Ko Wai Mātou - Who are We?

Vision and Mission

To build on the whakapapa and history of Ngāti Poneke Maori Association and provide a safe whānau Kaupapa Māori environment that will impact profoundly on the lives of our members, past, present, and future.

Core Values

• To uphold and maintain the values and objects of Ngāti Poneke.
• To maintain tikanga and kawa of Ngāti Poneke.

The 1936 Sir Maui Pomare Memorial Hui in Taranaki provided the stimulus for the formation of Ngāti Pōneke. Renowned Māori leader Sir Apirana Ngata assembled a group of workers to prepare tukutuku (woven wall panels) and carvings for the new meeting house in Waitara, Taranaki. At night, the group practised action songs and choral items. Their first public appearance was a fundraising concert in the Wellington Town Hall on 27-28 May.

Kaumātua of the time foresaw the need for a “non-sectarian, pan-tribal” organisation where young Māori who had migrated from their rural homes to the city could gather and practice the rich cultural heritage of their ancestors. Ngāti Pōneke was to be a safe place based around Māori customs and practices - where Māori youth were supported and given strict boundaries (including dress and moral standards).

As a result, the present day Club started in 1937. initially called Ngāti Pōneke Young Māori Club. Always community focussed, the Club has been involved in many Māori celebrations like Koroneihana, Ratana and regional and national haka competitions.

Indeed Ngāti Pōneke was the first ever urban Māori club to be established. They have welcomed royalty and many, many other international dignitaries and famous people such as Dame Vera Lynn, The Beatles, Dame Margot Fonteyn and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.

The Second World War solidified Ngāti Pōneke Young Māori Club’s place in Wellington - welcoming and farewelling our own troops, entertaining foreign servicemen, and hosting regular fundraising concerts to support work of the Ngāti Pōneke Welfare Committee.

For the first eight years, Ngāti Pōneke Young Māori Club practised in private homes and various halls. In 1944 the former American Services Recreation Hall in Molesworth Street was refurbished and given to the Young Māori Club in recognition of its work during the war years and its ongoing support of urban Māori.

In 1969 Ngāti Pōneke was advised that the site was needed for the new Court of Appeal and Ngāti Pōneke was offered a parcel of land at this site, 57-59 Thorndon Quay, Wellington. Ngāti Pōneke whānau fundraised for many years  and then built meeting house Pipitea which included a carpark to ensure an on-going source of income. The marae was debt-free in 1995.

Pipitea Marae was opened by the Governor General, Sir Keith Holyoake on 31 May 1980. Ngāti Pōneke moved into the whare in February 1981.

Ngāti Pōneke Māori Association (NPMA) was established as an Incorporated Society in 1981 to, amongst other things, promote and encourage the preservation of New Zealand Māoritanga, history, tradition, mythology, language, whenua, waiata, poi, haka, whakairo and tukutuku. Ngāti Pōneke remains to this day, Pan-Iwi, non-secretarian and non-political.