Merekara Warrington

At the end of 2017, I graduated from the University of Otago with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Māori Studies and a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Tourism. I was fortunate to turn a volunteering role with my iwi Ngāti Koroki Kahukura (NKK), into a paid position for the 2017-2018
summer, and later into a full-time position in January 2019, for Manawanui Development Limited Partnership (MDLP) –the commercial entity of the Ngāti Koroki Kahukura Trust (NKK). This mahi involved land diversification initiatives on three of our tribal land blocks – all presently dairy farms.

We have established māra kai/an orchard, manuka plantations for beekeeping and freshwater restorations, sustainable watercress planting, growing, and harvesting schemes, and freshwater monitoring and restoration projects. I absolutely loved working outside on the tribal whenua, striving to fulfil our kaitiaki obligations to the whenua and our taonga species such as tuna (freshwater eels) and kooura ririki (freshwater crayfish). I enjoyed gaining knowledge – both traditional mātauranga Māori and western science, to manage these various projects successfully and sustainably. Most importantly, I took immense pleasure in being able to share our mahi, our pūrākau and kōrero, our mātauranga, and my personal experiences with others, while also appreciating all the knowledge and experiences shared back with me from others.

This mahi encouraged me to return to full-time study in 2020 at the University of Waikato in a Master of Arts in Māori and Indigenous Studies. I have since completed my Master’s thesis, which was looking at re-learning the relationships and experiences that Māori have to Hauānga kai (traditional food gathering and processing) mātauranga and practices, with a specific focus on mahi māra kai – a step towards reclaiming mana motuhake. I am currently employed full-time at Plant and Food Research, at the Ruakura site as a Social Scientist.

The future aspirations I have for MDLP are to continue to sustainably grow and further develop the existing land diversification initiatives, as well as explore new social enterprise and commercial ventures for the future. These projects would be mainly centered around giving back to whānau and the hapū through on-going educational and hands-on Wānanga/cadetships that foster a reclamation of our hapuu’s mātauranga and traditional practices. This would ultimately encourage and allow individuals, whānau and the hapū to achieve mana motuhake in the space of food security/food sovereignty. As a soon-to-be māmā, I would love to see my tamaiti and future moko having continual access to their tribal whenua, taonga species, kai, reo, mātauranga and being confident in their Ngāti Koroki Kahukuratanga.