Organisers of a unique Irish and Maori celebration of St Patrick's Day in Hawke's Bay tomorrow have decided proceeds will go to the Canterbury earthquake appeal, instead of a new marae.
Fifth annual Hui & Huilli organiser Denis O'Reilly said the people in Canterbury "need our help immediately," and the Waiohiki
Marae and community had decided "we will send our money south," instead of putting it towards the rebuilding of the marae near Taradale.
He said Hui & Huilli is a celebration of the Irish-Maori mix - "and a living example of the cultural fusion developing in Aotearoa ... It acknowledges the local interwoven bloodlines that blend and make us 'one' as New Zealanders all."
At Waiohiki it started with the Donnelly family and the marriage of GP Donnelly to the chief Tareha's grand-niece Airini Karauria, and extended to include many other whanau "for instance the Mullany's and O'Reilly's".
In 2007, noted Hawke's Bay artist and cartoonist Dick Frizzell developed an icon for the Hui & Huilli, called Paddy Lepbrochaun' who to embody the fraternisation has, according to Mr O'Reilly, developed his own whanau, winning the heart of a Waiohiki local named Sheryl Moana, and through the hand of the artists produced a son, named Declan.
"This Paddy's Day," Mr O'Reilly said, "we will introduce the Lepbrochaun whanau to the world, with their first role being to raise some cash for Canterbury."
Hui & Huilli, at the Waiohiki Arts Village, starts with a karakia at noon for the Day of the Saint, followed by a Gaelic brunch, and a golf match between the Maori and the Irish, at the Waiohiki course.
Mr O'Reilly has tackled 1980s Kiwis rugby league star Kevin Tamati to cook up at a barbecue back at the arts village, before a battle of the jokers - the Irish (captained by Mr O'Reilly) and the Maori (captained by the Ngai Tahu star of the "Alternative Rugby Commentary", Jed Thian).
It's pay your own way, and the $20 goes to the earthquake appeal.
