Hurunui-o-Rangi: He kainga mo te mauri ora o nga uri,
te ahua o te mahi tuhono.
Hurunui-o-Rangi: A home for the life force of the descendants,
the essence of the connecting work
Hurunui-o-Rangi Marae is known as the people’s marae. It connects ancestrally to the waka Takitimu and Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, and is the place that whanau and hapu of Hurunui-o-Rangi can know the full value of who they are from their whakapapa korero.
The primary focus of Hurunui-o-Rangi is its people; ensuring the wellbeing of the whanau of Hurunui-o-Rangi, and giving them a place to stand in Te Ao Maori | The Maori World. Their maanakitanga and kaitiakitanga also extends to the local community, with initiatives such as te reo classes and involvement in a neighbourhood watch group, as well as being an intrinsic part of the wider Carterton and Wairarapa community – advocating, supporting and advising a huge number of projects and initiatives and working alongside decision-makers to positively influence environmental, social, economic and cultural outcomes.
Hurunui-o-Rangi is resetting itself with a marae rebuild: plans have been drawn up for a new marae complex, and the Papakainga project of six new homes on marae land was completed in November 2018 and is thriving.
The vision is for a vibrant new marae that the people of Hurunui-o-Rangi can call home; a meeting place for the community; a place to share knowledge and learn – stories of the land and people, of Parakauiti and Ngararahuarau, Rongomaiwhakateka and Raekaumoana. A place to connect.
(Image – An artist’s impression of the whare and te Manawa | the heart, where tamariki can play watched on by kaumatua, surrounded by native plants and food gardens.)