What does the future hold for Māori Wardens? Te Puni Kōkiri and the NZ Māori Council are visiting regional chapters around the country to hear from wardens on their aspirations ahead of their national meeting next month.
Māori Warden Niki Hitaua has been working in the community for ten years and has seen it all.
"There are a number of delinquent youth, homeless families, and families without food in their homes."
Māori Wardens operate under the Māori Community Development Act 1972, but their responsibilities go beyond that.
“Looking after parents, taking those without cars back to their homes," says Hitaua.
Manager of Māori Wardens at Te Puni Kōkiri, Te Rau Clarke says, “People have underestimated the kind of activities that Māori Wardens do in communities and how they go about doing their work and how they support whānau. This is probably more recognition for the work that they do.”
There are around 900 Māori Wardens in NZ, estimated to reach 1,000 by 2020. They've long called for autonomy over their own affairs and it seems as though Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta is paying attention.
“This provides them with an opportunity to take greater control of what happens to them as a membership nationally and in the district...defining the boundaries on what they're capable of doing as a rōpū and what then goes into the more specialist areas that they may not have the skills to be able to do," says Clarke.
The NZ Māori Council says there are opportunities to develop the Māori Warden pathway.
NZ Māori Council CE Matthew Tukaki says, “In the 1960s and the 1970s it was about a career in policing, today it could be a career in education or could be a pathway, for a lot younger people than me, into social work or any of these other things and we would love to see them not only have more control over their affairs but also grow the number of Māori Wardens out there.”
The national meeting will take place on the 19th of July in Ngāruawāhia.