Preparations are under way for what will be the greatest kapa haka event in the world.
E ngaoki mai ana a Te Matatini, e tūtū ai te pūehu ki te ātea nui o Rēhia. Kai te rima o ngā wiki te tata. Whakapāorooro kau ana ngā pātū o Ngā Ana Wai Eden Park i te reo waitī, i te puku ngunguru me te reo ngongorotangiwai mō ngā rangi e whā te roa.
Ko te kapa haka te take. Ka kotahi mai ngā mātā waka o te motu, ngā pahi toa o ia rohe ki te takapau o Tamakimakaurau, wheoi anō ko te aronga matua ināianei ko te whakamaheni me te whakapakari kia rere ai te ware o te ngohi. E tika ana te kōrero, mā pango, mā whero e tūtuki ai tēnei kaupapa. Nā reira ka ara ake ai te pātai, he aha i pai ai ki a rātau tēnei tū āhuatanga? Ina hoki te wairua pakiki o te tangata. Kia tahuri tātau ki tō tātau whānaunga, he pou-rīpoata, he mātanga whakawhitiwhiti koia nei ko Heeni Brown. Hai tāna, nā te whare nui o Rēhia ia i whakawhenua. Koia te herenga tāngaengae ōna ki tōna ao taketake. Ko Heeni tētehi o ngā pou o Ngāti Rangiwewehi ka tū ki Tamaki Makauarau a kō ake nei. E tika ana kia mihia ia mō āna pitopito kōrero e whai iho nei.
Ko aku mahi hāpai me te tautoko katoa i ngā mahi a Rēhia, kai taua kōrero e kī nei, ko te amorangi ō ki mua, ko te hāpai ō ki muri. He mahi tuhituhi, he hopu me te tuku ā whakaahua, ā reo hoki i ngā tūnga kapa haka ā kura tuatahi, kura tuarua, tae noa ki Te Matatini mā Whakaata Māori. Ko ngā tangata tuatahi i uiuingia e ahau ko mate noa atu, engari kai ngā tauwharenga o taku ngākau ā rātau tātai kōrero me ā rātau kōrero tuku iho.
Ko Wiremu Williams tētehi o aua kākānui. I taua wā tonu koia te pouako mō Ngāti Whakaue ko te kaupapa ko te whakataetae - Te Arawa 21s.
He tauhou ahau nō Te Taitokerau, kātahi nei au ka uru atu ki taku rōpū kapa haka.
(From left): Heeni Brown and children Puhikura, Janie, Tapaeorangi and Hoa Rangatira Phil Bennett.
Ko taku tūnga tuatahitanga hoki tēnei mā tētehi rōpū whakataetae pakeke. Kai a Wiremu ngā pūkenganui. Nānā i whakaako i ahau me pēwhea te tuku i taku reo waiata, taku reo waiata teitei, taku reo waiata tika, taku hā, te tū me te ū kapakapa o taku wairua hai wahine mātau, otīā me tuku ki a wani te rere o āku poi tae noa ki te pukana. Kai taku puku tonu ēnā kura, he ahakoa kua hipa te kotahi tekau mā waru o ngā tau, nā reira i whai kaha ai ahau ki te ao pāpāoho tae ki taku mahi nei hai mātanga whakawhitiwhiti. Ko toku matua wahine a Ritihia Kereopa taku whetū kōmata o te ao kapa haka. Koia hoki tētehi o ngā manu tākaha o Wiremu nō te wā o te rōpū haka a Ngā Pūmanawa e waru o Te Arawa. Ko Wētini Mitai-Ngātai me tōna pahi a Te Mātaarae i o Rehu nō te takiwā o te iwa tekau hoki tētehi o ngā rōpū nui ki ahau. Kāore aku manawa kōrero mō ngā whakaakoranga a tōku matua wahine heke iho ki ahau, pēnei i te poi rongonui a ‘Pakete Whero’ nōku e rima noa te rahi engari rā ko tana tohutohu nui ki ahau, waiho mā te ngākau koe e kawe.
Kua piki hoki taku mōhiotanga ki taku taha Te Arawa nei. He ahakoa Ngāti Whakaue mai, Ngāti Tarawhai mai, Tūhourangi, Ngāti Wāhiao, Ngāti Hinemihi, Ngāti Whāoa, Ngāti Hinekura, Ngāti Rongomai, Ngāti Rangiwewehi kua tau taku ngākau ki āku kāwai huhua o te kāinga nei. Anei – te whakapuawaitanga o te kapa haka. Ko te āheinga o te tangata ki te tuku i tōna wairua kaha i tōna mana motuhake. Ko te āheinga o te tangata ki te kawe i tō tātau ahurea rangatira, he kawe kōrero tuku iho, e mana ai te whare nui o Rēhia, e whakahīhī ai te whare tapere me ērā atu o ngā kura kai ngā whare wānanga katoa. Ko te huarahi ki Te Matatini 2023 me taku hapū a Ngāti Rangiwewehi he huarahi kawe tonu nei i taku uho kapa haka , he mutunga kore, he mana nui, he wehi, he haerenga ngākau whakaiti hoki. Nōku te whiwhi.—Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori.
For four days from February 22, Ngā Ana Wai Eden Park will resound with the sounds of the greatest kapa haka event in the world. All around the motu teams have been chosen, and now it’s a matter of tweaking performances and putting the finishing touches to items. It’s hard work, with kai haka needing the support of whānau and each other to keep going. Why do they do it? That’s the $64,000 question. For our whanaunga, journalist and communications specialist Heeni Brown, haka helped her learn her lineage. It keeps her connected to all that is beautiful and essential in this world. Heeni, who will stand with Ngāti Rangiwewehi at Tāmaki Makaurau, took time out from her busy schedule to put together some thoughts for Kāhu ki Rotorua.
My ‘haka time’, for the most part, has been spent off-stage writing, capturing and delivering primary, secondary, senior regional and Te Matatini haka stories for Whakaata Māori.
Many of the people I first interviewed for haka have now passed on, but their stories remain dear to my heart.
One of those people is the late Wiremu Williams, who at the time was tutoring Ngāti Whakaue for the Te Arawa 21s competition.
I was fresh from Te Taitokerau, entering the rōpū and entering my first senior competition.
He taught me projection of sound, pitch, tone, confidence in stance; the importance of femininity, poi and pūkana.
These learnings remain relevant even now, 18 years later, and have guided me through my career as a Māori journalist and communications specialist.
The leading haka influence is my māmā Ritihia Kereopa, who performed for Williams’ group Ngā Pūmanawa and Wetini Mitai-Ngatai’s group Te Mātaarae i o Rehu in the early 90s.
I am so grateful for her teaching me Pākete Whero at the age of five, but more importantly, her direction to always feel haka from the heart.
Haka has also helped me to learn my Te Arawa whakapapa at a rapid rate, whether it be my Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Tarāwhai, Tūhourangi, Ngāti Wāhiao, Ngāti Hinemihi, Ngāti Whāoa, Ngāti Hinekura, Ngāti Rongomai or Ngāti Rangiwewehi lineage.
This for me is the beauty of haka - the ability to practice culture, art, song, dance, performance, sports, academics and so much more.
Preparing for Te Matatini 2023 with my iwi of Ngāti Rangiwewehi is a continuation of the haka journey. It is priceless, invaluable and truly an honour and a privilege.
