Te Heke Tuna Ki Onoke

Te Rua o Mahara Wairarapa Trust

Te Heke Tuna event was held on 22 April which was a balmy Thursday evening. We aimed this event to educate our rangatahi and invited wha¯nau to participate as well.

The time was perfect, especially during the school holidays, for whànau to join an evening to be educated about our waterways, our whakapapa links to the whenua and our tuna species that were on their journey to Tonga and Hawaii.

Local kaumatua, Aperahama Matenga, led the evening with a karakia and mihi whakatau for us all. Lee Flutey discussed the water monitoring programme and Raihania Tipoki from Te Rua o Mahara Wairarapa Trust was there to explain the different type of tuna that run over a period of weeks from April to May. Imparting knowledge to our young as they were on the hìkoi and ensuring the respect that needs to be there for our atua when out in their rohe.

There were approximately eighty people that met at the Lake Ferry Hotel to learn about the different species, with many children and rangatahi taking the opportunity to stay later in the night to see our short-fin tuna along the lake in real time.

Raihania Tipoki then led the crowd of people along Onoke lake front delivering the kòrero to many and expressed the history of Okourewa where the original mouth was before the impacts of colonisation that has seen the lake manipulated over time.

After the hìkoi we then came together for kai which had smoked tuna and pàtiki available for whànau to try, along with the world-famous fish and chips that the Lake Ferry Hotel is famous for. This was a first-time experience for some who travelled especially for this event. All those who attended were mostly descendants of Wairarapa Moana, who greatly appreciated an opportunity to learn about this special place, its history and our people.

Rangatahi gather to see short-fin tuna. These experiences are just the beginning to ensuring we give our young the opportunity, as they are our future kaitiaki. Ensuring we have more events like this that are supporting our local whànau to share their amazing work for te taiao is important for the longevity and succession of our stories.

NB: Te Rua o Mahara Wairarapa Trust was founded to enable Wairarapa whànau to connect to our stories, connect to our whenua and our histories. We want to create opportunities for our whànau to return home.

Ngà mihi Tiraumaera Te Tau