Hui Tāne 2025: Restoring Identity and Uplifting Tāne Māori

Tāne Māori are leaders, protectors, and knowledge holders. This is a taonga tuku iho from across generations, they have carried responsibility, wisdom, and a connection to our taiao and whakapapa. Hui Tāne 2025 is a celebration of this legacy and a space for it to grow further.

Held over three days, Hui Tāne is a national wānanga that uplifts tāne Māori through kōrero, cultural practices like whakairo, mau rākau, and workshops grounded in te ao Māori. It offers a space of high trust, where tāne can reconnect with their strength, purpose, and each other.  

At Hui Tāne, whānau-first mindsets showed up strong. Many tāne came not just for themselves, but for their whakapapa. Kōrero flowed naturally in porohita no stage, no mics, just shared presence. Through kai, shared mahi, and being together there was a space for intergenerational connection.  

The kōrero shared are not just stories, they’re systems insights. Tāne connect through movement, story, and action, not just services. The kaupapa supports tāne to lead from a place of identity and connection. 

As Hone Harawira so powerfully says: “We need our brothers to know we care, and we will be here for them, hakoa kōwai, hakoa nō hea.” This is the heartbeat of Hui Tāne, and it echoes the mahi of Healthy Families East Cape. 

This approach reflects the kaupapa of Healthy Families East Cape, where we believe the solutions to chronic illness and social inequities already exist within our whānau, hapū and iwi. Our mahi is about strengthening what’s working, making the invisible visible, and creating environments that enable our people to thrive.  

Healthy Families East Cape walks alongside communities to identify what’s working, what matters, and where collective action can make the biggest impact. Having Pou Whakarei George Kingi involved in Hui Tāne reflects this commitment of supporting a kaupapa that honours mātauranga Māori, builds intergenerational connections, and strengthens tāne Māori from within. 

“This hui reminded me that I don’t need to arrive perfect, just present. The value I carry isn’t in what I do or say, it’s in how I show up, hold space, and keep learning.” Says Pou Whakarei George Kingi. 

Hui Tāne is a celebration of strength, a reconnection to whakapapa and purpose, and a call to action for unity and growth. By championing this kaupapa, Healthy Families East Cape helps to restore the vital roles tāne Māori play in leading change for their whānau, communities, and the motu. Hui Tāne is a reminder that when our tāne stand strong in who they are, whānau, hapū, iwi and communities thrive as well. 

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For more information on this kaupapa contact Geroge Kingi via george@healthyfamilieseastcape.co.nz