We are honoured by the opportunity to host the International Funders of Indigenous Peoples (IFIP) Pacific Regional Meeting in May 2017.

During the past two centuries the ART Confederation of iwi (tribal grouping), Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Toa Rangatira, has experienced extensive alienation from land, language and culture. In 1975, the Confederation found that they were fast approaching cultural threshold: the point at which, under the immense pressure of an external culture, there is cultural collapse beyond which recovery – and survival as a people – is not possible.

Whakatupuranga Rua Mano – Generation 2000, a 25-year iwi plan, was initiated as a response. The establishment of Te Wānanga o Raukawa, along with numerous other developments within the community of Ōtaki and within the lands of these three iwi, has been driven by the determination to step back from the brink of cultural collapse. In this endeavour, we have been assisted by many kaumatua (elders) across Aotearoa (New Zealand), a generosity that is still being acknowledged and reciprocated today.

Yet, despite forty years of hard work, we know that we have much to do in order to rebuild our ways of knowing so that they are vibrant and appreciated by each child born in Aotearoa. We know we are not alone. There are many Indigenous Peoples who are treading the same path, who have similar hopes for their peoples born of ice, of sand, of jungle. There is much to be learnt from and with each other. There are many allies who understand the positive consequences of working together.

We are looking forward to sharing your stories, hearing your songs and your hopes and connecting with you through our stories, our struggles and our dreams.

Nāku te rourou, nāu te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi

With your basket and my basket the people will thrive

Nau mai, haere mai.

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