Te Arahanga is a culturally based Tāiao management company
Toitū te Marae o Tāne,
Toitū te Marae o Tangaroa,
Toitū te Iwi.
Haumi e, hui e, Tāiki e
If the domain of Tāne survives to give sustenance,
And the domain of Tangaroa likewise remains,
So too will the people
Environmental Services
Te Arahanga is a culturally based Tāiao management company. We consider ourselves providers of information for iwi decision making.
We have a top team of very experienced cultural monitors. Their role is to monitor development sites or any earth moving activities to ensure that any exposed sites of cultural importance, taonga or Kōiwi are managed within both Lore and Law. Two of the considerations for the cultural monitoring service is that all monitoring results are feedback to mandating Iwi to inform their decision making and the cultural monitoring is run on a user pays principal and can be provided at minimal cost to iwi.
Cultural Health Indexing and Cultural Impact assessments are tools for measuring the cultural health of the tāiao and cultural impact on iwi. The tools can be administered at minimal cost to Iwi; understanding of the legislation and lore helps empower whanau, hapū and iwi to manage their tāiao.
Te Arahanga has designed a training program to assist iwi to both harness their own cultural mātauranga and include new tools that are available to kaitiaki. We believe we are helping to train the tohunga of the future by fusing traditional methods and modern options; just as our tūpuna would have done.
Cultural monitoring
Our cultural monitors work with an archaeologist to recognize, indicators of early settlement, tāonga and kōiwi when they are exposed. They manage the processes and discoveries consistent with both lore and law.
Cultural Health Indexing Report
Cultural health indexing reports are measures of the health of the tāiao at any given time. They are a fusion of western science and mātauranga Māori so we can make fully informed recommendations.
Cultural impact report
Cultural impact reports measure the social, cultural, environmental and economic impact on whānau, hapū and iwi. We conduct interviews and a whakapapa for the tāiao, and the people connected to it, and document everything written about the tāiao.
Akoranga Ipurangi
Online Learning
Online Learning
Learn the process of Tāiao Management and Cultural Monitoring
Te Arahanga designed this course for whānau, hapū and iwi so that tauira can have the opportunity to enhance their ability to act as kaitiaki in a modern context. This course should enhance tauira ability to:
Plan a tāiao project that includes all the consideration that will make the project a success
Localize your project to include haukāinga tikanga and kawa
Increase your technical ability to engage with local and central governance agencies
Build the confidence whānau, hapū and iwi that they have a whānau member who can guide them through the modern Tāiao practices and ensure their rangatiratanga is recognised.
About Te Arahanga
Te Arahanga was set up in 2014, as the name implies, to build a path between the aspirations, tīkanga and kawa of whānau, hapū and iwi in the tāiao space and the requirements of both central and local government. The frustration for whānau, hapū and iwi and the clash of world views in managing the tāiao was not consistent with the aspirations and direction of a post treaty settlement environment. Neither was this consistent with intent of the new legislation and environmental national policy statements.
Te Arahanga has four core staff with a combined total of 80 years in cultural tāiao management. Three of our staff were involved either directly or indirectly in the development of Cultural Health Indexing reports and Cultural Impact assessments. These are the key tools for assisting whānau, hapū and Iwi establish cause and effects, from a Te Ao Māori perspective, for any alterations to the natural environment.
Te Arahanga has also been exploring new ways of establishing iwi management plans. Iwi management plans must be considered when any resource consents are being issued. However, they can take two or more years to research and write and be 200 to 400 pages long. Te Arahanga has been exploring the possibility of a GIS, computer-based iwi management plan that is more visible, computer based and easy to navigate.
Māori and Iwi
Te Arahanga role is to provide culturally based factual – information for whānau, hapū and iwi to make informed decisions. Te Arahanga is not a decision maker. We, as a company, might make recommendations or provide summary conclusions based on cultural fact finding and western science.
When writing Cultural Impact assessment Te Arahanga role is to review all the information in any proposal and provide a clear picture of the proposal to whānau, hapū and iwi. The next step in the process is to record the whānau, hapū and iwi views, and provide a summary of those views.
Cultural Impact Reports and the use of other cultural monitoring tools has proved to be a very cost – effective method for iwi; with those who are the applicant for any proposal being the funders of these reports. The integrity of the reporting rest with iwi assessment and Te Arahanga has been fortunate enough to receive positive comments from every iwi it has worked with.