Tihei: School celebrates Matariki by planting native trees

Tamatea High School Matariki celebrations started with a dawn ceremony. Photo / Supplied

Tamatea High School celebrated Matariki on Thursday, June 23, by planting a native ngahere.

With funding and support from Matariki Tū Rākau (NZ Forestry), Panpac Limited, One Foundation, Ray Burkett, Leon Phillips and Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc, the school was able to provide plants, irrigation, electricity, mulch and landscaping.

The dawn ceremony started with a blessing of the ngahere by Koro Matiu Eru and Tipene Cottrell. The ngahere was dedicated to the memory of Heitia Hiha and his wife Marg Hiha.

"We wanted to honour Heitia and Marg for the contribution they made to so many young people's lives in Ahuriri," Robin Fabish, tumuaki of Tamatea High School, said.

"Being able to recognise their whakapapa links to Pētane and Tangoio marae was also important to us.

"We want to continue to strengthen our connection with our hapū and whānau."

The school has been working with local designer Colin James (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), who created the layout.

They converted an underused soccer field and planted it in native trees. There is a clearing in the middle with power cable laid so that in the future it could be used for weddings, funerals, kapa haka and band performances.

In the years to come, the ngahere will be an asset for the community and the school whānau are proud of the legacy project they have created.

To protect the ngahere, the school has irrigated the trees. This will be especially important in the hot Kahungunu summers.

Unfortunately, the school has also had to pay for floodlighting and security cameras because in the first few days after planting some trees were dug up and stolen.

Matua Robin said that the school whānau whānui were angry and disappointed. He added that the people who stole them obviously didn't appreciate the tikanga related to the karakia that had been done on the ngahere.

He hopes that nothing untoward happens to the culprits – some would say "Ana tō kai!" Some of the stolen trees were kauri and rimu, which were worth around $100 each. The school is looking for a solution to replace the rākau.

After the ngahere blessing and a hautapu ceremony to celebrate Matariki, all guests were fed a hearty breakfast before taking part with the students and community in planting trees all day.