Te Kanawa joins three Nga Taiatea Wharekura alumni, whose names are also engraved on the Pei Te Hurinui award.
“E mihi ana ki a rātau nā rātau te ara i para māku, e pai ai taku haere i roto i ēnei mahi, otirā i tū ai rātau hei tauira whakakitenga māku.”
“Kua whakaihuwaka engari e kore ngā mahi e mutu i konei.”
(I must thank those who have paved the way for me, so that I do well with this work. Those who are examples for me.)
Taonga returns home
Te Kanawa is one of 60 rangatahi who competed at the 59th National Ngā Manu Kōrero Competition, representing the Waikato-Tainui region.
The senior Māori category commemorates the late Dr Pei Te Hurinui Jones - described as a distinguished Waikato elder and scholar who played an important part in fostering te reo Māori.
Nga Taiatea Wharekura alumni and kaiako Paumea Walker also won the senior Māori section in 2016 but says the tāonga does not belong to them as individuals.
“Ehara i te mea nāku te tāonga nā Te Kanawa rānei i te mea māua tahi, he morimoringa o tēnei kura, o ā mātau whānau, o ā mātau hapū, o ā mātau iwi hoki.”
“He koanga ngākau kua hoki mai te tāonga ki te Riu o Waikato tonu, ki te iwi o Pei Te Hurinui tonu.”
(This tāonga does not belong to me or Te Kanawa because both of us have been nurtured by this school, by our families and tribes.
“I am happy that this tāonga has returned to te Riu o Waikato, to the tribe of Pei Te Hurinui himself.)
Te Tiriti o Te Kanawa
Te Kanawa also received words of encouragement from past winners.
“Ko tā Te Wairere i kī mai ‘Welcome to the club’, ko tā Matua Kaharau - kia mau ki tāu i kī ai i roto i tāu uiui, otirā ehara te wikitōria i te mea nui,” Wilson says.
(Te Wairere [Ngaia] said ‘Welcome to the club’. Matua Kaharau [Keogh] said, ‘Stay true to what you said in your interview, and that winning is not the main goal.’)
Te Kanawa presented a prepared and impromptu speech this week. His prepared speech topic was Toitū Te Tiriti? Tērā pea.
Whilst many expected him to reference Te Tiriti o Waitangi, his whaikōrero referenced a different type of treaty - Te Tiriti o Te Kanawa - which he separated into three different articles - Toitū Ngā Kawenata o Nehe, Toitū te Whakawhānuitanga o te Whakaaro Māori and Toitū te Anamata o te Ao Māori.
‘True to the principles’
Walker says Te Kanawa is a model student who embodies the values of their kura.
“Ahakoa te mata o te horopaki - mēnā ko te marae, mēnā ko te akomanga, mēnā ko te papatūwaewae Manu Kōrero, mēnā ko te papatūwaewae kapa haka koia tonu tērā e mau ana ki ēnei o ngā mātāpono.”
(No matter the occasion - whether it be on the marae, in the classroom, on the Manu Kōrero stage or the kapa haka stage, he stays true to these principles.)
Te Kanawa also proposed that new categories be introduced to the Ngā Manu Kōrero competition.
He suggested that debates be introduced to the contest, that junior speakers do impromptu speeches and that impromptu speech times are extended.
“Whakaroa ake i te wā ki ngā kōrero tene. E kore rawa koe e kite i te nuinga o ngā tū ki runga marae e kōrero ana [mō te] rua ki te toru meneti.”
“Ki te pēnei, ka eke te rangatahi i roto i te ao o te anamata.”
(Make the impromptu speeches longer. You will never see speeches on the marae last for two or three minutes.
If [the competition] is like this, our youth will excel in the future.)
