Kāore anō Te Matatini kia hikipapatia, heoi, kāore mātou i te kaha āwangawanga mēnā ia ka hikipapatia, nā te mea ko te hunga ngākau pono ki te kapa me te iwi ka ū tonu mai ahakoa te aha. Ka mutu, ka kaha whakamōhio atu mātou ngā pouako ki te kapa, mā te whārangi Pukamata, ngā panonitanga a Te Matatini kia mōhio ai rātou he aha te aha.
He aha pea ētehi o ngā kaupapa kai te kapohia ake e te tima auaha? Ko wai mā ngā tangata tito waiata, tito haka ?
He hou katoa ngā waiata me ngā haka a te kapa, heoi, me pono aku kōrero, kāore anō nga waiata/haka katoa kia oti. Āe, kua tono hoki mātou ki ētahi kaitito anō, pēnei i tētahi o ō mātou toki kaihaka, a Ruihana Te Nahu, me te arero pounamu, a Te Toka Temara.
Nō whea hoki te ihi o ngā tuhinga? He aha i tau ai te whakaaro, ae koia nei hei kaupapa tuhituhi mā tātou?
Ka hoki atu au ki tō mātou kaupapa matua i ia tau, i ia tau, arā, ko te waiata me te haka i ngā kōrero me ngā tāngata o tō mātou iwi. I runga i tērā, ko tētahi o ngā kaupapa matua e kawea ana ki Te Matatini ko ō mātou kuia māreikura 90 tau neke atu i mate atu i ngā tau tata nei, ā, kāore he whakaawenga i tua atu!
E tika pea te whakatau ko te manawatuki o te kapa ko te ihi o Ngāti Whakaue ake?
100%! Kāore i kō atu, kāore i kō mai!
We questioned Tenga Rangitauira regarding Ngati Whakaue Kapa Haka who had their first muster of the year leading up to Te Matatini 2022.
How was the turn out at the first muster for the year in the weekend just gone? And were there many new members?
Let's put it this way, my spirits were lifted seeing the multitude of members from the Iwi that arrived at the first muster for Te Matatini 2022. Many also, who sent their apologies. It was not just kaihaka (performers) who attended, there were our babies, our koeke (elders) right down to our newest members, in which there were around 10 new members who came to join the Kapa. All up there were just under 100 people all up in attendance.
How is the kapa keeping up the interest in view of the Covid-19 alert levels and postponement of Matatini?
Even though Te Matatini may be postponed, we aren't too worried as our Kapa members are a very tight-knit group that are all still closely connected through other Iwi lead kaupapa whether it be through Kapa Haka or not. Otherwise, if there is anything to do with the Kapa that needs to be communicated, us, the tutors, will post on our Kapa Facebook page to broadcast any changes with practices and any new information about Te Matatini - so our members are always kept up to date.
Has the creative team been cooking up any new material and who are the writers?
Yes, we have a brand-new bracket for this coming campaign. However, to be honest, not everything is finished yet. Our composers, one of them being our own Ruihana Te Nahu also a renowned wordsmith Te Toka Temara (Ngai Tuhoe)
If you do have new material what influenced the writers?
Our main kaupapa that we focus on when writing pieces, is none other than our iwi, Ngati Whakaue. However, on top of that, one of the other main kaupapa we are going to be focusing on, are our kuia who were over 90 yrs old that have passed recently. We want to celebrate them as they were and still are such an inspiration to us all!
Is Ngati Whakauetanga a driving factor in their work? If so, what are the main kaupapa?
100%! There is nothing better than our Ngati Whakauetanga to be our driving force.
