Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust rebrands itself Tapuwae Roa

Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust is now Tapuwae Roa. Image / Supplied

Leading Māori social impact organisation Te Ohu Kaimoana, Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust has a new identity, Tapuwae Roa.

The rebrand comes as the trust’s commitment to better reflect the organisation’s purpose and vision for the future - 20 years after its establishment under the Māori Fisheries Act 2004.

“Throughout the past two decades, the trust has had a rich and varied history of funding, investing in, advocating for, and directly delivering kaupapa Māori initiatives. However, as our mahi evolved, the trust has become more than what it was when the original name was bestowed,” said Te Pūoho Kātene, Kaihautū (executive director) of Tapuwae Roa.

Te Pūoho Kātene. Photo / Supplied

“Tapuwae Roa represents the footsteps that we follow and the ripples we leave behind, acknowledging our deep whakapapa connections and encapsulating our commitment to creating a lasting impact that resonates across generations.”

The trust met with those who played a pivotal role in establishing the organisation to pay homage to its long history, and to explore the meaning behind its former name.

“Te Pūtea Whakatupu directly translates as the ‘fund that promotes growth’ which we felt doesn’t truly capture who we have become and the lofty goals to which we aspire,” Kātene said.

Following these conversations, the trust collaborated with tikanga Māori expert, Che Wilson, to develop the organisation’s new identity through a series of wānanga, with the new name deriving from a traditional oriori (chant).

Tekaumārua chair Che Wilson. Photo / Whakaata Māori

“In the first wānanga, we discussed the oriori of Pōpō, where it talks about ka hikimata te tapuwae o Tangaroa, ka whaimata te tapuwae o Tangaroa,” Wilson said.

“When we consider this in the trust’s context, ka hikimata te tapuwae o Tangaroa speaks to the trail of Tangaroa over the surface of the moana, acknowledging the trust’s history and trials to get to where it is today. Ka whaimata te Tapuwae o Tangaroa speaks to the track of Tangaroa and ripples of impact in its wake.”

The rebranding includes a redesigned logo designed by Māori design agency, Ariki Creative.

“Our tohu [logo] symbolises a takarangi spiral representing how we are guided by the coalescence of ancestral knowledge, and like a stone dropped in a pond, it creates ripples of intergenerational impact for Ngāi Māori.”

The transition from Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust to Tapuwae Roa marks an exciting chapter in the trust’s evolution as it continues to deliver its tikanga-led social impact strategy.