Kia ora, my name is Anaia Rua, and I am from Ngāi Tūhoe & Ngāti Awa. In the following piece, I reflect on the profound connection shared between Aotearoa and our relatives from Hawai’i during the “He Kura Tūroa” wānanga.
He Kura Tūroa: Relatives Across the Pacific
He ahurea te taiao, he taiao te ahurea. The environment is the culture, the culture is the environment.
In February 2025, He Kura Tūroa — to consume the wisdom of our ancestors — gathered three organisations at Taharoa on the west coast of the Waikato. Huliauapaʻa and Nā Kalai Waʻa Moku o Hawaiʻi made the journey from Hawaiʻi, joining Mātangireia Waka Trust of Aotearoa under the National Science Foundation’s Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science. The kaupapa — reconnect Pacific relatives, and let the land do the talking.
The wānanga moved across three pillars. Mahinga Kai brought people together around food, working with tuna at the lake, kai preservation and cooking in ways that honoured what the environment provided. Mahinga Whenua rooted participants in the land through on-the-ground learning. Mahinga Moana turned attention to waterways and the ocean as living taonga.
For the Hawaiian delegation, the resonance was immediate. Their own traditions of mālama ʻāina — nurturing the land so it nurtures you — mirrored Māori kaitiakitanga in ways that transcended language. Both moana whānau, the same ancient intelligence running through both.
Dr Haki Tuaupiki, Associate Professor and organiser of He Kura Tūroa, put it plainly: “Indigenous knowledge for me will always be our tūāpapa — the garden bed that holds us together tight.”
He Kura Tūroa brought that truth back to the surface, held in the hands of those who harvested, cooked, and walked the land together. To tend the whenua is to tend its people.
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Te Reo Māori Phrases of the Week
This week we’ve got some useful phrases and kupu you can use, especially for online spaces:
Kupu Hou (New Words)
Kīanga (Phrases)
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