Wānanga for Rangatahi to connect with Te Ao Māori and their community
With a Tindall Foundation Grant, BGI (the Boys and Girls Institute) of Wellington have been able to provide three, 3 day wānanga each year for rangatahi Māori aged 16-18. These are so rangatahi can explore whakapapa, identity and support networks for their future success as Māori.
Navigating Identity Through Pātai
The Kaupapa navigates simply through three patai:
Nō hea koe? (Where are you from)
Ko wai koe? (Who are you) and
E haere ana koe ki hea? (Where are you going)
This ‘by Māori, for Māori’ kaupapa set out to support rangatahi Māori on a journey of discovery about their whakapapa and their future direction. It was based on giving rangatahi the chance to achieve greater connection to te Ao Maori, te taiao, and through these pride in being Māori.
Strengthening Identity and Building Community
The rangatahi were encouraged to learn and grow strong in their identity and to build relationships with other rangatahi and wider Māori community, to ensure long-term support networks that they can lean on for support in the future. The purpose was for the rangatahi to feel more connected to their identity and culture and gain confidence and a sense of direction as Māori. Some rangatahi, where before they did not consider themselves even ‘Māori enough’ to attend Wānanga, were inspired towards significant study in te reo or Māori and Indigenous studies.
This hope for inspiration was also for rangatahi to give back to future wānanga as tuakana. This was the growth or at least sustainability strategy of the initiative, and it’s been overwhelmingly successful, with many rangatahi returning as tuakana for future wānanga. Over time the process of giving back will support these rangatahi to become effective and experienced leaders. At the end of the year for example, BGI hosted the rangatahi and their whānau for an afternoon to celebrate the achievements of the taiohi over the last year. When planning the wānanga, every role is open at BGI to whoever would like to have a go. At this last tuakana wānanga, almost everything was run by past rangatahi, from kai to workshops.
Stories of Transformation and Triumph
One of the young wāhine talked about the incredible friendships she’s created with people in her kura, people she never knew, and how these friendships lead to them starting a band that won the Tangata Beats Nationals that year! They also produced a waiata on Spotify. This wāhine expressed tautoko for one of her friends at wānanga and the transformation she’s seen since starting on this journey with BGI.
““She didn’t feel Māori enough to get in the van—but by the end, she was carrying the Tino Rangatiratanga flag, singing waiata, and leading in her kura.””
Both of these wāhine are going on to study Māori and Indigenous Studies at university.
Another rangatahi, a deaf tāne who had participated in the kaupapa, got emotional reflecting on how we had all become his family and how much he loved everyone and his time in the kaupapa, almost bringing the whole room to tears.
Impact That Reaches the Whānau
Parents and caregivers were also thankful, not only for the impact the kaupapa had on their tamariki, but also how that, in turn, had had impacts on their wider whānau. It was a key objective to increase confidence among rangatahi to participate in their community with the knowledge about who they are and where they have come from.
For example, four rangatahi have been inspired to deepen their understanding of their reo and whakapapa through tertiary studies. Two more rangatahi, after doing a workshop with Kauae Raro in our wānanga, went on to utilise the knowledge shared about using traditional methods of art with earth pigments to make their own artworks with earth pigments.
Rangatahi Māori developed support networks through the Kaupapa, that now enable them to move more confidently forward and engage responsibly in community. For example, one rangatahi who was in her final year of high school, would barely speak when she first came to Wānanga. She returned in the second year as a tuakana and has now taken up a job for Te Upoko o Te Ika Radio, confidently speaking on air to the motu.
A Call for Broader Support and Investment
The evidence is clear: By embracing the Kaupapa Māori path, initiatives like BGI’s Wānanga for Rangatahi empower attendees to grow confidence in Te Reo and Matauranga Māori, and a sense of belonging and commitment as young Leaders in their whānau and wider community. With such success, shouldn’t government be inspired to see this as a successful “pilot” and fund its roll out across Aotearoa? The BGI model should be noted as an effective means to prevent the loss of Te Reo, perhaps prevent poor education outcomes and grow education attendance rates, and even mitigate anti-social behaviour.
With programmes everywhere for rangatahi like this, we believe there would be less need for government to introduce laws such as the ram-raid bill, or programs for “Serious Young Offenders” like the recently funded “Boot Camps”, which evidence shows will have no impact on preventing crimes, nor “reforming” the youth subjected to them. BGI takes an evidence-based approach, building on the whakapapa and mana of every rangatahi Māori who comes, to ensure their connections and grow their aspirations for future success.
Want to learn more about BGI?
BGI, a faith-based organisation with its roots in the Presbyterian Church, has a lng history of supporting yong people in the Wellington community.
To find out more about the whole range of their work or to make a donation in support of their kaupapa you can visit: www.bgi.org.nz
Glossary:
Kaupapa – topic, plan
Kai– food, meal
Kura – school, learning
Mana – status, authority, power
Matauranga Māori – Māori knowledge – body of knowledge originating from Māori ancestors, including the Māori world view and perspectives, Māori creativity and cultural practices.
Motu – country, land, nation
Pātai – question
Rangatahi – youth
Taiohi – youth
Tāne – man, male gender
Tautoko – support
Te Ao Māori – the Māori world
Te taiao – environment, world
Te reo – Māori language
Tino Rangatiratanga – self-determination
Tuakana – older sibling or senior
Wāhine – woman, female gender
Waiata – song
Wānanga - forum
Whakapapa – genealogy, lineage, descent
Whānau – extended family or family group