Mā te kimi ka kite, Mā te kite ka mōhio, Mā te mōhio ka mārama - Seek and discover. Discover and know. Know and become enlightened ...
Te Roopo o Kākāriki Marae (1976) was the first Marae to be built within a school as one of the earliest urban Marae to be used for Hui, Tangihanga, and Wānanga. Green Bay High School also led the way establishing a Kōhanga Reo in September 1983, making it one of the first Kōhanga Reo to be established in the country. Our first graduates are now into their fifties, raising tamariki and mokopuna of their own!
Honouring our Past - How Te Roopo o Kākāriki Marae was born In 1977, Pat Heremaia (teacher at GBHS) asked Des Mann (Principal of GBHS) if it would be possible to build a marae at Green Bay High School. Approval of the project was given by the Principal and the Board of Governors in October 1978. Mr R Kohere and Mrs W Makiri (both Māori teachers at GBHS) also assisted with the planning of converting a standard prefab building into a wharenui.
A parent/teachers meeting was called on 15 September 1978 to form the Te Roopo O Kākāriki Marae Incorporated Society, to facilitate management and to co-ordinate activities at the Marae. Elders were sought as advisors to the project. Tom Poata (Ngati Porou), Hoani Heremaia, and Sonny Waru (Taranaki), Ereuera Stirling (Whaua a Apanui), Hone Peeni (Ngati Hine) and Oriwa Grace (Tainui).
A delegation from the society visited Ngati Whatua, the tangata whenua (local residential tribe) of the Auckland region to seek their approval for the establishment of the Marae in their area, which was granted by Tommy Downe (Te Puru O Tamaki) on behalf of Ngati Whatua.
The Education Department granted two prefabs towards the project on the 6 November 1978 and a wharenui and wharekai were established. The Marae capitalised on the Temporary Employment program scheme of the Labour Department to employ a carpenter and two labourers to renovate the prefabs.
In May 1979, a letter was written to the Minister of Forestry requesting totara logs for carvings for the wharenui. The Marae paid $2000 for the timber. Tom Poata, Pat Heremaia and Ra Kohere, went to Te Murumurunga Marae, in Te Whaiti on 14 November 1980 to fell the totara trees. The Tuhoe people assisted with the rituals.
In 1980, two more prefabs were requested. One for teaching Te Reo Māori, the other for making tukutuku and mahi whakairo. The Education Department granted one and the school permitted use of another.
In 1981, Archbishop Paul Reeves, and an elder John Turei (Tuhoe) conducted the ceremony to powhiri the totara timber from Whirinaki onto our Marae and to bless the timber.
In 1982, Work Skills development programs began for tukutuku, kowhaiwhai, and carvings. Twelve school leavers were employed for this program; as well as a scheme manager, a carving tutor and a tukutuku tutor.
In 1983, a prefab and relocatable toilets were requested from the Education Department to establish a Te Kohanga Reo. Both were granted and Judy Cooper was appointed supervisor. Two other supervisors were appointed and 16 children started.
Morgan Peeni was appointed Schemes Manager and his father, Hone Peeni, as Kaumatua and Chairman of the Marae Tribunal. The school Marae became an official Māori committee with representation on the Auckland Maori District Council.
Te Āniwaniwa Te Kōhanga Reo
Since its conception in 1983, the Kōhanga Reo has had four name changes. Named Te Āniwaniwa Te Kōhanga Reo while under the care of Ōriwa Ormsby and Judy Cooper, it was changed to Te Kōhanga Reo O Te Hauru in 1985, while under the care of Toti Peeni, Moe Davis and Maa Pukepuke. It later changed again to Te Kōhanga Reo O Kākāriki Marae in 1989, with the arrival of Hone and Ansie Lee. A final name change came about in November 2009 when the Kōhanga Reo relocated from Green Bay High School (and away from the Marae) to Glen Eden - where it was renamed Te Kōhanga Reo O Kākāriki in recognition and acknowledgment of Te Roopo O Kākāriki Marae.
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