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E whakapau kaha nei ngā kapa o Te Arawa ki te whakamihi i te ekenga o ngā mahi a Rēhia ki tōna taumata e rima tekau te pakeke.
Ka whakanuia ā te terenga o Matariki ki te pā taunaha o Rotowhio ki roto o Te Puia. Hai tā Horowaewae Makiwhara.
"I tū te whakataetae tuatahi i kōnei i Te Waiariki i te New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute i te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau, e whitu tekau mā rua, e hīkākā ana ngā whēkau ka whakanuia tēnei kaupapa ki te takere waka o Te Arawa".
"Ko ahau tētehi o ngā poniponi i taua taima whoi anō ko Ngāti Rangiwewehi taku kapa". Mō te kaupapa whakahirahira ka tū inākuanei, kua whakaae mai ngā rōpū e rua tekau mā tahi. Hapū mai, iwi mai, ka kotahi mai ngā hau e whā ki te whakatairanga i te kaupapa o te rā.
"Kua pōwhiringia a Waihirere, kia puta mai rātou. Ko Waihirere ngā whakaihuwaka tuatahi o tēnei kaupapa rangatira. Ka nui te harikoa o te ngākau o Tangiwai Ria me ētehi o ngā ika-a-Whiro. Kua rere atu hoki te tono ki ngā toa o naianei ki a Ngā Tumanako nō Tamaki Makaurau, engari nā te rahi o ā rātou mahi ka kore rātou e puta mai".
Nā te māuiui korona kua hikina a Te Matatini kaupapa ki te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau mā toru ā te Pepuere, otīā ka tū anō ki Tamaki Makaurau.
Nō ngā marama kua tahā ka rūnanga katoa ngā māngai o Te Arawa ki te whakarite mai me pēwhea te whakanui i tēnei kaupapa i tū mai i kōnei i te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e whitu tekau mā rua. Ka toko ake te whakaaro ki a kapa tahi ai tātou, kia kai tahi hoki ai tātou.
E hoki ana ngā māharatanga o Horowaewae," Kātahi hoki rā taua wā, i tino arahina mātou e Te Kuru Waaka (Tumuwhakarae o NZMACI i taua taima) me tō mātou matua wahine ( Guide Bubbles Mihinui) nā reira i tika katoa ai te haere.
"He wā tēnei ki te whakamihi ki ngā Manukura ki ngā kākātarahae katoa o te nehenehe kua riro i te au heke ki Hāwaiki, ka rua, ki te whakamihi ki ngā poupou katoa nānā tēnei kaupapa i amo, nānā tēnei kaupapa i tautoko".
E kōrero ana a Te Horowaewae ka puta mai ngā ingoa o ngā tohunga o Te Arawa pēnei i a Napi Waaka, ko Te Irirangi Tiakiawa hoki tētehi, ko Hori Brennan me Tenga Rangitauira, otīā ka whia kē hoki ngā taniwha oreore, tāne mai, wāhine mai.
E āhua mānukanuka a Horowaewae, ko te taiao me te huarere tonu te take.
"He waimarie tātou i te rangatiratnga o ngā whare o Te Puia". Kua rāhuingia e rua tekau mā tahi tēpū i Te Puia. Kāore he tikanga, mēnā ka tae ki a koe te wairua ki te waiata, e waiata, whēoi anō rā ehara i te whakangāhau nui pēnei i ngā whakataetae kapa haka. He nohotahi, he kai tahi.
E hoki ana ngā mahara ki te hui tuatahi o te kapa haka, ka whakakōtahi mai a Te Arawa me Mataatua nā ka huaina tēnei rōpū ko Te Waiariki.
"Kāore e tino roa tā māua noho tahi, ka whati māua, ko te take, he iwi nui māua, ko Te Arawa he momona, ko Mataatua he momona hoki ,ā, titiro ki ngā painga kua hua mai i tā māua whatinga.
Ko te titiro ki te pae tawhiti ki a eke ai tēnei waka kia rima tekau anō o ngā tau. Ko te taha ki te whakaniko whakaaturanga kai ngā ringaringa o te tohunga toi i a Donna Grant rāua ko Tipene Haira, he whakakitenga nui mō te hītoria o Te Matatini. Ka whakaatungia a te wā kai nui o te rā.
Kai te whakanui hoki i ngā rōpū tautoko nānā i whai kaha ai ki te hāpai i ngā rohe ki a puta ai ngā rōpū ki te whakataetae nui o te motu. Me i kore rātou kua kore e kitea ētehi o ngā rōpū whakahirahira.
Nā tēnei whakaaro rangatira, ara, ko te whakaara i ngā rōpū pakeke, i pakari ai ngā rōpū whakataetae o Te Arawa ki te papa tūtūngārahu. Ka āta tū ngā rōpū, he whāwhā noa i te ātamira, he kōtahi atu ki te mura o te ahi, engari rā ko ngā rōpū pakeke, ngā kuia morehu i puta mai e hika ko Ngāti Whakaue ake mō te whakaparepare i ngā hope.
Ko te whanaungatanga te mea i whakakōtahi i a tātou katoa. Ko ahau hoki tētehi i tū i tā mātou rōpū pakeke o Te Rau Aroha he ahakoa kua tino nanakia te wā ki a māua me te ātamira, harikoa taku ngākau i kotahi taku tū me taku rahi o te pā.Wheoi anō, hei tā Horowaewae, ka puta hoki tō mātou Mea o Rotorua, ko Steve Chadwick.
Ko te rerekētanga o ngā tau tawhito me ēnei rā ake, ko te wā o te whakataetae ā rohe me te whakataetae ā Motu.
"I ngā rā o mua ka mutu i a mātou te whakataetae ā rohe, ka pau e rima wiki kua whakataetae ā motu koe". " Hōtō ināianei, kua tūnahatia ngā marama e whia kē, he whakaharatau te take".
E whitawhita ana te ngākau ki te kaupapa e whakatata mai nei, kua nanakia te wā, he wā kōrero me ngā hoa, tawhito me ngā hoa hou, ko te mea nui kua puta katoa tātou i ngā herenga o te māuiui korona.
— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori tenei purongo
Te Arawa Kapa are going all out to celebrate the golden jubilee of the performing arts — taking advantage of the Matariki holiday weekend to mark the occasion at Te Puia.
"Waiariki held the inaugural festival at the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute in 1972 and it's exciting that Te Arawa are going back there next weekend for the 50th anniversary," said Te Arawa Kapa chair Trevor Maxwell.
"I was only a little fella then but I performed with Rangiwewehi."
This time, 21 groups have confirmed they will take part in the celebrations.
Participants are coming from all over the rohe — from every hapu and iwi.
"We have also invited Waihirere who won the first festival. Tangiwai Ria and other group committee members can't wait to come.
"We also invited the current Matatini champions Nga Tumanako from Tamaki Makaurau but they had to decline because they have a prior commitment."
Because of Covid Te Matatini, which is being hosted by Tamaki Makaurau, had to be postponed until February 2023.
The Te Arawa Kapa got together and decided to host a celebration kaitahi at the site of the inaugural festival in 1972.
"That was a wonderful occasion," said Trevor. "Kuru (Waaka, director of NZMACI at the time) and Mum (Guide Bubbles Mihinui) made it so easy for us.
"This time will also be an opportunity to remember those who went before us and the contributions made by people from all over the motu to kapa haka and Toi Maori generally."
He made reference to Napi Waaka, Irirangi Tiakiawa, Hori Brennan, and Tenga Rangitauira and that was just brushing the surface.
Trevor admits to having some reservations to begin with, mainly because of the time of year and the uncertainty of the weather.
"Luckily Te Puia has great facilities and we will be warm and dry." Twenty-one groups have taken tables at Te Puia for the celebration. People are free to perform the odd item but it will not be a full-on haka performance.
To host the first festival Te Arawa and Mataatua combined as Waiariki.
"We split after that because we are each one of the biggest rohe in the motu. It's worked out well.
"This time we are looking forward to the next 50 years."
Artistic director Donna Grant, ably assisted by Tipene Haira, is putting together a slide presentation depicting the history of Matatini. It will be shown during the lunch.
The society is also paying tribute to the roopu tautoko which helped get more of our competitive teams to the national festival.
Under Matatini rules, the number of teams at regional competitions determines the number of attendees at the national event. To boost the number of teams at Matatini Te Arawa invited pakeke or non-competitive groups to take part.
It worked and Te Arawa always had a healthy number of competitive groups at Matatini.
Groups just starting out and needing stage time had the opportunity to test the competition waters at regional events and our kuia morehu, particularly of Ngati Whakaue, could strut their stuff.
The whanaungatanga was wonderful. Even I took the stage as a member of Te Rau Aroha.
Trevor said the Mayor, Steve Chadwick, has said she'll be there. Support for the occasion is so great there has been no need to advertise or look for funding.
The major difference between the early days and now is the timing of regional events and the nationals.
"In the old days we had just five weeks between regionals and nationals.
"Nowadays we have months kept just for rehearsals."
But he is looking forward to next weekend, a chance to catch up with old friends and whanaunga and end the drought caused by Covid.
The jury's marathon deliberations ran for two weeks.