Te Ao Māori Champion
Professor Huhana Smith
Huhana Smith is an artist, academic and landowner. She seamlessly interweaves her skills and knowledge into being a hands-on kaitiaki of freshwater in her home patch of Kuku, Horowhenua, and across Aotearoa.
Huhana and her partner Richard Anderson, have spent 18 years restoring the degrading Waikōkopu Stream that runs through their property. As well as interplanting it with natives, Huhana was part of a group who embarked on the Kuku Biochar Project which has seen the stream’s banks cloaked in a biodegradable weed mat made from hemp and stencilled with a biochar ink pattern.
Freshwater Champion assessors noted the alignment between Huhana’s commitment to improving the health of whenua and wai and the wellbeing of people, integrating the concepts of Te Mana o te Wai and Te Mana o te Taiao. They said the Biochar Project is an example of a Te Ao Māori approach because it draws together people, the environment, art and the visual recording of actions for the betterment of all.
