Te Poihi Campbell – Meremere Marae, Taranaki: Tē taea te whati i tēnei mea te whakapapa. Tērā tērā mamae, me te kaiātanga mai rā o te whenua, he tino kaupapa i roto i a tātou o Taranaki tēnei mea te kaiātanga mai rā o te whenua, te tāhae o te whenua, koinā te muru me te raupatu. Kei te rongo tonu mātou o te kāinga nei i tērā o ngā mamae.

Whakapapa cannot be severed.

There is deep anguish and there’s the theft of the land. That is a significant issue for us Taranaki people, the way the land was stolen, how it was plundered and confiscated. We still feel this pain.

Tēnā koe. My name is Te Poihi Campbell and I’m from this marae, called Meremere Marae.

Text: Meremere Marae and Parininihi ki Waitotara are working together to mend the hurt caused by the Taranaki land confiscations.

Jacqui King – Head of Corporate Services, Parininihi ki Waitotara: The motivation was land loss. It was the loss of land. It had become significant for us as Taranaki Māori.

The boundary line started from Parininihi in the north and there’s a terrible zig zag which the Crown at the time put in place which confiscated all of our land. And it started at Parininihi ki Waitotara and that “ki” is the distance to Waitotara in the south.

Text: Parininihi ki Waitotara Incorporation manages 20,000 hectares of whenua Māori in Taranaki and represents the interests of over 10,000 shareholders.

Adrian Poa – Shareholder Advisor, Parininihi ki Waitotara: We have a history with Taranaki, we have a long history from the 1880s. Parininihi ki Waitotara, the West Coast Settlement leases, have been in this place and being able to re-establish that relationship with our whānau to their whenua is very important

Cherryl Thompson – Shareholder, Trustee for Hine Rose Whānau Trust: My name is Cherryl Thompson. I’m the chair of the Hine Rose Whānau Trust which is a family trust of shareholders with PKW.

I went to school here when I was 5 but we didn’t live here for very long and I did most of my growing up in Auckland.

Adrian Poa: I’ve got the best job. My role is about making the connections between our shareholders so they can come and make contributions back to PKW, helping them to re-establish their relationships back with Parininihi ki Waitotara and with Taranaki.

Cherryl Thompson: On my grandmother’s side, most of the land is in the Hawera district but where it is exactly, that’s one of the things I’m still reconnecting to. But for us it’s more about the connection with the whānau.

I have 7 children, so everybody has a turn at coming back and then when I’m not available my older daughter now she’s started bringing her sisters back with her.

Text: Whānau from Meremere Marae are finding connection with their whenua by naming two Parininihi ki Waitotara farms.

Adrian Poa: Their relationship to their whenua has always been strong because this land belongs to the people from this hapū.

Te Poihi Campbell: So we thought as a starter we’ll look at the naming of the birds and then the very first bird that came to mind as one of our kaitiaki was the ruru.

Adrian Poa: Being able to share the stories about the land, about the connections with the land and being able to re-establish that relationship with the land to the people is more empowering. It makes the stories of Parininihi ki Waitotara a lived experience.

Te Poihi Campbell: The second farm, the same procedure happened again. The day that we unveiled that particular sign there was a kāhu sitting on the fence waiting for us. That was awesome.

Cherryl Thompson: We’ll keep coming back, we’ll keep having reconnections with family but the one that we’re most excited about is next year that we will actually be planning a wānanga with Te Poihi who’s going to help us with his knowledge of all the land and the whakapapa.

Te Poihi Campbell: Engari anō rā, nā te whakaaro rangatira o Parininihi ki Waitotara e taea e mātou te tūhono anōtia ki tō tātou nei whenua, ka tū hei tangata whenua ki runga i te marae. Ka tū hei tangata whenua i ngā mahi kei mua i te aroaro o mātou o tēnei whenua.

The leadership of Parininihi ki Waitotara has enabled us to reconnect with our land and be the custodians of the marae, to be the guardians of matters arising for us who are tangata whenua of this land.

Jacqui King: We’ve persevered. We’ve persevered in the face of adversity and we’ve done that through determination and through resilience. It’s a fundamental part of who we are as Māori but particularly for Taranaki Māori.