A farewell from departing Tumu Whakarae
Ko wai e tohe nei i taku poho?
Ko te mamae me te pōuri i te wehe ōku i Te Mātāwai
I te Tari tahutahu i te ahi i te ao i te pō
I te Poari whakakāinga i te kaupapa rā atu, rā mai
I ngā kāinga, hapori me ngā iwi whakaritorito i te reo ki ngā kāhui o te motu
What an eventful new year it has been. We kicked it off with the opening of applications to our Investment Round. In February we took a tiki tour to Te Tai Tokerau, meeting with our Kaitono at Waitangi. Finally, we shot over to Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga where we ran the second biggest competition of the week – our Te Mātāwai tamariki colouring-in competition!
I write this with lots of mixed emotions, as I have now completed my time as Tumu Whakarae at Te Mātāwai - such a blessed experience. After spending 17 years in Ōtepoti, five years in Pōneke, I feel the call back home to whānau. Kia hoki au ki taku ūkaipō.
When I started at Te Mātāwai, there were only four full-time staff. First thing on my to-do list was to build the capacity and capability of the Tari to support our whānau in their space. Now, I’m leaving the organisation in the trusting hands of 36 full-time staff across the motu. Hei konei rā, e ngā makimaki o Te Tari :)
Of recent, I am most proud of our strategic vision for 2040, Hawaiki Mokopuna. I see Hawaiki Mokopuna as a metaphorical and spiritual return to an existence where we are our best as Māori. A time and space where te reo Māori runs freely from the mouths of our whānau, and intergenerational transmission is uninterrupted.
Te Mātāwai was born out of a desire to bring the authority back to iwi, to determine how best to revitalise te reo Māori. I have definitely seen this transformation take place in the years I have been here. Ko wai hei rangatira mō to tātou reo, e, ko tātou anō.
E te iwi Māori, it has been an absolute honour to work alongside you in the pursuit of revitalising te reo Māori, kia ūkaipō anō te reo, kia tū tangata pakari anō hoki tō tātou iwi.
I set out to deliver on the objectives set out for me upon my appointment and was lucky to have great staff to see this through and add a few more. Now, I want to spend quality time with my whānau. I also want to support the kāinga, hapori and iwi I moved away from 20+ years ago. I’m looking forward to providing more support to my tāringi, Tangiwai, my daughters and my mokopuna; and our wider whānau.
Signing off for the last time,
Poia Rewi
Tumu Whakarae
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He kōrero mō Poia Rewi – Fun Facts
- Joined Te Mātāwai in July 2020 after 5 years as the dean of Te Tumu (School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous studies) at the University of Otago and 2 years as a deputy director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, a national centre of research excellence.
- Poia expanded the organisations capacity, increasing kaimahi from four full-time employees in 2020 to 38 by 2024 including nine regional roles (Pae Motuhake).
- Poia played a pivotal role in developing Te Mātāwai’s community model, with its eight Kāhui, each with a Pae Motuhake regional board comprised of Māori language champions.
- Navigated, alongside the Te Mātāwai Board, a new strategic vision for te reo revitalisation. This vision is symbolised by a waka journey every 3 years, firstly voyaging to Hawaiki Tipuna 2027, with Hawaiki Mokopuna 2040 the future destination. Hawaiki Mokopuna is a time and place where te reo is safe and intergenerational transmission is uninterrupted.
- In his time, Poia led:
5 Investment Rounds
4 Annual Reports
3 Māori Affairs Select Committee hui
2 Statements of Intent
1 Huakina te Tatau hui - a Te Whare o te reo Mauriora forum for Chief Executives And a pūkeko in a Ponga Treeeeee.
- Most importantly, Poia has welcomed over 2,000 manuhiri into our tari, often fuelling them with boil-up, braun, tītī or karengo.