next course: raumati / summer 2025

What are the dates and topics for the next course? 
  • Tues 28th Jan, 7pm-8.30pm [INTRO: Welcome to the course and get to know one another].
  • Sat 1st Feb, 10am-12pm [HOW WE RELATE: Which legacies of relating do we uphold, and which do we forego? How shall we be together?].
  • Sat 8th Feb, 10am-12pm [COLONIALISM IN AOTEAROA: Where can we witness the harm caused by Britain's ongoing colonial project, and by our ancestors? Feat. Waitangi Day].
  • ONE WEEKEND BREAK
  • Sat 22nd Feb, 10am-12pm [PEOPLES WHO BECAME PĀKEHĀ: Who were we before we came to Aotearoa? What happened to our peoples? In what ways did, and does, the trauma in our lineages get passed on and where are the cracks for healing?
  • Sat 1st March, 10am-12pm [CRITICAL/MEDICINAL FAMILY HISTORY: Where do I start? Methodologies and frameworks for undertaking the kind of family history research that matters].
  • TWO WEEKEND BREAK, FOR RESEARCH
  • Tues 18th 6.30pm-8.30pm [STORY-CATCHING: Sharing gems from our research process].
  • Sat 22nd March, 10-12pm [EARTH-HONOURING ROOTS: How might we reach back in time for life-affirming ancestral ways? What are the pitfalls and possibilities in this delicate and multi-faceted work?]
  • Sat 29th March, 10am-12pm [ANCHORING IN SOLIDARITY: The complexities of allyship. What is it that anchors you in this work for the long term?]
  • Tues 1st April, 7-8.30pm [CLOSING].
    • Tues 29th April 6.30-8.30pm [ONE MONTH ON: Reflection and feedback]
 
  • Is there any homework? Yes! Each Saturday session has up to 2-3 hours of pre-reading and practice attached to it, to be completed beforehand. You will also be streamed into a small buddy group that will meet in between each Saturday session for about an hour to discuss the homework.
  • Will these small buddy groups be facilitated? Yes. Each small group will be led by a previous participant, or friend of, Gathering at the Gate. It is their responsibility to calendar and convene your meetings, encourage discussion, keep track of time etc.  
  • What is the homework like? A study component (which will be a mixture of reading, watching, listening) and a practice component (which will be invitational promptings for embodied, nature-based, creative practice). Each session only has one core/compulsory piece of homework which will be accessible to every-body. The rest of the homework is to be treated as a resource for you to engage with as deeply as you wish and/or are able. 
  • I cannot attend all the live sessions. Can I still do the course? Yes, although we would encourage you to attend at least 60% if you can.
  • Are the sessions recorded? Saturday sessions are recorded and the recordings will be made available for you, however, the breakout rooms that happen as part of it will not be recorded, and this is where some of the most exciting learning happens. Small buddy group sessions in the intervening days will likewise not be recorded. Live attendance is highly recommended to get the most out of the course.
  • How much does it cost? Registration is a sliding scale of $350-$800. You can also pay less than $350 - nobody will be turned away for lack of funds. You can also pay more, i.e sponsor someone else. You can pay in instalments. You'll find extra guidance, reflection prompts, and more information about the sliding scale during the registration process.
  • Why do you charge? Where does the money go? We believe that the work we do is important and we want to do it well. We want to pay ourselves and our co-facilitators in equitable ways that reflect the realities of our lives and the amount of time and energy that we put into the course. We also want to generously reciprocate the energy that we are given by our advisors and accountability partners (the movement elders, Māori, tauiwi of colour and disabled whānau who take the time to review our work). 
  • I've already done GatG and I want to do it again. Can I? Yes, although if numbers are tight then we may prioritise new people. Returning participants are also invited to contribute 'in kind' as well as, or instead of, paying the registration fee. Please get in touch if you think you'd like to help us with something, i.e facilitating small groups, website optimisation, governance or administration, etc). 
  • Can I join with a partner / friend / family member? Yes please! It makes so much sense to do this work with people we are close to. We still ask that each individual person does a registration form so that we can stream you into buddy groups that best fit your individual schedules. You may or may not choose to share a screen during main group sessions and in the intro session it will be best not to. 
  • I don't know anything about my family history / I'm estranged / I'm adopted. Is this course for me? Yes. Alongside blood lines we explore milk lines and sap lines; chosen family and more-than-human kin. We explore ancestries of shared place and time, and political and spiritual lineage. There are a thousand ways in - you will not be alone here. 
  • I don't identify as Pākehā or NZ European. Is this course for me? We acknowledge that race is a social construct and identity is complex. Everyone is welcome. Your facilitators do not carry any of the complexities of Māori, BIPOC, multi-racial and/or 'white-facing' identities in their bodies and would not be speaking to these from personal experience. If you do and you choose to join us (perhaps because, say, you have some European ancestry that you'd like to connect with and/or interrogate, or you have Pākehā family, or because whiteness wants to make you white (see Tze Ming Mok's 'White Asian, Black Asian'), or because you have white-skin privilege, or another reason) then you are deeply welcome. We will support you to connect with any other participants (past or present) who share affinity and we would be honoured to have you.  
  • How do I find out more about bespoke offerings or future courses? Sign up to our mailing list below to receive irregular, informative, and occasionally entertaining newsletters. If you're specifically interested in a bespoke course for your organisation, please email us: [email protected] 
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What previous participants say:

"This is one of the most interesting and compelling journeys I've been on for a very long time."  - Graeme Marshall, 2024 participant

Thank you so much GatG for being such a pou during the aftermath of mum's death and helping me pivot towards connection and meaning. I feel like I am on an ever-unfolding road walking towards knowing who I am in Aotearoa culture and where I fit. I don't know of another experience that facilitates this in quite the same way. - Anonymous

This course spoke to and weaved together a bunch of themes that I needed to have integrated in me: understanding TIriti responsibilites, the quest for Pākehā and personal identity, and the yearning to belong and be here well. I feel more connected to my Pākehā people, to my histories, to our histories. I therefore feel that I see more clearly into the needs of the future. - Lillian Murray, 2022 Participant

"Connecting to ancestors who have done some pretty crook things and finding the humanity in them has been super powerful. Future generations will do Gathering at the Gate and be like “hell yeah, it was my ancestors who did those cool things!” - Lisa Van Halderen, 2024 participant

"I feel such a deeper connection to the place I'm living now and I'm seeing so many connections from where I grew up and how the waters flow between the two. This course has given me a focus in daily life for finding that magic." - Milly Taylor, 2024 participant

"I will be forever grateful to you all for the journey you graciously led us all on. It has been deeply provoking for me and I am enjoying the chance now to sit deeper in myself, feeling a greater sense of context and understanding of who I am. I was not expecting to gain that from this time, but golly what a pleasant surprise and life-altering gift." - Bec Pearson, 2024 participant.

"This is the community I've dreamed of." - Dr. Rachel Jane Liebert, 2024 participant.

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