Kia Taiao te Kura, Kia Taiao te Reo, Kia Taiao te Mouri Tangata Whenua

PKW Trust hosts inaugural Kurataiao

Important conversations have been reignited among kaitiaki whenua from all corners of the rohe to share mātauranga taiao for Taranaki whenua.

About 100 environmental kaimahi, and members of the many Taiao teams recently established around Taranaki maunga, came together during Puanga for a three-day kurataiao to share their insights and experiences.

He Kurataiao was organised by Te Manawaora o Parininihi ki Waitōtara / PKW Trust to bring kaitiaki whenua together for discussion and strategic planning around environmental care and protection.

“He Kurataiao is a concept borne out of the need for Taranaki Māori to engage with te taiao and make it their kura,” says Te Rautitikura / General Manager Shareholder Engagement Puna Wano-Bryant. “It was designed by Tonga Karena and I to enable Taranaki Māori to come together to share knowledge and maintain our Taranakitanga in the taiao space.”

According to one school of learning in Taranaki, ‘kura’ refers to the sacred talisman obtained by Te Moungaroa, his extraordinary resilience to find the kura and then become the kura, alluding to the process of learning and knowledge building. This tūpuna wisdom and other Taranaki-centric mātauranga was shared by Tonga Karena, Te Rau Whakaihoiho / Kaitiakitanga Strategy Manager throughout the Kurataiao.

Puna says the inaugural He Kurataiao in June was an opportunity to “whakakaupapa i te kotahitanga, to unite and consolidate our efforts”.

“All the taiao teams came together just to be together, to get to know one another, share in each other’s knowledge and extend our own knowledge. Everyone came with something to offer, and everyone went away with something new.”

“As Māori organisations, it is imperative that we are always learning and building upon our knowledge of kaitiakitanga. We are also striving to build dialogue across the various disciplines in this area and find the potential areas of convergence and synergy.”

“During those three days we were thinking as one, doing as one. Because of the momentum it has created, it will continue into the future – Parininihi ki Waitōtara Trust will commit to it every year.”

Keynote speaker Dr Gail Tipa spoke on the interface between indigeneity and environmental decision-making. Other speakers included Te Poihi Campbell on rāhui; Dion Luke on attitudes and values in environmental legislation, policy and planning; Sarah Mako on engaging with government; and Taipuni Ruakere on GIS (geographic information systems).

In Kia Taiao Te Reo – a series of full-immersion te reo Māori sessions – Dr Ruakere Hond spoke about te reo o Rongo, Te Ingo Ngaia talked about te reo taiao o Taranaki mounga and Tonga Karena discussed te mouri o te reo Māori.

Key points of discussion included the alignment of te ao Māori and science, incorporating cultural values into planning processes and environmental policies, commercial models, the challenges Māori face in environmental planning, and the critical sustainability of taiao teams on the ground.

“We heard from planners in the strategic policy space on the overwhelming amount of policy and planning tools, just in the regulatory space alone. Being unified in our thinking and response as Taranaki Māori to those big issues is critical,” Puna says.

“We’ve been talking for a long time about having a centralised Taranaki environmental team of scientists and technicians to respond to collective Taranaki issues and empower iwi and hapū to respond to their specific issues.”

Climate change was an underlying theme throughout the event, with taiao teams and environmental monitors sharing their observations and experiences, including tidal changes, piharau not running when they should be, and other environmental indicators.

Puna says these observations were noted with concern. She says a Parininihi ki Waitōtara climate change response strategy is being developed and should be delivered before the end of the year.

He Kurataiao also helped address Parininihi ki Waitōtara Trust’s commitment to working more closely with hapū and iwi.

“Hosting He Kurataiao was a way for hapū and iwi representatives to see how we at Parininihi ki Waitōtara work, how we are and who we are. There were some natural, gentle relationships forged because people could see us as Taranaki Māori who work within Parininihi ki Waitōtara.”

He Kurataiao 21 - 23 Piripi 2022, Novotel