NZMACI — the three national schools of whakairo and raranga

Before you apply

This used to be free and is not any more, and that change is recent. NZMACI moved from being a Crown-funded entity to iwi ownership under the 2020 Vesting Act. Government COVID support finished on 31 March 2025, and with Crown funding gone the iwi owners cannot sustainably carry the operating cost alone. Fees were introduced to keep the schools running. Any older page or advice telling you it costs nothing is out of date.

That makes this the place where the rest of this directory earns its keep. The Ngārimu vocational scholarships are $10,000 each for NZQA level 4 to 7 non-degree study. The Māori Education Trust runs more than 25 scholarships. Most iwi run education grants. If you are aiming at one of these schools, the fees are what you go looking for funding to cover.

Three schools, all at Te Puia in Rotorua. Te Wānanga Whakairo Rākau, the National Wood Carving School, opened 1967 and has restored or built more than 40 whare whakairo around the motu. Te Takapū o Rotowhio, stone and bone, opened 2009 and covers pounamu. Te Rito o Rotowhio, weaving, began as Te Whare Raranga in 1967 under Emily Schuster.

At full capacity all three together hold 28 tauira, producing 10 to 12 graduates a year. That is the entire national pipeline for these artforms, which is worth sitting with. Graduates go on to become commission carvers and kaiako.

The schools operate under the 1963 New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute Act, with a nationally mandated role to encourage, foster and promote ahurea and toi Māori. Ownership sits with Wāhiao Tūhourangi o Whakarewarewa, the Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust, and Ngāti Hurungaterangi, Ngāti Taeotū and Ngāti Te Kahu o Ngāti Whakaue.