INSPIRED BY HER tAURANGA MOANA ROOTS
11 November 2026
Rhian Natalie Smith
Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou
Self Employed Creative, Artist, Photographer, Digital Artist, Social Media Works
Part time - Marae Tourism Venture
Ākonga, Poutuarongo Whare Tapere - Bachelor of Literary Performing Arts
Rhian is in her final year of the Poutuarongo Whare Tapere programme. Graduates from the programme become exponents of composition and performance of kaupapa Māori and valued repositories of te reo Māori and mātauranga Māori. In December she will be walking the stage to receive her degree and celebrating this achievement with whānau, friends and fellow students.
The foundations of Rhian desire to enrol into the programme were that she has always been inspired by Te Whare Tapere and the creatives around her. Her nan, Hilda Wilson was part of the Te Matatini community and its original conception. Rhian also wants to be a contributor to the retelling, upkeeping and holding of stories especially those from Tauranga Moana. She loves being in this environment and being creative.
As a wharekura student at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Kura Kōkiri, Rhian was also a student of the Heke Mātauranga Māori, the Diploma in Mātauranga Māori programme with Te Wānanga o Raukawa. She graduated in her year 13 with the diploma, an awesome achievement. Ten years later she enrolled into the Poutuarongo Whare Tapere re-establishing her connection with the Wānanga. She was particularly keen to pick up her studies on her iwi and hapū.
Giving back to her people, to all generations is what Rhian is wanting to do once she graduates. Reviving and sharing the stories of her iwi through the art of whare tapere - waiata, haka, whakaari, stage play and storytelling is where she is heading.
Working part time for her marae, sees Rhian being part of her marae tourism venture. She credits her studies with giving her the confidence to front giving the full cultural experience to passengers from cruise ships visiting Tauranga Moana. She was inspired by her pūkenga and their delivery strategies which she has now adapted and employed when delivering to tourist.
Rhian is her mother's only child and she shares her father with her younger brother. She has a very inquisitive nine-year-old son, Kaiurungi, her navigator. Together they get through life. Kaiurungi is in the reo rumaki class at Bethlehem School. He is currently preparing for Te Waka Pererua, which is the Tauranga Moana Kuratahi Kapa Haka Competition scheduled for November. He is also into building with Lego, drawing, a bit of "screen time", singing, creating ditties and pao, and playing tee-ball. Rhian was born and raised in Tauranga Moana, but she did travel a lot to her dad in Auckland and to Ngāpuhi during her school holidays. She feels privileged to being connected to both sides of her whakapapa.
Te Reo was not always in Rhian's life, however in year 10 she moved to Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Kura Kōkiri. It changed her life for the positive. She is a proud Māori. She has dived into creating beautiful and meaning art, dabbling in painting, photography, videography, raranga, whatu, tukutuku, storytelling and composition. She has written a beautiful waiata for her iwi of Ngāi Te Rangi, He Potiki Manawa Ū, and it recently became available on Spotify. It's also become an anthem for Ngāi Te Rangi.
Rhian has performed with Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Ranginui at Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga and at Te Matatini Te Kahu o Te Amorangi. She will be trialling with them again this season. She also has a strong affiliation with Te Aranga, a Mataatua kapa.
The relationships and connections Rhian has made during her three years of study are some of the most important aspects of her time at Te Wānanga o Raukawa. She feels she made some special connections with the pūkenga, guest presenters and fellow ākonga who are now personal friends. In Rhian's opinion, "The hui rumaki reo are beautiful settings for whanaungatanga and the other kaupapa." She is planning to return to finish the Poutuarongo Mātauranga Māori and then advance to a master's degree. Rhian would also love to establish a whare tapere in Tauranga Moana - a whare tapere that is authentically from and easily identifiable as Tauranga Moana.
Kia kawea tātou e te rēhia - Let us be taken by joy and entertainment
If you would like to know more about the Poutuarongo Whare Tapere programme, visit Poutuarongo Whare Tapere | Te Wānanga o Raukawa