Nā Hora Nicholas tēnei atikara.
The Waitaha Matatū regional kapa haka competition is sparing no effort, with hosts ensuring the Waitaha Cultural Council’s biggest event lives up to the buzz.
In Ōtautahi, the pōwhiri is kicking off with a hiss and a roar as kaihaka arrive en masse at Rēhua Marae, the founding home of the Waitaha Cultural Council. Performers from across the Ngāi Tahu takiwā march onto the marae in harmony behind the Tuahiwi Rātana Band. Te Whare Tū Tāua ki Waitaha deliver a fierce wero, who lay down the taki before they are called on to Te Whatumanawa Māoritanga o Rehua by Te Taumata Tapu o Ngāi Tūāhuriri, and lastly take their shoes off and walk through the doorway - a new era of kapa haka in Waitaha is about to begin.
“We see all of the mahi, the extra days you're taking off annual leave to come up and do the powhiri especially and to be here and we appreciate you,” Kerrie-Anna Tana says.
Tana, the Poutakawaenga for the Waitaha Cultural Council, oversees the delivery of the Regional Development Plan on behalf of Te Matatini. She pays special acknowledgement to the many kaihaka travelling from the south a day early to make it to today’s pōwhiri ahead of tomorrow’s competition saying “It’s a big deal”. For context, wero and Ratana bands aren’t a common feature in the welcoming proceedings.
“... having some actual manpower, people who do their day job of event management doing it for us? We’re just so grateful”
This year’s regional whakataetae at Wolfbrook Arena welcomes back the support of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu’s events team.
The Waitaha Cultural Council themselves have a volunteer committee of a “maximum of 7 people”, who then engage their whānau and communities to support events such as this. Now with more willing hands from kaimahi at the Ngāi Tahu office as well as Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, the rōpū has grown to almost 50 kaitūao who will look after up to 5000 ticket holders.
“The whakataetae tautoko section is all about development, encouraging participation and just getting our people who love kapahaka, in a space where it's safe”
This year’s Waitaha competition is divided into two sections: whakataetae tautoko and whakataetae tūturu. The morning session kicks off tomorrow at 7.30am with karakia, before the first of nine whakataetae tautoko groups, Tūhoe ki Waitaha, takes the stage at 8am.
“Our whakataetae tūturu are for the ones that go oh yeah I liked that, now I’m ready to hit it and do some competing”
The whakataetae tūturu is expected to run from 11.15am through to 6.40pm, with 11 competitors preparing to up the ante on a new 25-metre-wide stage, sitting just five metres short of the massive mahau on the Te Matatini stage.
In the lead-up to the competition, Tahu News profiled six different kapa from Ōtautahi right through to Murihiku as they prepared to face off at regionals. Common themes among performance brackets included mihi to those who have passed on, celebrations of whare haka, Ngāi Tahutanga and addressing societal issues Māori face daily.
As the Waitaha Cultural Council moves into its 61st year of kapa haka in Waitaha, organisers are looking forward to a record five teams qualifying for Te Matatini. The winners of those spots will be announced at the 6.50pm prizegiving tomorrow night.
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Kaore Ngā Pākihi Whakatekateka o Waitaha e whakangā i te hoe whakarite whakataetae ā rohe o Waitaha Matatū, ā, kei te whakapau werawera ngā kaiwhakarite kia whakatū he whakataetae nui rawa a te Kaunihera Ahurea o Waitaha.
Kua tīmata te pōwhiri me te haruru nui i te taenga mai o ngā kaihaka ki Rēhua Marae, te kāinga taketake o Ngā Pākihi Whakatekateka o Waitaha Trust. Ka hīkoi ngā tāngata nō ngā takiwā o Ngāi Tahu ki runga i te marae i runga i te kotahitanga, whai atu i ngā tuara o te Tuahiwi Rātana Band. Ka tuku a Te Whare Tū Tāua ki Waitaha i tētahi wero koi, kua takoto te mānuka, i mua i te karangatanga ki Te Whatumanawa Māoritanga o Rehua e Te Taumata Tapu o Ngāi Tūāhuriri, ā, ka mutu, ka tangohia hū, ka hīkoi mā te kūaha - kua tata tīmata tētahi takiwā hou mō te kapa haka ki Waitaha.
“We see all of the mahi, the extra days you're taking off annual leave to come up and do the powhiri especially and to be here and we appreciate you,” hei tā Kerrie-Anna Tana.
Ko Tana te Poutakawaenga mō te Kaunihera Ahurea o Waitaha, ā, nāna te whakahaere i te tukunga o te Mahere Whakawhanake ā-Rohe mō Te Matatini. Ka tuku mihi motuhake ia ki ngā kaihaka tokomaha e haere wawe mai ana i te tonga kia tae atu ki te pōwhiri o tēnei rā i mua i ngā whakataetae āpōpō, me tana kī anō hoki “It’s a big deal”. Hei whakamārama ake, ehara te wero me ngā rōpū Rātana i te āhuatanga kua kitea nuitia i ngā whakatau manuhiri ō mua.
“... having some actual manpower, people who do their day job of event management doing it for us? We’re just so grateful”
I tēnei tau, kua hoki mai anō te tautoko a te tīma whakahaere kaupapa o Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu ki te whakataetae ā-rohe i Wolfbrook Arena.
He komiti tūao tō te Kaunihera, e ai ki a rātou, he “maximum of 7 people”, ā, ka tono rātou i ō rātou whānau me ngā hapori kia tautoko i ngā kaupapa pēnei i tēnei. Inaianei, nā te nui ake o ngā ringa āwhina mai i ngā kaimahi o te tari o Ngāi Tahu me Te Wānanga o Aotearoa hoki, kua tata ki te 50 ngā kaitūao o te rōpū hei manaaki i te 5000 tāngata whai tīkiti.
“The whakataetae tautoko section is all about development, encouraging participation and just getting our people who love kapahaka, in a space where it's safe”
Kua tauwehea te whakataetae o Waitaha o tēnei tau ki ngā wāhanga e rua: ko te whakataetae tautoko me te whakataetae tūturu. Ka tīmata te wāhanga o te ata i te 7.30am mā te karakia, kātahi ka eke te rōpū whakataetae tuatahi o ngā rōpū e iwa, arā, ko Tūhoe ki Waitaha, ā te 8am.
“Our whakataetae tūturu are for the ones that go oh yeah I liked that, now I’m ready to hit it and do some competing”
E matapaetia ana ka rere te whakataetae tūturu mai i te 11.15am tae noa ki te 6.40pm, ā, e 11 ngā kapa haka e whakarite ana ki te whakapiki i te taumata ki runga i tētahi whatarangi hou e 25 mita te whānui, e rima mita noa iho te poto ake i te mahau nui o te atamira o Te Matatini.
I mua i te whakataetae, i whakarite a Tahu News i ngā pūrongo mō ngā kapa e ono mai i Ōtautahi tae atu ki Murihiku, i a rātou e whakarite ana mō ngā whakataetae ā-rohe. Ko ētahi kaupapa i kitea nuitia i roto i ngā whakaaturanga ko ngā mihi ki te hunga kua mene atu ki te pō, ngā whakanuitanga o ngā whare haka, o Ngāi Tahutanga hoki, me te aro atu ki ngā take pāpori e pā kino tonu ana ki te Māori.
I te urunga atu o te Kaunihera ki tōna 61 tau o te kapa haka ki Waitaha, kei te hīkaka ngā kaiwhakarite mō te rima kapa ka whai wāhi ki Te Matatini — he tatauranga hou tēnei. Ka whakatau ngā kapa ka riro i aua tūnga i te wā whiwhi taonga ā te 6.50pm āpōpō.