Rāhoroi: Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2024 with Justice

‘Poipoia te kakano kia puawai’

 E te tī, e te tā, tēnei au te tuku mihi maioha ki ngā māreikura me ngā rangatira o te ao nei. Ki o tatou nei tōtara kua hinga, kua whetūrangitia arā ko Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero te tuawhitu, haere, haere hoki atu rā ki tō moenga roa, ka huri ki te hunga ora, I tēnei wā kā tuku ngā whakaaro me te aroha ki o tatou nei Kuini arā ko Te Arikinui Kuini Nga Wai hono I te po Pootatau Te Wherowhero te tuawaru. Ko te wiki kia whai ake nei tino whakahirahira mai ki ngā iwi Māori otirā kei te Ao whānui o Aotearoa, ko te whakanuia a tō tātou nei Reo Rangatira, arā ko Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.

Let this mihi to you all within the world be with warm extensions of welcoming. To our tōtara, Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero te Tuawhitu who has fallen and become a star, go, and return to your forever bed, to our Queen Te Arikinui Kuini Nga Wai hono I te po Pootatau Te Wherowhero te tuawaru, our thoughts and love are with you. To connect us together, let us take a moment in time and listen to te kapa o Waiora mai ki te whare wānanga o Waikato with one of my favourite brackets from 2017. The week that follows is one that is important not just for Māori but for all within New Zealand, to celebrate our language through Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Māori Language Week.

This year has taught us a lot about tuakiri – Identity, maumahara – to remember, and auaha – creative. In amongst it all, we have grown as a people to begin the transformation needed to foster a new path for our next generations to come through. Last year we dove into learnings surrounding Ngā Atua o Aotearoa, this year we are taking it back to something quite close to my heart, waiata but more specifically looking at breaking down the different parts that make up a kapa haka bracket.

In my 24 years of growing and navigating myself through the world, I’ve definitely had my fair share of time on and off the ātamira for various kaupapa, from Te Matatini to Hui a Iwi/Hui a Tau, nothing can beat standing as a kapa with your own, so here’s my whakaaro and take on what I know goes on within the kapa haka bracket. From what I know, the calibre of kapa haka from now to back then has evolved and taken many different forms and faces in transitions so I am proud to be apart of a generation where kapa haka is at the forefront for some and that something so close to home, now is so easily accessible and now lives and breathes within our younger generation. Growing up, it was the power of waiata that carried the stories of old, the stories of the present, and it was waiata that carried my song into the future. Waiata holds mana in a way for some that just can’t be described. Waiata is used as a form of entertainment, a form of teaching, my favourite has always been the form of healing. With that in mind, let us reignite Te waiata, tukuna mai ki te ao!

Maramataka mō te rā was a new kaupapa we introduced last year looking at introducing us into the different phase of the moon for the day, how the phase can affect the flow within the environment. We also want to broaden our understanding with ngā uara, our values as we transition our whakaaro surrounding ngā uara into practical terms that hopefully are starting to make sense for us in some way or form.

Te Taura Whiri have also released this year our kaupapa for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is ‘Ake, ake, ake’: A forever language representing resilience, adaptability and endurance. With that in mind, let us reignite Te kupu o te rā, encouraging us to learn a kupu hou to fill up our kete.

Waiata tira

The waiata tira is the choral item of the kapa haka bracket, in regards to competition this is a non- aggregate (not compulsory) section where the kapa decide this item in their bracket. The waiata tira usually starts off the bracket as a soft and inviting way to introduce the kapa to the audience as well as being able to hear the melodic tunes and notes without the over stimulation of poi and movement throughout. For me, the waiata tira helps to ground me and provides me with a sense of mauritau (calm) especially before letting rip throughout the rest of the bracket. The tira is also another item for me that helps warm up that last little bit if I didn’t quite get around to as well as a way for me to begin to connect with the audience. Waiata tira for me to a degree can literally transport me to what feels like another dimention, this waiata tira was a big one for me, kaua e māharahara ki a rātou kua whetūrangitia, kei a rātou kei te toimata o tōku aroha.

Te waiata, tukuna mai ki te ao!

Our waiata tuatahi to kick us off for the week is one that I often heard on the weekend at various noho marae or wānanga I was at with either my mum, mum aunty, or nan and koro, Kei hea taku reo from Whirimako Black teaches me to remind myself to breathe, to reflect on where I am currently and where my reo can take me into the future. Let these heart warming tunes awaken your curiosity into kei hea taku reo?  

Maramataka o te rā!

Ko Māwharu te maramataka o te rā. Thanks to the Hina app, we are able to view the maramataka o te rā at any time. Today we know that Māwharu is a most favourable day for planting food. Kūmara are very large but rot quickly. A good day for fishing and a good night for trapping crayfish and eels. Today encourages us to take a step back into our taiao (environment) and breathe in the air of nature and the surroundings all around.

Whanaungatanga

There are so many stories and songs I could rattle off to explain this uara, however I think the best place to connect our uara back to our kapa haka bracket is through tītī tōrea. These are our smaller sticks usually performed as a way of entertaining guests as well as providing entertainment outside of screens. I think back to my early memories of being in the lines of Te Ahikaaroa whānau kapa haka, my mum, aunties, uncles all on stage whilst my cousins and I stood at the front together in unison with our tītī tōrea and aunty on the side smiling through her teeth at us to join in. Tītī tōrea for us connected us together and brought us closer together as now, you see us standing staunch and proud of the products we became from those encouraging us on the side and behind us on that stage. Those are memories of whanaungatanga I will cherish with me forever and they will live on within me and my next generation.

Kupu o te rā - Mauritau

Our word of today reminds us to re-centre and reground ourselves especially when things arise that may conflict or interrupt or flow of energy. ‘Mauritau’ translates to ‘calm’, thinking about the sudden loss of our Kīngi and the anointment of our new Ariki, financial crisis and food shortages, for me it is a tohu from those out there for us to remind ourselves to breathe and let ‘mauritau’ enter into our day.

Ko te manako nunui, kia tū kia kia oho kia mataara koutou mō te wiki kia whai ake nei.

Nāku noa

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