Te Tumu Herenga Waka, The Oldest University Marae In Aotearoa, Reawakened After Years-long Closure

Sunday, 8 December 2024, 8:51 pm
Article: RNZ

Pokere Paewai, Māori issues reporter

One of the oldest university marae in the country has been reawakened after being closed for more than three years.

The whare whakairo of Te Tumu Herenga Waka at Victoria University of Wellington had been closed since 2021, when construction on a new building beside it began.

The marae was reawakened on Friday with the official opening of the new building - named Ngā Mokopuna - 38 years to the day since its opening.

Justice Joe Williams was a Victoria University student when the marae was first established.

"It was the old chaplaincy here at number 36 Kelburn Parade and for some reason the chaplaincy moved down the hill and the Māoris moved into number 36 and we turned it into a marae."

Te Tumu Herenga Waka was the first university-based marae in the country, he said, and was used for pōwhiri, classes and noho marae.

Williams said the university was full of legendary Māori educators during his time there in the '80s.

"It was a special time in te ao Māori I think. Te ao Māori was kind of opening its eyes and stretching its muscles a little and expressing itself perhaps more strongly than it had for quite some considerable time.

"So my generation of students got caught up in that energy, got inspired by that energy, and of course it affected our life courses, all of us."

The likes of tohunga Ruka Broughton, the first professor of Māori studies Sir Hirini Moko Mead, and Aotearoa's first Māori news broadcaster Dr Wiremu Parker were teaching at the time.

Then there were the kuia, Tiahuia Gray and Te Ripowai Higgins, among many others.

"These were all extraordinary women actually, who who provided examples, good examples of what it's like to be an ethical Māori, to be strong in your Māoritanga in the way that you acted and not just in the way that you learnt, and the men were the same," Williams said.

He was seeing the same thing happening now, with the new building, Ngā Mokopuna, being a great physical example, he said.

Victoria University deputy vice-chancellor (Māori) Rawinia Higgins said the new building was also about celebrating the people who had contributed to the university.

A marae was not just about the buildings, but about people and relationships, she said.

"For a very long time [the marae has] housed and supported many, many generations of students who've come to Te Herenga Waka to study. [It] provided shelter, provided warmth as part of that learning, but also that opportunity to be able to practise their culture and their language in a real environment, an authentic environment."

Te Tumu Herenga Waka means 'the hitching post of canoes', and symbolises the diversity of students from various iwi and waka who gather at the university.

Named by the late Dr Wiremu Parker, it reflects the idea of unity, bringing together students from different backgrounds into a shared space for learning and growth.

The university also adopted the name of the marae as its Māori name, Te Herenga Waka, in recognition of the Māori identity it created.

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