Ngāti Rangiwēwehi gracing the Te Matatini stage. Photo / Te Matatini Society Incorporated
"Walking up with my own tribe, all the memories just started flooding back."
On Thursday afternoon, district councillor Trevor Maxwell was given the honor of leading Ngāti Rangiwēwehi's kapa haka group on the Te Matatini stage.
With crowds estimated to reach 60,000 over the four days, it was more butterflies than cold feet that he felt when he was together with Ngāti Rangiwēwehi.
Te Matatini Kapa Haka Competition takes place every two years. This year, the four-day festival was in Wellington.
Having attended Te Matatini since its beginning in 1972, Maxwell said the festival had flourished in creativity, facilities, and gone beyond those attending and performing, which he attributed to technology.
"It is something that has gone out to the wider non-Māori population of New Zealand and they can see something we deeply, deeply love and enjoy."
Maxwell said the dedication of everyone competing was clear.
"I'm proud of all our Te Arawa teams... They realise that nothing comes without hard work. They've put months and months of preparation in."
Maxwell said one of the most pleasing aspects of the festival for him was the focus on health, fitness, and recreation.
A six-month dedication to rehearsals on top of the smoke, drug and alcohol-free event was great role-modeling for tamariki, he said.
Passion was at the core of Te Matatini, and Maxwell said a mixture of experience and youth came together in a way that he said looked promising to carry the culture into the future.
"I've been watching how good our young ones are."
Out of the 46 performing teams, six are from Te Arawa with Ngati Rangiwēwehi and Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao the first to grace the stage on Thursday.
Te Pikikōtuku o Ngati Rongomai was the first of the day to take the stage yesterday which left the last three teams from Te Arawa until today. Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue, Te Hikuwai, and Te Mātārae I Ōrehu will finish off Te Arawa's outstanding presence, and finalists will be announced tonight.
Maxwell said for Te Arawa to have such a prominent presence of six teams, the most of all present iwis, showed the strength in the cultural roots.
"We not only have to go through a rigorous, tough competition in our own region, but it prepares us well for here when we're competing against the rest of New Zealand.
"That just says how strong and how proud we are in Te Arawa. We're here to support one another...It's the Te Arawa way."
While Maxwell said they were optimistic of the outcome, they could never be too confident with beautiful performances from everyone.
"At the end of the day, it's about celebrating Māori culture. Celebrating whānau."
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