NAU MAI KI TŌ KĀINGA RUA! WELCOME TO YOUR SECOND WHĀNAU…
Te Rōpū Māori, is an association governed by the student executive Te Rito,
who are elected annually by the Māori student body of The University of Otago.
We strive to represent our tauira Māori and their interest and opinions within the
University. However, our main goal is to create space for all tauira Māori, to make
them feel more comfortable and to create a kāinga rua, a home away from home.
We actively organise and hold many events resulting in our students frequently
getting together and creating a sense of whakawhanaungatanga and
manaakitanga.
Some of the activities and events include a variety of social sports, kapa haka,
reo classes, wānanga marae, charity events, study retreats and nights, as well as
social events such as Wine & Cheese, TRM Awards Night and Te Hōkai - TRM
Annual Ball.
We encourage all tauira to become involved with our association as most of the
time tauira are highly likely to walk through our doors and find a long lost cousin,
which can have a huge impact when someone is still getting used to university
life.
OUR WHAKAPAPA
Te Rōpū Māori emerged from the need to provide a social network support for
Māori students at The University of Otago, and act as a vehicle to advance tino
rangatiratanga within the context of tertiary education.
Since the 1960s, Te Rōpū Māori grew from a kapa haka group, into an
incorporated society in the mid-1990s. Those who established the association
had three aims, one recruitment, two creating a voice for tauira Māori and three,
results for Māori students. Essentially with the official establishment of Te Rōpū
Māori, it saw the advancement of tauira Māori through all divisions of the
University.
If it wasn’t for those who had the drive and ambition to establish this association,
we as tauira of The University of Otago would not have such a strong support
system.
OUR LOGO
This is the Manaia that represents Te Rōpū Māori. It shows
Tāne (left) the Atua (God) of the forest in this whakaahua. In Māori tradition it was Tāne who ascended to the uppermost level of heaven to bring back the "kete" of knowledge and wisdom from Io.
The spiral design set upon the tail piece of this picture represents the nurturing of all form's of life, and the dark spot's within the spiral are the seed's of life (Nga kakano o te ora), the wellspring from which all knowledge come's.
The right figure is
Tāwhirimātea - God of the Winds, who assisted Tāne in reaching "Matangireia" to ask of Io the three kete of knowledge and wisdom. The tailpiece of Tāwhiri represents the winds he created to lift Tāne into the heavens.
