A place to call home

Loss of land is at the root of Māori poverty, health, education and imprisonment data. But fresh efforts are enabling whanau to build homes, security and hope on shared ancestral land

- REBECCA MACFIE

Nestled in the soft hills of inland Hawke’s Bay, near the tiny settlement of Te Hauke, is a cluster of smart new houses. Nothing osten tatious: two-, three- and four-bedroom places, dark-grey Colorsteel roofs, nice kitchens and bathrooms, sunny decks, ample space for children to run and play.

Named Puke Aute, it looks like any other modest residential subdivision. But it is not ordinary, nor is it a subdivision in any conventional sense. This is papakāinga housing – a rare modern expression of an ancient way of living, a village in which every resident is connected to the earth beneath their feet and where no one can make speculative gains. There are no fences – mokopuna can roam between the houses of grandparents, aunties and cousins.

On the Saturday I visit, there’s a buzz of productivity. An area of ground is being tamed with loppers, garden forks and weed-eaters, and music is pumping from a portable speaker.

Everyone who lives in the houses is linked through whakapapa to this 2.8ha block, and they have proven their right to be here through their labour – attending working bees like this one, coming to hui, and splitting and distributing firewood to those who need it.

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But for Matariki Makoare and her husband, Phillip Wainohu, who were among the first to move in early last year, it offered profound relief from a housing system that had condemned them to severe overcrowding and stress.