$16b putea for investment in young

The head of Te Puni Kokiri says Maori organisations should be investing more in their young people.

The Maori development ministry has released a report on what Maori can expect in the future and where they should be putting their resources.

Leith Comer says new technologies and the emergence of new economic powers like China and India will influence the decisions Maori trusts, incorporations and iwi bodies make.

He says the Maori asset base has grown more than 80 percent since 2001.

“We have a strong collective asset base that we estimate to be about $16 billion, and that collective asset base should be used to invest in our young people to prepare them for the futures of tomorrow, or the opportunities of tomorrow,” Mr Comer says.

Maori can look for inspiration to their ancestors, who made extraordinary journeys of discovery to make their future.

TUHOE NAME VILIFIED BY POLICE

A Maori Party MP says the police have vilified the name of the Tuhoe nation.

Te Ururoa Flavell says the lock down of Ruatoki in the Tuhoe heartland by armed police on Monday, and the arrest of high profile activist Tame Iti, means this weeks events are indelibly linked to the iwi.

The Waiariki MP spoke at today's protest hikoi in Whakatane by Ruatoki kohanga reo children and their supporters.

He says it is not a tribe that seeks a high profile, especially of the kind it's getting.

“Talkback, the newspapers splattered the name of Tuhoe across this land and even overseas, and so from now on the Tuhoe nation will always be known as the nation that harbours terrorists. For me, that is just not on, it’s over the top, it’s something that should never have happened, it’s something that should have been handled far better,” Mr Flavell says.

REMIX TAONGA PUORO SCOOPS TOP TUI

The kumara does not proclaim its own sweetness.

That applies to Richard Nunns, who with the late Hirini Melbourne led the revival of traditional Maori instruments.

A remix of the pair's 1993 album Te Ku Te Whe was judged Best Maori Album at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards in Auckland last night.

Artists who added their sonic wizardry to the album included Sola Rosa, Pitch Black, Salmonella Dub and Warren Maxwell.

Mr Nunns says he felt mixed emotions receiving the award without his late mate there to share with.

“I felt a fake up there because there’s so many creative people involved. There’s a whole long list of mixmasters and huge names in the music business that contributed to the nip and tuck the became Te Whaiao which is only – well Te Ku Te Whe is of course the puna for it, but so many people were involved and here I am up there getting all the glories,” Mr Nunns says.

He dedicated the award to Hirini Melbourne.

HUI FOR WAIKATO UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS

Waikato University Maori graduates have been testing their research in front of their peers and former teachers.

They've just completed the first Te Toi o Matariki conference at Hamilton's Playhouse Theatre.

Linda Tuhiwai Smith, the university's pro vice chancellor Maori, says it's all part of building up research capacity within Maoridom, and tapping into the strengths and passion of individual students to get the best results.

She says it's important that there are Maori scholars across all the disciplines.

“There's no point just developing capacity in one area like education or Maori studies. We really need to participate in the full range of knowledge. It’s hard to prioritise. We are needy in every area,” Professor Smith says.

The university is hosting another conference at Maketu Marae in Kawhia next week for Maori doctoral students from all New Zealand universities, on their role as Maori researchers

PIGS AND EELS ON MENU FOR MANIAPOTO JAMBOREE

A couple of good sized pigs and any number of tuna will be hauled over the scales tonight as te iwi o Maniapoto gather in Te Kuiti for their biannual festival.

The flags were raised on Tuesday to signal the beginning of the hunting, fishing and magpie shooting competitions, which finish tonight with the weigh in at Te Kokonganui-a-noho Marae.

Organiser Janise Eketone says a march up Rora Street in Te Kuiti and the official powhiri tomorrow will mark the beginning of the 46 sports codes, including an exhibition rugby game between Maniapoto and Waikato.

The festival is always a good drawcard for iwi across the motu, especially the hunting and shooting competitions.

We're a rural community really, Maniapoto is in the heart of the bushland, so there’s pigs, there’s eels, there’s fish, we’re not urban people, we get out qand enjoy the great outdoors,” Ms Eketone says.

Up to 5000 Ngati Maniapoto are expected at the festive, which climaxes with kapa haka and a kai hakari on Monday.

WILD KAPA HAKA FOR WHAREKAHIKA

For East Coast Maori into kapa haka, all roads lead to Wharekahika this weekend.

The annual Ngati Porou hui taurima is hosted by the small community known to most as Hicks Bay.

Ani Pahuru Huriwai, the hui co-ordinator, says the festival at Hinemauria Marae includes some of the best kapahaka roopu in the country, including this year's national champions Whangara Mai Tawhiti.

The focus is on whanaungatanga, and the non competitive format means groups are free to express their Poroutanga in any way they choose.

“Some of our pakeke refer to it as the wild abandon of kappa haka sometimes gets lost at competitive level because certain expectations of you on the stage, but at non-competitive festivals like the Ngati Porou hui taurima you see some of that wild abandon coming back where our pakeke and our kids can just perform kappa haka for the love of it,” Ms Huriwai says.