Ae Marika 20_July 2010 Click on the link to download your copy of Ae Marika.

The Waima Valley water scheme turned a council initiative on its head. Read here for more.

Ngāpuhi claimants remain firm about their Treaty grievances. Click here for more detail.

NAHC Joins the NZ Parliamentary Business Trust. Find out more here.

In the space of four years Dr Sharon Henare became a mother, dancer and scientist. See how here.

And in Focus, the spotlight is on Hapū Development. For more details go here.

Waima Turns Council On Its Head

Plans by the Far North District Council to take water being used by local Maori and then charge it back to them has been turned on its head.

Te Mahurehure voiced their concerns when the council decided it was going to take water from the Waima Stream in the Waima Valley and then charge it back to whanau, even though the water was on their own blocks of land.

Te Rūnanga Ā Iwi O Ngāpuhi Hapu Development Coordinator George Riley said people were not happy when the council’s plans came to light.

“Quite rightly the hau kainga considered that water taken from those streams on their blocks of land belonged to them.”

In response an approach was made to the Northland District Health Board under the TAPs and CAPs programmes to construct a community water supply that would supply over 100 houses.

George said with the cooperation of local knowledge and labour, the cost and scope of the scheme turned out to be a win-win for all involved.

“The initial scheme was promoted as having the capacity for 36 properties and the costs estimated to be in the region of $7 million,” said George. “The local people had a good knowledge of where the best places where to site the initial water take and with a straight fall the costs of pump houses could be kept to a minimum.

“At present the scheme has a capacity for over 100 connections and at a fraction of the initial cost estimates.”

Nearly 4km of piping from the hills to main road has been installed and work on the treatment plants is underway.

Waima is particularly suitable for the scheme with a significant rainfall available in the winter but low water availability and high demand over summer.

In the early part of 2008 community liaison and consultation began in the Waima Valley. By winter Te Rūnanga Ā Iwi o Ngāpuhi had employed Kereama Maihi as a project manager for the Waima Valley project. He was already working on it through Te Mahurehure and the position enabled him to carry on utilising a community based approach.

The project aligns with the rūnanga’s strategy to construct a kainga model for sustainable development.

 “Much of the work has been voluntarily undertaken by hapu members with working bees most weekends. Other costs have been reduced by the generosity of whanau in terms of equipment hire and technical expertise where possible coming from relatives and beneficiaries,” said George.

Ngāpuhi Claimants Remain Firm

The second week of hearings into the Waitangi Tribunal’s Te Paparahi o Te Raki District Inquiry wrapped up in the second week of June.

Two weeks of hearing evidence began in May at Te Tii Marae, Waitangi to hear more than 600 claims lodged by groups within Ngāpuhi.

One of the claimants and Te Rūnanga-Ā-Iwi-O-Ngāpuhi chairman Raniera Tau said the starting point for claims by Ngāpuhi was that the iwi never ceeded sovereignty

The Waitangi Tribunal said on its website the main issues to the inquiry:

He Whakaputanga - The Declaration

• How did Māori and the Crown understand He Whakaputanga – The Declaration? And, therefore, what was the nature of the relationship and the mutual commitments they were assent ing to in signing He Whakaputanga – The Declaration?

• What then was the effect of He Whakaputanga – The Declaration at 1835? Relationship between He Whakaputanga – The Declaration and Te Tiriti – The Treaty

• What, if any, was the relationship between He Whakaputanga – The Declaration and Te Tiriti – The Treaty?

Te Tiriti – The Treaty

• How did Mäori and the Crown understand Te Tiriti – The Treaty? And, therefore, what was the nature of the relationship and the mutual commitments they were assenting to in signing Te Tiriti – The Treaty?

• What then was the effect of Te Tiriti – The Treaty at 1840?

The hearings continue in August from the 9th to the 13th.

NAHC Joins Parliamentary Business Trust

In May the Ngāpuhi Asset Holding Company (NAHC) became a member of the NZ Business and Parliamentary Trust.

Membership is drawn from each sector or business category and NAHC is the iwi asset holding company representative.

The Trust was formed in 1991 to bridge a perceived gap of understanding between MPs and business people, and is an educational charity, not a lobbying organisation.

Membership is made up of a wide range of corporate organisations. Its council includes the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and leaders of the other parliamentary parties.

NAHC’s Will Wilson said through the Trust the rūnanga would get exposure to politicians and big business, that would help in building key relationships. 

Dr Sharon Henare

In the space of four years Dr Sharon Henare became a mother at 16, finished secondary school, joined the New Zealand School of Dance then switched careers to become a scientist.

Henare (Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whatua) says she had no definite career path in mind while growing up and attending Freyberg High School in Palmerston North. “I had always danced when I was younger.”

So, with the help of a very supportive mother, she took her baby daughter to Wellington.

But in her second and final year any thoughts of becoming a professional dancer came literally unstuck when she dislocated her knee for the second time.

She graduated in 1993. “I had to make a choice between knee surgery to keep dancing, or something else.”

That “something else” turned out to be a return to Manawatu and enrolling at Massey University. She had planned to do physiotherapy but, after meeting physiologist and animal welfare specialist Professor David Mellor, decided “the work he was doing sounded interesting” so began a Bachelor of Science majoring in physiology.

After completing that in 1998 she began a Master’s degree, which turned out to be a larger project than expected, so was upgraded to a PhD. From 1999-04 she received a Tuapapa Putaiao Fellowship from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology that helped her complete her doctorate in physiology as part of the department of Conservation’s Kakapo Recovery Programme.

“The research project involved developing a method for increasing reproductive output, similar to that used in human infertility treatments. When a woman can’t get pregnant she can undertake a hormone treatment programme.

“The purpose of my research was to develop a similar programme for birds, specifically the endangered kakapo.  The conservation aspects were really interesting: I like animals, and working in the area of conservation of unique species in New Zealand was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.”

She says scientific work is generally exciting. “No day is the same. Some days we meet to discuss research or plan the next experiment, collaborate with other organisations or industry or play in the lab with fancy gadgetry. Other days you could be running a clinical trial with members of the community, sampling products you have developed and collecting urine and blood samples for analysis.”

One of the big projects she has just completed looking at the quality of protein, has “huge” implications for Mäori communities, she says. She cannot discuss specifics because of commercial sensitivity but says: “People are living longer, so we looked at how well a specific protein targeted at the older age group, was digested and utilised by the human body.

“Quality proteins with high nutritional value are important as we age to maintain muscle mass and overall good general health.”

Article and photograph reproduced from Te Kunenga, a publication produced by Massey University, with permission.

Focus on Hapū Development

What is Hapū Development?

The main strands of delivery to hapū are facilitation, planning, information brokerage and assistance with submissions on behalf of all Ngāpuhi hapū.  Our goal is to identify, develop and support programmes, projects that will nurture sustainable development for whānau, hapū and marae.  We also provide assistance and support planning processes that develop sustainable management plans and practices for Ngāpuhi. 

The future of Hapū Development

The focus of hapū development has evolved from the physical upgrade and building of marae to sustainable income development and the development of marae as the cultural base of hapū.  Capability and capacity building at every level are an integral component of hapū development.  The challenge for the next five years is to build a core of self-sustaining socio-economic nests through out Te Whare Tapu o Ngāpuhi.

Hapū Development Funding

Hapū development funding is for cultural, social and economic development projects with sustainable outcomes and the development of long term benefits of Ngāpuhi hapū and marae communities.  For planning purposes, the funding will help kick start or contribute to the development of project stages. 

The maximum amount applied for is $5000 and applicants may apply only once per year.  Applications must demonstrate how the projects will have sustainable outcomes.

Application forms are available on request from the Rūnanga office.  A Hapū Development Co-ordinator is available to meet with you to assist with the completion of the application form.

Hapū Development Criteria

1.  Any marae, hapū, takiwā, taurāhere, Māori Reservation or Kaitiaki Trust within Te Whare Tāpu o Ngāpuhi

2.  Applications must be endorsed by an associated marae committee, marae trust or takiwā

3.  For accountability purposes, successful applicants must agree to furnish reports or agree to any other conditions before receiving the fund.

New Additions to Hāpu Development – Kiwi Can and Stars Programmes

The Kiwi Can programme delivers values programmes to support the school curriculum and promote positive behaviour among the children at five schools in the Kaikohe district.  Kiwi Can provides Year 1-8 students with the opportunity to build self-confidence and learn valuable life skills by participating in a unique developmental programme.  It was founded in the late 1990’s and is run in primary and intermediate schools across New Zealand. 

Stars is a mentoring programme where older (Year 10-13) students at Northland College take on the role of peer mentors for all Year 9 students. This not only assists in a safe and secure transition to secondary school, but also builds a sense of school community and develops leadership qualities in the senior students.

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