Caring for Papatūānuku
EHF Fellow: Hana Maihi
Hana Maihi is a young Māori woman on a mission to follow in the footsteps of her tupuna (ancestors) to care for Papatūānuku (mother earth) and the taiao (environment) for generations to come.
Hana grew up on her papakāinga (ancestral village) with the busy city centre of Auckland at its tribal doorstep. It wasn’t until she connected with other like-minded rangatahi Māori on a kaupapa that centred around whakapapa (genealogy) and community service that she was awakened to the need for serious change in our world.
“I saw for myself the degradation of our taiao (environment) and the harsh realities faced by many due to our changing climate and dysfunctional system. It underlined the inequities in access to quality health & education and how far we still have to go to uphold and honor the vision and intentions set out in the Treaty of Waitangi.”
-Hana Maihi
As part of her enquiry into her whakapapa, Hana was able to learn about the lived experiences and secret histories of her tupuna. She says that learning about these events helped her understand the disconnection that young rangatahi like herself felt in the school system when they weren’t taught this rich history.
Her passion was emboldened by this experience and she has since gone on to express her experiences through pūrakau, Māori stories and through design and art and activism.
Hana explains that this has helped her overcome the disconnection and lack of purpose she once felt as a young person living in a highly individualised and materialistic world.
Now Hana, like many she is surrounded by, shares a deep commitment to honoring those before her, those people who committed themselves to revitalising reo (Māori language), tīkanga Māori and mātauranga (Māori bodies of knowledge practices). She started at her marae and describes how “through learning to follow, I gained a deep appreciation for the bold and courageous leadership that led me to where I am today — driven by humility, commitment to the people, intergenerational vision and hard work.” Through various organisations and initiatives, Hana works to ensure mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge systems) are ntegrated into decision-making processes that affect New Zealand communities at a local, regional and national level.
“In light of the high youth suicide rate, growing anxiety, and depression rates, I have seen and experienced how reconnecting back to these ancestral ways of knowing and living can help connect to self, to whānau (family) and to whenua (land).” As well, with the multitude of Māori whānau doing great deeds in their corner of the world, I can’t help but be inspired to dream beyond our current circumstances and create space for unheard voices.”
-Hana Maihi
In 2017, after returning from the Climate talks in Marrakesh, she co-founded Te Arawhatu — the first NZ Indigenous, youth-led delegation to the UN Climate Change Conference. Te Arawhatu are indigenous youth from the Pacific and Aotearoa working for climate action and indigenous sovereignty. They support indigenous youth delegations to participate in the global climate change platform and raise awareness about climate and social justice offshore and back home in Aotearoa.
The rōpu (group) she shares has since successfully crowd-funded and supported two delegations to attend the annual conference (2017 & 2018), with a third delegation recently announced. They are now fundraising to get to the UN COP Climate Change Talks in Chile at the end of this year.
Hana is also undertaking research at Victoria University alongside the SMART (Society of Māori Astronomy Research Traditions), a collective who have been driving a revival of maramataka (lunar calendar) practices around Aotearoa.
Given Maori are one of the most researched peoples in the world, the role of research carries a lot of stigma. I’m challenged and excited to be part of re-prioritising Mātauranga Māori within the Climate Science space. Our tupuna were keen observers of the (taiao) natural world. The assemblage of these intergenerational observersations seen in our Māori stories, songs and art provide a rich database from which we have a lot to learn. For Hana, this is best captured by the whakatauki (proverb) that maramataka tohunga (expert) Rereata Makiha spoke of in his kōrero about how we are going to look after our waters;
“Kahore he aha i hangatia i ahu no mai rānei kia noho wehe i tēnei ao, ahakoa mata ngaro ka mohiotia te mauri.
Nothing was ever created in this world to live in isolation so that even the hidden face can be detected by its impact on something.”
-Hana Maihi
Our impact on our world depends on how we live in good relationship with one another and respectfully take forward the insights from our ancestral blueprints. These are pivotal to how our communities can adapt to our changing climate as our tipuna (ancestors) did when they navigated here.
Hana says that she is looking forward to collaborating with other EHF fellows, understanding different ways of looking at the world, collectively responding to emerging challenges and opportunities that are interconnected.
“I hope to inspire rāngatahi, the next generation, to carry out the moemoea (dreams) of our tupuna whilst also being global citizens, noho whaiti, mahi whānui (locally inspired, globally active). “There are a myriad of challenges facing our generation, a lot we have inherited. Amazingly, however, we are seeing rangatahi standing up and choosing the legacies they want to be a part of and then preparing those spaces to hand down to our mokopuna (grandchildren), it’s up to us to listen.”
-Hana Maihi
Are you a visionary entrepreneur, investor, or changemaker building solutions to global challenges? You can bring your vision to reality from New Zealand by joining the Edmund Hillary Fellowship. Apply here.
