Our Owners

The revitalisation of Māori culture over recent decades has seen increasing numbers of us reconnecting with our roots, and our iwi reaching out to provide a path for us to do this.

It’s not always easy to reconnect with your homelands – we live all over Aotearoa and for some of us in different parts of the world, so if you’re not based near your marae it can be a challenge when you want to connect and get closer to your history, land and people.

With this in mind we’ve put together a list of ways that the Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa ki Motueka hapū – whether you live in Motueka, further abroad in Te Tau Ihu, or elsewhere in Aotearoa – can connect with our whenua (land) and learn about our tūpuna (ancestors), the kōrero tuku iho (stories of the past) and our whakapapa.

1. Learn the Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa ki Motueka pepeha.
2. Visit the marae - Te Awhina Marae in Motueka.
3. Connect with the maunga – if you’re local plan a trip up Tuao Wharepapa (Mt Arthur) or Pukeone. You could also go on a virtual tour on Google Earth to these places.
4. Make plans to attend next year’s Ohu Maatu here in Motueka. Click here to watch a video of Ohu Maatu 2016.
5. Extend your mihimihi to include your Motueka tūpuna, awa (river) and maunga (mountain).
6. Research your whānau genealogy using the list of the original 109 owners of the Motueka land and the Whakapapa Club website.
7. Read and learn about the stories of our tūpuna and the origin of our Trust, or suggest a key event to be added our timeline.
8. Help other whānau reconnect by checking out our current list of owners who we do not have an email addresses for. If you know any of them or have an email address for them please let us know by email to info@nrait.co.nz.

Let us know on Facebook if you have other unique ways to connect back to your homeland here in Motueka.