Ratana's kapa haka group is still in high spirits after its return from the Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival in Hastings.
None of the three Aotea Region groups were winners, but Te Reanga Moreho o Ratana co-tutor and composer Te Taepa Kameta said his group was one of the crowd favourites.
It got hundreds of messages of support from all over New Zealand.
The group is a pan-iwi collaboration with members from Ratana, Whanganui, Otaki, Wellington and Rotorua. It represents the Ratana movement, and Mr Kameta said it did that well.
"We were us. We didn't go away from who we are. Everything we did had Ratana all over it. We are pleased with our performance, and it was very spiritual."
