Kia Mau ki to Māoritanga are the words that drove the vision and passion of the founders of our Marae for over 35yrs. Today in the year of 2020 we celebrate these successes as we not only own and value our Māoritanga, but we also celebrate our own Mana Motuhake

The Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae was initially a Kōkiri Training Centre, a not for profit Maori training provider. Back in the 1970’s, many of our kaumatua from across all the tribes of Tāmaki Makaurau came together to address the needs of our rangatahi and whānau whānau, highlighting the need to rekindle our cultural voice and traditional practices of our tūpuna. Today, their dreams and aspirations are taught to so many people of all different nationalities and of all walks of life. This act on its own breaks down cultural barriers as we place our cultural lens onto the faces of non-Maori who are in search of their own identity

Our Marae is well known for its manaakitanga and whakawhanāungatanga values ensuring that every person that walks through our gates feels a sense of belonging and a connection to our world view.

The centre converted to the marae use, in 1984, and a formal lease of the 1.4325 ha property was leased to the Marae in1986 with then the Manukau City Council under the Auckland Council Parks and Properties Department (Open Space Sport and Active Recreation Zone) as a community partnership organisation.

 Our marae has been servicing the needs of the local, national, and international community throughout this time and officially became a New Zealand Registered Charity in 2019. Many of these founding members have passed on and left a huge void in our marae, however we are forever reminded of their memories by the actions of our extended whanau. Many of their mokopuna and whanau have taken  up the tools of passion as we all continue to carve our place in the world.