By AMIE RICHARDSON
The man who was shot in front of 19 children at Orakei Marae last year, says he has moved forward to focus on the more positive aspects of life, such as kapa haka.
Youth worker Paul Davis, aged 42, a prominent member of the Ngati Whatua iwi, was shot in the stomach in October last year when he confronted a masked intruder inside the marae.
His daughter, Teri, now 15, was standing behind Mr Davis when he was shot. No one has been charged over the shooting.
Both father and daughter, along with seven other members of the Davis family, are competing in the 15th national kapa haka festival, in the Te Puru O Tamaki team.
Mr Davis' mother, Esther Davis, 63, will be one of the oldest competitors and her granddaughter Teri is one of the youngest.
Mrs Davis, the team tutor who collated the haka, and composed the song for the poi dance, said the 46 members had been preparing for the competition for two years.
"We want to help young people grow in what is traditionally Maori."
Te Puru O Tamaki, who performed in the last kapa haka national competition held in Rotorua, have also performed in front of former US President Bill Clinton when he visited New Zealand.
Mrs Davis was the only member of the team to compete 20 years ago when the festival was held at the Avondale Racecourse.
She said the competition had changed "in so many ways" since then.
The dances were very different, and the youth, influenced by television, played a more active part in choreography. "But the tradition still comes through in the words ... and how the actions portray the words."
Festival spokeswoman Diana Heka said about 25,000 people attended the festival at Bastion Pt yesterday.
Auckland team Nga Tapuwae o Mataoho won the crowd's support with a haka showing the team's anger at the court decision to throw out the private murder charge against Constable Keith Abbott after he shot Steven Wallace in Waitara in April 2000.
The writer of the haka, Te Kepa Stirling, said they were angry that the Government and the law had forgotten that a man had been shot dead.
"Even the most violent civilian could be handled in another way."
Eighteen teams competed yesterday, and the other 17 teams will compete today, starting at 8 am. Tomorrow's six finalists will be announced tonight.