 MORE local students have been introduced to Gisborne’s complex and layered history now that Turanga Health’s heritage trails have been adopted by Gisborne Boys’ High School.
This month around 160 GBHS Year 10 students took part in the year's first Heritage Trail walk giving tāne an up-close-and-personal insight into the history that surrounds them. The trails dovetail into our school’s te reo Māori and physical education department curriculum, says Gisborne Boys’ High School principal Tom Cairns. “It covers off our history and our tikanga, and all the while, the boys are active.” Turanga Health’s Heritage Trails are a walking or running series that combines fitness with local historic treasures. Students can cover around two to four kilometers during each hikoi so it’s a unique opportunity for participants to be active and connect to history at the same time. There are three heritage trails exploring local history: Turanganui River and Titirangi; Oneroa Walkway and seafront; and Taruheru River. The trails combine Māori and Pakeha history traversing stories around early navigators, those who visited, those who returned, and those who made this place home. Stories of the original Māori ancestors Kiwa and Pāoa are combined with the history of meeting houses, Cook’s arrival, and European settlement. Mr Cairns says the heritage trails also fit into the school’s Tu Tāne growing good men programme. “Knowing who you are, where you’re from, and discovering shared histories amongst communities, is important for young men.” Turanga Health has used heritage trails for several years to engage rangatahi in physical activity and as a way of helping them learn local history. “Students can find themselves standing next to and looking upon sites of significance,” says Turanga Health chief executive Reweti Ropiha. “They learn, and that mātauranga can be translated into their daily connections and life.” Rongowhakaata historian and heritage consultant Jody Wyllie created the heritage trails for Turanga Health. Mr Wyllie is a Treaty of Waitangi negotiator and researcher. He’s spent hours passing on his years of historical research to Turanga Health kaiāwhina who lead the guided walks. The Turanga Health trail guides are Hotorene Brown, Avenir Maurirere, Richard Brown, Luke Bradley, Lewis Ria, Haydn Pomana and Waldo Horomia. They have support from other staff who help with transport and refreshments.
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