Pōwhiri and Opening address for Taihoro Nukurangi 2025

Te Awa Atua refers to the life-giving forces of the female body, particularly within the context of pre-colonial Māori beliefs.

Maira is a seasoned Māori language and tikanga educator with over 30 years’ experience, passionate about revitalising te reo Māori in homes, communities, and workplaces.

Leilani Maraku, founder of Mana o te Tangata Trust, leads Aotearoa's largest peer-led mental health service. She stressed the importance of whānau voices and collaboration in creating lasting community support.

Sir Mark Solomon (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kurī) is a leader in iwi development and health governance. He shared insights on the importance of community-centered decision-making.

Te Ahi Wairua o Kaikōura Charitable Trust (TAWK) is a whānau-led organisation dedicated to enhancing the well-being, cultural prosperity, and social wealth of whānau, hapū, iwi, and hapori through inclusive, wānanga-centred approaches that nurture identity, capacity, and hauora.

Whakaaturanga: He takenga Atua, Wellbeing potentiality through ancestral profiling and the Taiao.

Dinner welcome & introduction of Charles Hohaia and his korero around the Taihoro Nukurangi name as well as beautiful singing by Ron Baker.

Paora shared his passion, the revitalisation of ancestral and cultural pursuits, to naturalise ourselves to the environment and how atua Māori and their characteristics can help us and whānau in this journey.

The Whakaoranga Whānau Recovery Hub is a peer support-led service based in Kaikohekohe. Tangata Whaiora shared their gifts of recovery and how Māori healing modalities planted seeds of hope and supported their recovery journey. 

Te Ahi Wairua o Kaikōura, is a kaupapa Māori, whānau ora based support service based in Kaikoura.

The topic of this facilitated discussion was: Titiro whakamuri kia kitea ai a mua | We must look behind in order to see what is ahead
What do we know, what have we seen & heard today?