He aha tēnei hanga te hiranga

Ko te angitūtanga mā te kaitiakitanga

I te tau 2009, e whā ngā tarahati ahuwhenua o Taranaki i whakakotahi kia kotahi te pāmu nui. E rima tau i muri mai, ka toa a Te Rua O Te Moko Ltd i Te Tohu Ahuwhenua mō te hiranga o ngā mahi pāmu miraka. Nā te aro atu ki te kaitiakitanga i te whānau me te whenua hoki i ārahi ngā tarahati i tā rātou haere tahi.

4 people standing outside in a field

I te tau 2014, ko Te Rua O Te Moko Ltd, he Tarahati nō Taranaki, i whakaihuwaka mō te tohu Ahuwhenua Trophy mō te hiranga o ngā mahi pāmu kau.

“He mea whakahara tērā mō te whānau”, ki tā te tiamana, ki a Dion Maaka. “He nui ngā kaipupuri e toko ana i te kaupapa, ā, koia rā tētahi take i toa ai mātou.”

He tohu angitū nui whakaharahara i te mutunga iho, arā, te whakakotahi i ngā tarahati ahuwhenua e whā kia 190 heketā mō te pāmu kau.

“E toru ngā pahi mō ngā kaitautoko o tēnei whenua (i te Pō tuku taonga), ā, he kitenga kāmehameha i ō rātou kanohi i te wā i pānuitia i toa mātou.”

“Mārakerake te kitea te hua o te kotahitanga o ngā kaipupuri ngākaunui i whakanui mō tō rātou māia, manawanui hoki ki te whakatū i tēnei pāmu.”

Ko te aumangea te whai

Ko te whakahuihui i ā rātou rawa i ngā tau 10 kua hori, i tīmata ai he huringa hou mō ngā kaipupuri 1,100. Atu i te rīhi atu i ō rātou whenua ki tētahi hononga pukumahi kua riro mā rātou e whakatau ngā take o te pakihi.

Hui katoa e 495 ngā kau ka mirakahia e Te Rua O Te Moko me te whakaputa i ngā kirokarama 385 o te miraka mārō mō tēnā kau, mō tēnā kau. Ka whakahaeretia hoki e rātou he hōtaka whakangungu rangatahi kaipāmu, ā, kei mua atu i roto i te kaupapa whakaputa haurehu.

He hea ki tēnā tarahati ahuwhenua, ki tēnā tarahati ahuwhenua i runga i āna hea ake, ā, ka pōti i tētahi poari hei mana whakahaere i te pāmu. He hanganga tēnei e āhei ana ki te whakamahi i te whenua me te pupuri tonu ki a rātou.

He tirohanga nui

Ko Daisy Noble te kaiwhiriwhiri mō te whakataunga kerēme o Ngāruahine, ā, ko ia tētahi kaitiaki o te poraka Te Rua O Te Moko 2B. I te tīmatanga, kāore ia i tau ki te mahi whakakotahi me ōna whenua.

“He āhua rite ki te tuku i tētahi mea e tiakina ana e koe, ki te whiriwhiri i tētahi atu āhuatanga o te pupuri whenua.

“Kāore tō mātou poraka i tautokohia nuitia i te tīmatanga. Engari, ka heke te wā, ka mārama haere ki te horopaki whānui, ka tau ngā anipā, ā, ka mōhio mā te kotahitanga e puta ai tētahi tirohanga nui.

“He tīmatanga tēnei mō te whakahokinga o te whenua, kia whakahoki atu ki tā te hapū titiro mō te pupuri whenua,” ki tā Daisy.

Ko te whakakotahi i te whenua

Ko te tōpūtanga o Te Rua O Te Moko ko ngā poraka whenua e rima. Ko Te Tumu Paeroa kei te whakahaere i ngā poraka e toru, ko tētahi kei te whakahaeretia e ngā whānau i raro i tētahi tarahati ahuwhenua. Ko te mea tuarima, he mea rīhi e Te Tari Whakatau Take e pā ana ki te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“Ko tētahi take nui (mā Te Rua o Te Moko) i tēnei haerenga ko te rironga mai o tēnei whenua. Koinei te poraka whakamutunga kia whakahokia mai ki a mātou,” te kī a Daisy.

He poraka nui whakaharahara. I kī atu a Daisy, i tū te marae o tōna hapū ki reira, i mua i ngā raupatu whenua i ngā tau 1860 i pana ai rātou ki te noho ki tērā atu taha o te awa o Waingongoro,

Mehemea ka āhei a Te Rua O Te Moko ki te hoko i te poraka tuarima, e kore e riro i ngā kaipupuri ngā moni whiwhi mō ētahi tau.

2 people walking through a field

Ko te whakahaere tūraru

Ehara i te wero hou ki te tōpūtanga, ko te waha i te tūraru ahumoni.

I muri mai i te whakakotahi i ngā poraka ahuwhenua e whā, ka whakahoungia te pūnaha wai. Ka whakapai i te nui o ngā pātiki, i te otaota pātiki kātahi ka whakahaumakotia. Ko te utu nui i muri mai ko te neke atu i te 50/50 pāmu miraka kau ki te kaipupuri i ō rātou ake kau.

Whakamihia e ngā Tiati o te taonga Ahuwhenua te hunga pāmu mō tōna “mōhio ki ngā take ahumoni o te pakihi” me “te mana whakahaere pai” mā tētahi poari matahuhua me te whakatūranga i tētahi kaiwhakahaere tūtahi e mātau ana ki te ahumahi miraka kau.

Whāia haerehia te rangatiratanga

Ko te whai wāhitanga o te whānau te mea angitū i ā te pakihi e whai nei i te rangatiratanga.

“He mahi nui nā Te Tumu Paeroa i te tīmatanga ki te ārahi, ki whakahaere kaute me ngā ratonga ture,” te kī a Anne Marie Broughton, he mātanga hāpai whakatupu whenua o mua o Te Tumu Paeroa, nāna i whakahaere te whakatūnga o te pakihi i ngā tau tīmatanga e rua.

“Engari e whakapae ana au i ēnei tau 10 ka ihiihi rātou me tō rātou pakihi.”

“Ko te ara ināianei kia riro i a rātou te mana whakahaere me te whakahaeretanga o ō rātou whenua. Me whakangungu tika rātou, me tautoko hoki i te mea ko te whakahaere whenua mō ngā kaipupuri maha he uaua, he utu nui hoki.”

Ko te titiro whakamua

Kei te whakarite te tōpūtanga mō te wā heke.

Ko ngā pūkenga whakangungu whenua mō ngā uri me ngā rangatahi he tīmatanga pai mō tēnei ahumahi. I ia tau, ko ngā kaimahi o ngā pāmu hou e 8 nei ka kimi mahi, ka noho rānei ki te whakawhanake i te pāmu.

“Ara noa atu tō mātou kaitiakitanga i te whakahaere wai me te parakaingaki,” te kī a Dion Maaka. “He toronga hoki ki ō mātou tāngata.”

“Ki tā te kaipupuri titiro, ka hiahia nui ahau kia riro i ō mātou tāngata te mahi whakahaere i tēnei pāmu, kia tū hei kaiwhakahaere, hei mana whakahaere anamata. Koinā pū te kaitiakitanga heke iho ki ōku whakaaro.”

In 2009 four Taranaki ahu whenua trusts came together to form one large farm. Five years later Te Rua O Te Moko Ltd. won the Ahuwhenua Trophy for excellence in dairy farming. They now milk 500 cows on 175 hectares and are training uri for the next stage of the journey.

Daisy Noble: My name’s Daisy. I am one of the trustees of one of the four blocks of the farming venture that we have here.

When the four blocks were collectively pulled together, in its own way that is the start of whenua being returned the way it should have been back to a hapū think or a hapū way of looking at land ownership.

Anne Marie Broughton: We went through quite a lengthy process of developing a vision for Te Rua O Te Moko in conjunction with the owners. There were some key owners that took part in that at the time.

And then you’ve got to really try and lead them down that whole very, very complex pathway of bringing it all together.

Daisy: Time and understanding what that could mean in the wider context, it just makes you more comfortable and you know that you can create a bigger vision by coming together like that.

Anne Marie: In terms of Tino Rangatiratanga you know we want to be encouraging our people to be governors and managers of their own land.

Dion Maaka: We always look to utilise best practise methods in terms of our waterways, our effluent management etc. I think for our operation kaitiakitanga extends to the people as well.

Kendrin Graham: I’m Kendrin Graham, I’m 18 years old and I’m from Taranaki. I work, well I do land based training. I did leave school when I was 16 turning 17 so I decided to go on the farm.

Since I’m a townie I feel honoured. This farm’s been here for like how long? Like yonks!

Dion: I always look through the owners’ lens when we’re managing, when we’re governing this operation. I would love for our people to be operating this farm, to be the next governors, management etc. So that’s really kaitiakitanga in its truest form for me.