Parī, Wīwī: What a beauty of an Olympic Games – Haramai te pai!

Haramai te pai, what a beauty! Our athletes not only nabbed a record number of gold medals, but they also nailed what it means to embrace our nationhood of Aotearoa New Zealand, writes Te Karere's Harata Brown.

Before I delve into that statement, first, let me talk about my two favourite moments.

The moment our most decorated Olympian - hailing from Te Tairāwhiti, Ngāti Porou and Te Aitanga a Mahaki – Dame Lisa Carrington won her K1 individual gold will live with me for a long time.

It was post-race when on French waters she leaned over to touch the tauihu, or the prow, of her canoe and gave it a brief mihi of acknowledgement before she headed to shore.

She was awarded her gold medal, the flag was raised, and the national anthem played.

Then as she walked out of the ‘Olympic gates’ for interviews, it was like she was coming on to the marae. I could see the gate as the tomokanga on the marae and Nayte, our 1News cameraman with the New Zealand flag on his back, was the kaiwero, or challenger.

Here was this wahine toa who had just won her ninth Olympic medal – her eight gold at that – walk in in all her golden glory, walking through the tomokanga tens of thousands of kilometres away from her kāinga, her home.

I had just witnessed the greatest Aotearoa New Zealand Olympian accomplish a feat that no other had ever achieved. I had to give her a taste of home. My Māori heart said, 'Do her a small maioha, Harata' – that's a female karanga of acknowledgement. So I did.

Dame Lisa later told me that each of the waka that hauled in three Paris Olympic gold medals had Māori names. The K1 is called Niho Taniwha, the K2 is Ruarua Whetū and the K4 is Purapura Whetū.

Haramai te pai!

My first story at the games was with Risi Pouri-Lane, who hails from Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō at the top of the South Island, Te Tauihu o Te Waka a Māui. I enjoy asking about each athlete’s Māori genealogy because it’s one of the ways to connect the land and people of Aotearoa to an individual.

In the story, Risi delivered her pepeha and reflects on the pounamu each New Zealand athlete received when they got to the Paris Olympics.

I was then fortunate to follow the whānau of Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and co-captain Sarah Hirini when the Black Ferns Sevens played their first game.

“Catch the ball and run like heck” is a Woodman one-liner from that story, but the most memorable advice from the whānau came from young Kaharau Woodman to his legendary Aunty Portia.

“If she doesn’t win, if her team doesn’t win, I don’t mind. I just hope she has a good time while she plays and has a couple of good runs. That’s all that matters.”

Then it was game time and, oh boy, was I nervous.

But semi-finals, an easy win.

Then came the finals and Portia is sin-binned.

But they have their comeback and boom. Gold medal again, the first, may I add, of these games.

I sat next to many of the players’ whānau. Tyla King’s whānau, Risi Pouri-Lane’s whānau and Alena Saili’s whānau.

From the whānau to the athletes. Stacey Waaka proudly brought out her poi for our non-rights holder interviews, so I had to ask: Can you give us a demo? So she did. She twirled the poi and even delivered a ‘tahi, rua, toru, whā, pūkana’ on live TV.

With not much sleep and a wakeup call of 4.30am for a live cross into Te Karere, we were back to NZ House at midday.

It was all on there.

Emotions ran high with joy as the retiring Woodman-Wickliffe was cloaked in the tino rangatiratanga flag her whānau brought from home. The names of her Ngāpuhi hapū and iwi were proudly displayed. She explained what it all meant to her.

“You know I’m proud – Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Ueoneone, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou. That’s where I’m from, that’s who I am, those are the people I represent. I’m so proud to be Ngāpuhi nui tonu.”

Overall, the Black Ferns Sevens kicked the ball out of the park. They elevated Māori culture to the pinnacle of Olympic sevens success in Paris. True ambassadors, embracing the founding bicultural Aotearoa New Zealand nationhood that our Māori and colonial ancestors envisioned at the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Haramai te pai!

Beyond these two moments, there were major Māori elements at the Games.

New Zealand athletes and staff embraced the chance to engage with our culture through the likes of poi, pōwhiri, waiata, karakia and haka.

For me, all these glimpses into our team’s Olympic life reflected what makes us unique.

The culture set by Te Whare o Pou Tangata – the NZ Olympic Committee and the NZ Team represented Aotearoa New Zealand with the highest mana and integrity in Paris.

Compared to the big nations – Great Britain, USA, China – our bicultural foundation is our point of difference in the world and sets us apart from any other country.

Aotearoa New Zealand, haramai te pai!

Parī – Paris

Wīwī – France

haramai te pai – What a beauty, gotta love it

Te Tairāwhiti – East Coast region

tauihu – prow

mihi – greeting(s), acknowledgement

tomokanga – entranceway, gateway

kaiwero – challenger

wahine – woman

toa – winner, warrior

kāinga – home

maioha – an act or token of regard

waka – canoe, boat, vehicle

Te Tauihu o Te Waka a Māui – top of the South Island (lit: The Prow of Māui’s Waka)

pepeha – an expression of identity that illustrates the individual’s link to the land and people they belong to

tahi – one

rua – two

toru – three

whā – four

pūkana – cultural facial expression

tino rangatiratanga – self-determination, sovereignty, autonomy

poi – a light ball on a string, used to swing in movements to accompany song and traditionally used to strengthen hands and wrists

pōwhiri – welcoming ceremony

waiata – song

karakia – incantation, prayer

haka – cultural dance

Te Whare o Pou Tangata – New Zealand Olympic Committee

mana – cultural concept that encapsulates prestige, status, power, reputation, influence etc.