As a physical Te Rā Whakapūmau event did not occur at the conclusion of 2020, a virtual production was created in 2021 to acknowledge graduates alongside the 40-year anniversary of Te Wānanga o Raukawa. This is a tribute to the achievements of the Te Wānanga o Raukawa graduates of 2020 who navigated the arrival of a global pandemic to Aotearoa during their academic year.

E kore tātou e ngaro; he kākano i ruia mai i Rangiātea.

Kaupapa/theme: RANGATIRATANGA requires us to behave in a way that attracts favourable comment from others, to the extent that we might be considered to have attributes commonly associated with a rangatira. We must nurture and promote these characteristics. We must be confident and competent in the way that we do our work, exercising control and discipline to ensure the integrity of our pursuits.

For over 40 years Te Wānanga o Raukawa has been dedicated to the dissemination of Māori knowledge, offering education pathways to our people and encouraging graduates who are Māori in the way they think, act and behave; a contribution to the survival of Māori and the expansion of the mātauranga Māori continuum.

Our customised and unique Te Ara a Tāwhaki colour is a feature of the 2020 graduation theme and represents the expansion of mātauranga that has occurred over the past 40 years. This colour represents courage, willpower, leadership and recognises the energy of Tāwhaki or Tāne who brought back the three baskets of knowledge. It is a colour of stability and represents our tūpuna carvings inside our building Te Ara a Tāwhaki.

Taonga

Taonga are usually gifted by Kaihautū and Purutanga Mauri on the day of graduation. Only those who attend a ceremony receive a taonga. Graduates who have already received a taonga for the same level qualification or higher in previous years will not be offered another taonga. Attaining this level of qualification has already been acknowledged. All taonga are blessed prior to being distributed.