Rangitane o Wairarapa have released a booklet revealing to their burgeoning roll of sons and daughters "our place in the world".
Jason Kerehi, chief executive of the iwi authority, said the inaugural edition of periodical Te Tini Whetu, and the booklet An Introduction to the History of Rangitane o Wairarapa, were
each published this month after "too long in coming" and were primarily meant for new iwi registrants.
He said the publications were timely as the authority had in the past 18 months more than tripled their membership from 400 to about 1500 people who were able to trace a lineage to Rangitane o Wairarapa.
"The booklet sets out to explain how the runanga got started, and why, and is intended to raise awareness of Rangitane o Wairarapa and our place in the world," he said.
The publication run was limited to 1000, he said, with each booklet given free of charge to iwi members and interested parties.
Mr Kerehi said the content of the booklets would soon be made available for download through the iwi website at www.rangitane.iwi.nz.
Iwi researcher Joseph Potangaroa came up with the idea for the booklet during his ongoing work on the history of Masterton hapu, Ngati Hamua.
He said yesterday from his home north of the town, in view of ancestral mountains revered by Rangitane o Wairarapa, that in 2003 he began writing a book, Mist on Rangitumau, with his research more recently part of a three-year joint project with the Department of Internal Affairs.
He said the booklet released this month is the latest of several publications taken from his work researching for Mist on Rangitumau, which he expects to publish by the middle of next year.
