Te Waiora is a 4-part documentary series exploring the deep connection Māori have with water. It profiles community water safety advocates across Aotearoa who are working to strengthen this connection with their people through whakapapa, mātauranga and tikanga.
Through the documentaries, Te Waiora showcases these individuals, educators and passionate advocates of the transformative power of water.
Featuring ex-Navy diver Rob Hewitt; surfers Jordan Waiti and Maioha Kelly in Raglan; Kii Tai Cultural Tour guides in Whanganui, Mamah and Ngapuke Patea; and Waka Ama enthusiast Mika Tawhara in Napier - each explains why the water has been such an important restorative element in their lives and the lives of those around them.
Directors: Julian Arahanga and Brandon Te Moananui. Producer: Letisha Tate-Dunning
Cast: Rob Hewitt, Todd Russell, Monty Makalio, Donovan Taniwha
Director: Julian Arahanga
The first of the 4-part Te Waiora documentary videos tells the stories of people that testify how water (wai) is central to Māori identity, health and wellbeing.
Shot mostly around the Wellington coastline, ‘Kohikohi – Gathering Seafood‘ follows a group of divers and safety advocates, through their recollections and daily experiences of water.
Māori water safety advocate and educator, and ex-Navy diver Rob Hewitt, led the way with his own personal story of miraculous 4-day survival at sea. Compellingly, some year’s later, he found himself having to help rescue one of his own diving team-mates.
For Rob, diving is more than a passion. Working with Water Safety New Zealand, Rob has become an ambassador for providing New Zealanders, particularly indigenous Māori, with the skills they need to dive safely.
In 2019, nearly half of all drownings happened whilst gathering kaimoana and with Māori overrepresented in drowning statistics, Rob knew he had to do something.
Through the Kia Maanu Kia Ora (Stay Afloat, Stay Alive) initiative, he has been providing dive programmes for Māori, to help them connect to Tangaroa and try to reduce these devastating statistics we hold in Aotearoa.
Cast: Maioha Kelly, Jordan Waiti, Lovey Chapman, Hamiora Walters, Nikau Muru, Luke Huirama
Director: Julian Arahanga
On average Māori account for 20-24 percent of all preventable and non-preventable drowning fatalities, despite comprising only 15 percent of the nation’s population.
Shot at surfing hotspot Raglan, the second of the 4-part Te Waiora documentary videos features surfers Maioha Kelly and Jordan Waiti, and Hamilton teacher and water safety advocate Lovey Chapman.
Together, as committed water safety advocates, they are providing lessons, inspiration (and fun) to rangatahi,using mātaraunga Māori to strengthen and deepen their connection to Tangaroa.
Despite their earliest ancestors having ridden waves, the cost and access to surfing lessons has prohibited many rangatahi from being able to learn to surf.
Forming Aotearoa Water Patrol, Waiti and Kelly are passionate about removing these barriers and providing the skills needed to ensure safety on the water, whilst emphasising the cultural significance surfing can provide for young Māori.
Cast: Mamah Patea, Ngapuke Patea, George Matthews, Mai Te Rangi Arahanga, Dallas Clay, Max Karaka-Jones, Wiremu Burke-Dean
Director: Julian Arahanga
Shot on location on the Whanganui River, Mamah and Ngapuke Patea pass on their knowledge and love of the awa (river).
Together with their older brother Ash, Mamah and Ngapuke formed ‘Kii Tai Cultural Tours’ to transform their passion into mahi (work) and help others reconnect to their whakapapa.
Leading a group of rangatahi on a waka journey on the Whanganui River, they teach practical skills as well as deepening their understanding of their cultural heritage.
For Mamah, this is important work and a reflection of a promise she made to her father that she would continue his life’s work and ensure that the importance of the awa was protected for generations to come.
Cast: Mika Tawhara, Denis Winterburn and Yvonne Aranui
Director: Brandon Te Moananui
Waka can help a person heal and Mika Tawhara is testament to that. Mika is an educationalist and Waka Ama enthusiast living in the Hawkes Bay.
An accident and resulting brain injury left her struggling to speak, but Mika turned to the waka to help her heal.
Mika found Waka Ama later in her life, but it quickly became more than a hobby. It became a community and a powerful tool for healing that she could not have imagined when she first picked up her hoe (paddle).
Whilst travelling to the Waka Ama nationals one year, Mika and her husband Denis were driving when a car passed over onto their side of the road and they found themselves in a horrific accident - the actual physical and psychological impact of which wouldn’t be known for weeks to come.
Finding herself struggling to work, struggling to speak and struggling to cope with her emotions, Mika sought help from her doctor who diagnosed her with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). It took her some time to get back on the waka, but support from her Waka Ama community and whānau helped her to connect once again.
