Kāi Tahu ki Whakatāne

On July 27 we combined our annual general meeting with our first birthday. The evening started with Hori Kawau and Grenville Ham keeping us entertained with their awesome voices. We then held our annual general meeting and chairperson, Oriwia Rehu- Murchie, secretary, Pauline Cottrell and treasurer, Sandra Maaka Ham gave their yearly reports.

New nominations for the committee included Tui and Horomona Tau, Philip Kemp and Sarah Walker; and committee members standing down were Marie Hannah and Joslyn Cameron. We voted in and welcomed our new chairman, Philip Kemp, and Sandra and Pauline remained as treasurer and secretary for another year.

Our light meal turned into a banquet in true Kāi Tahu fashion. We ended the evening with Horomona and Don cutting the cake while the rest of us sang happy birthday. It was a very successful evening with a good turnout. Our committee is now planning our next major hui on 24-25 August, to be held at Pukeko Marae, Poroporo. The kaupapa will be pounamu.

Kāi Tahu Ki Waikato

Kingitanga Day 2013
Kāi Tahu Ki Waikato are thrilled that Tā Mark Solomon is coming to the Waikato as a keynote speaker for the Waikato University Kingitanga Day celebrations for 2013. We encourage as many of our whānau to attend as possible.

The event will be staged at the University of Waikato on Thursday 12 September, 8am-6pm. Further details about the activities that will run on campus as part of the day will be available closer to the date on http://www.waikato.ac.nz/events/kingitanga

A night with Ngāi Tahu
The night before the Kingitanga celebrations, we are having our own celebration of Ngāitahutanga, so come and join us for a night to remember – a night of whānau, friends, food, whakapapa and film.
We have Tā Mark Solomon and Whakapapa Unit kaumātua Terry Ryan, as our guest speakers and we are showing the documentary, “Pounamu the Stone in our Bones.”

We are also encouraging Kāi Tahu artists to showcase their work on the night, so if you are interested in this contact Jane on 0212220191. This event is being held 11 September at 6.30pm –10pm, at the Creative Waikato Exhibition room, Alexandra Street, Hamilton. And we need you to book as numbers are limited. You can do this by emailing us at [email protected] or by ringing Wendy on 07 8248340. Bookings need to be done by 6 September.

Ngāi Tahu ki Tauranga Moana

At our June hui we honoured and celebrated Tā Mark Solomon’s knighthood with a specially-iced cake. Congratulations Tā Mark, ka mau te wehi.

At the June hui, committee member, Anna Were, spoke about the te reo classes she has been attending, and how she and her husband Alec incorporate their lessons in everyday situations.

Next meeting
The next bimonthly Ngāi Tahu ki Tauranga Moana hui will be held at Tauranga Boys’ College wharenui on Sunday, 20 October at 1pm. A venue for our 1 December hui has yet to be finalised.