.png)
MEA - Out and About
Toitū Te Tiriti
What a display of kotahitanga! MEA were pleased to support Ngāpuhi and their team in social media for the Toitū Te Tiriti activations and hīkoi across the motu. We were privileged to be able to attend and provide support in the background of this nationally significant kaupapa.
Wāhine Worldwide!
Written by Holly Bidwell, Ops Lead @ MEA
MEA was privileged to be invited and hosted at the Indigenous Clean Energy Gathering in Turtle Island (Toronto).
In the first few days, we spent time in Ontario with the Six Nations of the Grand River. Their mission is ‘Ensuring economic prosperity without compromising our community values’ and their vision; ‘Supporting a healthy community for today and the faces yet to come’.
Matt Jamieson spoke to us about their growth from 2011 to now becoming a multimillion-dollar organisation—two things I took away from his presentation.
- Regularly reinforcing the organisation's mission and vision serves as a constant reminder of their importance, ensuring that all decisions at every level remain aligned and focused.
- Building wealth enables avenues to enhance their communities.
Over the next year, we will continue to connect and learn from the Six Nations of the Grand River and we will continue to share their development and our learning.
.jpeg)
The Indigenous Clean Energy (I.C.E) Gathering kicked off on Thursday.
I.C.E's leading focus is to accelerate First Nations, Inuit and Métis participation in clean energy projects from coast to coast to coast. This was the first year they extended their hosting across the globe. We met with other Indigenous people from Ecuador, Columbia, Amazon, Australia, and Denmark.
MEA are working with attendees to develop our reflection report as well as exploring next steps to build a Māori Clean Energy Network (watch this space).
If you are keen to be involved please reach out to kaitiaki@mea.nz
.jpeg)
Kaye-Maree and Holly took on the big smoke - no, not Tamaki Makaurau - NYC! It was awesome to have the fabulous wellbeing coach Tuihana Ohia from TK Kaupapa
We had a couple of days to make our way to Connecticut to meet with our Pequot Nations whānau for a significant Trade discussion - so we stopped through NYC and could take the weekend for some fun!
A highlight was catching the ferry to Staton Island to view Lady Liberty herself!
.jpeg)
Next stop, Pequot Nation!
We then caught the train to Mystic and entered the mighty world of Foxwoods! Owned by the proud Mashantucket Pequot Nation.
Our team visited the Mashantucket Pequot Nation Museum with a personal guide and understood how they lived. Although similar to māori, they had harsher weather and a much more extensive range of animals and predators to compete and live with. We also grew our awareness of how they survived first contact with both the Dutch and British and the horrific acts that their tribe survived.
In 2025, we will host a delegation from this nation here in Aotearoa to strengthen our relationships and to foster trade. We look forward to sharing opportunities and continue to build on this into the future. If you would like more information on this please reach out to Kaye-Maree kaiwhakahaere@mea.nz
A massive Raumati mihi to our MEA friends and whānau 💙
On behalf of the entire team at MEA, we extend our aroha to each of you for collaborating with us. The contributions of you as our partners are invaluable, both to our mission and the communities we serve. Together, we strive to create meaningful change, working to support tangata whenua and indigenous peoples worldwide.
For us understanding the MEA kaupapa, MEAfying the kaupapa (helping us get a deeper understanding of what steps are needed) can help us make your ideal outcomes achievable!
Your support and partnership does empower us to transform lives and build a brighter future for papatūānuku and our communities. For that we thank you!
If you have kaupapa you want to work with us on in 2025 - please get in contact with us we are here to awhi kaiwhakahaere@mea.nz
During the break, MEA will be taking some time off enjoying Raumati and also preparing for 2025; however, we always have our team available for anything urgent.
You can contact Kaye-Maree or Holly with your pātai, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Be safe, enjoy your holiday closing dates are December 24, 2024, to January 20, 2025.
.jpg)
.png)
.png)
