MAI WAITAPU KI RUNGA TE POU KI TE TONGA
KI WAIHŌHONU TE POU KI TE RAKI
E PIKI AKE KI TE TAUMATA O RUAHINE
WHAKAWHITI ATU KI TE TAUMATA O TE WHAKAUAE A TAMATEA PŌKAI WHENUA
KO NGĀ TAMA TOKOTORU KAHUNGUNU, RUAEHU ME TAMAKŌPIRI MŌKAI PĀTEA E NGUNGURU NEI
Ko Aorangi te maunga tapu, ko Ruahine ngā pae maunga
Ko Moawhango rahi, ko Rangitīkei ngā Awa
Ko Rātā, ko Winiata, ko Opaea, ko Moawhango ngā Marae.
He uri mokopuna ahau o Ngā Iwi Nui Tonu o Mōkai Pātea, ko Ngāti Whitikaupeka, Tamakōpiri, Hauiti me Ngāi te Ohuake.
Ko Pia Nganeko Potaka raua ko Steven Te Pahoke Bennett ōku mātua.
Ko Meretini Bennett-Huxtable tōku ingoa.
I was born in Whanganui and raised in Taihape, where I now live as a mum to three young mana wahine on our ancestral lands in Mōkai Pātea. I'm raising our girls in the lessons of sustainability and survival with the whenua whether as a gardener, hunter, gatherer or diver immersed in our taiao. We live flanked by the landmarks and sites of significance as told through our whakapapa.
An eagerness from a young age to learn the intricate art of whakapapa, under my mother's watchful eye, has helped to acquire transferable skills in building relationships, networking and collaborating. I have always been passionate about the wisdom of our tupuna, and I believe that this wisdom can help us as Māori to live vibrant and healthy lives.
I have been actively part of the movement of Maramataka in the Whanganui, Rangitīkei and Ruapehu region since 2017, however I have been a practitioner of it from birth. This passion for Maramataka has led me into dynamic and innovative mahi that is oriented around increasing community and whānau wellbeing through the active application of mātauranga Māori. I am currently employed as a Lead Systems Innovator at Healthy Families Whanganui Rangitīkei Ruapehu where I get to mobilise with our communities to explore and think innovatively, developing opportunities to tell and measure our own narrative as indigenous people.
This passion for the revitalisation and evolution of mātauranga Māori in practice has led me into the research space. I am currently undertaking a Masters of Māori & Indigenous Leadership through Aotahi at the University of Canterbury. This Masters work focuses on reclaiming our wellbeing through maramataka. My aim is to contribute to the body of knowledge that informs a preventative health approach based in mātauranga Māori.
I am also a part of a research team working on Tai-o-Rongo, a kaupapa Māori programme of research that seeks to explore how Māori food and fibre producers can revitalise Māori ancestral knowledge systems to transform the future of Māori agribusiness. This programme involves Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporation, Ngāti Rangi and Ngā Waihua o Paerangi Trust, as well as other uri of Taranaki and Whanganui. This research will happen over the next three years, as we ask: How do we build capacity and capability to preserve and reignite Māori ancestral knowledge systems and practices for understanding our natural world?
I am really excited about the opportunity presented by the Summer Studentship with Whakauae. As I get increasingly involved in academic research around my passions, I recognise my own need to learn alongside experienced Māori researchers and to deepen my applied research skills. I am passionate about communicating our insights and learnings in a way that is accessible and engaging for our people, and so I am particularly interested in the focus area of Translation, Uptake & Impact. This Summer Studentship would offer me the opportunity to advance my research skills so I can then take them into my other areas of work and research, enabling me to give more effectively to my communities and to increase the uptake of mātauranga Māori systems for the betterment of Māori wellbeing.
