Pou Tikanga hosted the “Kotahitanga Wānanga” focused on understanding and eliminating racism, strengthening rangatiratanga, preserving mātauranga tuku iho and Kotahitanga. Despite flooding in Tāmaki and a State of Emergency declared in Tai Tokerau, the wānanga was well attended both online and in person. The Wānanga was held on the Tuesday preceding the National Iwi Chairs Forum and included a line-up of speakers that were of a high calibre.

Pou Tikanga believed that the presentation on the Doctrine of Discovery presented by Tina Ngata and preservation of mātauranga presented by Rereata Mākiha and Dame Rangimarie (Naida) Glavish should form the basis of what is taught in schools, posing the proposition that racism is by design and entrenched in the colonised mind. Our own mātauranga is powerful, practical and relevant to the challenges facing Māori.

Pou Tikanga also received nominations for Patricia Grace and Kahurangi Tariana Tūria to become members of Te Whare Pūkenga.

The Whānau Rangatiratanga (People’s Plan) project is under way. It aims to inform whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori organisations of their rights under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to provide them with support to plan for implementing it in order to help strengthen their Rangatiratanga/Mana Motuhake to reduce discrimination and to improve outcomes to achieve equality in their communities. Cabinet has agreed to funding to provide some support for the project.

The Matike Mai Aotearoa Rangatahi has been reactivating the work needed to ensure that the 2016 Matike Mai Aotearoa report is implemented by 2040. Their well-attended wānanga on 15 January served as an opportunity to collectivize the rangatahi voice on Matike Mai Aotearoa, to facilitate education and understanding for Matike Mai Aotearoa, and to workshop the immediate and mid-term actions required to realise the aspirations of 2040.

The Forum agreed to use this year’s general election to make Constitutional Transformation an election issue, and that iwi leaders would initiate constitutional conversations with local government.