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" Kia kotahi anō te karawhiu o te hoe e rite ai tātou".
Inā te karanga toa a te manu tūtei o tētehi o rātou katoa rānei ngā tāne toa o te whānau Morgan e totitoti haere ana ngā kaumātua ki a tika tā rātou tū ki te kapa ki te poho o tō tātou tupuna ko Wahiao. E pōuri ana te ahiahi o te rārua nei, heke iho ana te māeke i ngā pokohiwi o Pōhaturoa e paopao haere ana i te waha tieke o Te Whakarewarewa, nau mai hotoke. Kai reira mātou tētehi pahi e whakapiritahatahi ana kua puta mai ki te whakangāhautia tētehi ohu kiriata kua pae ki tō mātou pā taunaha.
He kotahi wiki anake hai whakariterite i a mātou ki te tū me te whakahau hoki a tētehi me pūeru mangu. Ko te kōrero iti i tae mai ki ngā taringa, he mahi mā Te Papa Tongarerewa he wāhanga pakipūmeka e whakanui ana ngā kapa haka kaumātua – ka haere mātou.
Tae moata kē ahau ki te aroaro o tō tātou tupuna ko Wahiao ka kotahi atu ki te whare manaaki ki tāhaki ko Hinemaru tōna ingoa, e pai ana, e pūare ana. Ka hoki ahau ki tera taha o Puarenga ki te wharekai kia whakarākeingia ahau e ngā mokopuna.
Whai kaha ai ahau i te keke remana me te unu tī ka hoki atu ki Wahiao, kai reira e taetae mai ana te hunga mahi, ngā pou kawe kāmera me ēra atu o ngā kame. Ka puta mai ko Rangitihi Pene, ara anō tētehi pahi iti e whakawhiti ana i te piriti e whakatata mai nei. Ka tū rātou ki te ātea o te marae ka haere a Rangitihi ki te whakatau i a rātou.
Ka hou atu mātou ki te poho o Wahiao engari rā he tokotoru noa iho o te hau kāinga kua puta. Āhua mōata kē tā mātou manuwhiri. Nā kai te mahi hoki ētehi o mātou, kāore anō okia tae.
Engari, hai aha. He kino te ngau a te mātao ka whakamanuwhiringia te pahi waewae tapu katahi ka huri katoa mātou ki te poho o Hinemaru, ki reira kapu tī ai. Nō Maoriland, nō Ōtaki te manuwhiri nei nā Te Papa rātou i utu kia oti i a rātou tētehi kiriata e whakanui ana i a Matariki. Ae, ko Matariki hoki tētehi kua hinga i ngā whakapōreareatanga o te māuiui korona e kore ai tēnei pahi i puta i ngā tau ko hori ki te whakaoti i tēnei momo mahi whoi anō e pūare ana te motu, whaihoki kai te rori rātou ināianei e hopu whakaahua ana. Whoi anō, e whakaeke ana te Tumu Whakarae o Maoriland Charitable Trust ko Libby Hakaraia me tana pahi rangatahi hoki.
Ko te kapa tua waru mātou a Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wahiao, he waimarie hoki mātou nā te mea ko te kapa anake katoa tēnei o Te Arawa i whakaarongia. Hai tāna he kotahi tekau mā toru katoa ngā kapa ka rikoatangia.
Ko Libby me tana hoa tāne a Tainui Stephens ngā rangatira o Maoriland, he mātanga hoki a Tainui Stephens tetehi taniwha nui o te ao pāpaoho. He kaupapa ako i te rangatahi ki tēnei momo mahi e pakari ai rātou ki te kimi mahi puta noa te motu.
Ka nui te hīkaka o te hunga rangatahi ki te titiro ki ngā wāhi rearea o Te Pākira, ka arahina rātou e Rangitihi Pene, ka heke ki te hīrere, he puna kaukau wai wera, kātahi ka haere mā te rāhui he wāhanga o te pā taunaha, kai reira ngā pouaka tunu kai e noho ana.
Whoi anō ko māua ko Libby kai Hinemaru e whawhe ana. Anō he hoa tawhito kē māua, ehara. Ko te take e pēnei ana tōna wairua, nōna e tauira ana ki ngā rekereke o Henare Te Ua ka noho hoki ia ki te taha o tōku matua wahine i a Bubbles, nā wai rā ka peka ki tō mātou kāinga, ā, i whai wāhi ai ia ki ōku mātua. Hai tāna ko te rēwena i tunua e tōku matua tāne a Tete kai te waha e waiwai tonu ana.
Kai te hoki anō ōna māharatanga ki tōku matua tāne kaokaoroa ki a Sonny Sewell tētehi o āna uinga nui mō te Hokowhitu-a-Tūmatauenga. Ka kūwhewhewhe ōku pāpāringa i tana whakapuakitanga ko te hīrere te wāhi kaukau mā ngā wāhine anake, kātahi au ka mahara nā toku matua wahine tēnā kōrero.
Wheoi anō rā – kua tae mai te nuinga atu o tana pahi, ka kuhu ki tō tātou tupuna. Kāore e tino nui ana ngā whakawhitinga kōrero nā te mea ko ngā waiata katoa, ngā mea tūturu, ko ngā waiata-ā-ringa, te poi he aha atu rā i a pakete whero, ko te haka kōiri ko Tamatekapua me te whakawatea, ko e kare ka mana. E tika ana hoki te whānau Morgan kia kotahi anake te whakaharatau, tū ana ki te mahi, haruru kau ana ngā kaokao o Wahiao.
Engari ko ngā waiata tawhito nei e hoki ana ngā māharatanga nō te wā mātou e itiiti ai , he mea ako tahi me ngā pakeke, nā wai rā ka haria ki ngā konohete, kātahi rā ki te Matatini ki ngā whakataetae-ā-rohe nei ki reira mātou Te Rau Aroha tū rangatira ai. E noho tonu nei i a mātou.
Ka oti ana i a mātou te mahi, ka kai tahi, nā wai rā ka uia ētehi o te pahi, ko te wāhanga ki a mātou ko Watu, ko Aneta Morgan ko te wā mātou e nohinohi ana i te pā taunaha nei, ae me te taha ki te kapa haka. Ko Watu tētehi o ngā pou tūāpapa o te kapa Tuhourangi-Ngāti Wahiao nō te orokohanga mai rā anō tēnei tuahangata.
Nō te wā e kotahi tekau mā wha ngā tau o Aneta e whakangāhau ana,ā, moroki noa nei. He wahine hakoke i te ao me Tommy Taurima me ētehi anō o ngā kapa rongonui o te ao kapa haka mō tetehi wā nui.
Ko ahau te wahine kāore i noho nei ki te kāinga nā reira i kore ai ahau e tino eke atu ai ki te ātamira o te whakangāhau o te kapa haka hoki engari ko te marae kai reira ahau e toitū ana. Ka whiua te pātai ki a mātou he aha a mātou mahi whakanui i a Matariki.
Kia pono taku kōrero, kāore a Matariki e whakanuia ana e mātou tae rawa mai te whānautanga o tōmātou mokopuna tuatahi a Matariki, kātahi nā ka tahuri ki te kaupapa ataahua nei.
Ko tō mātou matua tāne te tangata mōhio ki te mana o Matariki, he whakatupu kai, he hauhake kai me aua mea hoki, hai tāna ko te tau hou Māori. Ki a mātou ake, ki a Tuhourangi ko te rangi whakaharahara ko te kotahi tekau o Pīpiri o te tau kotahi mano, e waru rau, e waru tekau mā ono, te take i hū katoa ai a Rotomahana i parekuratia taku iwi, e ngau tonu nei te mamae me te auhi o te ngākau ki te iwi ka wehe.
— Na Raimona Inia tenei purongo i whakamaoritia
"We'll need only one run-through and we'll be ready."
That was the confident declaration of one (or all) of the three Morgan brothers as a group of senior citizens shuffled about, forming lines for a kapa haka performance in our tupuna Wahiao.
It was a bleak late afternoon and evening on Tuesday, cold as only Whaka can be when winter's knocking on the door.
More than a dozen of us had answered the call to perform our Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao classics for a film crew.
We had less than a week's notice and were told to wear our blacks.
All we knew was it had something to do with the national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, and for a series of documentaries about kaumatua kapa haka, Taikura.
I arrived early before Wahiao and our little whare manaaki Hinemaru had been unlocked, so I headed back over the bridge to the Geyser Cafe to be pampered by the mokopuna.
Reinforced by lemon and ginger tea I head back over to Wahiao where our crew are starting to arrive. Rangitihi Pene is the first and then we spot a group coming across the bridge. They stop when they reach the atea and then Rangitihi goes out to mihi to them.
We move into Wahiao, and at that stage there are only three of us from the hau kainga.
Our manuhiri are a bit early and many of us are still at work.
Engari, hei aha. It's cold and so we welcome our manuhiri into our tupuna then retire to Hinemaru for a kapu ti.
Our manuhiri are from Maoriland in Otaki who have been commissioned by Te Papa to shoot film of taikura from all over the motu for Te Papa's Matariki celebrations.
In the past couple of years covid lockdowns have prevented filming of Matariki events so Te Papa decided to pre-empt the possibility of lockdowns this year and to film groups all
over the motu.
Enter filmmaker and Te Tumu Whakarae of Maoriland Charitable Trust, Libby Hakaraia, who is accompanied to Whakarewarewa by rangatahi from their trust.
Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao is the eigth group on their list, and the only one from Te Arawa. Thirteen groups are to be filmed.
Maoriland is run by Libby and her partner Tainui Stephens, another veteran of Maori filmmaking. The trust train rangatahi for the film industry and reach throughout the motu.
At Te Pakira, the rangatahi are eager to scout out the location so are given a quick tour by Rangitihi. He takes them down to the Hirere and then through the rahui where the cooking boxes are.
Libby and I, meanwhile, are having a good whawhe in Hinemaru.
We feel like old friends even though we are newly acquainted.
That's because as a cadet trailing around after veteran broadcaster Henare Te Ua she had spent a lot of time with our mother Bubbles and spent time at our home with both our parents. She remembers beautiful rewena bread for which my father Tete was renowned.
She also recalled interviewing our mother's brother, Sonny Sewell, about the 28th Maori Battalion.
During our korero I couldn't help but smile when Libby referred to the Hirere as the "women's bath". I knew she could only have been told that name by our mother.
But back to business and by this time more of our crew have arrived and we move into Wahiao.
There wasn't really any discussion about what we would do because it was the Tuhourangi classics: Waiata-a-ringa Tuhourangi, poi Pakete Whero, haka Tamatekapua, and exit E Karekamana.
And those Morgans were right, we did need only one run-through although the film crew took a little time to find the best lighting and audio so we had a couple more.
But those classics we had learned as tamariki and honed on the concert stage and then on the Matatini regionals stage when our Taikura group Te Rau Aroha performed.
After our performance we had kaitahi and then a few of us returned to Wahiao for interviews.
Watu, our whanaunga Aneta Morgan and I spoke about being raised in the pa and our kapa haka experiences. Watu has been with Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao from its inception.
Aneta has been on stage since she was 14 and travelled the world with Tommy Taurima and other groups for more than a decade.
I spent most of my life away from Rotorua so never participated apart from on the marae.
When we were asked about how we celebrated Matariki we had to confess we never had until the first mokopuna was born in June and she was named Matariki.
Our father called it the Maori New Year and he, like his contemporaries, lived by the maramataka planting and gathering food at the appropriate time.
For Tuhourangi, our day of commemoration is June 10, marking the eruption of Mount Tarawera on June 10, 1886, and the displacement of our iwi.
The fire took place around midnight and took firefighters three hours to control.