At the Muriwhenua wānanga in Kaitaia on Thursday are Far North District Council Kōwhai/Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford (from left), maramataka expert Rereata Mākiha, Nyze Manuel, TTCRAP community facilitator Shirleyanne Brown and Jordan Moon.
At the Muriwhenua wānanga in Kaitaia on Thursday are Far North District Council Kōwhai/Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford (from left), maramataka expert Rereata Mākiha, Nyze Manuel, TTCRAP community facilitator Shirleyanne Brown and Jordan Moon.
A kaupapa Māori initiative is working to support Northland communities to empower themselves in the face of climate change and future natural disasters.
The Te Tai Tōkerau Community Resilience Action Plan (TTCRAP) was established in October in response to the devastating impact of Cyclone Gabrielle that left many communities throughout the region cut off and without power for almost two weeks.
As a result, the TTCRAP team has been visiting hāpori (communities) across the rohe (territories) of the five Muriwhenua iwi to learn about what could be done better to prepare for a future natural hazard event.
TTCRAP community facilitator Shirleyanne Brown said once all feedback had been collected, the team would use it to formulate a resilience plan that could be adapted to communities around Northland and possibly even the motu (country).
“The whakapapa of this plan came post Cyclone Gabrielle where we went into the community to get their stories, particularly our first responders or our local heroes as we like to call them,” Brown said.
“The then Minister for Northland’s Cyclone Response, Kelvin Davis, saw our transcript and asked us to be part of a resilience plan for Te Tai Tōkerau and to work closely with whānau living at the ‘end of the dusty roads’.
“He said he felt their voices hadn’t been heard and that if anyone had resilience to share, it was them.
“As a result, we are now working with communities from a Māori lens, to understand how we move from emergency to resilience and what that might look like moving forward.”
The action plan is supported by Northland Regional Council (NRC) and Tai Tōkerau Māori Advisory Committee (TTMAC) and is held up by the pou or values of whānau oranga whakawhānaunga (taking care of one another in the community), mana (long-term decisions and planning), mahi (life as usual) and taiao (connection to and care of whenua).
Under this are 14 key investment areas needed to fulfil the vision of the action plan, including manaaki (support) hubs, usable private roads and access ways, housing and climate change adaptation planning.
Another key investment area is mātauranga Māori and living by the kōrero tuku iho or ancient Māori knowledge of te taiao (the natural world).
As part of a Muriwhenua wānanga (seminar) in Kaitāia on Thursday, Hokianga maramataka tohunga (Māori lunar calendar expert) Rereata Mākiha shared his kōrero around the importance of learning and implementing the old ways of our tūpuna (ancestors) in order to be resilient and adaptable to the changing environment.
He said while it was important to follow the maramataka, it was equally important to understand its deeper meaning in the context of the natural world and to be mindful of tohu (signs) relating to the changing kaupeka (seasons).
“One of the tohu to look out for is the manu [birds] because depending on where you are, you can hear the birdsong changing,” Mākiha said.
Maramataka tohunga (expert) Rereata Makiha shares kōrero around looking for tohu (signs) in the changing environment and seasons.
“For example, in the ngāhere [forest] if there is going to be rough weather, you can hear the manu go quiet.
“Another thing we noticed right before the big floods last year was how the first flowers of the pōhutukawa trees flowered to the southwest, when they usually flower to the east.
“We also looked at the connection between floods and tamatea [moon on eighth day of lunar month] days in the maramataka, as well as the kōrero from Nukutāwhiti and Ruanui around the flowering changes, so knew a change was coming.”
Far North District Council (FNDC) Kōwhai/Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford holds the climate change portfolio and also spoke at Thursday’s event.
Stratford said while the FNDC had not played a direct role in the TTCRAP, the kaupapa (plan) tied in well with the mahi (work) the council had been doing in that space.
Far North District Council Kōwhai/Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford represented the district council and spoke about the importance of being prepared in the face of climate change.
“Muriwhenua is always isolated in these events, so it’s important for us to know the ‘end of the road communities’ are exercising their mana motuhake [self-sovereignty] because they know exactly what they need to do,” Stratford said.
“Our priority is helping people to think about the future, which will include some tough decisions around the use of their whenua [land].
“It’s been an honour to be here and this kaupapa today highlights how important it is for people living here to have some control over what goes on in such an event.”
