Te Uruao

Haere mai

Te Uruao Education and Research Consultancy

Catering for research and initiatives in the areas of mātaurnga Māori, Te Reo Māori, Māori success and curriculum development.

About Te Uruao

Te Uruao Education and Research Consultancy Limited was formed in 2018 and inspired by the ancestral waka hourua called Te Uruao that first came to Te Wai Pounamu in the Nelson takiwā. It is one of my ancestral waka hourua. Located in Tasman Bay, it is appropriate to name this business after the waka hourua, Te Uruao. The business was formed to cater for research and education initiatives in the areas of mātauranga Māori, Te Reo Māori, Māori success and curriculum development.

People│Tangata:

Kate Souness is passionate about all things pertaining to Kaupapa Waka, Kaupapa Māori, Mātauranga Māori, Te Ao Māori, Ngā Taonga Māori and Mahi Toi.

Her dreams, practical application, writing , research and experiences all hinge on these things and her identity as Māori. Kate believes in contributing to equitable futures for tamariki and rangatahi Māori in being able to access relevant resources and curiculum that reflects their culture and beliefs as Māori. It is Kate’s goal to contribute towards change in New Zealand schools so that adequate resourcing and well-designed curriculums are available for teachers to use in classrooms and other education domains. One of the other needs is to provide support for teachers in the understanding of Māori knowledges and the delivery of these knowledges. With this in mind, Kate wishes this business to support not only the content needed within schools, but the support needed by teachers across the board. As an avid artist, Kate is passionate about the visual arts alongside paddling waka ama and sailing waka hourua. Kate runs a small sideine business in hand-made jewellery and taonga.

Kate is an experienced secondary school teacher, qualified in the areas of Te Reo Māori, Art, Technology, History and Social sciences. Kate has also taught in PE and Pūtaiao (Science). Kate has delivered specialist programs and presentations about voyaging waka and navigation techniques based on the teachings of the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) from Hawai’i. Kate has a breadth of sailing experience over the last two decades on the waka hourua, Hōkūle’a, Te Aurere and Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti. Kate has also sailed on board Gaualofa (Samoa) and Fa’afaite (Tahiti) and various other smaller canoes around the Tahitian Islands. Kate is experienced in long distance, deep sea voyages from Rapanui to Tahiti and Aotearoa to Rarotonga. Kate earned her Skippers Restricted Limits (SRL) commercial skippers ticket in 2016 and has several other qualifications in sea safety and boating. Kate has worked on several research projects including creating a policy for the Nelson City Council for the guidelines around ‘pakohe’ in the Nelson area and research in Māori success in wānanga settings for Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Her varied skill base can be adapted to suit a variety of research contracts, curriculum development and resource development. Kate completed a Master of Arts in 2021 and received an A plus for the work highlighting the quality of Kate’s writing skills. Kate is currently working on her PhD.

Ko wai au?

Ko Maukatere tōku maunga

Ko Rakahuri tōku awa

Ko Tākitimu me Te Uruao ōku waka

Ko Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Waitaha, Te Arawa me Ngā Puhi ōku iwi

Nō Ngāi Tūāhuriri ahau

Nō Rangiora ahau

Ko Tuahiwi tōku marae

Ko Rawiri Bates tōku whaea

Ko Neil Souness tōku matua

Ko Nick tāku tungāne

Ko Margot tāna wāhine

Ko Marissa rātou ko Ella ko Tui āku irāmutu

Ko Kate Souness ahau

Te Uruao Education and Research Consultancy

“Poipoia te kākano kia puāwai. Nurture the seed and it will bloom”

(Dr Hinemoa Elder, AROHA, Māori wisdom for a contented life lived in harmony with our planet, page 23).

This whakatauki is perfect for my vision in creating support for a sustainable future by nurturing our tamariki and rangatahi who will become tomorrows leaders and workers. We need changes in our world. It is our young people who will last the distance and bring about change. We need to support them and provide good grounding for them in New Zealand schools that nurture and foster the growth of mātauranga Māori and kaupapa that will contribute to a sustainable future. Indigenous knowledges are the key to move forward. With this thought, I create values that underpin this business.

Ngā Uara│Values

Aroha

The quality of aroha is an ‘all-round’ positive manifestation and attitude toward living in harmony, balance and happiness. I bring this quality to all work under the banner of Te Uruao Education and Research Consultancy.

Manaakitanga

Caring and fostering relationships between all people and things within this business will ensure the harmony and flow of the work to produce positive outcomes in the research, curriculum and resources.

Kaitiakitanga

The caring of the natural environment in which we function as people and our behaviors that sustain and protect us and our futures are at the heart of this company moving forward.

Whanaungatanga

Positive relationships and harmony are fostered in this business in the behaviours and focus of the work and the people.

Ako

Teaching and learning includes both reciprocal parts of the processes involved in growth and the exchange of knowledge. Everybody learns. Everybody teaches. Everybody grows together toward change and the changes needed to repair and heal our world from past damages. With this approch, we grow and we move forward together as a collective people fighting for change.

Whakapapa

Respect for whakapapa, the parts of our world, the traditional creation oral histories, understandings pertaining to pūtaiao and the natural environment are the underpinnings of whakapapa that hold this business up. Identity and the celebration of identity of humans as kin to the natural environment are at the core heart of this business.

Ūkaipōtanga

Our source existance creates our home and identity, a place where we can go back to and find ourselves. This business is all about nurturing and fostering research and education for future generations to prosper.