My name is Grace and I am a Matakahi Cadet who was fortunate enough to work at Ngāi Tahu over the summer. When I was told I would be joining Ngāi Tahu as a legal intern I was nervous, as I had never worked in a professional environment in a law-related role before. However, my experience could not have gone any better. Every person within the organisation is valued for what they contribute and treated as whānau. I was pleasantly surprised by how many people took the time to ask me who I was and what I was doing.

The legal team, led by the incredible Chris Ford, was a pleasure to work with. It was great to see real life lawyers in action and I learnt so much from them. They took the time to explain every task I was given clearly and answered questions if I was ever confused. This made the challenging tasks exciting rather than daunting. My main on-going project was to come up with a standardised constitution that could be used for the 18 Papatipu Rūnanga. The task was to draft the content according the new Incorporated Societies Act in a way that was concise and easy to understand for all whānau members. With the help of the team, I was able to draw up some diagrams and other visuals that will hopefully be used in the years to come.

Highlights of the summer would include: Monday morning waiata and karakia in the wharekai, weekly te reo lessons, free boot camp lessons for a bit of exercise during lunch, meeting many new faces and making some great friends, but most importantly, learning so much about my culture and gaining the confidence to keep going on this cultural journey. Thank you to everyone who was part of making this summer the best one yet, Grace.

Grace Dimond.

Pānui contributions

If members have an item of interest they wish to share with te whānau o Ngāi Tahu or would like to profile Ngāi Tahu whānau who are achieving in what they are doing in today’s world, please contact Tina on 03 212 6029 or email tinamm@awarua.org.nz.

Membership Database

We are constantly updating our membership database and have found that many members’ children have had children of their own that require registering. If you are one of these people we encourage you to contact us on 03 212 6029 or email tinamm@awarua.org.nz to request registration form/s.

NB: If your enquiries relate to registering with Ngāi Tahu please contact the Whakapapa Unit on 0800 524 8248.

We also encourage those members who have changed residential or email addresses to update their details by contacting the rūnanga on the above number or email address.

Applications are now open for 2013 Matakahi Cadetships. The commercial aspirations of Ngāi Tahu Holdings Corporation coupled with Te Rūnanga Group’s role as an intergenerational steward of the tribe’s assets led to the development of this programme. Matakahi cadetships create opportunities to grow our Ngāi Tahu capacity now and for the future.

Established in 2009 the cadetships are for Ngāi Tahu students entering their first or second year of a commercially focused tertiary qualification and are designed to provide cadets with a broad range of learning experiences, challenges, and opportunities within the Te Rūnanga Group.

What we are looking for:

• If you want to be a Matakahi Cadet you will need to demonstrate a strong academic ability, a well-rounded community connection that you will able to demonstrate at either a whānau, hapū, papatipu rūnanga or iwi level.
• We consider personal qualities to be as important as academic ones.
• The Matakahi cadet programme is a significant financial investment and we will expect a significant commitment from those that are chosen on the programme. We will want to see how you can contribute to the future development of the Iwi.
• We are looking for cadets who fit a lot of varied mahi into their lives and have determination and enthusiasm. You’ll also need to be highly motivated and give examples of your engagement and initiative.

We’d like to hear from people who have been doing well at secondary school or university with a range of interests – all-rounders willing to learn. Matakahi applications close Friday 19 April 2013 – check out the Ngāi Tahu Website for application forms.