Te Hononga-ā-Kiwa 2021
Te Hononga-ā-Kiwa 2021 Overview
Similarly to 2020, the global pandemic presented its challenges to Te Hononga-ā-Kiwa (THK), our Māori Business programme delivered in partnership with CAPEs, yet again in 2021. The cancellation, rescheduling was a struggle for our project team, not to mention our cohort. THK 2021 cohort comprised of 21 tauira from 8 Universities and Polytechnics across Aotearoa, with 3 Tuākana, 1 Māori Owned Business, 22 Iwi Affiliations that combined had over 3 weeks of engagements that included- 30 zoom sessions, 56 hours on zoom & 11 language lessons!
Our adapted programme for 2021 meant regional travel within the beautiful backyard of Aotearoa, to adjust to the international travel restrictions. However, unfortunately not all of our cohort were able to travel due to the regional Covid levels particularly in Auckland and Waikato over our engagement weeks, Orientation and Symposium.
With the climate that presented itself through Covid there was a familiarity of pivoting to online learning and remote working. Zoom has been used by many sectors for virtual classes and meetings and it is what gave our programme the platform to continue THK 2021 and connect us with our engagement countries of Malaysia, Taiwan & Brazil.
We were extremely fortunate to speak with a multitude of speakers from each country we engaged with and Malaysia presented us with a plethora of Indigenous leaders and business experts. From small, community-based enterprises, tourism ventures and large corporations, our tauira walked away with a well-rounded view of business in Malaysia. One highlight for the cohort was speaking with Ben Jimabau of Bumiputera descent on the South East Asia Cape who has been a marketer for over 20 years. Ben runs the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) and showed our students some of the performances and indigenous instruments such as the sape that’s mostly played by the Ola Ulu people who originate from upstream Malaysia. He explains the RWMF as being culturally rich which is the festival's success formula.
For our second week, our tauira engaged with many leader from the various iwi throughout Taiwan. Our speakers all highlighted the importance of maintaining Indigenous culture, voice and rights in all aspects of life. Assistant Prof. Lin Hao-Li from National Tsing Hua University shared with our tauira about the history and similarities between Indigenous Taiwanese People and Māori such as history with land alienation, population decline and culture loss. 2021 North Asia cohort student Jason Goodwillie says - “What stood out for me was the history going back 25,000 years. From 7000 years ago there is evidence of tattooing, social organisations, self types of kingdoms and chiefs which are similar to Aotearoa Māori. The Austronanesian whānau have over 1200 different languages. There are similarities in Te Reo to their native language”.
In the Latin America CAPE, it was evident from the start that our tauira would be learning more than just building their business acumen, but rather understanding more about the history, culture and struggles that many of our Inidgenous whānau still face. Oftentimes confronting, it was also inspiring to see what moves the peoples of Brazil are making for themselves and their communities. A crowd highlight was definitely being able to speak with Chief Mapu as he shared his own karakia and stories from his people; it was clear to see how intrinsic the environment and nature is to everyday life. Like Māori, the Indigenous tribes are the protectors of the land and water and remain as strong voices to maintain their own kaitiakitanga. To be able to share & relate to other Indigenous students from the University of Roraima and see the rangatahi making moves in both urban and rural settings was evident that the next generation is in great hands. 2021 Latin America cohort student Daniel McWatters shares "I enjoyed the insights into the Indigenous Brazilian culture as well as struggles they go through to see that they have rights. This was both enlightening and fascinating”.
Although we couldn’t meet in person we were privileged to be connected ki Te Ao Hurihuri, virtually by Zoom. Our online sessions were engaging and highlighted many kaupapa that our THK 2021 cohort will take with them into their journey completing their studies and as professionals in their chosen careers. In 2022, THK aims to strengthen and extend our connection even further while we help navigate the next cohort of tauira along the journey.