Te Matatini: Tainui groups to bring aroha to kapa haka stage in wake of Cyclone Gabrielle
Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Tainui groups ascending onto the Te Matatini stage will bring with them an essence of aroha in the wake of cyclone Gabrielle, a delegate says.
Te Matatini is regarded as the olympics of kapa haka.
It has taken four years for the national kapa haka festival to return after the pandemic put the event on hold.
The bi-ennial event sees the country’s top qualifying kapa haka groups compete for the over-all title while sharing the waiata and haka of their homelands.
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But when groups take to the stage this week there will be an added weight and maemae (hurt) being felt in the aftermath of the storm.
Tainui delegate Paraone Gloyne said the Tainui groups taking part were feeling “ready to go”.
He saw the Te Matatini stage as an opportunity for groups to come together and support those affected by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Gloyne said the performances that groups have rehearsed and polished would largely stay the same.
But during moments of performances Kaitātaki (leaders) would have the “poetic licence” to share whakaaro (thoughts) on what is happening across Aotearoa.
”While groups have their bracket that they’ve been practising, there are opportunities in a performance whereby the leaders can express the sentiment and thoughts of the collective through things such as karanga and whaikōrero,” Gloyne said.
”That’s happened many times during many Te Matatini when things have gone on, where people have passed away or things have happened before festivals.”
Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata organisers had opted to go ahead with the competition despite many groups being affected by Cyclone Gabrielle as it was seen as a chance “to raise the spirits of Māoridom”.
In light of the grief and loss across the eastern regions of the North Island, particularly in Coromandel, Gisborne and Hawkes Bay, Te Matatini offered a koha of $10,000 to rōpū (groups) most affected.
“Kei te tūwhera ngā ringaringa, kei te karanga atu te mahau o Te Matatini ki ngā kaihaka ongā kapa haka katoa. Our mahau is calling, arms outstretched, overflowing with aroha from across Aotearoa, and we will do everything we can to bring our kapa haka safely to Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata,” said Chief Executive of Te Matatini, Carl Ross.
The Māori King, based in Ngāruawāhia, also donated $100,000 to Hawke’s Bay iwi Ngāti Kahungunu.
“Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherohero Te Tuawhitu and Waikato has donated $100,000 and is sending containers of much-needed stores to our region,” the King’s office said.
Tukoroirangi Morgan, chair at Waikato-Tainui’s executive board Te Arataura, sent a message of support on behalf of the iwi in a video posted online.
“Waikato stands in readiness to provide any support that Kahungunu requires, and we will answer the call as our people have worked together over the years, over the generations.”
Gloyne said after four years it would be a valuable time for Tainui groups to take to the stage and represent their rohe on behalf of Te Arikinui Kiingi Tuheitia who is also the patron of Te Matatini.
“Tainui always comes together,” he said.
“Our people have been longing for [Te Matatini] … everyone sees this as a healing [opportunity], it’s been a longtime since we’ve had a Te Matatini … there’s definitely going to be an expression of aroha from all the groups, and it will start at the powhiri.”
Te Matatini Festival leadership team had been working closely with Air New Zealand, the NZ Police and Emergency Services to assist the groups that had been severely impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle.