Kāhu ki Rotorua: Taiao on Ōhāki agenda

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

See below for English translation

Ko te whakaora o te taiao te tino kaupapa o tenei noho

HE HUATAU NŌKU

Kua oti nei i te marae o Ōhāki tā rātau noho wānanga whakawhanake, whakatupu maramatanga ki āna tangata mō te Tiriti o Waitangi, me te whakaako ki āna tangata me pēwhea rā e taea ai e rātau te whakaū i tēnei mātauranga ki a noho tahi ai rātau ki te taiao. Nā Lara Taylor, he pōtiki nāku te take i whai wāhi ai a hau ki tēnei kaupapa.

He wahine pūtaiao tiaki wai a Lara. Wheoi anō, ka mahi takirua rāua ko Takuta Dan Hikuroa i tēnei wānanga ki te whakatuhura huarahi e noho taurite ai te mātauranga Māori me te pūtaiao hai painga mō te wai me te whenua otīā mō ngā wāhi rearea katoa o Aotearoa.

I pōwhiringia te hokotoru o te hunga i rehitangia ki runga ki te marae o Õhāki. He marae whakahirahira nō Ngāti Tahu e tū whakahī nei ki ngā pareparenga o te awa o Waikato. Ki ngā rekereke o ngā maunga rangatira o Tūwharetoa ki kōnei rātau noho tahi ai, kai tahi ai, wānanga ai.

Ehara i te mea he wānanga noho kau ki ngā pātū o te whare he ahakoa te kino o te pai. Ehara. E tika ana te kōrero i kī ai e ngā pakeke, mā te titiro ka mōhio, mā te raweke ka mōhio, mā te rongo ka mōhio. Me te karanga hoki ki te hunga kaha, me e karangangia koe e te awa o Waikato, tēnā rukua ngā wai tapu. Engari me tangata māia e whakatutuki ai tēnei karanga. Ina te kaha o te mātao o Waikato. Nā tēnei tū whakaaro ka puta te hunga ki te taiao.

The Waikato River shrouded in mist at Ohaki.

Ka takahia e rātau te whenua, ka noho ki ngā tūtohu whenua e ihiihi nei a Ngāti Tahu.Ka mutu te kai nui o te pō ka noho ki te mātakitaki i te pakipūmeka whakahirahira ko Climate Commons. Ko te take i hirahira ai tēnei pakipūmkea, he korero āta tohutohu i te tangata me pewhea e tika ai tatau ki te manaaki i tō tatau ao.

Ka whakatakotohia he rautaki awhina i a tatau, wheoi anō ra, hai kai ma te hinengaro e ora kaha ai a Aotearoa me õna whenua manomano.

He tatai kōrero te pakipūmeka nā tetehi whaea i hopukina nōna e hakoke maia nei i ngā topito o te ao ki te whakawana i ngā wairua o ngā iwi rau ki te tu kaha e whakahuri ai e tatau katoa ngā pepa rangatira whakatikatika i ngā raruraru patu taiao e tāmi nei i a tatau me te ao.

Kātahi anō ka mātau ai te roro o te tangata, ko te pōhēhētanga nui e mea nei nō te mea he tangata noa tatau e kore e taea e tatau ki te whakahuri i te tai uriuri,kai reira te mana o te pakipūmeka, he whakakaha i ngā tangata katoa, he ahakoa kotahi, he ahakoa tokotrua, kāpuia katoatia, he reo pāorooro e huri ai te ia o te awa. Ko te mutunga iho,ka whakatakotohia e te ohu pouako e whitu ngā tino mahi hai awhina ki te kawe i te kaupapa.

Ko te puku o ēnei mahi e hāngai pū nei ki te hangarau o te ao hou engari ka whakamanahia ēnei momo ki te mana o te iwi taketake.

He wāhanga tātāri hoki i te ira o te tangata, ara anō he kaupapa ko te whāwhā me te kōrero, engari ko te mana o te wai te take!He ahakoa enei kaupapa rearea ko te tino whainga ko te kōrero tahi ki ngā kaupapa e toru te whai iho nei:

■ Ko te takiwā – Ko te titiro me te mātau ake ki te mana o tēnei kupu ki te whakaaraara tetehi wāhi ā hinengaro, ā mātauranga kaupapa here, ā ritenga hoki. Me pēwhea hoki te āta takahi i tēnei takiwā, ā kōrero nei. Kōrero haehae, kōrero uaua, me te mea hoki ko te whakamau i tāu nā takiwā kia u.

■ Ko te whakarauora i ngā tini tikanga matatika – Mātua mō Papatūānuku me te taiao, mō tātau anō hoki me te hāpori

■ Ko te whānaungatanga: Wheoi anō ko te whakahonohono i a tātau anō, hinengaro, wairua, kōrero, e noho rangatira ai tātau ki te mahi kai, ki te kauawhiawi tētehi ki tētehi, engari ki te noho tōpū katoa tātau kia kaha ake tātau.

Ka tae ki te hiku o te wānanga, ka ara ake he kaupapa mahi tī hātē e noho tahi nei te hunga ki tetehi mātanga pueru ki te whakarakei i tō ake tī hātē toi nei.

Nō te Tairawhiti te mātanga, he rautaki tenei e noho tahi ai te whanau ki te wherawhera i o ratau whakaaro e mahi toi ana – ka oti ko te tuku tuturu i taua whakaaro nui ki te poho o to ratau tī hātē.

— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori

English Translation

OPINION

Ōhāki Marae has just finished hosting a noho-wānanga to share tools and experience and ideas about holistic, Tiriti-centric, governance and management for our Taiao and communities.

I became involved because the organiser, Lara Taylor, is my niece and I think the kaupapa is important. Lara, a water scientist, and Dr Dan Hikuroa were part of a team exploring how science and Mātauranga Māori – the knowledge systems informing ecosystem-based management (EBM) and Kaitiakitanga – can better inform the governance and management of the marine and coastal environments of Aotearoa.

About 60 people registered for the wānanga which began with a pōhiri at Ohaki Marae, the ancestral marae of Ngāti Tahu, on the banks of the Waikato awa.

Over 48 hours, they shared korero, kai and breathed in the crisp air from the snow-capped maunga of Tūwharetoa.

Lara’s aim was for the wananga to get creative, and immerse themselves in the ngāhere and awa, test some tools and technologies, and tiki tour to our Ūkaipō, Orakei Korako, the birthplace of Ngāti Tahu.

After dinner was to be the first-ever screening of the Climate Commons documentary.

The documentary brings to light fascinating stories about climate action, strategies for adaptation and mitigation in Aotearoa.

These stories are recorded by a mother who set out on a journey to mobilise practical climate action and inspire policy change in favour of people and the planet.

Our tupuna whare Tahumatua was filled with korero about blending matauranga Māori and western science to help our taiao. Photo / Lara Taylor E Oho!

This leads to the realisation that collective grassroots action with a bottom-up approach can make a positive difference to the climate crisis. She then steers towards reclaiming and expanding ‘climate commons’, the parts of our managed environment, resources and infrastructure that are owned publicly and managed collectively with evenly distributed benefits.

Attendees were even offered the chance to take a dip in the Waikato River, but you would have to be very brave to do that as Ohaki is really cold.

Several activities, demonstrations, and kōrero were arranged on-site.

They included exploring cutting-edge innovations and indigenous energy sovereignty.

Or trying eDNA with portable technology. Feel and kōrero about te mana o te wai!

But the main focus was on KŌRERO, three topics in particular:

■ Space – creating space (minds, knowledge policy, practice etc.); negotiating space (difficult conversations, social licenses etc.); and holding space.

■ Healing + our different ethics of care – for Papatūānuku and te taiao; for ourselves; for our communities; for our collective socio-economic and cultural wellbeing.

■ Relationships + connecting – to ourselves, each other, the physical and metaphysical, systems thinking, food and energy sovereignty, climate adaptation and collective action, best practices and scaling up and out.

Wananga attendees were offered the opportunity to screen print their own T-shirts under the expert guidance of an in-house creative from the east coast – an opportunity to be creative and to think about what’s important to them, and what key messages (words and/or images) they want to share with the world.