Te Waikamihi Korohina Ormsby captured with her whanau Tamaki Peita-Gregory (Ngati Tukorehe), their son Whatukura Te Rama Apakura and Te Rangiwhaiao Rereata who was still to be born at the time. Photo / Supplied
Te Waikamihi Korohina Ormsby captured with her whanau Tamaki Peita-Gregory (Ngati Tukorehe), their son Whatukura Te Rama Apakura and Te Rangiwhaiao Rereata who was still to be born at the time. Photo / Supplied
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Click here for English translation Nā āna pūkenga kapa haka me tana atamai ki te tito-waiata a Te Waikamihi Korohina Ormsby me tōna whānau e whai kaha ai ki te pupuri i tōna Māoritanga i a rātou i te whenua Moemoeā.
Ko Te Wai he rua tekau mā whitu te pakeke. Ko tōna hoa rangatira a Tamaki Peita-Gregory he rua tekau mā whitu hoki te pakeke ko ā rāua tamariki a Whatukura he rima te pakeke me te whakapakanga ko Te Rangiwhaiao e rua tōna pakeke kua tau te noho ki Logan he hāpori kai Piripona.
Kua rima tau te noho ki whenua kē. Nō Te Arawa, Mataatua me NgaPuhi a Te Wai he tamaiti ruku kapa i piri pāua tata ki ngā reke o tōna kuia a Putiputi Tonihi. " Nā tōku māmā a Trevina ahau i tōia ki ngā konohete, nā reira i tū pakari ai ahau ki runga i te ātamira o Rēhia i roto hoki i ngā kapa huhua o Te Arawa".
Nō Rotorua tōnā kaha ki a tū hai tamāhine Māori māia, nā āna nekehanga rau nōna e taiohi ana i rewa ai tōna wairua toa.
'Nōku e rangatahi ana ka noho au i ngā paihau o Joyce Lithgow, koia te wā timata ai ahau ki te tito waiata me te waiata hoki, nāna ahau i akiaki kia tū ki ngā whakataetae Ōpera i te waiariki puta noa atu'.
Tētehi anō o āna whakawhiwhinga nōna e taiohi ana ko te tū ki te rōpū tira Māori-a-kura tuarua i waenganui i ngā tau 2009 – 2012.
Ko te karahipi Tā Howard Morrison ka riro i a ia. Nā tēnei wikitoriatanga ka noho tauira ia ki a Dame Malvina Major nā kōnā ka titoa e ia ngā waiata haka mā te kapa haka o Raukura me Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao. Nā wai rā ka hūnuku tōna whanau ki Te Whenua Moemoeā, he ahakoa e mokemoke ana, nā ngā whānaunga rātou i whakawhenua ai. Kātahi rātou ka hope atu ki tētehi kapa haka e hākoakoa anō ai te wairua.
He pouako a Te Wai ki tōna kapa a Te Hau Tawhiti he rōpū hupa 12 kē mai tōna orokohanga.'
He kaha kē nō mātou ki te whakangāhau atu ki te hāpori hai oranga ngākau e kī tonu ai ā mātou kete mātauranga, nā tēnei āhuatanga hoki e ora ai tō tātou Māoritanga i a mātou e noho tawhiti ana i te ūkaipō'.
Kua hakoke kau rātou i te ao, nō te tau 2019 rātou tae ai ki Hawai'i i whakamanuwhiringia rātou e te kura tuarua o Kāmehameha, waihoki ka kōtahi atu rātou ki te whakamana i a Maunga Kea.
'Nō whea kē te wairua – he ahakoa hāereere noa mātou ka tū ki tētehi wāhi anō nei he wānanga, ka nui te mātauranga i whakapuakina mai e rātou waihoki ka peka noa mātou ki te whakangāhau atu ko tētehi o ngā tino wāhi ko te Polynesian Cultural Centre me te Alamoana.
Te Hau Tawhit at Mauna Kea in Hawaii 2019. Photo / Supplied
'Me te mea whakamiharo - anei mātou te iwi Māori e noho atu nā ki Te Whenua Moemoeā – kai te karamata rākau te ihi'.
Kua whakahono atu hoki mātou ki a Keiino ( Ko te rōpū whakaihuwaka Eurovision 2019 he pēne nō Norway) ko te whakapūare i te kēmu rīki iwi taketake me te waiata takitahi i te whakaweheruatanga o te kēmū nui. Koia nā ētehi o ngā wā nui whakaharahara ka mau i ngā koko o te ngākau.
Mātua, ko te tuku i tana reo taketake ki āna tamariki.' He pouako reo rua ahau i Logan nei hai ētehi tāima ka tūponohia he māmā nō Aotearoa, ka puta te reo'. E noho tahi māua nei ko Maia Haitana nō Aotearoa, nā ka kitea e māua ka nui ngā Māori engari kāore he reo, ka toko ake te whakaaro ki te whakaara ake tētehi wāhi e ora ai tā tātou reo, ko te mutunga mai he pākihi pakupaku kai te whakahaerehia e māua ko Maia.
'Nā tēnei ka ora te reo i ngā kāinga, nā tēnei ka areare ai ngā taringa o ngā tamariki ki tā tātou reo, ā, he whakaakiaki hoki ngā matua ki te kōrero Māori he ahakoa kai hea koe'. Kua kitea e Te Wai te huhua o te Māori e hikoi tūpapaku kau ana i te korenga o tō rātouna mōhiohio ki tō rātouna Māoritanga.
"Ka mākohakoha ahau i te tangi waiata Māori, e karakia ana, e haka ana, e poi ana me te aha noa atu – ka nui te whakaiti i roto i aku mahi pakupaku hāpai i tō tātou ao Māori nei'.
'Ko te whakahuri i toku wairua ki a tau ai taku noho i te whenua manene nei, he ngāwari noa mēnā koe he tangata whai tikanga – ko pēneitia te Māori i kōnei engari rā ko te wairua Māori, mau tonu e kore e whakahuri'.
Ko te pae tata hai tā Te Wai me Tamaki ko te manaaki me te atawhai i te whānau i runga i te mōhiotanga kai tāwhiti kē rātou i te hau kāinga, kāore he tino oranga i tua atu i a rāua ki te taumaha rāua.
Kai Rotorua, kai Tauranga te whānau o Te Wai, ko tōna matua tāne a Ken Korohina kai Perth e mahi ana. " Ae – kua nui ngā taumahatanga engari e kore e tāea te pēwhea. Ko te whānau te tāhūhū matua e koke whakatemua ai ahau, me te kapa haka hai whakawhenua i a mātou'.
Ko te pae tawhiti ? Kātahi nei a Te Wai ka mutu i tana kaupapa korikori na Natano Fa'anana i tohutohu nō Hāmoa ia ko "Aunties Fiafia' te taitara he mea i kawea ki te Whakangāhautanga o Piripana. Ka nui ngā wāhanga whakangāhau rerekē, ko ngā waiata poronēhia te kanikani me tētehi rōpū keka. 'I tonoa ahau e Te Tai Mauri ( Nō te kapa haka o Piripana ia) ki te awhina i tā rātou wāhanga whakangāhau – kapakapa ana taku ngākau". Katoa o ngā poumahi he rima rau ngā tangata engari ko te hunga mātakitaki he tata ki te tekau mano ngā tangata.
Ko āna kupu mō te whakareanga hou; " E puta koe i tō whare haumaru, he ahakoa me whiti atu te tangata ki tāwāhi, he ahakoa me whakarerea e koe te whānau me te ūkaipō nā kōnā e tū pakeke ai koe'.
Ko ngā akoranga o te kainga, Ko te mātauranga maori me te reo maori kia mau, kia ita mo ake!
A lifetime performing haka gave singer-composer Te Waikāmihi Korohina Ormsby the strength to keep her Māoritanga alive while settling her family in Australia.
Te Wai, 27, partner Tamaki Peita , 27, and their tamariki Whatukura, 5, and Te Rangiwhaiāo, 2, have made their home in Logan, Brisbane. The couple moved there five years ago.
Born and raised in Rotorua, the uri of Te Arawa, Mataatua and Ngāti Porou, spent a lot of time as a child at Whakarewarewa where her nanny Putiputi Tonihi grew up.
"I was always dragged along to perform doing concerts with my mum, Trevina.
"And those strong ties and experiences on a concert stage led me to become a kaihaka for many Te Arawa rōpu through my years at Te Koutu, Rotorua Girls High (Raukura) but more specifically Te Kapa Haka ō Tuhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao."
As a young Wāhine Māori from Rotorua, Te Wai counts herself lucky for the experience gained during her teenage years.
"I started singing and composing at a young age under the tutorship of Joyce Lithgow who pushed me to do many opera competitions in and around the Bay of Plenty.
"The NZ Lockwood Aria was one of many competitive singing competitions I would enter year after year.
"My biggest achievement as a teenager was performing at Opera in the Pā held at Te Puia."
Other teenage achievements included being one of a handful of Māori in the NZ secondary students choir (2009-2012). She won the Sir Howard Morrison scholarship to be trained by Dame Malvina Major and composed for Raukura and Tuhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao.
On moving to Australia, Te Wai and Tamaki (Ngāti Tūkorehe) were helped to get over their homesickness by the big number of whānau they met.
Rotorua's Te Waikamihi Korohina-Ormsby pictured at New Zealand Aria 2012. Photo / NZME
They joined a kapa to feel some sense of belonging and this resparked her passion for kapahaka, singing and composing.
Te Wai is tutor to Te Hau Tawhiti which started as a Super 12s rōpu.
"We run many other corporate and community performances as well as our own wānanga to keep our kete mātauranga full.
"And for us, this became our way of maintaing and keeping our culture alive whilst living abroad."
The group travelled to Hawaii in 2019 on an indigenous exchange with Kanaka Maoli, Kamehameha High School.
They also performed for the protectors of the lahui on Mauna Kea.
"This experience was like no other, not only did we learn traditional ways of kaitiakitanga to help revive their natural resources such as kalo [taro] and fishponds but we also toured and performed at schools, the Polynesian Cultural Centre and Alamoana.
"Being a rōpu from Australia who can represent Māori on an international platform, that is what made us feel proud.
Another milestone was collaborating with Keiino (winners of Eurovision 2019, pop band from Norway) on the release of an indigenous album.
Performing at the start of the Indigenous and Māori All-Star Rugby League opening ceremony and singing a solo at halftime was another highlight.
Te Wai regards as a privilege the ability to share our language with our babies.
"I'm a kaiako at a bilingual childcare centre here in Logan and this eventually led to me meeting other Māmā Māori who can speak Te Reo Māori.
"Myself and another Māmā, Maia Haitana, noticed a huge gap in terms of Te Reo Māori being spoken within the homes and to their tamariki, so we then started as a self-funded mums language learning group which grew into a small business for Maia and myself.
"That allows us to share our passion for Te Reo Māori for those who had tamariki and structured the programme around the use of the Reo in the home, Te Reo o te kainga to encourage our parents or anyone to speak Māori wherever you are."
In Australia, Te Wai has seen whānau Māori who have little knowledge of their heritage lose their way.
"Happiness for some here can be as easy as hearing waiata Māori, hearing or participating in Karakia, Haka, Poi and Arts and Crafts. It has been an honour to serve a small minority of Māori from all walks of life who share the same values.
"Adjusting to change is knowing how to go about tikanga the right way in another country, and the Māori community have had to do this on many occasions, but what makes this situation unique is the fact that we can still be who we are with what we have in our surroundings. Doing our best to BE MĀORI in these spaces."
Ultimately, for Te Wai, the biggest responsibility for her and Tāmaki, both part- time workers, raising their tamariki as they are their only support system.
Te Wai's immediate whānau are in Rotorua/Tauranga, and her Pāpā, Ken Korohina is in Perth.
"We've had to adjust our world to suit them, but my whānau are my biggest push and our kapa also allow for us to stay grounded with Te Āo Māori."
On the future, Te Wai is looking further afield. She recently finished a circus collaboration show directed by Samoan Natano Fa'anana "Aunties Fiafia night" for the Brisbane Festival.
It was a mix of all Polynesian cultures, song, dance and a world-class circus company.
"I was approached by Te Tai Mauri (Brisbane kapahaka group) to help them with their segment in the show. This experience was very fulfilling."
The show had over 500 cast and crew and an audience of 10,000.
Her advice to future generations is: "Don't be afraid to do something outside of your comfort zone, even if it's in another country away from what you love and cherish and away from your beloved whānau as these are the sacrifices we make to better ourselves in this crazy journey we call life.
Ko ngā akoranga o te kainga, ko te mātauranga Māori me Te Reo Māori kia mau, kia ita mo āke!
