Toni Huata Photo: Supplied
Toni Huata grew up with her grandparents in a Māori-speaking household. She first sang in te reo Māori too. No surprise then, that once she realised she was an even better singer than she was a hairdresser, she chose to release her music in her mother tongue.
To mark the start of Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori, the director of Māori Music at SOUNZ joined Bryan Crump to share some of her favourite waiata and celebrate the role te reo Māori plays in the nation's cultural identity. She told Bryan when New Zealanders overseas are asked to share something from their homeland, they invariably sing a waiata or perform a haka, even if they aren't Māori.
Bryan asked Toni if that was okay, even if they butchered the language.
"Yes, you can be proud to be from Aotearoa....but always the challenge is to learn more about it... engage with the history more, engage with the knowledge, the philosophies more and that will only be a richer experience, and save you from being told off!"
And as for her three favourite waiata from her canon of work so far, Toni choose the following.
Ko Wai Ka Hua was her first release:
Hopukia te Tao was a collaboration with Gareth Farr:
Te Kākano translates as The Seed.
