Rosa Hibbert-Schooner (she/her) | Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Awa
Te Mana Ākonga’s collective vision is a decolonised tertiary education system where ākonga Māori, whānau, hapū, and iwi aspirations are reflected and realised. We believe that through collaboration, activism, working with Māori and upholding our values—Rangatiratanga, Mana whakapapa, Hiranga, Tauutuutu, Mana Ākonga, Aroha and Kanorau—we have the right solutions for this.
Recently, we had one of our quarterly wānanga, Ngā Hui Kaiārahi, and had the honour of hosting Pūrangakura as a part of our partnership in Generation Kāinga in Dunedin, from the 30th of June to the 2nd of July.
Pūrangakura is an independent Kaupapa Māori research centre that is led by Rangatira. “Our work focuses on providing research and supporting development that enhances who we are and how we want to live as Māori—protecting and nurturing our taonga (treasures) to support intergenerational well-being for Aotearoa. Our work seeks to be transformative for our communities, who we believe will always lead the most meaningful change”.
Generation Kāinga, in which Te Mana Ākonga is a rangatahi partner, is a rangahau based on rangatahi building a regenerative and resilient Aotearoa.
Our vision for Generation Kāinga focuses on enabling rangatahi to transform the future of kāinga through indigenous collective and participatory processes of reimagination, resilience and regeneration—so that Aotearoa is ‘the best place in the world’ for rangatahi and their whānau to live.
Student housing is an issue at the forefront of Te Mana Ākonga’s mind, especially under a government that is providing benefits for landlords and those minority of the wealthiest people. Hosting Generation Kāinga at our wānanga meant that we were able to share the struggles, specifically around student housing. We visited some of the student housing, and showed our research team the realities students are living in.
As one of the multiple rangatahi partner organisations in this rangahau, it can sometimes feel like a very privileged position we sit in as students. We have access to education, informing us how we can let our voice be heard and how we can impact change—information that is often not shared with the most vulnerable people. It leaves us after this wānanga considering how most of us, as tauira, are manuhiri on ancestral grounds of others tipuna—and questioning how we are protecting this whenua and leaving it better. It also leaves a pertinent reminder to our students that, back home in our communities, we are the ones who have access to the voice of the whakaaro and the mātauranga to make a different path. How do we extend these arms like olive branches to those most harmed, for our people and broader Indigenous whānau everywhere?
Some takeaways from this wānanga:
The state of Rangatahi homelessness in Aotearoa for Māori is one of the worst in the world.
There are up to 30,000 homeless rangatahi in Auckland alone
Rangatahi leadership was enabled by the development we have had internally as Te Mana Ākonga, and the support and trust of our pakeke to let us do our thing.
Rangatahi doing introductions meant getting pakeke to do things they may not remember as fun: riff-offs and dancing, mixed with laughter and hakas. There were learning opportunities when going on a tour, and there was sadness and reflection—on the state of student housing, and in remembering our whanaunga lost at significant tohu.
Rangatahi spoke their truth of our kōrero, and pakeke saw us. It was beautiful to hear the reactions to our kaupapa; most beautiful of all was the leadership of our youngest rangatahi.
This rangahau is an opportunity for rangatahi to have our say in what is next. The most crucial part is making sure we hear all voices from all experiences and communities
Wānanga is needed on how we reach the most vulnerable rangatahi and how we can utilise our privileges if we genuinely believe in a decolonised future of Aotearoa