As thousands across the nation gear up for the long-awaited biennial Te Matatini competition, for Howard Morrison jnr, better known as “Howie”, a kapa haka expert, former TV presenter, and lead singer of the Howard Morrison Quartet, says “It’s been a long time between drinks”.
Morrison’s first national stand was in 1977 when it was called the NZ Polynesian Festival. It included Māori, Samoan, Cook Islands, Niuean and Tokelau cultural dance groups.
It was called a variety of names after its inception in 1972 and was later renamed to Te Matatini (The Many Faces) in 2004, a name coined by Dr Te Wharehuia Milroy, describing the numbers and diversity of participants who attend the festival.
“I think back to the 70s and 80s, it wasn’t cool,” he says, describing playing rugby and being criticised for prioritising kapa haka over sports, with his teammates saying things like “nevermind that s***”, Morrison says.
He says there weren’t as many kapa haka groups as there are today, for the simple fact that kapa haka and haka “wasn’t all that popular” back in the day.
The first year had 17 teams. This year 45 groups from all across the country will congregate at Ngā Ana Wai, Eden Park, in Tāmaki Makaurau to go head to head across four days in the hope to win the Te Matatini competition, and the pride of their nation.
All teams perform a 25-30 minute programme split into seven disciplines: Waiata Tira (choral), Whakaeke (entrance), Mōteatea (traditional song), Waiata-a-Ringa (action song), Poi, Haka and Whakawātea (exit).
Every group has a “core” or “creative” team who develops the items, comes up with the tunes, actions, and choreography. That crew also manages the group’s fundraising and finances.
When asked about creating items, Morrison says “you have to be a bit pōrangi [crazy]; you see a vision in your mind and you can see how it can come to fruition”.
He says teams will typically spend seven to eight months training day to night, every weekend and sometimes during the week to prepare for a Te Matatini competition. Some kaihaka (performers) travel hours on end with their families to make the rehearsals.
Kaihaka sacrifice their time and finances to participate in a kapa haka campaign and Morrison says “commitment is the biggest thing”.
“That’s the sort of commitment Māori do for no monetary reward, that’s how much mana is in Te Matatini.”
And for the performers, he says “that’s their moment to shine, to portray their mana, their ihi, their wehi”.
He said participants must be disciplined. Recently he visited kapa haka group Ngāti Rangiwewehi.
“When they say five-minute break, they really do mean five-minute break, that’s how committed they are, I went out there for three hours and I had the luxury of saying ‘byeee!’”
Morrison says league players would come to practices and compare a three-minute haka to 80 minutes on the field.
The physical and mental strain that long rehearsals bring comes down to what Morrison describes as a mindset of “it’s on!”
“Māori are very competitive, you take that competitive side out of it and you wouldn’t have the same intensity in regards to training, and all the sacrifices that come with it.
“Kapa haka takes over your life, but it’s just the beauty of the beast I think.”
Morrison says kapa haka gives Māoridom a stage to portray who they are as people, where every two years groups can come along and portray their Māoritanga, and the world stops to watch.
“You’ve got 30 minutes to show your mana, your history, and show the world how good you are and how proud”
He says Te Matatini has come a long way in the past 50 years and was the “waka” that drove the revitalisation of the Māori language and culture. The passion has also filtered down to secondary and intermediate competitions: kapa haka is now bigger than Te Matatini.
“Its pretty cool to be a Māori now.”
