Tūhono

The Matuaokore Whenua Trust was established in 2016 to connect whānau with their whenua. The Trust is working to gain access to their whenua in Tūranganui a Kiwa. The whenua has brought the whānau together and their journey has begun.

Ko Papatu te maunga

Ko Te Arai te awa

Ko Rongowhakaata te iwi.

Jayden Hokianga – Matuaokore Descendent: My connection to this whenua would start I guess at the arrival of our waka.

Keiha Hokianga – Matuaokore Descendent: My mother through her parents and tīpuna backwards inherited that land and passed it on to us. We promised in our own ways to take care of it. Whānau and whenua mean a lot to me. So, there’s not a lot of difference between those two words as far as I was concerned.

Terri Hokianga – Matuaokore Descendent: I was lucky enough to go up the hill with all of our whānau earlier this year and it was beautiful to be up there and see my nanny especially on the whenua, and be able to be up there and reconnect with them.

Keiha Hokianga: Reconnecting with the land, as I said before, I’m never away from it. I might be physically away from it but here (touching his heart) and mentally I’m here. I’m on the land that my parents bequeathed to us.

Terri Hokianga: And it’s important for the rangatahi who come after us and continue to come after us to have a place where they can put their feet down, have their roots and call home as well. No matter where they are in the world they can always come back to our whenua and feel like they’re connected to this whenua.