Sixty kaimahi Māori were welcomed on to Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae for the Te Toi Tauira mō te Matariki national conference on Wednesday.
The three-day hui is a chance for Māori kaimahi and ākonga from tertiary institutions across Aotearoa to share knowledge, celebrate success, and plan for the future of Māori education.
The event is making a comeback after a six-year hiatus since MIT hosted it in 2019.
Unitec and Manukau Institute of Technology are co-hosting the 21st edition of Toi Tauira which was established in 1999. It has been a decade since Unitec last hosted the event in 2015.
This year’s theme is “Whiria te tangata Māori, Whiria te matauranga” (Weave the people, weave the knowledge), which DCE – Academic, Prof Martin Carroll touched on in his opening address.
After a mihi to the organisers and acknowledging those who initiated the event, he spoke about the importance of having a Māori voice in tertiary education and the transition of MIT and Unitec to forming a single entity.
“We understand that the pathway to success for Māori must be charted by Māori,” Prof Carroll says.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done. But with large scale change comes large scale opportunities, so the theme could not be more apt.”
Lee Cooper (Ngāpuhi), co-chair Te Tira Whakahaere, Te Toi Tauira mō te Matariki gave a brief history of the event and its purpose.
“Toi Tauira is a kaupapa Māori that we’ve tried to grow every year since the late 1990s. It was an opportunity as a hui to come together as Māori to break down our institutional barriers, not to fight for the tauira (learners), but have conversations about what we do with our tauira and how we support other kaimahi Māori.”
“We really need this wānanga to reconnect, share knowledge and good practise of how to manaaki Māori.”
Mr Cooper also acknowledged the presence of teacher, author, poet, historian and pioneering Māori broadcaster. Tā (Sir) Haare Williams who gifted the name of the event when he was Unitec’s Dean of Māori Education and inaugural Pae Ārahi in the 1990s.
Tā Williams set the tone for the conference with a heartfelt keynote address where he shared reflections of his upbringing and the importance of early childhood education, which he described as the “foundation of our whole future” and later on helped to inspire his own formula for teaching.
“It became a foundation for my philosophy on life. The first one is respect – for nature, for our ancestors, and for our children. The second one is responsibility. The third is responsiveness, to need, to the damage that is caused to nature. The fourth one is reciprocity,” he explained.
Reflecting on this year’s theme, Vivienne Merito (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Pūkeko), Taharangi, Director – Māori Success, shared the Te Waka Houra concept and the coming together of our two institutions to become a single entity in January 2026.
“We are grateful to be here to whiriwhiri (discuss) and whakawhiti whakaaro (exchange ideas), and find some respite together through the change and to get some inspiration,” she says.
“As our institutions prepare to merge, we want to find a way to ensure our tuakiritanga (identity) and whakapapa (geneology) as individual institutions is not lost as we come together – two waka have come together.
“In our histories we have supported each other and shared resources, and interestingly on our waka we have our values which will always be at the heart of what we do. But what we discovered on that journey is our values are similar and we have more in common. So we look forward on that exploring this theme over the next few days.”
Dr Wiremu Manaia (Tainui, Ngāti Awa), Director – Māori Education, MIT added: “This whakataukī speaks about the importance of interconnection between people and knowledge. Strength, understanding, and progress comes when we weave relationships together with learning.”
“Collaborating on such a significant event reflects the future we are building together and demonstrates how we will work, operate, and function. We look forward to this year’s hui with great excitement and in anticipation.”
This year’s programme included a presentation by Ako Aotearoa’s Mata Moana team, who were the main sponsor for this year’s event, and a student panel discussing the issues facing ākonga Māori in their institutions.
A key focus of this year’s hui is the impact of artificial intelligence on Māori learners and kaimahi, as the sector adapts to new technologies.
“We’ve got to learn how to roll with it, and how that’s going to impact us in the tertiary education area, because it’s here, and everyone’s using it, and the education sector is leaning towards it. It’s full of Western knowledge, but what concerns us is the Māori knowledge in there, and the way it’s collected and the way it’s used, and what influence it’s going to have,” says Dr Manaia.
Unitec kaimahi featured prominently in the lineup of presenters this year.
Associate Professor Byron Rangiwai from Ngā Wai a te Tūī gave his presentation Flight of the Pīwakawaka: Supporting Tertiary Learning for Māori with ADHD in Ngākau Mahaki, which was one of the highlights on Wednesday.
Kaihautu, Victor Grbic presented his abstract on ‘Resources for weaving people and knowledge into Learner Success initiatives’ in Puukenga on Thursday.
Kaitiaki – Taiao, Hinewaimarama Reihana-White facilitated an outdoor activity, introducing our guests to Te Wai Unuroa o Wairaka and Rangimārie pā harakeke.
Kaihautu, Hohepa Renata gave our guests a tour and korero of the campus during Whare Kōrero me ngā hitori, Tāmaki Herenga Waka hikoi.
On Thursday night at a dinner function, Unitec kaimahi, Pae Arahi, Hare Paniora, Kaihautu, Hohepa Renata and Academic Learning Development Lecturer, Nina Pelling were recognised for their contributions to Toi Tauira.
“It’s reminded me of the journey to know who I am and how I fit in the world that I exist in as Māori and understanding now why I have such strong tīkanga,” says Ms Pelling, who attended the inaugural event in 1999.
“I have a whakapapa with this hui. It’s the thing that stimulates you to stay on that journey. And for me, it’s always about giving back to the young people that I’m working with now, who are still on that journey of knowing who they are,” she says.
The event closes on Friday with reflections, open floor, poroporoaki and karakia.
Find out more about this year’s programme https://www.unitec.ac.nz/about-us/te-toi-tauira-m-te-matariki-w-nanga-tau-2025
