Te Kapa Haka o Ngati Whakaue on stage. Photo / Brad Pitman
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See below for English translation
HE HUATAU NŌKU
E tika ana te pepeha a Te Auhirangi. He whatitiri ki te rangi, ko Te Arawa ki te whenua. Auahi ana – auahi ana! Me pēwhea nā he kupu hai whakahuahua i aku whakaaro mō ngā mahi rangatira i hua ake i te mutunga wiki ko pahemo i Kouramawhitiwhiti.
Kai whea kē mai !
Ko Waipuketia ki te Aroha te kaupapa, nana te hapori o Rotorua i whakakotahi. He whakaemiemi pūtea hai awhina i ngā whānaunga i tāmi ki raro i te mana o Nukuteapiapi. He aroha nō Te Arawa ki Te Tai Tokerau, me ngā tapehatata o Te Tairawhiti.
He wha tekau mano tāra te nui o te aroha i whakaemia. Ka mau te wehi. Engari rā ko te kaha o te kāinga ki te tuku aroha ki ēnei takiwā i rangatira ai te rā. Nā te tika o te kaupapa ka noho whakamiharo hoki ngā atua i ngā Rangitūhāhā ki o rātau uri rangatira.
Ka tumeke hoki ahau ki te wairua o ngā kapa i tū nei ki roto ki te aroha, hāunga tā rātau tū i ngā whakataetae a motu, ka kitea e tātau te mauri ora o te whare tapere.
Nā te mea i tae Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue ki te taumata tuarua o te whakataetae nui o Te Matatini, i whakaarongia nuitia tēnā wikitoriatanga e te hau kāinga. Me te whakahīhī hoki o te hau kāinga o te takere waka ki a rātau. E tika ana nā te hāpori katoa i rangatira ai te rā.
I tākohangia te ātamira e ngā pou whakahaere o te Lakeside me ngā rauemi katoa ki a toa ai te rā.
Tū rarangi kau ana ngā whetū o te rangi, ko te mutunga iho he whatitiri ki te mata o te whenua. Ka ao te rā ka heke mātau ki Paratehoata ki te tautoko i ngā koeke o Ngāti Whakaue, e tika ana mā rātau te kaupapa e tāti.
Ka āta parakatihi ngā koeke ki te ātea o Paratehoata, nā Pare Hakaraia te rōpū i āta mirimiri , ka iti ki mua ka nui ki muri, ka heke rātau ki Kouramawhitiwhiti. Tu te hinawanawa ki taku tapeha nōku e tika ana ki te kimi tūru māku. Puehu pai ana.
Koina te painga o tēnei mea te kaumatuatanga me he rite ki te uruuruwhenua, nā te hina o te makawe ka māmā noa iho te para i te huarahi. Ka puare ngā koko katoa ki ahau. I tino manaakingia ahau e aku mokopuna. Mauri tau ana, mōhio hoki rātau ki te tiaki tangata, ka oti, kāore he kupu amuamu i makere i te waha.
Kāore e kore, he hua rātau nā te kohanga reo me ngā kura kaupapa Māori, piataata kau ana te wairua Māori i a rātau. Ka rawe hoki. He whakamihi hoki nāku ki te tiamana o Te Arawa Haka Charitable Trust ki a Horowaewae Makiwhara me taku taina ki a Watu Mihinui waimarie katoa tātau te hāpori i a rāua tokorua.
Nā a rāua kaha i pai katoa te rangi. Me te pai hoki o tā Horowaewae tū ki te paku tiaki hoki i te tere o te rā. He kaha hoki nōna ki te kī mai ki te hunga mātakitaki he rangi whakangāhau noa, he rangi utu kore engari kia maharatia ko ngā nohanga kai te roro o te ātamira, kua rahuinga hai tūru pakeke anahe.
Pai taku tūru māua ko Beryl Harris. Me te mea hoki i āta whakahīhī hoki ahau i taku kapa i a Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wahiao. Nā rātau te rā i whakapuare i te mutunga o te pōwhiri me te karakia whakatūwhera.
Kāore i ārikarika ngā mihi ki ngā manuao ki ngā manutaki ki a Horowaewae, ki a Kingi Biddle me tō tātau putiputi rongonui a Krissie Knap. Rangatira kē te kawe i a tātau kaupapa.
Titia kaha nei ngā reo rōreka o Tuhourangi-Ngāti Wahiao ki ngā koko o taku ngākau, kai te hoi taringa tonu te wairua iere. Ko tā rātau tu, he whakamihi ki te kīngi ki a Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII mō tana aroha me tana awhina ki te kapa o Tūhourangi, nō rātau i Rarotonga i te matenga o Hereana nō te Akuwhata o te tau tawhito. Nā te Kīngi hoki te pahi whakahoki i te kapa ki Rotorua i Akarana i whakarite.
Āpōpō haere atu ai te kapa o Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wahiao ki Ngāruawāhia ki te tuku i a rātau whakaaro aroha ki a tū hoki rātau i te kaupapa whakanui i te Kīngi ki roto ki te poho o Waikato taniwha rau. Ko Ngāti Whakaue me Te Hekenga-A-Rangi hai hoa haere mā rātau.
Kai te haere hoki ahau ki te tautoko i aku whānaunga, engari me kaupapa whakaharahara e tāmi ai aku whakaaro mō te kaupapa i tū i kōnei a Waipuketia ki te Aroha. He ahakoa te mana nui o te rangi, i riro katoa taku ngākau ki a Rukuwai, e whitu noa te rahi o tēnei tamaiti.
I tū hoki ia hai pouhaka mā Tūhourangi. Mō te waiata, mō te pūkana me te mārama hoki ki te kawe i a ia anō nei he pakeke. Wetiweti ana!
Ka ora taku ngākau i runga i te mōhiotanga ko te āpōpō o te kapa haka kai roto i a Rukuwai me tō tātau Manukura Wahine a Te Ngawari Wright e kore te mana o Ngai Te Arawa e nunumi ki te pō. Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori.
OPINION
Wow.
There are not enough superlatives to describe what a wonderful day the six Te Arawa Te Matatini kapa turned on for us at Kouramawhitiwhiti the Rotorua Lakefront on Sunday.
The show was billed as Waipuketia ki te Aroha — Flood Them With Love. It was to raise funds for our Tai Tokerau, Tairawhiti and Ngati Kahungunu whanaunga ravaged by Cyclone Gabrielle a month ago.
Money raised on the day was a tad under $40,000. Ka mau te wehi.
But it was the outpouring of aroha and manaakitanga that made the day for me.
Even the weather gods behaved, the day being neither too cool nor too hot for comfort.
It seemed to me that our kapa went up a gear before their home crowd. Away from the arena of the national competitions the performances just flowed and performers were much more relaxed than at Nga Ana Wai/Eden Park.
Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue were second overall at Te Matatini and the iwi wanted to show the kapa how proud they are of them.
Sunday’s big day out followed a black tie brunch shared with the kapa on Saturday.
Thanks to the generosity of Saturday night’s Lakeside 25 show producers we were able to use their fully equipped big stage.
All the stars seemed aligned for an outstanding bill of performances.
We hit the road early so we could go to the Ngāti Whakaue pakeke practice at Paratehoata. As mana whenua the pakeke opened proceedings for the show.
Tutor Pare Hakaraia did a couple of run-throughs on the atea at Tunohopu then it was off to the Lakefront.
I could already feel the growing buzz as I passed the stalls on my way into the enclosure.
Finding a good seat was easy.
That’s what I like about being a senior citizen in te ao Maori. My grey hair is a passport to that extra bit of attention and help.
We also usually get the best seats in the house and our every comfort are seen to.
I have found our rangatahi and tamariki well-mannered, helpful and awesome.
That’s especially true, at least in my experience, thanks to their learnings at kohanga reo, puna reo, kura kaupapa and whare kura. In our town, I have found the akonga at our state schools are similarly attentive.
Ka rawe hoki.
I have to congratulate Te Arawa Kapa Haka Charitable Trust chair Trevor Maxwell and the treasurer, my teina Watu Mihinui, for pulling off such a coup.
I know they worked really hard behind the scenes to produce such an outstanding show.
Trevor, our on-stage host, couldn’t emphasise enough that the concert was free and people could sit where they liked but the first four rows of white seats were for pakeke.
I had a great view from the second row beside Beryl Harris and just soaked up the performances.
It helped that my kapa Tuhourangi-Ngāti Wahiao opened proceedings after the karakia and official welcome.
We had great MCs — Trevor, King Biddle and Krissie Knap.
The singing was superb and their tribute to the late Hereana Roberts still as poignant as the first time I heard it.
Their performance also paid homage to the Tūheitia Potatau Te Wherowhero VII for his aroha and awhina in Rarotonga when Hereana died at the Maiva in August.
Kingi Tūheitia also arranged for a bus to transport the kapa home from Auckland Airport.
Tomorrow Tuhourangi-Ngāti Wahiao travel to Ngaruawahia to perform at the annual regatta. The kapa accepted the invitation before Te Matatini.
Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue and Te Hekengarangi are the other two Te Arawa kapa who are performing at the regatta.
I’m off to Ngaruawahia too but it will take something extra, extra special to surpass Waipuketia Ki Te Aroha.
While the whole day out was awesome, my heart belongs to tiny Rukuwai, the 7-year-old who performed with Tuhourangi.
She knew every word and every move and was so graceful.
With tamariki like her and Ngāti Whakaue and Te Ao Matatini Manukura Wahine, Te Ngawari Wright, the future of te ao Haka o Te Arawa looks bright.