DONE AND DUSTED

This is the time of year when many charities are reporting to their members at their Hui-a-Tau (AGM) and the Ngāti Kahu Group is amongst that number.  The parent body of the Group is Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu which has two first tier subsidiaries and one second tier subsidiary. 

At the AGM last Saturday, the Rūnanga confirmed its 26 current Board members who represent 13 Marae as well as our sole Auckland-based Taurahere.  Then, along with its subsidiaries, the Rūnanga reported the highlights and lowlights of 2018, the most important being that Kotahitanga o Ngāti Kahu (Ngāti Kahu unity) was supported, promoted and modelled for all we were worth! 

It also covered our efforts to help our treaty partner rid itself of the stigma of recidivist criminality that dogs it to this day.  The fact that the Crown’s previous government lost its mandate last year after unsuccessfully trying to over-ride and replace the Ngāti Kahu mandate has not changed anything; the previous government was unsuccessful, and its successor remains unshriven.

We also reported on the decent relationships we have with Shanghai CRED, Taitokerau Culinary College Taitokerau QRC Resort College, PĀMU and various arms of our treaty partner.

On the educational front, we covered our Māori – Mandarin language exchange, hakaora o te reo me ona tikanga Māori (revitalisation of our language and protocols), provision of access to higher learning and training opportunities, and participation in Te Kāhui Ako o Te Hiku o Te Ika which covers ten mainstream schools in the district.

Our environmental outcomes included support for the Hapū Integration Group on the Taipā Bridge Upgrade Project, support for Project Waiporohita to restore the mauri of our lovely little lake, support for the establishment of the Rāhui and the Pou at Maitai Bay, and support for the Para Kore (Zero Waste), Maara Kai (community gardens), and Ngā Maramara o Parata (Parkdale Park) projects.

Underpinning this aspect of our charitable work was Te Hakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Ngāti Kahu (the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Hapū of Ngāti Kahu) which is notified every year to the Crown and its agents, as well as to the general public.

We also reported on our advocacy, child care and protection and constitutional transformation work, as well as our delivery of wananga on Tikanga Tangihanga (death and funeral protocols), Ohu Kaimoana (customary fishing protocols) and Dynamics of Whanaungatanga, complemented by the publication of our book, Ngāti Kahu: Portrait of a Sovereign Nation and the unveiling of our pou, Te Hononga o Ngāti Kahu as part of our 2018 symposium. 

Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu’s charitable outcomes during the year were all self-funded, confirming that Iwi don’t need a Crown-determined “settlement” (in reality an extinguishment of Ko Te Tuatahi me Ko Te Tuarua o Te Tiriti o Waitangi) to meet our Ko Te Tuatoru rights and needs. 

Today we can report that it is our AGM that is done and dusted, not our rangatiratanga.