So, under Sir Hirini Mead's guidance, the founding fathers from Ngāti Awa, decide at a hui at Poroporo Marae in 1987, to establish a Whare Wānanga.

Seen as a response to the trauma of raupatu they intend, through education, to rebuild Māori cultural knowledge base, reconnect to our past and, by doing so, uncover a pathway toward a more certain future.