Karanga mai Tainui waka!
Karanga mai ko Te Kawerau ā Maki!
Mā te karanga o te uru e kawe ki tawhiti
Nau mai e ngā manuhiri
Haere mai huihui mai
Kia hangai e tātou katoa te tūāpapa o te iwi mō te āpōpō
Tihei Mauriora!
Greetings from the Tainui waka!
Greetings from Te Kawerau ā Maki!
Let the call of the west carry far
Welcome to our guests
Come and gather
Let us build the foundation of tomorrow for our people!
Behold, the breath of life!
On the wild western shores of Tamaki Makaurau, where ancient
forests meet the great ocean, Te Kawerau a Maki is preparing
to realise an extraordinary vision. To establish a marae and
papakāinga on our ancestral land at Te Henga.
A permanent home for our people. A place for our culture,
knowledge and traditions to flourish. Somewhere our children,
and their children, will always belong.
Our ancestors crossed the greatest ocean on Earth to find a home.
Our whakapapa connects us to the earliest inhabitants of this land, the great ancestral migrations across the Pacific and the Tainui waka.
For generations, our people lived among the forests, rivers and coastlines of western Tāmaki Makaurau, establishing an enduring relationship with the whenua.
Conflict, colonisation and the loss of ancestral lands brought profound upheaval. By the 1950s, our iwi had been left practically landless, without a marae of our own. Yet our people endured.
We kept our ahi-kā — our home fires burning
In 2020, ancestral land at Te Henga was returned to Te Kawerau ā maki, creating the opportunity to restore a permanent home for our people.
An eco-marae. A living community.
A legacy for the future.
Te Henga Kāinga Whakahirahira will bring together traditional Māori architecture, contemporary design and environmental innovation.
At its heart, a wharenui and wharekai will provide places to gather, celebrate, learn, welcome manuhiri and farewell loved ones.
Papakāinga housing will support kaumātua and whānau, while spaces for whakairo, cultural practice and education will nurture knowledge across generations.
Native planting, productive gardens and ecological restoration will help create a settlement deeply connected to its whenua.
Our people have never stopped caring for this land.
From the longstanding marine rāhui at Karekare to the landmark rāhui protecting the ancient kauri of Te Wao Nui a Tiriwa, Te Kawerau ā Maki continues to demonstrate Indigenous leadership in environmental stewardship.
Through initiatives including Te Puna and Te Ara Tūhura, we are bringing together culture, creativity, mātauranga Māori, science and innovation to create opportunities for future generations.
Our marae will provide a permanent strengthening of our people, revitalising our culture and advancing our responsibility to the natural world.
Our ancestral whenua has been secured. The architectural visions has been developed. Resource consent has been granted.
We are now seeking partners who share our commitment to Indigenous leadership, cultural revitalisation and a future measured in generations.
Support can take many forms—philanthropy, resources, specialist expertise and enduring partnerships.
Together, we can create a permanent home for Te Kawerau ā Maki and a legacy that will endure for generations to come.
Join us on the journey home.
