Te Rohe Ngatai and Caleb (front left) share a laugh.
In the distance a cohort of rangatahi navigate the outgoing tide. Sharp shells crunch under their feet.
Water swirls in the swallows and then suddenly deepens to waist then chest level before receding to reveal uneven sand bars.
At the front is a kaumātua who knows the current. His familiarity with the sea harks back to childhood. He knows this spot by heart.
Step by careful step, he leads them closer to their prize – the fishing net.
Welcome to Koi Ora a free Ngāi Te Rangi youth programme for rangatahi aged 11 to 15, designed to reconnect kids with their culture and teach skills handed down the generations.
Today the rōpū have gathered on Matakana Island for an overnight excursion. They will stay at Ōpureora Marae, learn its history and meet locals passionate about preserving their slice of paradise.
Many hands help kaumātua Rangi Ngatai and his son Te Rohe haul in the net. For most of the rangatahi, this is a newfound experience but freeing the fish from the net can be tricky.
“Their teeth are sharp and there are spikes on their fins, so watch out,” Rangi warns.
“This is awesome,” 12-year-old Jaxson booms for anyone who cares to listen. He darts backwards and forwards as he pulls fish from the net.
Two entangled stingrays are thrown back which brings the final tally to nine.
To the amusement of his mates – and a chorus of “yeah bro” – Jaxson insists on pushing the wheelbarrow back, stopping only once to ask a question.
“Hey koro, an eye has fallen out of one of the fish – can I eat it?”
Back at the marae, the rangatahi peel spuds and shuck corn. Rangi says about 80% of kai for his whānau comes from the whenua or moana.
“On Wednesday, our boys came back from the bush and they had a huge pig, the biggest pig I’ve ever seen and we’re eating that now.”
He says his five sons learnt to hunt and fish at a young age and all his whānau have a deep spiritual connection to Matakana.
“A lot of us are living on papakāinga, Māori whānau whenua … and that’s forever and ever. Our family is split across two papakāinga.”
Having rangatahi on Ōpureora Marae makes him smile.
Learning about whakapapa and tikanga is important so you know where you belong and who your people are, he says.
Kaumātua Bobby Rollerston sits on a green plastic chair beside his truck at the beach below Te Rangihouhiri Marae. The well-known Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Ranginui descendant gestures toward a bush-covered hill.
“In the old days, we were warring people,” he tells the rangatahi. “Every pā had lookouts watching for incoming waka.”
He explains that wāhine were sent forward first, dancing to entice and assess approaching parties.
Some encounters were fierce battles. Others were peaceful, like the arrival of uri from the ancestral Tainui waka.
When the waka grounded in the harbour, ballast stones were offloaded – believed to have formed Ratahi Rock.
The site remains sacred and tapu.
More recently, Bobby says, Tainui kaumātua have found taonga on Matakana, strengthening iwi bonds.
“Modern life has changed some tikanga,” he says.
But the culture on Matakana is strong.
“I love living here.”
Nearby, Ngāi Te Rangi summer intern Meg watches her koro with pride. She is fluent in te reo Māori and studying law at Auckland University.
“My koro Bobby knows everyone,” she says, before helping lead a waiata.
Eli Samuels gives a running commentary as he drives one of three vans to the south end of Matakana. The road runs through the forestry and he is destined for the newly upgraded Panepane Point Wharf.
It’s a popular swimming and fishing spot.
Despite a late night of games, crafts, physical challenges and pepeha, the rangatahi spill out of the vans at full speed.
Some launch themselves from the wharf in spectacular dive bombs. Others bait fishing rods and cast their lines while three girls sunbathe.
“It’s been pretty awesome,” 12-year-old Caleb says watching two boys compete for the biggest splash.
“I really liked staying on the marae and I’ve made some new friends.”
Te Ohu Rangatahi manager Katarina Ngatai says that’s exactly the point.
“Koi Ora is about culture, connection and confidence.”
For rangatahi aged 11-15, it is guided by Te Ao Māori Tikanga, Iwi knowledge and the Māori health model Te Whare Tapa Whā.
The key objective is to instil traditional and cultural knowledge that forms a foundation to encourage healthy nutrition, and physical exercise along with an enriched cultural connectiveness. The programme runs in four, two-week blocks every year.
- Content supplied by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Te Rangi Iwi Trust. Carmen Hall is a communications advisor for the trust and a former Bay of Plenty Times journalist.