Jump to navigation Jump to content
Sally-Ann Roberts (Ngāti Hinemihi, Ngāti Pikiao, Te Whakatōhea, Ngāpuhi), was returned to her beloved marae Hinemihi of Ngāti Hinemihi and Ngāti Tarāwhai in Rotorua today.
More than 500 people packed the marae as she was carried on by friends and family.
“It is without a doubt her kapa Tūhourangi Ngāti Wahiao, along with family and friends, are in mourning for the loss of a leader of their group”, said Anaha Hiini, spokesperson for the bereaved family.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson has enjoyed a kapa haka performance at his official residence in London on Friday (UK time).
Johnson, who was welcoming NZ PM Jacinda Ardern to 10 Downing Street, smiled and applauded as the group performed, Sky News reports.
Te Pāti Māori are reigniting calls for a significant injection of funding into Te Matatini.
“The first step to colonising any country begins with the active destruction of indigenous story tellers and custodians of knowledge. It happened here through legislation like The Native Schools Act and The Tohunga Suppression Act to name a few. So it makes sense that investment into these areas is crucial for our healing and our re-indigenisation,” Te Pāti Māori said in a statement.
Te Matatini has big plans for its 50th anniversary.
The biennial competition for kapa haka rōpū across Aotearoa and Ahitereiria was first won by Waihīrere when it was held in Rotorua in 1972, known then as the New Zealand Polynesian Festival.
The festival went on to become the Aotearoa Traditional Māori Performing Arts Festival before the late Wharehuia Milroy renamed the competition Te Matatini Kapa Haka.
Te Matatini celebrates 50 years of Kapa Haka competition
Nathan Wharton of Ngāpuhi and Te Arawa is a celebrated weaving practitioner, who credits his artistry to his ancestry, his upbringing and his love for kapa haka.
He recently completed his Bachelor's degree in Māori arts at North Tec and opened his first solo exhibition at the Megan Dickinson Gallery in Whangārei.
Wharton’s love for weaving was borne out of performing for his whānau haka team Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao.
Te Matatini has again been postponed for another year following a decision made by the governing board today.
But six Te Arawa groups say they are disappointed and want the festival moved from Auckland.
Te Matatini has decided to postpone the Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata National Kapa Haka Festival until February 2023, after significant discussion and expert advice from Māori health specialists and statisticians given the coronavirus pandemic in Aotearoa.
Tāmaki Kapa Haka is calling on teams nationwide to join its campaign to vaccinate so the 2022 Te Matatini Festival runs safely in the midst of a health crisis.
While Te Matatini, the national organisation for kapa haka is discussing whether its festival should only allow whānau to attend who are vaccinated, title defender Ngā Tūmanako became the first haka group to run its own vaccination programme.
This meant members could travel to the Maeva Nui festival in Rarotonga as New Zealand ambassadors before lockdown.
A tutor and member of the defending champion Te Matatini rōpū, Ngā Tūmanako, Kawariki Morgan, says that having the rōpū completely vaccinated was vital to him and his sister Reikura, co-tutor of Ngā Tūmanako.
“As a kapa haka, as whānau, we have kids at our practice, we have our elders come to our practices, so we really saw the importance of protecting everyone,” he says.
Due to the pandemic, the popular kapa haka festival, Te Matatini, Herenga Waka, Herenga Tangata, has been postponed for the second time.
In order to get around the current Covid-19 restrictions, Ōpōtiki mai Tawhiti is employing technology to kick off their Te Matatini campaign.
Te Matatini executives remain committed to hosting the next Matatini national kapa haka competition in Auckland next year.
What was discussed at the Zooom hui were the actions and the planning for Te Matatini Herenga Waka, Herenga Tāngata ki roto o Tāmaki Mākaurau and the national board remains committed to continuing in Auckland, Te Matatini chairman Herewini Parata says.
