Canterbury students attend the First World Summit of Indigenous Entrepreneurs
Published by the Communications and Development
Department
17 October 2003
Two Canterbury University students, Trina Taupo and Solomon
Rahui, were among 12 Maori representatives invited to attend the recent
World Summit of Indigenous Entrepreneurs (WSIE) in Toronto, Canada.
Trina and Solomon were part of a six-person delegation from the group
Nga Pukenga Hou, which is a nationwide, student-based organisation.
Nga Pukenga Hou members are in the preliminary stages of establishing
a consultancy business “to explorefs, develop and implement indigenous
approaches to entrepreneurial enterprises” in New Zealand.
Facilitated by the World Trade University and the Institute for Leadership
Development, the WSIE was the first conference of its kind. The Summit
was held in honour of the United Nations Decade of the World’s
Indigenous People, and indigenous people from 38 countries around the
world participated.
Both Trina and Solomon received Global Indigenous Entrepreneur Fellowship
Awards to attend the Summit.
Trina said the Summit helped them understand how the exchange of business
ideas could work at an international level. They hope what they learned
will help Nga Pukenga Hou to “up-skill and encourage the Maori
community to take charge of their own interests".
The Summit was also an opportunity for the members of Nga Pukenga Hou
to identify people and resources that might help them establish their
business. Most of the group are currently students, but they “want
to be equipped with as much knowledge as possible” once they have
finished their degrees.
“The pivotal part of the Summit was the ability to interact with
other indigenous cultures around the world and to see how they are dealing
with the same issues in starting a business,” said Trina.
She said she enjoyed meeting so many people from various backgrounds,
although she wished the Summit had addressed to a greater extent how
indigenous culture fits into business.
Since the students returned from Canada, they have already had contact
with others from the Summit. Trina said she had spoken with Canadian
government officials to exchange ideas on how they might work together
on indigenous issues.
Trina and Solomon also attended another conference, Te Huinga Roia or
the National Maori Law Conference, on their way back from Canada. Trina
described this conference as a “good way to recharge your batteries",
since it was a way for Maori students to network and gain support from
each other.
Trina (Tainui, Nga Puhi) is currently an MA student in the Sociology
Department working with the “Constructive Conversations”
research group. Her thesis focuses on whether common ground can be found
between traditional Maori knowledge and Western science on issues such
as genetic testing.
Solomon (Tuhoe, Ngai Tahu) is an undergraduate majoring in Maori and
political science. He is passionate about music and Maoritanga, and
is a tutor for Continuing Education Maori courses.
For more information contact:
Deborah Parker
Communications Manager
University of Canterbury
Christchurch
Ph 03 3 64 2910
Email deb.parker@canterbury.ac.nz
