Celebrating kapa haka at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga

Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga. Photo / Supplied

November 16-23 was a busy time for schools in Hawke's Bay.

Primary children from schools throughout the region participated in a week-long cluster of kapa haka events hosted by Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga.

Last year, the kura hosted an inter-marae kapa haka event called Hakanuia. Impressed with the layout of the one-day event, Ngāti Kahungunu iwi event manager Te Rangi Huata encouraged organisers to host it again and cluster it with other events to make good use of the equipment and facilities hired for the event.

This is exactly what was done and it was a great success with the following competitions held over the week, each day focusing on specific age groups.

Ngāti Kahungunu Primary Schools Festival;
Tama Tūranga (Primary Schools Regional Competition;
Hakanuia; (inter-marae)
Mokotini; (inter-kohanga reo)

Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga were only too pleased to host these events at the kura, however each event had its own organising committees which worked hard behind the scenes to ensure everything ran smoothly.

Kapa haka is a powerful and dynamic learning experience which allows students to express themselves creatively.

It has been proven that Māori performing arts brings together people of all ages, all backgrounds, all beliefs, for Māori and non-Māori alike.

One of the highlights of the Primary Schools Kapa Haka Festival was the increasing participation from mainstream schools. It was heart-warming to see how kapa haka is valued in our mainstream schools, with the standard improving each year.

The Tama Turanga, Primary and Intermediate regional kapa haka competition held toward the end of the week was a show of excellence and like Te Matatini, (the national kapa haka competition for adults), these school teams boosted the eligible teams that would go through to nationals next year.

This competition enabled three Hawke's Bay teams to take part at the national competitions in Nelson in 2021.

We congratulate the winning teams, in first place, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga, in second place, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Wānanga Whare Tapere o Takitimu and in third place, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Ara Hou.

The kaupapa of Hakanuia begins and ends with whānau and connections. This is the second year this festival has been running and organisers envisage making this an annual event.

This festival provides a platform to bring together all our marae, to bring together people of all ages to perform on the stage as one.

Concluding all the kapa haka festivals was Mokotini, a concept that was established to acknowledge all our kōhanga reo. Our mokopuna are at the heart of this festival. This festival also provides our kura with the opportunity to work closely with all our kōhanga reo and the children progress into kura kaupapa.