Tātou | Our People

Kia ora, ko Niki Pewhairangi taku ingoa. He uri tēnei nō Te Aitanga a Māhaki, no roto i Te Whānau a Iwi.

I grew up in Tokomaru Bay and we moved into town when I was about eight or nine. That’s when I realised how broad our connections are here in Tūranga. Te Haahi Ringatu helped a lot with that. When we moved to town, i timata au ki Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Uri a Māui, i runga tonu i te whenua o Te Aitanga a Māhaki, me aua kawai whakapapa aku. We learnt our purakau through waiata from the rohe, and always remained well educated on Māui.

When my brother, Morehu, took up his role as a kaikōrero for our whanau, we started to see more of our connections growing into what they would have always been.

My biggest influence is definitely taku māmā, she’s our pūkōrero and holds the whakapapa for our whānau.
I look up to her in that aspect. My nannies from Tokomaru Bay, Ngōi Pewhairangi and Tuini Ngāwai,
all our kaitito, kaiwaiata, they still shape me to this day.

Right now, I’m studying Mechanical Engineering at EIT. It’s very different to everything else I have going on, but I am very grateful for my whānau, and the way I’ve been brought up, that allows me to pursue something as fulfilling as engineering. It isn’t easy, but I don’t like easy – I like a challenge.

I’m currently writing a booklet for the 160th commemoration of Waerenga-a-hika. I started as a researcher for the iwi in January, then in May they decided I was going to write the book so I was like, “Heyyy let’s goo.”

Around the same time I started writing my book, Morehu offered me a waiata contract with Mangatu Blocks Incorporation. As part of the contract, I wrote a waiata specifically for the Mangatu kaimahi. I started with the pepeha of Mangatu, asked Morehu for some kōrero, spoke to Mum, then put it all together. I decided to incorporate a bit of myself too.

The kaupapa was something that could belong to the kaimahi. We don’t have much waiata in our rohe like that, so I felt it was important that the kaimahi of Mangatu have their own waiata. In the waiata, I really like, “ko te horo ki tai, ko te horo ki uta.” I think it’s a good play on words – not necessarily saying Horouta, but referencing it and talking about tides. I love not saying things outright in waiata, I think it’s the hallmark of good kaitito.

In short, he waiata hei whakamana i te maunga (Maungahaumi), i te awa (Waipāoa), ngā iwi, ngā hapū rānei o Mangatu, ngā whakapono, and what makes Mangatu, Mangatu.

I am part of a team who run wānanga for rangatahi. The kaupapa grew from Te Aitanga a Māhaki’s vision to be healthy, wealthy, and wise, and from Kōkā Jesse’s Well-Being Strategic Plan (WBSP).

In October last year, Te Aitanga a Mahaki went on a trip to Otautahi, to have an exchange with Kai Tahu.
Afterwards, my nieces and I were asked where we see ourselves in all the fold and we basically said “nowhere”, all that adult stuff wasn’t us – so we designed our wānanga.

I happened to be the one employed to bring it to life, that was January this year. I was given guidelines that our kaupapa are to bring rangatahi back to the marae, uplift te reo Maori, and ensure our korero tuku iho is passed down from generation to generation.

The first pou of Koka Jesse’s WBSP is all about being “safe and connected”, and it was what everyone was screaming for. I think it came off the back of Kiingi Tūheitia, te Kiingi o te Kotahitanga, me āna mahi whakakipakipa i te iwi Māori.

As rangatahi we like to do things ourselves. But it became important to us – the leadership team – after our second rangatahi wananga that we have that adult layer of support. That wananga showed us the realities for some of our kids, and as children ourselves, we found it hard to offer support. But we think that in the future, the least we can do is keep providing spaces for our kids to feel safe in expressing themselves, whether that be with smiles or tears.

There’s lots of things I want to do. I want to be an engineer, I also want to be a lawyer, I want to carry on with my rangatahi mahi in the iwi, and I could definitely pursue something in writing as well. In three to five years, I’d like a full-time job, a car, maybe an apartment. I want to continue what I’m doing this year at different capacities – it’s overwhelming everything I do, but as my nanny Ngoi says “Ma o mahi ka kitea koe e te ao, e to iwi Maori”.

My hope for the rangatahi of Mangatu is that they find happiness in being who they are. Nui taku aroha ki tena whanau o tatou, and in my opinion, ko te ngawari, te tau, me te momo kawe o toua whanau he koha ki te ao e noho nei tatou. So keep being who you are. And my advice? Upoko-pakaru ki nga mahi, ko te ao kei te kapu o to ringa.