Whānau Transformation Through Education

Bentham Ōhia

Photo: Russ Flat

BENTHAM ŌHIA – TE ĀTIAWA, NGĀTI RĀRUA

With over 25 years’ involvement in the development of indigenous education in Aotearoa and internationally, Bentham has seen first-hand the transformative power of education.

I was born, bred, buttered and spread in Waikawa Bay, near Picton. My whānau have been a part of Wakatū from the beginning. Our whakapapa is interconnected with the Tainui and Taranaki tribes who came down from the North Island.

My parents, Monty and Linda, along with my whānau whānui, have been hugely influential in my life and career. Throughout my upbringing in Waikawa, we were encouraged to make a contribution to our whānau and community. Our whānau values ‘to serve, to love and to work hard’ have inspired and guided me. My wife Kate and my tamariki share and live these values too.

Over the years I’ve been involved with Wakatū in different ways. I was the third associate director on the Wakatū Board in 2005. This gave me an insight into how an indigenous business operates, balancing the usual corporate requirements with wider community and cultural responsibilities.

I’ve also been a pakeke, an adult mentor, on the taiohi wānanga, our youth leadership wānanga based in the Abel Tasman National Park. On the taiohi wānanga, every waking moment is an opportunity to learn. Over the five days they may be doing waka ama, tramping, or learning waiata and haka but they’re also learning about the history of Wakatū and the whenua, about teamwork and stamina, and about connections. It is a fantastic example of learning through experience, and year after year we get feedback from the kids and their parents about how transformative the wānanga has been.

Bentham giving a presentation

Photo: Kate MacPherson

Last year I was privileged to facilitate the pilot of Te Rākau Pakiaka, a series of whakapapa wānanga. The Wakatū Board challenged us to establish wānanga that would focus on developing our whānau knowledge of our whakapapa, tikanga and history. Our first Te Rākau Pakiaka was held over three weekends at three marae around Te Tauihu. It’s challenging to articulate the impact of these wānanga as content and subject matter is so personal and profound. Part of the kaupapa of Te Rākau Pakiaka is for the participants to share the knowledge they gained with their whānau, so it is going to have a multiplier effect, with more and more whānau getting a better understanding of their family history. We’ve got our second intake this year, so there will be more whānau empowered with knowledge about their history and identity.

We want to create the next generation of Māori leaders, from across iwi, Māori and government sectors and foster international indigenous relationships around a cohort of Māori leaders.

I’m now in my third year lecturing as part of Aotahi, the School of Māori and Indigenous Studies Master of Māori and Indigenous Leadership (MMIL) programme at the University of Canterbury. This programme was founded on the belief that the most significant contribution to advancing our tino rangatiratanga at this time is people with courage, vision and culturally embedded leadership skills. Ultimately, we want to create the next generation of Māori leaders, from across iwi, Māori and government sectors and foster international indigenous relationships around a cohort of Māori leaders.

Bentham with Rore Stafford

Photo: Naomi Aporo

A big part of education is access to learning. For some people, doing a tertiary course like a Masters hasn’t been possible because they don’t meet the academic requirements. However, our students can gain entry on the basis of their experience working with iwi, and in Te Ao Māori. Taking on a Masters is a big commitment, and our model of ten monthly weekend wānanga puts further time pressure on our students. I wanted to make the course more accessible, so this year for the first time we have an intake of students who will be doing their monthly wānanga here in Te Tauihu.

The challenge is for each of us to find our own pathway to knowledge, whether through formal education like the MMIL or experiential learning like the taiohi wānanga. The great thing about working with organisations like Aotahi and Wakatū is that they are coming from a Māori world view first and foremost. They recognise the power of education and see it in its full social, environmental and cultural context.