TOI RĀWHITI
OUR NAME
Toi Rāwhiti is the name we have been gifted by our iwi rangatira, Rikirangi Gage to connect us as Whakatōhea, Ngāi Tai, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, the greater Ōpōtiki District and our shared Te Moananui ā Toi coastline.
Toi was a tohunga steeped in indigenous wisdom and knowledge. As the founding ancestor of Te Moananui ā Toi, Toi was regarded as an expert navigator, leader and master of the natural environment. Our three iwi, acknowledge our whakapapa connections to Toi and our cultural connectedness through our shared ancestral lands and waterways.
Rāwhiti acknowledges Tama-nui-te-rā and our place here that we call home. Alongside our whanaunga in Te Tairāwhiti, we are the first place in the entire world to see the sun rise each new day. We know that it is not just State Highway 35 that connects us, but it is our shared whakapapa and our unique ways of knowing, being, doing - and living as Māori here on the East Coast of Aotearoa. Our name aspires to connect us in a way that truly resonates with our people.
Toi Rāwhiti is more than a community on the coast - it is a site of resistance, where we are focused on doing all that we can to protect our unique tribal ecosystems.
Ko tātou ko Toi Rāwhiti, ko Toi Rāwhiti ko tātou!
Toi Rāwhiti is us - and together, we are Toi Rāwhiti.
IT'S ABOUT OUR MOKOPUNA!
OUR PLACE
Located in the Bay of Plenty of Aotearoa New Zealand, the Toi Rāwhiti region boasts a rich natural environment and stunning landscape, spanning 160 kilometres of our Te Moana a Toi coastline.
OUR PEOPLE
It is estimated that we have a population of approximately 10,500 living within the Ōpōtiki District (territorial authority area), of this 66% identify as Māori. Our Māori population is youthful and growing, with estimates predicting that by 2038 our Māori population will increase to 75%.
OUR WORLDVIEW
Understanding our ecological context as an extension and indicator of wellbeing as indigenous peoples is an essential starting point to realising our vision of Toi Ora. Our mana as Whakatōhea, Ngāi Tai and Te Whānau-a-Apanui is connected to our natural environment, our Toi Ao - our tribal ecosystem of all living things. It is the place and space where our mana and mauri is nurtured and protected. This is Toi Rāwhiti. This is home. From the earth to the sky, the sky to the earth - we are connected. If our environment is well – we too are well.
Our tribal self-determination approach demands us to draw from our hapū and iwi knowledge systems, while navigating the waves of the future and enhancing our thinking. We want our Toi Ao to be flourishing - and this means every living thing within Toi Rāwhiti. From the smallest of our rocks, to the greatest heights of our mountains - there is a mauri, there is a wairua, there is a balance that is directly connected to the Toi Ora of our people. As Kaitiaki of our Toi Ao, we must protect this interdependent relationship - for our collective wellbeing depends on it. We know that when we support our people to exercise their mana, we in turn encourage their mauri to flourish.
Conceptualising our tribal ecosystem framework, as defined by our people for our people, enables our whānau, hapū and iwi to determine, define and decide what it means to be well living here in Toi Rāwhiti - and in turn, how the system must be redesigned by us, for us, to effectively uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to equitably respond to our rights to health as indigenous peoples. Articulating our tribal ecosystem is an important step in defining what it means to be well as a descendant of Te Whakatōhea, Ngāi Tai and Te Whānau-a-Apanui, and a resident of Toirāwhiti, the wider Ōpōtiki District.
WHEN OUR PEOPLE ARE CONNECTED TO THEIR SOURCES OF
MANA AND MAURI OUR TOI AO WILL FLOURISH
TOI AO
OUR DETERMINANTS
Ngā Pou Mana o Io, the five cornerstones of He Pou Oranga Tangata Whenua Determinants of Health were conceptualised by the eighteen iwi of Te Moana a Toi (Te Rūnanga Hauora Māori o Te Moana ā Toi, 2007). He Pou Oranga supports us to lead flourishing lives as Māori with optimum spiritual, mental, social, emotional and physical wellbeing.
These Pou Oranga, Mana Atua, Mana Tūpuna, Mana Whenua, Mana Moana and Mana Tangata underpin our Toi Rāwhiti worldview and orient us toward our ancestral teachings, principles and knowledge systems embodied within our māramataka, rongoā, kawa, tikanga, reo and mātauranga. Toi Rāwhiti has drawn on Ngā Pou Mana o Io as the foundation of our worldview. We have built upon this model and have added a sixth Pou Oranga, Mana Motuhake that acknowledges the importance of our whānau, hapū and iwi having determination, sovereignty and agency over their own lives.
MANA ATUA
Atua, is the spiritual source of life, tapu, mauri and mana. It is our interconnectedness to these sources and forces that guide how we interact with and are responsible for the ecosystem that supports our very existence.
MANA TŪPUNA
Tūpuna, are our genealogical connection – our whakapapa to the past, present and future. Our shared bloodlines strengthen us as one and remind us of our collective responsibility to leave legacy for our mokopuna, our future generations. As Toi Rāwhiti, we build on the foundations of those that have passed, and acknowledge we are not alone in this journey.
MANA WHENUA
Whenua, binds us to our whakapapa and our tūrangawaewae. From this place we stand, we possess our own mana, reo, tikanga and kawa that is strongly grounded within the context of our wider collective obligations to our whānau, hapū, and iwi. We stand on our mana whenua as Toi Rāwhiti to preserve our unity and to ensure the strategic advancement of our tribal territories, whilst protecting the mauri of our whenua – living in balance and harmony with the natural world and all living things.
MANA MOANA
Moananui, is our great ocean of Toi and the multitudes of his many descendants and iwi - mai i ngā Kuri a Whārei ki Tihirau. Our connectedness to Te Moananui a Toi affirms our wayfinding legacies, our rhythms with the stars, the moon and the tides, and our unique aqua culture. We draw on our mana moana as Toi Rāwhiti, to ride the waves of the future together.
MANA TANGATA
Tangata, are our people and they in turn are our purpose. Toi Rāwhiti is led by the voice of our people to make a difference to the quality of their lives. We exist to purposefully transform the world that they live in, to simply make it a better place to raise current and future generations.
MANA MOTUHAKE
Motuhake, is our rights as indigenous peoples and tribes to determine, develop, maintain access and administer our own institutions, programmes, medicines and practices that support our absolute wellbeing. We assert our self-determination as Toi Rāwhiti, for and on behalf of our respective whānau, hapū and iwi whose inherent sovereign power, authority and rights transcend territorially, intergenerationally and collectively.
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OUR VISION
Toi Ora, flourishing descendants of Toi Rāwhiti is our vision. Toi Rā Whiti is our mission, and encourages us all to seek optimum wellness each and every single day. It is about our whānau living their best lives and asserting their rights as rangatira. We envisage a future where we are collectively thriving, living sustainably with optimum spiritual, mental, social, emotional and physical wellbeing.
It is not about smoothing pathways to hospital and illness-driven models of care. We know that our greatest impact will be made through our efforts to reindiginise, and protect and sustain our Toi Ao, our tribal ecosystems so that from conception to death - our whānau can flourish right here at home. We can birth our babies at home, we can grow and be well here at home, and we too can die with dignity here at home.
OUR OUTCOMES
The transformation of Toi Rāwhiti cannot develop in isolation, or at the cost of any other part of our unique tribal ecosystems. The pursuit of iwi economic, social, cultural, environmental and educational advancements support our people to lead rich, abundant lives in meaningful ways here in Toi Rāwhiti. We are focused on realising intergenerational outcomes that restore the mana and mauri of our people and our Toi Ao.
