Kōrero is Pukerua Bay’s new community newsletter. It’s a place for keeping our community connected and informed. A place for celebrating what we have and working together to make it better. Through the generous support of our advertisers and sponsors, issues will periodically land in your letterbox throughout the year.
National Library of New Zealand: 45369835 / ALMA 21361949640002836
WorldCat: OCLC 1249555898
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Next Issue: out in September 2023
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Kōrero is brought to you by a small group of locals in the hope that, over time, everyone in our community will find something in it that is useful, interesting … even exciting! For that to happen, we need your involvement. If you have items to contribute or would like to advertise, please email us via newsletter@pukeruabay.org.nz or use the Contact Us form on this website.
The copy deadline for the next issue is Tuesday 1 August, 2023.
Editorial, July 2023
Kia ora
Mānawatia a Matariki!
Happy Māori New Year!
It’s a great pleasure to bring you this special Matariki issue of Kōrero. Matariki is a time for reflection and celebration, acknowledging the past, and looking ahead to what the new year will bring. We do all that in this issue, beginning with grateful acknowledgement of our contributors, distributors, advertisers, and sponsors. Special thanks go to Ahu Charitable Trust for sponsoring this issue and to Pelorus Trust whose recent grant gives us confidence we can keep going! Also, to Mark Tantrum for the beautiful Matariki photos.
Gill England takes us to the past, telling us the story of the first modern-day Matariki celebrations in Pukerua Bay (page 3). Then Ahu Charitable Trust and Pukerua Bay Hub bring us to the present, sharing plans for this year’s celebration (pages 10–11). There’s also a chance to win a copy of Miriama Kamo’s latest book by drawing Waipunārangi, the star that is the focus of this year’s celebration (page 13).
The future is represented by our tamariki and by stories from the school. Piata Gargiulo tells us about the kapa haka group and what it means to her, and Daniel Wharakura explains the purpose and activities of the school’s whānau group (pages 8–9). The kapa haka group will perform at the Matariki celebration, and the whānau group will once again be putting down a hāngi – between them, they will feed our bellies and our souls! Ben Christie reports on the recent workshop on constructing a local curriculum for our school (page 12).
Matariki reminds us of our close connection to the natural world and how our own hauora (health and wellbeing) rises and falls with that of our land and waterways. Waipunārangi is connected to the rains and other atmospheric conditions. We know only too well how, as the planet warms, we are experiencing changes in our rainfall patterns, often to devastating effect. So, it’s appropriate that in this issue, we share stories of the work being done to combat climate change in our community and across our region (pages 4–7).
It’s great to know that our community value of manaakitanga also came through strongly at the local curriculum workshop. So, what is it like to be a new person coming into our community? In the next issue, we’d love to have stories from people who have done that. We’d be especially interested to hear from people who have come to us from overseas, be that the Cook Strait or the open oceans! Please deliver your copy by 1 August.
We acknowledge mana whenua of Pukerua Bay, Ngāti Toa Rangatira. For Ngāti Toa news, see www.ngatitoa.iwi.nz