Planning is well underway for the 2009 Ta Apirana Ngata Memorial Lectures, with an exciting array of guest speakers confirmed. The lectures will be held from the 12th to the 14th of July at Ngata Memorial College’s school hall in Ruatoria and will be open to the public.

The theme for the evening of Sunday 12 July is ‘Our Past’ focusing on the Treaty of Waitangi.  Hon. Chris Finlayson, Attorney-General, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Hekia Parata, National MP for the Mana Electorate and Dr Apirana Mahuika, Chairman of Te Runanga o Ngati Porou will speak at what is sure to be a thought-provoking lecture. Beautiful old film footage of life on the East Coast will be shown courtesy of the National Film Archives, Wellington.

The night of Monday 13 July will discuss ‘Our Present’ with the story of the book Nga Tama Toa: the Price of Citizenship being brought to life. This book was recently named as a finalist in the Montanas – New Zealand’s premier book awards.  A lecture by Dr. Monty Soutar will bear out the relevance of the Maori Battalion’s sacrifices for Ngati Porou today.

Te Rangitawaea Reedy, Producer / Director, Pounamu Media Group will screen the documentary Amohia Te Mauri: Uphold the Legacy which he has produced for television.  The documentary will screen on TV in August and follows the 62 year journey that began with a letter Sir Apirana wrote in 1946 and concluded in 2008 with the publication and launch of Nga Tama Toa: The Price of citizenship.  Talented young guest speakers on the night will include Karli Rickard (Senior English) and Hineteariki Parata-Walker (Senior Maori) who both won at the recent Tairawhiti Regional Nga Manu Korero competition for Secondary Schools.  They will repeat their  winning performances which addressed  the topic of the Price of Citizenship. With the help of The Film Archive, footage of some of the early Ngata Lectures will also be shown.

The third and must-see lecture on Tuesday 14 July will be on Ngati Porou -‘Our Future’. A range of exceptional young speakers (business and sports people, urban and home-based under the age of 35) have agreed to talk about where they see Ngati Porou in the next 25 years.Travis O’Keefe (Ngati Konohi) the owner of $13 million worth of companies he founded in Auckland just five years ago, will talk about being urban Ngati Porou.  Maria Wynyard (Te Aitanga-a-Mate) will compliment Travis’ korero by providing the home-grown Ngati Porou perspective.

For the sports fans, the awesome Tamati Ellison (Te Whanau a Ruataupare ki Tuparoa) a mokopuna of Lt-Col Peta Awatere and NZ Sevens and Hurricanes rugby representative will also be speaking on the last night. As well as Dr Jonathan Zyzalo (Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti) an expert in robotics who will provide an intriguing insight into his amazing speciality.

Complementing the lectures each afternoon from 2pm-4pm Te Runanga o Ngati Porou’s sub committee Te Haeata will update Ngati Porou on the proposed Treaty of Waitangi Settlement package being negotiated with Government and seek input from those who attend. 

For more information about the Ngata lectures or Te Haeata please visit Te Runanga o Ngati Porou’s website www.ngatiporou.com or contact the free phone number:

0800 NPOROU or 0800 676768

For media enquires  please contact:

Lil Baldwin-Tangaere
Te Runanga o Ngati Porou
lbaldwin@tronp.org.nz or 021 864969