Ko Pūtauaki tōku maunga Ko Ohinemataroa me Orini ōku awa Ko Mataatua tōku waka Ko Ngāti Awa tōku iwi Ko Ngai Taiwhakaea tōku hapū Ko Te Paroa tōku marae Ko Taiwhakaea tōku wharetipuna Ko Toanatini tōku wharekai Ko Haki Taipa Wana rāua ko Merepohoi Ratahi ōku mātua tipuna Ko Rau Wana tōku matua rāua ko Liisa Wana tōku whaea Ko Crete Wana ahau Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.
Crete Wana Pou Takawaenga/Hapū Development Facilitator Development Ngāti Awa, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa Ph 07 307 0760 ext 238 crete@ngatiawa.iwi.nz
Where did you grow up? I was born and raised in Kawerau, attended primary and secondary school in Kawerau and then went away to Saint Stephens School in Auckland for my senior college years.
Where do you currently reside? Still residing in the Rangitaiki, our kainga is situated rurally between Te Teko and Onepu.
Can you tell us a bit about your whanau? My father and mother have lived in Kawerau for over 50 years. Dad was born and lived at Pekatahi until he moved to Kawerau and mum emigrated from Finland with her family in 1955. My younger brother Wesley is currently living in Montreal, Canada. I have preferred to stay close to home with my wife, Heidi, and we have four tamariki aged from 20 to 7 years old.
What work experiences have you had? As a young man leaving school I loved the idea of being a Policeman. So I headed off to Trentham Police College in Wellington. Five months into the training programme I realised it wasn’t for me. I returned home and like others of my whanau I went to work at the Tasman Pulp and Paper mill. After 29 years in various roles of which twenty were shift work and a further eight in training and development it was time to use my mainstream experiences to give back to my iwi. The mill also provided an opportunity for me to upskill myself in Computing, First Line Management and a Diploma in Business.
What skills do you bring to the Runanga? ‛I’m about dealing with people and issues’ – trying to approach situations with creative and different solutions. My career has taught me that effective communication, whether in a professional or personal capacity is the key to ensuring understanding. If you can get that understanding and do what you say, you can start to build a trust relationship.
What do you think are the greatest challenges facing nga hapu o Ngati Awa?
The ability to preserve Ngātiawatanga and to sustain and improve the iwi’s cultural capacity.
Ensuring ngā hapū have the ability to sustain themselves over the next 5, 10, 50 years and beyond.
Ensuring there are open lines of communication.
That our hapū work together to make us collectively stronger.
How can your role contribute to ensuring these challenges are faced? Firstly, we can tautoko the vision of the iwi (Ko Ngāti Awa te Toki) as a pathway for the future.
Secondly, as Pou Takawaenga I have been able to help ngā hapū o Ngāti Awa plan for the future by assisting them through strategic planning as part of the Marae Toolkit project. The immediate challenge is to implement projects identified from the Marae Toolkit information.
And lastly, the Pou Takawaenga can assist in being an information bridge between the hapū and the Rūnanga and vice versa.
I am proud to have the opportunity to help my iwi achieve their goals and objectives
“Te whakapakari i ngā moemoea o te iwi”
MAY 2010