Our People
Ko tō mātou whāinga kia mahi tahi tātou ki te tiaki i tō tātou rohe moana i pepehatia rā e ō tātou tūpuna.
Our common goal is to unite to protect the moana taiao that derives from our indigeneity.
Raewyn Bennett
Raewyn loves the sea. Born and grew up in Maketu with her grandfather, a traditional, subsistence fisherman. Raewyn wants to revitalise Maketu as a puna of knowledge holders and practitioners in kaitiakitanga of the sea. She says that more than ever we need to step up to protect the oceans.
Raewyn's kaitiakitanga submissions includes the customary fisheries statement for the Te Arawa Fisheries settlement, Foreshore and Seabed, NZ Coastal Plan and latterly the Te Arawa response to the Rena disaster. Raewyn has 30 year's experience in voluntary Maori community development initiatives.
She has been a representative in forums advancing Maori/indigenous rights including the Indigenous Peoples forum at the United Nations in Geneva, Fiji and Greenland. She spent 9 years as a Maori elected representative on the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, chairing the Strategic Planning and Policy. She also was instrumental in the Council endorsing and funding the return of the Kaituna River to Ongatoro. Her governance roles include BOP Regional Council, Tauranga Moana Maori District Council, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, Ngaiterangi Iwi, and two schools Boards of Trustees. She had the honour of being elected Co-Chair at an Indigenous forum on education at the Working Group on Indigenous Populations at the UN.
Raewyn has extensive educational and science networks and has developed educational programmes for both adults and children. She says the environment is as important to sustaining culture and identity as Te Reo Maori. Raewyn has a Chair Endorsement as a commissioner for RMA Hearings. She has a B.Soc Sc Hons degree (1st Class Hons) (Anthropology and Education majors).
Heeni Hope
Heeni Hope belongs to Waikato-Tainui iwi: Ngati Mahuta, Ngāti Wairere, Ngāti Kauwhata and Ngāti Pou. She has a Master's degree in Science (1st Class Hons) and is also a qualified secondary school teacher, and has taught at kura kaupapa Maori for the past 15 years.
She is fortunate to be part of a whānau actively involved in te reo Māori revitalisation, and has continued those efforts by committing to kōrero Māori with her son, attending reo wānanga (including Te Reo o te Kaakaho and Te Panekiretanga o te Reo), and normalising te reo with whānau, friends and colleagues. She is a licensed te reo Māori Interpreter. She has taught pūtaiao and other kaupapa in te reo Māori at several kura, including Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Matai, Te Kura o Mauao and Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Ruamata.
She has also been involved in pūtaiao curriculum and teacher development and worked for Te Mauri Tau/Enviroschools and NIWA and supported Maori science initiatives within Te Arawa and nationally. Heeni is acknowledged by TAKT for her matauranga Maori.
Heeni has always had a particular interest in mahinga kai, para kore and kaupapa supporting sustainable living and has recently ventured into amateur beekeeping. She is Chair of the Ruamata Waka Ama Club and considers waka to be a philosophy through which one can aspire to oranga tinana, oranga whānau, oranga taiao. Heeni is studying towards her Ph.D.
Pia Bennett
Pia is a coastie at heart. She was a co-cordinator of the Rena Oil Clean up for Te Arawa/Maketu, project managed the beads debris clean up and the complicated Te Arawa response to the Rena hearings and Environment Court which involved unending hui with a variety of organisations and people from a variety of backgrounds.
Pia is an original Trustee arising from her voluntary Rena position and work. She has a history of advocating for matauranga Maori and tikanga Maori being appropriately recognised in protecting the Environment. Pia has a working knowledge of local statutory plans regarding the Environment and led a successful case for the recognition of the cultural flow of the Waitahanui river. Her professional employment history has been in kaitiaki taiao positions, including the Ministry of Fisheries. Te Wananga o Aotearoa tutoring and Ngati Makino Heritage Trust, besides assisting many Iwi in a voluntary role with their Taiao work.
Pia is currently Environment Manager for Ngaiterangi Iwi. Pia has demonstrated her ability time and time again to attract and work with young adults needing support in their school and post-school situations. She has undertaken personal research on many marine issues adding to her knowledge on the realm of Tangaroa, including tohora and associated tikanga. Her qualifications include: PADI Open Water Diver Instructor, Boat masters, RMA Hearings Commissioner (Excellent), Bachelor of Applied Science, Diploma in Marine Studies, Diploma in Maori Leadership, Diploma in Te Reo Maori.
Pia was recently awarded a Masters Scholarship to Waikato University to study Public Policy. She lives in Maketu and has three children.
Wiremu Rupa Williams
Rupa hails from the Williams whanau of Pukehina. He and his wife, Cherie, have one child, Curtis, who is the apple of his dad's eye. Rupa is a foreman for Higgins, in the Roading, Construction and Drainage Industry and has been there since he left school. Rupa says he wants to make sure he protects the environment for his son and his son's generation.
Rupa grew up across the road from his Marae at Pukehina. "I was always out gathering kai and doing kai mahi, like fishing, eeling, snorkelling and gathering shell fish. I learnt from many elders on how, where and when to go and harvest for our Marae. I was always out, on or in the water with my father, learning different skills off him. I was always told by my father and a few other wise men to look after what we have and to take what we need, not what we want". When Rupa's father passed away in 1995, he took over as kaitiaki from him, for Pukehina Marae. Rupa is also a trustee for his other marae, Otamarakau. He says he has found this position to be quite rewarding working through many changes and challenges over the past few years, including the building of the new Wharekai.
Rupa says he has always had a keen interest in our environment, whether it be on land or sea, a "practical hands on approach". He says that it is his experiences and the inter-generational knowledge of his forbears which guide his relationship to the natural environment and which he hopes to use to enrich the Trusts activities
Laise Harris
Our most recent Trustee appointment is Laise Harris. Laise is a small-town girl at heart. Before her family shifted to Australia, she lived in Tokoroa. Her family often came to Maketu to get their kaimoana and she loves and knows the area well. Her family then. shifted to Australia with her dad working in the logging industry.
Laise never forgot Maketu and the sea and went on to gain degrees in Marine and Freshwater science and Environmental Science at Deakin University. She also fitted in Diplomas in Management and Business. Wow. Laise says that she and her family decided to come home when they heard about the Rena disaster.
Laise is a great role model for our young wahine, with her approach to life long-learning. Since coming home, Laise has embraced and extended her Te Reo, tikanga and Rongoa knowledge through Te Wananga o Aotearoa. TAKT were lucky enough to have Laise do contract work for the Trust where she did a variety of work for us. We were sad to see her go, but she left to take up a position with Ngati Raukawa as Programme Lead-Policy and Strategy, Pütake Taiao where she thrived.
Laise has since taken up a position with a National Science and Research Agency. The Trust is fortunate and delighted she agreed to take up a Trustee role with us. Haere mai, nau mai Laise.