Kōtātara - Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga

KōtātaraThe Newsletter of Ōrotokare: Art, Story, MotionDedicated to indigenous theatre and performing artsNo. 1, March 2005NGĀ TAKE O TE WĀ: WHAT’S INSIDEŌrotokare established and operational!Website Now On-LineEndowment FundA Profile of our TrusteesProposed Projects for 2005A Function to celebrate the establishment of ŌrotokareŌrotokareEstablished and Operational!It is with great cheer and delight thatwe can announce the establishment pfŌrotokare: Art, Story, Motion. Ourinaugural trustees – Ray Ahipene-Mercer, Piripi Walker, ParekāwhiaMclean, Kim Skelton and Mīria Pomare– have signed the trust declarationHe Kāinga Ipurangi:Website Now On-LineThe first version of the Ōrotokarewebsite is now on-line. Summaryinformation on the work of the trust isavailable there as are a number ofwhich is dated 15 December 2004.Following the signing of thedeclaration, the Department ofInland Revenue have confirmed ourstatus as a charitable trust. At ourinaugural meeting on 3 March, thetrustees approved four projects,including this newsletter, asactivities for 2005. Kia ora!documents that explain the work ofthe trust. In time, financialcontributions to the trust, includingto the endowment fund, will beachievable through the website.Tirohia! www.orotokare.org.nzSeeking SupportŌrotokare has many projects in theplanning pipeline. Like all enterprisesof this kind, it takes resources andother kinds of support to see themthrough. If you would like to supportthe work of Ōrotokare, please let usknow by contacting our ArtisticDirector at PO Box 12446, Thorndon,Wellington. You can support individualprojects - and Charles will be happy toshow you how - or you may wish todonate to our Endowment Fund. Seepage 3 for details.© Ōrotokare: Art, Story, Motion. March 2005

2A Profile of our TrusteesWe are fortunate that five talentedand energetic people have agreed toact as inaugural trustees. They areRay Ahipene-Mercer, Piripi Walker,Parekāwhia Mclean, Kim Skelton andMīria Pomare.Piripi Walker (Ngāti Raukawa) is along time broadcaster, advocate of theMāori language and researcher oftraditional Māori literature. Previouslyhe was Director of Māori LanguageStudies at Te Wānanga-o-Raukawa, atribal centre of higher learning basedin Ōtaki. He now works as a freelanceresearcher, editor and writer.Mīria Pomare (Ngāti Toarangatira) isClaims Co-ordinator and ResourceManagement Advisor for Te Rūnāngao-Toarangatira,located in PoriruaCity. Mīria has been active in iwiaffairs for many years and is nowcustodian of one of the mostimportant private collections of Māoriartefacts in New Zealand, thecollection of her great-grandfather, SirMāui Pomare. Mīria is a graduate ofthe University of Hawai'i havingcompleted a Master of PoliticalScience there in 1998.Kim Skelton (Te Āti Awa NgātiRaukawa) is a lawyer and currentlyworks as project manager for the TeAwakairangi Hauora Board, aninitiative conducted in partnershipwith the Hutt Valley District HealthBoard. Her responsibilities includeproject management and providingadministrative, budget, policy,planning and analytical services to thesix-member Te Awakairangi Board. Inthe past, Kim has worked with theOffice of Treaty Settlements, Ministryof Agriculture and Fisheries, TePuni Kōkiri, the Waitangi Tribunaland numerous other organisationssuch as the Conflict PartnershipService of Aotearoa-New Zealand.Parekāwhia McLean (Waikato,Ngāti Maniapoto) is a senior publicpolicy leader who has worked fornumerousGovernmentdepartments. Since 1992, she hasmaintained a number of policypositions located within theBeehive (the Parliament Buildingsof New Zealand’s Government)including Private Secretary andadvisor to the Minister of MāoriAffairs (Hon. Doug Kidd in 1992-1993) and as policy advisor in theDepartment of Prime Minister andCabinet 1997-2001 during thetenure of three Prime Ministers(Bolger, Shipley and Clarke).Parekāwhia belongs to the Waikatoand Ngāti Maniapoto peoples andholds masters degrees from theUniversities of Waikato (SocialScience) and Wisconsin (PublicAdministration and DevelopmentPolicy) in the United States ofAmerica.Ray Ahipene-Mercer (Ngāi Tara,Ngāti Ira) has been prominent inlocal body affairs for many years.Ray is well known for his advocacyof environmental issues in theWellington area, leading numerousactions in relation to the outfall atMoa Point, near Wellington CityAirport. Ray is currently aWellington City Councillor howeverhis life long passion has been withmusic. He is an instrument makerand has lived on the MiramarPeninsula for many years.

3Attributes of our TrusteesIn selecting trustees, we werelooking for people who are activeand dedicated to the causes theysupport, were enthusiastic aboutthe vision for the trust and who arewilling to add value to Ōrotokare.We are delighted to have fiveProposed Projects for 2005At the inaugural trustees meetingon 3 March, four projects wereproposed and were supported bythe Board. They are:• The initiation of a quarterlynewsletter• Strategic Planning• A committee to oversee thepreparation of publicationsof mōteatea and kōrero fromNgāti Toarangatira and NgātiRaukawa• A function to celebrate theestablishment of ŌrotokareThree objectives were set for ournewsletter entitled Kōtātara. Theyare:Endowment FundŌrotokare is in the process ofestablishing an endowment fund.This is a long term project and wehope that in time enough funds willbe available to create investmentsin the name of Ōrotokare. ProfitsA Function to celebrate theestablishment of ŌrotokarePlanning is underway to convene afunction to celebrate theestablishment of Ōrotokare.Objectives set for this projectinclude the presentation of samplesand examples of each of the sixperforming arts forms (haka,waiata, kōrero, taonga pūoro,people who fulfil all of thesecriteria. Except for ParekāwhiaMclean, each of the trustees haverelationships with the iwi of the TeUpoko-o-te-ika region. We thankthem for their support.1. To provide an opportunity tocommunicate, expose andpromote the work ofŌrotokare to a wideaudience2. To provide information toenable fund raising3. To provide a reportingmechanism for Ōrotokareprojects and activitiesOur Artistic Director presented aproposal for strategic planningwhich entailed the convention ofgatherings to focus upon eight ofour programme areas (kōrero,waiata, haka and so on). Also,discussions are underwayconcerning the work with Ngāti Toaand Ngāti Raukawa.from investments will be madeavailable to support projects andprogrammes of the trust. If youwould like to contribute to theendowment fund, please let usknow by email or write to PO Box12446, Thorndon, Wellington.tākaro, wharawhara) and topresent an experimental theatreperformance which may involveany or all of the forms. Additionalobjectives include creating anopportunity to raise fundsand to disseminate informationabout the work of the Trust. Thismight become annual.

4ŌrotokareArt, Story, Motionis a charitable trust dedicated to indigenous theatre and performingarts. Ōrotokare explores the traditional whare tapere (pā based housesof entertainment, storytelling and dance) and uses this as aninspiration and a starting point for a new indigenous theatre. Theethos of the trust is to be experimental, exploratory and avant gardeseeking to find new ways of performing, new expressions of traditionalideas and innovative solutions to performance issues.Contact DetailsŌrotokare: Art, Story, MotionPO Box 12446Thorndon, WellingtonWebsite: www.orotokare.org.nzEmail our Artistic Director, Dr. Charles Royal, at charles@mkta.co.nzŌrotokare: Art, Story, Motion is supported by:Kōtātara is published quarterly by Ōrotokare: Art, Story, Motion…korimako pae ki te kōtātara…‘The bellbird alights upon its perch.’Taken from a traditional Ngā Puhi chant used to welcome visitors to the marae.Its usage here is to suggest that this newsletter is like a perch upon which variousbirds are able to alight and address their audiences.The bird – particularly the kākā, kuaka, kōtuku, huia, toroa and so on –is a traditional reference used in literature for the orator.