Te Puia guide Kirimatao West with her son and Te Puia-New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute marketing manager Eruera West. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER
Te Puia guide Kirimatao West with her son and Te Puia-New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute marketing manager Eruera West. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER
Its brand has changed but the life, the people and the passion remain the same. Dana Kinita looks at what makes Te Puia- New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute unique and why they are determined to take their past into the future.
"IT'S about legacy," Eurera West says. He would know, having been a fifth-generation guide at the tourist attraction which draws thousands of visitors to the Te Whakarewarewa thermal valley every day.
"My mum is a senior guide here and she taught us the ropes and everyone around us is family. We trace back to the village, for five generations, the women of my family have been guiding and showing people through their backyard. It's more than just a job, it's something we look at more than just a pay cheque, it's creating something and growing it for the future."
Mr West graduated from Waikato University and is now a marketing manager for Te Puia.
"I started guiding whenIwas 18, but I started working here whenIwas 15. I was selling ice creams with a little ice cream cart and then the next season I was cooking corn in the pool and worked my way through to the guiding team. I've done little bits of pieces in the different departments, in retail and marketing and finished my degree," he says.
"[When you're guiding] it's fully authentic. You're not putting on a face or an act. You're just telling people how our ancestors used to live and they really love it. You're with tourists who really want to enjoy themselves and you make that experience better. We want to make sure it's manaaki, looking after people and growing their experience in New
Zealand," he says. "The new signage and rebranding work is keeping me busy. This branding step is an awesome step for us to be able to grow it further, for future generations to come."
Aerial picture of Te Puia. Photo/Stephen Parker
Te Puia-New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI) recently celebrated their new brand identities at an event attended by more than 100 people. It also marked the release of the book, Te Puia-NZMACI Brand Story, a 52-page record of the dual legacies.
Chief executive Tim Cossar said it signified new levels of connectivity with iwi, commercial, global and governmental interests and these were critical elements of their organisation as it looked to the future.
"This work has recalibrated and brought an increased balance to our unique business model, and will bring greater meaning to our work and benefit to iwi Maori, the Rotorua economy, local community and New Zealand."
Te Puia pakeke (elders) have played a vital role in the brand redevelopment. They included Te Ariki Morehu, Pihopa Kingi, Kaa Daniels, Pipi Moke and Molly Taiapa.
"They, and their ancestors, have helped shape the organisation that it is today and their passion, legacy and knowledge are as important and relevant now as when they were first treading the paths," Mr Cossar said.
While Te Puia is the tourism business, NZMACI was the fulfilment of Maori leader Sir Apirana Ngata's dream to establish centres of learning to maintain and preserve traditional Maori practices.
The first Maori Arts and Crafts Institute Act was passed in 1926, but it took 40 years before the institute was established as a national organisation and moved to the thermal valley.
"The need to realise the intent laid out by Ta Apirana in the 1926 Act remains as important today as it was then," NZMACI director Karl Johnstone said in the Te Puia-NZMACI Brand Story. "Our role is to provide the technical skills and kaupapa, and to partner with iwi, at a local, national and international level to connect the past with our aspirations for the future."
Cultural projects from NZMACI included Waka Tapu, where two traditional waka sailed more than 18,500km without navigational instruments, Te Kakano which involved a 110m canoe cenotaph as a gift to the people of China at the Shanghai World Expo, and Tuku Iho.
"I was personally moved by our stories and history when I attended the opening of the Tuku Iho exhibition in Argentina," Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said at the brand launch.
"This is not just a remarkable collection of important cultural pieces, it is a vital and immensely powerful bridge between our people and others, that diplomats, politicians, and business people can cross to forge greater connections between peoples. "It is difficult to know who was more moved by Karl [Johnstone]-me or the international guests. I certainly felt an immense pride in my connection to New Zealand at that time," he said.
Te Puia guide Kirimatao West follows in the footsteps of the generation of women before her. She has been guiding tourists since 1985. She now works alongside her son, Eruera.
Her other children have also been part of the organisation. Her other son, Renata, was also part of the marketing team before taking on a new role with Tourism New Zealand.
"It's a passion not a job. It's always giving back to what this place has provided us too.
"I have a vision for my children to go further than I would, any parent would. My children as they go through their schooling through to university, this is part of a stepping stone towards what they do in the future," Mrs West said.
Her great-grandmother Mereraukura Wiari started guiding in Te Whakarewarewa Valley in 1919.
"We all have a history here, we're just part of that legacy," she said.
