Elijah, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in te reo Māori and Māori studies, proudly has a portrait of the wharenui hanging in his house as a reminder that Te Herenga Waka was his home for seven years in Wellington and will always be a place that he can hitch his canoe whenever he needs to.
“The connection that alumni have with Te Herenga Waka is unlike any other that I've seen elsewhere. I've been around to other institutions and been involved with Māori student politics, but the connection that Te Herenga Waka alumni have with the University and with the marae is special. That’s something that I think Tā Hirini Moko Mead and those old ones can be really proud of. That's what they set up Te Herenga Waka for.”
Coming back to Te Herenga Waka was an emotional experience for Elijah. When the wharenui was put to sleep and many of the buildings on Kelburn Parade were knocked down to make way for the new sustainable building, Elijah says, “I bawled my eyes out.” The same level of emotion returned to him during Te Whakatuwheratanga—the opening ceremony for Ngā Mokopuna.
“There was a whole generation of students who didn’t have the experience that I and other alumni had, so I cried because it was the end of an era, I cried for that generation of tauira who don’t have that same connection.
“But I was also crying for joy, because this is the dream now. Ngā Mokopuna, the Living Pā, is the culmination of the dreams and aspirations of those who have gone before us, and also those who are still around today.
“I go to the pā now, and it's the same feeling I had walking into Ngā Mokopuna [the wharekai] all of those years ago. Now, it’s flash, and there's heaps of new students there, there’s electric doors and windows and glass and it’s a living building—all of that. And that's fantastic. I love it.
“But the wairua of the place is the same. You walk in, and someone says, ‘kia ora, cup of tea?’. You might not recognise anyone, but you know that you're from there. You can see the wharenui through Ngā Mokopuna and know that Te Tumu Herenga Waka—that’s where I'm from.”
Elijah Pue is a busy person, with an already-impressive career history. At the age of 25, he became Ruapehu District Council’s youngest serving councillor. Currently, he is the chief executive of Te Mātuku Iwi-Māori Partnership Board based in Whanganui.
As well as being a chief executive of Te Mātuku, Elijah is also a trustee of Ngāti Rangi Trust, a trustee of Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui, director of Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, and is involved with many events all over the country, as a wedding celebrant, and an emcee of events like Te Matatini—the national Māori performing arts festival, of which he was also chair of the host committee.
“I’m busy because I just like doing stuff,” he says. “I like contributing to the culture of New Zealand. I love being around people and learning new things and building relationships. I want to make my hometown a better place, and I also want to make Aotearoa a better place. That’s really cliche, but that’s why I’m involved in the kaupapa I’m involved in. I don’t have kids or mokopuna yet but when my time on this earth is up, I do hope that it is a significantly better place than it currently is for our moko.”
Elijah’s connection to Te Herenga Waka started in his first year at the University in 2012, when he lived at Whānau House—accommodation on Fairlie Terrace for Māori students. Kathy Samuel, more commonly known was ‘Grandma’ was one of the kaimahi at the marae, and ran Whānau House along with Te Ripowai Higgins.
“Living at Whānau House, Grandma and Mrs Higgins gave you no choice but to come to the marae, for kai, for kōrero, for whakawhanaungatanga, or to pickup leftover kai to take back to Whānau House,” Elijah says. “Initially it’s a bit nerve-wracking to just place yourself in a random marae, but the whole kaupapa of Te Tumu Herenga Waka, the hitching post of canoes, is to come and hitch your canoe here. While you’re here, this is your tūrangawaewae, this is your marae, this is your hapū, this is your iwi, this is your whānau.”
Elijah says the marae is a place students can call home while at university. “We will look after you, we will feed you, physically, mentally, and emotionally. We will feed you with kai, but also with mātauranga.
“The wharenui and Te Herenga Waka were both places that I loved. I could not have got where I am, both in my student career but also now in my career as a professional, without the wrap-around support that the marae provides to its tauira.”
Learning how to be Māori at Te Herenga Waka
“I went to university to learn how to be Māori,” Elijah says. “I learnt how to speak te reo Māori, I learned how to speak on the marae, I learnt how to whaikōrero, waiata, and indeed how to speak te reo Māori, which in turn became my chosen major. Most of all, however, I found my place in this world – and I learnt all of that at Te Herenga Waka marae.
“Lots of people would say ‘oh that fella, he’s brought up on the marae by his old people, that’s how he knows what he’s doing on the marae,’ and I was not. Lots of people have genuine surprise that I wasn’t brought up on the marae.
“I say to them, ‘I learnt how to be Māori in the way that I am, in terms of tikanga and te reo Māori, from Te Herenga Waka, from Te Kawa a Māui, from Ngāi Tauira—and the many academics and support staff who gave their all to ensure students reach their potential.
“My success, personally and professionally, can be directly attributed to the fact that I studied at Te Herenga Waka—the university and indeed the marae. I’m a proud graduate of Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, and a proud mokopuna of Te Whānau o Te Herenga Waka Marae. Ka nui te mihi.”