"Whakapapa is very important to our whanau; it grounds us in our identity."
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
See below for English translation
Me ko Kōpū haere whenua
E ai ki te ngākau mā te whare tapere, mā te whare o Rēhia te mātauranga rearea e whakatuahangata te tangata e pīataata ai ngā kanohi o ngā mokopuna.
E whakapono neia Puahaere Vaka ki tēnei whakaaro tuauru. Hai tāna, ' Kāore he iwi i tu atu i a tātau te Māori – te uho o te ao hurihuri, te poho o Te Mangaroa’.
He wahine i whanau i Hanatere i pakekengia i Rotorua. Nōna e itiiti ai ā morokī noa nei, ko te haka te matatihi o tōna ao. Kāore e ārikarika āna manawa korero ki ōna mātua tokorua ki a Dan me Hiria Vaka. Enei tūāhangata o te ao haka. He pou tawhito rāua tokorua nō te kapa haka o Ngāti Rangiwewehi, ā, e tū nei rāua tokorua hai parata wāhi ngaru tuatea mō tō raua ngohi haka ko Te Hekenga A Rangi.
E ono o ngā kapa o Te Arawa ka tūwaewae ki Te Matatini i Ngā Ana Wai a te wiki hou, ko Te Hekenga A Rangi tētehi. Tāti ai tēnei kaupapa a te Wenerei ki te puku o Tamakimakaurau.
E rua tekau mā ono te rahi o Puahaere Vaka, he kanohi hōmiromiro e whakapau kaha ana ki tana mahi hai pou tohutohu matua nā Te Puni Kōkiri i Rotorua.
Me ōna kāwai whakapapa e totoro atu ai ki Te Awahou ki Ngāti Rangiwewehi, ki Te Aitanga a Mahaki me Waikato. Whai pānga ai tana tamāhine ki te iwi o Tuwharetoa. He kaha nōna ki te toutou i ngā pūrenga o ngā pā taunaha katoa ōna. Nō te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau pakaru mai ai a Te Hekenga A Rangi ki te papa tūwaewae o ngā whakataetae ā rohe o Te Arawa.
Ko tōna matua tane ko Dan Vaka te amokura nui nō roto i te pōkaitara koia hoki te pouako. Kai Maketu tō rātou whare tapere. Nō Rotorua te nuinga o ngā pou haka. Hai tā Puahaere me whakangungu te tangata e pakari ai ia ki te tu ātamira. Hua ake tēnei huarahi māna i runga i tana ngākau whiwhita ki tōna ao taketake, otīā hai huarahi poipoi hoki i tana tamāhine kia tū māia ia, kia rangatira hoki tana tu. Ko tōku tuakiritanga ko tōku tamāhine.
Ko Te reo Māori te pou o tō rātau kāinga.
Puahaere Vaka, right, with her mother Hiria and daughter Maiāria.
“Ko te arero o te kāinga ko te reo a ngā tupuna, ko tetehi pou matua hoki ko te whakapapa, he mea nui ki taku whānau te whakapapa. Nā reira e noho ngākau whakaiti nei mātau i runga i te hononga taketake ki tō tātau whenua”. Kua whakatārewangia tēnei kaupapa ki a rua taima, nā reira kai te whiwhita katoa ōna wāhanga tinana kua toitū te mana o Te Matatini i tēnei tau.’
Nā te whakatātanga kua heke te nama o ngā tangata haka. Kua tāhuri ētehi o rātau ki mahi kē e kā tonu ai te māuriora o te puku – wheoi anō kia tika hoki tāku, ko ahau tētehi i āhua tōtō i taku kumu ki a hoki atu ki te papa tūwaewae’.
Ko ōna mātua tokorua ngā poupou o tōna ao, kāore he tokorua hai rite ki a rāua mō te aroha mō te manaaki, ko tana hiahia ki a takahia e ia ā rāua takahanga’.
“Ka nui taku pirangi ki te whakatupu i taku tamāhine rite nei ki ahau, he whakawhenua i a ia e mātau tuturu ia ki tōna mana rangatira’.
E ai ki tā Puahere titiro ki te pae tawhito o te ao hurihuri nei:’ Peruperu ana te mana o Te Ao Māori, mana whenua, mana rangaira, e ngangahū kau ana te wehi o te ao Māori ki ngā wāhanga katoa o te ao”.
—Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori tenei purongo
English Translation
Kapa haka gives exponents all the tools in life and experiences needed to become the best tupuna to their own mokopuna.
That’s the passionate belief of kaihaka Puahaere Vaka for whom “being Maori is the coolest thing in the WORLD.”
Born in Huntly and raised in Rotorua her whole life has been te ao haka. That’s thanks to her parents Dan and Hiria Vaka, familiar faces on the Matatini and kapa haka stages. The former members of Ngati Rangiwewehi created Te Hekenga A Rangi, one of six Te Arawa kapa who will perform at Te Matatini from Wednesday next week at Nga Ana Wai, Eden Park, Tamaki Makaurau.
Puahaere, 26, a senior advisor at Te Puni Kokiri in Rotorua, has hononga to Ngati Rangiwewehi, Te Aitanga a Mahaki and Waikato. Her daughter also has Tuwharetoa whakapapa.
Puahaere maintains connections to all her pa.
Te Hekenga A Rangi, with Dan Vaka as kaiako and kaitātaki tāne, made their Te Arawa regional debut in 2020. The group is based in Maketu and draws its members primarily from Rotorua.
Puahaere believes training is essential for kaihaka. She has chosen her path because of her sense of self and for her daughter.
“Te reo māori is the main language spoken in our whanau. Whakapapa is very important to our whanau; it grounds us in our identity and our connection to our whenua.”
Te Matatini has been postponed twice and Puahaere is glad it’s finally going ahead.
“The long break between competitions has seen a decrease in kaihaka. “During that time kaihaka have found other activities to fulfill that fire that being a part of a ‘kapa haka’ gives people.
“Getting back into ‘haka mode’ was difficult too.”
Dan and Hiria have been Puahaere’s biggest support systems, and her succession plan is to follow their teachings.
“I want to teach and give to my daughter the most grounding in her tuakiri Maori so she can stand proud in knowing who she is and where she comes from.”
In Puahaere’s ideal world, the future would look like this:
“A thriving te ao māori, land back and all our uri whakatipu rightfully indigenising spaces.”
■This is the last in the series speaking to performers from each of the six Te Arawa kapa haka who will perform at Te Matatini ki Te Ao next week.
