu me Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. E akiakihia ana te katoa kia ako, kia noho ngātahi, kia whai wāhi hoki ki te whakanui i te tau hou Māori.”

Hei tā Rangi Mātāmua “i a tātou e whakarite ana i tā tātou whakanui i te kaupapa ā-motu o te tau 2026 ki Tāmaki Makarau, ka whakamaumahara mai a Matariki herenga waka i a tātou ki tēnei wā e hui ai, e huritao ai hoki ngā tāngata katoa, e kotahi anō ai hoki te kōkiri whakamua.”