<p><em><span style="font-size:12px">Back row from left: &nbsp;Ayesha Maraku, Anahera Maraku, Mel Potaka-Osborne. Front row from left: Ellie Tapsell, Luke Enoka, Utiku Potaka, Stacey Ruru, Lynley Cvitanovic and Gill Potaka-Osborne.</span></em></p>

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<p>In July 2023, Whakauae staff, board members, iwi members, sub-contractors and their wh&#257;nau were invited to celebrate Puanga at R&#257;t&#257; Marae prior to the new Matariki public holiday. The two-day w&#257;nanga organised by Utiku Potaka, Luke Enoka and Tom Johnson provided us with a range of activities to acknowledge the M&#257;ori New Year.&nbsp; They included a p&#333;whiri for recently recruited senior researcher, Cinnamon Lindsay-Latimer, PhD student Aneta Cram and wh&#257;nau new to R&#257;t&#257; Marae. &nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Cinnamon Lindsay-Latimer" src="/uploads/images/Puanga-CLL.jpg"/><br />
</span></em></p>Cinnamon Lindsay-Latimer</span></em></p>

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<p>The p&#333;whiri was followed by whakawhanaungatanga in the whare where we shared our stories and whakapapa with each other. The next session was a k&#333;rero from Meretini Bennett-Huxtable about Puanga and the maramataka. &nbsp;Meretini, a Ng&#257;ti Hauiti descendant, described her journey with the revitalisation of maramataka and explained how she is using it in her current role with Healthy Families Whanganui Rangit&#299;kei Ruapehu around suicide prevention.</p>

<p>The group then joined iwi members in the wharekai for a delicious lunch before together picking watercress for tea that night. &nbsp;Some walked off their lunch while others hitched a lift with Utiku in his trailer. As the group walked across the whenua and up the T&#363;&#299;tahi [GP1]&nbsp;stream Utiku pointed out cultural landmarks and related their importance to Ng&#257;ti Hauiti.</p>

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<p><img alt="Puanga wananga participants gathered on the banks of the Tuitahi stream" src="/uploads/images/Group-hikoi.jpg"/><br />
</span></em></p>Puanga w&#257;nanga participants gathered on the banks of the T&#363;itahi stream</span></em></p>

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<p>The following day, after a leisurely start and a scrumptious breakfast, Tom and Utiku set up stations for the w&#257;nanga participants to learn how to make taonga puoro.&nbsp; The two workshops were run concurrently with those preferring the warmth, making clay k&#333;auau ponga ihu under Tom&rsquo;s direction in the wharekai. Others braved the cold to fashion wooden k&#333;auau . The wood, a piece of t?tara found on the banks of the old p&#257;, Te Hou Hou, at the Rangit&#299;kei River was cut into pieces by Utiku. W&#257;nanga participants then sanded it back until it was fashioned into a flute. Many thanks go to Utiku who provided all the tools and Tom who provided the clay.</p>

<p>W&#257;nanga participants said that they appreciated the time given to them by Whakauae to reflect on the past year and to think about the coming year.</p>

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<p><img alt="Lynley Cvitanovic, Tanya Allport, Ellie Tapsell, Stacey Ruru" src="/uploads/images/Puanga-Taonga.jpg"/><br />
<em><span style="font-size:12px">L/R: Lynley Cvitanovic, Tanya Allport, Ellie Tapsell, Stacey Ruru</span></em></p>

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