Trustees
Roxanne Smith
Roxanne Smith (Rongowhakaata) is the Chair of the Trust and represents Ngā Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi Settlement Trust. Roxanne is the great grand-daughter of Putiputi Raukawa Smith (nee Rikirangi) who is the grand-daughter of Te Kooti Rikirangi through his son Wetini.
Roxanne was involved as a whānau delegate through the Wai 856 Treaty claim and has continued to support the aspirations of Ngā Uri as a governance member of the Trust.
Based in Rotorua with her partner and four children, Roxanne is the Director of her own research and evaluation company focused mainly on evaluating health and education initiatives.
Rangi Wetini Cairns
Anei te kawai taura here o taku whakapapa ki taku tipuna a Te Kooti Rikirangi.
Ka moe a Te Kooti Rikirangi i a Irihāpeti Puakana, ka puta ko Wetini. Ka moe a Wetini i a Oriwia Nihipora Kunaiti, ka puta ko Rangi. Ka moe a Rangi i a Marara Te Kahukaone, ka puta ko Hariata Charlotte. Ka moe a Hariata i a Tiaki Wattie, ka puta ko Te Kahukaone. Ko au te tamaiti tuarua o Te Kahukaone rāua ko Ngaro Matuakore Maru.
Through her whakapapa above Rangi is of Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki and Ngati Porou descent and a proud direct descendant of Te Kooti Rikirangi. She is one of seven trustees representing the beneficiaries of Nga Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi and a Trustee on Te Tira Whakaari Trust.
Although Rangi is a Management Accountant based in Wellington, she travels regularly to Turanga to attend to matters of importance in order that she (and her whanau) can learn more and managed the affairs and issues that face them as Ngā Uri o Te Kooti. The discovery of her connection to Te Kooti became apparent to her as a young child. It is the passion for a man that changed the history of Aotearoa that keeps Rangi and her whanau focused on a journey to discover and celebrate the life of her tūpuna, Te Kooti Rikirangi.
Judge Layne Harvey
Layne (Ngāti Awa, Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Kahungunu) is a trustee representing Rongowhakaata Iwi Trust.
Based in Rotorua Layne is a resident Judge for both the Aotea and Tākitimu Districts of the Māori Land Court. Layne is actively involved in iwi and hapū affairs, he has been a trustee of Māori land trusts, iwi authorities and Māori reservations and has been a member of the Council for Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi since 1997. He is also the chairperson of Te Hau ki Turanga Trust.
Matai Smith
Rongowhakaata / Ngāi Tāmanuhiri / Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa.
Mātai is the newest trustee on Te Tira Whakaari having joined us in 2019. He is the mokopuna of Rāmaria May (Pohatu) and Theo Jones and currently resides in paradise, AKA – Manutūkē!
Mātai is actively involved in many whānau, iwi and community kaupapa which has included leading both the Ngāi Tāmanuhiri and Rongowhakaata reo strategies, as well helping to keep the reo on the airwaves in Gisborne through his role as general manager of iwi radio station, Tūranga FM. He’s a graduate from the first intake of Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo and is also the Tairāwhiti representative on the national Te Mātāwai board, as well as Deputy Chair of Te Whakauruhau o Ngā Reo Irirangi Māori.
In his spare time Mātai likes to keep fit and active at Metcon Mauri and still does a bit of tv work “when he can find the time and actually be bothered”.
