Evaluation findings video

This video was produced by Aiko Consultants Ltd to highlight key findings of the evaluation.

He mihi

Tuatahi kei te mihi atu mātou ki ō tātou tupuna, nā rātou ngā taonga o nehe i hōmai.

He mihi anō ki ngā ringatoi, ngā mātanga, ā, ngā tohunga i nohotahi mai i a mātou kia whakawhiti kōrero, kia whakapuaki whakaaro. Nā mātou te whiwhi ki te whakarongorongo mai ki ētahi pūrākau, he whakapapa kōrero hoki. Nō reira kei te mihi kau atu mātou ki a koutou ngā korokoro tūī, ngā kaitiaki mātauranga - koutou rā e whakapau kaha ana i ō koutou hapori.

Me mihi atu rā hoki mātou ki ngā kaimahi o ngā tari – ko te Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Heritage, Te Papa Tongarewa, Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs, me Te Matatini hoki. Me kī ake nā koutou ngā reanga o nehe i awhi, mā koutou ngā reanga o te āpōpō hoki e tauawhi, e akiaki kia puta ki te ao. Ina koa ka mihi atu mātou ki a Lauren kōrua ko Xavier, koutou katoa o te rōpū rangahau me te rōpū kaupapa here i te Manatū Taonga tēnā rawa atu koutou katoa.

Tika tonu ahakoa kei tua atu te tangata i te tirohanga kanohi ka ora tonu ia i roto i ōna kupu e kōrerotia i te wā tonu nei. Nō reira e Pōua, e Piri (Sciascia) koia ko mātou e mihi ki a koe. Nā tētahi o ōu whakaritenga whakatauāki mātou i hanganga whakaaro mō tēnei arotakenga. He toi whakaaro he mana tangata.

I ahu mai tēnei mahi i roto i ō tātou mātauranga Māori, whakapapa Māori - te ao wairua me te ao kikokiko, ko Ranginui me Papatuānuku, te taiao me te tangata. Heoi ka noho te ringatoi Māori i roto i te oranga tonutanga o te taiao.

Me matua tiaki tonu mātou i tō tātou mātauranga Māori, ā, me te tuku i tēnei taonga ki nga whakatipuranga kei te heke mai. Ko te mahi a te kāwanatanga he kaha ki te tautoko, ki te whakaahei, ki te whakawhiwhi rauemi me te whai wāhi mō te iwi Māori ki te arahi me te hoahoa i ngā otinga tauwhiro.

Nā matou iti nei nā Chelsea, Rachelle, Paretao me Matariki.

Glossary of kupu Māori

Glossary of Ta rē Moriori

Moriori Claims Settlement Act 2021. Moriori Claims Settlement Act 2021 No 49, Public Act – New Zealand Legislation and Hokotehi Moriori Trust. (2023). Annual Report 2023.

Executive summary

E kore au e ngaro, he kākano i ruia mai i Rangiātea
(I will never be lost, for I am a seed sown in the heavens)

The Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku Programme (‘Te Awe Kōtuku’) was created as part of a wider government programme introduced in 2020 to deliver short-term relief and medium-term support for the arts, culture and heritage sector following COVID-19.

Te Awe Kōtuku aims to support iwi, hapū, whānau and Māori communities to safeguard at-risk arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga. Mātauranga Māori was identified as particularly vulnerable due to ongoing risks including:

• low numbers of expert practitioners or knowledge holders;
• limited resource and support available for practitioners to maintain and sustain practice;
• a lack of resource to support conservation of irreplaceable mātauranga held on marae; and
• historic underfunding of mātauranga Māori.

COVID-19 (and subsequent severe weather events) were expected to exacerbate these risks to forms of arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga Māori.¹

Te Awe Kōtuku is managed by Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Heritage (‘Manatū Taonga’) and includes a mixed model of direct funding and programmes delivered in partnership with sector agencies, partners and providers.

Manatū Taonga is monitoring and measuring the impact of their programmes and has sought independent evaluations to address gaps or understand more complex interventions. This evaluation report is intended to help advance understanding of the Te Awe Kōtuku impact plus ongoing risks and opportunities to mātauranga Māori. The evaluation took place in 2022/23 and reflects impacts that had occurred to date. At the time of the evaluation, the programme had produced or funded hundreds of projects through at least 19 different initiatives, and was continuing into 2023/24.  

Te Awe Kōtuku has made a positive difference to the lives of ringatoi Māori, mātanga, tohunga, whānau, hapū and iwi recipients and supported the reclamation, protection, preservation, and transmission of mātauranga Māori. The programme was a demonstration of good faith by Government in the value of arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga Māori to all New Zealanders. It affirmed and signalled the importance of both mātauranga Māori and the ringatoi who are practitioners and kaitiaki of this knowledge.  

Te Awe Kōtuku has helped accelerate the implementation of a range of innovative Māori arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga initiatives across Aotearoa, extending to Rēkohu – the Chatham Islands. It has provided a level of protection against ongoing setbacks that occurred in the context of COVID-19, including the negative social, cultural, wellbeing and economic effects caused by the cancellation of events (wānanga, hui, festivals) as well as regional and national lockdowns and restrictions.

Ringatoi were grateful for the programme at a time when opportunities (and funds) were scarce. The amount of investment was unprecedented for arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga initiatives; as was the multi-pronged and interagency Te Awe Kōtuku approach (e.g., direct funding and contestable investment across multiple agencies).

During challenging times that included a global pandemic, cost of living crisis and series of devastating climate events, the programme supported and enabled ringatoi to continue to practice, to collectivise and maintain connections with peers, and to exercise agency and rangatiratanga over their practice. Without this funding, ringatoi would have continued to practice and deliver because their commitment is enduring, but at a slower pace and at greater risk to the mātauranga and their personal wellbeing.  

The positive outcomes Te Awe Kōtuku contributed to included:

• Increased access to and participation in mātauranga
• Improved health and wellbeing for whānau, hapū, kaumātua, rangatahi
• Strengthened connections to cultural identity and pride
• Reclamation of mātauranga that lay dormant for generations
• Protection of mātauranga at risk of being lost
• Building the capacity and capability of a new generation of ringatoi
• Celebrating indigenous brilliance and the depth and breadth of mātauranga.

Te Awe Kōtuku created space for Māori ways of being, knowing and valuing mātauranga. Specifically, the initiatives profiled for this evaluation:

• Honoured and celebrated whakapapa and cultural identity through digital storytelling and 3D capture of poupou and waka
• Strengthened hapū and iwi connections to haukāinga and ūkaipō through film-making, kapa haka and story-telling
• Supported intergenerational transmission and leadership succession through mahi raranga, tārai waka, kapa haka, and affirmed the practice of kaitiakitanga by tohunga, mātanga, whānau, hapū and iwi through reclaiming heritage mātauranga and digitisation of ngā taonga tuku iho.

A few key common delivery methods were essential to what was trying to be achieved. Wānanga was the common approach and enabled broad access and participation in mātauranga. The approach was organised and free flowing, enabled kōrero and debate, fostered relationships and built shared understanding. Wānanga supported the knowledge and capability building of whānau, hapū and/or iwi as future holders and guardians of the knowledge. In the context of COVID-19, digital platforms and innovation helped dispersed whānau reconnect, re-engage and participate in wānanga.

Some of the initiatives funded through Te Awe Kōtuku involved digital innovation that not only preserved and protected existing mātauranga but also helped uncover new knowledge and understanding. Innovations such as digitally scanning wharenui, alongside research of poupou, meant that whakapapa was re-discovered, collated and digitally captured so that it could easily be added to over time and shared with whānau, hapū and iwi members. Increased digital archiving and access to whakapapa, mōteatea, waiata and other bodies of mātauranga helped to remove cost barriers, particularly for whānau living away from home or overseas.

This evaluation highlights diverse views between how whānau, hapū and iwi felt about openly publishing and sharing mātauranga digitally versus keeping it secure for those with whakapapa. They welcomed digital technology as a tool to support increased access to and participation in mātauranga. However, perspectives on the protection of mātauranga were diverse, nuanced and localised. The point being that the power to determine the tikanga for how mātauranga was shared and accessed resided with whānau, hapū and iwi. A real strength of Te Awe Kōtuku was that it allowed for this diversity of perspectives and decision making around use of funds and sharing of mātauranga.

Few studies have focused on the health of different forms of arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga. This evaluation considered practitioner-informed research from 2009, which highlighted indicators of flourishing mātauranga. The findings are consistent with this evaluation including the absolute focus and dedication of practitioners on their practice, and commitment to ongoing learning between senior and emerging practitioners. Findings from this evaluation also produced useful comparison of four bodies of knowledge that the earlier work had considered, as follows.

Tārai waka had been described as being in poor health in 2009 and we found it vulnerable, but there were also indicators of a flourishing form due to the innovative leadership of mātanga, local and international knowledge-sharing and proactive succession planning.

Raranga initiatives profiled in this evaluation were also benefiting from skilled practitioners and networks sharing knowledge, proactive leadership at national, regional and local levels, resulting in raranga remaining in good health in Aotearoa. Moriori raranga faces greater challenges as they work to revitalise their language and rebuild knowledge of traditional designs and techniques. Raranga has had strong advocacy but needs consistent funding to enable development, sharing and growth.

Toi whakairo was considered in good health in 2009, supported by the positive impact of teaching institutions and the number of emerging practitioners. This 2023 evaluation looked less at the practice of whakairo but at the mātauranga held by these works of art and heritage, and how that knowledge is being protected and made more accessible. The initiatives profiled were making use of digital innovations to store, protect, communicate and share the mātauranga, including to maintain important connections and identity for dispersed whānau and future generations.

Kapa haka was in good condition in 2009 for haka and reasonable health for traditional song composition. This evaluation found that, in 2023, kapa haka continues to thrive. There are extensive social, economic and wellbeing benefits from participating in kapa haka, it is inter -generational, a vehicle for te reo Māori revitalisation and excellence, and culminates in the biennial pinnacle event – Te Matatini.  

In a post-COVID and climate change disruption context, there are a series of ongoing risks and opportunities to be considered. There was no distinction between the health and wellbeing of ringatoi, the mātauranga they hold and practice, and the natural, physical and spiritual worlds they practice within. These realms coexist and are interdependent. For ringatoi, this means the negative impacts experienced in one realm have a ripple effect on the whole. Recent climate events had a profound impact on the cultural, spiritual and artistic wellbeing of ringatoi interviewed during this evaluation.  

A consistent theme expressed by ringatoi, tohunga and mātanga was for the Crown to remain at arms’ length while providing sustainable funding to support the protection, preservation and transmission of mātauranga. They welcomed the Te Awe Kōtuku approach, whereby those holding mātauranga were trusted and resourced to continue their role as kaitiaki. This strength-based approach meant agencies invested in ringatoi with whom they had built trusted relationships with over years. They actively supported ringatoi who work tirelessly on the protection and transmission of mātauranga, and broadened funding access to a wider pool of ringatoi around the country through a range of contestable funds. Monitoring was robust at the agency level and relational and flexible to best respond to the needs and realities of ringatoi working in their communities.

Mātauranga Māori, like te reo Māori, has been diminished through historic Crown policy settings and actions, and Te Awe Kōtuku was a small but important step towards restoring good faith in the Crown to deliver on its role to actively protect mātauranga.

The key lessons for government funding and supporting ringatoi and arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga in the future are:

• Partner with Māori and make space for them to lead and design policy and strategies for the protection, preservation, revitalisation and transmission of mātauranga – support and resource implementation.
• Practice strength-based, high-trust and flexible funding and monitoring approaches with ringatoi – this builds and strengthens relationships which helps sustain mātauranga.
• Value and protect tohunga and mātanga and the depth of mastery and excellence they hold – work with them to understand what is needed to do this effectively and sustainably.
• Prioritise increased investment in mātauranga, to better reflect its cultural and wellbeing value to Māori and its broader contribution to the cultural and economic wealth of Aotearoa.
• Enable greater use of technology to increase participation and protection of mātauranga but leave decision-making around its use and application to whānau, hapū and iwi.
• Continue to support, employ and invest in kaimahi Māori across the arts, cultural and heritage sector who hold (or can develop) strong and trusted relationships with ringatoi.

1. Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage (28 June 2022). Briefing to the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage: 2020 COVID response initiatives with funding ending FY 2021/22.

Context

This chapter serves to contextualise the space in which arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga exists and develops. These contextual issues include:

• Mātauranga is inextricably linked to Māori identity and whakapapa; expressing and sharing arts and cultural forms of mātauranga are critical to Māori ways of being.
• Māori need tino rangatiratanga over their cultural works and practices. This is guaranteed in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and Wai262 recommends policy shifts and a supportive partnership approach by the Crown.
• Arts and cultural mātauranga are diverse, and vary by whānau, hapū and iwi or rohe.
• The arts, culture and heritage sector holds significant economic, social and cultural value for Aotearoa but is persistently under-resourced; and ringatoi Māori face further inequity.
• The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent weather crises have been confronting and future events hold significant risk for the environment, mātauranga and knowledge holders. Ongoing vulnerabilities resulting from the legacy of colonisation heighten these risks. 

Mātauranga Māori and whakapapa

It’s my belief that mātauranga Māori is a cultural system of knowledge about everything that is important in the lives of the people. Lessons learnt in the past are added to the knowledge system… Language was the vehicle and the tool that people employed to access, contribute to, or think about, knowledge in general. Mātauranga Māori refers to Māori knowledge in its widest and broadest terms.

Mātauranga Māori is an embracing and inclusive term. It includes all the aspects of Māori culture…... Mātauranga Māori has a past, a present and a future. Great minds of generations long gone added to the pool of mātauranga Māori, as did many others who, in the course of their daily activities, made interesting discoveries. ²

Māori arts, culture and heritage are a taonga, the embodiment and expression of the depth and breadth of mātauranga Māori passed down from generation to generation – he taonga tuku iho nā ngā mātua tīpuna. Because of this whakapapa connection to ancestors, to atua, to te taiao—the physical and spiritual world—mātauranga Māori is inextricably linked to Māori identity:

First, it is a creation of the pre-existing and distinctive body of knowledge, values, and insights we call mātauranga Māori. Secondly, it is a result of the effort and creativity of actual people whether in modern times or the distant past. ³

Te Tiriti o Waitangi guarantees Māori authority and control over their taonga – ‘te tino rangatiratanga o rātou taonga katoa’ (Māori authority and control over all of their treasured things).³ While the Treaty promises ‘to protect Māori in the exclusive and undisturbed possession of their properties’ (English text), a tension between the two worldviews as expressed in each text, is that mātauranga is not viewed in terms of possession.

Mātauranga Māori cannot be exclusively ‘possessed’ ... it is the sharing of mātauranga Māori – indeed of knowledge generally – that makes it valuable. Perhaps this is because mātauranga and knowledge are both aspects of culture. The same is true of the individual manifestations of mātauranga Māori contained in the works themselves. Their value is not in excluding others from sharing them – whether they be mōteatea, haka, whakairo, tā moko, traditional stories, or any other kind of taonga work. Their value, indeed, their point, is that they be performed, displayed, or shared in some way. Mātauranga Māori and taonga works are not like land or other physical resources. They are products of the hearts and minds of the communities who have created them.⁴

Waitangi Tribunal Claim 262

Mātauranga held in arts, cultural and heritage taonga are critical to Māori ways of being. The Crown was first challenged about its policies and legislation taking away Māori control over taonga in 1991 through Waitangi Tribunal claim 262 (Wai262).

Where most claims focused on the historical actions of the Crown, Wai262 was the first claim of its kind directed at the existing laws, policies and practises of multiple government departments and agencies. The claim sought to restore tino rangatiratanga of whānau, hapū and iwi of Aotearoa and effective Crown recognition and protection of a range of indigenous biodiversity, plant and animal species and mātauranga including language, technology, science, art forms and expressions and Māori cultural values. After the claim was lodged, it was amended in 1993 to include breaches relating to international agreements, including Intellectual Property rights.⁵

In 2011, the Waitangi Tribunal released its report, Ko Aotearoa Tēnei, recommending reforms to laws and policies affecting Māori culture and identity and calling for the Māori-Crown relationship to shift from one of grievance to one of partnership.⁶ The recommendations and outcomes of this report created opportunities for the Crown to work with Māori and raised the expectations for better outcomes.

The Crown is still responding to Wai262, a claim that is widespread and covers an expansive area. The 2018 ‘Section 8I Report’ outlined the Crown’s implementation of Waitangi Tribunal recommendations to date and referenced what has been done in response to the Wai262 claim. Despite progress in the revitalisation of te reo Māori though Te Ture mō te Reo Māori (Māori Language Act 2016) and protection of taonga species through Resource Management Act reforms and the Plant Variety Bill, there remain gaps in the Government’s approach to the protection, use and development of mātauranga and other taonga.⁷

Te Puni Kōkiri Ministry of Māori Development is leading a programme called Te Pae Tawhiti, which addresses the Wai262 claim through various focus areas. Its key objective is maintaining a balance between enabling the use of mātauranga and providing protection, while fostering a positive Māori-Crown relationship.⁸ They are working closely with key agencies, rōpū Māori and relevant experts including Te Taumata Whakapūmau, ‘to ensure policies are achievable and they deliver improved outcomes alongside Māori.’⁹

Te Taumata Whakapūmau are also coordinating Kānohi Ora, a national engagement strategy to inform whānau, hapū and iwi of the claim and its progress, and to seek guidance on the next steps in negotiations with the Crown.¹⁰ This group has already hosted a number of consultation kaupapa around Aotearoa to capture the voice of Māori so they can contribute to the protection of their own taonga.¹¹

Mātauranga is broad and locality- and whānau-specific. Through the process of wānanga, the concerns and solutions for mātauranga from different perspectives and practices can be captured. By working in partnership with this rōpū to gather this information, there is integrity to this process for Māori and the Crown who have a shared responsibility to ensure the preservation and transmission of mātauranga. This helps reflect Te Tiriti and the intent of Ko Aotearoa Tēnei.¹²

To acknowledge the importance of Māori culture and identity to Māori is acknowledging the importance of this culture and identity to the nation as a whole. If we are ready to accept this simple fact, we are ready to perfect the partnership.¹³

The value of arts and culture

Despite well-known benefits of art and culture to social health and wellbeing, it is a challenging sector to work in as a creative. A recent profile of creative professionals found the median total income (all sources of income) was $37,000, compared to $61,800 for New Zealanders earning a wage or salary.  Most creative professionals consider themselves part of the ‘gig economy’, with 39 percent noting ongoing challenges including difficulty accessing loans and no holiday or sick pay.¹⁴

A recent literature review considered the current state of the ngā toi Māori sector to inform Toi Ora, which represents the sector. The review asserts that Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Wai262 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007 highlight the importance of ngā toi Māori as a taonga and that:

Ngā toi Māori plays a significant role within Te Ao Māori and is an integral contributor for the expression and maintenance of mātauranga Māori, mana Māori and Māori identity, health and wellbeing.

Despite benefits to Māori and wider society, the review identified ongoing challenges for the sector including inequitable funding systems and structures; insufficient funding and remuneration for ngā toi Māori creative professionals making a career in ngā toi Māori; barriers to engaging and participating in the arts due to access and affordability; and some preference for online engagement.

COVID-19 and Government efforts to eliminate (and then minimise the impact of) the virus posed even greater hardship on both the Māori and broader arts, culture and heritage sector. An early 2020 economic forecast estimated the arts, culture, heritage and media and broadcasting sectors would experience significant losses in productivity and around 11,000 jobs.¹⁵ Te Awe Kōtuku was introduced by the Government in this context.

Ko Aotearoa Tēnei makes strong links between Māori culture and economic value to the country. The Māori arts and creative sector contributes directly to Aotearoa’s economy ($1.36 billion in the year to March 2022) and supports growth in other sectors including tourism.¹⁶ Māori comprise around ten percent as employees and of businesses in the sector.¹⁷ Māori working in the arts, culture and heritage sector have largely struggled, along with non-Māori, to achieve reasonable and stable income. Further, the proportion of funding available to Māori arts has traditionally been minor relative to the level of consumer demand and interest.

Te Matatini is one example of the expression of mātauranga through kapa haka fostered across generations culminating in a globally-viewed biennial event. Described as the Olympic event of Māori arts, culture and heritage, Te Matatini attracted almost two million people through broadcast and streaming in 2023. This positively impacted the economy and demonstrated social wellbeing benefits for Māori and non-Māori.^{18, 19}

Research into the value of Te Matatini and kapa haka … has found that kapa haka contributes significantly to the New Zealand economy, to cultural, physical and social wellbeing and to Māori educational success.

Cyclone Gabrielle and impact of climate crises on mātauranga

Te reo, tikanga and mātauranga Māori are intertwined around the natural world, each thread making the other possible. Environmental changes driven by climate change present obstacles to the practice of customs, the retention of traditional knowledge, and the relevance of tikanga like whakataukī that traditionally help Māori make sense of existence.²⁰

On 5 February 2023 severe tropical Cyclone Gabrielle hit Aotearoa and decimated parts of the northern and eastern regions of Te Ika a Māui. It was the deadliest recorded cyclone and weather event to hit New Zealand since Cyclone Giselle in 1968.²¹ This climate event occurred just as communities looked forward to a post-COVID reality, following three years of stress, uncertainty, health, wellbeing, social, cultural and economic challenges.

The cyclone created immediate crises for thousands of people displaced from their homes and communities. The cyclone devastated the natural environment and severed the connection between people, land, natural and economic resources. It negatively impacted local and regional economies, infrastructure, and cultural sites of significance (such as marae, wharenui, urupā) across Te Tai Tokerau, Tāmaki Makaurau, Te Tairāwhiti and the Coromandel.

These events (and the ongoing after-effects) cause those involved fatigue, frustration, displacement and trauma. They are also disruptive for ringatoi (practitioner), mātanga (senior or expert practitioner), tohunga (renowned or chosen expert, cultural and spiritual leader), whānau, hapū, iwi and communities who are kaitiaki for arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga. While the economic impacts of climate-related events are somewhat quantifiable, the environmental, social and cultural costs are harder to calculate. 

As increasing climate events are forecast, the protection, preservation, revitalisation and transmission of mātauranga Māori is critical. Arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga are connected to the health, wellbeing and vitality of whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori communities – ‘he toi whakairo, he mana tangata’ – where artistic excellence resides, there is human dignity.²² 

Overview of Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku

The Government’s focus for Budget 2020 was longer-term recovery from the effects of COVID-19, building on its initial economic and health response. The COVID-19 Cultural Recovery Programme (CRP) was introduced soon after to help address the employment and financial risks to the arts and creative sector.

Manatū Taonga is the agency responsible for the CRP. Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku (‘Te Awe Kōtuku’) was established within this programme to specifically support iwi, hapū, whānau and Māori communities to safeguard at-risk mātauranga.

Initially $20 million was allocated for Te Awe Kōtuku over two years but this was increased by $4.5 million and extended to 2023 because of the arrival of the Omicron variant and its impact on the sector. In some cases, due to delays, programming may continue into 2024.

Manatū Taonga delivers the programme in partnership with six agencies. Table 1 shows the full range of funded initiatives at the time of evaluation.

Table 1: All Te Awe Kōtuku initiatives and brief descriptions, by agency

Monitoring and evaluating Te Awe Kōtuku

To understand the impacts of the CRP, Manatū Taonga developed a CRP Outcomes Framework²³ to track progress against three high-level outcomes:

• Whakahaumanu Ōhanga Economic Recovery: The sectors are economically stable, sustainable and adapting to a post-COVID environment. The sectors make a positive contribution to wider COVID-19 economic recovery.
• He Kuhunga, He Whai Wāhitanga Māmā Better Access and Participation: New Zealanders have access to and participate in diverse and rich cultural experiences in a post-COVID environment.
• He Rāngai Ngangahau, He Rāngai Auaha Vibrant, Innovative Sectors: The sectors collaborate, adapt and innovate in new ways, enhancing the quality, equity and relevance of content, knowledge, products and services in a post-COVID environment.

An impact measurement plan and reporting schedule was developed in partnership with delivery agencies to support reporting on impacts that aligned with these overarching outcomes, as well as the agencies’ strategic and programme goals. This included identifying initial measures of impact within each of the outcome areas.

For Te Awe Kōtuku, four impact measures were selected by participating agencies as priorities to be measured by all of them across recipient initiatives:

• Protection/preservation of taonga, mātauranga Māori, and te reo Māori in a manner that upholds and supports iwi/Māori
• Strengthened iwi/Māori relationships and partnerships
• Emerging resilience, sustainability, adaptation through strengthened Māori arts, cultural and heritage infrastructure (people, places)
• Preservation/rebounding of participation levels [includes engagement].  

Manatū Taonga released two reports that detail the impacts from the CRP, including Te Awe Kōtuku, in December 2021 and May 2023 – see full references at the end of this report. A third and final CRP impacts report is anticipated in 2024.

In addition to the broader CRP impact measurement programme, Manatū Taonga commissioned several targeted evaluations to understand how CRP outcomes are being achieved by certain programmes or initiatives in more depth. These evaluations provide greater insight into the more complex and transformational outcomes that cannot be fully captured through routine monitoring.

Evaluation methodology

Evaluation purpose and approach 

The purpose of this kaupapa Māori evaluation, carried out in partnership with Te Awe Kōtuku delivery agencies, was to gather in-depth insights about the delivery and impacts of Te Awe Kōtuku, as well as to research the health of, and ongoing risks to, arts, culture and heritage mātauranga Māori.

In keeping with the shared impacts agencies aimed to measure above, the objectives of the evaluation were to understand the impacts of the programme, including (but not limited to) the following areas:

• Protection and preservation of arts, culture and heritage mātauranga Māori
• Sustainability, adaptation and resilience
• Iwi/Māori relationships and capability building
• Access and participation.

Evaluation questions

The work was guided by five evaluation questions:

• How has the Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku programme impacted Arts, Cultural and Heritage (ACH) mātauranga Māori?
• To what extent has Te Awe Kōtuku created space for Māori ways of being, knowing and valuing mātauranga Māori?
• How have the various delivery models and approaches utilised (including inputs and activities) contributed to the health of the mātauranga (consider access, participation, relationships, capability, resilience) including digital protection approaches and solutions?
• How has digital innovation affected the way different forms of mātauranga Māori are shared and experienced? Is it less vulnerable and what trade-offs come with this evolution?
• In a post-COVID environment, what are the ongoing risks and opportunities that should be considered in those areas of ACH mātauranga Māori addressed through Te Awe Kōtuku?

Principled approach

This is a kaupapa Māori evaluation which means the evaluation was framed by a set of principles that derive from a Māori worldview and seek to normalise te reo me ōna tikanga, celebrate the beauty of mātauranga Māori and create benefits and values for Māori and the Crown.

The principles were:

• Tino Rangatiratanga – the self-determination principle;
• Taonga tuku iho – the cultural aspirations principle;
• Ako – the culturally preferred pedagogy principle;
• Whānau – the extended family principle; and
• Kaupapa – the collective philosophy principle.

In practice, these principles meant the evaluation team:

• Centred mātauranga Māori throughout planning and analysis stages;
• Celebrated the role of ringatoi Māori, mātanga and tohunga as kaitiaki and knowledge transmitters and provided koha to those we interviewed;
• Recognised the importance of enabling by Māori for Māori designed and led initiatives;
• Researched the diverse benefits and impacts of ngā toi Māori;
• Listened first, to learn and understand; and
• Followed tikanga (at whakatau and mihimihi) and used te reo where requested or appropriate.

Method

This is a case study evaluation using mixed methods that included:

• A desktop review of relevant quantitative and qualitative data, including agency monitoring reports, briefing papers, pānui, and online and print media   
• Brief literature review to understand the arts, cultural and heritage context, contemporary issues and challenges for mātauranga Māori, and to inform the four case studies
• Semi-structured interviews with agency staff (x2 rounds), ringatoi Māori, mātanga and tohunga, whānau, hapū, iwi and peers (including some videography)
• Presentations to interagency quarterly hui.  

The case studies centre mātauranga Māori and draw insights from the ringatoi Māori, mātanga and tohunga who delivered and created the initiatives, as well as the whānau, hapū, iwi and community participants who experienced the benefits.

This means the mātauranga (e.g., tārai waka) and how it was shared and supported was the central focus. By understanding the mātauranga, its whakapapa, origins and current state, we established a basis from which to answer the evaluation questions and explore the impact of the initiatives.

Developing the case studies and initiative selection

The evaluation team grouped the Te Awe Kōtuku funded initiatives into four bodies of knowledge to help the team understand the whakapapa, practice, intergenerational transfer and vulnerabilities of each. Mātauranga Māori is holistic and inter-connected so the forms do not fit neatly into discrete boxes, however this grouping helped the team set boundaries around the research and informed the shape of the case studies. The forms were: Tārai Waka (the creation of waka – from the forest to launching on water), Ngā Mahi a Tānerore me Te Rēhia (Māori performing arts – from composition to performance), Mahi Raranga (weaving – from the pā harakeke to creation), and Whakairo (carving – from the forest to creation).

Following a desktop review of available programme information and initial whakawhanaungatanga hui with each agency, the team worked with Manatū Taonga and agencies to select 12 initiatives for this evaluation. Due to a range of factors including the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle, the team was unable to connect with lead practitioners of three initiatives. The evaluation focused on nine Te Awe Kōtuku initiatives. These are detailed in the four case studies.

Evaluation phases

The evaluation was conducted over three phases: whakawhanaungatanga and planning (November 2022 to March 2023); fieldwork (March to August 2023); and analysis and reporting (July to October 2023). The evaluation team met with over 60 participants – ringatoi, mātanga, tohunga, whānau, and other experts, as well as agency kaimahi over the course of the evaluation.

In addition to Manatū Taonga kaimahi (four) who guided this evaluation, the team met with a total of 20 kaimahi from the six participating organisations twice during the evaluation. Evaluators held kōrero with 40 practitioners and participants from seven areas: Te Tai Tokerau, Te Tairāwhiti, Waikato-Waiāriki, Hawkes Bay, Kāpiti, Ōtautahi and Rēkohu.

The table below shows the initiatives profiled in the case studies, their regions, funding agencies and numbers of evaluation participants (excluding agency kaimahi). Refer to Appendix B for a description of each agency and the relevant funding initiatives as part of Te Awe Kōtuku.

Table 2: Initiatives included in the evaluation by agency, region and participant numbers

Endnotes

Findings

Overall impact of the programme on mātauranga Māori

This section brings together findings about how Te Awe Kōtuku impacted arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga Māori: what was done with the funding and what direct and indirect benefits had emerged as a result by the time of evaluation.

Funding recipients who were interviewed were deeply engaged and committed to preserving, protecting and sharing mātauranga. All commented Te Awe Kōtuku supported their aspirations, in many cases kaupapa underway prior to the pandemic, and helped accelerate practice and delivery. This ultimately led some taonga to be saved in the process. The programme helped whānau, hapū and iwi access, reclaim and reconnect to mātauranga-ā-hapū and mātauranga-ā-iwi, some of which was unknown for generations. Moreover, there were positive secondary impacts on whānau, hapū and iwi identity and wellbeing.

Te Awe Kōtuku had a tangible impact on the protection, preservation, revitalisation, reclamation and transmission of mātauranga. Across the profiled investments, key themes were:

• Protection - the timing of the funding meant mātauranga was protected and preserved including by four iwi using digital archiving (before being lost).
• Preservation - whakapapa and kōrero about wāhi tapu and sites of cultural significance digitally captured on film to revitalise mātauranga and reconnect hapū members, particularly rangatahi to their papakāinga in Ōtautahi.
• Reclamation - ancient sail weaving techniques researched, observed and reclaimed in Te Tai Tokerau, and shared with kairaranga in different regions.
• Transmission - kapa haka the vehicle for the intergenerational transmission of mātauranga-ā-hapū and mātauranga-ā- iwi, and celebration of indigenous brilliance on the national and world stage.    

Moreover, the funding helped ringatoi maintain or accelerate momentum, make new discoveries and broaden access to mātauranga. Without this funding, the kaupapa would likely have continued but at a slower pace and with increased hardship. Findings relevant to ringatoi included:

• Reduced financial pressure was freeing and enabled ringatoi to apply more energy to the kaupapa rather than funding applications and other adjacent mahi.
• Relationships with agency kaimahi were strengthened due to the support, responsiveness and flexibility provided. These relationships were enabled by a high trust environment, increased pūtea, and partnership approach taken on many of the initiatives.

Accelerated mātauranga objectives

The ringatoi Māori, mātanga and tohunga who led initiatives shared how Te Awe Kōtuku investment helped accelerate the protection, transmission and revitalisation of mātauranga. These creatives and practitioners were deeply invested in and motivated by their objectives and kaupapa which often (prior to this funding) required a level of personal financial resource to drive and implement.

While the absence of funding did not prevent work from being carried out prior to Te Awe Kōtuku, progress was slow and often borne at a personal financial cost. This could include ringatoi having to do many tasks by themselves including sourcing materials or making funding applications, absorbing their energy, time from whānau and own resources. The financial pressures on practitioners were exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis and the long-lasting effects of the pandemic which negatively impacted paid work in creative industries (e.g., deferred or cancelled shows, events, wānanga).

Regionally-based kapa haka were supported to prepare for Te Matatini at a time when national and regional lockdowns and the ongoing risks of community transmission meant simply maintaining whānau and community cohesion was challenging let alone preparing for Te Matatini. Te Awe Kōtuku funding helped to relieve cost pressures on group members and enabled whole whānau to participate at noho marae.

At rehearsals and noho we were able to feed the whānau, paid for venue hire, for our marae ... And that’s been a massive change, before you’d have to come in and pay – petrol, kai, sometimes you’d have to take time off work on a Friday to leave to get there and then you’re paying for the noho.  It was all user pays... What can happen sometimes is you can’t afford the whole whānau to be there so you’ll just send one. But what we saw was we had whole families on the team. (Kaitātaki wāhine, Ngāti Kahungunu)

All four iwi recipients of the Rokirokitia digital toolkit training shared how essential the timing of this initiative was in terms of preserving audio and visual history. The kits provided by Ngā Taonga were used to digitise social and cultural material stored on devices such as audio cassettes and VHS tapes. They contained decades of audio and visual taonga including whaikōrero, karanga, pōwhiri and important historical events in the development of marae, hapū and iwi. In the process of digitisation, recipients unearthed lost or forgotten social and cultural events, footage of kuia, kaumātua that younger generations could connect to.

I think there’s about six years of them attending a Hawaiian cultural arts festival on Hilo Island through the ‘90s and the 2000s… But taonga in the set are from the ‘80s and early ‘90s of our marae. They have an annual poukai, Kingitanga poukai there that’s held in November every year but also… footage of the 100 years of tikanga at Tūrangawaewae (iwi recipient, Rokirokitia)

Due to the looming expiration of this technology, it was critical that iwi and Māori organisations received the kits and training sooner rather than later. Some of the groups have digitised huge amounts of material in a short period of time. One iwi organisation digitised over 370 items within six months in 2022 and all recipients reported significant interest from whānau.

While the digital technology enables a fast and efficient process, it still required dedicated time and resources to learn and implement digital archival protocols (including coding and labelling) as well as monitoring of the collection. Without the kits, the iwi would have done their best to protect these taonga but at considerable expense.

The urgency when you talk to the conservators, the finite life of tape and cassettes, the urgency is there. First and foremost in priority we would have just moved them back, we’re lucky that we’ve got a room down here that’s not temperature controlled expertly but at least the temperature is a consistent like 18 degrees. So hopefully the audio tapes that we have will be stable in there. Priority of digitising would have been slow and I wasn’t going to pay someone to do the tapes that was too expensive, so if anything we would have been pursuing someone for the technology that the Rokirokitia units had. (Iwi recipient, Rokirokitia)

Whānau accessed and revitalised lost mātauranga

Te Awe Kōtuku led to mātauranga being unlocked, reclaimed or decoded for whānau, hapū and iwi. Across several initiatives the funding enabled research and wānanga to occur so that whānau could explore whakapapa and pūrākau related to different forms of mātauranga to build understanding and demystify long-held assumptions. This happened at different levels, for example in relation to tīpuna whare, specific poupou, and to hapū and iwi historical knowledge.

In one hapū, whānau members held divergent views related to an historic whare tīpuna. Some whānau were cautious about how they engaged with the whare due to the kōrero passed down to them about the tapu nature of the whare. Others within the hapū respectfully held different interpretations and attributed these divergent views to the enduring effects of raupatu (land confiscation) in the rohe.

A wānanga was held to honour the whare tīpuna with pieces preserved and reconstructed for the event. This wānanga created the space for whānau to share and discuss what they knew and explore the pūrākau and kōrero, including the review of whakapapa, mōteatea and waiata. The wānanga and emergent kōrero provided space for whānau to build shared understanding.

It’s hard to keep something alive when your people are scared to interact or ever want to touch that type of mātauranga, to even be visibly afraid to look at him… It was the first wānanga within our hapū to have a look at the mātauranga that surpassed us becoming Ringatū. (Kaiwhakahaere, Te Whakatōhea)

A consistent theme that emerged was how whānau members entered the wānanga with a sense of curiosity and a desire to access mātauranga ā iwi to fill in the knowledge gaps for themselves and future generations. For some, the motivation to connect to this mātauranga was driven by the ongoing loss of kaumātua and elders who hold this knowledge.

The sense of loss I suppose that we didn’t have a portal into our pā really. (Whānau, Te Whakatōhea).

Te Awe Kōtuku funding enabled one iwi to contract with a Māori-led technology company to research and develop the history of their whare tīpuna. For many years they wanted to fully understand and document the events that led to the marae establishment. In this process, hundreds of waiata were discovered (many at Turnbull Library in Wellington) which provided detailed information about the establishment. The project leaders worked with hapū members and decoded waiata and interpreted the narratives from the poupou inside the whare. They discovered new information about the stories represented in the poupou and the carvers who created them. This meant they were able to 'dig into the stories and remember why things are the way they are' and helped demystify long-held beliefs, including learning that in their region tohunga wāhine were normalised.

It blew everyone away because you know every year I would get phone calls especially from irāmutu who were going to do training or study at university and every year I’d get an 'aunty can you tell me about the pā', eh. Now it’s like I can tell you about the pā, you know, there’s so much to tell now and it is documented. (Small group hui, Ngā Toi Māori)

Positive secondary impacts on whānau identity and wellbeing

The funded initiatives all provided opportunities to work with, reclaim and share mātauranga Māori. As the Wai262 report noted, it is the performing or sharing of the mātauranga that gives it life and in the context of COVID-19 (fear, loss of kaumātua, inability to congregate on marae), the importance of arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga to Māori identity and wellbeing was heightened.²⁵ This funding enabled a range of initiatives to be delivered with purpose which had positive ripple effects for whānau, hapū, iwi and communities.

It’s so valuable ... to continue for the cultural wellbeing and whether that’s the artistic expression of being Māori, of intergenerational transmission of mātauranga in terms of being Māori, basically in a positive environment, in the connected environment ... it kind of acknowledges all that mahi. (Kaihaka, Ngāti Porou)

Te Matatini was held in 2023 after being delayed by COVID-19 and had numerous positive impacts for those viewing and participating.²⁶ It was a triumphant celebration of te ao Māori and ngā taonga tuku iho in Tāmaki Makaurau, following both the pandemic and several weather events that rocked northern and eastern regions of Aotearoa.

Te Awe Kōtuku funding that lead into this national event was critical for regional kapa haka groups. The 50 teams that had qualified for Te Matatini each received funding for ten wānanga (over two years) to continue their training regime while the national event was on hold due to COVID-19. This enabled them to maintain momentum and prepare their respective campaigns with some assured financial support.

Every campaign is different and this Matatini was tough for all sorts of reasons – coming back from COVID, tough financial times for many whānau, and you know the impact of cyclone Gabrielle that pretty much decimated our urupā, marae and kāinga back home. So the kapa was about us. But you know It’s about an expression of our Tākitimutanga through kapa haka and through the performing arts. (Kaitātaki wāhine, Ngāti Kahungunu)

Members of Taikura Kapa Haka spoke about how critical their practices were for celebrating identity and wellbeing. The connections, relationships and joy experienced because of being part of Taikura groups contributed to their positive mental, spiritual and physical health and wellbeing. The exercise and friendships ‘keep me going’, said one kaumātua while also noting that it created whanaungatanga between the three local iwi.

Connections to our taonga tuku iho, ngā kōrero a o tātou tīpuna, our whakapapa, waiata, haka, and you know we do it with our friends, well it brings us all to life. Cause, its lonely sometimes eh. We all enjoy being together - having a good ole sing-song and a laugh. And I suppose getting some exercise and physical movement, that’s a biggie too. It’s special for us all. (Tūmeke kaumātua, Kāpiti)

The funded filming of these kaumātua kapa haka groups meant their performances could be shared, while staying active and safe in their respective rohe during COVID-19 and mitigating their exposure to the virus had they made their annual trip to perform in Wellington. Te Papa sent a crew to film Taikura Kapa Haka in situ, and created a short film series that captured waiata, mōteatea, haka, poi and kōrero about the positive impacts for each kapa and wider whānau.

The feelings I get inside [being part of this group] are feelings I really missed out on when I was younger. (Taikura member, filmed excerpt from Auckland Anglican Māori Club film)

Waiata of old is absolutely critical because within that is perpetuating our identity. (Taikura member, filmed excerpt from Ngā Taikura o Ngāti Awa)

The short films showed some younger whānau members joining their local taikura kapa or supporting their kaumātua. One shared how she saw this as being part of the decolonisation and reclamation of te reo me ōna tikanga me ngā mahi a Tānerore me Te rēhia.

It’s probably up to my generation...to help support us in the revitalisation of that knowledge that was essentially taken away from us. (Kaihaka, filmed excerpt from Rongowhakaata)

Approaches were enabling and respectful

All ringatoi Māori reinforced the importance of supporting ‘by Māori, for Māori’ mātauranga Māori initiatives.

The ongoing protection and transmission of arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga Māori must be led by Māori, how this happens must be held and led by those knowledge-holders who whakapapa to it. (Ringatoi Māori, Te Tai Tokerau)

Though some forms of mātauranga are under threat, protection and practice is being led by ringatoi Māori who are driven by a deep-seated commitment to its revitalisation and reclamation – as expressions of rangatiratanga.

Te Awe Kōtuku made a positive contribution at a crucial moment in time, and in a way that was valued by ringatoi Māori because it was ‘refreshingly unbureaucratic’ (Ringatoi Māori, Te Tairāwhiti). Ringatoi praised kaimahi in funding agencies for their expertise as well as the belief shown in ringatoi to deliver and do what they do best. Many talked about how they were enabled to deliver their kaupapa because of the relational approach taken through this programme.

The programme resulted in coordinated investment across a range of agencies, types of initiatives and regions so that its benefits had a wide reach. Vulnerable forms of mātauranga were privileged in some specific agency initiatives (e.g., tārai waka) while several contestable funds facilitated access to a broader range of applicants and areas of Aotearoa. Over-subscription across all of the contestable funds was an indicator of the high demand and need across the sector.

High-trust, relational engagement was appreciated

A strong theme from recipients was gratitude for the level of confidence and trust that they felt was shown through this approach. They did not feel they had to fit a certain mould or compromise how they wanted to apply the funding. This was in large part due to relationships held by the kaimahi Māori in agencies with practitioners and organisations across Aotearoa. Applicants were given space to share what they thought was needed to support the mātauranga and flexibility to adapt if their initial proposal or plan changed over time.

We have a lot to owe to [name] and secondly to Department of Internal Affairs to agree this was worth it. How is it worth it? You know like anything of wānanga Māori there one thing leads to another, one story leads to another and you go to another place, another time, another kaupapa and something else falls from that that adds to our kete kōrero. (Ruahine, Te Poho o Rāwiri)

In turn, kaimahi backed and trusted ringatoi knowing that the funding would be applied to considerable effect. It was clear from agencies that some wanted to provide more financial support but were constrained by (still) limited pūtea available and high demand.

Strong and established relationships meant any questions or changes were addressed with a phone call. This was critical throughout the COVID-19 pandemic when recipients had to pivot in response to government settings, particularly around gatherings and restricted travel. Agencies were proactive and worked together to extend activity timeframes and reporting requirements where needed.

All of a sudden, our world changes and our next three wānanga are not happening because of Covid, we’ve got to ... be flexible and that’s what your funding’s allowed us to do because we changed things.  And [kaimahi] already said as long as you can tell us what you’ve changed and what you’re using it for that’s kei te pai... So that funding allowed us to kind of rejig. I think that’s really important for projects like ours, where things can change quite suddenly, that you’ve got the flexibility to reassign funding. (Mātanga, Ngā toi Māori visual arts)

Agency kaimahi were invested and committed

Twenty kaimahi Māori were interviewed (twice each) during this evaluation across six delivery agencies. The defining characteristics of kaimahi included whakapapa Māori, deeply experienced, skilled and relational, passionate about arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga Māori. Kaimahi spoke about the work of ringatoi Māori, mātanga and tohunga, and the privilege they felt in being able to provide funding to support their important work.

Kaimahi were invested in protecting the ringatoi, their craft and mātauranga. This level of commitment ranged from kaimahi maintaining contact and engagement over many years, sharing funding and collaborative opportunities, through to attending events and expressing manaakitanga in all its forms to visiting practitioners and their whānau.

In addition to the expertise and commitment of agency staff, the mātauranga was supported by the flexible approach used for monitoring and reporting. Application processes were not onerous and, while accounting for funds was required, there was flexibility in reporting. This included video and short narratives which recipients had created anyway to share online with whānau, hapū and iwi.

Ringatoi and the communities that support them are mostly volunteers or not well paid. A large part of their leadership role is spent on fundraising and administration. This was described as ‘hōhā’ for artists and creatives whose skill lies with the craft. Considerable time – at no or low remuneration for themselves – was spent generating fundraising applications, understanding the myriad requirements attached to the funding and writing reports to satisfy funders. The overall impression was that Te Awe Kōtuku was easier, built on existing relationships and more reflective of the lives of creatives (not administrators).

That gave us the flexibility to actually keep going last year when we had no funding because we were paying ourselves a stipend, a small one, but it just allowed us to still do that. (Tohunga, Raranga)
 

25. Waitangi Tribunal (2011). Ko Aotearoa Tēnei: A Report into Claims Concerning New Zealand Law and Policy Affecting Māori Culture and Identity (tuatahi), p. 43.

26. Angus & Associates (May 2023). Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata Impact Evaluation. 

Enabling Māori ways of being

This section explores the extent to which Te Awe Kōtuku created space for Māori ways of being, knowing and valuing mātauranga Māori. This is what differentiates the Te Awe Kōtuku investment approach and practice as a mātauranga Māori kaupapa.

Honouring and celebrating whakapapa

Mātauranga Māori is inextricably connected to whakapapa. Across the Te Awe Kōtuku programme, each of the initiatives celebrated and honoured whakapapa Māori.

The enduring connection between tangata Māori and atua Māori, the inter-relationship between mātauranga Māori, te taiao, the health and wellbeing of whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori, and the brilliance of tīpuna wisdom passed down from generation to generation were common features across all initiatives.  

It’s impossible to live this mātauranga outside of the marae, you have to be here to stand on the ātea to whaikōrero, to live it, breathe it, learn, make mistakes and bring it to life. This is where you practice, this is where you stand in your whakapapa and identity as [name of tribe]. (Ākonga, Te Tairāwhiti)

Ringatoi Māori facilitated the coming together of whānau, hapū and iwi back to their marae and communities to connect them to their collective knowing and being. It was in the sharing of these experiences that the mātauranga was practiced, enlivened and grew.  

This reconnection to identity and being proud to be Māori was celebrated by many of the ringatoi and participants who were interviewed. A kaumatua who was not raised in his traditions – no reo, no haka, never saw this growing up - now loved it and was proudly part of Taikura Kapa Haka. In many of the interviews there were threads of loss; of the impact of past trauma around them (or their tīpuna); and being denied the opportunity to speak the reo or practice the arts of their culture.

We must be encouraged to return to our homelands, to our marae, there lies the foundations of your Māori world. (Kaihaka, Ngāti Hauā)

We’re sick of everyone else talking about us and we’re not in it. That’s not our story actually, it’s not our take, it’s not our story. It’s our story to tell so we’re going to be up front to lead what we want people to hear in our story. (Kōkā, Te Tairāwhiti)

Strengthening connections to ūkaipō and te hau kāinga

Marae-based mātauranga

Te Awe Kōtuku supported ringatoi to lead and deliver marae-based wānanga that covered the depth and breadth of mātauranga practice and transmission. From kapa haka, to mahi raranga, mahi whakairo, whakapapa, whaikōrero, karanga, mōteatea, filmmaking, digital story-telling and archival, to kaupapa launches and celebrations – the marae provided the ‘cultural context’ for ringatoi, whānau, hapū, iwi and communities to ‘be Māori’ and connect to their whakapapa and identity as Māori.

To bring us as a hapū back to the marae, to learn and listen to our pōua, and walk on our whenua and visit all of the sites that are important to us, as a hapū….that brings the mātauranga to life. This is what is special about us, our mana Motuhake, our rangatiratanga as [name of hapū]. What it does for, well for me, it instils and reminds us how important it is to protect the kōrero and the sites. That’s our responsibility now and it’s something that Poua has carried on his shoulders for us for ages. It’s our time. (Rangatahi filmmaker, Ōtautahi),  

The mātauranga embedded within the whare tīpuna (whakairo, poupou, tukutuku, whāriki, kōwhaiwahi) of each marae was a source of learning and inspiration for those who participated in wānanga and noho marae.

All in the whare, the poupou, carvings, tukutuku is everything we need to know about who we are as [name of Iwi]. What this kaupapa has helped us do is decode the mātauranga within these taonga, to celebrate our whakapapa and who we are and share this with our people. (Kaumātua, Te Tairāwhiti)

The initiatives also highlighted the important role that ‘ahi kā’ play in the protection and transmission of mātauranga. They are the whānau who keep the home fires burning to protect and nurture mātauranga as, for many hapū and iwi, the majority of whānau live away from home. The ahi kā role and responsibility is critical to the survival of mātauranga arts, culture and heritage, however it can come at a personal financial and emotional cost. Te Awe Kōtuku helped with some of the financial costs associated with ahi kā who hosted marae-based wānanga, noho and events.

The majority of our kapa live away from home so for the younger ones they come back to our marae and papakāinga almost as manuhiri and you kind of feel a little bit aroha for them. So it’s awesome just to have our kids feel familiar. It’s not a place yeah that’s distant so I think that’s also part of being a marae based kapa that has been great. (Kaitātaki wāhine, Ngāti Kahungunu)

Well it’s on us to return home and support the hau kāinga. We have the resource to fill up our cars and go. That’s us, our privilege, the price we pay for opportunities, the mahi and jobs, the financial, the education we’ve had in the cities. That’s not our cuzzies’ job. (Ringatoi Māori, Ngāti Kahungunu).

Intergenerational transmission and leadership succession

Purposeful intergenerational planning was a common thread across all of the initiatives. Ringatoi, mātanga and tohunga shared how they protected and preserved mātauranga by engaging younger generations and trying to build a pipeline of ‘young ones who are interested, show talent or demonstrate commitment and grit to the kaupapa’ (Mātanga, Te Tai Tokerau).

Mātanga and tohunga talked about the conscious need to transfer mātauranga to the next generations for them to one day lead.

With Tangata Uta it was about…growing another set of leadership so I was actually handing over those events if you like to my 2IC and one of our other ones who are coming through…to actually run those projects. One thing too that’s probably worth noting is I’ve always focused on quality not quantity, I’m not a bums on seats sort of person because I don’t believe that you can deliver the amount of mātauranga that is needed in a quality way if you have 20 fellows, 18 of which are standing around not doing much. (Tohunga, Tārai waka)

The transmission of mātauranga from kaumātua to rangatahi was captured on film in a couple of initiatives. The intergenerational transfer of mātauranga on the marae and on the whenua ensured rangatahi experienced the mātauranga first hand. There were specific examples of how mātanga and tohunga invested in building relationships with rangatahi and created meaningful and valuable practical experiences.

It was intentional from pre-production phase that this taonga would be for rangatahi, rangatahi lead us into the future and continuing the tikanga and mātauranga of our hapū. Rangatahi love hearing from kaumatua and vice versa. This was the message form our pōua. (Rangatahi filmmaker, Ōtautahi).

Evaluators also observed how mātanga and tohunga made space for rangatahi who demonstrated exemplary skills to shine and lead. For example, in one of the raranga initiatives, the youngest kairaranga was revered by her pakeke for her exquisite weaving skills – and actively encouraged to take a leadership role to support others. Guided by her pakeke, the young weaver seamlessly and with humility shared her knowledge with kairaranga many years older than her.

She’s a stunning weaver. We identified her skill a few years ago. She has a gift, an eye for weaving and its well, special, really special for us to learn alongside her. And she may pick up the odd thing from us, but really she is the tuakana in this. Her brain thinks in patterns, she is a mathematician so takes one look at a piece and unlocks the pattern. Extraordinary. (Kuia, Te Tai Tokerau).

Evaluators also observed rangatahi leading digital archiving of iwi mātauranga and working with kaumātua to develop cultural quality assurance and ethics processes to validate and safeguard the materials being digitised. The point being that intergenerational planning, transmission and succession was a reciprocal and dynamic process. At different points in time, space was created for tuakana to become the teina and vice versa and both sit comfortably in this context. However, the cultural and spiritual protection mātanga, kaumātua and tohunga provide was critical to the cultural safety for all.  

Valuing kaitiakitanga

A strong theme to emerge was the importance of the cultural and spiritual guidance provided by tohunga across the initiatives. Tohunga provided advice on tikanga related to mātauranga based on a lifetime of practice and experience. They were role models, protectors and guardians of mātauranga committed to its transmission for the benefit of future generations.   

In one initiative, a group of weavers spent years working on a taonga they planned to launch on the water. However, once completed the tohunga advised that the taonga would not be used on the water and instead would only be used on land. Although initially perplexed by the decision, the weavers shared how they quickly realised the wisdom of the decision. This shift resulted in more whānau being able to access and engage with the taonga and see it up close and personal (on the land). It also meant the group created a second taonga to share with weavers across Aotearoa – and grow the mātauranga unique to this taonga.

Trusting in the wisdom and knowledge that tohunga hold and listening to this is what made the process uniquely Māori. The weavers described the layer of cultural safety and protection they felt as a result of having a tohunga guide them and lamented what might happen when tohunga passed. All of the initiatives had this layer of protection while also developing succession – two strong indicators of good health.

A tohunga Tārai Waka explained how his experiences and longevity in the kaupapa meant he has had time to develop his knowledge and understanding of the different skillsets needed to sustain Tārai Waka – from the forest to the ocean to sailing on the water. He plans for and thinks about the sustainability of Tārai Waka in 50 to 60-year blocks, because that’s how long it takes to grow a Tōtara tree to build a waka. He expressed a deep concern about the ongoing impacts of climate change on the natural resources that ringatoi Māori rely on to practice their craft. The availability of feathers, plants, harakeke, rākau; the health of waterways are all part of the ecosystem which mātauranga exists within.  

Kairaranga in Rēkohu, the Chatham Islands talked about the challenges they have as t’chiekitanga,  guardians and trying to reclaim their traditional Moriori ways of weaving. Part of their journey has meant travelling to another island to obtain traditional plants for weaving and how these plants were becoming harder to find as the climate changes. A tohunga raranga has supported them to learn how to weave using traditional Māori methods and now the focus is on growing traditional Moriori methods. The reclamation process is part of a broader language and cultural revitalisation journey for Moriori. Learning about and reclaiming hokopapa, tikane Moriori, tā re, karaki as expressions of nukunuktanga, self-determination.  

Models and approaches that work

This section explores how the various delivery models and approaches employed (including inputs and activities) contributed to the health of mātauranga Māori. It considers issues of access, participation, relationships, capability and resilience, including digital protection approaches and solutions.

Ringatoi Māori, mātanga and tohunga determined how best to deliver their initiative using Te Awe Kōtuku funding. Wānanga is a traditional method to engage in kaupapa (from small to large groups) and was a common and effective method used across all of the initiatives. Other methods for transmission included small communities of ringatoi, mātanga and tohunga collaborating on a kaupapa, and practice-based festivals and celebrations.

Wānanga

Wānanga is a traditional method used in the transmission of mātauranga Māori. It is a unique approach to sharing knowledge, enabling safe spaces where people can learn about iwi, hapū and whānau histories, arts, rituals and identities, and engage in discussion and critical analysis (Mahuika & Mahuika, 2020). Wānanga privilege the tikanga and kawa selected by the collective and apply this to the collective production of mātauranga. In this way, wānanga participants honour those who have contributed to the creation of the mātauranga, while also contributing to the variety of forms that the knowledge may take during and after this wānanga (Smith, Pihama, Cameron, et. al., 2019).

In its reporting on Te Awe Kōtuku impacts for 2021/22, Manatū Taonga noted 160 wānanga had been held with at least 1,870 attendees across a range of Kaupapa.²⁷ These numbers are important but there is even more extensive reach that wānanga have beyond those who attend. We heard, for example, how a single wānanga of 50 people had ongoing impacts for those 50 people and their whānau. The attendees shared resources and what had been discussed in the home and in their community for a long time afterwards, stimulating further kōrero and new learnings.

Wānanga were held across a number of initiatives. They were made financially accessible due to the Te Awe Kōtuku funding which enabled broad participation, fostered relationships and sharing, helped build understanding and capability, and supported resilience through sowing the seeds of succession. Wānanga attracted and catered for all ages from across iwi, hapū and whānau and was a way to connect, inform, kōrero, question, critique and experience mātauranga.

We had two or three people from Auckland University come down… to help us set up. Well, they first had a look … and they were really, really blown away by how they look. Even though some of them were pirau, were rotten but they were still impressed by the carving, the work that we’d done. And from there we sort of spoke about it and said well the only way to get it out there is to have a wānanga to our people. Nobody had … actually seen the old wharenui standing. (Kaumātua, Te Whakatōhea)

In one initiative, pieces of a wharenui, Tānewhirinaki, had been stored in a shed for 100 years and there were gaps in the hapū knowledge about the landmark structure. A four-day wānanga was held and the history and events that contributed to the story of Tānewhirinaki were shared and debated. Pieces of the long-hidden whare were erected with scaffolding in a tent so whānau could see and experience being in it, in person, while virtual reality headsets provided an alternative experience with the whare.   

When we had the wānanga … I think it’s a reflection of the journey I’m personally on in regard to my identity and reconnecting to my hononga for [rohe] is more than just burying my dead. I think this is a big one. And so, it was really a first-time experience…where I came together with my hapū, my wider extended connection to have positive kōrero and yeah it was a really positive kaupapa. (Hapū member, Te Whakatōhea).

COVID-19 and the related restrictions affected both access and participation in many of these initiatives. For the Tānewhirinaki initiative, the wānanga date shifted four times which was hugely challenging for the organisers and impacted on who ultimately could participate. Even when the wānanga was finally held, with careful health and safety protocols in place, anxiety among whānau was high and kept some away. Fortunately, some of the event was able to be shared online which helped to extend access and learning.

Wānanga increased intergenerational participation

The way whānau participated in wānanga enabled new learnings and exchange of knowledge. Generations were present to listen, to share and debate what they knew and drew from each other to sense-check and build understanding. Rangatahi had roles in the events which helped their engagement and tamariki were thought about and included in ways that they enjoyed.

An organiser for the Tānewhirinaki wānanga hoped that the tamariki who participated would be the generation to always have the mātauranga of the whare, something that had been lost for her and her parents’ generations. These tamariki had the virtual reality view of the whare, learned about its genesis, its construction, adversity through natural disasters and the impacts of raupatu on the hapū. With this knowledge the aspiration was that they would one day build on their parents’ efforts to reconstruct the whare and sustain and transfer the mātauranga for their hapū.

Wānanga allowed for brainstorming, connection and was a way of filling gaps and making things whole. There were some examples of myth-busting after decades of internal hapū and whānau disagreements about their shared history. The funding facilitated and inspired research to inform wānanga and build on the mātauranga.   

Almost 100 whānau attended the Tānewhirinaki wānanga which was the maximum allowed at the time due to COVID-19 settings. This was half of the number originally intended but organisers were happy with the mix of whānau who were able to attend. Whānau knowledge about the whare varied but all wanted to know more, and organisers felt that all gained something positive as a result of attending.

Connectivity. Some people have never stepped on their marae before yet their whānau have a huge history to that place. Yes there was a whole range of ages, there was also a range of ahi kā, of distant whānau, of whānau that come every now and then and so together we were experiencing the same things for the first time. And so, the kōrero - I couldn’t even package it up for you unfortunately but yeah it was a range of people and it was really beautiful to see our nannies and our koros you know which some of them were brought to tears. Again, just that … level of humility when you stare at this thing that you didn’t think in your lifetime you would. I think it really brings you to tears and ... we all shared in that sort of kōrero, that was sort of the buzzing that was going on, but it really did bring together whānau that probably had never met before and then you know whānau that were very connected and very close. (Whānau participant, Te Whakatōhea).

Growing community of ringatoi Māori, a peer-to-peer approach

A second favoured model employed by initiatives was to focus on growing arts, cultural and heritage ringatoi Māori to sustain mātauranga.

Across raranga and tārai waka initiatives we heard about small groups of tohunga, mātanga and ringatoi working together, teaching and learning and/or contributing to a shared project in their rohe. They tended to be connected into other groups around the motu or part of a network of ringatoi who would come together when possible.

There was great respect and high trust among ringatoi. An example of this was an initiative led by tohunga whakairo in Te Taitokerau where expert carvers from around the motu agreed to work together to build a waka for a national launch event in Kawhia in 2021. COVID-19 forced a rethink when they realised they would not be able to physically work in the same space. Instead they worked via Zoom to divide the mahi, and worked separately on different parts of the waka, stayed in touch remotely and shared progress.

They brought the pieces together in person when the event could be staged. They combined the pieces, worked together to put on the finishing touches and triumphantly sailed it on the water. Building a waka in this way – by splitting roles and the waka itself – also meant that a new approach was tested and shown to work. This way of working set a precedent and helped build confidence among the tohunga about the protection of this mātauranga. They proved that if there is a future pandemic or unexpected reason why tohunga whakairo cannot work together in person, they can still collaborate and create.

The lead tohunga stressed the confidence they had in each other’s mātauranga and craft, that they do not have to be together to do the mahi (though they gain a lot when they can work together) and that it was always going to get done, no matter what. They respected each other’s mahi without second guessing each other, and this community helps keep them all committed to the mātauranga despite the challenges.

As evaluators, we were privileged to see this mutual respect first hand when a raranga group from Te Tai Tokerau visited and worked with a Pito-one (Petone) based raranga group. It was powerful to observe the singularity of focus when one of the visiting crew was demonstrating how to achieve honē (joins) on a woven sail.

Arts and cultural heritage festivals

Practice-based arts and cultural heritage festivals were important in terms of celebrating identity and connection to culture and provided enriching experiences for non-Māori. Te Matatini was the primary example of an event that showcased Māori performing arts and inspired nations, generations, across all ethnicities, and honoured ngā mahi a Tānerore me Te Rēhia.

Te Matatini is the pinnacle cultural event on the Māori performing arts and te ao Māori calendar. While the biannual national showcase was the ultimate goal for the kaihaka we spoke to, the ongoing preparation and practices to qualify at a regional level, as well as building the future generations of kaihaka, meant the roles and responsibilities for each kapa was demanding and often challenging. Te Awe Kōtuku added to, and increased, the amount of funding that qualifying regional groups would normally receive to prepare for Te Matatini. In the context of COVID-19 and new challenges presented (e.g., establishing protocols for congregating on marae and regional lockdowns), the funding was immensely helpful and ensured each kapa maintained connections and momentum.

We are a whānau, a hapū-based kapa. Our kaitātaki tāne was breastfed at that first nationals so you know he’s the son of a previous leader and I am the daughter of a previous leader. (Kaitātaki wāhine, Ngāti Kahungunu).

Tamatea Arikinui first competed in what is now known as Te Matatini in the late 1970s. Leaders and members of the kapa have come and gone but it has a strong intergenerational tradition and legacy that endures. All ages of whānau were involved in the regional and national campaign including tamariki, rangatahi, matua, pakeke, and kaumātua. In 2023, they had members aged from 14 years to 80 years performing on stage.

We had a little bit of a mihimihi and a debrief and kōrero afterwards and one of our young kaihaka, he must be about 18 or 19, and his comment was, ‘I’ve never felt more grounded. I’ve never felt more connected". (Kaihaka, Ngāti Kahungunu)

Another initiative that adopted a festival approach to increase access, participation and community interest in vulnerable mātauranga was tārai waka. Based in Te Taitokerau, the ringatoi took a mixed model approach based on three tiers and objectives: first, they engaged tohunga and mātanga from around the country to work on a shared project; second, they trained and mentored up and coming ringatoi; third, they delivered a series of public events for all ages to raise awareness and interest in the practice. This approach meant they achieved local, regional and national reach far greater than if they had delivered within their own rohe.

It’s like planting seeds where young children are there and they’re seeing things, they might not necessarily understand the full extent of it but that participation of launching the canoes when that ceremony happened, when people got to paddle in them and be present like seeing, I think it was really important and I think everyone walked away with various things that will take root and grow within them. (Tārai waka peer, Te Taitokerau)

Up and coming kaiwhakairo were exposed to new learnings and leadership opportunities while whānau were exposed to the craft and its possibilities. These activities helped build the resilience and sustainability of the mātauranga.

It’s not a new model, you know, been around for thousands of years if we really think about it. It’s about building our tamariki right the way through capturing them at early ages and then being able to hold them and making sure that you know they’re growing in the way they want it to grow and they’re doing that in a safe space. (Tohunga, Tārai waka)

Aotearoa punches way above its weight class in terms of cultural heritage and that kind of soft power of engagement is quite profound, right, both for people to understand the roots of these traditions but then also to kind of help make those roots stronger… and then also it helps inspire the next generation. (Tārai Waka Peer, America).  

Impact of digital innovation on mātauranga Māori

In this section we consider how digital innovation affected the ways different forms of mātauranga Māori were shared and experienced. In particular, we explore the extent to which digital innovation has helped to make some forms of mātauranga less vulnerable and if there were any trade-offs that came with this evolution.

The intentional funding of arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga Māori at this time and in the context of COVID-19 resulted in innovative approaches and practice. While the pandemic was destructive and negative in many ways including on whānau health, wellbeing and ability to congregate, kaitiaki across the country stepped up to protect mātauranga in new ways. It forced tohunga, mātanga and ringatoi Māori to rethink how they practiced in times of uncertainty – for example how they sourced materials, how they shared and collaborated, and how they delivered wānanga – which led to new and innovative ways of working.

The caution from many of those interviewed however was not to overstate the impacts of digital innovation. Te ao Māori has a history of innovation and embracing technology, and digitisation was a tool to support the sustainability and protection of mātauranga. The identified challenges were growing and matching technological capability and skills to areas of need, and the protection of intellectual property and data sovereignty rights.

Access and participation

Te Awe Kōtuku funding was used to invest in digital products that enabled more people to access and engage with mātauranga. Digital platforms were widely used to increase reach, awareness and engagement by whānau, hapū and iwi with Māori arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga.

A strong theme was how digital platforms were used to share mātauranga with dispersed whānau, hapū and iwi members. This increased access was critical for both imparting knowledge to whānau who would not otherwise have had access due to not being able to return to their marae or papakāinga to attend wānanga, or living overseas. This access helped sustain the knowledge by increasing the number of whānau actively engaging with the mātauranga. Interviewees insisted that digital formats could never replace the experience of learning and practicing mātauranga ‘in place’ – be it on the pā or in situ on whenua where mātauranga is held and practiced – nor the emotion of seeing, hearing and feeling what it means to thrive in one’s cultural identity and mātauranga.

3D scanning

A couple of the ringatoi involved in this evaluation had used 3D scanning to great effect, primarily to broaden access as well as a form of preservation of the mātauranga. A Tārai waka tohunga formed a relationship with the Smithsonian in Washington DC over several years which exposed him to digital opportunities. He witnessed the results of a 3D-scanning project of an old Hawaiian waka ama. It had been gifted by the last royal monarch of Hawaii to the Smithsonian, who offered to collaborate on developing a 3D scan and model of an Aotearoa waka ama.

We got a whole lot of files, and then 3D printed this waka down here. So, scanned in DC, printed down here, but what that allowed us to do was kind of really think about what technology can be used for in our space to carry that mātauranga forward. (Tohunga, Tārai waka)

Guided by the tohunga, the model, its elements and mātauranga were explained and shared to train, inform and inspire others. This technology, in general, enabled greater outreach – and brought experts together from around the country and the world, to share with a wider audience.

3D scanning was also utilised on a heritage project so that hapū members could use virtual reality headsets to experience being inside their traditional wharenui. Some members of the hapū were kaitiaki for the wharenui which had been stored for decades. This digital innovation meant that they were able to engage whānau members on the journey in the hopes that they might one day be inspired to rebuild the wharenui. The virtual experience was a positive experience for hapū members who were awestruck by the mātauranga and the visceral experience of reconnecting to their identity and whakapapa.  

Another project focused on alternative (digital) resources and tools to support the capability building of kaikōrero on the marae. The hapū also created a bilingual eBook about the life story of one of their eponymous ancestors, which featured the voices of whānau members. It also commissioned a 3D ‘digital twin’ of the whare tīpuna, an interactive model with animation and voiceovers that explained the elements, mātauranga and history of the marae. The response from hapū members, particularly the elders was overwhelmingly positive. The resources affirmed the strong cultural identity of the hapū, confirmed the critical role and contribution they made to the local and regional community and shared important historical facts relating to the government land confiscation practices in the area. The reclamation of old knowledge and transmission using digital tools helped build awareness and understanding for hapū members and the wider community.   

Social media

Social media was the most common form of communication for kaitiaki. It was low cost and effective as well as being a fundamental way to reach rangatahi. Events were shared online as well as images and updates of any work that supported the mātauranga. The ability for others to message and interact on Facebook and other platforms also helped maintain engagement.

Every time we put something out, we actually you know we get some messages and people just wanting to engage with us. (Tohunga, Tārai waka)

For one heritage project, short videos and Facebook were used to socialise the mātauranga with hapū members.

When my uncle actually asked me to be part of the rōpū, me and him simply started doing some planning around like you know releasing mātauranga surrounding him and trying to de-bunk the myths.  And the first thing we did was we held a session down at the Ōpotiki Museum where our most fragile pieces were kept at that time. And just gave the kōrero … online and then I sat down with our videographer and made a one-minute video just explaining what you need to know-type detail. And then we used that and circulated it around Facebook. (Kairangahau, Te Whakatōhea)

There was awareness and some excitement about the possibilities, such as livestreaming seminars to share mātauranga or into kura and classrooms to observe carving and other practices. The potential to extend and expand interest and participation attracted ringatoi Māori, if the cultural practice or taonga was respected and whānau, hapū and iwi set the tikanga for who could access the mātauranga, how and for what purposes.  

Sound and vision digitisation

Access to mātauranga through sound and visual digitisation and the positive impact on whānau was a strong theme across several of the initiatives. We spoke to four iwi from around the motu who benefit from Rokirokitia digitisation kits supplied by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. All spoke about the deep impact on whānau as a result of seeing and hearing relatives who had passed as well as gaining access to footage of seminal events and celebrations like koroneihana and poukai.

It’s been quite amazing. I’ve given out a few recordings to whānau members you know and some mokopuna… first time hearing their kuia and stuff like that. So yeah, you get some real tears and all that coming through. (Kaiwhakahaere, Ngāti Toarangatira).

Following training on how to use the kits, the first phase for iwi was to digitise taonga and set up the archival labelling and collections system. The second phase was to set the tikanga about how to share these taonga with hapū and iwi members and use the resources to inform the development of learning and educational resources for the marae and kura.

A hapū from Te Waipounamu accessed Te Awe Kōtuku funding to produce a documentary about their mātauranga to preserve and share with members, including those based overseas. This format, importantly, allowed the producers to film the unique whakaaro of a revered kaumatua who shared hapū mātauranga with rangatahi.

He spoke to them as a teacher and I think that definitely helps through the documentary because there will be plenty of people that watch it that will, that may not have a connection or they may not live on the whenua and I think it was important for him to go into that space. (Assistant Producer, Ōtautahi)

This conversational teaching approach served to make the different learnings accessible and memorable. The documentary was made available to hapū members via a hapū website login with thought being given to sharing it more openly via Facebook and YouTube. The tikanga for sharing the documentary was agreed to by the hapū members.

Protecting mātauranga in digital form

Technological innovations have supported access and created a layer of protection for the mātauranga in terms of digital preservation. The tikanga for access was determined by the hapū or iwi who created the taonga.

Rokirokitia (digitisation kits) are an example of protection and future-proofing. We heard how many islanders living on Rēkohu were still using VHS but this technology is rapidly expiring. The transfer of oral histories and visual records to digital format has been essential in efforts to save this mātauranga. The iwi received training, the technology suite and ongoing support from Ngā Taonga so that they can own and manage the digital taonga themselves.

In Te Tairāwhiti, hapū members researched historical kōrero about carvings and used wānanga to debate and critique which resulted in the recovery of kōrero tuku iho and the names of certain poupou. Some of this mahi was able to be done remotely with whānau who filmed carvings and shared clips with kaumatua (in their home, not able to travel) who provided insights.

Navigating cross-iwi perspectives was an important finding from this initiative which illustrated the complexities in honouring mātauranga. Three iwi were invested in the one pā and development of the resource allowed the different strands of knowledge to be explored and debated.

If we’ve got [Iwi name] in the whare that allows them to have a take in the kōrero ... [another Iwi] they can now have something to add ...so before, you know, everyone says, ‘oh this is what actually happened’ and then someone from here will say, ‘no that’s not what happened’. But now you can actually add both sides from any of the ... stories, you can add that in. (Kuia and kaumātua, Te Tairāwhiti)

The flexibility to change, add to and update over time at minimal cost was a huge advantage of this digital resource. It is a living taonga that whānau from the different iwi can see themselves and their ancestors in.

So although its completed, that way it’s never completed...it will just carry on building every whakaaro, the story just gets bigger. The difference is now we have somewhere to actually put all of that kōrero now...really, really happy. (Tohunga, Te Tairāwhiti)

One challenge here was having access to the right technological skills and capability. This Iwi was fortunate to have a whānau member with international technology credentials who was able to support the pā vision. Not all iwi have the capability to achieve this, although sharing their story indicates what is possible and that is a start. The next step for the Iwi was to seek resources to build digital technology capabilities within all three of the iwi investing in the pā, starting with a training and development programme – and this was underway.  

Innovating is a Māori tradition

Some practitioners spoken to for this evaluation wanted to ensure that the impacts of digital innovation on mātauranga were not overstated. One shared view was that these innovations do not compare with the old ways and skills. Particularly from some of those practising tārai waka and raranga: they continued to emulate the craft of their kauwheke who had the mastery to carry them (waka and sails) to Aotearoa. One practitioner, steeped in traditional practices and organic materials, voiced a potential loss of authenticity through replacing the old ways, such as 3D printing over carving, while others sought to have both.

Me being a bit of a gadget freak I was thinking about oh how can we push things virtually, are there apps that we can use to sort of develop around the waka mātauranga. The short answer is yes. But like anything in the Māori world you know it’s 99% experience. So …you can have all the mātauranga you like in the digital space but if you lose the skill on the toki or a chisel or a chainsaw or whatever or the ability to look at a log and go well yeah there’s the waka then actually … you’ve actually failed. You know if the physical skill can’t be driven forward then you’ve failed. So there’s a whole lot of value in placing the mātauranga in this digital space for posterity if anything you know. But I will always blend things back to the space where we’re actually still on the tools because without working with the tools we lose it altogether. (Tohunga, Tārai waka)

Others in the heritage space talked about the wairua of being part of something that was created by their ancestors and in that place that you whakapapa to. The greatest part was being there (in the whenua or moana), feeling a connection and having that experience which was irreplaceable.

Alongside the resilience of the mātauranga, the fast pace of technological developments was noted and the potential irrelevance of ‘today’s innovation’ in five years’ time.

I firmly believe that your greatest reconnection comes from being at the place. When I recite my pepeha I want to know what my maunga is, … I want to know the types of trees that stand on it, I want to have walked under them, I want to know what the dirt looks like, what the ground lay is, what birds I hear. And I don’t think that experience can be given entirely through a digital forum … it’s one of those walk the talk things…our wisest people are the kawas that have walked the hills for a hundred years nearly, eh. (Whānau, Ōpotiki).

Another view was that innovation is, and has always been, happening, especially in the arts, cultural and heritage spaces. Ringatoi are always innovating because they are committed and often do this work without resourcing, so they are forced to be creative. Digital innovations were seen as simply the next stage in this evolution. However, there was also clarity that Māori need to lead the design, set the tikanga for use and application of digital innovations so that the mātauranga is respected and protected.

A lot of indigenous communities are kind of forced into a corner where it’s like, oh if you’re not working with stone tools you’re not tradition. And one of the things I kept hearing and it was really wonderful with kind of the public engagement was just …look if my ancestors had a chainsaw they would have used it, are you kidding me. If they had a 3D printer they would use it, you know. Have you read the accounts of when Captain Cook and others came? You know how quickly they jumped on iron. (Tarai waka peer, America)

Access and sharing of mātauranga

The issue of access to mātauranga and how openly it is shared is ongoing and has multiple viewpoints. The strongest theme included the need for broad, but controlled, access for the mātauranga to survive; for it to be shared by those who own it and who also determine the tikanga, such as sharing only within the hapū or iwi. The priority focus was to look after and revitalise the mātauranga, and issues about publication and intellectual property were secondary.

It’s open for you and what you take, you know, it’s for you to take. Being careful as to who else has access is really important but at the same time I think the whakaaro on sharing and opening up the learning wānanga is different now. (Kaumātua, Ngāti Oneone).

The spectrum of positions voiced by tohunga, mātanga and ringatoi Māori in relation to protecting mātauranga in digital forms included:

• Whānau owned and controlled digital content with tikanga set for open and unrestricted access in the public domain – ‘Our stories told in our way made accessible so that our whānau and others are able to learn about our tīpuna’.
• Hapū owned and controlled digital content with tikanga for access to be determined by the hapū but likely to be restricted– ‘Our whānau have been surveyed about the future of our whare, designs have been developed and there will be another wānanga. Our core group want it to be seen and used but it will be restricted to our hapū, and it is ultimately for the hapū to decide’.
• Whānau owned and controlled digital content with tikanga for access limited to those who whakapapa to the mātauranga – ‘Our whānau is hesitant about making digital innovations public before ensuring those with whakapapa can interact with it first’.

A related issue to the protection of arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga is artificial intelligence (AI). Just one interviewee raised AI as a concern in terms of Māori design being misused or replicated without permission or Māori control. Some research and guidance for ringatoi is needed into the unknown effects of this rapidly evolving technology on mātauranga.

The health of mātauranga Māori

There is a paucity of literature related to better understanding the health of mātauranga Māori. The Crown has developed broader works on the arts, culture and heritage sector including the New Zealand Framework for Cultural Statistics and Manatū Taonga’s 2009 Cultural Indicators for New Zealand. Creative New Zealand has commissioned and produced updated research related to ngā toi Māori and regularly reports on the profile of creative professionals in Aotearoa.

In 2009, Manatū Taonga published its cultural indicators research (which built on its first release in 2006). The research was considered beneficial for future policy development and monitoring the health of the sector over time.²⁸ The indicators touch on mātauranga but more broadly cover employment, engagement and participation data and trends related to the arts, culture and heritage sector as a whole.

Kowhai Consulting produced An Investigation into the Health of Māori Heritage Arts for Creative New Zealand in 2009. This research was more specific to the health of Māori heritage arts based on the views of ringatoi and from organisations involved in these arts. It provided a snapshot in time of the health status of ten disciplines and set a benchmark for future measurement. This work was referenced by the Waitangi Tribunal (Wai262) in recommending agencies, in partnership with Māori, develop ‘a clearer vision, objectives and priorities for funding Māori art and culture’.²⁹

The research by Kowhai Consulting stressed the importance of supporting the ongoing learning and teaching related to the arts, noting:

Without people to teach and learn, and without resources to enable teaching and learning, an art form is in peril of becoming irrelevant, neglected or forgotten.³⁰

The following was produced to indicate when a healthy art form could be described as flourishing:

• There is ongoing learning between senior active practitioners and new learners/emerging practitioners.
• Practitioners acquire cultural knowledge, traditions and skills that form the foundations of the art form.
• There are sufficient resources to carry out the practice and these are accessible and affordable.
• Māori communities participate in the learning and exhibit an appreciation of the art form.
• There is good community support for the art form, in the context of te reo Māori, tikanga, marae, family, hapū and iwi.
• The practitioner’s life is focused on the practice of the art form.

This Aiko evaluation focused on four forms of mātauranga, which were reflected in the earlier study. Table 3 provides a view based on the findings of this evaluation of the current health of the four forms, presented alongside the 2009 findings. The caveat is that these forms of mātauranga are inter-related and unique to place and form, and therefore do not neatly fit into categories. We provide comment on how a limited range of initiatives (and their approaches), funded through Te Awe Kōtuku, contributed to the health of the mātauranga, including digital protection solutions.

Overall, there was no distinction between the health and wellbeing of ringatoi Māori, the mātauranga they hold and practice, and the natural, physical and spiritual worlds they practice within. These realms co-exist and are inter-dependent, meaning that for ringatoi any negative impacts experienced in one realm (such as climate-related events on resources or sites of significance) has a ripple effect on the whole.

Table 3: Health of mātauranga – findings from 2009 and this evaluation (2023)

Policy implications

Te Awe Kōtuku was a positive and proactive response by Manatū Taonga and its partners to a series of risks identified prior to COVID-19 that included:

• low numbers of expert practitioners or knowledge holders;
• limited resource and support available for practitioners to maintain and sustain practice;
• a lack of resource to support conservation of irreplaceable mātauranga held on marae; and
• historic underfunding of mātauranga Māori.

COVID-19 (and subsequent severe weather events) were expected to exacerbate these risks to forms of arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga Māori.³¹

This evaluation, while limited in scope, found that Te Awe Kōtuku was largely effective in helping to address these risks. This work did not survey for numbers and strength of ringatoi and ākonga around the motu so cannot comment beyond the initiatives profiled. And while providing an increased level of investment, Te Awe Kōtuku is currently time-limited so it is unclear how it helps address historic underfunding over the longer term.

However, findings suggest that Te Awe Kōtuku added much-needed financial and technical support (e.g., digitisation of archive materials) at a critical time. The resource sustained practitioners when the pandemic and climate challenges presented a high likelihood they would not be able to engage with the mātauranga (e.g., tārai waka and kapa haka). The timing of the fund captured some invaluable knowledge and experience from elders and enabled participation that is critical to identity and wellbeing (e.g., taikura). Targeted support for digital innovation supported hapū and iwi to futureproof mātauranga by capturing the mātauranga in a digital form, increasing access for whānau and hapū members with the potential for long term benefits and impacts.

Further, Te Awe Kōtuku was effective for recipients due to the following elements of the approach.

• Practitioners largely designed and led their own interventions through wānanga and other practices they know work best. Being ringatoi-led exemplifies tino rangatiratanga and reflects Wai262 recommendations for a Māori-Crown partnership approach.
• Where agencies were involved, kaimahi were considered skilled, invested and supportive. This relational approach plus efforts to reduce administrative burden on ringatoi helped build trust for a longer-term partnership with the Crown.
• A mix of targeted and contestable funding helped meet known high needs and broaden access to whānau and places where the need was largely unknown. While we do not know the scale of need among whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori communities, a multi-pronged approach broadens accessibility and can facilitate action. In future, more localised approaches – such as wānanga that do not require formal application processes – may better assess needs and reach communities requiring Crown support.

Risks and opportunities

This section brings together findings related to the risks and opportunities associated with arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga that have emerged from the Te Awe Kōtuku experience. While the initiative sample size was limited, the findings are relevant to a post-COVID and climate crisis context.

Risks to mātauranga that were identified are:

• The ongoing effects of colonisation within whānau, hapū and iwi which include fears of misuse and misappropriation of mātauranga, preventing use and participation.
• Time and the passing of those with knowledge and ability to share ‘the how and why’ surrounding some forms of mātauranga.
• Climate change and the impacts of this on natural resources used in some forms of mātauranga as well as on sites of significance critical to mātauranga (e.g., marae).

The opportunities for the Crown in this space include:

• Acknowledging the effects of colonisation and putting effort towards whakawhanaungatanga and relationship building, as well as providing resource (as per the approach exhibited by Te Awe Kōtuku).
• Celebrating and embracing the positive impact that arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga has for whānau Māori and Moriori, including for cultural identity and other social and economic outcomes.
• Enabling greater use of technology to increase participation and protection of mātauranga but leave decision-making around its use and application to whānau, hapū and iwi.
• Empowering ringatoi who, innately, take a long-term view that can help ensure succession of arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga.
• Increasing investment in arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga, and in the unique skills of ringatoi and knowledge-holders in Aotearoa.
• Collaborating across agencies to share knowledge and resources and enhance outcomes of those working as kaitiaki of arts, culture and heritage mātauranga.

Risks

Mātauranga at risk due to intergenerational effects of colonisation.

The extensive work in support of Wai262 provides sufficient evidence that colonisation in Aotearoa has had a devastating impact on Māori as a people, language and mātauranga.

These effects resonated during interviews, particularly in the heritage space where whānau have been working to rebuild and reclaim ancestral knowledge lost due to raupatu and the devastating intergenerational impacts experienced to this day.

Taking it back to the 1800s and actually looking at our [ancestors] saying who we are, what was our tikanga prior ... and what was it after. How did we ensure after raupatu, how did we ensure our mātauranga was kept alive and came through it. We're in this position essentially because it was put on use, not because we want to. We're trying to reclaim something that again was taken away from us forcefully not because we wanted it taken away. (Kaimahi, Te Whakatōhea)

Some were hesitant to be open with their mātauranga, scarred by the colonising impacts experienced by their elders. One tohunga heeded his father’s whakaaro that only certain people should be given mātauranga in case it could be abused, but his father’s mindset shifted during COVID-19 and he actively supported the sharing of mātauranga using ZOOM and working with tohunga tārai waka across the country to build a waka.

He was of that mindset of because he come through the old blackout wānanga from those days,... that only certain people should be given the knowledge. Otherwise it will get recognised, it will get abused.  Our kaumātua kuia who have that knowledge would get abused - who would look after them once the knowledge was taken from them? So he was really old school in that sense but this knowing that there was all of these other great, like-minded people coming together, he was happy to share his kōrero, his mātauranga with everyone so I think yeah he was really into it and the kaupapa. (Tohunga, tārai waka)

Limited timeframe to protect some mātauranga

Ringatoi Māori talked about the relentless and ongoing risks to mātauranga because of the passing of elders and tohunga who are keepers and holders of mātauranga   - ‘we were putting ourselves at risk as a tribe and as a pā’. They lamented that many have passed without their knowledge being recorded or stored on a reliable platform. Documenting and capturing mātauranga held by kaumātua and pakeke was a priority for many of the groups interviewed. Digitising mātauranga held on dated platforms like VHS and cassette tapes was also a priority for hapū and iwi groups who welcomed the support provided by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision and the digitisation training and toolkits.

Climate change: The link between te taiao and mātauranga

Te Taiao is vulnerable and its state directly affects the sustainability of many forms of mātauranga Māori. The specific risks identified during this evaluation include:

• Depleting and declining health of natural resources that are the traditional (and also the best) materials for practice such as pā harakeke for weaving and the waterways and wildlife that sustain these
• Potential loss of marae and pā due to increased flooding events and coastal erosion
• Rākau (trees) used for carving waka that have been decimated by industry, e.g., tōtara and kauri have not been replanted in favour of non-natives such as pine.

The connection of te taiao to identity was a consistent theme. Identity, understanding of self and connection to whenua and te taiao was shared as being pivotal to art, cultural and heritage practices with some of the greatest teachers referred to as the environment including birds and native plants.

Our tīpuna wouldn’t have gotten through life without the harakeke plant. They used it for so many things, it was invaluable. And I think I don’t know the way the world’s going and having no power, being cut off, we need these resources. We need to listen to our manu, our rākau, observe and see what they are telling us now more than ever before. (Tohunga raranga, Te Tai Tokerau)

Te Taiao was also referred to as inspiring innovation in the event of challenges such as natural resource regulations and the effects of climate change. One tohunga talked about not being able to go to a certain part of the forest to obtain the right rākau needed for his craft during COVID-19. He and his students used pine or poplar rākau instead of kauri and focused on the physics and engineering of building a safe and stable waka. While this differed to traditional practice, he took the opportunity to focus on transferring the skills to keep the practice alive. The workaround also provided a chance to test the resilience of practices in the context of likely future shocks and disruption.

Our environment is the biggest challenge… what that has forced us into actually is to look at our exotic species to help that skillset I keep talking about just to perpetuate... So yeah I think the biggest challenge for us in the next thousand years is having the trees around to continue doing our mahi. (Tohunga tārai waka – Te Tai Tokerau)

Cyclone Gabrielle had a devastating impact on communities across Aotearoa including arts, cultural and heritage sites and taonga. In support of recovery efforts, staff from key agencies including Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and Te Papa Tongarewa were on the ground cleaning, repairing and restoring taonga tuku iho – including wharenui, whakairo, poupou, tukutuku, whāriki, kōwhaiwhai, photographic material, as well as cultural sites of significance. This process is ongoing and will inform hapū and iwi managed retreat and adaptation plans as communities try to proactively respond to the ongoing impacts of climate change. The threat to mātauranga Māori is ever present.  

Opportunities

Relationships and whakawhanaungatanga can help repair past Crown actions.

Funding and resources will always be important to ensure mātauranga Māori can be preserved and shared but the process – the way money is provided and accounted for – is also relevant. The Crown and its agencies, where they look to support mātauranga, need to operate in a way that acknowledges and respects what whānau have endured due to colonisation and subsequent policy failures.

Key to this is a focus on valuing the role of tohunga, mātanga and ringatoi Māori, as well as clarifying a governmental position on this mātauranga.

Māori are at the bottom of everything and unfortunately over the last 170 years the crown hasn’t come up with any solutions that have worked. Right, they invest and invest and invest and … we’re just churning out this and that and so it must mean that potentially someone else had a better idea or something else exists and so I think the confidence in investing in mātauranga Māori … might just be a key to a more prosperous future for Aotearoa, for New Zealand, for Māori. (Whānau, Te Whakatōhea)

Te Awe Kōtuku funding leveraged relationships that have been developing between tohunga, mātanga, ringatoi Māori and kaimahi Māori in agencies over many years. The strong collaboration between agencies was a key feature and initiatives were resourced at arm’s length based on a high trust relational model. This collaborative approach was welcomed by ringatoi Māori and ultimately enabled rangatiratanga to flourish.

Some of those interviewed were worried that if they were open about their mātauranga it could be misappropriated, misunderstood and misused due to past experience or cautionary stories shared by elders. As the Crown continues to resource this space, kaimahi should be aware and respectful of these tensions and be guided by tohunga, mātanga and ringatoi Māori in terms of what is the appropriate tikanga for sharing mātauranga, particularly online. Agency kaimahi supporting Te Awe Kōtuku were often mentioned by those interviewed as possessing the qualities needed to do this well – to practice whanaungatanga and manaakitanga with ringatoi, and therefore could support others in the system to understand best practice.

Advancing good faith relationships by actively working with tohunga, mātanga and ringatoi Māori to reclaim mātauranga lost to international interests is another example of positive work in this area. The repatriation of karāpuna and tīpuna; the current but temporary visit of Te Rā from the British Museum is another example. There are many opportunities to work collaboratively with Māori to design fit for purpose strategies to reclaim, reconnect and repatriate taonga. 

Technology: A tool to support mātauranga but there are reservations

Technology helped support access to different forms of mātauranga during the pandemic as well as being the primary method of engagement with other tohunga and mātanga. During the national and regional lockdowns, dispersed tārai waka tohunga worked ‘together’ remotely to carve separate parts of a single waka. This approach was unprecedented in the world of Tārai Waka.  

Social media was used frequently to share developments, inform and engage, especially with the next generation. Most saw this as an advantage, especially in the context of COVID-19, but some downplayed it, noting it was simply the current mode of communication and would soon be replaced. While these platforms provided a means to engage people in the mātauranga, it could not replace the deep understanding that comes with practicing the mātauranga ‘in place’ whether that be on the whenua, papakāinga, marae, or in the ocean or forest.  

Interviews highlighted diverse views between how whānau, hapū and iwi felt about openly publishing and sharing mātauranga digitally (and the unknown effect of AI) versus keeping it secure for those with whakapapa. They welcomed digital technology as a tool to support increased access to and participation in mātauranga. The discussions about the protection of mātauranga were nuanced and localised. The point being that the power to determine the tikanga for how mātauranga is shared and accessed rests with whānau, hapū and iwi. The Crown may have a role in supporting and enabling this kaitiakitanga.

Growing mātauranga builds cultural identity

The experience shared by those interviewed or working with a form of arts, cultural and heritage mātauranga, as supported by Te Awe Kōtuku, was often connected to their identity as Māori. There were constant learnings, connection to whakapapa and hope for hapū and iwi as well as the Māori-Crown partnership based on the strength of this knowledge being reclaimed.

Holding events or wānanga were, for some, ‘the easy part’ with the greater challenge being continuing to rebuild the relationship that whānau and hapū have with mātauranga, be it a heritage whare or a cultural practice.

Our whakapapa tells us that we got kicked, it also tells us that we were alienated from our own land which tells me then that my hapū the majority of my hapū weren’t brought up here. That also tells me they weren’t brought up in their whare like I’ve been lucky enough to do. Okay then so how do their uri know anything about their pā. (Kaumātua, Te Tairāwhiti).

I think that it’s connection and the despair, the dysfunction we see in our whānau, in our people comes from a lack of identity and connection to a place and knowing in your heart that you come from a strong line of people and survivors… knowing that they’ve stood and stared at something, thinking of you, a hundred years ahead and that’s the same responsibility we carry. And so the investment in any of that, anything to do with the reclamation of our culture, of our identity, of our history… it goes without saying that it can only benefit and bring about a better society. (Whānau participant, Te Whakatōhea).

On Rēkohu, the kupu tohunga (cultural practices) and Rē (language) Moriori are extremely vulnerable due to the impacts of colonisation by Pākehā and Māori, a relatively small population living on the island, declining natural resources and dependence on a small group of people with the knowledge and commitment to protect and revitalise language and cultural practices. One of the challenges unique to Moriori is obtaining expertise and resources to support them to achieve their cultural knowledge and practice objectives. They also, compared to Māori, have far fewer examples in existence or in images to draw on, to replicate and recreate.

Fortunately, there is an active and committed force on the islands dedicated to reclaiming Moriori cultural practices. A small financial contribution was made via Te Awe Kōtuku but it went a long way to engage people, share weaving skills and broader mātauranga. The opportunity for the Crown is to acknowledge the unique culture and knowledge of Moriori and act quickly to invest in them to secure it now.

I would want them to know how dire it actually is. That we are starting from a base of zero and there’s so much of that work that needs to be done. But we’re still here and we’re still fighting and you know please remember us. (Kaipoari, Rēkohu)

Supporting succession

Tohunga and mātanga are experts, they are highly skilled and have a depth and breadth of mātauranga that is irrefutable. Their mastery and excellence are recognised by their hapū, iwi and communities. Moreover, they provide a layer of cultural, spiritual and intellectual protection to any kaupapa and follow rigorous accountability processes – to ensure practices are tika and pono.

They need the space and resources to train and mentor, and for these opportunities to be accessible to younger generations. As one tohunga noted, it is about how to keep engaging the next generation in these skills but also the understanding behind it, it is not just the practice knowledge, there is deeper mātauranga that you cannot learn in one or two wānanga.

Whānau- and hapū-centred activities like wānanga and noho marae were vehicles for skills transfer that engaged all ages and passed on benefits through the generations.

Dad’s last stage at Matatini, he was 70, yes. So I said to some of my siblings, you’ve got another 30 years .. I think I was like oh until your son’s ready to take your spot guess what...you’re there until you produce one or two to take your place. (Kaihaka, Ngāti Kahungunu).

So [name] is an absolute genius, she’s been weaving alongside her mum she was knee high to a grasshopper and she really understands how weaving works, like patterns. She was the one that sorted out how the waka pono was constructed because they’d never seen anything like that before. Even though some of us have done whāriki it’s usually a maurua and this was a mautahi and like really, really strong. (Kairaranga, Te Tai Tokerau).

The difference is now though these kids - it is actually part of their whakapapa it is part of their history it’s part of their kōrero eh. And it it’s something that they own because they told them so and they told them so and they told them so. So they’ve become owners of that stuff. (Whānau participant, Te Tairāwhiti).

Many mātanga and tohunga think intergenerationally. They naturally considered succession and actively looked for others to engage and teach. There was little evidence of people holding on to power or knowledge, rather of seeing themselves as one within a long line of intergenerational mātauranga transmission.

There obviously is no one te ao Māori perspective. There is no one iwi perspective. And there’s not even one hapū perspective but … it’s that lovely line between iwi and whānau. And investing in the rangatahi as well as our kaumātua. I think that the beautiful part of [our project] is that it ensured a connection between our kaumātua and our rangatahi which is where magic happens. (Tohunga, Ōtautahi)

We have this accumulation of mātauranga and 20 to 30 years’ worth of mahi that actually speaks for how much we’ve been able to learn, we’ve been able to revitalise in that time and the risk of losing that by just letting it go is probably not something we even want to consider. So moving forward the thousand year strategy is about building those generational bridges and going yep we can hold this and we can keep it going you know. (Tohunga, Te Tai Tokerau)

The key thread to ensuring succession was empowering ringatoi and kaitiaki of mātauranga. They hold the knowledge and skill and motivation to protect and transfer the mātauranga. However, learning, understanding and becoming a leader can take years or even decades. Consistent, long-term funding (be it from government or other sources, or a combination) was identified as one way to retain practitioners who are passionate but sometimes cannot afford to maintain and sustain the commitment.

Te Awe Kōtuku was well-timed, more support will be needed

All involved in this evaluation were grateful for the funding they had received and the opportunities it provided to support, protect, preserve, affirm, reclaim, transmit and celebrate mātauranga Māori. Contestable funds were over-subscribed, sending a clear message about the level of need identified by ringatoi Māori and communities across Aotearoa.

This was the first time a dedicated fund to support mātauranga Māori arts, culture and heritage at this scale was made available to ringatoi Māori. Their fervent hope is that practitioners continue to be funded equitably so that the positive impacts delivered as a result of Te Awe Kōtuku funding can be sustained.

There was general agreement that the timing of Te Awe Kōtuku was right in terms of increased whānau consciousness about the need to protect mātauranga; continual loss of elders holding mātauranga; generational confidence to revitalise – and the Crown investment and support.

I think timing is right because the fear is what if it’s no longer there. Not what we’ve got but just the access, the ability to access all this knowledge. (Project lead, Te Tairāwhiti)

In the context of COVID-19, there were additional pressures on tohunga and mātanga to sustain their practice as well as maintain their own health and welfare. It was challenging for many to give time to their practice when jobs were lost and whānau were unwell. These pressures have not eased or returned to pre-COVID conditions due to the inflationary cost of living and, for some, the effects of subsequent environmental disasters.

A consistent theme expressed by ringatoi Māori, tohunga and mātanga was for the Crown to continue in this way to provide funding to support the protection, preservation and transmission of mātauranga Māori. They highly valued the trust and flexibility they had to protect and share the mātauranga in the ways they know best. Mātauranga Māori, like te reo Māori, has been diminished through historic policy settings and actions. Te Awe Kōtuku was a small but important step towards remedying this and restoring good faith in the Crown to deliver on its role to actively protect mātauranga Māori.  

Inter-agency collaboration made a positive difference to outcomes

Collaboration, communication and working together between and across agencies was an importantenabler of success and positively impacted mātauranga Māori. This programme was the first time the government has had a coordinated investment programme dedicated to supporting mātauranga Māori. There was evidence that the collaboration between participating agencies contributed to positive outcomes through regular hui and communications, building shared knowledge of initiatives, and high levels of trust to share challenges and opportunities across the sector.  

We have a good working relationship with MCH, DIA, other agencies, we’ve all worked to build those relationships up over years, but it’s also about delivering – and we proved that we can. So to have multiple agencies support us, this kaupapa and invest in the digitisation and intergenerational transmission of mātauranga Māori, mātauranga ā hapū ā iwi is a good thing for Aotearoa. 

Agency kaimahi felt a key difference with this funding was they had a more substantial offering (than they could previously offer) to ringatoi Māori, which was important because they knew what it could achieve. The agencies had collaborated on Te Awe Kōtuku from an early stage and then they worked together as it was implemented, having the effect of broadening access and participation to initiatives that might otherwise have remained known only by a single agency. This coupled with kaimahi engagement and connected ringatoi Māori communities, also created operational efficiencies. There was an example of training sessions held in regions (Rēkohu, Te Tai Tokerau, Te Tairāwhiti, Te Matau a Māui) that brought together different groups of ringatoi Māori working on a similar kaupapa which created new connections and knowledge-sharing.

Agency staff were industrious and cared about the mātauranga and the ringatoi Māori. They had a strong understanding of the challenges faced by ringatoi Māori in terms of sustaining their craft and mātauranga, and went the extra mile to support them. For example, Agencies co-funded training sessions, coordinated itineraries for visiting ringatoi Māori, picked people up from the airport, and leveraged resources and connections to maximise opportunities for ringatoi Māori.

Regional and outreach staff from different agencies like Te Papa Tongarewa, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, and Te Tari Taiwhenua supported initiatives in the regions (and Rēkohu) with a range of training wānanga and workshops.

We’ve travelled up for the week for our training with [Ngā Taonga kaimahi] and they helped tee up with visits to Te Papa and Creative NZ, and a few exhibitions. For us well it’s great for us to make the most of our time here and we are truly thankful. (Ringatoi, Rēkohu) 

27. Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage (May 2023). COVID-19 Cultural Recovery programme Impacts report 2021/22, p.34.

28. Refer part six of Cultural Policy in New Zealand on the Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage website (Accessed September 2023):

29. Waitangi Tribunal (2011). Ko Aotearoa Tēnei: A Report into Claims Concerning New Zealand Law and Policy Affecting Māori Culture and Identity, Te Taumata Tuarua (Volume 2), p. 527.

30. Kowhai Consulting Limited (2009). An Investigation into the Health of Māori Heritage Arts, p. 6.

31. Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage (28 June 2022). Briefing to the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage: 2020 COVID response initiatives with funding ending FY 2021/22.

Appendix A: Case studies

Introduction

The four case studies are presented to provide summary information on the four forms of mātauranga Māori selected for this evaluation. A desktop review of relevant key documents informed the case studies. Time did not allow for a comprehensive literature review to be carried out.

The case studies describe the whakapapa of each form of mātauranga based on Māori worldviews; how each form was taught and practiced in traditional society; how Te Awe Kōtuku supported selected initiatives; and identifies the impacts of the funding and potential risks and opportunities for its ongoing protection, preservation and transmission. The high-level findings from the case studies have been presented in the body of the evaluation report.

Case studies:

• Tārai waka
• Raranga
• Whakairo
• Ngā mahi ā Tānerore me Te Rēhia

Tārai waka

Background

Pūrākau are a traditional and effective method of sharing and transferring knowledge.¹ Contemporary Māori scholarship refutes the notion that pūrākau are simply myths and legends, rather pūrākau are a valid Kaupapa Māori narrative-based research method that supports the decolonisation of research spaces.² An example is the pūrākau of Rata, a well-known canoe builder and voyager who appears in Polynesian pūrākau and has a variety of distinctive names. This pūrākau illustrates the whakapapa and mātauranga of tārai waka.³

According to one version of this pūrākau, Rata planned to build a waka and sail to the land where Matuku-tangotango and Pou-a-hao-kai resided to avenge the death of his grandfather, Tāwhaki. In his impatience, Rata neglected the appropriate tikanga before cutting down a tree. Tāne Mahuta, the god of forests and birds, was furious at this show of ignorance. As Rata slept, Tāne ordered the creatures of his forest to erect the tree in its original spot. Rata returned the next day to see the tree standing as if it had never been touched. Rata spent the day cutting the tree down again and returned to his whare. The next morning, the tree was standing again. Enraged, Rata began cutting the tree down and as night fell, he decided to hide in a nearby bush to discover who was interfering with the tree. As the tree was erected once again, Rata confronted the birds and insects of Tāne and he was ashamed to learn of his insult to Tāne. Rata went back to his tribe and people to learn the appropriate karakia and rituals, and soon returned to the forest. After completing the proper ceremony, Rata cut down the tree and went back to his whare. While he slept, the birds and insects of the ngahere built a large voyaging waka for Rata. The enduring lesson of this pūrākau is to show respect and follow the appropriate tikanga for tārai waka.⁴

Types of waka

The sizes and designs of waka varied according to their specific context and purpose, such as long-distance voyages, transportation for war parties, gathering food resources (māhinga kai), and river travel. These waka encompassed various types, including waka tīwai/kopapa which were uncomplicated dugout canoes primarily used for fishing and river-related tasks, waka tete which were smaller and well-suited for transporting goods and people, waka taua which were often intricately carved and adorned, used mainly for carrying war parties and returning the bodies of men killed in battle to their tribal homes.⁵

Construction of waka

The traditional making of a waka taua is more extensively documented compared to other types of waka. Building one of these vessels required the efforts of the entire community and would take several months to complete. Tohunga tārai waka, skilled craftsmen, supervised the project from beginning to end and personally handled the most critical aspects of constructing the waka. While this work was ongoing, the community would prepare and cook food for the workers which would be carried out separately to maintain the sacred nature of the tārai waka undertaking and be done all while continuing with their daily activities.⁶

Wāhine and children were not allowed to be near the worksite, but the wāhine and elderly would be tasked with weaving ropes and sails for the waka. Chants were recited when the tree was transported to the construction site and during the launch. The tārai waka process included selecting the tree, cutting it down, hollowing it out, hauling it, and assembling its final components. At every step, tohunga performed karakia that were integral to the process.^7>

To make the waka fully functional, additional components were constructed. For instance, most waka required hoe, and some had rā typically woven by wāhine. Toko were poles used to propel waka tīwai up rivers and rapids, while tata served as bailers to scoop out water and keep the waka dry. Anchors, known as punga, usually consisted of large stones with ropes threaded through them.⁸

Decline in mātauranga

As Pākehā and tauiwi settled in Aotearoa, there was a corresponding decline in traditional voyaging.⁹ The introduction of cattle and pigs reduced the necessity for fishing and māhinga kai. Additionally, other modes of transportation such as horses made waka less essential, leading to the abandonment of the tārai waka practice by many.¹⁰

In contemporary society, a significant challenge facing the protection and preservation of tārai waka is the length of time required to pass on this mātauranga. Sustaining this craft requires tohunga tārai waka to possess the necessary traditional knowledge – which is developed over a lifetime, along with qualities like perseverance, patience, hard work, and a dedicated community to ensure its continuation and succession.¹¹

A 2009 report commissioned by Manatū Taonga identified tārai waka as being particularly vulnerable due to the scarce number of expert practitioners and emerging practitioners. Given this, the Te Awe Kōtuku programme prioritised investment in tārai waka.

Te Awe Kōtuku – tārai waka initiative

Creative New Zealand received $2.8 million from Te Awe Kōtuku and applied this across five programmes.¹² A fifth of this funding (21 percent) went to support the retention and revitalisation of critically endangered tārai waka mātauranga.

Their approach was a partnership programme working with Te Kiato Limited and a collective of tohunga and mātanga tārai and kaupapa waka.¹³ Most of the work took place in Te Taitokerau except for a mātanga programme which involved expert carvers from around Aotearoa, who then came together for an event in Kawhia.

The focus for this mahi overall was retention and revitalisation of critically endangered tārai waka mātauranga with Creative New Zealand identifying the priorities as being:

• Retaining knowledge and people: retaining mātauranga, tikanga, karakia and technical skills from the ngahere to the moana through succession planning.
• Resources: support planting programmes in partnership, look at access to alternative resources to learn the craft of tārai waka, digital innovation.
• Whānau and hauora centred: build a community with knowledge and skills to care for waka (Creative New Zealand PowerPoint).

Led by tohunga, mātanga and collectives of senior and emerging practitioners, the initiative was developed by specialists and addressed the generational transfer of mātauranga and skills pertaining to tārai waka. Three separate programmes were developed with this funding:

• Tangata Tai was a programme to engage a broader range of people (whānau, taiohi and tamariki) in learning about tārai and kaupapa waka through active participation. The programme included seven community engagement events supporting children, young adults and whānau to learn about pūrākau and kōrero about traditional waka, waka ama, paddle boarding, tutorials in lashing and water safety.
• Tangata Uta was a quarterly wānanga programme to develop Tangata Tārai Waka (waka builders) with the necessary skill sets to become skilled tārai waka practitioners from the felling of the tree through to the launch of the waka and including training in milling, chainsaw use, design of hull, rigging, lashing and Maritime NZ standards.
• Rātā-Kaha ki Uta included a programme of wānanga with mātanga and their senior tauira to build a waka and then launch at the Rātā Kaha ki Uta national waka symposium in October 2022, alongside the Te Hau Kōmaru Festival in Kāwhia. Four teams of tohunga, mātanga tārai waka and tauira from around the motu worked collaboratively to build the waka.

Impact of Te Awe Kōtuku

Te Kiato had clear ideas of what they wanted to achieve – increasing access, interest and participation, developing new practitioners and supporting succession – and the funding facilitated these plans. In the context of COVID-19, they shared how the funding meant that the mātauranga was able to be sustained during a critical time when work could have been ‘shelved’; when people may have drifted further from the kaupapa. A particular success and point of pride for the organisers was being able to financially support the artists and their whānau and build community through the challenges of the pandemic.

During the first seven months, between December 2020 to June 2021, Te Kiato delivered wānanga and training. After the first year, Te Kiato reported immediate impacts as a result of the funding, including that 118 people had been engaged in their programmes to date, two artists/practitioners had been employed full time and six others were employed on a part time or casual basis (emerging practitioners). There had been a range of skills development through the process of restoring a waka, including whakairo components, an exhibition, training in problem solving, manufacturing and workplace efficiency.

Further, a range of wānanga had been held which increased public engagement and skills development, including:

• Tangata Tai Te Rarawa Marae (2020): 30 participants (aged 5-47 years) being introduced to the basics of Tārai and Kaupapa Waka.
• Tangata Uta Wānanga (2021): in Whangarei with seven practitioners, building kōpapa and lashing involving 20 participants in total.
• Rātā Wānanga Tō Rākau: extraction wānanga involving 51 participants looking at techniques for log extraction including karakia and technical skills.

New resources and content relating to tārai waka had also been created including through the Tangata Tai website and social media posts on Facebook (Tangata Tai) and Instagram. From these sources they reported increased public awareness and media engagement including 997 social media followers and 10,000 views of posted content plus coverage on Te Karere.

Participation and succession

In late 2022, Te Kiato reported on programme impact following two years of Te Awe Kōtuku funding. At this point, the investment was talked about in terms of long-term sustainability and succession. While the second year was characterised by the ongoing delivery of events, training and greater public engagement, there was a sense that the seeded investment contributed to the creation of a sustainable movement. Tangata Uta was intended to be run as a quarterly wānanga but:

It has become a signature brand...that represents the skill set necessary to become a skilled tārai waka practitioner, namely everything from the felling of the tree to the launch of the waka.¹⁴ (Tohunga)

Tangata Uta helped build the practical skills needed for succession (milling, chainsaw use, etc.) and was aligned with other projects. Te Kiato also identified the holistic benefits for young Māori engaging in tārai waka. Their intent after Te Awe Kōtuku was to pilot a youth development programme to build potential, resilience, confidence leadership skills, based on Te Whare Tapawhā.

By the end of the two years and across the three programmes, Te Kiato reported the emergence of 13 new practitioners of tārai waka, delivery of 15 events, and overall involvement of 394 people (practitioners, participants, whānau and community). All of these people have engaged at different levels in the mātauranga: the skills, the learnings from tīpuna and the foundational relationship that tārai waka has with te taiao.

There’s a reciprocity and duty of care that the people of the land give to those on the ocean and the ocean gives back to the people on the land. (Tohunga)

Creating space for Māori ways of being

The knowledge and experience held by tohunga and mātanga in tārai waka is unique and deeply connected to the whenua and te taiao. Over years, one develops knowledge and understanding of the craft, the different skill sets needed and how they vary from forest to ocean.

For those who already have some skills and tārai waka experience, the programme enabled them to advance their knowledge. The learning was grounded in whakapapa, te reo me ōna tikanga and understanding how this is expressed through tārai waka practice. 

There’s a lot of learning around tikanga...learning at wānanga .. and getting knowledge passed down, of the importance of karakia, importance of going into the ngahere to find the rākau...It was all passed down. (Mātanga Tārai Waka, Te Tai Tokerau)

Those involved in this initiative spoke about how these funded programmes facilitated learning about what is unique about Māori waka building compared to Hawaiian and other Pacific forms. The role of tohunga was critical, as was absolute trust in fellow practitioners. A mātanga spoke about how  different it is today for his father  - a tohunga tārai waka - who experienced strict wānanga during a time when the knowledge was heavily guarded.

He was really old school in that sense but knowing that there were all of these other great, like-minded people coming together he was happy to share his kōrero, his mātauranga with everyone so ... he was really into it and the kaupapa. (Mātanga Tārai Waka, Te Tai Tokerau)

This funding helped leaders nurture mātauranga and transmit this knowledge to the next generations in ways that made sense to them. While incredibly grateful for the investment, the cautionary warning expressed by leaders was the short-term vision adopted by funders in regard to the protection and preservation of tārai waka.

I think people especially the funders get a little frustrated with me because I’m always going, ‘well ...we’ve made some short-term gains but the long-term strategy actually spans a thousand years... that’s how long it takes to grow the kauri that you’re going to need to carve into a waka and I said to them if every 25 years our mātauranga can be certain that the next generation after them has captured what they know and then that generation does the same thing. So every 25 years you’re making sure yep there’s the next one, there’s the next one there’s the next one there’s the next one....it’s about quality not quantity. We build the generational bridges and you only need to do that 40 times to span a thousand years that it takes to grow that tree for those mokopuna to carve that waka from that rākau. (Tohunga Tarai Waka, Te Tai Tokerau).

Te Awe Kōtuku and the support from Creative New Zealand, including the Te Hā strategy, which helped a wide range of practitioners and community build skills and understanding. Wānanga was the vehicle for tohunga and mātanga to share knowledge and kōrero about participation and succession. They were a practicum for developing leaders, with mātanga handing over roles to emerging practitioners to run events and projects. Wānanga created space for people to come in fresh to the kaupapa to learn about it and potentially identify new practitioners keen to begin engaging more formally.

Tangata uta and tangata tai focused a lot on the quality of people we’re bringing in and developing more so than the quantity. That’s tangata uta in a nutshell: real short, fast micro events that allow us to engage with the people we think are, or have identified as, potential practitioners...What that’s about though is engaging everybody at all levels you know at all different age groups, engaging them with that part of waka and then in time you might identify one or two maybe three whoever that might be interested in coming over to do the other part of that skillset, the tangata uta side...There’s more interest than we actually currently have capacity to take on. (Tohunga, Te Tai Tokerau)

Opportunities and risks

As the number of tohunga who hold tārai waka expertise has diminished over time, the natural resources needed for this mātauranga have also declined. Kauri and other native tree stock has been lost to industry and the fast-growth planting of pine.

People come along and say oh you fellows should be doing around fibreglass and doing it in composite and stuff like that but it kind of highlights ignorance because if they knew anything about the waka world they would know there are already more fibreglass and composite waka out there than there are built from rākau - how we do it. (Tohunga, Te Tai Tokerau)

The pandemic was a challenging time as some practitioners struggled financially, struck by illness as well as events cancelled or restricted. It was also a unique time that prompted some new ways of thinking and working. The team developed workarounds when they were not able to access kauri and other native timbers they would normally use. They proved that pine and poplar could be used alongside traditional methods and tested the physics behind creating a safe and stable waka. While it was a challenging time on many levels, it provided a chance to test the resilience of practices in the context of likely future shocks and disruption (as with recent weather events).

Technology helped carry the mātauranga forward during the pandemic as well as being the primary method of engagement with other tohunga and mātanga. Due to lockdowns, the dispersed tohunga worked ‘together’ but apart on Rātā-Kaha ki Uta, engaging remotely as they carved their separate parts of a single waka.

A strong relationship with the Smithsonian built over many years led to a partnership in 3D scanning and printing of a waka so that the mātauranga contained in it can now be shared as a digital file and printed model.

Social media was used to share developments, inform and engage, especially with the next generation. However, the tohunga we spoke to were quick to point out that this was nothing new, that they reached out to tamariki in whatever mode of communication worked at the time. While this was the current form to engage people in tārai waka and the skills needed, it cannot replace the understanding behind the practice.

We have this accumulation of mātauranga and 20 to 30 years’ worth of mahi that actually speaks for how much we’ve been able to learn, we’ve been able to revitalise in that time and the risk of losing that by just letting it go is probably not something we even want to consider. So moving forward the thousand year strategy is about building those generational bridges and going yep we can hold this and we can keep it going you know. (Tohunga, Te Tai Tokerau)

There was some concern about the loss of intellectual property and mātauranga as things are increasingly digitised, with reference made to the Wai262 claim, and the unknown effect of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Ultimately, the team behind tārai waka were grateful to Te Awe Kōtuku and Creative New Zealand for the financial support for both the mātauranga and ringatoi. It was a particularly uncertain time with unique pressures on individuals and whānau. Concluding thoughts for the Crown to consider were to continue showing good faith in mātanga because this is where mātauranga tārai waka leadership is concentrated, and resource these leaders without requiring anything back in return. This shift in power, control and resource supports the full expression and realisation of rangatiratanga.

Continued support is really about whether or not the crown is courageous enough to take the risk on something that is so vulnerable that they’re willing to trust in the practitioners at this time to do the right thing by it… It should be practitioner led, it shouldn’t be led out by bigger organisations where the practice actually gets subsumed by other things. It should be a very narrow focus, when we start mixing things up with different ‘artists’ we actually lose out. It could actually be one of the reasons why the art form has become vulnerable because our focus switched from waka into other areas of art. (Tohunga)

Raranga

Background

Hineteiwaiwa holds the prominent position of being the primary goddess associated with te whare pora, the house of weaving, and she symbolizes the various arts practiced by wāhine Māori. Her recognition extends throughout Polynesia and Aotearoa, and within the context of some iwi, she is considered to be the offspring of Tāne and Hine Rauamoa. In some records, she is also referred to as Hina, the female embodiment of the moon.¹⁵

Te whare pora, or the house of weaving, is not just a physical place but has also been described as a state of being. Kairaranga initiated in this house underwent a heightened state of consciousness, allowing them to be in the optimal state to receive knowledge. This transformation was achieved through the practice of karakia.¹⁶

Māori weaving encompasses different techniques, typically referred to as whatu, raranga and whiri which translate to fabric weaving, kete weaving and plaiting respectively.¹⁷ This weaving process involves creating practical items such as clothing, nets, baskets, and fish traps, as well as documenting stories, histories, and engaging with the environment.¹⁸ While Māori weaving has adapted to the environment in Aotearoa overtime, raranga stands out as the technique that has endured the challenges of colonisation the best, possibly due to its versatile and practical applications (used for gathering and transporting food) over time.¹⁹It has also become the overarching term used to refer to Māori weaving in general, unless whatu or whiri are being specifically discussed.

Arrival in Aotearoa

When the first wave of Māori voyagers arrived in Aotearoa, they discovered the climate was much cooler than their warm and humid motherland, and soon realised the clothing they arrived with was not appropriate for the new conditions. Consequently, it became high priority to create garments that provided warmth and protection from the elements, using the natural materials on their new whenua. ²⁰

Traditional materials such as aute, which is a bark peeled from the paper mulberry tree, soaked in water and then beaten to make tapa cloth were much preferred. However, the cooler climate in Aotearoa posed challenges for the growth and thriving of the specific trees needed for aute. ²¹Instead, muka/whītau is a robust fibre extracted from harakeke using a scraping method and could be beaten into a cloth-like form.²²

Harakekeandwharariki, both native species of Aotearoa, ultimately served as the primary resources for weaving due to their abundance and versatility.²³There are more than 60 known varieties of native harakeke, varying in fibre content and colour. Traditional dyes used in weaving were entirely natural and derived from the barks of various trees. Due to the scarcity of native trees, some weavers have been willing to adapt and use artificial dyes.²⁴

Tikanga

Weaving is a practice recognized to possess its own unique mauri, or life force.²⁵ It demands a high level of respect and is governed by tikanga to safeguard both kairaranga and natural resources. Karakia rituals are employed to ensure that the weaver is in the best headspace and to acknowledge atua (deities) associated with the weaving process. Tikanga guides the weaver in honouring the natural rhythms of the environment and the interconnected relationship between people and the natural world. The acquisition of knowledge and skills in weaving typically spans many years.²⁶

Flax plants grow in a fan like formation, with te rito (young shoot) in the centre and the leaves either side are known as matuaor awhi rito. To ensure the life cycle of the flax plant, it is a fundamental principle that the rito and awhi rito are never cut; instead, the outer leaves called the tīpunaare used for weaving.²⁷ This philosophy not only ensures the ongoing vitality of the plant but also acknowledges the profound connection between the plant and the people.²⁸

Traditional weaving practices exemplify how Māori were natural conservationists. Kairaranga would harvest harakeke leaves according to usage, thus maintaining the health of the plants and ensuring their conservation. Trimmings and unused portions were returned to the pā harakeke (flax plantation) to honour the natural life cycle of the harakeke and enrich the soil, thereby contributing to the plant’s growth.²⁹

Pākehā arrival

The arrival of Pākehā popularised materials and other creative concepts such as wool and canvas, crochet and knitting, which gradually replaced natural plant materials and the traditional weaving practices of Māori.³⁰ Pākehā also introduced new diseases to Māori communities which saw a dramatic decline in the Māori population. Expert kairaranga and tohunga were lost, along with the associated tikanga and older techniques and styles.³¹ Urbanisation and land loss also had a negative effect on this mātauranga. Moving into the cities distanced Māori from their communities and whenua; reducing the connection to whenua and severing the relationships between people and the environment. A practice and a concept that is a significant part of mahi raranga. 

Contemporary context

Efforts to revitalise raranga practice and impart the knowledge of weaving to future generations have largely taken form in educational and training programmes.³² Across Aotearoa, whānau, hapū, iwi and community-based collectives practice raranga and share knowledge when appropriate.³³

Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa is the national collective of kairaranga who actively work to nurture, develop and preserve the tikanga of raranga, whatu and taniko in traditional and contemporary contexts. The collective is comprised of members throughout Aotearoa and centrally represented by a committee of six people.³⁴ They are funded by Toi Māori to hold a biennial national hui as well as participation in national events. While the exact number of practicing kairaranga across Aotearoa and Rēkohu is unknown, the mātauranga is considered to be in positive health because of the large numbers of expert and emerging weavers located across all regions of Aotearoa and Rēkohu. The art is actively practiced on marae, community halls, wānanga, kura and in business.

Te Awe Kōtuku – raranga initiatives

Two raranga initiatives funded through Te Awe Kōtuku were profiled for this evaluation. The first was a small community weaving project on Rēkohu led by the Hokotehi Moriori Trust (The Trust) and the second was a collective based in Te Taitokerau with a vision to recreate an historic Māori woven sail.

These projects were supported with Te Awe Kōtuku funding through Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs and Te Papa Tongarewa, respectively.

• Te Tari Taiwhenua administered the Mātauranga Māori Marae Ora contestable fund (‘Marae Ora’) with around $6 million of Te Awe Kōtuku investment. Marae Ora was developed with Manatū Taonga, Te Puni Kōkiri, and Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga to support marae communities ‘to retain, protect or transmit their mātauranga and care for their taonga’.³⁵ The Trust was a successful applicant to Marae Ora.
• Te Papa Tongarewa applied Te Awe Kōtuku funding to support a series of wānanga on endangered mātauranga Māori practices. These were intended for tohunga to strengthen and support the revitalisation of endangered practices related to taonga in Te Papa’s collections. Half of these were focused on toi moko and the other half on taonga raranga, toki, hīnaki and kākahu.³⁶ Te Rā Ringa Raupā was directly funded by Te Papa.

The Trust is the tribal entity for Moriori which operates at Kōpinga Marae. It is a registered collector of artefacts with a large collection of stone, bone and other items from Rēkohu. The Trust applied to Marae Ora for a third of its costs to achieve objectives relating to its arts and conservation programme including: a weaving project; botanist support with plant identification; archival storage for miheke; and design costs towards a new arts facility. The weaving programme objectives were to create natural weaving materials in a pā harapepe as well as train tutors on the island to enable regular wānanga.

Te Rā Ringa Raupā (calloused hands) is a group of traditional kairaranga in Te Taitokerau. They were supported by Te Papa to share their mātauranga and pūkenga across a series of five wānanga in Whirinaki, Hokianga. Their intended outcomes were to learn and share skills and collaborate on the process of recreating a full-size replica of Te Rā (woven sail).

Te Rā is the only known example of a customary Māori sail in existence. The sail is almost 4.5 metres long and made up of 13 woven panels and feathers. The sail is believed to have been collected by James Cook between 1769 and 1771 though that is unverified. It is also unknown who originally made the sail and what waka it is from. It has been stored in the British Museum for over 250 years, seen by very few New Zealanders and has never been fully documented or studied.

Impact of Te Awe Kōtuku

Both raranga initiatives profiled for this evaluation highlighted the value of practising this mātauranga: in terms of building and restoring spiritual and cultural connections as a community and relationships to te taiao.

For the Trust, the weaving programme was closely connected to the reclamation of Moriori identity – hokopapa and customary practices – tikane Moriori. The need for a dedicated arts facility to help revive weaving, carving and art practices of Moriori was identified at the Me Rongo Congress and the Arts Wānanga – Hokopanopano Ka Toi Moriori – held in 2016. At the time of their Marae Ora application in 2021, the Trust had completed an outline of the weaving programme and had run one wānanga. The Trust’s 2022 Annual Report noted the following impact from the first weaving wānanga (pre-Marae Ora):

In 2021 we hosted a weaving wānanga with (name of tutor). This kaupapa spurred an investigation into historic Moriori designs and techniques, using examples such as the potae at Kōpinga, the maro at Te Papa and photographs from the late 1800s of Moriori wearing kākahu and other woven clothing. The findings of this research led to the creation of a modern kākahu for Karanga Aotearoa to use at Te Papa for repatriation ceremonies. This miheke will one day return to Kōpinga. This first wānanga was also the beginning of a more extended project to develop skills and work towards the publication of miheke and totohungatanga. This project will be a journey to revive knowledge, aiming to express understanding in a modern context to pass on to future generations.

The raranga workshops were considered hugely successful with good attendance and support from the community. The bigger impact however was the momentum built to reclaim and rebuild the traditional practices of Moriori culture and being supported to do so in their own way.

For us of course it’s not mātauranga it’s a kupu tohunga Moriori. So the first thing I would say is respect the difference and the need for us to affirm that cultural identity in our own way which I firmly believe we have been able to achieve with this funding. So I just really, the biggest thing I’ve got to say is thank you for this freedom, often the thing that enables these things to happen is not always the money, the money’s great but the belief that you can do it, the support for us as an iwi in our own right, people of cultural identity and also of course then the ability to create a kaupapa to build on through that, I suppose it’s the legitimatisation that a fund can provide. (Kaiwhakahaere, Rēkohu)

Te Rā Ringa Raupā in Te Taitokerau completed Māhere Tū ki te Rangi in December 2022, a full-size sail created in the image of Te Rā. The result of years of toil and self-funded mahi, the funding enabled the group to hold wānanga to work together, share patterns, insights and techniques and share its mahi with the community that supported them.

Funding was used to hold a community event that included a dawn ceremony and blessing and naming of the rā. It was important to the group that this was done in the right way, and that they were able to manaaki guests who supported them over many years and hold an event befitting of the mana of the occasion.

We would never give up but ...the challenge is funding, being able to continue: the resources, the right people, the support of a marae hapū and iwi which we have…and we invited them in to have a look and one of them went I, I’m just so proud of what you guys are doing and ... we realised the mana that was being brought to people in the local community. (Tohunga, Te Taitokerau)

Participation and succession

Te Rā Ringa Raupā is a highly committed group of all ages that meets regularly for several days at a time to immerse themselves in raranga. They work on specific projects together and acknowledge the role they play in terms of bringing new kairaranga into the fold and sharing their knowledge. We heard how the strong connections and relationships within the core group supported continual growth and ensured that the mātauranga endured.

We’re not the out there, flash, top of the tree Māori weaving people you know. We’re grassroots people who have been doing whāriki, wahakura for our marae and for our communities and for our babies.  And I think that is one of the reasons why we’ve been able to do this because you have to work in a team, you have to love the people that you’re working with. I mean people have come and gone and we’ve learned a lot about ourselves and learned a lot about our team. (Tohunga, Te Taitokerau)

The need to foster new kairaranga to sustain the practice and leverage different skills and perspectives was a common theme expressed by the kairaranga. Someone might be particularly skilled in making joins while another with feather notching or waka pono.

There is so much mātauranga that can be found in the Rā...our tīpuna were so clever. (Te Hiku video interview)

We want to teach other people the skills that are involved and so we’ve sent out expressions of interest for Northland weavers first and at our last wānanga we had our first students, tauira to come in and learn. (Tohunga, Te Taitokerau) 

They are connected to raranga groups around the motu and learn from, and teach, each other. These inter-regional and national relationships established over generations offer a layer of protection to ensure the sustainability of the practice. We observed this group in wānanga with a group located in Te Pito-One who honoured their coming together with karakia, waiata and great mutual respect.

We’ve already got three groups all round the motu, Taranaki, Petone in Whanganui a Tara, and Ōtakou we have groups of weavers waiting for us to wānanga with them. So part of starting this other new sail is that they can work on it as well so that that’s going to involve hands from all round the motu. (Mātanga, Te Tai Tokerau.)

Their long-term aspiration is to see waka with Māori woven sails at Waitangi for the second centennial celebration of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in February 2040. The path to get there is to have shared the mātauranga and fostered collectives of kairaranga along the way.

Revitalising ancient knowledge

Te Rā Ringa Raupā practiced raranga in spaces that centred te reo me ōna tikanga. Some members of the group were fortunate to visit Te Rā in England and spoke about ‘the mana she has’, there was a reverence for the skill and complexity embedded in this taonga.³⁷ These learnings were brought back to the group who felt compelled to respond, to create a teina that would reclaim and revitalise this ancient knowledge in Aotearoa. This aspiration was realised in December 2022 at the naming and blessing of Mahere Tū ki te Rangi, with a member of the group noting how they had risen to the challenge laid by their tīpuna:³⁸

On Dec 14, 1922, a wero was laid down by Te Rangi Hiroa / Sir Peter Buck, to recreate Te Rā (a traditional Māori handwoven waka sail that is in the British Museum as part Cooks 'collection') and share this mātauranga Māori with the people of Aotearoa. One hundred years later to the day Te Rā Ringa Raupā shared their response to that wero on Dec 14 at the Hihiaua Cultural Centre, Whangarei.

Ko Mahere Tū ki te Rangi te ingoa o tēnei rā! (Mātanga, Te Tai Tokerau)

Maybe Te Rā sent out the karanga to us because she knew we wouldn’t give up, we’d be resilient and we’d be determined and we’d overcome the obstacles or find ways round. ³⁹(Tohunga, Te Taitokerau)

Te Rā Ringa Raupā also spoke about the value of natural resources in their work. They work with harakeke and have planted ‘a whole lot’ over a decade ago to use in their weaving. Other resources (i.e. feathers, bird and dog skins) had a way of making their way to the group when they needed due to the groups’ connections and goodwill in the community. The regeneration of plants and the relationships to te taiao and resources – are fundamental to the mātauranga.

Our tīpuna wouldn’t have got through life without the harakeke plant. They used it for so many things, it was invaluable. And I don’t know the way the world’s going and having power being cut off... we need these resources. (Tohunga, Te Taitokerau)

These things connect us to people doing similar things in other parts of te ao. So it’s like we just go the magic is here, the magic has been with us all the way maybe it’s that kuia over in London or a combination of all our tīpuna and all the people who have passed from Pa Te Aroha that were instrumental in supporting us. (Tohunga, Te Taitokerau)

Opportunities and risks

Traditional Māori and Moriori raranga practice are affirming and empowering for those involved, it brought people together for a shared kaupapa that was about the reclamation, revitalisation and transmission of mātauranga. Embedded within this process are learnings about our relationship to nature and resource sustainability.

The durability and resilience of woven materials was also worth reflecting on in a Western world dominated by consumerism and cheaply made things. A Northland kairaranga observed that:

Some construction and design methods were well ahead of their time and are still used today in modern-day sail building. (Kairaranga, Te Tai Tokerau).

We heard about the effort that went into fundraising, often done outside of other mahi. For creatives who want to focus on the practice of raranga, forms and processes can be time consuming and hōhā. However, without funding or support, the group would have to pay for wānanga, resources and travel to other regions, for the purposes of sharing, out of their own pocket.

There was gratitude from Te Rā Ringa Raupā for the strong relationships held with Te Papa and the flexibility shown during the pandemic.

We had girls that were supposed to be coming up from Auckland - sailors - to learn, we taught them ... and they were going to teach us a little bit about sailing but because of COVID-19 and other stuff that didn’t happen. So that funding allowed us to kind of rejig. So I think that’s really important for projects like ours where things can change quite suddenly, that you’ve got the flexibility to reassign funding. (Tohunga, Te Taitokerau)

Moriori: kupu tohunga and raranga revitalisation

The kupu tohunga (cultural practices) and Rē (language) Moriori are extremely vulnerable due to the impacts of colonisation by Pākehā and Māori, a relatively small population living on the island, declining natural resources and dependence on a small group of people with the knowledge and commitment to protect and revitalise language and cultural practices.

The language is key to many threads of the culture but the Moriori have no fluent speakers. Nevertheless, the Moriori we spoke to accepted this ‘unique challenge’ and are committed to working with linguists, to research, reclaim and revitalise the pieces of information they have.

Another one for us is that our cultural practice is obviously closely linked to the whenua and ... the trees are literally dying and what does that mean for us. (Hokotehi Trust governance, Rēkohu)

How we do our farming practices, how we do our fishing practices. We’ve got some research underway at the moment to include all our stories from our olds to tell us, hey you know this is what we used to do down at the beach, and trying to capture all that because what we plan for the future has got to be based around science and new technology but it’s also got to be based around our culture - where we were and how we got to be where we are and how we can protect that for the future. (Hokotehi Trust governance, Rēkohu)

One of the challenges unique to Moriori is obtaining expertise and resources to support them to achieve their cultural knowledge and practice objectives. They also, compared to Māori, have far fewer examples in existence or in images to draw on, to replicate and recreate.

We had a visiting raranga expert come and help us with tukutuku designs and so our aspiration is to make sure that we’re using designs that are exclusively Moriori and that was a real challenge for him.  He had us on our piki and sort of symbols that were distinctly Māori because that’s what works with tukutuku and we actually managed to get some more free flowing human figures and so on into the tukutuku, into the weaving so that’s very special, very happy about that. (Project Manager, Rēkohu)

We don’t have a lot of iconography to work with so there’s a few visual images from photographs in the 1880s of Moriori wearing interesting kākahu and other clothing and then there is a maro in Te Papa that was woven in the 1800s and those items have design marks on them that are quite distinctive, they’re not the sorts of marks that you would see in Māori designs. So we worked with what we have and then tried to ensure that we were maintaining some kind of authentic replication of known images. (Project lead, Rēkohu)

Fortunately, there is an active and committed force on the islands dedicated to reclaiming Moriori cultural practices. A small financial contribution was made via Te Awe Kōtuku but it went a long way to engage people, share weaving skills and broader mātauranga. The opportunity is to acknowledge the unique culture and knowledge of Moriori and act quickly to invest in them to secure it now.

We’ve been working on orienting ourselves to one direction and it really is built around the complete revitalisation of Moriori culture: giving us an opportunity to live as Moriori and that speaks of the general cultural practices, to revitalisation of language and creating spaces, put into practice those things as well. All of that is part of our vision. And in the past we have had a very piecemeal approach... we’re at the early stages but now that’s what the transition really is. It’s a cohesive plan that will lead us to where we want to be. (Hokotehi Trust governance, Rēkohu)

There was praise for Te Papa (from both weaving groups) and the belief they have shown in them over the years. For Moriori this includes a permanent iwi exhibit in Te Whanganui-a-Tara and the repatriation programme. A member of the Trust reflected on a visit to Parliament for a reading of their settlement bill and of hearing MPs share their views and support for Moriori which was appreciated. But he also said, of politicians:

I would want them to know how dire it actually is. That we are starting from a base of zero and there’s so much of that work that needs to be done. But we’re still here and we’re still fighting and you know please remember us. (Hokotehi Trust governance, Rēkohu)

Raranga Moriori

In Rēkohu, its inhabitants number approximately 800 which makes protecting and transmitting mātauranga inherently challenging. However, the Moriori have a governing group committed to this mission and a strategy with an initial focus on language and cultural revitalisation and reclamation, hence the alignment with Te Awe Kōtuku.

We’re a small community so we don’t see the success in numbers here but the workshops were every week through all of last Winter and they will be picking up again soon and they are attended every week by regular bands of raranga, passionate raranga people which is absolutely wonderful. (Project lead, Rēkohu)

Participant feedback reflected the positive impact the raranga programme had on community helping to build relationships and connections through raranga. The reality of living on a small island means some people live in physical isolation and the wānanga enabled some people to find their place, their voice and a new interest in a social and cultural context.

In the future they see opportunities to better engage the community using technology, both on Rēkohu and abroad. They have run webinars in the past but discovered that they cannot reach some people because some platforms are incompatible with local technology. For example, the Moriori app created by the Trust cannot be accessed with an Apple iPhone. One of the barriers to building digital capability is attracting investors and technical experts to the island to better understand the realities of living on Rēkohu.

Creating space for Moriori ways of being

For the Trust on Rēkohu, the series of wānanga that were held revived Moriori style raranga which they considered was quite different from Māori raranga practices in technique, design, materials and types of garments. Funding these sessions to share the knowledge and skills as well as train new weavers was essential to Moriori identity and practices.

At the heart of … language revival comes the revival of all sorts of things like a deeper way of thinking, a mindset, the arts revival. So persistent research into even just learning the names of our plants has opened ways of thinking that weren’t with us before. We use our traditional karaki Moriori … been through a lot of the old archival texts that were writing in the 1860s and ‘70s and brought them back to life for us, … it’s really meaningful. We… use a lot of the karaki to try to understand how the weaving materials were used. (Project lead, Rēkohu)

The Trust collaborated with a botanist to identify rare plants and ensure they were propagated correctly and then areas established at the marae to grow harakeke, kāretu and pingao. The wānanga and conservation activities were intended to restore weaving resources and upskill whānau in raranga. Upgrading the storage facility for miheke helped 'provide optimum conservation care and ensure a dedicated arts facility is designed to enhance Moriori art and cultural skills'.⁴⁰

We collected a very rare weaving grass called kāretu from one of the offshore islands that we got one tiny little plant and we’ve now grown a huge garden of it with the aim of distributing it…We’re not just running workshops we’re looking at the whole kind of sustainability of these practices: growing the plants, establishing areas where they can be easily harvested...and it’s got to the point now where we’ve been approached by iwi ...who are trying to restore their tukutuku panels and we will harvest and donate for them to do that. (Project lead, Rēkohu)

Whakairo

Background

According to the oral traditions of some iwi, particularly in the East Coast of the North Island, Aotearoa, the origins of whakairo can be traced back to Ruatepupuke, a grandson of Tangaroa. Ruatepupuke gifted his son, Manuruhi, a special fishhook and said to him, ‘Wait until I am with you so that we can catch the first fish, which we must give to the gods according to custom’. Manuruhi became impatient and used the hook without adhering to tikanga and this alarmed Tangaroa who then took revenge by turning Manuruhi into a tui. Ruatepupuke searched for his missing son and stumbled across a village under water. In this village was a whare where he found poupou talking with each other. These poupou let Ruatepupuke know that his son, Manuruhi, was the tekoteko hanging on the house. Enraged, Ruatepupuke burned the whare and took with him his son and the four poupou that survived the fire. These four poupou were now silent due to the fire and became models for further poupou.⁴¹

Whakairo rākau

When Māori settled in Aotearoa, they brought with them the skills and knowledge of traditional Māori carving in bone, stone and wood. Māori were able to make whatever they needed, including clothing and shelter, and relied on the generational transfer of these skills and knowledge to ensure the survival of the people and mātauranga. ⁴² Whakairo rākau is the practice of carving wood and is one of various types of material that kaiwhakairo apply their craft to.⁴³

The tikanga guiding whakairo rākau is similar to tārai waka, the construction of waka. Trees are selected by tohunga and rituals are put in place to ensure there are no transgressions of tapu throughout the process. Women were kept away from the workspace and food was not allowed, however by the late nineteenth century, many of these traditions were not entirely adhered to.⁴⁴ As Māori adapted to the modern world, so too did their practice. Soft stone tools used for carving were replaced by hard, sharp pounamu which allowed more intricate detailed carvings.

Whakairo rākau was considered a dignified skill that was taught in special schools or rūnanga, a skill exclusive to those of high mana or status.⁴⁵ These skills were less sought after in the late nineteenth century as old technologies such as waka taua and pātakawere being replaced with modern technologies introduced by the settlers. Traditional carving skills became less relevant, resulting in a decline in expertise. 

Whare whakairo

Wharenuior whare whakairo embody and record the whakapapa and history of its people, and this mātauranga is passed on through generations.⁴⁶ Carved pou, most often found in whare whakairo or carved meeting houses, are representative of tūpuna, depicting human-like images, and preserving and telling the history of these tūpuna. ⁴⁷ Before European contact, large meeting houses were not a regular sight in Māori villages.⁴⁸ Instead, there were wharepuni which resembled small houses and were used by Māori communities across Aotearoa as a communal sleeping house. Historically, a chief's mana was symbolised by the wharepuni. Small carvings began appearing on the wharepuni to mark high status and distinguish it from other whare. These carvings were representative of the chief themselves and their individual characteristics and stories.

By the nineteenth century, the chief’s house evolved into the wharenui to address tribal need for areas to meet, discuss and drive responses to colonial actions. The arrival of Pākehā further influenced the development of wharenui and whare whakairo. Social factors such as the adoption of Christianity saw a construction boom in churches which in turn acted as meeting houses for Māori to come together.⁴⁹ Church buildings slowed down the creation of whare whakairo as they were able to fulfil all the social and cultural roles of the whare whakairo, providing a place to meet and discuss issues and a space to learn waiata and pūrākau.⁵⁰

The Sir Apirana Ngata School of Māori Arts and Crafts was established to combat the extinction of traditional Māori arts and as a necessity for Māori to reconnect to their tribal identity.⁵¹ The school was successful at restoring whakairo rākau and restoring the whare whakairo as the heart of Māori communities. Ngata looked at the whare whakairo as a means of cultural revitalisation and expression of Māoritanga.

The whare whakairo and the practice of whakairo rākau are potent representations of Māori identity and have been crucial in shaping contemporary understandings of Māori culture. Despite being faced with the effects of colonisation, whare whakairo have continued to hold steadfast to the kaupapa resulting in a revival of Māori identity and culture, Māori language, the arts and performing arts.

Te Awe Kōtuku – Marae Ora and Pouhere Taonga initiatives

Tānewhirinaki

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga was funded through Te Awe Kōtuku ($1.050 m over two years) to develop and deliver a work programme to revitalise vulnerable Māori built heritage conservation mātauranga and practices. Pouhere Taonga applied this funding to support a programme coordinator, administration, wānanga and research costs, and up to ten short-term contracts for pūkenga to lead engagement and wānanga with ten rōpū across the country during 2020/21 and 2021/22. There was also funding set aside for two kaitiaki pouarahi.

A contestable grant approach was implemented to attract joint projects with iwi, hapū, marae hapori, tohunga, pūkenga and kaitiaki on areas that included tārai waka, hanga whare mātauranga and practice and mahinga kai/mara kai practices. The contestable fund was known as Whaihanga – Revitalising Māori Built Heritage Conservation Mātauranga.

Ngāti Ira was the successful applicant supporting the architectural presentation of the whare Tānewhirinaki in Ōpotiki and wānanga at Ōpeke Marae.⁵² Their purpose was ‘to record and share the traditional knowledge of Ngāti Ira to realise their individual and collective greatness of old to the present through language, culture, traditions and identity.’⁵³

Tānewhirinaki was built during the 1860 New Zealand Wars and largely destroyed in the early 1900s. Around 50 beams and carvings that could be salvaged were stored in a shed for the nine decades. Funding supported the temporary ‘reconstruction’ of the remaining pieces of Tānewhirinaki. The hapū gathered in Ōpotiki for a four-day wānanga in January 2022. Funding enabled the hapū to learn, share and build mātauranga and engage with these taonga. It also enabled 3D scanning which provided whānau the opportunity to view the whare virtually at the wānanga.

Te Poho o Rāwiri

Te Poho o Rawiri Marae is located in Kaiti, Tūranganui a Kiwa, and is named after the chief and signatory to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Rāwiri Te-Eke-Tū-o-Te-Rangi of the Ngāti Oneone hapū. It is an iconic marae that was established in 1883 with the wharenui opened in 1929, one of the largest wharenui nationally. Sir Apirana Ngata called it the ‘greatest Māori asset in Poverty Bay’ and an inspiration for the revival of superior carved meeting houses across the country.

Te Poho o Rawiri was part-funded in the third round of Marae Ora to achieve a couple of objectives related to conserving and revitalising marae mātauranga. One of these objectives was to develop a digital twin of their wharenui, developed as a supplementary storytelling frame to an eBook capturing stories of their whakapapa.

Impact of Te Awe Kōtuku

Ngāti Oneone developed a 3D ‘digital twin’ of the whare tīpuna. It is an interactive model with animation and voiceovers explaining the elements and history of the marae. This included taonga in the form of carvings, tukutuku and kōwhaiwhai. Their initiative report (September 2022) noted the unique history of these taonga:

These are among the oldest in existence dating from 1928 when the nascent Rotorua Carving School was established under Pine Taiapa. Two other Pou-tokomanawa pre-dating these have been rescued from Te Poho-o-Māhaki under threat of destruction by the Hauhau. They were carved prior to 1830 making them the oldest carvings in a living meeting house in Aotearoa; at least 193 years old. They are only predated by the Pourewa Island carvings collected by Tūpaea in 1769 and closely connected by whakapapa to our house. 89 carved panels exist in the house and at the commencement of this project, only 4 retained their names.

Researching the kōrero and whakapapa of the carvings involved a number of wānanga and resulted in the recovery of the names of some poupou. Being resourced to gather experts, kaumātua and members of the community together meant they were able to name more than half of the prominent poupou in the house after almost a hundred years.

In addition to the digital products that have been developed, those interviewed said they gained the whakapapa story and learned about the carvers and their techniques. Misconceptions were corrected as they had believed there was one carver but he was the tohunga in charge and had others working under his tutelage. They also found out, contrary to belief, that tohunga wahine was ‘the norm’ in their region.

What skill .. how the whare was built using the various skill levels, I learned about that and sometimes why they are different as you go round now. Before I didn’t know, wasn’t aware of any of the differences but after walking and looking at every single piece now, oh there are definite differences. (Pakeke, Ngāti Oneone)

A key driver for this kaupapa was to record the mātauranga contained in the wharenui and protect it from any physical threats (e.g., fire) and help facilitate any future restoration. This involved a significant research agenda to collate the names for the various parts of the wharenui in the local dialect and develop the stories for each poupou. Funding was used to hui with expert advisers to help interpret unknown poupou and align with existing whakapapa knowledge, and to commission a studio to develop the digital twin resource.

Toro Studios built the digital twin through 3D photographic capture and, when generated in the cloud, added content and labels to the artefact objects (poupou) in the model. Through labelling objects within the 3D model, the project lead observed that:⁵⁴

these are reviving forgotten cultural practices and artefacts, providing a powerfully engaging platform for whānau.

The marae has renamed more than half of the key poupou in the house and were on course to agree the names of remaining poupou at a final wānanga.

Tānewhirinaki

A small number of whānau members have been committed to trying to bring Tānewhirinaki home and see it re-established, with the support of hapū rangatira. There is pride in the whare which was once the biggest in the region, its tāhuhu a single 40-metre length. The rebuilding of Tānewhirinaki also spoke to the reclamation of hapū mātauranga and identity. Those acting as kaitiaki acknowledged they were bearing the language and cultural revitalisation fruits of this generation, while past generations bore the brunt of raupatu and colonisation and the decline in language, culture and identity. While there were different interpretations and understandings about the history of Tānewhirinaki between hapū members, this initiative provided the platform to step forward in reclaiming and rebuilding this mātauranga together in a contemporary context.

A hapū wānanga was held over four days between 28-31 January 2022 at Ōpeke Marae in Ōpotiki. Key themes included education, engagement and participation in kōrero tuku iho and rangahau for Ngāti Ira. The event included te reo me ngā tikanga Māori and lively discussion.

Through wānanga, the history and events contributing to the story of Tānewhirinaki were shared and different beliefs discussed. Each attendee received a workbook with activities and pieces of the whare were erected with scaffolding in a tent so whānau could see and get a sense of it in person, while virtual reality headsets provided an alternative experience.

Participation and succession

The Tānewhirinaki wānanga was an emotional event for hapū members who had not seen the wharenui and the work of tohunga whakairo for almost 100 years. This was an opportunity to record and share the traditional knowledge of Ngāti Ira, individual and collective mātauranga connected to their language, culture, traditions and identity.

When we had the wānanga … I think it’s a reflection of the journey I’m personally on in regard to my identity and reconnecting to my hononga for [rohe] is more than just burying my dead. I think this is a big one. And so it was really a first time experience…where I came together with my hapū, my wider extended connection to have positive kōrero and yeah it was a really positive kaupapa which I think is pretty few and far between. (Whānau, heritage – Anahera)

Initially 200 hapū members registered (including 30 staff and sponsors) for the four-day wānanga but COVID-19 settings at the time required numbers to be capped at 100 attendees and 20 staff. The wānanga was also accessible online for those out of the region, unable to attend due to restricted numbers and for whānau who, in the context of COVID-19, were anxious about socialising. For those who participated it was humbling and provided context for hapū identity and pride in being Whakatōhea. While the number of participants was restricted, those involved felt the event had greater reach because the 100 whānau shared their experiences with others. This resulted in numerous requests made to the hapū for more information about the wānanga, Tānewhirinaki as well as access to the online recording.

Wānanga were also held at Te Poho o Rawiri. The marae committee, whānau members and the 30-man paepae (Te Pae-Kāruhiruhi) all participated. Local and regional tohunga gave their time because they understood the benefits of this project to the wider region. Riki Manuel was a student of the team that carved the house in 1928, one of the last students of Hone Taiapa. Others, including Sir Derek Lardelli contributed to the whakapapa behind the carvings.

The marae committee envision long-term benefits for whānau from this initiative. They commented on how it has significantly increased their knowledge base and the technology enabled that knowledge to reach all of those urī who whakapapa to the pā - 94 percent do not reside locally. This allowed them to experience the mātauranga Māori and inspired them to engage with it and when possible, return to the pā.

The technology also provided members with a degree of comfort that the mātauranga contained within the whare is preserved for future generations.

So if, heaven forbid, anything happened to our whare we know exactly to centimetres or millimetres what it looks like. (Kaumātua, Te Poho o Rawiri)

The whānau will continue to discuss and determine access to the hapū App, alongside the 3D model or digital twin that lives in the cloud. As new information is discovered about the carvings, tukutuku and kowhaiwhai, this can be added immediately to the data stored in the cloud at minimal cost. The digital twin is a web link and can be used as an educational resource with potential to deliver Māori history programmes to local schools across the region. This platform is expected to deliver outcomes for Ngāti Oneone and Te Poho o Rāwiri marae which has adopted a ‘pā kids for life’ approach that reaches into kōhanga reo and kura and beyond so that all uri know the mātauranga contained in their whare. The whānau at Te Poho-o-Rawiri has indicated it is likely to offer to extend the platform for all marae in Te Tairāwhiti at the end of the project subject to further appropriate funding.

Creating space for Māori ways of being

For both of these initiatives, a strong theme that emerged was the importance of being resourced and trusted to do what they needed to do to support their mātauranga. Each hapū had a clear vision for what they wanted to achieve and how to do it and it had to be done within the community and in their way. Wānanga featured prominently as the means to research, debate, collectivise and kōrero about the mātauranga in order to advance its protection, accessibility and revitalisation.

For Te Poho o Rawiri, this initiative is seeded in a long-term movement to build capacity on the paepae. A te reo Māori class was established years before which led to stories being shared and the realisation that this knowledge was only held among a few people and not documented anywhere.

They started that and then with that came all these wānanga and stories and then our whanaunga came to really drive the kaupapa. And I think he could sense the sense of loss I suppose that we have that we ... didn’t have a portal into our pā really. (Kaumātua, Te Poho o Rawiri)

Those involved in this initiative were overwhelmed by the final digital product and valued its creation for current whānau as well as future generations.

Our whakapapa tells us that we got kicked, it also tells us that we were alienated from our own land which tells me then that my hapū, the majority of my hapū, weren’t brought up here. That also tells me they weren’t brought up in their whare like I’ve been lucky enough to do. Okay then so how do their uri know anything about their pā. (Kōkā, Te Poho o Rawiri)

Wānanga enabled hapū and Iwi members to come together to reflect and debate in order to draw out the knowledge.

You know...of wānanga Māori where one thing leads to another, one story leads to another and you go to another place, another time another kaupapa and something else falls from that, that adds to our kete kōrero i te whare. (Kaumātua, Te Poho o Rawiri)

Opportunities and risks

The practice of whare whakairo has been critical in representing whakapapa and imbuing tīpuna for centuries. The mātauranga they carry are fundamental to hapū and iwi tikanga, kawa and identity. The opportunity here is to foster whare whakairo to sustain the practice, transfer practical and important skills and continue a tradition that reinforces a sense of identity.

The Tānewhirinaki project highlighted both the mātauranga contained in the whare but also the advanced design and craftmanship of the time. As well as preserving and sharing the carvings and ancestral stories from the Ngāti Ira wharenui, the mātauranga of mīmiro, traditional Māori construction methods, was being practiced.

Mīmiro is the lashing of the whare, origins of which can be traced back to ships and sail lashing. Professor Anthony Hoete of Auckland University helped reconstruct the wharenui, noting in other interviews that mīmiro is an endangered but effective construction practice. The architectural team built a prototype timber structure, reviving the techniques, and tested its seismic resilience on the full-scale structure.

The origins of mīmiro can be traced back to the ships and strong sail lashing our ancestors used to travel across the Pacific. They had a deep knowledge of building and creating strength and tension in structures, so we want to recreate those techniques that have been lost and use them to give our wharenui greater seismic resilience. ⁵⁵

Technology stood out in both of these initiatives and contributed to increased participation and engagement, protection and preservation of mātauranga, and cost reduction for future additions and enhancements.

In addition to successful seismic testing of a mīmiro structure inspired by Tānewhirinaki, lidar technology was used to provide a 3D view of its build. The addition of images and poupou descriptions created an accessible and protected record and allowed Ngāti Ira to work toward restoring carvings and applying for funding to potentially re-erect Tānewhirinaki – if this is what the hapū agreed to.

As one interviewee said, mātauranga is the ancestral knowledge related to whakapapa that it is held in genealogy, in sites and taonga. Technology is a vehicle that helps share that mātauranga in a modern context. It does not, and can never, replace lived experience, but is the current opportunity to supplement efforts by whānau, hapū and iwi.

For Te Poho o Rawiri, the project enabled them to draw knowledge and history from kaumatua. While treaty settlements have generated a wealth of information, those with lived experience hold important insights and meaningful knowledge. We heard about a significant number of Tairāwhiti karakia located in manuscripts in the Turnbull library that remain unexplored.

With the ongoing loss of those with lived experience who can help decode the content, there is a risk of losing insight to the past which anchors those in the present and future.

A few members worried about sharing mātauranga widely in case it is stolen or misappropriated but the majority were more concerned with ensuring it endures and can be accessed by its descendants.

We were putting ourselves at risk as a tribe and as a pā. I think timing is right because the fear is what if its no longer there. Not what we’ve got but just the access, the ability to access all this knowledge. (Kaumātua, Ngāti Oneone)

We’ve got to try and do the best we can to come up and recapture that knowledge and try and share it and not put that same prerequisite on people who want to feed on this kai. It’s open for you and what you take it’s for you to take. Being careful as to who else has access is really important but at the same time I think the whakaaro on sharing and opening up the learning wānanga is different, no? (Kaumātua, Ngāti Oneone)

The hapū is working through the risks associated with access to technology. One noted that ‘whakapapa is so wide these days’ that they have to try and achieve balance between protecting the mātauranga, respecting the positions of different whānau members, and sharing it to allow connection to the whare. The hapū is exploring its options in terms of data access and protection. Fundamentally the focus will be on keeping the mana with whānau.

It’s a bit like locking your house to tell people you’re not home. But a thief will get in. We will do the best we can and I suppose there’s always one whakaaro Māori where you hope people do good by it. (Whānau, Ngāti Oneone)

The hapū had the ideas and the drive but central to their achievement was having a hapū member with the technological skills, networks and desire to help achieve the kaupapa. The next critical element was securing funding and in a way that valued what they were trying to do.

So firstly, on behalf of Poho o Rawiri we have a lot to owe to [name of project lead] for that kaupapa and secondly to the Department of Internal Affairs to agree that they said this was worth it. (Kōkā, Ngāti Oneone)

The key message hapū wanted to convey to the Crown was to continue to ensure that contracting and reporting was streamlined, apolitical and respectful. The mātanga, tohunga and kaumātua we spoke to were extremely grateful for the investment and support, and mentioned how they were treated with respect and trusted to deliver the kaupapa in ways that worked for them. It was critically important that whānau, hapū, iwi Māori control their own mātauranga and determine the best solutions that meet their needs and realities.

We’re sick of everyone else talking about us and we’re not in it, that’s not our story actually it’s not our take, it’s not our story. It is our story to tell so we’re going to be up front to lead what we want people to hear in our story…

We’ve written our stories, we need to actually tell the story...it’s about taking control of the content from your hapū perspective, your story. And then sharing that. (Kaumātua and kōkā, Ngāti Oneone)

Ngā mahi ā Tānerore me Te Rēhia

Background

Ka moe a Tamanuiter i a Hineraumati ka puta ko Tānerore.

Tānerore is the son of Tamanuiterā and Hineraumati.⁵⁶ Tāne-rore is personified in the heat rays seen on hot summer days and at these times Tāne-rore is said to be doing his dance, te haka a Tāne-rore  - the dance of Tāne-rore.⁵⁷

Ngā mahi a Tānerore me Te Rēhia (traditional Māori performing arts) is one of the most visible aspects of mātauranga Māori and has many functions in Māori society including ritual and ceremonial purposes on and off the marae, as well as entertainment for guests.⁵⁸ Waiata, haka and poi are traditional mediums of Māori performing arts where we can see the intergenerational transfer of mātauranga Māori such as language, whakapapa, tikanga and histories.⁵⁹ Different types of waiata, haka and poi each have a unique purpose and composition style and form. Loss of te reo Māori and urbanisation has put this mātauranga at risk but have also been the driving forces to retain it through the emergence of the Māori performing arts festival now known as Te Matatini.

Waiata

Various types of waiata hold significance in mātauranga Māori. Waiata tangi are laments and are often composed in memory of those who have passed away.⁶⁰ They are not always written for death; they can also be written to acknowledge loss, whakapapa and other significant events.⁶¹ In contrast, oriori are lullabies composed prior to a child’s birth and sung during the prenatal period and early childhood. These compositions are unique to the tamaiti and would contain vital information for the pēpi, such as whakapapa and significant events that took place before the birth.⁶²

Waiata aroha and waiata whaiāipo are love songs that are typically composed by women for a lost or distant lover. Waiata aroha tend to have a much simpler language structure than waiata tangi and are quite flirty and witty.⁶³ Waiata tohutohu are message bearing songs used to instruct and guide people. These waiata were mostly written in the nineteenth Century to help Māori cope with the arrival of Pākehā and the changes that were taking place.⁶⁴

The more contemporary forms of waiata known as waiata-ā-ringa were introduced as part of a natural change to traditional Māori performing arts.⁶⁵ The forms of waiata discussed above held a more melodic, rhythmic, and traditional style whereas waiata-ā-ringa were characterised by European influence in their sound whilst still holding steadfast to Māori knowledge and culture through the lyrics.⁶⁶

Haka

Haka is a taonga that is steeped in whakapapa and has its origins in the creation of the universe, generating an abundance of meaning and value for Māori. On a national stage, haka is by far the most visible Indigenous ritual within the fabric of Aotearoa New Zealand’s national identity and continues to have a lasting legacy within the realm of sport.⁶⁷

There are numerous forms of haka, each with its own function and importance performed by men and women. The variations in haka reflect the mātauranga ā hapū, ā iwi and is one of the most visible expressions of Māori performing arts on the world stage thanks to the legacy of haka in New Zealand sport. ⁶⁸

Poi

Poi was traditionally used in training wrist agility for warfare and were accompanied by a chant.⁶⁹ Poi have been integrated into performing arts and its modern use now reflects messaging around the natural environment, the people, historical and current events, and other unique subjects.⁷⁰

Changes in transmission and decline in mātauranga

Renowned mātanga reo Timoti Karetu stands behind the importance of te reo Māori in Māori performing arts. He suggests the language is the means to deeply understand and communicate the meaning behind waiata and haka, without this it becomes impossible to convey the right emotion when performing.

For haka to be meaningful and to survive, the young performer must know what is being said, how to interpret what is being said and how to imbue that interpretation with passion and panache. Not to do so, is to do haka and our ancestors an injustice. ⁷¹

Te reo Māori is critical in providing access to the histories, values and beliefs of Māori people.⁷² It is a vessel for the transmission of knowledge including tribal history, politics and environmental knowledge, and traditional Māori performing arts is one form of expression that relies on te reo Māori. The decline in te reo Māori since the arrival of Pākehā has affected many facets of Māori society, including Māori performing arts. Language plays an important role and function in maintaining the mana of Māori performing arts.⁷³ We have seen that as the number of fluent te reo Māori speakers has declined, so too has the number of kaitito of waiata and haka, putting Māori performing arts and the mātauranga it holds at risk.⁷⁴

Urbanisation resulted in Māori leaving papakāinga in rural areas, to move to the cities. In 1945, 26% of the Māori population lived in the towns and cities. By 1986, this percentage reached nearly 80%.⁷⁵ As many Māori had migrated to the cities, there was a strong desire to maintain connection to their customs and practices. One of the ways this was achieved was through urban marae and Māori culture clubs, formed to strengthen and maintain interest in waiata, arts and crafts.⁷⁶

Performing arts festival

Kapa haka is a contemporary, and now primary, form of Māori traditional performing arts. Mazer (2011) has argued that contemporary kapa haka is an ‘artificially composed formulation’ of the art form which collates elements of Māori ritual and ceremonial practices within a time where Pākehā culture was very dominant.⁷⁷

The first national Māori Performing Arts Festival was held in 1972, which is now called Te Matatini.⁷⁸ For many Māori who live away from their tribal homes, the emergence and establishment of performing arts festivals and competitions has strengthened their connection to Māori culture and language.^<79 Kapa haka is recognized as a powerful vehicle for the transmission, revitalization and celebration of Māori language, culture and identity.⁸⁰ Moreover, further research has highlighted the health, wellbeing and economic outcomes achieved because of kapa haka and in particular, Te Matatini.⁸¹

Te Awe Kōtuku – Te Matatini and Taikura kapa haka initiatives

Te Matatini is an established and well-loved biennial event celebrating Māori traditional performing arts or kapa haka. It is supported by an incorporated society intended to foster, develop and protect excellence in Māori performing arts. A national board representing 13 rohe make up the society and a small office supports its work including production of the biennial competition. Te Awe Kōtuku funding was received to support the kapa haka training wānanga of 50 qualified teams during 2020/21 and 2021/22. An amount was also provided to extend internship opportunities to support production of Te Matatini in 2022, though later deferred to 2023.

For the last 15 years, Te Papa Tongarewa has hosted Taikura Kapa Haka – an annual celebration of haka and waiata – as part of Matariki celebrations. This is usually a live performance by kaumātua kapa groups from across Aotearoa at Te Papa during July of each year. With the arrival of COVID-19, and significant fears for the health of elders, Te Papa had to rethink how this event could be delivered. Te Awe Kōtuku funding was applied to filming, sharing performances and interviews of Taikura rōpū where they live. Eleven short films were produced for Taikura 2021 and nine for Taikura 2022.

Impact of Te Awe Kōtuku

Te Awe Kōtuku contributed significantly to the ability of whānau, hapū and iwi to practice kapa haka during COVID-19. This resulted in a myriad of positive impacts in terms of increased access, participation, the revitalisaiton and transmission of hapū and iwi-based forms mātauranga, increased pride in Māori identity, and broader cultural, social, wellbeing and economic benefits.

As part of this evaluation, we reviewed the interviews held with kaumātua for Te Papa’s short film series, spoke to a small cohort of kaumātua who have performed in Taikura and members of their local kaumātua kapa haka, as well as whānau who qualified and performed at Te Matatini 2023.

Produced by Māoriland Charitable Trust for Te Papa, Omicron caused delays to Taikura filming, but some short films were available in time for Matariki 2021 and 2022. The videos were broadcast on Whakaata Māori, available on demand and accessible on Te Papa’s website. A consistent theme expressed in the videos was how Taikura kapa haka brings the pakeke together, the pride, the health and spiritual benefits, identity as an iwi and the inherent enjoyment.

I love the aroha, the wairua that we all have amongst us. (Kaihaka, Tūwharetoa)

Keeps me going...I love it so much. (Kaihaka, Ngā Taikura o Tauranga Moana)

Thousands of performers are involved in kapa haka school and regional competitions up to the pinnacle of performing at Te Matatini. A total of 45 teams competed in Te Matatini 2023 from an initial 163 teams who had first competed at 13 regional events. Te Matatini Chief Executive, Carl Ross, noted the impact of the festival on participation in the forms of mātauranga, as well as being an avenue to engage with whānau on broader social and health issues.⁸²

We may see changes to the art of kapa haka because of what we’ve witnessed here. It’s been marvellous to see our experienced performers and a new generation of kaihaka who’ve been nurtured through kōhanga, kura kaupapa and whare kura bringing a whole new element to the artform We’re thankful to our sponsors for contributing to this event. It’s been fantastic to have them on board as they can see the value of Te Matatini reaching our people and sharing their messages including around the Census, and health and intervention programmes.

The 50 qualifying teams were supported, as usual, through the Te Matatini Regional Development Fund but with additional funds from Te Awe Kōtuku to maintain wānanga during COVID-19. One group member told us this funding meant that more whānau were able to come and experience noho marae. This contrasted with previous years when user pays often meant just the performer could attend, factoring in for example travel costs and contribution to marae. This extra funding also meant more care could be extended to performers during the high pressure event. One example provided was being able to stay in a motel during Te Matatini rather than on a marae which helped the kapa rest in between what was an exhausting few days for young and old. The value of this funding cannot be overstated, particularly for one kapa whose members and community were heavily impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle. 

Participation and succession

Te Matatini was held between 22-25 February 2023 at Ngā Ana Wai (Eden Park) in Tāmaki Makaurau. The event was shown live on TVNZ for the first time in 20 years. Over 70,000 people attended the four-day event (compared to 42,000 in 2019), 730,000 watched the live broadcast and 1.8 million streamed the event via TVNZ+ (compared to 1.35 million global viewers in 2019).⁸³

A strong theme that emerged from our interviews with Taikura and Te Matatini kaihaka was that this kaupapa is intergenerational – tamariki and mokopuna, are always included. This approach is critical for developing interest, engagement and building succession. A Matatini group member noted that succession planning is never articulated but that in this environment of inclusion and wānanga it happens organically, ‘people will come up’. The same group revived a hapū/iwi composition that had not been performed on stage for 40 years, and culminated in generations of whānau performing together, 'we stood on stage with four generations’.

The pandemic resulted in the annual Taikura event at Te Papa being cancelled for two years to protect the health and wellbeing of kaihaka. The focus shifted from live performances on the national stage towards capturing performances within different rohe on film. This strong emphasis on protecting the health and wellbeing of kaumātua took the kaupapa back to its original purpose and intent. One interviewee for Te Papa’s film series reflected this sentiment by saying the group’s origins were about:

Our pakeke, their wellbeing, their hauora, their whānau ora. (Speaker from Taikura, Tūwharetoa)

Many of the Taikura groups have been operating for decades, one group dating back to 1931. A common theme was building connections – both to tīpuna and whakapapa as well as the importance of the group in maintaining social connection and cohesion. An urban group – the Auckland Anglican Māori Club – came together in the 1960s around their religious purpose and to celebrate the customs of their ancestors through whakawhanaungatanga, te reo, waiata and haka.

We’re not on our ancestral lands, we’re mātāwaka in Tāmaki and the AAMC gives us that place…it’s our home...our reach out with other Māori.

It has become a bloodline for us even though it’s whānau by kaupapa...the ties are very real. (Kaihaka, Auckland Anglican Māori Club)

Creating space for Māori ways of being

Regional kapa haka wānanga supported by Te Awe Kōtuku, are the space for sharing the depth and breadth of mātauranga related to waiata, poi and haka. Kapa haka provided the vehicle for whanaungatanga, with many kaihaka coming from urban lives to connect with ancestral marae and their identity. This opportunity is significant for Māori – the vast majority of whom have lived away from their ancestral marae for generations.

We had a little bit of a mihi and a debrief and kōrero afterwards and one of our young kaihaka, he must be about he’s a teenager, 18 or 19, and his comment was, ‘I’ve never felt more grounded. I’ve never felt more connected’. (Kaitātaki wahine, Ngāti Kahungunu)

The unifying and grounding effect of marae was a recurring theme across both initiatives. One Taikura group talked about three iwi coming together to a shared marae and the value of the whanaungatanga for all of them, across tribal stories. They got to know each other through performance and practice rather than just seeing each other at formal occasions like tangihanga. This was a positive and celebratory kaupapa that unified iwi kaihaka.

We must be encouraged to return to our homelands, to our marae, there lies the foundations of your Māori world. (Kaihaka, Ngāti Hauā)

There is a healthy competition between iwi that is fostered by Te Matatini. Groups are powerfully driven to tell their tribe’s story and to create and deliver a unique and unforgettable performance. Among the Taikura kaihaka there was also a consistent theme of proudly representing whakapapa, of continuing to learn and strengthening self-identity through the practice and sharing of mātauranga.

From the beginning of time we have stood to sing, to haka. It’s in our blood…it’s important to us...we express the characteristics of our ancestors. (Kaihaka, Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao)

I love the kupu, the kōrero and the waiata, the history of the waiata and as it pertains to this area...so there are words we’ve never heard before in Tūwharetoa and they belong to Tūwharetoa...it’s very uplifting for us. (Kaihaka, Tūwharetoa)

Waiata of old is absolutely critical because within that is perpetuating our identity. (Kaihaka, Ngā Taikura o Ngāti Awa)

Adjacent to this theme was reflection on the effects of colonisation and its devastating impacts on cultural knowledge and identity. Kaihaka from Rongowhakaata, a tribe located in the East Coast of Te Ika a Māui, Te Tairāwhiti, spoke about Taikura as an important vehicle for reclaiming taonga. One younger member of the marae gave thanks to her pakeke for holding, teaching and passing on this mātauranga, and the privilege of being raised with te reo Māori. An interviewee from Hokowhitu a Tū (Tokomaru Bay) echoed this idea of the responsibilities the younger generation must carry forward given the sacrifices made by elders to revitalise mātauranga ā Iwi.

..and it’s probably up to my generation...to help support us in the revitalisation of that knowledge that was essentially taken away from us. (Kaihaka, Rongowhakaata)

Risks and opportunities

While the pandemic had reduced in severity for most in time for Te Matatini 2023, many teams were challenged by severe weather events in January of that year, affecting northern and eastern regions of Te Ika-a-Maui. This affected kaihaka whose communities, homes and workplaces were decimated or damaged and needed to put their energies into supporting the hau kāinga.

Similar to the experience during COVID-19, kaihaka in certain parts of the country were prevented from coming together to practice and fine tune their performances leading into their pinnacle event. The impact of regional lockdowns had also taken its toll and resulted in a loss of motivation and momentum among kaihaka to return to kapa or participating at the same level. The high cost of living has continued to be a barrier with whānau forced to make difficult choices and prioritise where they spend their time and money. This experience showed how important it is to maintain momentum and focus, and how Te Awe Kōtuku funding helped kapa haka to stay engaged during unprecedented events and hardship.

The extreme weather events experienced in Aotearoa also highlighted the essential role, and vulnerability, of marae. Marae play a crucial role in the maintenance, protection and revitalisation of kapa haka and kaihaka of all ages, enabling kaihaka to connect to their tīpuna, whakapapa, ūkaipō and engage with and practice mātauranga ā hapū, ā Iwi.

Many marae are coastal or low-lying and more susceptible to flooding. Cyclone Gabrielle and the storms of early 2023 were an indication of the types of weather events we can expect going forward. Protecting taonga in marae but also supporting iwi to make plans for their urupā and enabling the wairua of the pā to be sustained in some way, is critical.

Endnotes

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2. Nathan, W.A. (2022). He Vā: Possibilities in Moana Relationships: Pūrākau with Five Pacific Educators (Doctoral dissertation, ResearchSpace@ Auckland).

3. Nelson, A. (1998). Ngā Waka Māori: Māori Canoes. IPL Books.

4. North, C., & Tai Ratima, M. (2023) Protecting the nature within: Framing digital-downtime through Western and Indigenous approaches to preserving nature. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, DOI.

5. Webber, M., & O’Connor, K. (2019). A fire in the belly of Hineāmaru: Using whakapapa as a pedagogical tool in education. Genealogy, 3(3), 41.

6. Evans, J. (2016). Ngā Waka o Neherā: the first voyaging canoes. Oratia Books.

7. Hamilton, A. (1896). The Art Workmanship of the Māori Race in New Zealand: A series of illustrations from specially taken photographs with descriptive notes and essays on the canoes, habitations, weapons, ornaments, and dress of the Maoris, together with lists of words in the Māori language used in relation to the subjects (Vol. 1). Fergusson & Mitchell.

8. Barclay-Kerr, H. (2006). Waka - canoes: Other types of Waka. Te Ara - the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand.  http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/waka-canoes/page-5 (Accessed 29 January 2023).

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11. Arakite Trust (2019). James Eruera: Preserving the continuity of Māori Hourua Waka. Voyaging Wananga.

12. In addition to tārai waka, the other four programmes funded were: taonga pūoro, te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival, toi Ngāpuhi and a contestable fund for toi ake. Creative NZ added its own funding to the programmes including $200,000 to tārai waka meaning a total investment of $800,000 in tārai waka.

13. Creative New Zealand (6 September 2021). Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku Programme Mid-term impact measurement report – 2020/2021 for Manatū Taonga.

14. Te Kiato Ltd (August 2022). 2021/22 Year end report. Overview of Ouctomes and Activity, Year End June 2022.

15. Turi-Tiakitai, J.R. (2015). Tū te turuturu nō Hineteiwaiwa-Maintaining cultural integrity in the teaching of Māori weaving (Doctoral dissertation, University of Waikato).

16. Campbell, D. (2019). Ngā kura a Hineteiwaiwa: The embodiment of Mana Wahine in Māori fibre arts (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Waikato).

17. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (2023), Māori Weaving.

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19. Ritchie, J. (2017). Fostering eco-cultural literacies for social, cultural and ecological justice: A perspective from Aotearoa (New Zealand). International Journal of Early Childhood, 49(3), 287-302.

20. Evans, M., & Ngarimu, R. (2005). The art of Māori weaving: The eternal thread. Huia Publishers.

21. McRae-Tarei, J. (2013). The sustainability of tikanga practice and values within toi raranga (Doctoral dissertation, Auckland University of Technology).

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23. Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research. (2023), Harakeke and Wharariki. 

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27. Museum of New Zealand |Te Papa Tongarewa. (2023) Harakeke – New Zealand Flax. 

28. Puketapu-Hetet, E. (2016). Māori weaving. Hetet Press.

29. Wehi, P.M. (2005). Harakeke (Phormium tenax) ecology and historical management by Māori: The changing landscape in New Zealand (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Waikato).

30. Diamond, J.G. (2003). Revaluing raranga: Weaving and women in Trans-Tasman Māori cultural discourses.

31. Moewaka Barnes, H., & McCreanor, T. (2019). Colonisation, hauora and whenua in Aotearoa. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 49(sup1), 19-33.

32. Te Kanawa, K.M. (2022). Taonga tuku iho: Intergenerational transfer of raranga and what (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Waikato).

33. Campbell, D. (2019). Ngā kura a Hineteiwaiwa: The embodiment of Mana Wahine in Māori fibre arts (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Waikato).

34. Toi Māori Aotearoa. (2023).  Te Ropu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa.

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36. Funding Agreement between Manatū Taonga and Te Papa Tongarewa for the period 1 July 2020 – 30 June 2022.

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40. Te Rā Ringa Raupā application to Marae Ora

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52. Other sponsoring organisations included Wai558, Crown Forestry Rental Trust, Auckland University, QuakeCore, Ōpeke Marae Committee Waioweka Papakāinga 25, Living by the Stars.

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67. Penetito-Hemara, N; Jackson, A., & Cunningham, C. (2023). Whakawhiti Te Rā: A whakapapa approach to protecting haka as a taonga within sports settings in Aotearoa. MAI Journal (12) Issue 1.

68. Matthews, N., & Paringatai, K. (2004). Nga mahi a Tane-Rore me Te Rehia: Performing arts. Ki te whaiao: An introduction to Māori culture and society. Pearson Longman.

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70. Brown, H. (2013). Poi Toa: A short history Nga Taonga Takaro. New Zealand Physical Educator, 46(2), 13–15.

71. Karetu, T. (2002). Haka! Dance of a Noble People. Te Tohu O Te Whenua Rangatira. Reed Books, 15.

72. Waitangi Tribunal (2011). Ko Aotearoa Tēnei: Report on the WAI 262 Claim Released, p.154.

73. Ka'ai-Mahuta, R. (2008). The Impact of Language Loss on the Māori Performing Arts. Te Kaharoa, 1(1), 165.

74. Ka'ai-Mahuta, R. (2008). The Impact of Language Loss on the Māori Performing Arts. Te Kaharoa, 1(1), 170.

75. Meredith, P. (2005). Urban Māori – Urbanisation. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/urban-maori/page-1 (Accessed 16 April 2023) Story by Paul Meredith, published 8 Feb 2005, updated 17 Feb 2015.

76. Ka'ai-Oldman, R.T.Ā. (2005). Tākina ko au, Tākina ko koe! Te āhuatanga o te whakataetae kapa haka (Doctoral dissertation, University of Otago).

77. Mazer, S. (2011). Performing Māori: Kapa haka on the stage and on the ground. Popular Entertainment Studies, 2(1), p. 34.

78. Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. (2023). Entities overview: Te Matatini Society Incorporated.

79. Pihama, L., Tipene, J., & Skipper, H. (2014). Nga Hua a Tane Rore: The benefits of kapa haka. Scoping the Research Needs and Options for Developing a Better Understanding of the Contribution that Kapa Haka makes to Aotearoa New Zealand Society, p67.

80. Nikora, L.W., Ruru, S., King, P., Sharples, P., Patrick, D., Williams, M., Maxwell, T., & Flavell, T. (2021). Exploring the value and meaning of kapa haka - Māori performing arts: The Hine Rēhia Survey. Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga.

81. Pihama, L., Tipene, J., Skipper, H. (2014). Ngā Hua ā Tāne Rore – The benefits of kapa haka. Scoping the research needs and options for developing a better understanding of the contribution that kapa haka makes to Aotearoa New Zealand Society. Accessed 8 August, 2023:

82. Te Matatini (25 February 2023).Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata 2023: A Huge Success [Press release].

83. Angus & Associates (May 2023). Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata Impact Evaluation, p.12.

Appendix B: Te Awe Kōtuku participating agencies and initiatives (evaluation)

The page provides an overview of all agencies participating in Te Awe Kōtuku and, where relevant, their initiatives that were included in this evaluation. Refer to Manatū Taonga CRP Impacts Report (May 2023) appendix for the full list and description of 2021/22 funded initiatives, from which the following initiative descriptions are drawn.

Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision

Agency role/description

Ngā Taonga is a charitable trust that cares for and preserves audio and visual collections, props and documents from New Zealand’s current creations and historic collections. The trust is funded, and monitored, by Manatū Taonga, and governed by a Board of Trustees.

Ngā Taonga

Te Awe Kōtuku initiative/s included in the evaluation

Community digitisation wānanga of at-risk audio-visual taonga – This wide-reaching community digitisation project is designed to save at-risk audio-visual material stored on magnetic media, which degrades over time. Ngā Taonga are providing training and field kits that iwi across the country can use to preserve their own audio-visual mātauranga for future generations. 
Evaluation subjects: Waikato, Porirua, Rēkohu

Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa

Agency role/description

Creative New Zealand is a Crown entity that encourages, promotes and supports the arts in New Zealand through funding, capability building, an international programme and advocacy. Creative New Zealand is funded and monitored by Manatū Taonga which also supports its Minister in making appointments to the Council.

Creative New Zealand

Te Awe Kōtuku initiative/s included in the evaluation

Protection and retention of critically endangered artforms – Tārai Waka – Led by tohunga and mātanga Tārai Waka and collectives of senior and emerging practitioners, this initiative promotes the retention and revitalisation of Tārai Waka (waka building knowledge), a critically endangered artform through employment and training programmes that support the retention of practitioners who hold the mātauranga, tikanga and technical skills required to build waka and effective succession planning, alongside programmes that give greater public access to waka knowledge through community engagement events. 
Evaluation subject : Tārai waka – Tangata ki tai, tangata ki uta (Te Tai Tokerau)

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

Agency role/description

Pouhere Taonga is a Crown entity charged with identifying, preserving and promoting New Zealand’s heritage. This includes historic places, areas, wāhi tīpuna, wāhi tapu and wāhi tapu areas. It manages some historic places, administers Rārangi Kōrero/the New Zealand Heritage List, promotes interest in historic places and plays an advocacy role for the conservation and protection of historic places. 

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

Te Awe Kōtuku initiative/s included in the evaluation

Revitalising Māori built heritage conservation mātauranga – This programme focuses on joint projects with iwi, hapū, marae hapori, tohunga, pūkenga and kaitiaki to support and revitalise vulnerable areas of mātauranga. These include place-based hanga whare mātauranga and practice (traditional arts and whare building construction), taonga and mātauranga related to mahinga kai, māra kai and waka. The programme has included expert gatherings (Pouhere Wānanga), expert-led wānanga through a co-design process with Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, two trainee internships and contestable grants of up to $25,000 for community-led initiatives.
Evaluation subject: Tānewhirinaki (Te Whakatōhea)

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Agency role/description

Te Papa Tongarewa presents and preserves art and items relating to our nation’s history and the natural environment. In doing so it must recognise the mana and significance of Māori, European and other major traditions and cultural heritages. Its taonga Māori research informs exhibitions with a special focus on reclamation of Māori knowledge, language and customs. 

Te Papa

Te Papa legislation (New Zealand Legislation)

Te Awe Kōtuku initiative/s included in the evaluation

Wānanga series on endangered mātauranga Māori practices – Te Papa Tongarewa are holding a series of wānanga for tohunga and emerging artists on endangered mātauranga Māori related to taonga in Te Papa collections, including toi moko, taonga raranga, toki, hīnaki and kākahu. This initiative will improve access and connection for iwi Māori to their taonga and mātauranga and support the revitalisation of these endangered artforms. 
Evaluation subject: Te Rā Ringa Raupā (Te Tai Tokerau) 

Recording and sharing of Taikura kapa haka regional performances – Taikura kapa haka is an annual celebration of haka and waiata, performed by kaumātua from across New Zealand. Usually held at Te Papa Tongarewa during Matariki, COVID-19 posed uncertainty to this live event. This joint project between He Kura Te Tangata Trust, iwi and haahi groups has instead allowed for performances by participating Taikura rōpū to be filmed at their respective kāinga, for broadcast during Matariki in 2021 and 2022. 
Evaluation subject: Tūmeke Kaumātua (Kāpiti) and various via Te Papa short films.

Te Matatini

Agency role/description

Te Matatini is an incorporated society intended to foster, develop and protect excellence in Māori performing arts. A national board representing 13 rohe make up the society of Te Matatini and a small office supports its work including the biennial kapa haka competition.

Te Matatini

Te Awe Kōtuku initiative/s included in the evaluation

Kapa haka regional wānanga – Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata Festival 2021 was postponed to 2023, leaving a gap in the kapa haka calendar. This gap limited opportunities for transmission of mātauranga Māori amongst kapa haka communities. This initiative enabled Te Matatini to provide financial support to the teams who qualified for the 2022 national festival. This funding allowed each team to host a series of wānanga to maintain momentum in their practice and the transmission of mātauranga through waiata, mōteatea, poi and haka, as well as supporting continued community participation and connectivity. This initiative complemented funding allocated directly to Te Matatini to support a programme of 12 regional kapa haka ngahau (non-competitive) events in 2021.
Evaluation subject: Tamatea Ārikinui (Pōrangahau, Hawkes Bay)

Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs

Agency role/description

Te Tari Taiwhenua has a large portfolio over which it provides advice and administers legislation, from gambling to digital safety. One of its roles is in supporting a board which determines the charitable purposes for applying Lotteries Commission profits. A focus for these profits for many years has been marae restoration, with applications made through the contestable funding system. Building on this existing technical platform, Te Tari Taiwhenua worked with Manatū Taonga and other agencies to develop Marae Ora, a contestable fund as part of Te Awe Kōtuku. Marae Ora is administered by Te Tari Taiwhenua while funding decisions are made by a cross-agency panel.

The Matauranga Māori Mare Ora Fund (Community Matters)

Te Awe Kōtuku initiative/s included in the evaluation

Marae Ora – This contestable fund provides funding over three years to support iwi, hapū and whānau with projects that protect and revitalise mātauranga and taonga on marae. This includes the development of conservation plans for whare and wharenui arts, the establishment of harvest areas for cultural materials such as pā harakeke and tōtara, and the preservation of taonga such as waka tīwai, korowai and photographs. Funding is also available to assist with the creation of archives, small whare taonga or publications to both preserve and provide access to taonga and mātauranga on marae. 
Evaluation subjects:

• Hokotehi Moriori Trust Arts facility (Rēkohu)
• Te Poho o Rāwiri (Te Tairāwhiti)
• Te hapū o Ngāti Wheke (Ōtautahi)

Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Agency role/description

Manatū Taonga advises the Government on arts, culture, heritage, sport and recreation, and media and broadcasting; leading government work in these sectors providing advice on legislation, policy and sector development to Ministers.  In 2022/23, Manatū Taonga administered approximately $640.723m for Vote Arts, Culture and Heritage.

Manatū Taonga

References

Main report

Kowhai Consulting Limited (2009). An Investigation into the Health of Māori Heritage Arts.

Manatū Taonga (June 2009). Cultural Indicators for New Zealand - Tohu Ahurea mō Aotearoa.

Manatū Taonga (December 2021). COVID-19 Response Impacts Report 2020/21.

Manatū Taonga (2022). Long-term insights briefing.

Manatū Taonga (May 2023). COVID-19 Cultural Recovery Programme Impacts Report 2021/22.

Waitangi Tribunal (2011). Ko Aotearoa Tēnei: A Report into Claims Concerning New Zealand Law and Policy Affecting Māori Culture and Identity.

Williams, C. (updated August 2021). Guide to Māori Intellectual Property Issues in New Zealand. Accessible at Legal Vision.

Case studies

This section provides a list of books, articles and other resources drawn upon to inform the four case studies. Items are grouped under the four main subject headings for readability. A full literature review was not undertaken and the background and whakapapa positioning is limited to these sources.

Tārai Waka

Arakite Trust (2019). James Eruera: Preserving the continuity of Māori Hourua Waka. Voyaging Wananga.

Barclay-Kerr, H. (2006). Waka – canoes: Other types of Waka. Te Ara – the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand.(accessed 29 January 2023).

Barclay-Kerr, H. (2006b). Waka – canoes: Waka tētē. Te Ara – the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand.(accessed 29 January 2023)

Barclay-Kerr, H. (2006c). Waka – canoes: Waka tāua. Te Ara – the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand.

Evans, J. (2016). Ngā Waka o Neherā: the first voyaging canoes. Oratia Books.

Hamilton, A. (1896). The Art Workmanship of the Māori Race in New Zealand: A series of illustrations from specially taken photographs with descriptive notes and essays on the canoes, habitations, weapons, ornaments, and dress of the Maoris, together with lists of words in the Māori language used in relation to the subjects (Vol. 1). Fergusson & Mitchell.

Hikuroa, D. (2017). Mātauranga Māori—the ūkaipō of knowledge in New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 47(1), 5-10.

Hiroa, T.R., & Buck, P. (1982). The Coming of the Māori. Whitcoulls Limited.

Lee-Morgan, J.B.J. (2019). Purakau from the inside-out: Regenerating stories for cultural sustainability. InJ.A. Q’um Q’um Xiiem, J.B.J. Lee-Morgan and J. De Santolo(Eds.), Decolonizing Research: Indigenous Storywork as Methodology (pp. 151-170). Bloomsbury.

Nathan, W.A. (2022). He Vā: Possibilities in Moana Relationships: Pūrākau with Five Pacific Educators (Doctoral dissertation, ResearchSpace@ Auckland).

Nelson, A. (1998). Ngā Waka Māori: Māori Canoes. IPL Books.

Taonui, R. (1994). Te haerenga waka: Polynesian origins, migrations and navigation (Doctoral dissertation, University of Auckland).

Other resources

Creative NZ (1 July 2021). Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku Programme 2020/21 Programme funding round reporting metrics. Information for MCH.

Creative NZ (September 2022). Creative NZ’s Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku Programme, Dec 2020 – June 2022 (PowerPoint).

Te Kiato Limited (August 2022). 2021/22 Year End Report. Investment under Te Hā o ngā Toi Māori Arts Strategy 2019-2022, Overview of outcomes and activity year-end June 2022.

Creative NZ (8 Sep 2022). Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku Programme Impact Measurement Report 2020/21 – 2021/22.

Raranga

Bidois, V., Taylor, C., & Bargh, R. (2015). Māori Weaving: The art of creating Māori textiles. Huia Publishers.

Campbell, D. (2019). Ngā kura a Hineteiwaiwa: The embodiment of Mana Wahine in Māori fibre arts (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Waikato).

Evans, M., & Ngarimu, R. (2005). The art of Māori weaving: The eternal thread. Huia Publishers.

Harrison, P., Te Kanawa, K., & Higgins, R. (2004). Ngā mahi toi: The arts. Ki te Whaiao: An Introduction to Māori Culture and Society. Pearson Longman.

Moewaka Barnes, H., & McCreanor, T. (2019). Colonisation, hauora and whenua in Aotearoa. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 49(sup1), 19-33.

Pendergrast, M., & Brake, B. (1987). The Sacred Thread. Te aho tapu. University of Hawaii Press.

Puketapu-Hetet, E. (2016). Māori weaving. Hetet Press.

Tamarapa, A. (2011). Māori cloaks. New Zealand: Te Papa Press.

Te Kanawa, K.M. (2022). Taonga tuku iho: Intergenerational transfer of raranga and what (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Waikato).

Other resources

Funding Agreement between Manatū Taonga and Te Papa Tongarewa for the period 1 July 2020 – 30 June 2022.

Te Tari Taiwhenua website for Marae Ora

Chloe Cull (31 May 2023). The more we learn, the less we know. Understanding Te Rā. Christchurch Art Gallery Magazine (B.212).

Whakairo

Bennett, A.J.T.P.K. (2007). Marae: A whakapapa of the Māori marae. (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Canterbury).

Best, E. (1934). The Māori as he was: A brief account of Māori life as it was in pre-European days. Refer section, ‘Habitations, storehouses, villages, the Pa Māori’.

Grant, L., & Skinner, D. (2007). Ihenga: Te haerenga hou: The evolution of Māori carving in the 20th century. Reed.

Matchitt, P., Walters, M., & Whiting, C. (1974). Carving. Wellington: Art and Craft Branch, Department of Education.

McKay, B., & Walmsley, A. (2003). Māori time: Notions of space, time and building form in the South Pacific. Idea journal, 4(1). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.37113/ideaj.vi0.236

Mead, H.M. (2015). Te Toi Whakairo: The art of Māori carving. Libro International.

Neich, R. (2001). Carved histories: Rotorua Ngati Tarawhai woodcarving. Auckland University Press.

Prendergast, S.T.A. (2012). "Ko Wai te Ingoa o Tēnei Whare?" Architecture and Māori Identity. [Master’s thesis, Victoria University of Wellington].

Skinner, D. (2016). The Māori Meeting House. Te Papa Press.

Tiku, S. (2022). A Renaissance of Māoritanga: Whare whakairo as novel ‘traditional ‘identity. [The Global Undergraduate Awards, University of Auckland].

Other resources

Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku Funding Agreement – Manatū Taonga and Heritage NZ/Pouhere Taonga for the period 1 July 2020 – 30 June 2022.

Pouhere Taonga. Mātauranga Māori Programme Reporting for MCH (undated)

MCH draft document – Most MMTAK ACH fortnightly updates (undated)

Refer photos and brief description of Tānewhirinaki from the architecture awards

Refer image of Tānewhirinaki in 1913 (held at Turnbull).

Scoop (26 July 2022). Endangered Indigenous Māori Construction Methods Revived to Rebuild and Strengthen Historic Wharenui.

Ngā mahi ā Tānerore me Te Rēhia

Angus & Associates (May 2023). Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata Impact Evaluation.

Ka'ai-Mahuta, R. (2008). The Impact of Language Loss on the Māori Performing Arts. Te Kaharoa, 1(1).

Ka'ai-Oldman, R. T. Ā. (2005). Tākina ko au, Tākina ko koe! Te āhuatanga o te whakataetae kapa haka (Doctoral dissertation, University of Otago).

Karetu, T. (2002). Haka! Dance of a Noble People. Te Tohu O Te Whenua Rangatira. Reed Books.

Matthews, N., & Paringatai, K. (2004). Nga mahi a Tane-Rore me Te Rehia: Performing arts. Ki te whaiao: An introduction to Māori culture and society. Pearson Longman.

Meredith, P. (2015). Urban Māori - Urbanisation, Te Ara - the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand,(accessed 16 April 2023) Story by Paul Meredith, published 8 Feb 2005, updated 17 Feb 2015.

Nikora, L.W., Ruru, S., King, P., Sharples, P., Patrick, D., Williams, M., Maxwell, T., & Flavell, T. (2021). Exploring the value and meaning of kapa haka - Māori Performing Arts: The Hine Rēhia Survey. Auckland, NZ: Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga

Pihama, L., Tipene, J., Skipper, H. (2014). Ngā Hua ā Tāne Rore – The benefits of kapa haka. Scoping the research needs and options for developing a better understanding of the contribution that kapa haka makes to Aotearoa New Zealand Society. Accessed 8 August, 2023:

Sheehan, M. (2017). Contemporary popular Waiata provide a place of Belonging. MAI Journal: A New Zealand Journal of Indigenous Scholarship, 6(2).

Other resources

Te Papa - Taikura Kapa Haka.

The Road to Te Matatini (TVNZ)

Haka at home (Whakaata Māori)