Ngāi Tūhoe have always been staunchly independent. When the country was colonised in the
nineteenth century, the indigenous iwi (tribe) remained apart, having little contact with European
settlers. Despite the New Zealand government’s often-violent attempts to assimilate them and
dispossess them of their land, Tūhoe retained their strong Māori identity, language, and some of
their traditional lands, nestled in the steep, remote ranges of Aotearoa New Zealand’s North
Island.
Like many Tūhoe, John Teepa spent a few decades living in the city, away from his ancestral
land. When he, his wife, and his six tamariki (children) returned to his birthplace, a dairy farm in
Ruatoki, they followed the customary adoption process of whāngai, eventually raising more than
20 adopted children alongside their own.
Over a century old, Teepa’s homestead has now sheltered more than six generations –
and hundreds of tamariki. “This is home,” John tells his numerous descendants.
His dairy farm is now part of the Tataiwhetu Trust farm, one of the most successful dairy farms
in the country and fully organic. It is guided by the principle “Ka ora te whenua, ka ora te
tāngata. When the land is in good health, so too are the people”.