Tēnā koutou te Whānau Whānui Te Kareti Taitama o Wairau

Today we were blessed to have Ngāti Kuia kaitiaki taiao, Matua Lewis, talk with tauira from MGC, MBC and Bohally at Te Hoiere. He shared the pūrakau of Matua Hautere and how the taniwha Kaikaiāwaro helped to carve out the awa between Motuweka (Havelock) and Te Hoiere.

Pakohe is a taonga which can be found in the river bed and it is synonymous with Ngāti Kuia and their relationship to the environment. The mauri (or life force) contained in all parts of the natural environment binds the spiritual and physical world.

After the kōrero from Matua Lewis, our students were able to explore and locate some Pakohe. This will be taken back to each kura for students to imbue their mauri into the Pakohe before it is placed into the new Community Hub, which will open in Term 4 on the Marlborough Girls’ College site.