Matapiata | ORO ATUA

ORO ATUA is the evolution of Jerome’s lived experience with the rongoā found within Taonga Puoro. In 2003, at just 20 years old, Jerome was navigating depression, mental health struggles, and suicide attempts.

It was during this time that he was taken under the wing of the late Royce Ponga, who guided him back into the ngahere of Rongokaupo as part of a restorative journey. There, Jerome reconnected with Taonga Puoro – starting with a Pupurangi gifted to him by his kuia when he was eight years old. This became the beginning of his wānanga, learning to both play and create his own Taonga as a form of rongoā Māori.

In 2013, on the banks of the Rangitīkei River, the name ORO ATUA was gifted to carry forward the revitalisation of Taonga Puoro as rongoā Māori for our people.

By 2021, Jerome began working alongside his partner Ruiha Turner, reviving the ancestral practice of working together as Taha Wāhine and Taha Tāne within ORO ATUA. In the past two years, in collaboration with Te Whatu Ora Hauora Māori, they have delivered 56 wānanga, reaching over 3,000 of our whanaunga across their tūpuna rohe – Rangitīkei, Waimarino, Awa Whanganui, and Mohaka.

During this time, they have also collected over 3,000 oral stories from our people, each sharing the positive hauora impacts of ORO ATUA in direct response to the intergenerational trauma of colonisation.

More recently, following the disruptions of COVID-19, they have taken ORO ATUA overseas once again – delivering their kaupapa in Finland, Taiwan, and Japan.  

Follow:
Website: www.puorojerome.co.nz

LinkedIn: Jerome Kavanagh
Instagram: @PuoroJerome

Facebook: @PuoroJerome
YT: @PuoroJerome

Spotify: PuoroJerome
Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/24vWDZQj5RNs8DqQVgMC5F