Matangireia, Ōrua – Rangatahi-led place-base Wānanga
After spending a year traveling around the motu, it was time to return to Tāmaki Makaurau for our wānanga with Ōrua.
As their team is located all over Aotearoa, they decided to hold their wānanga in a place that they have been instrumental in designing; and being inspired by. As such, day one was spent at Te Taumata o Kupe at Te Māhurehure Marae, a building some of them had worked on earlier in their careers. Co-founders of Ōrua, Matangireia Yates-Francis and Matekitātahi Rawiri-McDonald spoke about their vision for Te Taumata o Kupe, their connections to the marae and the process of working alongside the marae committee and their whānau to bring the whare to life. Long standing members of the marae also shared kōrero about the history of the marae and what they envision for the future.
Our second day was based at Te Noho Kotahitanga marae at Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka. We were lucky enough to have Pāpā Hohepa Renata kōrero about the different pou in the wharenui, Ngākau Mahaki before spending some time in wānanga reflecting on the different ways we connect to the pūrākau.
We finished the wānanga by visiting Dr Hinekura Smith’s exhibition entitled “He Kahu Kōrero - Cloaks that Speak”, an exhibition woven with reo, identity, and aspiration.
It was a privilege to attend Ella Henry’s Inaugural Professorial address at Auckland University of Technology. It was awesome to be able to tautoko our pakeke and witness their ongoing commitment to push boundaries and pave ways for future Māori academics.
