WAIRARAPA M OANA ISSUE THIRTY-THREE: TORU TEKAU ma Toru MARCH 2014

Dr Janice Wenn – Te Toa Whakaihuwaka Hauora Nga¯ti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa kuia Dr Janice Wenn has worked in health for more than half a century, received her PhD at the age of 74 and worked in isolated bush communities, has been awarded Ma¯ori of the Year for Health. Dr Janice Wenn, born in Greytown, has been a nurse and midwife for more than 50 years and helped set up Whaiora Medical Centre in Masterton. She has an extensive career in all aspects of nursing and focuses on “Ma¯ori, by Ma¯ori for Ma¯ori” health services. The Marae Investigates Nga¯ Toa Whakaihuwaka Ma¯ori of the Year 2013 award came as a complete surprise to Dr Wenn. “I was literally speechless.” She is modest about her contribution to Ma¯ori healthcare, some of which were made in challenging circumstances. “A lot of people made it happen, I was just in the right place at the right time and also I had the skills to make it happen.” She said setting up Whaiora, in 1997, came from a request from the community but there was already a Ma¯ori provider in the district. “Our philosophy and our aim was rather different from theirs. We were basically working on the principle of Wha¯nau Ora and empowering people to take care of themselves. It’s really good to see that it’s still there.”

Dr Janice Wenn – Nga¯ti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Nga¯ti Hinewaka, Nga¯ti Moe with Te Toa Whakaihuwaka Hauora trophy.

IN THIS ISSUE: p2

Finalists for Ahuwhenua Trophy Announced p3 Wairarapa Moana Merchandise p4 Ruama¯hanga Whaitua Committee p4 Shareholder/Beneficiary Search p5 Macbeth at the Marae p5 Ma¯ori Land Court Masterton Clinic Dates p6 Waitangi Day – Carterton p7 Waitangi Day – Marae Visit

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Wairarapa Moana Timeline 1840 – 1910 Why Should You Consider a Trade or Apprenticeship? Johnston Lawrence Wairarapa Moana Scholarship in Law Clareville Country Music Festival A Walk Down Memory Lane Farm Update 50 Unclaimed Dividends Shareholder Bank Account Details

Dr Wenn actually wanted to be a teacher and gained a scholarship to university but at 17, found it a bit of a culture shock. Her parents great believers in education sent her off to New Plymouth to train in nursing. “Her [mother’s] reason was that they educated young ladies, I actually didn’t fit into that category,” Dr Wenn chuckled. But she found her vocation. “I really quite liked it, I liked the helping aspect of it and it was a bit of competition.” Dr Wenn soon discovered there weren’t many Ma¯ori nurses around. “We were not known for our numbers.”

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March 2014

WAIRARAPA MOANA

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They were also paid less than non-Ma¯ori nurses, according to Parliament records at the time, she said. “At one stage it was felt that they didn’t need to have the same level of salary as the non-Ma¯ori nurses.” Dr Wenn said training was also harder for Ma¯ori. “When they disestablished hospital-based training, Ma¯ori nurses were marginalised because it was too expensive to go to centres where nursing education occurred.” After nursing, she went on to study midwifery in Australia in the 50s and ended up in Tasmania where she worked as the “bush nurse” in the isolated area of Hythe. She remembers walking through the bush for 14km to get to a patient. “You did all sorts of incredible things. I’d go out on the fishing boats when there had been a drowning or any sort of accident at sea. There were a lot of times when there was no doctor available. You were absolutely everything including the ambulance driver.” Now Dr Wenn works as a senior research fellow at Massey University after getting her PhD, which focused on identifying core values underpinning Ma¯ori health. Much of her research involved interviewing 40 kauma¯ tua and kuia from Nga¯ ti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa and Taranaki iwi. Massey has asked her to put together a publication of their stories which emerged from the interviews and she hopes to finish it by next year.

Finalists for

Ahuwhenua Trophy Announced The three finalists for the 2014 Ahuwhenua Trophy BNZ Ma¯ori Excellence in Farming Award for Dairy were announced recently by the Minister of Ma¯ori Affairs, Hon Dr Pita Sharples, at a special function at Parliament. The three finalists are: • Putauaki Trust – Himiona Farm. The Putauaki Trust is a relatively new entrant into dairying having acquired Himiona Farm in 2006. The farm is situated on the Rangitaiki Plains between the townships of Te Teko and Edgecumbe. • Nga¯ ti Awa Farms Ltd – Ngakauroa Farm. Ngakauroa Farm is located in very good dairy farming country on the Rangitaiki Plains about 12 kms from Whakatane. The farm comes under the Nga¯ti Awa umbrella and was purchased by Nga¯ti Awa Group Holdings in 2008 and includes six Nga¯ti Awa land trusts; Kiwinui, Putauaki, Omataroa, Te Ihukatia and MK Ratahi. Nga¯ti Awa Farms Ltd – Ngakauroa Farm. • Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd. Located north of the Taranaki township of Hawera, the farming operation is an amalgam of four separate Ma¯ori trusts and a leased treaty settlement block who have all combined their resources to create an economically and environmentally sustainable dairy operation.

Dr Wenn also mentors young people in health care which she enjoys. “Young people either say I’m formidable or inspirational.” She was pleased to be the successor of the award to Dr Lance O’Sullivan, last year’s winner. “He’s kind of my pin-up for health. He empowers Ma¯ori and lives amongst them.”

Congratulating the three finalists the Chairman of the Ahuwhenua Trophy Management Committee Kingi Smiler says all have clearly demonstrated that they have reached a very high standard not only in their farming operations but also in their commitment as kaitiaki of their lands. He says all of the finalists have been innovative in putting together the organisations that run their farms.

She said Ma¯ori health care is evolving. “When I look back there’s an awful lot that’s developed for Ma¯ori. The new Wha¯ nau Ora programme will certainly take it another step further along in terms of accessibility and empowering people.”

He says all three have seen small trusts and wha¯ nau cooperating to create larger and effective commercial units, which is a model for the wider growth of Ma¯ori agribusiness.

She hopes to continue studying Ma¯ori philosophy this year. “It’s about Ma¯ori mythology and it relates our stories to current events and it’s really quite an exciting thing to do at my age.” Article and photo courtesy of Wairarapa Times-Age – 8 February 2014

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“Ma¯ori farms always aim to be highly successful and profitable operations but in doing this they do not compromise their commitment to key values such as caring for the land and their people,” he says. Kingi Smiler says Ma¯ori are significant players in the New Zealand economy and particularly in the dairy industry. He says one Ma¯ori trust in Taranaki is Fonterra’s largest supplier of milk in that province.