This year was a significant one for us at the Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust as we celebrated 25 years since the Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust Empowering Act 1993 was written into legislation and your tūpuna’s land was rightfully returned. We had some memorable occasions and events this year such as our celebrations at Ohu Maatu, running another year of our successful education programme, among many other activities in the community we were excited to be a part of.

We’ve had many opportunities to connect and grow with you - the owners - the manawhenua ki Motueka this year so thank you to all of those who have engaged with the Trust, whether that’s online, at Ohu Maatu, or in and around the rohe. We have recently reached 1,000 likes on our Facebook page. It’s great to connect with so many more of our owners across Aotearoa and the world. If you haven’t yet joined our online community, you can join us on Facebook here.

Once again, we would like to thank you all for connecting and engaging with us throughout the year.
Here are some of the highlights from 2018 at the Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust.

Hoki Mai Ra - Ohu Maatu
Ohu Maatu is a special and significant time of the year to remember our tūpuna, reconnect with whānau, learn and celebrate, and 2018 was no exception. It was a huge milestone for the Trust, celebrating a quarter century.

It was outstanding to see the support from the hapū from across Aotearoa who joined us on 27-29 April for a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Trust. We had an action packed weekend with activities for all of our whānau to enjoy, and continued the celebrations with our gala dinner.

Thank you again to all of those who joined us in Motueka, our homelands to celebrate, learn, and connect over this very special weekend. We enjoyed our time with you all, and were pleased to see so many new faces.
Read our wrap up of Ohu Maatu 2018 here.

Education
The Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust were pleased to again offer our education funding programme this year including a variety of grants and scholarships available for NRAIT registered owners.

Our 2018 scholarship recipients were: Pohe Stephens, Benjamin Kaveney-Gibb, and April Tahi Hohaia. You can read their stories here.

We also had a great number of owners applying for grants and education assistance. It’s fantastic to see so many of our whānau getting involved in a range of additional learning and cultural and sporting activities.

The following are our 2018 education and sports and cultural grant recipients: Alexandra Morris, Andrew Howard, Renee Hayes, Te Wainui Witika-Park, Rangi Kaveney, Lucy Gotty, Beatrice Korewha, Kahu Schofer, Turanga Morgan-Edmonds, Moana Oh, Hayel Niwa, Kristin Sadd-Peawini, Shana McLeod-Bennett, Manahi Gardiner, Delane Luke, Linda Southee, Paris Studd, Zayed Studd, Ramsey Glasgow, Denim Chase, Chase Ferrel, Petra Ferrel, Tayla Ferrel, Samantha Good, Taiapo Piggott.

We are pleased to provide our owners with support in their studies, and always encourage more of our owners to apply for next year’s education programme.

Tautoko Putea GrantsPhoto by Melissa Banks

The Tautoko Putea grants programme enables the Trust to promote its charitable objectives by providing financial assistance to individuals, groups and organisations participating in extra-curricular activities.

In 2018 the Trust awarded grants to Renee Thomas, Joy Shorrock, Te Kapa Haka o Te Awhina Marae, Te Whareporera Hare-Herbert, Haelyn Ngaia, Te Whatukura Kapa Haka and Kingston Reihana.

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori
From 10-16 September, Aotearoa took part in Te Wiki o te Reo Maori – a week where we celebrate te Reo, and incorporate it into our daily lives. This year in particular was more engaging, with a range of online tools making it easier for New Zealanders to learn more te Reo.

We hope to see more people incorporating te Reo into their everyday conversations and to support the retention of our language for generations to come.

Thank you all for being part of our online and offline community. It’s so special to connect with our whānau, learn more about our history, and to be a part of a positive community. A big thanks goes to those that make the trip to Motueka each year for Ohu Maatu, and most importantly those that are always around helping to make every hui a success, it makes all the difference to our mahi.

Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te Tau Hou!