Thirty schools from across Tāmaki Makaurau embraced te reo Māori by taking the stage at the Auckland Town Hall this week as part of the inaugural Poumatua Festival – a celebration of the city's origins and the art of kapa haka.
The three-day festival marks the gifting of land for the establishment of New Zealand’s largest city by Āpihai Te Kawau, paramount chief of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei hapū, 186 years ago today.
Event organiser Te Wā Huia Pihema, from Tumutumuwhenua Cultural Trust, told 1News how Te Kawa stood on Maungawhau (Mount Eden) with outstretched arms and gifted the 3,000-acre block of land between them to Governor William Hobson. The act of generosity is known as a tuku whenua (gift of land).
“[Āpihai Te Kawau] had sent one of his uri (descendants) up to Pewhairangi (Bay of Islands) prior to that to invite Hobson and his fledgling government here to Tāmaki to establish here,” she said.
New festival brings Auckland schools together to celebrate te reo Māori - Watch on TVNZ+
Primary schools were invited to perform in the non-competitive Te Kahu Tōpuni Kapa Haka Festival as part of the wider Poumatua event.
Pihema said participating schools were offered ideas and kōrero to inform some of their items.
“Many of them have taken it on so singing the Ngāti Whātua waiata, mōteatea and haka. Also, a few narratives that we've shared with them about what is Te Kahu Tōpuni o Tuperiri, who was Poumatua, and what were the events that led to this being an event like it is now.”
What do the children think?
Te Waitītiko performer Te Awanui Lowman said one of their waiata was about mana being passed down from atua to ancestors, and down through generations to rangatahi.
“We are trying to uphold that mana to keep it strong and to hold on to the mana motuhake,” he said.
Eight-year-old Ihaia Paora, lead guitarist at Ōrakei School, said performing “felt good” despite being nervous. “But I do it for a living, so it was pretty cool.
“Te reo Māori is my culture and everything that I am,” he added.
Pihema said it was amazing to see “all our babies” up on stage enjoying themselves and their parents “loving” seeing their tamariki happy, together, and learning along the way about Māori culture and the histories of Tāmaki Makaurau.
Celebrating Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori
Coinciding with Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, the festival was also chance for tamariki to embrace te reo Māori.
The number of mainstream students learning te reo as a subject or being taught at least some of the curriculum in te reo has been growing for the last five years, climbing to more than 266,000 last year.
Marist College performers Ruby Elena Sale and Ruth Rodahl both had fun on stage today.
Sale said she enjoyed performing with her fellow Year 7 and 8 friends and being able to “shine without the older girls”, while Rodahl appreciated the chance to “just speak Māori”.
Sale said that while they didn’t speak te reo “much” at school, they tried to use it every day in class and during breaks.
“I feel pride in my culture,” said Sale, “it's nice to see the whole school celebrating it.”
“I feel excited to just express our Māoritanga,” Rodahl agreed.
For Te Waitītiko performer Maire Sands, standing on stage felt scary after a long absence, but te reo Māori, and getting to celebrate it this week, meant "everything".
"I was brought up speaking te reo Māori my whole life so, yeah," she said.
Lowman said that people can learn the amount of te reo they want to learn, it’s up to them, however, te reo Māori should not just be for a single week. “It should be all weeks, but it's this week to represent and show what we should be doing throughout the year.”
A sentiment shared by Pihema.
“There's no other event across the country like Poumatua Festival mō tēnei mea, mō te whakatairangatia tō tātou reo Māori i tēnei Wiki o Te Reo Māori (that promotes out language during this Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori), but for us of Ngāti Whātua it's not just a week, we live and breathe this.”
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