Kia ora whānau, the past month seems to have flown by and with Christmas around the corner we are left wondering where the year has gone? The lead-up to Christmas promises to be a busy one too.
In the forthcoming month, we have a couple of scheduled school visits to Takutai o Te Tītī Marae and a Kī-o-Rahi tournament at the same venue. The Kī-o-Rahi tournament will be a follow-on meet from the one we held earlier in the year. The earlier tournament was a huge success and was embraced by so many schools that the rūnaka purchased Kī-o-Rahi sets and distributed them to schools within our rohe.
We also enjoyed Hui-ā-Iwi which was held from 20-22 November. This fantastic event had many opportunities for whānau and seems to be going from strength to strength.
If you have enjoyed a birthday in the last month or have new additions to your whānau congratulations and best wishes for the year ahead.
Visitor centre opening
Pictured here are Jane Davis, Dave Taylor, Muriel Johnstone, Betty Rickus, Ann Wakefield and Helen Brown at the Queenstown Visitor Centre opening on 11 September. This kōhatu is from the famed pounamu source Te Koroka on Te Awa Whakatipu and has been bestowed with the name Manaheke.
Our group of whānau at the opening.
Manawa Tītī Programme
Riki Dallas, Ōraka Aparima Rūnaka Kaihautū and Monica Davis Ngāi Tahu Group General Manager of People and Performance, reflect after an amazing presentation from Tā Tipene O’Regan, with Ōraka Aparima legends, Aunty Jane Davis and Muriel Johnstone at the end of a weekend hui learning about our Kāi Tahu history.
From left, Aunty Jane, Muriel, Riki and Monica at the hui.
Ōtautahi Taurahere Group
We are currently exploring the opportunity for an Ōraka Aparima Taurahere Group based in Ōtautahi. Kyle Davis had agreed to be the point of contact for this group. If you or any of your whānau are interested in joining this group please contact Kyle Davis on [email protected]
Te Kōawa Tūroa o Takitimu
Ōraka Aparima had the pleasure of hosting the start of the Te Ara Whakatipu programme on 27-28 October at Te Kōawa Tūroa o Takitimu.
Fifteen Ngāi Tahu rangatahi along with support staff started a week long journey of learning at Te Kōawa, travelling along the Hollyford track eventually finishing at Martins Bay.
Our rūnaka members who were involved during the evening were Muriel Johnstone, Ann Wakefield and Kyle Davis who also completed the whole trip. Kai was catered by Lynley McKay along with Riki and Lorraine Dallas, while Dean Cole met the party at Martins Bay and gave an informative talk about his life experiences. We are hoping this will become an annual event.
Nā Riki Dallas.
Office closure
Please note that the office will be closing on Wednesday 23 December and will re-open on Monday 11 January 2016.
Volunteers wanted
We are always looking for volunteers to help out with the various projects and commitments at our rūnaka. There are many diverse roles that we need help with, including representation on boards or appointment panels, helping with bird transfers, assisting at the marae or working in the nursery or the wetlands. If you are keen to play a more active role within the rūnaka please contact us at the office to discuss the options.
Contact details
We are progressively updating our membership database to improve the quality of our information. So if you or any of your whānau have moved house or changed email address or phone numbers, please let us know as soon as possible.
Contributions
We welcome contributions from whānau for Te Pānui Rūnaka. If you wish to contribute please send your news and stories to us at [email protected] or phone 03 234 8192 or 0800 number 0800 234 8192.
Stay connected
Did you know we are now on Facebook? To contact us via Facebook please follow this link http://www.facebook.com/OrakaAparimaRunakaPanui