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See below for English translation
Nō ngā wiki e rua ko hori tēnei haerenga ōku ki Hopuhopu ki te takiwā o Tainui waka he mātakitaki i ngā mokopuna mātanga ki ngā mahi a Rēhia. Ko Raukura te kapa haka ko te whakataetae mō ngā kura tuarua o te motu te pūtake nui i haere ai mātou.
Ko tētehi mea tino rerekē mō tēnei whakataetae ko te wā tuatahi tēnei kua uru mai te hangarau o te ao hou hei kawe i ngā mahi a ngā tūpuna.
Nā te whakapōreareatanga nui o te kōwheori me te māuiui korona kua hua ake tēnei rautaki tēnei whakaritenga hou. E tika ana hoki, kia kāua ngā tamariki me te hunga mātakitaki e māuiui.
Ko te tikanga e pēnei ana. E rima ngā papa whakataetae marara kau i te puku o Aotearoa nei. E toru tekau mā waru katoa ngā kapa whakataetae. Ko te hunga mātakitaki i ngā kapa ko ngā pou whakawā anahe.
Kāore i whakaae te tuku a rorohiko nei ngā mahi mā te ipurangi kia mātakia e te motu, ka rua mā te tīkiti anahe koe e uru atu ai ki te mātakitaki i te hunga whakataetae. E wāuna hoki ki ā mātou mokopuna.
Nō mua tonu i te whakataetae kua rāhuingia ngā mokopuna he noho marae te kaupapa e whā rangi te roa i Wāhi Pā i Rāhui Pokeka. Tapu rawa atu te noho, kare kau i whakaae ki ngā whōna me ētehi atu ngārara o te ao hou, he kapa haka anahe te kai, he whakataetae nui te take e pēnei ana ngā here.
Wheoi anō, ko te hunga rangatahi he mōhiohio kē rātou ki ngā nukurau me te āhuatanga o te papa tūwaewae, kāore i uru mai te wehi ki a rātou tinana. E tika ana te pepehā, he toka tū moana, ākina hau, ākina ngaru tūātea.
Kāti ka puta te ihu. I tū rātou, I whakapau kaha, I ea ngā taumahatanga. Me i reira ngā mātua kua whakahīhī ngā tarouma. Nō te wiki nei ka whakaatungia ā rātou mahi ki te mārea. I timataria te hōtaka kapahaka i te Tūrei o tēnei wiki ko te mātua tuatahi ko Nga Puna o Waiorea, e hika mā, kia hiwa rā, kia hiwa rā! Me he rāngai tūī nā reira i whakarorango ai ngā taringa, ka rere te miere.
He ahakoa kāore au i kite i te pūaretanga o te hōtaka nā reira i āhua kūare ai ahau ki te rōpū.
Kātahi au ka kite i a Pere Wīhongi e whakatangi rakuraku ana nā reira te rōreka o te rōpū waiata nei. Ānanā, nānā i kawe atu ai rātou ki te karamata o te nehenehe, e rata nei ahau ki āna mahi whakangāhau katoa.
He mātanga ki te whakarangatira i te hunga hiakai. He ahakoa e tiro aroha atu nei tēnei kuia ngututā nō Tūhourangi-Ngāti āhiao ki aku ake mokopuna kāore au e huna i te kōrero, ko Waiorea tētehi pahi mana nui. Kua paiakangia kētia e Raukura tō rātou mana. Whakaihuwaka nō te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā ono me te waru.
Whakaihuwaka mō te whakataetae Super Eights nō te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā whitu, mā waru, mā iwa hoki.
He oarnga ngākau ki te mātakitaki me te noho tahi me ā mātou mokopuna katoa e haka ana he ahakoa ko wai, he ahakoa nō whea he wā kawe whakapapa he wā whakawhanaungatanga hoki.
Engari tēnei wā tonu, ae he nui ngā awangawanga, engari koia nei te āhuatanga o te ao e nōhia nei e tātou.
E mātakitaki nei ahau i ngā mokopuna me te pai hoki, e menemene nei ētehi, kai te pukana haere ngā kanohi me te mārama kau te titiro atu me i reira kē ahau e noho ana kua kore rawa ahau e kite atu i ngā tangata katoa e haka ana. Engari tonu kua tū ahau ki te pakipaki me te hūrō inā te mahi a te kaumatua.
Ko te wā e tū tū haere ai te hunga mātakitaki kia rangona ai e ngā pou haka te harurutanga o te whānau tētehi mea nui e kore e tāea te rīwhi me tētehi mea anō hoki ka pau i ngā rā e whia kē kātahi nā ka whakaatungia ngā mahi a ngā mokopuna.
Āe kua whakahuringia te ao e te māuiui korona kai te kitea tēnei āhuatanga i ngā kura. He ahakoa he pakeke ahau, kai te kaha ōku kanohi, kai te kaha hoki ōku taringa. E mātau nei ahau ki ēnei huringa.
Kai te ao o naianei ngā hangarau e ora ai tātou e ora ai ngā kura mahita nō reira taku whakamihi ki a rātou e tō tō nei i te ao tawhito mā te ao hou ki te ātea nui o tātou ngai tangata.
Hai whakakapinga māku, kua puta tēnei kōrero ki te takiwā kua mōhiongia ngā toa tokoiwa mō te whakataetae Kura Tuarua whaihoki kua mōhiongia te whakaihuwaka mō te tau e rua mano e rua tekau mā rua. Tāria te roanga ake.
— Na Raimona Inia tenei purongo i whakamaoritia
Members of our whanau travelled to Hopuhopu in Tainui country two weeks ago to watch our mokopuna perform with Raukura in the National Secondary Schools Kapa Haka competitions.
It was the first time "live" competitions had been held since the Covid 19 pandemic struck and so there was an undercurrent of excitement.
But this was really different.
Thirty-eight teams were to perform on five stages across Aotearoa and the only people who would witness the teams on stage were the judges.
There was no livestreaming and admission to the venues was strictly by ticket only.
Our mokopuna virtually went into lockdown before their performance, leaving Rotorua for a four-day noho at Waahi Pa in Rahui Pokeka.
It was a phone and device-free noho, because the young kai haka had to hone their skills, and give a chance for their tutors to tweak any weaknesses and perfect their stage craft. The rangatahi knew the drill, the stage was familiar territory for them. And they worked hard, eager to do their kapa and whanau proud.
But it was not until this week that the wider whanau got to see their performances.
Starting on Tuesday with an outstanding performance by Nga Puna O Waiorea to open proceedings, Whakaata Maori began running the full programme from across the motu.
The singing of Waiorea was so sweet that I was immediately captivated. I had no idea about the programming and had missed the introduction so did not know what group was performing.
Then I spotted Pere Wihongi playing guitar and understood why the singing and performance were of such a high standard. I have always admired his work in extracting the best from performers.
To a one-eyed Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao kuia our mokopuna are unquestionably top performers but they had a tough act to follow after Waiorea.
Raukura had already established their reputation.
They were back-to-back national champions in 2016 and 2018 and first in Kapa Haka at the New Zealand Super Eight Schools Cultural Festival 2017, 2018 and 2019.
I loved going to our regional competitions and watching all the teams from throughout our rohe compete. They were a celebration of whakapapa and whakawhanaungatanga.
This latest iteration of whakataetae kapa haka is definitely the most different and perhaps understandable.
Seeing the teams on screen meant I could catch the smiles and pukana of our mokopuna up close, whereas if I had been sitting in the live audience I might not have been able to see them.
But then I would have clapped and yelled loudly after every item.
That vital audience participation is missing in the virtual coverage and in this case the performances are not seen until days after the event.
Covid has changed the whole landscape of our communities and this is particularly true in schools.
Even I, who live and move about in pensioner's world, am aware of the profound effect it has had on how our children study and engage.
Educators have to make the best of the resources available and that includes technology.
By the time you are reading this the nine finalists for the Kura Tuarua Kapa Haka 2022 will be known and the champions decided.
