Ngā Tauira and the legacy of Tūtahi Tonu

At a dawn ceremony on 10 August, Waipapa Taumata Rau marked the unveiling of the new Ngā Tauira marae and the re establishment of the Tūtahi Tonu wharenui on the City Campus.

The event celebrated both renewal and connection, honouring the legacy of Māori education at the University and the promise of what Ngā Tauira will deliver to future generations.

The City Campus now has the rare distinction among universities of being home to two marae. It was a fact that speakers at the opening reflected on, particularly in relation to the current political climate and challenges faced by Māori.

Faculty of Education and Social Work principal lecturer Hēmi Dale, director of Māori medium education, reflected on the 40-year history of Tūtahi Tonu. Established at the former Epsom Campus in 1983, it was the University’s first marae and the second ever built on the grounds of a tertiary institution in Aotearoa.

It was opened at a time when te reo Māori was not yet recognised as an official language of Aotearoa, yet more than a decade after the Te Reo Māori Language Petition was presented to Parliament in 1972.

The establishment of Tūtahi Tonu symbolised the vision that Māori education would and should thrive, recalled Hēmi during the opening. It would later become a hub to train teachers to become kaiako committed to the revitalisation and regeneration of te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori across the country.

The story of Tūtahi Tonu has become legendary in the Faculty of Education and Social Work. A prefab building that was originally intended as a classroom, it ‘fell off the back of a truck’ and was then repurposed by Tarutaru Rankin, a pioneering figure in Māori education. Regarded as a skilful navigator of both te ao Māori and te ao Pākehā, Taru saw the potential of the building and envisioned it as a space dedicated to Māori education.

Over the decades, it became a second home for many students and alumni, particularly those who travelled from rural areas to study at the University. And not just Māori; it became a significant place for students from the Pacific diaspora, offering a safe space during a time of heightened discrimination.

Tūtahi Tonu is adorned with artworks, taonga and whakairo representing te ao Māori and a variety of other cultures and kaupapa.

Its original whakairo was carved and designed by Mark Klaricich; for the reopening, new whakairo was carved and designed by Katz Maihi. Both old and new now come together at Ngā Tauira marae, cementing it as a place where people from different backgrounds can learn and grow.

At the dawn ceremony, speakers reflected on the political climate of the 1980s, noting parallels with today. Hēmi said Tūtahi Tonu was established at a time when te ao Māori was vastly different. However, today’s political climate suggests history may be repeating itself, with the hard-won gains of the past 40 years under threat.

“That’s the history that has shaped Tūtahi Tonu, and it is our hope that students who walk through these doors will find a space that enables them to be Māori,” he said.

The name Ngā Tauira, gifted by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, reflects the unique identity of the marae, distinct from its sibling Waipapa Marae, yet recognises that both spaces nurture Māori leaders and scholars.

Faculty of Education and Social Work alumni who attended the opening expressed that the move of Tūtahi Tonu to the City Campus was not just a physical relocation; it was about bringing the legacy of the wharenui into a space that honours its past while embracing the future. They expressed a hope that its legacy will endure and inspire future generations of students who enter its doors to grow the next generation of Māori leaders.

Mate atu he tētēkura, ara mai he tētēkura; When one plant frond dies, another plant frond rises to take its place.

Te Rina Triponel