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The winning Maori cultural group at last year’s Polyfest will be opening the biggest celebration of Pacific culture in Auckland on the 9 March at Western Springs Park.
Pasifika Festival organiser Ole Maiava says the Western Springs College kapahaka group won the Maori stage at last year’s ASB Polyfest and their passion and energy will set the tone for the two day event.
He says Western Springs Park will be transformed into ten Pacific villages from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands, Tokelau, Niue, Tahiti, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Aotearoa and all will offer food, dance, music and art.
Entry is free and the event will also showcase hiphop, soul and reggae music as well as traditional weaving workshops and demonstrations.
The Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development organisation is the main promoter of the annual Pasifika Festival.
A senior law lecturer at Waikato University’s Te Piringia-Faculty of Law says many of the outcomes from an extensive study of North American Indian economic development, are applicable to Maori.
Robert Joseph, whose research centres on Maori and indigenous governance, was among a small group of New Zealanders who have just been in Tuscon Arizona as guests of Harvard University.
He says the university wanted to share results of its 20 year study of North American Indian and First Nation tribes, which looked at self determination, governance and economic development, and the links between them.
Dr Joseph says the researchers wanted to find out the factors which determine why some First Nation tribes are doing well economically, while others are in the midst of poverty.
He says the keys to economic success included strong leadership, good dispute resolution skills and people taking responsibility for their own decisions.
The release of the ministerial inquiry report into the use of foreign fishing vessels on Thursday confirms there are questions over why Maori aren’t working in the industry.
Some submitters argue Maori quota holders should employ Maori to catch their quota and process the catch.
They say one of the purposes of the Maori Fisheries Act was to help develop the collective and individual interests of iwi involved in the fishing industry – which would ultimately benefit all Maori.
But respondents to the inquiry suggested the use of foreign charter vessels is effectively undermining the goal of benefiting Maori as a whole.
The report also records submissions which highlight New Zealand’s unemployment, particularly among youth and Maori and Pacific workers.
Again, submitters argued the use of foreign vessels is taking jobs away from locals who are willing and able to work both on board vessels and in on-shore processing plants.
Those making their points say more should be done to increase employment opportunities for New Zealanders in the on-shore processing of fish caught in the Exclusive Economic Zone.
The report says submitters note that employment levels in the fishing industry on land have been falling steadily in recent years – due to the increased use of offshore processing plants.
The University of Otago says a project supporting people to have conversations in the Maori language has created a community of te reo speakers.
He Iho Reo is working with 10 local whanau.
Dunedin and Otago have some of the lowest rates of Maori language use in Aotearoa.
To assess how the families are using the language, researchers have placed audio recorders in the homes of whanau, so they can record themselves speaking te reo during their everyday activities.
University of Otago senior research analyst Katharina Ruckstuhl says all academics involved in the project are passionate about keeping the Maori language alive.
She says the researchers don’t want to see the beautiful language decline any further.
Dr Ruckstuhl says the idea is for the whanau to take up, maintain and then transfer their reo to a new generation.
She says some whanau taking part in the project have limited language but are willing learners.
Dr Ruckstuhl says taking the project out of the institution and into the home is one of the most important factors.
The campus director of Tairawhiti Polytechnic in Gisborne says there’s been huge interest by Maori school leavers from as far north as Te Araroa in taking up trades courses this year.
The number of courses available has increased substantially following a merger a year ago between the polytech and the Napier-based Eastern Institute of Technology.
Jan Mogford says the new Trade Academy in Gisborne, which opened a couple of weeks ago, has been a run away success.
She says 60 places were initially on offer but because of a huge demand it ended up accepting 97 students.
Ms Mogford says some students from the East Coast are travelling for three hours to get to and from classes, which is a massive commitment.
She says all places in the trades courses, which include automative engineering, carpentry, fashion and catering have been filled by young Maori.
The Ministry of Science and Innovation says it is delighted by the calibre of young Maori who are coming up with innovative ideas and forming companies.
The ministry is supporting people in primary production, but is also finding some smart ideas in the environmental sector and the information and communications technology field.
The ministry is now seeking to appoint its first Chief Advisor for Maori Development.
Ministry chief executive Murray Bain says it is crucial that young entrepreneurs get the help they need.
He says he gets exhilarated by seeing people – Maori and non-Maori – being prepared to “have a crack with their ideas” and do something with them.
Mr Bain says it is important for the Government and, more broadly, for the banks to be prepared to support young people and given them an opportunity.
He says he’s noticed promising young Maori receive a lot of support from their communities.
The Ministry of Science and Innovation was set up a year ago to drive the science and innovation sector.
The manager of a Marlborough marae says the Minister of Maori Affairs did a good job in pushing to have a Maori face at the Rugby World Cup.
Dr Pita Sharples says he was determined to include Maori culture at last year’s international tournament, because tangata whenua didn’t even get a look in during the America’s Cup when it came to New Zealand in 2000.
He says Waka Maori for example pumped $9 million into the Auckland economy – drawing more than 180,000 people to the attraction.
Omaka marae manager Kiley Nepia says everyone watching was exposed to different aspects of Maori culture and the benefits are obvious.
He says the fact that there was a Maori face, whether that was on the waka, the karanga or kapa haka, was woven through out the whole cup.
Mr Nepia says it has given Maori a sense of identity and is certainly New Zealand’s unique selling point.
Wintec’s new marae was met with some surprise at yesterday’s dawn opening ceremony, but people were positive about the modern facility.
About 300 people, including Wintec staff, staff from education institutes around New Zealand and local iwi representatives gathered in the chilly pre-dawn darkness for King Tuheitia to open Te Kopu Mania o Kirikiriroa, Wintec’s new $2.25m city campus marae.
Tainui master carver Warren McGrath worked to the wire, with the final, uniquely modern carvings going on the marae shortly before the ceremony began.
The three-building facility, including a wharenui, an administration office including bathrooms and showers, and a dining area, was designed by Hamilton-based Moaa Architects, and embraced traditional aspects of a marae but had a modern aesthetic in keeping with Wintec’s overall ethos.
Wintec kaumatua Tame Pokaia said he was involved with the marae from its inception, and he saw a lot of symbolism in the design, which had a raised roof “protecting” the wharenui and the dining room.
Mr Pokaia said the roof symbolised Wintec’s protection of its students, but the lack of a raised roof on the administration block showed students would still have to step up and work hard to receive their degrees or diplomas. “It’s not something we just give away.”
Chief executive Mark Flowers said the polytech had deliberately moved away from a traditional marae design so it would be more accessible to all Wintec students and staff.
A traditional marae might have been restricted to traditional uses, whereas the modern approach meant the facility could be more widely used.
“We’re an institution that looks to the future,” Mr Flowers said.
Wintec had had a small whare which had been removed when the hub was built, but it had always been the intention to build another Maori facility.
“I think some people may have been a little surprised by the different style but the feedback this morning has been positive.”
Te Kopu Mania o Kirikiriroa will be used by students, staff, and other groups including international visitors.
The campus director of Tairawhiti Polytechnic in Gisborne, Jan Mogford, says merging with the Napier-based Eastern Institute of Technology has provided huge benefits for Maori wanting a tertiary or trades qualification.
The merger, which occurred a year ago, resulted in seven new courses – including fashion, design, hairdressing and nursing – being available in Gisborne for the first time.
Ms Mogford says that led to a substantial increase in the number of Maori enrolling.
She says most of those who completed the first year of the fashion and nursing courses were Maori.
Ms Mogford says Tairawhiti has just collated its enrolments for this year and 68% are Maori.
She says the majority of students enrolled in trade courses, which start next week, are also Maori.
The trials and tribulations of teaching mathematics in Maori at a Rotorua kura kaupapa Maori is the subject of a new book which has drawn international interest.
The book, Collaborating to Meet Language Challenges in Indigenous Mathematics Classrooms, was launched last week at Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Koutu.
Principal and co-author Uenuku Fairhall (Te Arawa) said the book was published by international publishing company Springer Publishing and was for sale on Amazon.com
The book identifies some of the challenges to developing a mathematics register or vocabulary.
Subjects like mathematics and science had never been taught in te reo before so one of the issues was developing a vocabulary and curriculum, Mr Fairhall said. “The book details the solutions created by teachers, researchers and community members.”
Although the book wasn’t in te reo Mr Fairhall said they tried to give it a Maori feel. “One of the ways was by using the story of Maui looking for his mother and his father as a metaphor.”
Although Te Koutu was used extensively throughout the book as a case study, Mr Fairhall said it was about the whole Maori experience of developing mathematics in te reo.
In developing a vocabulary, old Maori words were used but for many terms a whole new word had to be made up. For example, the word hypotenuse from the Greek language, meaning the longest side, was given the Maori term taroa – short for taharoa, which also means long side.
The research and the book has already gained international interest.
Mr Fairhall said when they were at an International Council of Mathematic Educators study group they were approached by a number of other people from different countries.
People from Tartarstan, part of Russia in Central Asia, where Russian and Tartar are the two official languages, were using the kura’s material.
Mr Fairhall said there were also people from South Africa who wanted to talk to them.
The biggest thrill, however, was hearing students using te reo to discuss maths, Mr Fairhall said.
‘When students have sufficient fluency in the mathematics register so that they can discuss their ideas, they become chiefs who are able to think mathematically. The litmus test is when you hear students discussing maths fluently in te reo competently, proficiently and confidently.”
Mr Fairhall co-wrote the book with Australian professor Tamsin Meaney and Auckland university lecturer Tony Trinick.
Ms Meaney had worked with Aboriginal people and on the Pacific Island of Kiribati and was interested in the relationship between language and mathematics learning.
Tony Trinick, from Te Kaha and of Te Whanau a Apanui descent, is a lecturer at the School of Education at Auckland University and has carried out extensive research on mathematics education developments in te reo.
Mr Fairhall said the work had been done over the last 15 years and resulted in the book as well as helping form academic research on the topic. It was the basis for Ms Meaney’s PhD thesis.
Mr Fairhall said the three co-authors were a good combination. “We had a Maori maths practitioner, a lecturer and an international academic. This reflected the three areas of teaching.”
The book is $139 and is available on Amazon.com. Proceeds from sales will go back to the kura.
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