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Monday 15 April 2019 3:48pm

Wayne-Te-Kaawa-and-Murray-Rae-image
Reverend Wayne Te Kaawa (left) and Professor Murray Rae will be coordinating a new Māori Theology and Religion course to be held in Ohope in July.

At 11 years old, Reverend Wayne Te Kaawa spent time helping his family create tukutuku panels for his Tūhoe marae, Ohope. In July, he will return to the marae helping to teach an historic week-long block course on Māori religion with the University of Otago.

The University’s Programme of Theology is offering a one-week course investigating the religious worldview according to Māori in early July.

"Ohope Marae is an incredibly special place that weaves both elements of Christianity and Te Ao Māori into the meeting house. It is so great that we are able to bring this course here."

Based at Ohope Marae, Māori Religion and Theology aims to explore Māori theology from prior to colonisation through to how tangata whenua interacted with and adapted different forms of Christianity. These adaptations include the Pai Marire, Ringatu and Ratana movements.

Co-ordinated by Theology Professor Murray Rae, the course will also aim to assess mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) in a theological context.

Ohope Marae is nestled in the midst of two important sites. To the left stands Paki Paki, a Ngāti Awa pā site seen as the home of the Pai Marire movement in the Hawke’s Bay. The marae also sits on Mai Totara, an ancient Tūhoe pā site.

Reverend Te Kaawa has been made a Teaching Fellow for the course and says he cannot wait to return to Ohope in his new position.

“It is quite exhilirating to go back to my tūrangawaewae, my place to stand, and teach about some incredibly important kaupapa,” Reverend Te Kaawa says. “Ohope Marae is an incredibly special place that weaves both elements of Christianity and Te Ao Māori into the meeting house. It is so great that we are able to bring this course here.”

"We live in New Zealand and it is great that we are finally able to offer something catering to Māori perspectives on these incredibly important topics."

Students on the course will also be using textbooks written by leading Māori authors, including Dr Hirini Kaa.

The course is the first within the Programme of Theology to be based in a marae, something Professor Rae is very excited about.

“We live in New Zealand and it is great that we are finally able to offer something catering to Māori perspectives on these incredibly important topics,” Professor Rae says. “I am so glad we have people like Reverend Te Kaawa to guide this block course. It will definitely be something we hope to do more of in the future.”

For Reverend Te Kaawa, who is also the University’s Māori Chaplain, returning home brings with it the comforts of family.

“My whanau will all be in the kitchen cooking, and if I say anything wrong I’m sure they’ll pull me in to wash the dishes!”

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