Ngā mihi o ngā pae maunga o Raukawa ki a koutou kua tiaki, kua manaaki mātou kia whakamana a mātou taonga.
As a result of the Raukawa Trust Board’s long-term strategy to ensure the preservation, protection, retention, and use of all Raukawa art forms we have been thrilled to work in combination with National Services Te Paerangi to realise our dreams.
Our first task was the development of a database of taonga using the Mosaic Collection Management System. This project included visiting marae, schools, homes, whare taonga, and other organisations within the Raukawa tribal rohe and throughout the country to discover the location of our taonga and add them to the database. This database formed the basis of information in our Taonga Inventory Project.
We now have a solid foundation of over 200 taonga in the inventory and the capability to continue the work supported by National Services Te Paerangi in order to achieve our future plans. This project is now being acknowledged in the wider rohe as providing a pivotal leadership role in the preservation and conservation of our taonga.
However, as part of this project we also incorporated skill development after identifying the need to learn how to care for and manage taonga held privately and on marae. National Services Te Paerangi helped us to hold a very successful weekend wānanga led by conservator Rangi Te Kanawa at Pikitu Marae.
The immediate benefits of this type of wānanga were highlighted by one of the participants who brought her whānau korowai to the marae in a black, garden plastic bag – the only bag she had big enough to carry her taonga in! By the end of the wānanga the korowai was properly wrapped for long-term storage and protected with the appropriate support and preservation tools and techniques to extend the life of this taonga indefinitely!
One of the highlights for me personally has been the opportunity to see the taonga and the privilege of sharing of our knowledge base of mātauranga which surrounds our taonga.
The work involved in protecting, conserving, and providing access to our taonga is one that needs thought, preparation, and commitment. We hope that the work completed to date, as well as the implementation of future plans, will be of benefit to the people of Raukawa, other Iwi, the people of Aotearoa and the world. We are proud to take a leadership role in the protection of our taonga and to showcase our history to the world.
Mā te mahi ka whakaora mātou o mātou taonga, Paimarire
Kyle Shadrock - Raukawa Trust Board