Waitara East Primary School new entrants' class giving it their all. Photo: Emma Andrews
A cultural festival for children is celebrating its 30-year anniversary at Ōwae marae in Taranaki.
Te Huihuinga o Ngā Tātarakihi was established in 1994 by Kevin Southee and a Waitara-based group, who were in attendance, but the cloak has since been handed to Rangimokai Knuckey and other volunteer kaiako.
"In 1993, all the schools in Waitara came together to do kapa haka, and it was Kevin that said we should do this every year," Knuckey said.
So they locked in 30 September 1994 and invited schools from all around the Taranaki Mounga.
A newspaper clipping showing the inaugural Te Huihui Ngā o Tātarakihi festival of kapahaka for children at Ōwae marae in Waitara. Photo: Daily News / Rangimokai Knuckey / Supplied
Knuckey (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama, me Te Atiawa) was six years old when she participated in the first-ever Waitara festival and said it was special for her to be coordinating it now.
"It's more than just kapa haka, it's about exposure to culture for all tamariki and whānau."
Originally, the cultural festival was a one-day event, but with approximately 40 primary school teams entered and six teams preparing for the next Te Mana Kuratahi - the national primary school kapa haka competition - it was not possible.
"We wanted to get home by midnight so we had to burst out into two days."
The community, iwi, hapū, Taranaki kura and volunteer kaimahi had helped keep the festival running for the past three decades, she said.
"It's a part of our DNA as Māori... as Waitara."
Waitara East Primary School kaiako and kapa haka tutor Erina Tamehana wanted to give her new entrants tamariki exposure to the world of kapa haka.
"They didn't get to perform last year, so this year was their year to shine."
Some tamariki came through kōhanga reo and had performed under Tamehana's influence, so they were comfortable with being on stage. For others, it was their first time in front of a crowd.
"The biggest part to it was letting their whānau see them on stage and feeling the same thing I feel.
"I'm just speechless."
Another kaiako, Linda Rawiri (Te Atiawa), said this was the way for tamariki mokopuna to take part in kapa haka.
"Kei te whakamana ki roto i tana wairua, i a rātou te whakapapa, i a rātou kei te tui te atamira.
"The future of us is our tamariki, it's about letting them own what they're taught and bring in on stage."
Rawiri teaches in the rumaki reo kura and instils "a Māori way of being" into the young ones so they too can carry te raukura - the feathers that represent harmony and unity for the Taranaki rohe.
"Ko te kotahitanga - it's about coming together as one to let go of who they are and uplift their mana for themselves and their families.
"It doesn't matter what it is for Māori, it is māori kaupapa, but what's good for Māori, is good for everybody."
