Ngāi Tahu are the biggest iwi in Te Waipounamu, holding rangatiratanga (tribal authority) over 80 per cent of the South Island.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu is the tribal organisation that provides leadership, education and cultural opportunities to whānau. They also have a robust investment strategy including property, farming and tourism portfolios to return benefits to the iwi. Their operations are guided by the whakataukī (proverb): mō tātou, ā, mō kā uri ā muri ake nei – for us and our children after us.
Over the years, the Meta team has enjoyed a trusted relationship with Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. Being approached to re-develop their website was a huge honour.
Our key focus was to work with their communications team to develop a clear navigation pathway that would enable them to communicate key information to their 68,000 members, without people getting lost in their comprehensive site.
We looked at the outcomes Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu wanted to achieve. This included better alignment of their brand and ensuring the look and feel of the site reflected their unique iwi culture.It was also important to make it easy for people to connect with the iwi, to find out their whakapapa and become a registered member, and the grants potentially available to them.
It was essential to add the core values of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and whakapapa photo wall to the home page and providing up front links to key information.
We invested in their vision, which is ultimately to bring people back home to the iwi, so that they can access opportunities and be empowered as individuals within a supported community.
We moved from a templated WordPress site to a custom WordPress site which gave the communications team the flexibility to manage content updates. With their membership database connected to the site, we have also provided a dedicated team tasked with security and monitoring as well as ongoing maintenance.
