Ko Papa Ko Rangi: Ahi Kaa

Healing from colonisation is a journey of recovery, and it begins with falling in love with home again. In this episode, we travel down the Whanganui river to meet the youngest generation of Indigenous scientists returning to their ancestral lands to keep the home fires burning. It’s not just about going along and planting some trees. It’s about being prepared to defend that place, right through to the end of your life.

In 2023, Aotearoa was hit by not one, but two devastating cyclones within weeks of each other. The debris choked waterways and smothered the beaches, leading those who have lived on the land for generations to ask why. We follow the trail of destruction in Te Tairāwhiti back through decades of environmentally disastrous land-use decisions, in a race against time to prepare for future events. What’s it going to take to clean up the mess of colonisation, and how can those who keep the home fires burning transition to a "new" old way of life that benefits both land and people?

When excavators arrived to break ground on ancestral lands at Ihumaatao in 2019, they were met with unwavering but peaceful defence from the people who had lived there continuously for more than 800 years. The call to stand with ahi kaa in the protection of the land ignited the whole nation.  But 2019 was just a speck on the history of all that has happened at Ihumaatao. What’s the connection between colonialism and climate change, and how does the story of climate adaptation change when those keeping the home fires burning are telling it?

What does it take to keep the home fires burning in Aotearoa, and why is the term “land back” synonymous internationally with climate action? Brought to you by Te Kōmata o Te Tonga and The Spinoff, Nadine Hura and Ruia Aperahama talk to Ahi Kaa about how they’re preparing for climate change, and why Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the most powerful tool to advocate for protection for Papatūānuku and Ranginui.