Hot Takes: $15 kina shots and bringing the fire back to Te Matatini

Wednesday, 22 February 2023

Kristina Muller gives her hot takes on Te Matatini day one.

As Te Matatini day one came to a close, Pou Tiaki reporter Maxine Jacobs asked a fan for her hot takes on the festival, the performances, and the kai on offer.

Who are you and what are you doing at Te Matatini?

Kia ora, ko Kristina Muller tōku ingoa, he uri tēnei nō Ngāpuhi a Hōkianga.

Our stall is Te Ataarangi. Our kaupapa is the language, so te reo Māori, the revitalisation of it.

* He tohu rama huarahi wahine Māori kua kākāriki e whakanuia ai Te Matatini

* Te Matatini to go ahead, with support on offer to kapa haka grappling with cyclone's impact

Kristina Muller shares her hot takes on Te Matatini.

How have you been watching the kapa haka?

We’ve been watching it on here, on our little iPad and, when we can, we go over and have a look.

The kapas have been mean, and I think definitely Waka Huia, Muriwhenua brought the fire, and you can hear it from all the way over here. You can feel the ihi and the wehi.

Just looking forward to tautoko (support) Iti Kahurangi (Tainui) when we might sneak off from our stall here.

Have you seen anything different this year?

Excitement levels were high on the first performance day at Te Matatini in Auckland.

“Yes and no. I think it’s been a long time, it’s been a while since we've all been together like this, so I feel that anticipation I feel the readiness and the wants and the, you know, the want to be here – and the atmosphere is just pumping and everyone’s into it. It’s awesome vibes.

Who do you think will win?

I don’t even know if I can say that (laughs nervously), it’s early days yet, just the first day, but from what I’ve seen so far I think Waka Huia brought it this morning.

I’m probably a bit biased … but yeah, just the passion and just also the choreography … all of it.

Te Waka Huia performed a few covers of popular songs, is that typical of them?

Very typical, very typical for Waka Huia. I was not surprised to hear that they’ve done that again, but yeah, cool, and just always expecting the wow factor from them.

Are they a crowd favourite?

Yes … sort of, but I also think that kapa have huge ope (entourages) behind them and people have their favourites and people have bias, so there’s those like me that can get swayed just by like, whoa, with what they see, but then there’s those staunch ones … like, no matter what, tūturu (staunch) to the kaupapa and follow to the death.

(Left to right) Piri Rongo Hetet-Wairau, Gina Ngaheu, and Renee Mitai perform at Te Matatini.

And what about the marketplace? How has that been?

The marketplace is awesome. I had a quick look around this morning, the food stalls were on. I had a kina shot … it was $15, but it was totally worth it – especially if you’re a kina-crazy person like I am.

I love all the art, all the stalls, lots of little trinkets and lots of people just bringing their kaupapa which was awesome to see, and the vibes were up, high vibes.

Do you think it’s what we needed after Cyclone Gabrielle?

Yeah, definitely. I think just following the cyclone and all that devastation … I think this is just a chance for us to hiki (lift) the wairua a little bit and just continue to keep our whānau that are struggling in our hearts and our prayers – but you know, like, have a little bit of time to enjoy each other, enjoy our space, and enjoy what we all love to do and that’s haka and to be a haka spectator.

What would you say your Matatini credentials are?

Just a spectator, just come and support the kaupapa … and connect with people I haven’t seen for years.

Every now and then, someone will walk past and I’ll say, hey. That’s what it is for me, it’s just connecting and also not knowing who you’re gonna connect with and people you would never think of coming together and also all those other ones you see every year.

So Matatini is about more than kapa haka?

Oh yeah, Matatini ki te ao, this is the push and kapa haka is the focal point, but what revolves around that is a whole lot bigger.

Matatini ki te ao, whiua ki te ao, whiua te reo ki te ao, and yeah, just get involved and be a part of it. Don’t be scared if you’ve never been to Matatini, come, it’s awesome. All you’re gonna see is smiling faces and people wanting to give you free stuff.