TAMA RINGA KUMU

Written by: Johannah Kātene-Burge

“Tama Ringa Kumu, Ngāti Tama rangatahi stand proud in their identity,” is a key mechanism constructed to build pride in identity and to foster champions amongst our young people. Strengthening the cultural capability base of Tama rangatahi as language and leadership practitioners will be our greatest tool for succession as we build an engaged network across Ringa Kumu.

Instilling our identity as Ngāti Tama into our young people is no accident. In October 2022, a group of Ringa Kumu champions gathered in wānanga to discuss our people, places and destiny as it relates to the growth in cultural leadership and identity for the next generation of uri. Ngāti Tama Ringa Kumu is an expression associated with Ngāti Tama who have fiercely guarded the northern boundary, in North Taranaki. With a clear pathway ahead, success for Ringa Kumu is for our rangatahi to be likened to the tūpuna of Ngāti Tama that have guarded our whakapapa through everchanging landscapes across the North and South Islands; to stand with collective confidence, to be risk-takers and visionaries, and to be narrators of our stories.

The purpose of bringing together our Ringa Kumu advisory group was indeed to identify the tools and resources needed to equip Tama rangatahi in their respective lives as active contributors to Ngāti Tama. Through wānanga, the group stretched the meaning of Tama’s organisational values to best encompass the tikanga that will guide this work stream. Although in draft, the whakaaro discussed which speak to these tikanga are:

• Te Reo | Ringa Kumu champions te reo as a tool for Ngāti Tamatanga

• Wānanga | Ringa kumu champions are intentionally curated

• Kāhui | Ringa kumu networks traverse time and space this legacy.