‘I am Raimona Tapiata’

‘This is Taiaroa Neho sending salutations’

‘I am Parekaia Tapiata’

‘My name is Shae Rogan’

‘I am Arapera Tapiata’

What does Ngaa Rauru Kiitahitanga mean to you?

‘All things Wai-o-Turi’

‘Identity’

‘Identity’

‘Many hands make light work.’

‘Genealogy’

‘Taranaki Maunga and Te Rere o Kaapuni’

‘Our koorero, like all of our stories about different places around our rohe.’

‘When I am far away I think about going back home, and every time I return it’s like my spirit is revitalised, and my body and mind is energised.’

‘It is the environment, family, the tribe, the people.’

‘My Ngaa Rauru Kiitahitanga stems directly from my hapuutanga, from my Wai-o-Turitanga. It is standing on the marae, the responsibilities of the marae, everything that I carry in my world.’

What is it like to be a rangatahi in the world today?

‘Poor’

‘Easy’

‘Frustrating’

‘Exciting’

‘Strong’

‘Times have changed from moving into those deficit thought patterns, into those opportunistic thought patterns.’

‘It’s not, you know, how it used to be. It’s a lot harder to buy houses.’

‘Doors are open for the youth.’

‘Us two have had a fortunate upbringing.’

‘Fervently nurtured in the language and the Maaori world, as well as tradition, therefore, yes, I think the foundation was very solid.’

‘It’s hard when there are no pillars of strength to depend on.’

In your ideal world, what would Aotearoa look like?

‘It would be Our-Tearoa’

‘Beautiful’

‘Maaori’

‘Love’

‘Self-determination’

‘Speaking Maaori would be the primary language’

‘It’ll be our people driving the Hiluxes. It’ll be our young people driving the Mercedes.’

‘Make Aotearoa more ‘Maaori’. I can see clearly the benefits of that kind of world.’

‘Maaori is the spoken language but we’d still speak English, with the knowledge that it is another skill that a person can benefit and gain influence.’

‘It’d be our whaanau owning all of these hundreds and thousands of acres.’

‘It would be our whaanau looking after the land - restoring the wetlands, restoring the whenua.’

‘It’ll be our people speaking our own language on our own whenua, rather than being tenants in our own land.’

‘I am thinking of the saying, ‘Grow tender young shoot for the world destined to you. Take hold of the tools of the foreigner’.’

‘Broader New Zealand is slowly changing, opening their hearts and their world to the traditions of our ancestors. Perhaps in time.’

‘People would love one another. That’s it.’

What would Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi look like, if you were in charge?

‘Successful’

‘Considerate’

‘Solid’

‘Care’

‘Beautiful’

‘If I was in charge, it would just be about home ownership.’

‘Teaching people how to buy their homes, teaching our people how to use their little piece of whenua that’s been left to them instead of just overgrown with weeds for 45 years and nobody knows what to do with it.’

‘I would never ever want to be in charge. I’m quite happy with a tea towel at the back and playing the rakuraku and doing a waiata.’

‘When you take on those types of responsibilities, it is fine to wear your independent hat but you should know you are moving on a united view. You are not representing a marae, or concerned for individual benefits or that of a few but rather to see what can benefit the many.’

‘One thing I’ve seen are the conflicts. And in those conflicts some of our relations turn to challenge the person rather than to address the issue. Despite the disagreements we must still take care of one another.’

‘We talk about succession planning, and like getting this new generation to take over these roles but when there’s, say for my generation for example, when they get into these roles, are people actually listening to them? Are there elders, who put them in, do their succession plan and brought them up through here, are they listening to these new leaders? I don’t know. I don’t think so.’

‘It wouldn’t look like a hierarchy. It would look more like a transparent…maybe four triangles but one would not sit on top, and one would not sit underneath. They would just connect to allow it to flow in a Maaori way.’

What are your aspirations for the future?

‘I am the barrier preventing the realisation of my dreams.’

‘The wellbeing of my family, hapuu, and my iwi.’

‘Maaori institutions of learning.’

‘Thriving’

‘To live, to be well’

‘Ultimate dreams for Ngaa Rauru Kiitahitanga is just be strong, be bold, and be resolute in all aspects.’

‘There is one mountain, there is one word, there is one purpose.’

‘Perhaps, the upbringing of my offspring will be similar to what was exemplified by my parents in the Maaori world - the Maaori language, tradition, and constantly returning and connecting to marae.’

‘There is more work to be done. Getting people back on the marae, getting our people learning the reo, our waiata, our pakiwaitara. All those types of things I think are really important moving forward.’