Paper short abstract:

Ngāi Te Rākatō Academy was established in response to the continued effects of colonization on marae and the place of tamariki in their futures. Framed on how young Māori experience and articulate their cultural connections and encourages intergenerational learnings back to their ancestral lands.

Paper long abstract:

Created by the 2023 New Zealand General Election, the coalition stated, ‘all references to…’relationship-based education guidelines’ will be removed and replaced from curriculum’ and, ‘to stop all work confirming the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has no binding legal effect on New Zealand.’ Electioneering tactics of ‘Māori-bashing’ is not new, responses to the continued attacks to our cultural well-being against volatile successive governments are necessary. Many are faced with intergenerational and geographical barriers in accessing their culture, ancestral lands and identity; 95% of whom have little to no familial connections to their ancestral marae. Despite efforts, the Battle Plan must change, strengthen our resolve, reconnecting our whakapapa - raise Rangatira.

Ngāi Te Rākatō Academy (NTRA)was established in response to the continued effects of colonization on marae and the place of tamariki in their futures. Its aims are to develop Rangatira founded on the principle whai Mātauranga by encouraging our tamariki to visualise their own goals in the context of where we live, socialise and interact and to better understand our environment, communities and, in the world we live. NTRA is a unique model that creates the climate for intergenerational connection to their past, their present and to develop their futures through fostering relationships with their marae and each other. Key is to ensure we embed Ngāi Te Rākatō tikanga: cultural knowledge, and kawa; leadership and governance, within our tamariki confirming that our practices live on in future generations.