After months of practice Te Kapa Puāwai has been crowned the winner of the national primary school kapa haka competition, Te Mana Kuratahi.
The team from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi Marae in Auckland were one of five to represent the region at the competition in Nelson.
Forty-five teams took part in the four-day event which saw them perform for 25 minutes a variety of kapa haka items which were assessed by 26 judges.
Te Kapa Haka o Te Pūwhāriki came in second, while Ngā Taiohi came in third at the prizegiving today at the Trafalgar Centre.
Te Tauihu Māori Cultural Council's Sonny Alesana said many of the tamariki had been performing for years.
"When I look at them I'm envious, because when I was 5 or 6, 12 years old, there weren't that many kapa haka tutors."
Alesana said while kapa haka was growing in popularity in the region, there was still more work to do.
"The issue for us is around having tutors. Teachers that can teach kapa haka and that's one of the things we need to do as a council is look at how we can grow more kapa haka tutors within our region."
It's the first time Nelson has hosted Te Mana Kuratahi and it's a taste of things to come. The region will host the secondary schools competition next year before Te Matatini in 2027.
Alesana said he hoped teams took away a lot more this week than just competition. "My hope is that with the waiata they've learned about this region, they've learned a little bit more about us."
SHARE ME