Phagan Ria

Ngāti Ruapani, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Porou 

Full-time student

Graduate of Heke Kaitiakitanga Pūtaiao 

Ko Papatū te maunga

Ko Te Arai te Uru te awa

Ko Horouta te waka

Ko Ōhako te marae

Ko Ōhako te wharekai

Ko Te Kiko o te Rangi te wharenui

Ko Ngāti Ruapani me Rongowhakaata ngā iwi

Ko Ngāi Tāwhiri me Ngāi Te Kete ngā hapū

I was born and raised in Manutuke just south of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa. I attended Te Kōhanga Reo o Te Ōhako, Manutuke School and Gisborne Girls’ High School (Tūranga Wāhine). At 18, I left the country to live in Australia and then the United Arab Emirates. Over 12 years away I gained a range of work experience across the fashion, aviation, business support, hospitality, retail and sport industries before moving back to Aotearoa in 2019.

One of the main reasons I chose to study Kaitiakitanga Pūtaiao at Te Wānanga o Raukawa was because of the degradation of our awa Te Arai te Uru. I had known for a number of years that “I would love to be involved in rebalancing its mauri, wairua and our relationship with it as tangata whenua, the teina of our taiao. So, I decided to kickstart that whakaaro by doing this tohu.”

E tika ana te kōrero me kī “ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au” says Phagan. Growing up in te ao Māori and living next to my kaumātua (a generation that lived off the land) were also reasons for choosing this tohu specifically.

The biggest challenge for Phagan was trying to stay on track through difficult periods, including Covid-19. But with perseverance, understanding, compassion, and support received from the Wānanga, her employer, and her whānau, she was able to push forward. 

Some of the highlights in her first year of study were the enlightenment she gained, meeting tūmeke classmates, and learning from the vast experience of amazing tutors. It is rewarding for Phagan to know that she can help whānau, hapū, iwi and the wider community without compromising her tino rangatiratanga or her role as a kaitiaki. Phagan says “I feel equipped to walk in te ao Māori and te ao pākehā in synchronicity.”

Phagan says she would recommend the Kaitiakitanga Pūtaiao programme to everyone. “I believe that strengthening our tie to Papatūānuku will bring better enlightenment to us all. For me, it makes the most sense at present that we achieve that by combining the knowledge and tools of te ao Māori and te ao pākeha respectfully. This is what I feel the Wānanga accomplishes with this tohu”.

Her advice to new students is “don’t underestimate the iwi & hapū and te reo Māori components of your tohu! They are truly important”.

Her future plans are to finish the Poutuarongo and “get stuck into the mahi, cleaning up our act”. Phagan wants to help others better understand our impact, take accountability, assert appropriate guardianship and just do better for our awa, our whenua, our tuakana and ourselves with strengthened, proactive and confederate relationships between each other.

For more information about this course visit https://www.wananga.com/diploma-in-environmental-management