Stories by Moana Ellis

The Ministry of Education says 170 of the Whanganui, Manawatū and Taranaki's 176 primary, intermediate and secondary schools reported cases among students or staff in the 10 days to Monday.

An iwi collective working across four North Island regions fears there are many cases they don't know about.

Flocks of kererū, kākā and tītī could make a comeback in the central North Island if a tribe's vision for a 2700ha 'inland island' sanctuary moves ahead.

The Department of Conservation has closed the Whanganui River to kayakers and canoeists on the upper and middle reaches after four paddlers tested positive for Covid-19.

Covid-19 is spreading fastest among children and teens in the Whanganui and Rangitīkei Covid-19 outbreak as the region faces the second-lowest rate of child 5 to 11 vaccinations in the country.

Māori uptake of first and second vaccinations has stalled as Covid-19 vaccination teams meet "a final wall of resistance", says a Māori health analyst.

Eleven new Covid-19 cases have been found in the rural Rangitīkei area of Marton, bringing the number of active cases in the Marton outbreak to 20.

The museum's famed collection of taonga Māori will be overseen by a Māori curatorial collective in the first arrangement of its kind in Aotearoa.

Whanganui city's economic development agency wants to see locals swiping right on a new matchmaking app set up to pair local businesses with skilled workers.

A $16 million marae renovation programme is drawing to a close, with a third of marae in the west of the North Island, the top of the South Island and the Chatham Islands benefiting from major…

A mobile Covid-19 team in Rangitīkei will head into back-block farm stations in the drive to close the vaccination gap for Māori as the country braces for Omicron.

An iwi is searching for a storage area for food and basic supplies as it prepares to support the Whanganui community through the widely expected Omicron outbreak.

Māori communities at a dangerously high risk of Omicron spread need more support to prepare for isolation, infection and illness, researcher Rāwiri Taonui warns.

A Covid-19 Māori health analyst says more than 106,000 vaccinated Māori are not eligible for a booster shot until after 1 March - too late to protect against the expected Omicron surge.

A Covid-19 Māori health analyst is calling on the government to prioritise Māori and Pasifika children in the 5-11 years vaccine rollout or risk the consequences of a "brown pandemic".

Whanganui iwi Tūpoho is opening the region's first Covid-19 saliva testing clinic tomorrow, as part of a community approach it hopes will be picked up around the country.

An iwi collective's Covid-19 campaign to lift Māori vaccination will go out on the front foot with an online information blitz to tackle hesitancy about vaccinating children.

Whanganui River iwi concerned about the risk of collision between canoeists and jetboaters are to put a team of monitors on the water to ensure the safety of river users.

Thousands of Rātana followers, politicians and dignitaries have been asked to stay away because of the threat of Covid-19 and most traditional activities have been called off.

A leader of an intensive effort to boost Māori Covid-19 vaccinations says nurses are in short supply and it's time to look at training more Māori.

Planning will get underway to enable the tribal river wānanga the Tira Hoe Waka to go ahead in 2023 after being axed for two years running.

The two-week journey down the Whanganui River for the River tribes has been happening every year since 1988, but has been axed for the second year running because of the threat of Covid-19.

A Covid-19 Māori health analyst is urging Māori to "take action and work together" to reduce the impact of expected Delta outbreaks as the country begins travelling.

Ruapehu District Council is proposing a sinking lid policy for pokie machines and venues.

A Covid-19 researcher says opening the Auckland border has exposed nearly half of the Māori population to the risk of contracting Delta - and children could be the biggest spreaders.