16-year-old CEO of Pōtiki Poi Georgia Latu shows NZ Herald's Bonnie Jansen how it's done ahead of the Black Ferns battle at Eden Park in the Women's Rugby World Cup Final. Video / Dean Purcell / Photosport
As well as the players being a hit on the field, the star in the stands during this year’s Rugby World Cup tournament has been the poi.
And behind the fantastic display of unity is a 16-year-old from Ōtepoti (Dunedin).
Georgia Latu is the chief executive of Pōitiki Poi, the world’s largest poi manufacturer and an embodiment of her ancestors’ finest art skills. She hoped to help marae reduce waste. Her business also has markets overseas.
Latu’s efforts were recognised this year when she won the Young Māori Business Leader Award.
The Wā Poi (it’s poi time) movement at the RWC games was sparked by an idea from Dame Hinewehi Mohi — who made history at a Rugby World Cup 23 years earlier.
Latu has supplied more than 30,000 of the tournament’s poi. It has also found its way to other sporting events around the globe.
Young gun Georgia Latu won the Young Māori Business Leader Award. Photo / Supplied
For the World Cup, her entire whānau has been behind her, creating up to 1000 poi daily.
“We got into it from an email [from organisers], that started off wanting 2000 poi, [then increasing], upped it to five (thousand), upped it to I think 12 (thousand), added another 10 (thousand) on top of that,” Latu says.
She says seeing her poi at the World Cup games is a “huge moment in history for Aotearoa, and revitalising our taonga”.
Young fans practising their poi skills during a Black Ferns game in Whangārei. Photo / Michael Cunningham
“Lots of people ask, ‘Well when do you have time to do it young rangitahi?’ and I say, ‘Well if I don’t do the things I do now when will it happen and who will make it happen?
“For me, I’m very proud to be a young Māori wāhine and through the barriers and through everything, I’m glad to see this happen.”
As today’s sold-out crowd get ready to whirl their poi for one last time, attendees are encouraged - in true Kiwi DIY fashion - to make their own poi, as only the first 5000 through the gates will get one for free. With that in mind - and with the hope those not going to the game will join the movement from their couches or bars - Latu has provided a step-by-step guide to making her traditional Pōitiki Poi at home.
