KOE KOE Ā
Remembering our past, creating our future. What does the Supreme Court decision mean for the families of Wakatū?
WORD S: K ERENSA J OH NS TON, CEO WAK ATŪ
H
ere, at the top of a small island in the
accommodate the landscape. Buildings hug the
waka a Māui, our whānau live amongst
trees, native plants define the contours of the roads
rich podocarp forests of rimu, kahikatea, miro,
and urban hubs provide a common place to come
mataī and tōtara. Here, we grow and gather
together, to learn, to trade, to eat, drink and share;
nutrient-rich and healthy food to sustain us.
to grow and flourish as a society.
Our houses are modern and well designed to
We live in accordance with our environment,
connect our whānau together, and yet open to
mindful of the changing patterns of our climate,
embrace the sea and our ancestral mountains.
and in a relationship with the water and the plants
Our papakāinga provides a place where we come
and animals we share this whenua with.
together. We live as whānau and hapū as we have
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Our cities are built amongst the forests and
South Pacific, known as Te Tauihu o te
Te reo rangatira, the language of our tūpuna,
always done, supporting one another in times of
is spoken by everyone. It is the first language that
stress and need, and celebrating together when
our children learn, regardless of whether they
times are good.
are tāngata whenua, the first people of this land,
