Tērā pea ko te noho hāneanea tahi me te whānau ehara pea i a tātou katoa engari anō ki a Te Ataraiti Waretini, koia te pito o tōna ngākau.
Ko te tangata waewae āwhiowhio te tangata ngākau whenua koia ko Te Ataraiti, he wahine pukumahi. E rua āna pākihi – ko tetehi he mea pikitia, he pouaka whakaata me te wāhanga kamupene-ā-ipurangi ko te mea atu he pākihi raranga. Kai te raranga a Te Ataraiti ināianei mō tētehi whakaaturanga iwi taketake ka tū ki Toronto i Kānata ā te mārama hou. Ko ngā kupu ōhākī a tōna matua tāne kai ōna hoi taringa e kī nei, "Kahakina e, ka mahue te kakara putiputi".
Nā ōna mātua, nā Te Kuru rāua ko Maria Waretini te whakapau kaha ki te mahi i whakatō ki a rātou katoa ki a Te Ataraiti me ōna tūngane. He kaha i heke iho hoki i tōna kuia ko Nita Katipa. He ahakoa kua mate noa atu tōna matua tane, tōna kuia me tōna tuakana, he wahine pūmau nei ki te aroha nui ki te manaaki i tana hāpori whānui tonu. Atu i a Kura Productions Ltd me Maru Creations Ltd he akona reo hoki a Te Ataraiti, kai Te Wānanga o Aotearoa e tauira ana.
"Otianō i whānau mai, i pakeke ai i kuraina hoki a Te Ataraiti i Te Kura o Te Whakarewarewa, nō te wā i neke tana whānau ki Tamaki Makaurau ki reira ia kura tuarua ai, nā wai ka rere atu mō ngā tau e whitu ki Īngarangi."
Ehara i te mea he ako mātauranga kau nōu e kura kaupapa Māori ana, he takahi whenua, he kōrero tūpuna hoki, ka nui kē taku whakamīhā ki taku kura e māori nei tō rātou kura i te ao o te mātauranga".
I Te Puia ōna mātua e mahi ana, whoi anō kātahi tonu tēnei ingoa hou ka tapangia ki tēnei wāhi mahi, kāti. He mātanga mākete tōna matua tāne, koia hoki te pikitūranga o te wāhi mahi, ā, he pou-arahi tōna matua wahine he mātanga raranga hoki.
He akona raranga hoki nā Kui Emily Schuster me Kui Honoria Matenga (nee Maniapoto) kua mate noa atu ēnei wāhine tokorua. Kai te kawea e Te Ataraiti te ingoa o tōna kuia, nō nā tata nei ka mātau ai he kuia noho ki Īngarangi hoki i ōna wā.
I whānau mai tōna tupuna kuia a Te Moananui-a-Kiwa ki wē moana nō rātou ko tana pahi e hoki mai ana ki te kāinga i te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau kotahi tekau mā rua. "Mō te roanga o taku oranga he ako kē i te tangata ki te whakahuahua tika i tōku ingoa, e hika mā, kāua e mea mai he uaua, engari he rerekē!."
Ka ūpoko pakarū ngā tangata o Īngarangi ki te kōrero tika i tōku ingoa kia kāua au e patua ki te whakaiti. "Tērā ētehi ka pau i a rātou e rua wiki e whakangungu ana – me taku ngākau aroha i whakaarongia au".
He toru tekau mā rima ngā tau o Te Ataraiti. Tūturu he Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wahiao, he Tainui, he Te Rarawa ōna kāwai tupua. Kua kotahi tekau mā rima ngā tau nāna e whakapau kaha i te ao o te pouaka whakaata.
Nō te Tīhema kua pahemo ka riro māna te tūranga ringatohu-pouwhakahaere mā Kura Productions he whakawatea noa i a Quinton Hita. He kamupene motuhake nei e tohunga nei ki te waihanga kiriata, kaupapa pouaka whakaata me ngā kaupapa ā ipurangi hoki. "I Aotearoa nei ko taku tino mahi he noho i ngā kaupapa Māori. Koina tētehi o aku mahi nōku e noho atu ana i Īngarangi, nā reira i mārama ai aku kanohi ki te whānuitanga o tēnei momo mātauranga.
He ngāwari ake te ao pouaka whakaata i Īngarangi, ka whia kē ngā huarahi tuwhera, me te rahi hoki o ngā kaupapa pouaka whakaata, he iti kau te mahi engari he rawe kē te nama hāunga ngā kaupapa Māori. I Aotearoa nei e rua, e toru rānei ngā puna pūtea nā reira kai te tohea taua pūtea e ngā hoa mahi hoki me te rangatira hoki o ngā kaupapa, i wāuna me hinga tētehi o te hunga tono."
"Me te mea hoki me ōkea rawatia te Māori mō te maramara kau, engari anō ka whia kē ngā pouaka me whakatikatika kia puta ai ki te tihi o te maunga, kia whakatauirangia e ahau, me reo rua, me ahurea atamai, ko te taha ki te whakamāori, whakapākehā rānei mātua kia tika katoa ngā wāhanga e ai ki a tātou te Māori kia kou katoa ngā mahi. Ko ngā taumahatanga kai ngā pakihiwi o tātou te Māori me ngā kaupapa Māori e hoa kai tūā rānō o te pūtea, ko tō tātou mana kē, nē hā – ko te taiao, ko te mana o te iwi me ngā kaumātua".
"Ko ngā hōtaka Pākehā kāore he paku aha ki a rātou ēnei taumahatanga, ka rua, ka itiiiti noa te pūtea awhina ka haere ki a tātou te Māori, nō reira ki Aotearoa nei he purtiti kau ngā ara, he koretake te moni, he mano kē ngā hāora mahi, he pūehu te kai.
"Ki te āhua nei kai te piki ake te pai, tāria te rima o ngā tau e tīno mātau ai tātou. Ko te mea e hāneanea ai taku ngākau ko te mahi tahi me ngā whānaunga me te whakaputa i tō tātou reo taketake me te taiao Māori kia Māori kau kia waia te whenua ki tō tātou māuri ora, otianō hei āwhina i ngā whakatupuranga hou".
Tērā, tērā ko tōna pōtae tuarua, ko Maru Creations, nāna te kamupene nei, whaihoki kai te akongia hoki a Te Ataraiti ki te whakamomona i tona taha raranga. Nā Maria Waretini tana tamāhine i ako ki te raranga mā Pukamata nō Te Ataraiti e noho ana i Īngarangi. "Ka eke taku tau ki te toru tekau ka tāhuri ki te raranga , e whia kē ngā hāora kua riro atu engari tonu. Ko te mea uaua e noho atu ana ahau ki tāwāhi ako ai, ka pōrangi noa i ngā wā o whenua kē atu me te mōhio hoki ko tōku matua wahine taku pou haeoratū anake."
"He tohunga tōku matua wahine e ora katoa te ngākau i whai taima māua ki tēnei haerenga rangatira".
Nōna e rima tau anake kua mau tona wairua i te ao pouaka whakaata. Ka anga atu ki Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau, ko te hangarau whakawhitiwhiti whakaaro tana kaupapa matua he tohu paetahi e toru tau te roa.
Te Ataraiti Waretini weaving in Rauru in Hamburg. Photo / Supplied
"He tohu rangatira hoki e paru ai ou ringaringa. Ko taku tau tuatahi ko ahau tētehi o te hūnuku Māori me te PI itiiti o tētehi kāhui e toru rau tangata. Ko ahau anake te Māori i tū Māori i tō mātou kāhui e toru tekau. E akona ana mātou e ngā niho roa o te ao pouaka whakaata kai te mahara hoki ahau he wāhanga motuhake e taea ai e tātou ngā Māori me ngā PI ki te whakangā, he tino wāhi, ka tae ki ahau te harikoa, kua whai whakaaro mai ngā rangatira o te wānanga ki a mātou".
Ka nui hoki te whakamihi āna ki ngā manuao Māori o AUT nāna a ia i arahina ki te ara o tana karahipi. "Ko te karahipi i whakawhiwhia e ahau he mea Māori me Pasifika engari kāore i heke mai i toku iwi, kāore au i mōhio nā te aha i mōhio ai te manuao Māori engari koia te mea nui ki ahau".
Nā tana whakaritenga whakamutunga ka riro i a ia tana mahi uiui tuatahi. Ko te kaupapa ko Marae DIY. Kātahi ka tū mai ko Kura Productions he waka hourua i tīmatangia ai e Quiton Hita me South Pacific Pictures āhua kotahi tekau mā rima o ngā tau ki muri. E whia kē ā rātou kaupapa rangatira kua oti noa i a rātou. Ko Mt Zion me Maui's Hook, ko Pūkoro me te pakipumeka ko Huritua, ko Kōwhao Rau, he whakaari whakangāhau, Only in Aotearoa, ko Ahikāroa. Nā Wai i Teka?
Te mea hou kai te kawea ki te Pukamata he kaupapa e kaha kawengia nei e Q.
Ko te aronga nui o Kura Productions ko te whakarauora i te mana o tātou te Māori me ōna wāhanga katoa. Me te whakapakari i ngā Māori ki a rangatira ai rātou i tēnei kamupene otīā tēnei ao mahi. I whakatupungia a Te Ataraiti me te raranga i te pā taunaha o Te Whakarewarewa me te taha o tona whānau nō Tainui kai reira hoki ētehi tipua ko Nanny Nuia Taratu he mahita kura tawhito i Manukau Institute of Technology. Nā Nanny Nuia a Te Ataraiti i ako ki te raranga me te harakeke nāna hoki i tākohangia tana kūtai tuatahi.
"He huarahi taka Māori noa mai te ara raranga nei kai te toto kai taku whakapapa, e hoa ngā kaupapa whakahirahira kua ara ake nā te raranga hāunga ngā whakakitenga i Īngarangi me te tūtakitaki tangata rongonui pēnei i a Lauryn Hill.
Ā te mārama hou nei he whakakitenga tāna i te Indigenous Fashion Arts in Toronto. He ahakoa ngā tangata huhua kua atawhaitia a ia ko ngā pou tikanga heke iho i ōna mātua me tōna kuia a Nita te tūāpapa o tōna wairua tau. E whakamomori nei ki a Nita nō rātou te whakatupuranga i hahaungia mō te kōrero Māori me te noa atu nā reira i kaha ai ia ki te whakatō i te reo ki āna mokopuna. Tokorua anō ngā toki o te ao pouaka whakaata hoki nāna ia i toko ake ko Quiton Hita me Te O Kahurangi Waaka.
"Ko te pou tāhū o te kamupene ko te reo Māori, ko te ao Māori me ngā kaupapa Māori, mātua ki tēnei tokorua. He rangatira katoa ngā kaupapa kāua mā te Māori anake engari mā te ao whānui engari ā Māori nei. Ko tāku kau kia whakahīhī mai rāua ki aku mahi". Rere ana ngā wharawhara mō te pae tawhiti.
Tāria te wā e Māori noa te ao Māori ki Aotearoa nei otīā te ao whānui hoki. Kia rere noa te whakamihi tangata, pēnei me te, kia ora – kai te pēwhea koe? E hāngai rite tahi nei ki te Hi – how are you?".
E āuē nei taku ngākau kai tēnei taima hoki mā te mōhio ki tō reo e tomo atu ai koe ki ngā mahi whakahirahira o Aotearoa nei!". Ko ngā kaupapa Māori te pūtake o tōna aroha nui ki tana mahi. "Mēnā kāore he hiringa o te ngākau ki te mahi kua puta noa ahau i te ao mahi nei kua whakahuri umunga nui hai pou-raranga".
Kua tino uaua ēnei tau whakamutunga hoki ki taku whānau. Ka rāhuinga tātou nā te māuiui korona tuatahi i te tau e rua mano e rua tekau, ka mate te kuia o Te Ataraiti, ka pau te rua hāora ka heke te taumata ki te pae tuatoru i te pae tuawha engari nā te ture hou ka whakaaengia kia tekau noa ngā tangata hai waha i a ia ki tōna rua kōiwi i Pānguru i Hokianga. He aha rā.
"E toru tekau meneti noa hai tuku i te roimata me te hupe, te tere hoki! E whakamomori tonu nei mātou ki a Nan, kātahi nei ahau ka mātau ki te roanga atu o te māuiui korona, kāore i whakaae kia kāuawhiawhingia tātou, kāore hoki i whakaae ki a tae te tangata ki tō mātou whare tangi tahi ai".
Nō te tau e rua mano e rua tekau mā tahi i toromi tōna tuakana a Kapuaiwaho i mua tata tonu i te rāhuitanga māuiui korona i te marama o Pepuere." Ēnei pāmamaetanga katoa me te mea kua piki te kaha o te mahi, ae kua pirorehe mātou i a korona , engari i te korenga o ngā ture korona kai te rere anō ngā hihi o te rā, e puehu pai ana me te puku mahi hoki."
"Me tū ahaui ētehi taima, kia mārama kehokeho ai aku kanohi ki ngā reareatanga o te wā, pārahutihuti ana te huringa o te ao – kia hōkia ki te pepeha a tōku matua tane, "kahakina e, ka mahue te kakara putiputi". Whakapiritahatahi kia mau, me he pūtake tuanui tāu, tiakina, e ora ana te puku tō waimarie hoki – e mahi ana he rangatira koe.
—Na Raimona Inia i whakamaoritia.
Sitting and laughing with whanau doesn't sound like much, but for Te Ataraiti Waretini it is priceless.
There's nothing like a busy life to make you appreciate the simple things and Ataraiti should know she owns and operates two totally different businesses — a film, tv and online production company and a weaving business.
Currently, she is working on pieces to take to the Indigenous Fashion Arts festival in Toronto, Canada, next month.
She tries to live by the words engraved on her father's headstone at Kauae Cemetery: "Always take time to smell the flowers".
That strong work ethic was instilled in Ataraiti and her two brothers by their parents, Kuru and Maria Waretini, and maternal grandmother, Nita Katipa. Though her father, grandmother and older brother have passed she carries on the tradition of helping whanau and the wider community.
As well as her businesses, Kura Productions Ltd and Maru Creations Ltd, Atairaiti is studying reo at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
Although she was born and raised in Rotorua and attended her iwi kura, Te Kura o Te Whakarewarewa, Ataraiti went to high school in Auckland and then spent several years in the United Kingdom.
"Education at kura Māori is not just about following a curriculum, it's about living and breathing the culture too. I now have a greater appreciation for my kura and their normalisation of te ao Māori in an education environment."
Her parents worked at what is now Te Puia, her father had a marketing background and was deputy director, and her mother was a guide and weaver, having learned the craft from the late Emily Schuster and the late Honoria Matenga (nee Maniapoto).
She is named for her tupuna kuia, Ataraiti Waretini, who she learned only this year had also spent time in England. Her great grandmother, Te Moana Nui A Kiwa Tunui, was born at sea on the journey home in 1912.
"A lot of my life I have helped people pronounce my name properly ending with 'it's not hard it's just different'. People in the UK tried the hardest to pronounce my name properly to not offend me.
"Some even practised for two weeks. I appreciated their efforts when I lived there."
Ataraiti, 35, of Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao, Tainui, and Te Rarawa, has worked in TV for over 15 years. Last December she became the managing director of Kura Productions, taking over from Quinton Hita.
Te Ataraiti Waretini. Photo / Supplied
It is an independent company that makes content for film, tv and online spaces. "In Aotearoa I work primarily on Māori kaupapa. I have worked in the industry in the UK too. It opened my eyes to how transferable our skills are there.
"TV life is easier there, more options, more variety of shows, more funding sources, less work for more or same pay, but not kaupapa Māori.
"In Aotearoa we have two or three funders, so you and your friends are going for the same money for some really awesome kaupapa and one of you has to miss out.
"Often Māori have to work twice as hard for less with high quality expectations because kaupapa Māori have more requirements eg fluent in two languages, cultural intelligence, translations as well as bearing the weight of responsibilities of making sure you get everything right in the show from a cultural perspective.
"The risk to Māori on kaupapa Māori projects extends beyond budget, it's our reputation in Māori environments including our iwi and our kaumātua.
"Non-Māori shows don't have to think about all these things and Māori shows are funded less. So, in Aotearoa we have less options, less funding sources and more work for less pay.
"I feel like it's getting better though so who knows what it will look like in 5 years.
"The thing that makes it all worth it is that I find no greater fulfilment than working on Māori projects to help the normalisation and revitalisation of te reo Māori and te ao Māori on screens and helping more Māori step up into roles that they have wanted and deserve." As owner of Maru Creations, Ataraiti is learning to grow her taha raranga. Maria Waretini taught Ataraiti to weave via Facebook, while her daughter was living in the UK.
"I picked up weaving just after I turned 30. This cost a lot in time, effort and energy but was completely worth it. It's so hard and time-consuming learning from different countries, time zones and knowing that Mum was pretty much my only support.
"She's an amazing teacher and I'm so glad that we did that together."
Ataraiti set her sights on a television career when she was five.
She went to Auckland University of Technology and studied Communications and majored in TV, a three-year bachelor's degree.
"It's a great degree with hands-on experience. In my first year I was one of maybe a handful of Māori and PI students in a degree with 300 students. I remember being the only Māori who identified as Māori in my TV major of about 30 students.
"We were being taught by people who had industry experience in an industry standard studio with industry standard kit and edit suites. That campus had a space where Māori and Pacific Island students could hang out and it was so awesome, we felt like we mattered because they had a space just for us on the highest floor in the building."
Ataraiti has a big mihi to the Māori Liaisons at AUT who she thanks for helping her win a scholarship.
"The scholarship I received was as Māori and Pasifika scholarship but not through my iwi, I'm not sure how he wasn't aware of it, but the AUT Māori Liaisons did and that's what mattered."
Ataraiti secured her first job interview the day of her final assignment. The production was Marae DIY.
Kura Productionsis a joint venture that was started by Quinton Hita and South Pacific Pictures over 15 years ago. Its impressive body of work includes feature films Mt Zion and Maui's Hook, kids TV Pūkoro and Huritua, documentary, Kōwhao Rau, sketch comedy, only in Aotearoa and drama, Ahikāroa. Nā Wai i Teka? is a panel show on Māori Minute Facebook page managed by Q.
Kura Productions is dedicated to the revitalisation, retention, and growth of te reo Māori and te ao Māori. Capacity building of Māori in the industry is also important to the company.
Ataraiti grew up around weaving at Whakarewarewa and her Tainui whanau also contains accomplished weavers, including Nanny Nuia Taratu who used to teach raranga at the Manukau Institute of Technology.
Nanny Nuia taught Ataraiti about raranga with harakeke and gifted her first kuku shell.
"For my journey with raranga I think it was always going to happen as it's ingrained in my whakapapa. I've had some amazing opportunities because of raranga including exhibitions in London and meeting amazing people like singer-songwriter Lauryn Hill.
And next month her work will be showcased on the runway at the Indigenous Fashion Arts in Toronto. Ataraiti has had the support of a number of people but most of all is grateful for the strong morals and ethics instilled by her parents and her funeral-director grandmother Nita.
Her only sadness is that Nita came from a time when Maori and reo were not valued and that made her determined to ensure her mokopuna had the reo. Two people who have been instrumental in her television career are Quinton Hita and Te O Kahurangi Waaka.
"They have created the foundations of a company that places importance on te reo Māori, te ao Māori and making shows instilled in kaupapa Māori. They have created meaningful content for Māori and non-Māori audiences from a Māori lens. "I only hope to make them proud." Ataraiti is excited about the future and the part television plays.
"I think there will be so much Māori kaupapa, reo and tikanga here and internationally that it is just normal. Saying "Kia ora, kei te pēhea koe" will be just as normal everywhere as saying "Hi, how are you".
"I'm so excited to live in a time where te reo Māori is the skill that is getting you places in Aotearoa!"
For Ataraiti there is no greater fulfillment than working on meaningful kaupapa.
"If it didn't inspire my soul, I don't think I would have stayed in the industry, I would have changed careers to become a weaver full time."
The last couple of years have been very tough for the whanau.
In the first level four lockdown in 2020 Ataraiti's nan passed then two hours later the level dropped to three but that meant only 10 whanau were allowed to accompany her to her final resting place at Panguru in the Hokianga.
"A 30-minute tangi, the fastest I have ever been to. We still grieve for Nan as I realise now that the long-term effects of Covid meant that our whānau couldn't be there for us the way we needed them too.
No one could visit us, hug us or cry with us." Her older brother Kapuaiwaho drowned in 2021, just before the Covid lockdown in February. "After such heavy losses in our whānau and twice as much work, we have Covid fatigue. Now that restrictions have lifted everything is up and going again and 10 times busier.
"I literally have to stop myself and identify the simple joys in life because it's moving so quickly. Just like Dad's stone says, 'Always take time to smell the flowers." Having each other is a privilege, having a roof and food are privileges, having work is a privilege.
