Arapera Ngaha
Ngai-Tūteauru, Ngāti Hine of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whakaue of Te Arawa
Dr Arapera is a Methodist Presbyter in Te Hāhi Weteriana o Aotearoa based in Tāmaki Makaurau and a former Vice President of the Methodist Church. As a Senior Lecturer in the Māori Studies Dept. University of Auckland, Arapera’s work focused on revitalisation of te reo Māori, community research and in particular Tiriti and constitutional matters. Today she works to progress the work of the Methodist Church of New Zealand: Te Hāhi Weteriana o Aotearoa as it orders its life and faith developing theology that bases its context in Aotearoa. He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the model of co-governance employed by the church, a Bicultural Journey, are used to explore ways to address inequity in our church and society initially created by colonisation.
He Kōrero Papatupu Whenua : Land Stories
Reconciling injustices that occurred through colonisation with land ownership is one area that the Methodist Church of New Zealand: Te Hāhi Weteriana o Aotearoa has focussed on in seeking to address injustice in the context of Aotearoa. This has allowed us to focus on a Māori theology of land and speak to the land that our churches own and which they have owned for many, many years. Researching the history of acquisition has meant not only researching archival materials, but also engaging with local iwi, hapū and nearing their stories. Where injustice is identified as part of that acquisition, a second level of discussion and exploration is required, how best can we ‘the church’ address the injustice and reconcile with the original owners? This has been the discussion that informed our process of Kōrero Papatupu Whenua (Land Story Telling) and is the subject of this work today.
