Te Tū o Ngāti Hine is the kaupapa that guides Ngāti Hine, that binds us to one another, that honours our whakapapa, our stories, our mātauranga,  our tikanga, our mana, our right to self-determination. It connects us to the past, empowers us in the present, and shapes our future.

“E heke tonu nei te wairua o Hineāmaru ki ōna uri, ahakoa te aha!”

“Te Tū Ngāti Hine is a collection of values, principles, ways of being and obligations all wrapped into one. Te Tū o Ngāti Hine is taonga tuku iho. It is about determining what tikanga is for us, kia ū tonu te tū o Ngāti Hine. 

Te Tū o Ngāti Hine involves an absolute commitment to whakapapa. Whakapapa connects us spiritually to our past and it defines the present. It is having confidence in our whakapapa; that through our relationships we can rely on each other and contribute to the wellness of the whānau, of the hapū as a whole. At a basic level, it is having a relationship where when you say you need me, I show, and equally when I say I need you, you show.

Te Tū o Ngāti Hine is about how we are a strategic and focussed people… It is our tenacity, courage, mātiro whakamua. For me, Te Tū o Ngāti Hine are the things that have enabled us to hold fast to our culture and protect what is important to us, even in the face of colonisation.

What we seek when we talk about Te Tū o Ngāti Hine is the reasserting of pride, mana and te tū rangatira; from the smallest action to the largest political action. For example, When you go to the kōhanga and kids are doing the haka from a place of absolute identity - through Te Tū o Ngāti Hine, the values and teachings that it embodies - we seek to foster that pure identity in the kids doing haka as they grow older.

Our tupuna have left the road maps on how to get to the place of greatness and Te Tū o Ngāti Hine is part of that road map. As soon as we start acting on these principles and values then someone else recognises it within themselves and those around them, and by association with each other we start building back our power”.

Moe Milne, Brief of Evidence for Mana Wahine Inquiry (Wai 2700) Hui-tanguru, 2021.