Te Kete o Karaitiana Taiuru (Blog)

Ngai Tahu youth going to Silicon Valley

Great to see that ten Ngāi Tahu youth are going to Silicon Valley in October for a five-day science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) boot camp an opportunity was provided by Callaghan Innovation and NZQA which is a part of the Callaghan Innovation and NZQA “Āmua Ao: Experience Silicon Valley 2016” programme .

Congratulations to all of the successful Ngāi Tahu applicants “Kathrine Wiki Arapeta, Tiaki Huria, Bethany Kaye-Blake, Abraham Hix, Luca Mackenzie, Samuel Wixon, Nathaniel Cashell, Kiliona Tamati-Tupa, Sarah Langsbury and Ngahiraka Dallas”.

I trust we will see a number of Ngāi Tahu leaders in the industries of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. In terms of technology the latest research shows Māori are the minority despite a career in technology commanding more than double the salary’s of other industries Māori are majorities in. There is also a constant need of Māori language speakers who are computer engineers and developers to assist with language revitalization which is only just now being nationally recognised by Maori as an essential tool. Though Ngāi Tahu used technology as as a language revitalization tool in early 2001 with its Kotahi Mano Kāika initiative.

20 years ago I was promoting to Ngāi Tahu Development Corporation the need to encourage Ngāi Tahu into technology related jobs, so it is pleasing to see it happening now and at a global level with some of the best and most creative minds in the industry being a part of the over all program.

From TRONT: At the boot camp the Ngāi Tahu youth will take part in design workshops and meet leaders from companies like Google and Facebook where they will align the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) kaupapa to a Ngāi Tahu world view. The term Te Pōkai Ao was chosen, which originates from one of the Ngai Tahu traditional narratives, and serves as a medium for transmitting core values and knowledge inherent in this kaupapa. Inspiration is drawn from the traditions of innovation and transformation of Ngāi Tahu tūpuna, who would transform themselves and the environment to meet their needs – risk-taking and exploring – fed by courage, curiosity and passion.
The tradition of Tamatea of the Tākitimu waka is used as an exemplar, as a legendary traveller, an explorer of land and water, uninhibited by the obstacles he happened upon, with a commitment to problem solving to ensure the survival and prosperity of his people.

DISCLAIMER: This post is the personal opinion of Dr Karaitiana Taiuru and is not reflective of the opinions of any organisation that Dr Karaitiana Taiuru is a member of or associates with, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

One response to “Ngai Tahu youth going to Silicon Valley”

  1. Mark Avatar
    Mark

    Kia ora Karaitiana

    Great initiative indeed. Having a brief google search shuffle through all the successful applicants it does seem as though most of the lucky rangatahi have relationships with Runanga leaders.

    Fair enough there are a lot of people doing hard work for Ngai Tahu often for nothing and this is a good way to reward their whanau.

    BUT!

    Why is there not a meritorious system in place?
    Why were the criteria for applications not published?

    Welcome to the shady world of Ngai Tahu.

    One of my sons has won science and maths awards at his school but was not chosen. However a girl who posted a poem on youth suicide was. It was a moving piece of content but how does that qualify for a STEMS trip to silicon valley?

    Sour grapes? Maybe. But show us the rationale and be transparent.

    This example shows that the distribution policy of the Runanga does not work. When the selection policies are rigged and only the favoured people are awarded the pūtea/resources and the masses are left to rot we are better with a distribution policy that gives everyone the same amount of advantage to make their lives equitable after 150 years of subjugation.

    The way it is at the moment we just have new oppressive masters, our own people and also infiltrators in the Runanga executive.

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