The New Zealand Embassy will bring a Kiwi flavor to Korea during a weeklong celebration to mark the official opening of the New Zealand Center for Culture and Education in Gangnam next week.
To mark this event the New Zealand Embassy has invited the Patea Maori Club from Aotearoa (The Land of the Long White Cloud) to perform for anyone interested in traditional culture this Tuesday at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies at 4 p.m.

The Patea Maori Club is a household name in New Zealand and has won many awards, including best group in the "New Zealand Entertainment of the Year Award" with a number-one hit that spent four weeks on top of the NZ music charts.

Parliament yesterday passed legislation enacting Ngati Tuwharetoa's treaty settlement claim, which has been under negotiation since 1998.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Mark Burton said the Ngati Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) Claims Settlement Bill would bring to an end significant grievances and settle all the iwi's historic claims.

"These grievances are at the serious end of the scale," he said during the debate on the bill's third reading.

"Ngati Tuwharetoa were faithful to the spirit of the Treaty partnership, and sought to build strong relationships with the Crown, but the Crown did not treat them fairly in return."

Entries Called For 2005 Maori Business Awards MWDI to honour Maori Businessmen as well as Businesswomen

Auckland, 17 May 2005 - Entries are being called for this year's prestigious Maori Business Awards.

Held every two years the Awards were set up by the Maori Women's Development Incorporation (MWDI) in 1995 to recognise and celebrate the achievements of Maori women in business.

For the first time, the Awards are open to Maori businessmen as well as women. The awards were formerly known as the Maori Women's Business Awards.

There are now 14 awards in total. There are six major prizes: Te Kaipakihi Tino Taumata Tohu (Overall Excellence in Business) Te Mana Wahine Tohu (Best Women in Business) Te Mana Tane Tohu (Best Men in Business) Te Kaipakihi Ahorangi Tohu (Best Professional in Business) Nga Whaea o te Motu Tohu (Best Small Business) Te Ahu Mahi Tohu (Best Business Employment Creation)

Note : there has been an update to this story and clarfication issued see  this story

A group of Lake Taupo Maori have been given the option of digging up family grave sites after a private fenceline has split part of an ancestral burial ground in two. Members of the Ngati Tutemohuta hapu at Waitahanui, 15 kilometres south of Taupo township, are angry that a property boundary fenceline has been built between eight unmarked grave sites of their tipuna (ancestors) and the rest of the cemetery, or urupa. A 1.5 metre-high wooden fence was erected last month by an Auckland couple {edited by web manager} soon after the completion of their new lakefront house at Waitahanui.

The council approved the building consent. A garage has also been built on the property over an easement, which had long provided public access to the lakefront from State Highway 1. The couple were made aware of the hapu's concerns in discussions with elders during the house construction. In a letter to the hapu, the couple say "there is no clear evidence of any unmarked grave sites on the land", which they now considered part of their property. The couple have given the affected hapu members the option of exhuming the grave sites and re-burying the remains in the main part of the cemetery. "We understand an opportunity was offered to the hapu members to identify elders which may have been buried in the suggested location . . . if that is the case, they should be returned to the urupa's rightful resting place," the letter says. The couple say they are flexible about resolving the issue but warn of legal action against the hapu if an agreement cannot be reached. But hapu member Harvey Karaitiana said the fence was theft of Maori-owned wahi tapu, or sacred land.

Mr Karaitiana said a 1939 survey map clearly showed a boundary line separating the urupa and easement from the private lot. The homeowners had disregarded both the easement line and urupa boundary shown on the 1939 map, he said. The boundary fenceline had clearly been built through the urupa where his ancestors were buried. He wants the owners to shift the fence back five metres to its 1939 position and relocate the garage off the easement. Exhuming grave sites as suggested by the homeowners was not an option as each family had its own unmarked burial area, he said. The grave sites were unmarked because that was the custom in the 1880s, Mr Karaitiana said.

17 May 2005 By MIKE WATSON www.stuff.co.nz

THE PROGRAMME of the inaugural Wairoa Maori Film Festival is now available online for public viewing.

"Our festival programme will be out and about around the Motu by the end of this week, so we are providing film festival fans with the opportunity to preview the programme online," said Leo Koziol, Wairoa Maori Film Festival Director.

"There are three main themes to our festival," said Mr. Koziol.

"The first is Te Ao Mai Nga Whatu Maori, or 'The World Through A Maori Lens', which comprises a broad showcase of Maori dramatic feature and short film works," said Mr. Koziol. "This ranges from festival opener 'Broken Barrier', shot locally at Mahia in the 1950s, to more recent features 'Whale Rider', 'Spooked' (starring Cliff Curtis), and 'Jubilee', which closes the festival."

Reunion is set for 23 - 27th December 2006. Registrations are due contact Carrissa Brown = carrissa_brown@hotmail.com

Further details:
Rayleen = Rayleen.Gardner@fonterra.com
Graeme = hemopo@optusnet.com.au

Maori Farmer of the Year Regional Winner announced

The first of three regional winners in the Maori Farmer of the Year competition has been found.

Waihi Pukawa Trust, farming near Turangi is the Southern regional winner for 2005.

Maori Farmer of the Year competition Chairman Bob Cottrell says the winning property, Waihi Pukawa impressed the judges.

"Waihi Pukawa stood out in the southern competition simply because there was a strong sense of leadership and governance right throughout the business. Waihi Pukawa also has a clear sense of purpose and responsibility in managing their whole business enterprise."

It is claimed a damning United Nations report highlights flaws in New Zealand's legislative procedure.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has slammed the Foreshore and Seabed Act, saying parts of it discriminate against Maori.

Ngai Tahu member Edward Ellison laid the initial complaint.

He says the finding reinforces his view the legislation was rushed through the house, bypassing the interests of Maori.

He says it is important the government heeds the comments in the report and addresses the flawed process that enabled the Foreshore and Seabed Bill to become law.

Scholarships boost Maori participation in science

A scholarship programme for young Maori science students is part of a growing understanding that science and technology are important to all areas of New Zealand's knowledge economy, Research, Science and Technology Minister Steve Maharey said today.

Awarding this year's Mauriora ki te Ao scholarships, Steve Maharey said that by 2025 many jobs will require a strong foundation in the sciences.

"We're moving into an era where science skills will be valuable in all professions," Steve Maharey said. "These scholarships are designed to encourage young Maori students with a passion for science and an understanding of its importance to the future of our country."

Ko wai e whakaaro ana? kia whakairi ake ki runga i tenei wharangi ipurangi nga korero tikanga, nga korero hitore, me nga korero pu rakau e pa ana, e hangai ana,e whakatinana ana i a Ngati Tuwharetoa? Ahakoa he wharangi ipurangi Tuwharetoa tenei, ko te nuinga o nga korero me nga peka e korerotia nei mo tenei ao hou, a, kai te marama kai te whai hua weeraa wahanga mo tatau o Ngati Tuwharetoa, engari pehea nei tatau kei te kimi i to tatau Tuwharetoatanga me kii "He nuku anga nga waka tangata ki Hawiiki (who wish to return to old traditions)" pakupaku noa nga pukapuka Tuwharetoa hai panuitanga ma