Sheridan Waitai and Te Ara Whānui

Smith, J Hutchings, J and Taura Y. “Sheridan Waitai and Te Ara Whānui”, Research Summary, He Matai i te Taiao, Papawhakaritorito Trust: Kaitoke, 2024

“My role within Te Ara Whānui is Te Haumihi. Te Haumihi being the noise, or the greeting of the wind, but predominantly the noise that you hear in the front of the waka that it makes if you’re travelling in the right direction. We believe that if we hear those sounds of all our seabirds again, if we hear these sounds in the summer, if we hear these things, then that tells us that we’re heading in the right direction.” Sheridan Waitai pers. comm., February 2024

Sheridan Waitai (Ngāti Kuri) is the lead iwi representative for the WAI262 Flora and Fauna Claim, a legacy of mahi handed down to her through her grandmother, Saana Waitai-Murray, an original claimant.