Vision – Moemoeā
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To restore the mauri of our whenua and uplift the wellbeing of whānau through culturally grounded, intergenerational healing practices that strengthen identity, belonging, relationship, and hauora.
We aspire to a future where:
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Te Oriori a Mumura
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Whakarewaia taua ki tai o nga muri,
Ki te ika i te tiu, ki te ika i te rangi, Ki nga tai whakahuka i waho o te Pakora; Auaka hai tika ra runga o Hanaia E piki ki runga ra, te ara o Tawhaki Kia whakamaua mai to rakau, te kaka o Uenuku, Kia pai ai koe, te haere i te one, Ka takoto i roto te Hikuwai, e, e tama, e. i... He wareware nohoku, kihai taua I whitikia mai e ia ki te whitiki tamarua. I taponaia taua ki te tapona tamatahi, Ki te ruru o te kai, i matara wawe ai. Ka kawea taua ki te wai tohi ai, Ka waituhia koe kite kiwi tangi po, No runga Haumitinui, no runga Maungahaumi, No te Rere a Turakai, No Takaitanga, te whakarewanga o Maia. Ehara taua i te kauwhau no raro nei. No runga taua no te Kahuitu, no te Kahuipae, Te puhi kai ariki, Maikuku makaka, Tauawhi ki te rangi te rere ki Raukura, Ko Hinekukutirangi hei taruru haerenga mohou, e, E tama, e! He kore pea e tama, kihai to tua I uhia e au ki te whitau pani waha, Ki te aho miro turi Kei roto i te kete, koua pepehatia, "Ko Wairau ko au," E tama, e! No te hika ano te aitua, He hue te tamaiti oriori, e! |
Let us sail away to northern lands
To the fish in the north, to the fish in the heavens To the foaming seas out from Te Pakora (low tide) Do not go by way of the heights of Hanaia Climb yonder, by the pathway of Tawhaki Take up your weapon, and the cloak of Uenuku And be presentable as you go along the beach That stretches within Te Hikuwai, O Son, ah me. It was because of my forgetfulness that we two Were not bound by hi, with the manly twofold knot We are tied only with the bachelor's knot The knot which perforce oft is quickly loosened We are to be taken to the water ritual And the ritual of the kiwi crying at night Which comes from Haumitinui, above Maungahaumi from the falls of Turakai And from the Takaitanga, the anchorage of Maia We two are not of lowly estate We come from one of high. from Te Kahuitu, and Kahuipae And from the exalted one, Maikuku Makaka Who embraced the heavens at the falls of Raukura Hinekukutirangi herself will accompany you O son, ah me. Perhaps, O son, upon your shoulders I should have placed the cloak of moistened fiber Crossthreaded it was with neck twisted cord Now inside the kit, oft boasted of “Speak of wairau, speak of me” It was in the begetting where I failed This ‘tis to a hue child, I sing a lullaby |
THE KAUPAPA of the Korowai/Kākahu
Virginia Tamanui
 Virginia Tamanui
Beginnings
The making of a korowai was sought by Mangatū Marae Trustee, Apenti Tamanui-Fransen, toward an opening at the completion of the Mangatū War Memorial Wharekai refurbishments and/or conditional on funding the overall marae restoration process. Kutiwera (aka Louise) Te Maipi accepted the invitation to make the korowai not as a commissioned work but rather on the condition that she be able to awhi the people of her husband, Joe Te Maipi’s, marae/hapū to do it for themselves. It was an act of reciprocity for the support Joe had shown Kutiwera and her whānau over the years in Te Teko, where they lived. Further, procuring this weaving matauranga for the next generations was integral to her practice - it’s about ‘succession planning’. To this end, Kutiwera, collaborated with Virginia Tamanui, and they canvassed for support. She met with Pare from KKM Whatatutu, and she and Virginia presented to and also invited the Ohu Kapahaka to join the weaving kauapapa at their practice for Tamararo’s 2025 at TKAS. Early in the initial phases, Virginia and Kutiwera also made contact with Te Hemo Ata Henare (Ngāpuhi, Whakatōhea) to secure her weaving expertise alongside Kutiwera's for the project. As an aside, Te Hemo Ata and Kutiwera had worked together on whariki wānanga nearly 20 years ago here and more recently in August 2023 and 2024 with Virginia at Mangatū. |
For the planned korowai workshops, there were two key tasks given. Kutiwera focused on the first and main one, which was to identify and source the most favourable plants for muka extraction in the area with the view of teaching a core body of local weavers how to extract muka to support the attendees of the proposed series of 12 wānanga that it would take to make the korowai/kaakahu. In the discussion, Te Hemo Ata asked for a hapū narrative that would inform the ‘kaupapa’ - ‘the fibres that bind everything together’ - in and for the making of the korowai. That was the second task, which Virginia followed up on in addition to the funding. Perhaps, there was a third task which was to ‘legitimately’ access manu feathers which Apenti undertook.
After consideration, Mumura was the chosen narrative. In the meantime, between ‘the end of September-ish and the beginning of October-ish’ (Kutiwera, Ta puihikitia Marae, 21.02.2026ish), Maraea and Kelly from the Mangatū MWWL, hoping to get into Te Whaturaranga o Aotearoa, met up with Kutiwera to discuss this, and it ended up where they just ‘hopped on the waka’ to help the kaupapa of making the korowai. Another meeting, with this gathering being regarded as the first workshop or wānanga, was convened at the Te Maipi Papakāenga with more MWWL members and the Puha Women's Health League (PWHL), who have similarly aligned aspirations - and all whānau. With support from Kutiwera, they quickly became the core body of local weavers and the first grouping to learn the muka extracting process. As Kutiwera said at Tapuihikitia Marae; So we had our first wananga pretty much at the Te Maipi homestead, and it was setting us up for being in spaces like this. So teaching the few was a good workshop to go out and teach the many. So up at Mangatu, the Te Maipi homestead, there was one teacher, and now we over here we have five (Tapu i hikitia Marae, wānanga 2, 15.11. 2025). With the keen addition of young Sky recruited from the Kura, this number has grown. The hope is, and has long been, that this capacity continues to grow. |
Everyone matters
Nau te rourou, Naku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi
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The impetus for, and event of, the weaving ‘whatu korowai’ wānanga did not happen in a vacuum. Firstly, our grandmothers’ and theirs before them wove as part of a vibrating hum embedded in ordinary whānau/hapū/iwi/community life.
Despite the interruptions to our weaving practice and in many cases like Te Reo Māori of it being lost for a couple of generations, expertise is available to us, and there are still pockets of whānau who are tapped into this organic hum in and around our marae and our homes. Further, a refreshed, different yet similar hum has been happening around recent marae developments, kapahaka, and wider whānau-community and kura activities and beyond at the marae, hapū, iwi events level. This complexity - hum - is a necessary condition for the well-being of any kaupapa. Indeed, in manifesting well-being itself. |
The hum of whanaungatanga and having a Mangatū Marae kaupapa supported and hosted at Papakāenga, Tapu i hikitia Marae and potentially other Mahaki marae, and willingness to continue to support each other with future korowai is perhaps a testament to that.
Other notable examples specifically for the wānanga is the manaaki and generosity from the many who support the kaupapa; in fetching stores, making the kai, contributing home-made preserves and favourite baking, harvesting and constructing korowai stands, to those that do that extra bit of homework to make it easier for others or just by being there and so on that happen at the back and that often goes unnoticed. Everyone’s contribution, whether big or small, matters. All together it warms, enriches and sweetens the whanaungatanga. Whanaungatanga serves to strengthen the beating heart of our people. |
Te Ohonga - He Tārei kura, He Tārei wānanga
Important to the future development and sustainability of our marae is Te Ohonga O Mangatū Tāreikura wānanga, our rangatahi. Te Ohonga have for 3 or so years, been actively building hapū-iwi lived kaupapa and wānanga with very limited financial support. These were initially driven by the marae trustee strategic plan and their future-proofing aims. They had a strong desire to uplift rangatahi and sustain the marae’s capacity to perform traditional ‘front’ roles like those that occur on the pae, and of the kai karanga/manu tioriori through strengthening Te Reo Māori, tikanga and kawa.
The June 2025 tono for the korowai arguably came from the rising confidence of Te Ohonga's desire to reclaim and/or to assert their identity. Over the years, the priorities have oscillated between the importance of front and back marae roles, but integral to the kaupapa was the notion of “He Tārei kura, he Tārei wānanga” honing critical thinking and mātauranga that is responsive to and that fortifies Ngaariki-Māhaki Ngāti Wāhia identity.
“Wāhia au tahi taha, Pūtahi au tahi taha. Koia! (Apenti & Tahu, 2025)”
Emergent from Te Ohonga O Mangatū Tāreikura wānanga was the critical need for the development of women's voices - hence ‘the Puna Pupaku’ - many of whom were young māmā. The weaving wānanga created a perfect generational and thematic platform and connections to lift up the aspirations of the Ohonga and consolidate, in the process of whanaungatanga, the wellbeing of wahine and the mana of their voices.
After discussion, and as the Puna was already familiar with Mumura, they were asked if they would like to present the kaupapa Mumura and to teach the weavers Te Oriori A Mumura. And they courageously agreed.
The aspirations of the Puna encapsulated in Te Oriori a Mumura form the kaupapa in and for the making of the korowai. They presented the Kaupapa Mumura on the second day of wānanga at Tapu i hikitia Marae (wānanga 2, 14.11.2025 - 15.11.2025).
The June 2025 tono for the korowai arguably came from the rising confidence of Te Ohonga's desire to reclaim and/or to assert their identity. Over the years, the priorities have oscillated between the importance of front and back marae roles, but integral to the kaupapa was the notion of “He Tārei kura, he Tārei wānanga” honing critical thinking and mātauranga that is responsive to and that fortifies Ngaariki-Māhaki Ngāti Wāhia identity.
“Wāhia au tahi taha, Pūtahi au tahi taha. Koia! (Apenti & Tahu, 2025)”
Emergent from Te Ohonga O Mangatū Tāreikura wānanga was the critical need for the development of women's voices - hence ‘the Puna Pupaku’ - many of whom were young māmā. The weaving wānanga created a perfect generational and thematic platform and connections to lift up the aspirations of the Ohonga and consolidate, in the process of whanaungatanga, the wellbeing of wahine and the mana of their voices.
After discussion, and as the Puna was already familiar with Mumura, they were asked if they would like to present the kaupapa Mumura and to teach the weavers Te Oriori A Mumura. And they courageously agreed.
The aspirations of the Puna encapsulated in Te Oriori a Mumura form the kaupapa in and for the making of the korowai. They presented the Kaupapa Mumura on the second day of wānanga at Tapu i hikitia Marae (wānanga 2, 14.11.2025 - 15.11.2025).
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Ko Wairau Ko Au: Melancholy in Water
By Virginia Tamanui A rau sang a lullaby. Leaves of Memory It was to a hue child Mumura sang A patterned vibration of silence Melancholy in Water Space, Time, Light Connectedness A wellspring of tears to draw life from. Leaves hum Mumuru’s lullaby. Her patterned vibration of life. A whakapapa of thought to inherit And to soothe generations. Anei e hika, this Kahu-o-Wairau I leave with you. |
This poem is about the significance of Mumura and the narrative access through her oriori to the hum of creation and connectedness that by design begets life. [* A rau/leaves - represent both a tipuna/whakapapa/descendants. And their whakapapa of experiences/memory/matauranga/thought to be drawn from/passed down/left to us, i.e., Mumura’s oriori and the inheritance of meanings that flow from it, such as Ko Wairau Ko Au 😭, the many waters/our rivers and tributaries, the kahu o Wairau, the puna of 100 tears and so on, if we follow the water metaphor (Aunty Ginia, 12 February, 2026)]. |
The Puna: Ko Wairau Ko Au
The Puna aims to explore the fullness of what it means to have sustained and holistic flourishing Ngaariki-Māhaki whānau, hapū, iwi, and communities and, in particular, to be intentional in the way we use whakapapa to critically deconstruct and decolonise our home spaces, hoping to address colonial-patriarchal gender power relations and role imbalances. The mana of kōkā/wāhine and our pēpi is central to our hearts. Te reo and tikanga Māori are taken for granted as integral to the kaupapa. The Puna acknowledges our ancestress Mumura, her oriori tahito, her mana and the opportunity it offers to us of being able to explore, learn more and be inspired about what our whakapapa - in this instance Mumura - says about who we are and to see what might come of that. Mumura’s oriori, washed in space, time, and light, can still speak to us. In this view, the interpretive process of understanding Mumura never ends. Her narrative connects us to an inheritance of abundance and aristocracy. “Ehara tāua i te kauhau no raro nei. Nō runga tāua nō te Kāhuitu, nō te Kāhuipae.” Mumura reminds us; “Ko Wairau Ko Au.” |
Photographer Layton Noanoa
The Puna taking up the name ‘Puna Wairau’ for wānanga already demonstrates a new strength emerging. The goal for the Puna Wairau ultimately is to uplift the wellbeing of the people of Mangatū, ‘of the gentler faith’ and in particular Māori women and their whānau. They will lead Te Ohonga Tāreikura in April 2026, and for the content, they will make use of what has been learned so far about Mumura.
One significant reference from a previous wānanga regarding Wairau was made of ‘Te Kahu-o-Wairau’, which is a coarse cape that is made of partially dressed flax - perhaps a kākahu taratara or that which might adorn a tūpapaku. Nonetheless, a taonga tuku iho was left to warm and comfort us (Vol 2 - 95 He apakura na Takapo NP). “Anei e hika, te ahuru, te kahu o wairau, ka mahue i a koe” |
Mareikura Raranga Te Hemo Ata Henare: Sovereignty over Design and Aesthetics
 Te hē o Waioeka
In any event, mahi raranga, like other art forms, can free us up to say who we are and can help us attune ourselves to the relationships we ought to be paying attention to - Mana Atua, Mana Whenua, Mana Tipuna. These contributing realities are important to the korowai design and what, in the end, will be woven into the kaakahu.
One representation suggested was the use of the pātiki/kaokao, or more accurately, the waharua kōpito pattern, to arrange the manu huruhuru. The addition of feathers, incidentally, would make it a kahu huruhuru. This waharua kōpito pattern makes use of the distinctive tūrapa of Waioeka Tainakore Paraone referred to as ‘Te hē o Waioeka' (there are 3 similar tūrapa, but it’s the one with the outer black kiekie diamond or 3 diamond-shaped pattern instead of the 2) that is mounted on the South wall of the Mangatū War Memorial Wharekai. There is also a little one on the stage. These choices add another layer of meaning that locates and ties the whakapapa of the story belonging to the kahu huruhuru to Mangatū Marae. All at once, the history of the Mangatū War Memorial Dining Hall and the Marae refurbishment comes back into view (Apenti, the black book, 2025). As a war memorial hall, it still also links back to Mumura’s “Ko Wairau ko au” and the notion of ‘Te Kahu-o-Wairau’ - a kahu, albeit of tears, and then there is our connection to the waters that flow down from Maungahaumia and those that Mumura mentions in her oriori - 100 tears: 100 waters. Layer upon layer of meanings/whakapapa of thoughts that inform the whakapapa of the kākahu/ kahu huruhuru to be woven in, and that perpetually invite further interpretation. Ko ngā wai rau taku whakatiketike, mirohia kia mau (Apenti, 24. 2. 2026) On sovereignty - design, aesthetics and critical thought - with an inward little chuckle, Te Hemo Ata did previously say, ‘Who said we need feathers?’ She was intending to evoke thought, and to trouble and expose the colonial politics of, within, and over design and aesthetics “that locks us into thinking we need to have complicated design, or feathers [where] we think we need the colonial to tell us what we need to have” (wānanga 3, 17.1. 2026). She was adamant too that what we think is traditional kākahu is likely contemporary. This whakapapa of thinking came from our great, great Nanny, Harata Papuni. I had to shift my thoughts about kete whakairo. It wasn’t traditional, ⎼ it was contemporary. If Nanny didn’t know how to weave kete whakairo then it must have been new for her. People might question that, but I whakapapa to this whakaaro. Well, I must have done something right in honour of my tūpuna, as I’ve lasted 37 years in my practice. I carry that legacy (Henare, 2017, p.8). |
In her view, developed over almost half a century by now, our tupuna were innovative, but their garments were simple. “Simple but magnificent” (personal communication, Te Hemo Ata Henare, February 19, 2026, about her impression after viewing our kākahu and other taonga in the British Museum). She explained our tipuna didn’t have the time that we have to focus on elaborate design or perfection. With her line of questioning, she continued to provoke;
Do they really need taniko? Why is taniko on a kākahu? We don’t know. It tells us a story. But why? What’s its purpose besides telling its narrative? It’s aesthetics! That’s all it is (Te Hemo Ata Henare, Te Maipi Papakāenga, wānanga 3, 17.1. 2026). Te Hemo Ata simply said with muka “it’s not locked in…” surrendering the notion of a fixed design to an open and creative process of discovery. This was important because when she listened to Mumura all she could see was white. “I couldn’t see a pattern”, which had never happened to her before. Muka doesn’t lock you in. It's blank. It's open, not locked in, so that's something we have to deal with when choosing a design. Open a creative space up, and you can do anything in it. Who said we have to be locked into a design or pattern…It’s muka, and they can put whatever they want into it. It doesn’t lock you in.… Without any pattern, just make a [kaitaka] paepaeroa. You’re never gonna forget about Mumura because that's how you got that (Te Hemo Ata Henare, Te Maipi Papakāenga, wānanga 3, 17.1. 2026). The imperative as a weaver practitioner for Te Hemo Ata was “continuing the practice of connecting generations” (Te Hemo Ata Henare, wānanga 3, 17.1. 2026). The aims of the Ngaariki-Māhaki collectives tied to the wellbeing of our people, Mangatū and our community of marae, the MWWL, PWHL, the Ohonga o Mangatū, the Puna Pupaku/Wairau and the Kaupapa Mumura in the making of this kahu huruhuru, even Te Whaturaranga o Aotearoa, might be said to converge on this one kaupapa - connecting generations. Concluding remarks: Te Kahu-o-Mumura What can we say then? The weaving practice is a tool that connects people, and by the narratives we employ, it connects generations “Mumura connects generations” (Te Hemo Ata,wānanga 3, 17.1. 2026). Ah, it is whanaungatanga then, whanaungatanga, that’s the kaupapa - the kaupapa is as Te Hemo Ata described (wānanga 3, 17.1. 2026) the “fibre [that] binds everything together so you can create something in that space” At the centre of this space is Mumura’s legacy and her kahu o wairau - a lullaby - that she left us to warm, comfort and soothe generations. |
Documentation/Documentary
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As a part of the process of learning more - being-in-wānanga - we hope to produce a focussed concise narrative documentary of Mumura’s Oriori and to make mini-docs of the process of korowai/kākahu making from muka extraction, manu treatments and design, to the welfare of pā harakeke over 12 plus wānanga and post-wānanga muka extraction get-togethers, but importantly to capture the whanaungatanga as a resource for future wānanga and generations.
There is potential, too, for a children’s book about Mumura. Behind the decision to document the things we do is part of being ‘intentional’. By giving providence to the things women do, we hope to address our invisibility and lack of authentic representation in texts and in history - even our own |
Ngawari Tamanui-Fransen: Maumau Productions, Indigenous Film-maker
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Mareikura Raranga
We are immensely grateful to Mareikura Raranga Te Hemo Ata Henare and Kutiwera Louise Te Maipi for sharing their matauranga of Ngā Mahi a te Whare Pora with us.
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Wānanga/Workshops
Wānanga 1. 18.10.2025 at Te Maipi Papakāenga TBA
Ohu Pupaku
Wānanga 2. 14.11.2025 - 15.11.2025 at Tapu i hikitia Marae
Photography Lana Mua Media
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Wānanga 3. 17.1. 2026 -19.1. 2026 at Te Maipi Papakāenga
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Moeawa & Kohinetau's Kaenga
Post wananga 25.01.2024 at Tamanui-Fransen Papakaenga with Koka Evelyn, Brooklyn, and her tamariki, Ouenuku & Hineamaru. Doing homework - muka extraction & experimenting with Panteen and Sard.
Kupu hou - 'Hank' - Koka Evelyn is holding a hank of muka.
Kupu hou - 'Hank' - Koka Evelyn is holding a hank of muka.
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Wānanga 4. 20.02.2026 - 22.02.2026 at Tapuihikitia Marae
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Mangatū Marae
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Evelyn's kaenga
Post wananga 06-07/03/2026 at Evelyn Morten's kaenga;
Buttering, harvesting beautiful muka from Jean Henry and Maraea's Pa harakeke and muka extraction.
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