A significant milestone was marked at BestStart Childcare Centre in Te Oneroa o Kahu (Long Bay) this week with the official unveiling of a new tomokanga.
Designed to permanently embed local Māori history into the facility, the structure addresses long-standing gaps in early childhood education regarding the North Shore’s distinct tribal heritage.
Blessing the gateway, Te Kurataiaho Kapea of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei underscored the site-specific significance of the installation.
“Anei tēnei tomokanga e whakaatu nei i ētahi o ngā tohu tīpuna mō te whenua e takoto nei, mō tēnei rohe,” said Kapea.
Reclaiming history with the legacy of Maki
For the ringatoi Mel Whaanga, designing the tomokanga was a project of historical and personal significance.
Standing at the peak of the tomokanga is the koruru representing Maki Nui, the prominent rangatira and ancestor of the Auckland region, whose legacy anchors how Tāmaki Makaurau received its name.
Moving down the carvings, the artwork maps a vast web of regional kaitiaki and familial connections. It features Korotangi, the guardian linked to Mahurangi that arrived on the Tainui waka with Hoturoa and Te Mauri, the one-eyed shark patrolling the ocean between Aotea and the mainland, and Toroa, the albatross that guided the navigator Toi-te-Huatahi to these shores.
The lower sections of the gateway trace Maki’s lineage through his sons, including Manuhiri and Marai Ariki, and honour Te Kahu, whose name is linked to the traditional title of Te Oneroa o Kahu.
For Whaanga, sharing these narratives with tamariki directly addresses a gap he experienced growing up.
“It helps the children with some of the local history,” Whaanga explains.
The representation of the mana wahine on the tomokanga also serves as a tribute to his late wife, Rosanna Nee Beazley, who passed away two years ago and was a direct descendant of these lines.
“When I painted the wahine toa, the mana wahine, I did it like Rosanna when we met, and so, Rosanna had green eyes, and I gave her the green eyes.”
“We brought our moko here, and secondly my wife is from this area, Rosanna Nee Beazley, she passed away two years ago, so this is a tribute to her.”
Weaving the local history into everyday practice
For the teaching team at BestStart Long Bay, bringing the local knowledge into their centre has been a focus point since they opened in 2024.
They wanted to find a way to weave the knowledge of the area into their curriculum. It was when Mel and his whānau enrolled their mokopuna in the centre that the conversation began to work alongside Mel to introduce the history into their everyday learning.
“Introducing the whenua into our curriculum has been one of our sort of main focuses.”
“We are still in the phases of figuring it all out and how we deliver it to the children so that they understand.”
Centre manager Rashika Prasad adds that this connection is especially crucial for their diverse community.
“We have a lot of families joining us, families from migrant families as well, and so when they come in here they are not aware of the history, they are not aware of the whenua,” Prasad explains.
“So this is what’s going to represent us, that is going to connect them to what the local connection is about,” says Prasad.
By grounding migrant families and local children alike in the histories of Maki, Te Kawerau ā Maki, and the guardians of the coast, the centre is establishing a model for how early learning facilities can partner directly with tangata whenua to build genuine community relationships.
