Strategic Priority 7 - Embrace our culture

Objective

Uri and kaimahi are comfortable practising tikanga, tūpuna knowledge and te reo o Whanganui.

Why this is a priority

Our tikanga, tūpuna knowledge and te reo o Whanganui has been eroded by colonisation. Losing access to the land meant some uri became disconnected from tikanga, whenua and tūpuna.

By revitalising our tikanga, tūpuna knowledge and te reo o Whanganui, we will help restore uri wellbeing, provide a source of pride and a sense of belonging.

Key highlights

Implementation of the Ātihau Culture Plan began in December 2023 after a development process that included meeting with shareholders and kaimahi.

We’ve also moved into the second year of the Wāhi Tapu/Wāhi Tūpuna mātauranga project, with $260,000 funding assistance from Te Aka Whai Ora across two years. This project is helping us understand where our culturally significant sites are, so we can protect them and provide opportunities for uri to reconnect to them and the whenua.

Culture Plan

Guided by three pou – Toitū te Whenua, Toitū te Tangata, Toitū te Mana – the main thrust of the plan is to help staff develop their understanding and use of mātauranga Māori, through te reo Māori, te mita o Whanganui and learning about Whanganui history.

Ātihau Cultural Advisor Goldie Akapita, who developed the plan, is supporting staff to engage in cultural practices and normalise basic te reo Māori in the workplace. Encouraging correct pronunciation of farm names, land blocks and staff names is the basis of the reo Māori programme.

The finance team attends weekly te reo Māori and tikanga classes. In previous years, farms and apiary staff attended classes, but with the challenges of seasonal and weather impacts on staff time, Akapita now uses other platforms such as the staff Facebook page.

Focusing on the name of a farm, Akapita includes simple visuals in her Facebook posts, a written phonetic explanation of how to pronounce the name, along with some interesting historical farm facts.

Another aspect of the plan is to implement cultural inductions for new staff members. This includes the history of Ātihau and its organisational values. To cater for existing staff members, this induction has also been delivered to farm teams.

She’s noticed positive behavioural change and an increased awareness of the importance of pronouncing farm names correctly.

“We still have a long way to go as we deal with years of mispronunciation, but staff are genuinely trying and it’s been great seeing their willingness to know more about the lands they farm. This is where the Wāhi Tapu/Wāhi Tūpuna project is valuable, as it unlocks tūpuna wisdom through a series of interviews with uri,” she said.

Another highlight during the year was the relocation of the restored pou Uenukumanawawiri back to Tawanui Station in May.

The pou was originally carved by Jimmy Tahuparae and restored under his supervision at Te Ao Hou Marae.

Wāhi Tapu/Wāhi Tūpuna project

The first year of this project has been spent researching and mapping land for sites of significance, working with whānau, hapū and staff.

We’ve had hui at Ohotu/Te Pā, Ohorea, Koriniti and Paraweka Marae, and interviews with kaumātua have been completed.

Going forward, the intention is to finish further interviews, analyse the data and kōrero we have, look at how we can build on our research, and provide better access and/or protection of these sites.

Developing historical kōrero

We are compiling staff handbooks from a range of existing publications, as well as gathering new information, with the expectation that we create and build our own pātaka kōrero.