Tena tatou katoa kua tae mai nei i tenei wa ki te whakarongo korero i ahau.Tuatahi te mihi ki te atua na na nei te kaihanga o nga mea katoa ratou hoki te hunga wairua ki a ratou kua wehi atu ki te po,haere atu ra okioki to wairua i runga i te rangimarie na hoki mai i te hunga ora kia ora tatou katoa.Hello to all those who are gathered here to listen to my korero,My name is Jason Marsh I come from a beautiful small valley named Pawarenga wich is situated on the south banks of the Whangape harbour,In our valley we have three marae each established by many tupuna of mine.The main rivers name is Rotokahi and behind each of my marae lay lofty the mountains of myself and my tupuna,Ongaro,Hinerakei and Makora Pa on belong to the hapu Te uri o Tai a named derived from our rangatira Ngataiawa and so became the bame,shortened,”the offsprings of Tai,Ngataiawa was a Rangatira part of my iwi Te Rarawa short for Te Rarawa Kaiwhare a name derived from an act in relation to an act of revenge between Te Rarawa and the people of Kaipara but we wont go into detail😊.I was very fortunate to have grown up with my grandparents,whangai so to speak,who were fluent in te reo Māori,they never learnt from a book and also were not taught it at school.I could remember as a child I’d go to hui at all of our marae and I’d see many kuia and kaumātua there,I’ve always realised the importance of going to hui as my nanna use to say”come to the marae because even if you grab the tea towel that’s something at least you here to awhi our marae our people,because eventually you’ll make your way up to speaking on the marae or Karanga on the marae also there’s gonna be a time when myself and the rest of your kuia kaumātua are gone and the mahi we’ll be left for you to carry on.My nanna Susan Ellen Pirini who left this world November 2023 was 83 years old the last of the line of my tupuna she was a matriarch of her people like know other taught by our tupuna who went long before her.

I am very proud to be Māori and to have grasped the knowledge of my ancestors,I have a passion for te ao Māori and for the health and wellbeing of my people,iwi,hapū and home I am also involved in many cultural and kaupapa Māori at home and in work and also proud to say I am the te ao maori Te Tai Tokerau steering group leader at Fulton Hogan Whangarei.My advice to those who seek to find te so Māori within them is go and don’t stop and to block out any negative things people have to say otherwise.

No reira tenei te mihi atu ki a koutou e hui Mai nei kia kaha kia Maia kia Manawanui kia Ora ra❤️