Support Ōtaki Rangatahi to travel to Australia in support of Indigenous languages!!

$3,155 of $2,800 goal

Given by 46 generous donors in 14 days

We are seeking your support to raise $2,800 to travel a group of rangatahi from Ōtaki to be part of INDIGIHACK in Sydney, Australia!

Wellington

Every two weeks an Indigenous language disappears. Here in Ōtaki, our rangatahi are the recipients of Whakatupuranga Rua Mano - and today te reo Māori is heard throughout our community.

7 rangatahi from Ōtaki have been selected to travel to Sydney Australia to be part of INDIGIHACK - the world’s first Indigenous led hackathon for young people.

This hackathon will challenge Indigenous youth to develop new technologies that aim to revitalise and retain Indigenous languages. The winner “hacker” will go into an incubator to further develop and refine the product.

Supported by the Māoriland Charitable Trust the Ōtaki team will be the only group travelling from New Zealand to participate. They will be

supported to build their digital skills by experts and to represent their schools - Ōtaki College, Te Kura ā Iwi o Whakatupuranga Rua Mano and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Rito.

The cost of the trip is $10,000 for 7 rangatahi plus 3 adults to travel with most of that being raised by the MCT. We need your help to pay for accommodation while our team is in Australia. We will be staying at NCIE - National Centre of Indigenous Excellence - the venue for INDIGI HACK which is going to cost $2800.

This trip is part of M.A.T.C.H - The Māoriland Tech Creative Hub with the aim that by participating in INDIGIHACK new skills, knowledge and relationships will be created for rangatahi in Ōtaki.

Any money raised above the goal will be donated to INDIGIHACK who are also fundraising to cover the cost of groups travelling from remote communities across Australia.

THE RANGATAHI ARE: Te Rangihuia Silbery-Henare, Oriwa Jury

Te Ākauroa Jacob, Hinerau Henare-Taiapa, Kaea Hakaraia Hosking, Te Ata Baker-O’Connor, Retitia Raureti supported by Krishna Rangi, Hēni Jacob and Madeleine de Young

ABOUT MATCH:

M.A.T.C.H (The Māoriland Tech Creative Hub) M.A.T.C.H (Māoriland “AHI” Tech Creative Hub) will be a tech-creative learning centre that is supporting rangatahi in Ōtaki and the Kāpiti Coast to become creative tech leaders by providing training, mentorship and industry-led opportunities for rangatahi to pathway towards high value careers as the producers, developers and thought-pioneers of the future.

About us

Māoriland believes in a world where Māori and Indigenous storytelling is celebrated, empowered and central to cultural, social, and economic wellbeing.

Our mission is to support and uplift Māori and Indigenous creative expression through film, arts, and technology - creating opportunities for young people, artists, and communities to connect, grow, and thrive locally and globally.

Māoriland Charitable Trust operates from the Māoriland Hub in Ōtaki, a centre of Excellence in Māori and Indigenous Screen and Creative Arts.

Māoriland is a Māori-led organisation grounded in a holistic, kaupapa Māori worldview. We believe in the power of the arts to uplift, connect, and transform lives.

We deliver a year-round ecosystem of events and programmes that support artists to thrive, share their stories, and grow their practice. Our marquee event, the Māoriland Film Festival is the world's largest celebration of Indigenous cinema.

Through these activities, we contribute to a vibrant global Indigenous creative sector and a future where communities thrive socially, culturally, and economically.

Māoriland is nurturing a generation of confident, connected storytellers - strengthening cultural identity, improving wellbeing, and building a more inclusive Aotearoa.

Our social investment through the Māoriland Film Festival alone delivered $23 million into the local community (2014-2024).

Our activities are guided by the pou, the ridgepoles that underpin all our activities; koakoa, ohooho, manaakitanga & kōtahitanga.