Kia ora koutou,
We started this week with an early morning blessing, officiated by Jeremy MacLeod, for the new building in Horton St which is leased to Marine & Outdoors. It was great to see a large turn-out by the build team, whānau, other iwi and Council. Mayor John Leggett described how Rangitāne are regarded as important partners in Marlborough, and his delight to see that we are investing in our rohe. I would like to thank Evan Jones Construction and the project management team from APL for a very smooth build over eight months, delivered on-time and within budget.
Last week we received seed potato from old native varieties including Huakaroro, Karuparera, Kowiniwini, Moemoe and Waiporoporo. We also have some very old kumara varieties. Takahi Whenua will organise a spring awakening for the Tuamātene maara kai and we hope to have these planted in September. Richard Hunter will also be demonstrating how to espalier fruit trees. This is a great way to grow fruit trees if you have a small section. Please keep an eye out for the planting dates on our Facebook page.
The membership process before an election always generates questions around the process and this year is no different. All membership applications are reviewed by the Whakapapa Kōmiti for validation. The Whakapapa Kōmiti recommendations are sent to the Trustees for approval at the next Trustee meeting. Notices are then sent to all applicants by the office soon afterwards. Membership applications received in September may not have been through the validation process by the AGM (5 October), however, you can still vote if you have a membership application that is yet to be validated. These special or provisional votes will be counted by Electionz.com once membership has been validated. You can also apply for membership right up to the day prior to voting closing (4 October for online and postal voting).
Our Annual Report is available online and a hardcopy will be sent out to members over the next week (one per household). If you have any questions about the Annual Report please send me an email nick.chin@rangitane.org.nz. We shall respond to these in a timely manner or at the AGM if appropriate.
Next week is Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) and we are kicking it off on Monday night with Anton and the team from Fush. We are almost at capacity but have a few more places so please RSVP to events@rangitane.org.nz if you and your whānau want to come along. Kai will be available from 5pm-6pm followed by a 90 minute class. Everyones welcome.
We had a very nice letter from Helen Leahy. Helen is the CE of Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, who are one of our funders for our language and culture strategy. I have included an excerpt below. Well done Jeremy and the office team!
“I am inspired by the whānau and momentum created during this report period. It was stunning to learn you have commenced a series of 27 national Rangitāne wānanga with eleven of those being in Te Waipounamu.
“Thank you for also sharing information about the blessing and launch of your second resource this quarter, Kohinga Mōteatea. It was great to hear that champions have been indentified in each Rangitāne identified region, supported by Jeremy MacLeod, to lead the waiata wānanga and build a significant layer onto Te Rūnanga a Rangitāne o Wairau te reo revitalisation strategy.”
Ngā mihi, nā
Nick