Te Pūtaketanga - The essence of belonging: Kōrero with Russell Spratt, Te Kaitūhura Tau Mai

I'd like to have a bit of a kōrero about Motu Kapiti, Kapiti Island. And it’s a really special place for me and my whānau. We are lucky enough to be kaitiaki for the ahi kā here, for keeping the home fires burning.

The reason, the history behind that, is that we've been associated with the island since about 1820 when Ngāti Toa first came down, their first hīkoi down from Kawhia. They came through here and settled here as a deliberate strategic position to establish themselves in this part of the country. So, a new iwi Ngāti Toa Rangatira, and much of that story starts here.

Motungārara is a very important island to Māori history and New Zealand history because the Treaty was signed on Motungārara, and the whānau still own that now. I have the honour of descending from one of the chiefs at the time, Te Rangihiroa, in Ngāti Toa history and Māori history, and the history of this country. Indeed, his remains are on the island not far from where we are, in a sacred, special wāhi tapu place. I descend from him through a number of lines.

We've been here for ten generations now, and I have the good fortune of having a home here. We also have a whānau business. The extended whānau have an eco-tourism business here. My brother works full-time in that business, and we have great opportunity to manaaki and provide hospitality and tell stories to people from all over the world about this special place - in terms of its Māori history, which is so rich and important, but also in terms of the environmental elements of this island now.

We've seen it go from being a natural wilderness to being completely decimated by farming and colonisation and whaling - and whaling and farming was done by my whānau as well, so it’s not about throwing rocks at people - and then the gradual process of it coming back to where we are now. We are just on my whānau block actually, here in first generation native forest, kanuka and manuka, right here. This used to be farmland, and now it's growing and regenerating and taking its place back again.

So, a really special place - a place for rejuvenation, for thinking, for strategic planning, and just for enjoyment.