Rotorua Girls' High School is embracing the past in an effort to stride more boldly into the future.
The school has worked closely with Ngāti Whakaue during the past 18 months to better recognise and celebrate its culture and history.
The partnership has resulted in adapting the school's name to now also be known as Te Kura o Te Rautāwhiri and a return to its original house names of Rangiuru, Hinemoa, Rukuwai and Karenga.
The school has also embraced a new motto; "Whāia ko te mātauranga - seek ye from the fountain of knowledge".
The name Rautāwhiri relates to the land the school now sits on, gifted by Ngāti Whakaue in 1959 when Rotorua High School split into Rotorua Boys' and Rotorua Girls'.
The house names are the same as those used in 1959 when Girls' High was established and connect to wāhine toa of Ngāti Whakaue. They were used until 2015 when school numbers meant a reduction to three houses, named Taini, Makereti and Witarina.
Girls' High principal Sarah Davis said the school went to Ngāti Whakaue in search of an identity that would "stand the test of time" and reintroduce their relationship.
She said under the guidance of Ngāti Whakaue representatives Rawiri Waru and Norma Sturley the school now has an identity Davis is confident students and staff alike will connect with.
"As principals have cycled through the school, so has the way the school has been branded within the community," she said.
"But isn't about the principal right now, it's about what we want ingrained moving forward. We're genuinely really excited about that."
Ngāti Whakaue representative and Rotorua Girls' High School cultural advisor Rawiri Waru has worked closely with the school during the last 18 months. Photo / Andrew Warner
Davis said the return to the original house names was a return to the school's roots but did not mean the names used since 2015 would be forgotten.
"These original house names represent prominent Whakaue women who [the iwi] see as part of our relationship with them and are also very high in terms of the mana and attributes they think are important for our school.
"For six years we had three other houses within the school and we've also communicated with those whānau to talk about what we can do. We don't want to lose the importance of those three houses so we're looking at weaving them into prizegiving and into the names of different things around the school.
"It's really good because what we have now is a very seamless relationship between us and the mana whenua. At our pohiri for the Year 9s this week we had a huge number of kaumatua and kuia who came and I think from my perspective it now means our identity is quite secure and strong."
The changes were announced to the school as a whole at assembly today and, Davis said, were well received.
"The feedback we've had from the community, in particular the old girls, is quite a resurgence of connection back into the houses they had when they were here. They're not new names, it's re-establishing the original names Ngāti Whakaue gifted to us."
Rotorua Girls' High School head girl Helena Dou'ble (left) and deputy head girl Hope Waaka-Smith are pleased with the school's new house names. Photo / Andrew Warner
School head girl Helena Dou'ble is the student representative on the school's board of trustees so was involved in the process.
"I've learned that it goes back more than 50 years so for me it's a lot of history and traditions that I don't think our school should lose."
Deputy head girl Hope Waaka-Smith said when she first heard about the house name changes she was "a bit sad" because she had been in Makereti since she started.
However, she was pleased to see the school embracing its history, which she had whānau connections to.
"I thought it was a brilliant idea. My mum came to this school also and she was in Hinemoa house, so she was really excited too.
"When I moved here in Year 9 I was in Makereti, we live and breathe pink and we've built those relationships, so it's hard to move away from that. In saying that, they are never going to be forgotten but we're going back to our roots now."
Rotorua Girls' High School has rebranded. Photo / Supplied
Ngāti Whakaue representative and school cultural advisor Rawiri Waru said the iwi was delighted to be working so closely with the school.
"We're happy, we're ecstatic - those names are very important to us," he said.
"These are the names we gifted years ago so we're not actually bringing anything new forward, we're just going back to those tipuna names. I have no doubt that when those names were given, the thinking was they were wāhine toa for the girls to look up to.
"The good thing is the former house names will still be honoured in a way where they will still play a really important role. It's a win-win for Ngāti Whakaue and the school."
Waru said the collaboration was a team effort and although he was "doing all the talking" a number of iwi members were involved.
"We were all really excited to help Rotorua Girls' get back to their roots. Not only the students, the staff and everyone felt the excitement when it was announced this morning.
"We can't not be involved, considering the generosity of Ngāti Whakaue and the connection to the land. Not only that, a lot of our people went to Rotorua Girls' and before that to Rotorua High School. There's more than one legacy going on here."
Rotorua Girls' High School House Names - Wāhine Toa
Rangiuru
Rangiuru was a woman of high stature from the coastal Tapuika people and the daughter of Chief Mataturoa. As was customary for someone of her rank, she was betrothed to a chief from the Lakes District, Whakaue-Kaipapa.
Like his father Uenukukopako, Whakaue was a chief of great renown. Rangiuru and Whakaue raised their children at Weriweri and Mokoia Island.
Hinemoa Hinemoa was the puhi of her people and was set aside and guarded by them, being the daughter of chiefly parents Umukaria of Tuhourangi and Hinemaru of Uenukukopako.
She lived at Ōwhata and was the beauty of the district. One day, Tūtānekai, son of Whakaue-Kaipapa, spotted Hinemoa and desired her immediately. Despite her people's disapproval, Hinemoa reciprocated those feelings.
Knowing her father would never allow them to marry, the pair hatched a plan where she would leave the village at night and cross the lake guided by Tutanekai's koauau to meet him on his home island Mokoia.
Hinemoa's father suspected the plan and dragged away all the waka. She searched for another way across the lake and came across a number of empty tahā. Tying them around her body she made it across the lake and into his arms.
Tūtānekai's mana grew through various battles and the pair eventually founded the iwi known as Ngāti Whakaue today.
Rukuwai Rukuwai was another woman of rank from the Tapuika people. She was the daughter of Chief Mokoputeatuahae and the first wife of the Ngāti Whakaue chief Tūnohopū.
Rukuwai's brothers-in-law Te Rorooterangi, Kotoremomona, Te Kata and others lost their lives during the battle of Tawharakurupeti, one of Ngāti Whakaue's heaviest defeats, in what today is known as the Government Gardens.
After the losses of leadership at the battle, Rukuwai's husband became one of the main leaders for Ngāti Whakaue.
Karenga Karenga was born into aristocracy, the daughter of Ngāti Uenukukopako chiefs Tamaiwaho and Raukura. She was raised and lived in and around Te Koutu. Her husband was Te Matapihi-o-rehua, a chief of the neighbouring Ngāti Whakaue people.
When conflict arose between the Ngāti Whakaue and Ngāti Uenukukopako, Karenga found herself in the impossible position of being between two peoples.
Unyielding in her support of her husband and children's people but also wishing to retain the mana over her ancestral lands, when Ngāti Uenukukopako were expelled from the area by Ngāti Whakaue, Karenga and her close relatives were allowed to remain possessed of their mana whenua.
