Introducing our Tū Mai Taonga Kairaranga, Sonya Williams.

Tū Mai Taonga is unique in that it is indigenous led and restoring both the people and place of Aotea, Great Barrier Island.

Restoring our people means reconnecting with our language, culture and customs, and to help us with that, we have appointed our very own Kairaranga, Sonya Williams. 

When Sonya Williams heard about the Tū Mai Taonga project, it struck a chord with her and as mana whenua she immediately knew  she wanted to be involved in a project restoring the people and place of  Aotea, Great Barrier Island.

“I thought – there has to be a role for me,” she says.

“Everyone leaves the island to go to school, to  find work and most only come back to retire. You can’t get a mortgage to build on Māori land – you have to be able to pay for it.

“I did that myself – went to school on the mainland, and then earned money in the marine industry, selling boats before coming back here to build a house.

“But Tū Mai Taonga gives our people a reason to stay here and work, to build their homes  and their lives here. It’s a huge opportunity.

“Through my experience coming home and getting Māori Landowner permissions to build a house here I have a lot of contacts in the whanau – I thought I could come in and support  Makere and the project with my local knowledge.”

After a stint at Executive Assistant Sonya has now been appointed Kairaranga – a cultural advisor to Tū Mai Taonga – restoring the Māori culture that has been lost along with the biodiversity of Aotea.

“We are doing that threefold,” she says.

“Firstly we are teaching our team our language, Te Reo. This gives  them the  confidence to bring our language into their daily lives, and to perform a mihi (greeting) on our marae, and karanga –  to call people onto the marae.

“Secondly, we are teaching tikanga Māori values – so they understand Māori practice in their work in the field and their everyday life. This may be used, for example, by saying a karakia (prayer) before entering the bush.

“And thirdly, we are teaching turangawaewae, a sense of identity of our home on Aotea – and the history that surrounds it. As part of this we will be taking our team over to Hoturu, Little Barrier, to witness first hand a predator free island.

“This will complete the picture for them of why they are part of this project. They will see and hear how their mahi can be a gamechanger. ”

Sonya remembers with sadness when one of Aotea’s taonga species, the endangered kokako were removed from the island  in 1994.

“The last two male kokako that were left on Aotea Great Barrier were transferred to Te Hauturu-o-Toi (Little Barrier Island)  to breed many years ago – because they would have been eaten by predators here.

“It used to seem unachievable to get our bush healthy enough for the kokako to return here … but now it feels like it could be a reality.

“And to restore the culture in our people at the same time is something I definitely want to be part of.”

Sonya Williams (left) with some of the Tū Mai Taonga team.

From left: Sonya,  Rylie Arnell, Reneeah Ngawaka, Chris Giblin(back). Michelle Fisher, Tess Van der Wel (front), and Lyrik Murray.