In September 2017, Te Toki Voyaging Trust was awarded $50,000 for a project to empower rangatahi (young people) to become kaitiaki or caretakers of the Hauraki Gulf. The project tests the idea that for young people to connect to their role as kaitiaki, they need to connect to their identity. In a Māori world view, this is captured by ‘pepeha’, a way of introducing yourself to others that identifies the mountains, rivers and oceans you come from. This 2018 project was a pilot with Umupuia Marae on Auckland’s south east coast. It engaged 11 Ngāi Tai rangatahi aged 13-20, 20+ Ngāi Tai elders and iwi leaders, nine scientists and facilitators, eight waka experts and 40+ community members in a four day programme based at Umupuia Marae. The programme combined matauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) with Western science and technology. The critical issue of sedimentation was the intended environmental focus of the project. There were three phases to this eight month project. The first built the team to run the programme: Ngāi Tai iwi leaders, Te Toki Voyaging Trust waka hourua facilitators and an all-Māori team of scientists

In the second phase this team planned the programme, via a two day hui in January 2018. The hui involved a hikoi led by Ngāi Tai elders and project designer Marama Beamish, walking the land, following waterways, examining threatened cockle beds and sedimentation in the bay and identifying pa, food and other cultural sites. Activities and workshops that could empower rangatahi as kaitiaki were explored to form a ‘kaitiakitanga toolkit’.

The final phase was the delivery of the programme from 19 to 22 April at Umupuia Marae. In the programme rangatahi explored their pepeha, went on a four hour waka trip, walked the land, held environmental workshops and created digital stories. A poroporoaki to wrap up and present the project occurred on the final day, which included GIFT representatives, Ngāi Tai leaders and wider Hauraki Gulf community members. Rangatahi presented 4-6 minute videos they had made to tell their story as kaitiaki of Umupuia Marae and the surrounding environment. Post presentation feedback was gained from scientists and Ngāi Tai leaders on how it went and what they learned.

This pilot affirmed a model that could be rolled out across the Hauraki Gulf. From the pilot programme, interest in an in-depth science and education programme involving the waka to investigate the environmental issues of their particular area came from these communities:

• Whitianga – Mercury Bay Area School in partnership with Ngāti Hei Marae

• Manaia – Te Wharekura O Manaia (the only Kura Kaupapa in the Coromandel Peninsula), in partnership with Manaia Marae

• Waiheke – Waiheke Primary School, Waiheke High School and Te Huruhi Primary School, in partnership with Piritahi Marae.

Key learnings from this programme included the following:

Pepeha is a culturally identifiable and relevant way to build and deliver this programme, connecting rangatahi to ecosystems and the points at which people affect the environment. Pepeha can also be used in non-Māori settings for people to identify themselves in the landscapes they connect to.

To be a kaitiaki you need to understand and connect to a place. The rangatahi gained a ‘microscopic’ understanding of Umupuia from scientists, a cultural understanding from iwi and a seafaring understanding from waka hourua. Their pepeha then moved from being theoretical to experiential, as their knowledge, understanding and connection to their place was strengthened.

Hands-on experiential learning was central and participants learned that kaitiakitanga is a group pursuit. A shared vision and intergenerational learning is central to this programme, with everyone bringing different knowledge and expertise. Young people are given permission to lead and elders are enabled to share their knowledge: “This dynamic exchange energises young and old,” says Marama Beamish.

Challenges for the project were securing rangatahi to take part, given it was a new programme with unclear benefits, drop-out rates due to tangi, family and sporting commitments, and unfamiliarity of many whānau with the marae and the people running the programme. Having 11 rather than the planned 20 rangatahi had the benefit, however, of enabling all the participants to go on the waka trip together. This strengthened the sense of togetherness and teamwork.

The Google mapping part of the programme didn’t go as planned, as more lead-in time was needed to gather the information to map and create a hands-on experience of Google mapping for rangatahi. This component will be developed in future programmes. While a Whitianga school representative was able to attend, other interested schools weren’t able to make the presentation on the last day. However a digital story is being created by the GIFT team, which can give those who couldn’t attend an insight into the programme.

From this programme, it has become clear that the critical work to be done first with rangatahi is to explore their pepeha as an ecosystem and their role as kaitiaki, before moving into workshops and specific issues such as sedimentation. This programme focused on building the rangatahi’s relationships to each other and to whenua and place. The issue of sedimentation can be the focus of future work planned with these rangatahi.

Next steps are:

• Developing the content of the Rangatahi Kaitiaki programme based on the 2018 pilot.

• Building a pan-tribal Hauraki Gulf Rangatahi Kaitiaki project, working with nominated rangatahi and kuia and kaumatua (elders) from Hauraki Gulf iwi, focused specifically on kaitiakitanga and using waka to deliver the programme around the Hauraki Gulf.

Click here for more on Te Toki Voyaging Trust and click here to watch the digital story.