<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size:12px">Te Ara a T&#257;whaki, venue for the May 2019 ICF</span></em></p>

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<p>The Research Centre Director, Dr Amohia Boulton has spent a busy week supporting Ng&#257;ti Hauiti in&nbsp; range of activities relating to iwi business. The first involved attending the Iwi Chairs&rsquo; Forum with the Convenor of Te R&#363;nanga o Ng&#257;ti Hauiti, Thomas Curtis. Other members of the wider Te Ranga Tupua Collective in attendance included members of Ng&#257; Rauru Kiitahi (the Secretariat for the ICF);&nbsp; Grant Huwyler (the CEO of Ng&#257;ti Apa); Uncle John Maihi and Gerrard Albert (the Chair of Nga&#772; Ta&#772;ngata Tiaki o Whanganui) from Whanganui; Richard Steedman (the Chair of Ng&#257;ti Whitikaupeka and member of the Wh&#257;nau Ora Iwi Leader&rsquo;s Group); and Tracey Hiroa (the General Manager of M&#333;kai P&#257;tea Services).</p>

<p>This latest forum was held in &#332;taki and hosted by Ng&#257;ti Raukawa. The venue for the two day hui was Te W&#257;nanga o Raukawa&rsquo;s new whare, Te Ara a T&#257;whaki.&nbsp; As in previous hui, the work programme was organised around four &ldquo;pou&rdquo; each of which comprise a number of key interest or issue&nbsp; areas. The four pou include Pou T&#257;ngata (covering Wh&#257;nau Ora, education, justice); Pou Taiao (covering freshwater and climate change); Pou Tikanga (covering constitutional reform and the Crown Iwi relationship); and Pou T&#257;hua (covering housing, economic development and Te Ture Whenua).</p>

<p>Dr Boulton was particularly interested in developments in the Wh&#257;nau Ora space, given Whakauae&rsquo;s long track record of research and analysis regarding Wh&#257;nau Ora. Significantly Dr Boulton was dismayed by a letter received by the Minister for Wh&#257;nau Ora, Hon Peeni Henare who advised that in spite of the Wh&#257;nau Ora Review Panel recognising the importance of the Wh&#257;nau Ora Partnership Group in ensuring M&#257;ori Crown oversight of Wh&#257;nau Ora, the Minister had sought Cabinet agreement to &ldquo;disestablish the Wh&#257;nau Ora Partnership Group effective immediately&rdquo;. The response of Te Pou Tangata Iwi Chairs was to denounce this move on the part of the Minister and recommend the Crown &ldquo;immediately initiate discussions with the Pou Tangata Iwi Leader Groups to determine the process for ensuring the ongoing robust Maori governance of the full range of wellbeing work being conducted across government departments&rdquo;. Further, the Chairs of Te Pou Tangata moved and accepted that Dr Amohia Boulton become the Lead Technician for Wh&#257;nau Ora, so that the Chairs can have some capacity to respond to further communication on the part of the Crown.</p>

<p>On a more positive note, Dr Boulton then attended a tikanga hui at R&#257;t&#257; Marae over the weekend. The hui was convened by members of the wh&#257;nau who were seeking some clarification around aspects of tikanga to do with p&#333;whiri and tangi and the many roles wh&#257;nau must take on during these important events (e.g. whaik&#333;rero, kaikaranga, kaimahi, ringawera). The hui provided wh&#257;nau members who weren&rsquo;t familiar with marae customs and practices to ask questions of those with more experience and knowledge. It was pleasing to see a number of new faces at the hui, some of whom had travelled from as far away as Wellington to be there on the day. Other new faces included wh&#257;nau members who had recently returned home after living in Australia for a number of years. As discussion progressed it quickly became apparent that a longer w&#257;nanga regarding aspects of tikanga was both needed and strongly desired by wh&#257;nau.&nbsp; To that end, current Marae Trustees have given an undertaken to hold a further Tikanga hui in upcoming months. The hui will be open to all Ng&#257;ti Hauiti wh&#257;nau, and as with this initial hui, it is hoped wh&#257;nau from far and wide will attend.</p>

<p>The final activity Dr Boulton was involved in was the planting of native trees and shrubs at Lake Oporoa near Utiku. The planting is one phase of an overall programme to restore the lake to its former pristine condition; a process that will take many months, if not years. The planting is being undertaken as part of the wider Te Mana o Te Wai initiative, and has the support of the wh&#257;nau on whose land the lake is located; the farmer who leases the land; Horizons Regional Council (who are supplying the plants and much of the manpower), as well as the wider M&#333;kai P&#257;tea Confederation.</p>

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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:12px"><img alt="Lake Oporoa" src="/uploads/images/Lake-Oporoa.jpg" style="height:488px; width:650px" /><br />
<em>Lake Oporoa</em></span></p>

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<p>The morning began with a meeting at the woolshed of all interested parties who wanted to be involved in planting the first trees. There we had introductions, learned the schedule for the morning and received a safety briefing by staff from Horizons Regional Council. We then travelled across the farm to the lake where Matua Neville offered a karakia both for the day and for the success of the restoration as a whole. We then planted the first trees on the site, before returning to the shepherds&rsquo; quarters where Wharerimu and Kaeawa from TMoRT, along with Whiunara Steedman (Whare&rsquo;s sister) had prepared lunch. It was a great morning, and wonderful to be contributing in a tangible and practical way to revitalising the mauri of this significant waterway.</p>

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<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size:12px"><img alt="GM of T&#275; Maru o Ruahine Trust, Robert Martin successfully plants a T&#333;tara; only 15,999 more trees to go!" src="/uploads/images/tree-planting.jpg" style="height:593px; width:650px" /><br />
GM of T&#275; Maru o Ruahine Trust, Robert Martin successfully plants a T&#333;tara; only 15,999 more trees to go!</span></em></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size:12px"><img alt="The happy crew of tree planters!" src="/uploads/images/tree-planting-crew.jpg" style="height:378px; width:650px" /><br />
The happy crew of tree planters.</span></em></p>
