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Ko te haka me te manaakitanga ngā kakano i whakatōkia ki te pūrenga o tō mātou whare, otīā ki tō mātou whānau.
He āhuatanga Māori nei e kitea tonutia i a mātou me te mea hoki he āhuatanga heke iho i ngā kāwai rangatira o tō mātou matua wahine. He manu tīoriori, he manu ngangahū ōna kaumātua.Kai taku taina kai a Watu te wairua kapa haka o rātou mā.
Nō mai, nō mai nōna e itiiti ai, ā, moroki noa nei ko Tuhourangi – Ngati Wahiao tana kai, ao te pō, pō te ao.Engari kauaka ki te taha ātāmira anahe, kia tikina e ahau te pepeha a ngā kaumātua e kīa nei, ko te amorangi ō ki mua, ko te hāpai ō ki muri.
E whakatata atu ana a Watu ki ngā tau e whitu tekau te rahi kua waimarie katoa ia.
Kua whakawhiwhia e ia ki tana umanga whakahirahira rawa atu. Ko riro i a ia te tūnga Pou takawaenga o Te Arawa mā Te Matatini. Kua mana tana tūnga i te pūtea e toru tekau mā whā miriona tāra i whakatahangia e te kawanatanga tawhito mō ngā tau e rua te roa.
Ko te tikanga, he kotahi anahe te poutakawaenga ki ngā rohe kotahi ngāhuru mā rua o Te Matatini.Ko te ritenga ka hui katoa ngā rangatira ā topa, ā kanohi hoki engari taihoa ngā kōrero whakanikoniko, he tauhou tonu a Watu ki tana tūnga.’
Kua tukuna hoki he tāhua pūtea ki ngā whaitua e whakapakari ake ai ngā ringaringa me ngā waewae ā mua, ā muri o te ātāmira. Ko te mana o te tāhua pūtea ka noho ki te uho o te rōpū nei kauaka ki ngā pokowhiwhi o te tangata kotahi, mā te whakawhiti kōrero e mana ai te tuku pūtea ki ngā wāhanga ngoikore. Ko te mana o te pūtea ka toro atu ai ki ngā kura hoki kauaka e noho motuhake anahe ki ngā rōpū pakeke o te kapa haka o te rohe’.
Nō te timatatanga o te tau hou nei ka awhinatia ngā kura kia kotahi atu rātou ki te whakataetae Mana Kuratahi Kapa Haka i tū ki Whakatū, whaihoki ka awhinatia ngā kura tuarua ka whakataetae kapa haka ki Whakatū a te tau hou, e mana katoa ai enei i te tāhua pūtea nei’. Kua wāwāhingia te pūtea nui kia rua ngā tāhua.
E whitu tekau paiheneti ka tohua ki ngā rohe, ko te toenga ka tohua ki ngā whakahaeretanga o Te Matatini, ā, ko te mahi a Watu hoki kai tēnei whakaaro. ' He ahakoa he maunga tiketike te tāhua pūtea me kaua ngā kanohi e ware kau ki te nui o te pūtea engari ko ngā hua nui ka puta mai e rangatira ake nei ngā kawenga a Rēhia.
Kua riro i a Te Arawa he kotahi ira rima miriona tāra mo te tau nama nei – nā ka tuaruangia e ahau te whakaaro, ko te ritenga o te pūtea he whakakaha i te rohe ā kapa haka nei, nā wai rā, ka rere atu taua mana ki te whakataetae a Matatini.Ko etehi o ngā pou o tō mātou whare kia Mana Motuhake ki te kāinga, tuarua kia Matatū, tuatoru kia Mataora, tuawha kia kawe atu a Matatini ki te ao’.
I kaha tātaringia a Watu kia tika ai ia ki tēnei tūnga e ngā rangatira o Te Matatini.
Hai tāna, ‘Kua noho ahau hai pou tiaki pūtea mō te kōmiti o Te Arawa mō ngā tau kotahi ngāhuru. I ngā tau ko pahemo kāore rawa tō mātou waka i nunumi i te mate nama, engari kē i tupu matomato ngā rau. Nō te tau nei i kawe atu e mātou tokoono kapa haka ki Te Matatini whakataetae ai, tokorima i eke ki te mura o te ahi ki te kāhui kotahi ngāhuru mā rua whakataetae nui ai’.
Hai tā Watu anō ka āhua kotahi rau e ono tekau mā rima mano tāra te nui o te pūtea e tika ai te whakahaere whakataetae kapa haka ā rohe. Ka āhua kotahi rau, e rima tekau mano tāra te pūtea ki ia kapa pakeke e tika ai tō rātou kaupapa mō Te Matatini.’ Kātahi nei ahau ka puta i Te Puni Kokiri he pēnei hoki taku mahi, he mahi whika, nā reira e mātau ai oku matimati me taku roro ki te kōrero nama. Kai te kāinga ahau e mahi ana engari nōku te whiwhi kua pōwhiringia ahau e ngā taratī o Ngāti Te Roro o te rangi ki reira noho, mahi ai. I pōwhiringia mātou e ngā rangatira o Te Matatini ki Te Whanganui a Tara, he ahakoa ko te tikanga ka kotahi ngāhuru mā waru ngā nohanga tokowaru anahe kai te kī i te tangata’.
Kia whiwhi pūtea ai he rōpū, tuatahi ake, me mana tika, me rēhita te rōpū, me he toimaha tēnei taha o te kaupapa, mā Watu kotou e manaaki, he mōhio nōna he ao whiwhiwhiwhi te mahi pepa.
Tērā tētehi hiahia ōna ko te whakaara wānanga e pakari ake ai a Ngai Te Arawa ki te taha pepa.’ Kāore au e huna te kōrero he iwi rangatira a Te Arawa ki te kapa haka, e titiro ai ngā kanohi ki ngā koko me ngā whaitua o te rohe, ara he tupua, ara he taniwha, ara he taiko hoki. Mā te whakakotahi pea i a tātou katoa e kaha ake ai te whare Rēhia o Te Arawa kia kaua ia e rite ki te iwi o Maruiwi’.E tika ana hoki kia whakakapia e ahau te pānui nei a Kāhu ki Rotorua ki taku taina, ki te mareikura o Tuhourangi kua roa e pikau ana te ao o te kapa haka ki ōna pokowhiwhi e kite hoki ai te ao ki te mana o tātou te Māori.Ko te timatatanga hoki tēnei o tā mātou haerenga i a Tuhourangi – Ngati Wahiao i a Makereti me tana pahi i kotahi atu ki Ingarangi ki reira rātou hakoke, whakangahau atu ai.
He mea kawe atu tō mātou kuia a Watu i a Waretini Te Mutukurī me tana hoa rangatira a Ataraiti i taua haerenga, nā wai ko tō mātou matua wahine ka puta ki waho ko Watu otīā ko mātou hoki. Ko Watu hoki hai tuakana nō tō mātou kuia, he rangatira hoki ia nō te whānau Taame Tunui nō Poroporo, ko Te Moananui-a-Kiwa i whānau i tā rātou hokinga mai ki Hawaiki Tahutahu nei.
Haka and manaakitanga are inbred in our whanau — through our mother we come from a long line of singers and poi dancers.
My teina Watu has lived kapa haka and our Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao roopu all her adult life both on stage and behind the scenes, keeping the finances healthy and planning for the future.
On the cusp of her 70th birthday she has landed her dream job — Te Arawa Pou Takawaenga for Te Matatini.
The kaupapa is to grow and develop capabilities of kapa haka on and off the stage.
The roles have been made possible thanks to the previous government allocating $34 million over two years for Te Matatini.
There is one pou takawaenga based in each of the 12 Te Matatini rohe. The team come together both face to face and via zoom although Watu is not sure how frequent they will be because she has been on board only three weeks.
“Each rohe has been allocated funding to develop and grow the capabilities on and off the stage of Kapa Haka in the regions.
“It is not up to the individual Pou Takawaenga to decide how that funding is spent but we are part of the decision-making process in our own regions. The decision sits with each rohe committee.
“Not only do we support the Senior Kapa Haka Groups in each rohe but we also provide some financial support to our kura.
“Earlier this year, Te Arawa supported our Kura who travelled to Nelson to compete in the Mana Kuratahi Kapa Haka Competition and will be supporting our High Schools that are heading to compete in the Secondary School Kapa Haka Competition, also being held in Nelson, next year.”
Seventy per cent of the grant has been allocated to the regions and the other 30% is to fund the operations of Te Matatini Incorporated Society, including Watu’s role.
“While this is a lot more money than we have ever had, we still need to be very vigilant about how we spend this funding. It’s not about what do you need money for, it’s about what will the outcomes be from spending on that specific event or project.
“Te Arawa was allocated just under $1.5million for this financial year.
“These roles provide the opportunity for rohe to support each at the regional level to uplift Kapa Haka locally which will only benefit Kapa Haka competitions Nationally.
■ Mana motuhake ki te kainga
■ Matatū
■ Mataora
■ Matatini ki te ao”
Watu went through normal recruitment channels to secure the appointment, but she is more than amply qualified.
“I have been the treasurer for the Te Arawa Kapa Haka committee for 10 years and have managed our biannual regional events.
“All of those events never went into debt, and they grew exponentially over the years. This year alone we took six rōpu to the Matatini Festival and five made it through to the top 12.”
Watu said it costs around $165,000.00 to run a regional competition and it costs senior Kapa Haka Groups upwards of $150,000.00 to run their National Campaigns.
“Up until four years ago, I also worked for Te Puni Kokiri doing similar mahi, so I have a lot of experience in this area. This is my first job since finishing with TPK.
“I am currently working from home but have been fortunate enough to be invited to work from the new building that the Ngāti Te Roro o Te Rangi Trust occupy.
“We recently had our official tour in Wellington and of the 12 positions, only 8 are currently full at this stage.”
To receive funding a ropu must be a legal entity.
Watu also helps groups with the formal side of things too because much of that sort of work is foreign territory for many.
Groups also have need to have a registered GST number so she can also help with that.
Watu would like to see Te Arawa hold wananga to expand on their knowleldge.
“We have a lot of expertise in Te Arawa, and it would be awesome to have the space for their knowledge to be passed on to others.
“Not just in your usual practice setting but having different wānanga being held that could bring together all the groups at once to learn as a whole, or we could also look into holding wānanga for each individual kapa to meet and respect their unique needs.”
To me it seems fitting that the last story I file for Kahu Ki Rotorua is about a Tuhourangi mareikura who is taking kapa haka to the world.
That is how we started, with the story of Makereti taking her Tuhourangi Ngati Wahiao entertainers to England and beyond.
Our maternal great grandparents, Waretini Te Mutukuri and Ataraiti took their daughter, our grandmother Watu with them on that tour. A sister to our grandmother and matriarch of the Taame Tunui whanau of Poroporo, Te Moananui A Kiwa, was born on the homeward journey.
'We really have something special going on here,' the academy co-founder says.