He Oranga Poutama - Stairway To Wellbeing

He Oranga Poutama encourages Māori to become more active.

He Oranga Poutama


He Oranga Poutama is a Sport NZ programme hosted by different regional sports trusts and Iwi around the country. It strongly centres on Māori cultural distinctiveness and support community leadership and participation grown in play, active recreation and sport as Māori. The framework used to measure this is Te Whetu Rehūa.

Our Kaiwhakahaere, delivers this programme and uses different approaches to get more Māori participating and active within their communities. 

They build relationships with schools, clubs, community groups and iwi, so that the needs of these different communities can be defined and worked towards. They have the knowledge and skills to deliver, teach and upskill leaders, teachers and students in Tāonga Tākoro (Traditional Māori games). These keemu (games) are for everyone older than five and can involve different equipment, like rakau or poi or sometimes they use no equipment at all.

The more popular keemu are rakau based games and the sport of ki o rahi which is sport played by teams at a local, regional and national level.

Contact Person 

Nadia Phillips

Māori Lead​​​​​​​

[email protected]

Phone: 027 285 2900

Current Programmes:


Taranaki Toa

Taranaki Toa is a small group of Taranaki-based whānau who see triathlon, and each of its three disciplines, as a vehicle for whānau to pursue a healthier lifestyle, in a helpful and supportive environment.  Taranaki Toa inspire and support Taranaki whanau to participate in triathlon and other multi-discipline events to pursue a hauora journey (a healthier lifestyle) and to improve the holistic health and wellbeing of Taranaki Māori.

To achieve this, we want to get more whānau active and involved in triathlon and endurance events for life. We want to provide a supportive entry point into the sport and encourage whānau into a range of triathlon and endurance training groups, sessions and events. To find out more about Taranaki Toa check out their facebook page and/or website.