Hawke's Bay Regional prisoners impress judges with kapa haka performance

Judges were impressed with the Hawke's Bay Regional Prison inmates' "passionate and committed" performance. Photo / Supplied

Hawke's Bay Regional Prison inmates are hopeful of retaining their inter-prison kapa haka title after a "passionate and committed" performance.

Sixteen prisons around the country are taking part in this year's Hōkai Rangi Whakataetae Kapa Haka competition which began in June.

Last year inmates at the Mangaroa prison were awarded first place for Kairangi o Te Reo in the non-aggregate section.

Staff from the Māori Pathways Programme encouraged anyone with an interest in kapa haka to take part this year and teams spent six weeks preparing and practising for their performance last week.

Department of Corrections deputy chief executive Māori Topia Rameka said many of the men had never done kapa haka before, "so it was a new and exciting experience".

"The judges were very impressed by the improvements made since the 2020 competition.

"They stated that the men appeared more passionate and committed and put on a high energy performance."

The theme for this year's competition is "Whānau", incorporating one of the six key principles from Corrections' departmental strategy Hōkai Rangi which aims to address the over representation of Māori serving sentences in prisons and the community.

Whakataetae kapa haka supports the aims of Hōkai Rangi by bringing participants closer to their culture, identity, and language, Rameka said.

"Kapa haka is a taonga that enriches and empowers participants and contributes to their wellbeing.

"It also gives the participants a positive experience to take with them after their time in prison."

This year's "large team" was made up of prisoners and staff, with female staff joining the team for the first time, he said.

After the performance, prisoners, staff and the judges shared a hāngi that was prepared on site.

The last of the performances will take place on Friday at Invercargill Prison with the winners to be announced next month.