Te Mana o te Wai Project
Water is one of our most valuable resources, without it we would die, yet many waterways in Aotearoa NZ are not swimmable, and most have long been unsafe to drink.
Focusing on the health of our awa and their supporting tributaries, Te Mana o te Wai began in ernest in 2022 with staff, students, national experts, our iwi kaumātua and whānau working together through a series of wānanga (seminar) to develop a 25-year freshwater management plan for wai māori within the iwi estate, while building the capability and capacity of Ngāti Hinemanu to become iwi freshwater management practitioners.
This project sits under the Mana Taiao portfolio of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Hinemanu me Ngāti Paki ki Mōkai Pātea and helps to progress the desire of our iwi and hapū to be at the fore of water conservation, preservation and revitalisation. It is funded by government funding through ‘Mana Mo Te Taiao’ MFE.
He pukenga wai, he nohoanga tangata
Mōkai Ariki Nui Programme
The Mōkai Ariki Nui programme was made possible through a valued partnership with the University of Auckland - Science Department. A range of education programmes are taught, including an induction programme to freshwater testing. Professors from the Science Faculty have visited Winiata Marae and the rohe on a few occasions to train local rangatahi (youth) and interested whānau. The professors even provided a report at our last hui ā-iwi. Students and whānau also travelled to the University of Auckland to further learning and gain experience in the laboratory.
Through the Mōkai Ariki Nui programme, and generous donations of equipment from Downers, the University of Auckland, Winiata Marae and others, the dream of a Freshwater Science Education Laboratory situated at Winiata Marae has been realised. A world first, the laboratory named ‘Ki Tua’ was opened with traditional karakia in a pre-dawn ceremony on Friday 16 May, 2025. This simple but pertinent name encourages us to continue to look beyond the present day to a new tomorrow, it reminds us to continue moving forward to a better future or horizon, where wai māori is once again pristine and teaming with native flora and fauna.
The lab will be utilised as a local water testing laboratory and an educational facility for the ongoing capability and capacity development for the iwi and community with a strong focus on rangatahi.
We look forward to the developments of the Lab and if anyone would like to touch base with the team or register for future wānanga please contact us office@hinemanu.co.nz
The 25 years freshwater management plan will be launched in June 2025 and published on this website.
From a Mōkai Ariki Nui student
Kia ora,
What an amazing experience it has been joining the Mōkai Arikinui group; everyone is just so welcoming and loving. I have had fun and amazing experiences with other people doing activities, especially within the Mōkai Arikinui – Te Mana o Te Wai program, where many people regularly come from all over the region and beyond for a couple days, to work with wai māori (freshwater) and look after it together.
The first wānanga happens in June with new students joining the program to help clean, test and monitor our precious waterways. We are now in year two, with three people from last year who are now “seniors” (me included) and seven new people. Every year Mōkai Arikinui head up to Auckland to spend a few days learning from the best professors in Aotearoa at the University of Auckland. Over the past 2 years, I have learnt so much from the amazing professors as well as from whānau from Winiata Marae and after being a part of this incredible program, it is an honour to be given an opportunity of employment and work with the marae on further projects to come.
Aaron-Lee Sime
Rēhita Mai
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"Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini"
"Success is not the work of an individual, but the work of many."
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