Nā Hora Kairangi Nicholas tēnei atikara
From personal reflections on identity, belonging and culture to discussions inspired by Sir Mason Durie's Te Whare Tapa Whā model, four Ngāi Tahu speakers from Waitaha have taken a diverse range of kaupapa to the national stage at Ngā Manu Kōrero 2026.
Around 60 tauira from across Aotearoa travelled to Kaikohe for the national speech competition, with Waitaha represented by Christ's College student Kiniwai Morgan, Christchurch Girls' High School student Eden Konia, Shirley Boys' High School student Maio Taratoa-Bannister and St Thomas of Canterbury College student Adam Tarrant. Together, the four competitors carried Waitaha and Ngāi Tahu voices into both the Māori and English-language sections of the competition.
"I te whakataetae a rohe i ahua tapepe taku korero etahi wahanga o taku korero engari inaianei kua tau kua mau katoa aku korero kua rite" Kiniwai Morgan says.
Morgan arrived at nationals after becoming the first student from Christ's College to win the Pei Te Hurinui section at the Waitaha regional competition. Now a first time national competitor in Kaikohe, he said the months between regionals and nationals had allowed him to strengthen his delivery and build confidence in his speech.
"Ko te whainga nui kia eke ki te taumata matangireia. Me tae au ki reira me whakapau i taku katoa" Hei tā Morgan.
While Morgan focused on refining the speech that earned him a place at nationals, fellow Waitaha competitor Eden Konia used the stage to explore questions of identity and belonging through her own lived experiences.
"Ka uru atu ahau ki te ruma ako, ko au kē te mea rerekē!" Ko tā Konia.
Year 9 student Konia represented Christchurch Girls' High School in the Rāwhiti Ihaka section. Preparation for the competition saw her practising before school, at night and in front of fellow students as she prepared to take the national stage.
“Pakeke ma ka hua te marama, kei te haere mai matou” i kī a Konia.
While Konia and Morgan represented Waitaha in the Māori-language sections, Shirley Boys' High School senior student Maio Taratoa-Bannister and St Thomas of Canterbury College junior Adam Tarrant took the stage in the English-language divisions. Their speeches tackled very different topics, from the meaning of home to the role sport can play in strengthening cultural identity and wellbeing.
"The first question I ask is where is your first home? And for my first home it was the womb of my mother," said Taratoa-Bannister.
Beginning with that question, Taratoa-Bannister built his speech around the idea that home is not always tied to a particular location. Instead, he challenged the audience to consider whether a person's first connection to home begins before birth and remains rooted in the relationships that shape them throughout their lives.
"Home isn't where you live it's where you feel that you belong."
Tarrant approached his speech from a different angle, drawing on his own experiences growing up through sport. Competing in the Tā Turi Kara section, he reflected on how involvement in a Māori rugby league team helped strengthen both his confidence and connection to culture after moving to Christchurch.
"I chose it because growing up I always chose sport it was my main thing and I'd never done anything cultural."
What began as a sporting opportunity quickly became something more, providing a pathway into learning about his culture and building a stronger sense of identity through the relationships formed along the way.
"As soon as I came up to Christchurch and tried for a Māori rugby league team I started to learn, I started to build my confidence up."
Winners of Ngā Manu Kōrero 2026 have been announced at the national prizegiving in Kaikohe. For Waitaha's four representatives, the competition has already provided an opportunity to share their experiences and ideas on one of the country's most prestigious stages for rangatahi speakers.
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Tokowhā ngā tauira o Waitaha i kawe i ngā reo o Ngāi Tahu ki te atamira ā-motu o Ngā Manu Kōrero 2026. He huhua ngā kaupapa i kōrerohia e rātou, mai i te tuakiri me te tūrangawaewae tae atu ki te ahurea, te oranga me te kāinga.
Tata ki te 60 ngā tauira nō ngā tōpito o te motu i tae atu ki Kaikohe mō te whakataetae. Ko Kiniwai Morgan o Christ's College, ko Eden Konia o Christchurch Girls' High School, ko Maio Taratoa-Bannister o Shirley Boys' High School, me Adam Tarrant o St Thomas of Canterbury College ngā māngai o Waitaha.
"I te whakataetae a rohe i ahua tapepe taku korero etahi wahanga o taku korero engari inaianei kua tau kua mau katoa aku korero kua rite," ko tā Kiniwai Morgan.
I whai wāhi atu a Morgan ki te whakataetae ā-motu whai muri i tana toa i te wāhanga Pei Te Hurinui i te whakataetae ā-rohe o Waitaha, ko ia hoki te tauira tuatahi o Christ's College kua eke ki taua taumata. Hei tāna, nā te wā i waenganui i ngā whakataetae i āhei ai ia ki te whakapakari i tana kōrero.
"Ko te whainga nui kia eke ki te taumata matangireia. Me tae au ki reira me whakapau i taku katoa," hei tā Morgan.
I kōrero hoki a Eden Konia e pā ana ki tōna tūrangawaewae me ōna wheako i tana whai haere i tōna tuakiritanga ki tētahi kura hou.
"Ka uru atu ahau ki te ruma ako, ko au kē te mea rerekē!" Ko tā Konia.
He tauira Tau 9 a Konia nō Te Kura o Hine Waiora, ā, i tū ia ki te wāhanga Rāwhiti Ihaka. I mua i tana haerenga ki Kaikohe, he nui ngā wā i whakapaua e ia ki te whakaharatau, i mua i te kura, i ngā pō, ā i mua hoki i ōna hoa tauira.
"Pakeke ma ka hua te marama, kei te haere mai matou," i kī a Konia.
I ngā wāhanga reo Pākehā, ko Maio Taratoa-Bannister rāua ko Adam Tarrant ngā māngai o Waitaha. Ahakoa he rerekē ā rāua kaupapa, i hāngai tonu ngā kōrero e rua ki ngā wheako whaiaro.
"The first question I ask is where is your first home? And for my first home it was the womb of my mother," hei tā Taratoa-Bannister.
I aro tana kōrero ki te kaupapa o te kāinga, me tana wero i te hunga whakarongo kia whakaaro anō mō te tikanga o taua kupu.
"Home isn't where you live it's where you feel that you belong."
Ko tā Tarrant, he kōrero mō tōna ao hākinakina me te hononga ki tōna ahurea.
"I chose it because growing up I always chose sport it was my main thing and I'd never done anything cultural” i kī a Tarrant. "As soon as I came up to Christchurch and tried for a Māori rugby league team I started to learn, I started to build my confidence up."
Nā tana uru atu ki tētahi tīma rīki Māori i Ōtautahi i tīmata ai tana ako ake mō tōna ahurea, ā, i tipu hoki tōna māia.
Kua puta ngā ingoa o ngā toa o Ngā Manu Kōrero 2026 i Kaikohe. Nā taua whakataetae i whai wā ai ngā tauira o Waitaha ki te kawe i ā rātou kōrero ki te aroaro o te motu.
I whai hua anō a Ōtākou me Murihiku i a Kuramātakitaki Stevens o John McGlashan College, e whiwhi ana ki te tohu mō te Kaikōrero Taitama Pai Rawa Atu, ā, ko ia hoki te toa o te wāhanga Korimako.