Matariki Awards night: Young cousins unfazed by Māori musical royalty

Atareta Milne and cousin Te Haakura Ihimaera-Manley won the Hiwaiterangi, Young Achievers Award at the black tie Matariki Awards. Photo / Whakaata Māori

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First cousins Atareta Milne (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi ) and Te Haakura Ihimaera-Manley (Tainui, Te Rarawa) might be young Māori wāhine, but they have already packed a lifetime of musical experiences into their full-on lives.

The pair were among the glitterati at the Black Tie Matariki Awards night, held at Te Papa, Wellington.

In front of many of their idols, Atareta, 11 and Te Haakura, 10, won the Hiwaiterangi, Young Achievers Award.

The singing cousins, who have been performing since they were 5, celebrated with doughnuts at the hotel with their whānau.

"It was so amazing and I'm so grateful I got to do it with my whānau," Te Haakura said.

The pair are no strangers to the spotlight, picking up the People's Choice gong at the Aotearoa Music Awards last year for their song Peke, which has notched up over half a million views on YouTube.

Their bubbly, sassy personalities and eloquent use of te reo Māori have also attracted more 15,000 subscribers to their YouTube channel "Te Nūtube".

They have been featured in TV shows, music videos and news segments since they were about 5 years old - and there's so much more on the horizon for these rising stars.

"We don't know [what's next] but it's in the hands of Hiwa-i-te-Rangi," Atareta said

Hiwa-i-te-Rangi is one of the nine stars of Matariki and is known as the "wishing star", with the focus of looking at our goals and aspirations for the year ahead.

The Matariki awards- Ngā Tohu o Matariki o Te Tau - recognise and celebrate Māori who are making a difference in the community.

It was guaranteed to be good night, with performances from top Māori artists Ria Hall, Troy Kingi and Pere Wihongi.

Rob Ruha won the Supreme Award, which was presented by Kiingi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII. Rob also picked up the Tipuārangi (Arts & Entertainment) award in recognition of his contributions to waiata reo Māori and work with rangatahi. Olympic champion Dame Lisa Carrington (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Ngāti Porou) won the supreme Māori sports award.