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RNZ News
6 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Te Tai Tokerau takes both top beef farming prizes at Ahuwhenua Trophy 2025 awards
Hūhana Lyndon, Tama Potaka and Pita Morrison on stage at the Ahuwhenua Trophy 2025 award ceremony. Photo: Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira Māori from Te Tai Tokerau were the big winners at the 2025 Ahuwhenua Trophy 2025 awards with both top prizes going to Northland farmers. The Northland-based Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust was awarded the 2025 Ahuwhenua Trophy for excellence in Māori sheep and beef farming, while Te Tai Tokerau farm manager Coby Warmington took out the 2025 Young Māori Farmer Award at a packed ceremony in Palmerston North on Friday. The Ahuwhenua Trophy dates back to 1933 and was established by Sir Āpirana Ngata and the Governor General at the time, Lord Charles Bledisloe. It remains one of the most prestigious and contested awards for Māori farming. At least 800 people gather for the Ahuwhenua Trophy 2025 award ceremony. Photo: Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira At least 800 people were at the event, including Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono I te po, the Māori Queen, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka and other Māori farmers and their whānau. The Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust's whenua is located near the east coast settlement of Whangaruru, north of Whangārei. Its cattle farm takes up about a third of the 1100 hectares of land owned by the trust. In 1952, the Department of Māori Affairs held a hui for the then-484 registered owners of the whenua. Despite only 70 being present and only 24 signing a resolution in support, the department went ahead with the consolidation of the whenua into a 'Land Development Scheme' disconnecting the people from the whenua for decades. The trust took back control of the whenua in 2020 with little-to-no farming know-how and no stock. Since then, it has transformed the whenua into a thriving bull-beef operation with around 1200 bulls. In her acceptance speech, Green MP and Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust co-chair Hūhana Lyndon said thanked her wider Ngāti Wai whānau and elders for their support. "Our tūpuna fought so hard to have the land returned and when you are unable to walk your whenua, when you have a tenant that would not let you on without supervision, our ability to take our land back was transformational." Ahuwhenua Trophy 2025 Award winner Pita Morrison accepting the supreme award. Photo: Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira Co-chair Pita Morrison thanked the whānau who travelled south to support the trust, and those who had passed on. "From the time of our founding tipuna, Manaia, who came to our whenua, our people have been here … if it was not for the strength that our tūpuna have given to us and our people we would not be here. "To our people that are here today, as the descendants of our old people, I thank you, mihi to you, on behalf of our trust and we are so proud to be here with you today," Morrison said. Ahuwhenua Trophy 2025 Young Māori Farmer Award winner Coby Warmington Photo: Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira It was a similar sentiment from Young Māori Famer Award winner Coby Warmington, 28, who thanked his wife Holly and his fellow finalists who he described as "obviously great farmers" but "even better people". Warmington (Te Mahurehure, Ngāpuhi) started working at Waima Topu Beef in January 2021 as a shepherd and general hand while the farm was starting a re-building phase and was promoted to farm manager only two years later, in March 2023. Each finalist received a $5000 scholarship, courtesy of Te Tumu Paeroa, The Office of the Māori Trustee, with the overall winner getting a total of $10,000. Warmington said he wanted to start implementing some of things he learned on his own farm in Waima. "I was supported by my employers to apply for the award and I just wanted to test my limits, socially. "It's been amazing, meeting all these great people and spending time with all these young Māori leaders. I'll never forget the experience." Te Tumu Paeroa lead Dr Charlotte Severne said the scholarship would likely be used to get more skills overseas. "It's for them to study and study further, that opportunity to put something into themselves. Studying is not cheap. "These ones have more qualifications than some who have entered the awards so they'll look at training offshore, maybe do a tour offshore. That's as good as any tohū, I think." Severne said. Māori development Minister Tama Potaka said whenua was an integral part of Māori identity. "For us its something that is enduring and perpetual, we won't let go of our whakapapa because it defines who we are. As a result, we do have to figure out how we use that as a foundation for our livelihoods, for jobs, for enterprise and for opportunities for our young people. "I had the great opportunity to grow up on a sheep and beef farm only 45 minutes away in a place called Rata, up Rangitīkei. We had amongst our families 150,000 to 160,000 sheep there in the 1900s. "Certainly for me it's, again, linking back to identity and whakapapa but also providing a platform for economic growth." Potaka said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
18-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Māori Queen emotionally gifted whale jawbone at Nelson marae
Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po on her first visit to Whakatu Marae in Nelson. Photo: RNZ/Samantha Gee In her first official visit to the top of the South Island, Māori Queen Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, was gifted a large whale jawbone, a taonga that brought her to tears. It was the first time a Māori monarch has visited Te Tauihu since former Queen Dame Te Atairangikaahu, Te Arikinui's grandmother opened the Whakatū Marae wharekai, Mauriora, in 2005. The Queen was welcomed onto the marae on Saturday by the eight iwi of Te Tauihu, with the event led by Tainui Waka iwi (Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Rārua and Ngāti Toa Rangatira). The kaupapa of the event was to honour the late King Tūheitia and receive his kawe mate (mourning ceremony), alongside reaffirming the shared whakapapa and commitment between Te Tauihu and the Kiingitanga. The jawbone (kauae parāoa) and 48 teeth (niho) were gifted to Maori Queen Te Arikinui from the eight iwi of Te Tauihu and came from a sperm whale that washed ashore on Rabbit Island in 2016. Photo: RNZ/Samantha Gee Te Arikinui and members of the Kingitanga and Waikato-Tainui iwi were addressed by representatives of each of the eight Te Tauihu iwi during a powhiri, the Queen joined in the whakangahau kapa haka and enjoyed a formal lunch that included crayfish, kina and creamed paua, before planting a tree on the marae grounds. She was then presented with a long awaited gift - a whale's jawbone (kauae parāoa) and its teeth (niho) - in an emotional ceremony, nearly a decade after the whale washed ashore. Barney Thomas, who represented the eight Te Tauihu iwi making the gift, said it was originally intended for Te Arikinui's grandmother, to acknowledge the support her grandmother, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, had shown Te Tauihu iwi, particularly in the establishment of Whakatū Marae. The jawbone and teeth came from a bull sperm whale that washed up on Rabbit Island from Tasman Bay in 2016. It was more than 18 metres long and weighed between 60 and 70 tonnes. The jawbone was removed from a bull sperm whale that washed ashore dead on Rabbit Island in 2016. Photo: Supplied/ Department of Conservation Thomas said they named the whale Koro and had intended to present it to King Tūheitia before his death, but he had been too unwell to receive it. The 4.2 metre jawbone and 48 teeth had been held in trust by the eight iwi since being removed from the whale and it symbolised the whakapapa ties between Te Tauihu and the Kingitanga. Waikato-Tainui leader Tuku Morgan said the visit to Whakatū Nelson marked the return to a place that had been very special for the family as the late Dame Te Atairangikaahu had sought refuge in Te Tauihu. "This is a place where she came to talk to some very close friends, notwithstanding the fact that we are genealogically aligned to the tribes here in this region, the [former] Māori Queen found this a very special place." The whare tupuna, Kaataki, at Whakatu Marae was opened by Te Arikinui's grandmother, Queen Dame Te Atairangikaahu, in 1995. Photo: RNZ/Samantha Gee "It's remarkable because it's nearly 30 years since the opening of the meeting house (Kaakati), it was opened by her grandmother and for her to retrace her steps come today is hugely important." Morgan said it was difficult to find the appropriate words to explain exactly how Te Arikinui felt about the significance of the gift she had been presented with. "These are things that actually come once in a generation, you don't see this kind of gift, this sort of taonga, given all that often." He said it was also special that she had chosen to participate in kapa haka during the visit, which was not common. Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po was visibly moved after being gifted the jawbone and teeth from a sperm whale, a gift originally intended for her grandmother. Photo: RNZ/Samantha Gee "The fact that she got up on her feet and performed alongside her iwi is a clear indication that this hui at Te Tauihu is hugely important, it just connects us as a people, it's a celebration of who we are and she was moved by it." Morgan said Te Arikinui supported Te Tauihu's bid to host Te Matatini in 2027 and had attended the two previous national kapa haka competitions hosted in Nelson, Te Mana Kuratahi in 2023 and Te Huinga Whetū in 2024. Te Arikinui, who performed at Te Matatini herself, was a staunch supporter of kapa haka. "It is the cultural showcase of this nation, it is the lifeblood of the Māori people. It is the heart and soul of who we are as a people and she's a total supporter of the cultural renaissance in this country and more especially, Te Matatini." Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po joining in the kapa haka at Whakatū Marae. Photo: RNZ/Samantha Gee Morgan said it was more important than ever, for iwi to be united. "Across this country, we are suffering the consequences of some some of the most racist policies by this government, hard-fought policies and laws that have been passed over time have been removed, got rid of, wiped out by this government. So, this is this is an important time for us to stand together, to work together not only politically but also economically." Ngāti Kuia representative Tiana Alesana said there was much excitement among the many tamariki and rangatahi who had come from across the region to see the Queen, who they felt an affinity with given her youth and support of kapa haka. "There's been this real resurgence of understanding of Māori, especially here in Te Tauihu among our tamariki. They know more than what I knew and what our kaumātua were able to know and I think all the generations know how special it is to be here and to look after our ariki for the day. Ngāti Kuia representative Tiana Alesana. Photo: RNZ/Samantha Gee Alesana said Te Arikinui represented her father at the kapa haka primary school nationals in Nelson in 2023 and the secondary school nationals the following year, which meant she was recognisable by tamariki and rangatahi. Then with her crowning and becoming Te Arikinui Kuini Ngā wai hono i te po, with social media, with the availability of live streaming of kaupapa, have this affinity to her already. Te Ātiawa o te Waka-A-Maui chair Rachel Hāte said for some, it was a once in a lifetime event to host the Kiingitanga. The iwi had hosted both King Tūhitea and Dame Te Atairangikaahu at Waikawa Marae in Picton and were now able to welcome Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po at Whakatū Marae in Nelson. Te Ātiawa o te Waka-A-Maui chair Rachel Hāte. Photo: RNZ/Samantha Gee "Seeing our Queen rise up, stand and whakamana a kaikōrero on her side, for our babies to see that, that was huge." Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu associate trustee Daniel Solomon said the queen's visit had strengthened South Island iwi connections with the Kiingitanga. "I have two young daughters and my oldest, she idolises the Queen and as a parent it's awesome to see someone of that standard for our people, being an icon and an example." Ngāti Koata pou whakahaere (general manager) Turi Hippolite said the Queen's visit was a reminder of the importance of the strength of kotahitanga. Ngāti Koata pou whakahaere (general manager) Turi Hippolite. Photo: RNZ/Samantha Gee "From an iwi perspective where Māori are currently going through challenges, whether it be political or socially, but this visit here reminds us that with a bit of a kōtahitanga and that we can actually bind together and stay strong. "It's significant that we can actually build that relationship with our Tainui cousins again, significant that our young people see the Queen and her readiness for our rangatahi to aspire to higher things."
