About Te Korowai o Waiheke

The literal translation of Te Korowai o Waiheke is ‘The cloak of Waiheke’.

 A ‘Korowai’ is a traditional cloak and was usually given to people of high rank. Māori believe the land comes first and we are the descendants of it. A well known whakatauki (Maori proverb) is:

‘Whatungarongaro te tangata, taitū te whenua’

‘As people we come and go, but the land remains’

The process of how a korowai is made is the act of whatu or threading each feather that creates the end product. For our project, this represents that in order to restore Waiheke we must have the resources and a collective effort to thread all our skills together to get the end result. This also means we don’t own Te Korowai o Waiheke, we are merely the weavers and the korowai indeed belongs to the island itself. We may come and go but the hope is the korowai continues to protect the island from generation to generation.

Ko te ‘korowai’ he tohu ō te rangatiratanga’

‘The Korowai is symbolic of the utmost respect people have
for someone or something that is precious to them’

The Waiheke Collective

The Waiheke Collective is a community-led initiative made up of individuals, community groups, organisations, agencies and businesses that are committed to:

Working together to activate & amplify efforts for a healthy & thriving Waiheke natural environment

Te Korowai o Waiheke is the first project launched by the Waiheke Collective.

The Collective appointed the Te Korowai o Waiheke board of trustees who are responsible for governance, particularly financial and funder accountability.