Te Arawa groups perform Te Matatini performances for Rotorua crowds.
Rotorua’s community has come together to fundraise nearly $40,000 for flood victims at a concert showcasing Te Arawa’s successful Te Matatini kapa haka groups.
Thousands showed up to the free event - called ‘Waipuketia Ki Te Aroha - Flood Them With Love’ - which took place on the Rotorua lakefronton Sunday.
Collection buckets were taken around the venue throughout the day, and audience members could also donate online.
Te Arawa Kapa Charitable Trust chairman Trevor Maxwell said the event was a “beautiful reflection” of the Rotorua community, with so many giving generously to the cause.
“It was a good kaupapa being [there] for the people who have suffered from Cyclone Gabrielle. To do something like that is another feel-good for all of us - the performers and the people in the audience.”
Kapa haka group Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao present a $2000 cheque onstage. Photo / Emma Houpt
Maxwell praised Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao, who performed first and “set the bar” for other hapa haka groups by presenting a $2000 cheque onstage.
“I wouldn’t have given up a weekend like this for anything.”
He said the figure was “still climbing”, with people continuing to donate online days after the event.
Te Arawa Kapa Charitable Trusttreasurer Watu Mihinui told the Rotorua Daily Post exactly $30,367.70 was fundraised on the day in cash and pledges. Another $9614.82 was raised in online transfers overnight, she said.
Image 1 of 70: 5 Te Arawa Te Matatini Kapa Haka groups perform at the Village green. Te Pikikōtuku o Ngāti Rongomai. 14 March 2023 The Daily Post Photo / Andrew Warner
This came to a total of $39,982.52.
When asked for her reaction to the amount raised, she responded: “I wasn’t surprised because I knew that the community would rally for those in really desperate situations. It’s still humbling - and it made every ounce of lost sleep so worthwhile.”
Mihinui said Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao’s legacy of “penny-diving” was shown yesterday, with the group donating $2000 to Kahungunu and Te Tairāwhiti flood victims.
“Our legacy here at Whakarewarewa is to support people in dire straits.
“We used our penny-diving skills and literally took our money from our mouths as our contribution.”
Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue donated $15,000. Photo / Andrew Warner
Other generous donations included $15,000 from Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue and $5000 from Rotorua’s One Foundation, she said.
Mihinui also spoke of one woman in the audience who donated a “fistful of $50 notes” because she thought one would not be enough.
Maxwell previously said the groups were worth celebrating because Te Arawa dominated the finals stage, with five out of six teams being among the 12 finalists, the first time the iwi has had such dominance in Te Matatini’s 50-year history.
The five Te Matatini finalists were Te Pikikōtuku o Ngāti Rongomai, Te Hekenga Ā Rangi, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Te Mātarae I Ōrehu and Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue. Although Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao missed out on the finals by the narrowest of margins, the group came away with the sought-after award for overall best poi.
Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue was the top-performing Te Arawa group, coming in as the overall runner-up-equal with Whangara Mai Tawhiti from Te Tai Rāwhiti, while Te Whānau-a-Apanui from Mātaatua was named the overall winner.
