Motu Kōkako

22/03/2026

Poipoia te kākano kia puāwai 🌱🌺🌴
Meet some of our 2026 Motu Kōkako scholars 🤗

22/03/2026

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2026 SCHOLARS
Motu Kōkako Ahu Whenua Trust is delighted to announce our scholarship recipients for 2026. This year we awarded all fifteen applicants financial support for their studies, to a total of $22,000. This was one of those years where the standard was so high that we increased the budget by $10,000 to be able to fund everybody.
GIving back to shareholders is a priority for the Trust, and we have witnessed the difference that support can make. We wish our scholars all the best for their studies this year.
E ai ki te whakataukī "Ko te manu e kai ana i te miro, nōna te ngahere. Ko te manu e kai ana i te mātauranga, nōnā te ao".
The bird who feasts on the miro berry, theirs is the forest. The bird who feasts on knowledge, theirs is the world.
The list of scholars is the last photo.

21/03/2026

AGM āpōpō - zoom in to hear our scholarships announcement. Another amazing group of taitamariki and pakeke coming through 🖤👩🏽‍🎓🤍👨🏽‍🎓❤️

01/03/2026

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED

MOTU KŌKAKO 2026 TERTIARY EDUCATION GRANT

The Motu Kōkako Ahu Whenua Trust is happy to announce that applications are now open for tertiary education grants for study in 2026. The grant is for study full-time at a tertiary institution or wānanga, with the exception of postgraduate study, which can be part-time.

A total scholarship fund of $12,000 is available. The actual sum that successful applicants receive will depend in part on the number and type of applications but is expected to range between $1,000 and $2,000.

Applicants must be descendants of the ancestral owners of Rāwhiti 2C (Motu Kōkako). Priority will be given to whānau living and studying in Aotearoa. Applicants are not eligible to be awarded a grant over two (2) consecutive calendar years e.g. if you received a grant in 2025, you are not eligible in 2026 but will be eligible again in 2027.

Applications close Sunday 8 March 2026, and can be submitted online. Follow this link to submit an online application (you will need a google account): https://forms.gle/3Mv8KVy4yXzK5EnJ7
The final decisions will be published mid to late March.

Questions? Comment on this post, message us, or email us at [email protected]. Good luck whānau mā 🙏

List of ancestral owners: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18LwGPffx8tBKgGWQa0jrx60lYFpEZhlJ/view?usp=drive_link

01/03/2026

A shout out to Dean Wright Photography, who gives a koha to our Trust each time he sells an image of Motu Kōkako. Ataahua te mahi, ataahua te whakaaro 🤩

18/02/2026

MOTU KŌKAKO 2026 TERTIARY EDUCATION GRANT

The Motu Kōkako Ahu Whenua Trust is happy to announce that applications are now open for tertiary education grants for study in 2026. The grant is for study full-time at a tertiary institution or wānanga, with the exception of postgraduate study, which can be part-time.

A total scholarship fund of $12,000 is available. The actual sum that successful applicants receive will depend in part on the number and type of applications but is expected to range between $1,000 and $2,000.

Applicants must be descendants of the ancestral owners of Rāwhiti 2C (Motu Kōkako). Priority will be given to whānau living and studying in Aotearoa. Applicants are not eligible to be awarded a grant over two (2) consecutive calendar years e.g. if you received a grant in 2025, you are not eligible in 2026 but will be eligible again in 2027.

Applications close Sunday 8 March 2026, and can be submitted online. Follow this link to submit an online application (you will need a google account): https://forms.gle/3Mv8KVy4yXzK5EnJ7
The final decisions will be published mid to late March.

Questions? Comment on this post, message us, or email us at [email protected]. Good luck whānau mā 🙏

List of ancestral owners: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18LwGPffx8tBKgGWQa0jrx60lYFpEZhlJ/view?usp=drive_link

16/05/2025

Have an awesome day our trustees and whānau who are doing the kaitiaki mahi today, take lots of pix! 🌞 A few pix from our prep visit the other week 💚
Ngā mihinui to Salt Air, our partner in helicopter tours to our motu. Always grateful for your tautoko and manakitanga 🙏

17/04/2025

Cyclone Tam - kia noho haumaru tātou mā 🙏

A busy day at Te Rāwhiti Marae as whānau deployed the emergency response on the second day with no power. Our Ecoflow portable power station was the perfect unit to help whānau charge their devices with multiple ports and outlets. We bought the ecoflow for use on our biodiversity surveys but it is good to be able to awhi when needed 🤗

07/04/2025

"This is about mana motuhake, making sure our stories are told our way"
Ngā mihi to Kohu Hakaraia, one of our 2025 Motu Kōkako Scholars. Kohu was busy with an assignment so couldn't make the hui-a-tau. However, she took some time out to share this kōrero about her learning journey 🖤🤍❤️
Credit: Kohu Hakaraia and Tamaira Hook

06/04/2025

Ngā mihi māhana ki te whānau o Motu Kōkako 🤗
Thank you to the whānau who came to tautoko our AGM yesterday, to the taumata led by Te Ra Nehua, the team from Whakapara marae for their manaakitanga Te Pora mā and the cooks led by Jeannie Poutai for their reka kai 🙏🏼
A special mihi to Twilight and Te Kauwhata, two of our 2024 scholars who shared their respective haerenga to become a pilot and a lawyer. E ai ki te kī “Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei” 🏔 Love to see our young ones aiming for the heights. Never the easiest path but the ups and downs all combine to weave the rich whaariki of life 🖤🤍❤️
AGM papers are available for uri - just message or email [email protected]

26/03/2025

2024 Kaitiaki Noho o Te Raumati 🌞

Our 2024 biodiversity survey - come walk with us as we ground our kaitiati work in mātauranga and tikanga Māori 🖤🌱❤️ Learn more at our AGM on Sunday 6 April.

Ngā mihi to Te Maire Hoskins for her ataahua report and Tamaira Hook for his stunning videography and photography 🙏
A huge thank you to our kuia and kaumatua Maaki Howard and Tamati Howard, to all of our roopu and to Salt Air for their unstinting support ❤

14/03/2025

Congratulations to Taiawa Edwards, one of our 2024 Motu Kōkako scholars, on winning a Te Waiu o Aotearoa scholarship. It is awesome to see our next generation of leaders coming through.
Whānau mā, if you have any rangatahi studying in the commerce/finance/economics fields, Te Waiu applications for next year will be opening at Matariki ✨⭐️💫

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FaKZ4kTZd/?

Te Waiu o Aotearoa Trust scholarship for Northland uni student