Mārama Taiahoaho: taking youth development from the pā to the playing table

Te Ora Hou te Tairāwhiti Trust is a Kaupapa Māori youth and community development organisation based in Gisborne, with a simple yet powerful mission: to strengthen identity, connection and wellbeing for rangatahi Māori.

At the heart of their mahi, is a commitment to ensuring tangata Māori have the space, tools, and opportunities they need to flourish. Through weekly wānanga and community initiatives, Te Ora Hou supports rangatahi, whānau and hapori to navigate life on their own terms – with confidence, pride and connection to Te Ao Māori.

Originally emerging from the Youth for Christ movement in the 1980s, Te Ora Hou te Tairāwhiti has long since evolved into a kaupapa uniquely their own. Operations Manager Trudy Lewis (Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata) says the driving force behind their work today is firmly grounded in wairuatanga.

“We work with people from all walks of life,” says Lewis. “For us, it’s about creating safe spaces, meaningful connections, and opportunities where they can just be themselves – and feel good about who they are.”

Mārama Taiahoaho: Where Play Meets Purpose

Looking for new ways to uplift rangatahi and evolve without relying on government funding, Te Ora Hou turned to something their young people already loved – games. What started as a small, creative idea quickly grew into Mārama Taiahoaho, a Māori trading card game (TCG) rooted in mātauranga maramataka and Te Ao Māori.

“Among our rangatahi, video gaming is really popular!” says Lewis. “After a week of no connectivity thanks to Cyclone Gabrielle, we picked everyone up, brought them to the centre, and played every board and card game we could find – including Magic: The Gathering.”

Initially, Magic: the Gathering, or TCGs in general, were not something that the Te Ora Hou team were very familiar with. However, watching the rangatahi immerse themselves in the game’s world of strategy and resource management revealed something powerful.

“The gamification element gave our mentors and rangatahi a way to connect and talk about their feelings without it being a direct, heavy kōrero,” says Lewis. “It created a safe space to explore their emotions and identity, and channel any issues they were having at home into a pressure-free setting.”

Aiming to capture that same magic in a Māori context, Mārama Taiahoaho was born. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic time, and centres around protecting a pā site, where players manage resources, earn mana points, and navigate decisions guided by the maramataka. Through different lunar phases, players learn how these rhythms influence the taiao, wellbeing, and the choices they make in the game — and in life.

“Games have this incredible way of making the big, heavier stuff feel lighter,” says Lewis. “When you’re playing, things that felt too hard to talk about become part of the world you’re building together.”

A community-led, future-focused kaupapa

The development of Mārama Taiahoaho has largely been picked up and driven by Programmes Coordinator, Maraea Pipi-Takoko (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Hine), who is currently working alongside rangatahi, mentors, and a game designer from Wellington to refine the game mechanics and storytelling.

Pipi-Takoko shares that what makes this kaupapa special is its dual focus: while it nurtures individual identity and wellbeing, it also acts as a tool for learning te reo, helps strengthen community ties, and celebrates mātauranga Māori in new, innovative ways.

“Living here in Tairāwhiti, our communities can feel pretty isolated and are less exposed to the broad career pathways that exist in this modern age,” says Pipi-Takoko. 

“Having something that’s uniquely ours – that speaks our reo, our stories, our way of seeing the world – it matters. It’s another way for our rangatahi to stand tall in who they are.”

Likewise, Te Ora Hou te Tairāwhiti see the game not just as a fun resource, but as a vehicle for bigger aspirations: a platform to uplift rangatahi Māori, create job and leadership pathways, and one day build a self-sustaining creative industry led by young people.

“Imagine seeing games like this, being played around the country – around the world, even. It’s about creating opportunities and futures that are by us, for us. Why couldn’t we be as big as Pokémon one day?”

Currently in the play-testing phase, Te Ora Hou te Tairāwhiti aims to launch a prototype of Mārama Taiahoaho during Māori Language Week 2025, including a Te Reo Māori version of the game, with an official launch of the game projected for 2026.

Down the track, they have long-term aspirations to create a Mārama Taiahoaho entity that operates independently. For the game itself, they would love to expand to involve other Indigenous cultures in creating similar TCGs for their own cultures. During this development phase, they welcome collaboration or insight from anyone interested in the kaupapa.