Ko te Kuti, ko te Wera, ko te Haua, e ko Apanui

Credits: Te Pārekereke o Apanui

The Healthy Families East Cape team have been actively involved in systems change where mātauranga Māori, te reo Māori, and connection to te taiao are recognised as critical health prevention strategies. 

Te Pārekereke o Apanui — Te Whānau a Apanui’s first Kura Reo Taiao, led by Hinerapa Rupuha and hosted at Ōtūwhare Marae was a wānanga where participants and whānau were fully immersed in te reo Māori, a wananga designed to revitalise our language and reconnect us to te taiao through hands-on learning experiences across our rohe, including Te Kura o Te Whānau a Apanui, Raukūmara Pae Maunga, Raukokore, Ōrini, as well as our local taiao, including our moana and ngahere.

Healthy Families East Cape Rautaki Maori, Jade Kameta, delivered the Mātai Whetū sessions each morning before dawn, sharing mātauranga Māori around Tātai Arorangi and practical applications of star knowledge in our everyday lives. Jade also engaged in various wānanga, including kai sovereignty (Kai-Tia-Kī), waka navigation (Whakatere Waka), waiata composition (Te Reo Waitī), raranga (Te Reo o Te Whare Pora), and fishing knowledge (Te Reo Taiao). A daily panel of kaumātua shared kōrero tuku iho, strengthening intergenerational learning. 

“What an opportunity to imagine a world where kura reo taiao like Te Pārekereke o Apanui are the norm, and a normalised part of how Iwi, hapū and communities build health, resilience, and identity — grounded in their whakapapa, whenua, and taiao.” 

For too long, we’ve witnessed a growing disconnection from our environment, language, and traditional knowledge systems caused by environmental degradation and societal shifts. This loss has had an intergenerational impact on our individual and collective identity, well-being, and community cohesion.  

Te Pārekereke o Apanui reconnects us to te taiao and Mātauranga, strengthening identity, community resilience, and overall hauora outcomes. Supporting and investing in Kaupapa that revitalise Mātauranga Māori and te reo Māori through hands-on, place-based, intergenerational learning experiences are crucial to the needs of our uri whakatipu, especially in recognising these as legitimate and powerful pathways to improved health and wellbeing. 

For Healthy Families East Cape, what Te Pārekereke o Apanui represents and reflects is our whakakitenga (vision) for the future we hope for, where whānau are self-determining, empowered in our identity as Māori, and where Māori systems and practices are the status quo, supporting and nurturing the wellbeing of our people and environments. 

Jade and Healthy Families East Cape would like to acknowledgment the kaumātua panel for their generous sharing of kura huna (hidden knowledge), and gratitude to all hosts and organisers, especially Te Whānau a Rūtaia and Ōtūwhare Marae. 

"The wānanga highlighted for me the amount of language, knowledge, and practices we have lost as a result of our disconnect from the environment, but we are lucky the knowledge still exists in a few. That's why to me, wānanga like Te Pārekereke o Apanui are so important — to ensure that this knowledge continues to revive, grow, and live for future generations." — Rautaki Māori, Jade Kameta. 

We look forward to continuing on the journey towards mana Māori Motuhake and revitalising the longest held relationship throughout our generations – between us and te taiao.