Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Click here for English translation
Tena tatou katoa. Kia matara e te iwi he kaupapa kai te haere a te Aperira te rua tekau ma iwa. Mena koe e nohotahi ana me te hapori Maori i Rotorua e muia ana
e te hunga kapa haka e te whanau ranei kua mohiohio ke kotou ki tenei wahine rangatira ki a Krissie Knap.
Ko Atutahi ki te whenua kanapanapa ana, ngangana ana. Ki te kore tetehi manu whakataki mana te tunga e whakaki koia te kanohi muramura i nga whakataetae kapa haka a rohe mai i nga kura tuatahi eke rano ki Te Matatini. Haunga tena kia kuhu noa tatou ki tona kainga ka kite kau i a Krissy. Ehara i te wahine tu atamira, kaua ko te cuzzie ko te hoa tuturu, kapuia katoatia koia tenei.
Ko Kristene Bette Knap te roanga o tona ingoa engari karangangia ia e te iwi whanau ko Krissy, ko Aunty Krissy ranei ko Nanny Krissy. Pai ki ahau te tunga kuikui, hai tana.
No Ngati Te Roro-o-te-rangi ia e whai panga atu ai ki a Ngararanui otia he Ngati Manawa, he Ngai Te Rangi, he Ngati Ranginui hoki ona kawai rangatira. " Kai te kimi huarahi tonu ahau ki taku taha Tuhourangi kare e kitea. Ko taku hononga ki Waiteti no toku kuia ko Ethel tona ingoa ka moea a Ethel e Albert Knapp whoi ano tuturu he Pomare toku kuia.
E taitamariki ana ka tiakina e Nanna Nancy Heretaunga a Krissy nona e kotahi tekau ma wha nga tau, katahi ka whakamohiongia ki te atamira o te whakangahau.I tera wa ka rahi rawa atu nga konohete o te taone nei, he mea whakahaerengia e John raua ko Maureen Waaka te konohete i te motera o te international. Kua nanakia te roa o tana noho mai ki tenei ao o te whakangahautanga.
E rima tekau ma rua ona tau inaianei. I whanau mai i Rotorua e noho tata tonu nei tona whanau ko tana tamahine ko tona ake taina me tona hoa rangatira me nga tama tokorua. Kaore he pa taunaha i tua atu o Waiteti ka hau noa atu ia ki tetehi tangihanga me te korerotanga kai te whakatu ia i ana kame whakangahau, na te mea ko te nuinga ke o te taima ka pataingia ahau e etehi kia tu ki te waiata - me te aha ki ahau! Ka tu, ka waiata. Engari ano era atu o nga marae, e tika ana kia rere atu taku tono ki te hau kainga tuatahi ake.
Na Nanna Nancy ahau i whakatu ki te atamira noku e kotahi ma wha noa nga tau he mea tono na toku whaea whoi ano ka kakama te haere a oku waewae ki Tamatekapua whakangahau turuhi ai. Ka pataingia ahau e tetehi, " E ko kai te mohio koe ki te taute nama ?, mea atu ahau ae! Ka ki mai te tangata, ka pai piki mai!".
Ko taku tamahine te mana o taku whakaaturanga (Behind the Door with Krissie) I whakaatungia i te hotera o Copthorne kia rua po anake engari hai whakakitenga ma te tini me te rahi o te tangata – he mea kia kitea toku oranga e te tangata kia pakipumekangia hoki.
Ka tae te whakaaro ka whanau ana mokopuna he ngawari noa te matakitaki i tenei rikoatatanga me te ki ake e ratou, ko toku kuia tera, me te mea hoki ka hemo noa atu ka ora tonu toku wairua i nga rauemi nei.
Behind the door with Krissie Knap, koina te ingoa o te whakaaturanga nei.
He hokinga mahara te wahanga tuatahi na wai ra ka hua ake he whakaaturanga whakangahau. Kua waia ke nga tangata ki taku mahi tu atamira, engari i mua rawa mai i taku ingoa whakangahau a Krissie nei i whanau ke ahau ko Kristene , na reira ka whakahokia e ahau te iwi katoa ki toku taitamarikitanga, na katahi ka ahu whakatemua tatou katoa ki runga i te huarahi kotahi - moroki noa nei.
" Ko te ahuatanga o te atamira he rite ki tetehi ruma moe noku, a, e ahei hoki te titiro mai a te hunga matakitaki ki roto ki toku whare kia mohio ai ratou ki nga nekehanga o te wa, o toku ake ao e puawai ai ko tenei wahine ko Krissie. Na reira i ahua rereke te wairua o tenei whakaaturanga ki era atu o nga whakaaturanga kua mahia e ahau, kai etehi wa he whakaataata, kai etehi wa he hinapouri kai etehi wa he hakoakoa.
"He purakau noa iho ki etehi tangata me te pai hoki, whoi ano ko taku haerenga kau tenei e haere ngatahi ai ahau me te hunga matakitaki me te mea hoki kai te whakaaturanga nei etehi korero kokohu. Na te mauiui korona he tuhituhi kau taku ki runga ki te pepa me te whakaaro noku inaianei he mea na te runga rawa i peneitia ai — he noho puku, ka tuhi noa ahau, he hokinga.
— Na Raimona Inia tenei purongo i whakamaoritia.
Anyone connected with the Maori community in Rotorua, with kapa haka and places where whanau gather to grieve or celebrate knows Krissie Knap.
She's that larger-than-life performer, always at her best on the stage.
She steps up when an MC is needed to keep the action flowing on the kapa haka stage during regional competitions, from primary schools through to Te Matatini Ki Te Ao national contenders.
But that's not only who Krissie is.
Step behind her door and "see" Krissie. Not the Aunty Krissie stage persona, Cuzzie or long-time friend and confidante but the sum of them all.
Her full name is Kristene Bette Knap, but everyone just calls ker Krissie, or Aunty Krissy or Nanny Krissy. She loves being Nanny.
Her iwi affiliation is Te Roro O Te Rangi, Ngararanui, Ngati Manawa, Ngai Te Rangi, Ngati Ranginui.
"I'm trying to figure out how I can whakapapa into Tuhourangi. My connection out at Waiteti comes from my kui, Ethel, she married grandad Albert Knapp) but she's a Pomare.
The late Nanna Nancy Heretaunga of Tuhourangi, Ngati Wahiao, took Krissy under her wing when Krissy was 14 and introduced her to the stage.
At that time there were concerts at hotels all over town including at the International Hotel which was run by John and Maureen Waaka.
Krissie has been around the entainment and hospitality industry since that time.
She is now 52. Born, buttered and toasted in Rotorua her close whanau consists of her daughter, her sister and her husband and two boys.
Wateti is the only pa on her list in the whole of Rotorua where she can rock up at a tangi and say "I'm setting my gear up to have a sing".
"Usually it'll be (oh Kris can you have a sing) Of course I'd say yes. But the other marae around town I usually ask for permission.
"Aunty Nancy put me on stage, since I was14 and only because my mother asked her to. So off I went to Tama excited as.
"When I was asked (do you know how to say tahi, rua, toru, wha,) I said 'yes' and I was hired.
"My daughter was my inspiration for the show (Behind The Door With Krissie), which she performed two nights at the Copthorne for a wider audience.
"I wanted to leave a legacy of what my life was so that she could have it documented. When she finally has children that mokopuna are able to see and say (hey that's my nan) and when I do pass over she has videos and recordings to hold on to."
The show was called Behind The Door with Krissie Knap.
"I actually started with memoirs, and then it kind of ended up turning into a show. Everybody's used to seeing me on the stage. Before I was Krissie I was born Kristene so I took everybody back through time, and brought the audience through the decades until today.
"Within the show, I had set up the stage like my bedroom, and the viewer was able to see inside to my house, my life basically of what goes on behind the smile, how I became Krissie. So it's a story a little bit different to what I would normally do, there was drama, sadness, happiness.
"It's just a story to some people which is great, but it's my journey and the audience was about going through the same journey with me, and also in the story, there were some bits in about my life that some people don't know.
"Since the first Covid I just ended up writing on a piece of paper, I think it was really (for me divine intervention).
"When I was at home by myself I just started writing about stuff when I was a kid, which transformed into,(well) a script for the show, (it really wasn't a script) but ended up being 63 pages of dialogue. Putting things into chronological order was quite tough and hard.
"The only other show I have performed in was 8 Scott Ave and I am just waiting for the sequel.
"I loved 8 Scott Ave, and I thank Jack Grace for letting me just be me, cause the character that I had become my Aunty Lovey, was one of his aunties."
For the last five years, Krissie has been learning some of her whakapapa connections.
"The highlights for me are meeting, networking with people making that connection, yeah the exchange of energy."
And the low points?
"Well that's really quite a lonely road being a musician, unless you have a great partner who understands, you know (what you are) not who you are, because a lot of people look at the what and not the who."
The fire took place around midnight and took firefighters three hours to control.