Wahine Māori toa and clinical psychologist Dr Kiri Tamihere-Waititi believes kapa haka is the greatest form of connection to one another and our whakapapa.
The mum of five and staunch advocate for decolonisation, Tamihere-Waititi says she was born into a kapa haka whānau in Tāmaki at the Hoani Waititi Marae, where she met her future husband Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi.
Presented by broadcaster Stacey Morrison, the M9 lineup includes a range of renowned kaihaka (performers) in Aotearoa, including Te Pāti Māori co leader and long time kapahaka exponent Rawiri Waititi, broadcaster Matai Smith, clinical psychologist and decoloniser advocate Dr Kiri Tamihere-Waititi, Māori businesswoman and kapahaka performer Kahurangi Milne, multi-award winning musician Troy Kingi, Māori TV presenter Paeta Melbourne, artist and masters student in mātauranga Māori, Cilla Ruha, veteran kaihaka practitioner Kura Te Ua and Māori businessman and New Zealand Rugby Union deputy chairman Bailey Mackey.
The third kaupapa, M9 will celebrate kapa haka under the popular mantra “Taku ihi! Taku wehi! Taku wana!”.
Her maternal whānau have been involved in kapa haka as long-time performers for Manutaki and Te Rautahi where her uncle is currently the CEO of Te Matatini.
She also says her introduction and relationship with kapa haka started with her grandmother.
“I think from a very personal perspective that what kapa haka represents to me is the unconditional love between a nanny and their mokopuna.
“It’s the greatest form of connection in every sense of the word,” she says.
She also credits kapa haka for introducing her to some of the people she loves most in the world, including her husband Rawiri Waititi.
“When we talk about kapa haka as a performing art I think we limit its connection to everything.
“When we explain kapa haka in the English language we reduce it to people standing and doing the actions. It’s so much more than that.
“Kapa haka contains the full plethora of a Māori experience. You learn whakapapa, mōteatea (grief) which connects back to our history and the narratives of the way our people behave.”
She also shared gratitude to kapa haka for saving her life in different ways.
She says kapa haka has been her escape, her solace, and a way to express her connection to te ao Māori wherever she went into the world.
“What we need to do first as Māori is believe 100 per cent in the value of kapa haka to provide ultimate well-being for us because it is an incubator for wellbeing.
“Kapa haka for me can be an ultimate healing pathway for our whānau. And it’s the ultimate way to re-indigenise our lives.”
She says one example is how Matatini commissioned research into kapa haka and well-being, which found that rangatahi involved in kapa haka at high school do better academically.
For M9, she hopes to throw a few challenges out for Māori to expand their view on the benefits of kapa haka.
“There are so many Pākehā methods of healing like mindfulness, journaling and gratitude.
“Those are all indigenous practices with a white lens put on it.
“The Māori form of journaling is composing something. Putting it into a composition for your mokopuna and four generations down the track to understand the world that their tīpuna lived in.”
• Tickets for M9 are available now – go to Ticketmaster for more details.
