What’s in a name? A story, something to aspire to, or even something to be inspired by.

Rereata Makiha, the University of Auckland Business School Kaumatua has chosen a special name for Unleash Space, carefully considering what we have described of our aspirations for the space.

“Kura Matahuna”

We are proud of and energised by the meaning behind the name Kura Matahuna. It symbolises the new journey into the future that challenges the “status quo”. It is “agile” and has all the potential cultural traits aspired of the Unleash Space. The reasons for choosing this name are described here by Kaumatua Rereata Makiha:

Maori were a great lover of wisdom and philosophy and it is to these subjects that the term “Kura” applies – vade mecum: Hongi p153

Kura in the old language means precious treasure, sacred wisdom and philosophy. Divine law and natural phenomena.

Kura Tawhiti was an ancient sacred wisdom tree that grew at the centre of the earth where all known and unknown knowledge was kept. The knowledge was accessed by tohunga through the Kura Wananga. The knowledge tree in the movie Avatar is a perfect image of the Kura Tawhiti.

Matahuna refers to the unseen face or the unknown source. The wind for example is a matahuna. It cant be seen but it can be detected by its impact on something (Tukāki Waititi: Ngati Hine/Whanau a Apanui)

So what we have here is the idea of a group challenging the unknown and the unseen and as yet undeveloped territory. Its like our ancestors who called upon many knowledge sources, stars, animals, fish and bird migrations, to develop a wayfinding system that enabled them to populate 6.5 million square miles of ocean without any instruments. They used a collective knowledge gathered from the Kura Tawhiti.