Special haka debuted at national champs

Muriwhenua Kapa Haka (with Thomas Strickland (Te Hapua) front and centre, on stage at Ngati Hine's Te Ahuareka Festival at Otiria Marae in 2013. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Muriwhenua Kapa Haka will perform a special new haka, Ko te Wharetapu o Muriwhenua, at the national championships, Te Matatini, in Hastings tomorrow.

"The haka makes a stance against all the bad publicity making us look like the centre of harm in New Zealand. So we want to paint a picture that this is not our house, this is not the house left to us by our tupuna," kaihaka Thomas Strickland said.

The Muriwhenua rōpū includes participants from Ngāti Kurī, Ngāi Takoto, Ngāti Kahu, Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa, who developed the haka around sustainable hauora, leading to a collective stance against drug use, gambling harm, unhealthy food and smoking.

"The organisers of Te Matatini have been leading the way in healthy lifestyles promotion, and it's a perfect fit for the new Muriwhenua haka," said Anthony Hawke, general manager of Māori Public Health for Hāpai Te Hauora.

"We congratulate Te Matatini for once again running an event without alcohol or tobacco, and with healthy food and beverage options. As the premier showcase for Māori performing arts it's a great opportunity to role model hauora Māori as well."

The championships, which begin today, are being contested by a record 47 teams from New Zealand and Australia, nine of which will contest the finals on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Te Matatini is collecting data and supporting research into kapa haka communities and the economic impact and contribution kapa haka makes to social, cultural and economic outcomes.

"We plan to build a strong evidence base that highlights kapa haka as an attractive investment," CEO Carl Ross said.

In 2015 the biennial festival had generated $6 million for the Christchurch economy. The previous festival in Rotorua pumped $7.8m into the region.

Market research to define the kapa haka market, identify investment opportunities and develop an investment policy was under way, Mr Ross expecting that to reveal, for example, what merchandise and promotional products should be pursued.