Ka haere mai te wā kohaka. It may be wishful thinking, but it’s starting to feel like spring is in the air. Kā Tiritiri o te Moana and Aoraki are looking spectacular cloaked in hukapapa and the air is feeling warmer, interspersed with warm spring showers.

We have had another busy month here on Poutini with the usual round of komiti hui and meetings keeping us extra busy. We were pleased to host Heather and Maurice Manawatu on our side of the motu. Our whānau had the opportunity to experience their hospitality in Kaikōura and we were more than happy to reciprocate, sharing our takiwā and kōrero with them, as they had with us.

We are excited to be using their feedback to develop our own experience right in the heart of our takiwā. Watch this space.

Everyone has been counting down to the start of whitebait season on 1 September, and by the time you read this we would have had our first (and second, and third…) feed of fresh bait.

From left: Heather Manawatu, Paul Madgwick, Marie Mahuika-Forsyth, Maurice Manawatu and Jeff Mahuika standing in Mahitahi down from Te Tauraka Waka a Māui Marae.

Hīkoi to the beach with our visitors.

Rūnaka e-pānui

We recently sent our very first fortnightly e-pānui. Please get in touch with the office to be added to the list and let us know your thoughts. We look forward to receiving your news, events and other pānui for our next one. We have also been working on a new website for the rūnanga and we are pleased to advise it is almost ready for whānau to access. We have included a members-only section which will allow registered members to access more information not accessible to the public. Please contact Rachael in the office to check if you are registered so you can receive a password.

A look at the home page of the brand new website.

Maramataka

Mark your calendars. If you need more information, please contact the office. Nau mai, haere mai!

• Hui-ā-tau (AGM) 2016
  Mark your calendars now – Saturday 8 October.

• Hīkoi whakapapa
  2-5 December.
• Kids’ pool party
  11 December
  Greymouth Aquatic Centre.

Keeping in contact

Members will soon receive a letter with information on how to access the members-only portion of our rūnanga website. It has taken us some time to update our site and there are still areas to be added. We hope members enjoy the new look site. Also included in the letter will be an information update sheet. Please complete this form and return either by scanning to email or posting back. This will ensure we have the latest contact information available.

Members can help by contacting the office and checking we have correct address and email contact details for you, your tamariki and/or your mokopuna.

Facebook: makaawhio.blogspot.co.nz; Twitter:
@makaawhio; phone: 03 755 7885, email: susan.wallace@ngaitahu.iwi.nz or rachael.forsyth@ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Mā te Atua koutou e manaaki, e tiaki hoki. Mauri ora.

Mark your calendars. If you need more information, please contact the office. Nau mai, haere mai.

Ngā Pūtea Māhaki
Last month, Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio launched our new scholarships focused on rakatahi development, leadership and building cultural capacity. Applications have closed for our new boarding school scholarships, which are currently being reviewed.

Our Mātauraka Māhaki ki Makaawhio Secondary School grant is now open for applications.
The grant is to assist with school-related expenses, such as examination fees, field trips, uniform, stationery and other equipment and is available for year 9-13 students, and for second chance learners returning to secondary school, or completing NCEA Level papers who meet registration and application criteria. Applications close on 4 March 2016. Please contact the office of you have any questions, or want to access application forms.

Hui-ā-tau (AGM) 2016
Mark your calendars now – Saturday 8 October.

Keeping in contact

Our recent mail-outs have resulted in a lot of returned mail, which means our efforts to ensure that our membership database is up-to-date still needs plenty of work. Members can help by contacting the office and checking we have your correct address and email details – for you, your tamariki and/or your mokopuna.

Facebook: makaawhio.blogspot.co.nz; Twitter: @makaawhio; phone: 03 755 7885 susan.wallace@ngaitahu.iwi.nz or rachael.forsyth@ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Mā te Atua koutou e manaaki, e tiaki hoki. Mauri ora.

Our Upoko Rūnaka and his wife (Richard and Mere Wallace) represented our rūnaka at the dawn blessing and opening ceremony of the new Takaka District Memorial Park, built where the Takaka Library had stood before being burnt to the ground.

The ceremony unveiled the new waharoa entranceway – a weeping wall commemorating 70 fallen soldiers, sailors and airmen from the region; nine columns representing each of the conflicts New Zealand have been involved in – with one recognising former foes; and a pounamu touchstone, gifted by our rūnaka. This followed an approach by the Golden Bay RSA two years ago, seeking a touchstone for inclusion in the memorial park.

We were happy to be given the opportunity to tautoko the RSA as a means of acknowledging the takata whenua of Takaka and Onetahua Marae, who wove and gifted us a wonderful whāriki, which graces our whare tipuna, Kaipō; and the connection to our Kā Roimata o Totoweka kaupapa.

Richard and Mere pictured next to the new waharoa.

Richard and Mere pictured with local kaumātua in front of the memorial wall.

Rūnaka annual general meeting

The lead-up to Hui-ā-Tau (AGM) is always extremely busy and this year has been no exception. In addition to the usual preparations, we held elections for four rūnanganui (executive) positions and received notices to amend our constitution.

Our hui held on Saturday 24 October, was well attended with more than 50 gathering in our whare tipuna.

Reports presented were well-received, with plenty of questions, ideas and alternative views expressed, along with some healthy debate.

In terms of the proposed changes to the constitution, two of the three were passed. These will be lodged shortly with the societies office.

Congratulations to Marie Mahuika-Forsyth and Willie Wilson who were elected as executive members and to Kara Edwards, who retains the position of deputy chairperson and Stuart Barr, who remains our treasurer for a three-year term.

A key change supported this year was moving the Hui-ā-Tau date from the Saturday of Labour Weekend. A resolution was passed moving it to the last weekend of the school holidays during the term three break. Mark your calendars now – 8 October 2016.

Whānau gather inside our whare tipuna.

Kai time during our Hui-ā-Tau.

Maramataka

Mark your calendars. If you need more information, please contact the office. Nau mai, haere mai, tauti mai.

Executive meeting
Our next hui rūnanganui will be held on 28 November at our wharemahi in Hokitika. Please let the office know if you are attending for catering purposes. This will be the last hui for the year. Next year’s hui schedule is yet to be confirmed.

Hākari kaumātua
Our annual kaumātua Christmas celebration dinner will be held on Saturday 5 December at the Wests Rugby Football Club in Hokitika at 4.30pm. Invitations will be posted shortly to all registered kaumātua living in New Zealand.

The dinner has become a highlight for our kaumātua and we would welcome kaimahi and kaitautoko to help us to make the evening another great one for them. If you or your whānau are available to help out on the Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday please contact the office.

Annual Christmas pool party
We will be holding our annual Christmas pool party on Sunday 13 December from 12pm until 4pm at Hokitika Centennial Pool. Whānau are invited to join us at the pool for a fun-filled, politics-free afternoon with our tamariki and rakatahi. There will be games, prizes and giveaways, as well as an early visit from Hana Kōkō.

Kūmara races
Mark 9 January in your calendars and come and join us at the Kūmara races. Put on your glad rags, bring your own kai and drinks to share, and enjoy a fun day. You’ll find our tent close to the finish line.

Hokitika races
The Hokitika Races will be held on 13 January (mid-week), following the Kūmara races. The Hokitika races are a half-day event starting at 10am. We’ll have a tent and the barbeque heated up, so bring kai and drinks to share. and join us for another day at the races.

Marae open day
We will be holding an open day at the marae on 6 February to acknowledge Waitangi Day. The day will start with a pōwhiri around 10.30am and will end with poroporoaki around 5.30pm at the latest. We have a number of workshops planned, along with a hāngī to feed the masses. The day is open to everyone, so come and spend the long weekend with us, Te Tauraka Waka a Māui will be the place to be.

Makaawhio picnic and sports day
After our open day we will head back to Hokitika to prepare for our annual picnic and sports day held at Woodstock Domain, Rimu on 8 February. Make a note of this in your calendar now whānau and save the date.

Nei rā hoki te mihi poroporoaki ki kā tini mate kua hika mai, kua hika atu. Ki a koutou, kua roko i te karaka o Hine nui te pō, koutou kua hīkoi atu ki tua o te ārai, haere, haere, haere atu rā. Moe mai koutou i te rakimārie. Rātou ki a rātou, tātou anō ki a tātou.

Tēnā anō tātou katoa, the weather hasn’t changed much here on Poutini, with lots of rain, wintery blasts and just enough fine, warm days to ensure no one goes stir crazy.

September 1 has arrived and so have the whitebaiters. Not even the driving rain and wind deterred the hardy whitebaiters from dipping their nets in the awa.

Maramataka

Mark your calendars. If you need more information, please contact the office. Nau mai, haere mai.

Waiata Makaawhio
Our weekly waiata sessions have commenced each Wednesday starting at 5.30pm with a shared kai at our office, Brittan Street, Hokitika.

Komiti meetings
Komiti members please note every second Wednesday of each month in your schedules.
As already notified, we have established a new meeting schedule that will accommodate the majority of our komiti to meet one night a week and it will mean members on multiple komiti will not need to meet over several evenings. The following schedule has been agreed:

• 3.30pm-4.30pm komiti mātauraka
• 4.30pm-5.30pm komiti whanaukataka, komiti whakamahi alternating each month
• 5.30-6.30pm komiti taiao
• 6.30pm-7.30pm komiti māhakitaka.

Keeping in contact

As advised in the last edition of Te Pānui Runaka, we have sent out forms for members to complete and send back, to help us to add extra information to our membership database and to check that the address we hold is correct.

If you have not received one it means we don’t have your correct address.
Please contact the office as soon as possible to update your details.

Facebook; makaawhio.blogspot.co.nz; Twitter: @makaawhio; phone 03 755 7885 or 0800 955 007; susan.wallace@ngaitahu.iwi.nz or Rachael.forsyth@ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Mā te Atua koutou e manaaki, e tiaki hoki. Mauri ora.

We will be marking ANZAC Day at our marae on 25 April, with a commemorative service. This year is especially poignant given the 100-year Anniversary of World War I.

Please note it in your diary and come join us to remember, acknowledge and celebrate our servicemen and women.

If you want to know more, contact the office, and book a space now!

I raro i te maru o Aoraki, nei rā te mihi matakuikui o Kāti Māhaki ki Makaawhio ki a koutou katoa!

Nei rā hoki te mihi poroporoaki ki kā mate hūhua o te wā. Ki a koutou kua hīkoi atu ki tua o te ārai, kai te mihi atu, kai te taki atu. Haere, haere, haere atu rā. Moe mai koutou i te rakimārie.

Rātou ki ā ratou, tātou anō ki a tātou. Tēnā anō tātou katoa!

Whitebait season has opened here on Te Tai o Poutini and on cue the rain has been falling. A bit of rain never deters a handy fisherman. Everyone is looking forward to their first feed of whitebait. However it’s a bit early in the season for a big haul.

We continued to be busy; and we have a few events coming up over the next few months. By the time you read this, our rūnanga hui-ā-tau and special meeting, planned for Saturday 22 September will have happened. Also the Māori Land Court hui set for 23 September at the Bruce Bay Hall would’ve been held.

We have also started our electoral ballot process to choose our Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu representative. The process calls for the nomination of members to sit on the Makaawhio Appointment Committee. They are responsible for selecting our representative.

Makaawhio Appointment Committee

We have received enough nominations to fill the seven positions available for the committee and as a result will not require a postal ballot process to be carried out.

The Makaawhio Appointment Committee members are;
Paul Madgwick, Stuart Barr, Terry Scott, Nola Tanner, Jackie Douglas, Kathleen Scott and Marie Mahuika-Forsyth.

Waka ama

As summer approaches whānau are back out on the water paddling. See below whānau getting back into waka ama.

Wānaka waiata

The weekend of 31 August to 1 September, a waiata wānaka was held at our marae. Around 20 members attended and sung, ate and enjoyed whakawhanaukataka.

Another Mātaitai Reservation approved

We are really pleased to advise that another of our applications for Mātaitai Reservation status has been approved. Our fifth succesful application for an area on the coastline of Ōkārito has now been gazetted. There is still more work to be done in respect to managing the reserve, but the status will allow a management mechanism to change quota rules if required through application to the minister.

Communication

Before closing, we have a couple of ways for you to keep in touch, catch up on news or keep abreast of what’s happening. Try our website: www.makaawhio.maori.nz or friend our Facebook page. Contact can be made by email: makawhio1@xtra.co.nz or phone; 03 755 7885 or 0800 955 007. We also have whānau email groups, so if you want to be added, contact the office.

Mā te Atua koutou e manaaki, e tiaki hoki.
Mauri ora!

The hīkoi involves a couple of kaupapa:

• Installation of kōhatu pounamu into the lodge as a tohu (symbol) of our relationship with the Hollyford Track team
• Opportunity to reconnect with this part of our rohe
• Training opportunity for Hollyford Track staff
• To carry out an archaeological survey.

Although spaces are filling up fast, please contact Kara Edwards as soon as possible if you are interested; ktedwards@doc.govt.nz or 027 683 9020.