Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 (ALL SING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - IN TE REO MAORI: Everyone load your canoes at Te Matahaka. We look to the Mataatua region. Tauira mai Tawhiti is the canoe, and our rowers of the canoe are the great kapa haka team that have joined us today. Thank you both. That choral is beautiful. You won the trophy... for best costume at Te Matatini. Please explain to me the style of Tauira mai Tawhiti this year. - Well, something different, something different for our people. You know, for... four years, maybe, three or four years, the world had been without haka, and so... attached to our kaupapa this year, we bought to the stage Te Raukumara. - Yes! IN TE REO MAORI: 'The quality of the Raukumara ranges 'is diminishing.' And so we wanted to whakanui... you know, a really important space for our iwi, and so... you can see demonstrated by the flowers and the leaves, we wanted to pay tribute to our ngahere, and so that was the whole, um... - Now, which forest are those leaves and flowers from? - Yeah, yeah, (IN TE REO MAORI) the forest of Coin Save in Whakatane. (ALL LAUGH) - Yeah. - Well, it paid off. - Yeah. - Also, that could be a symbol of the diminishing state of the Raukumara, so that the leaves and resources are left to recover and use the new resources. However, let's take a look at the choral item. It has gone viral ` and too right, I reckon. I personally think that was one of the best songs of the year. - He hua, te waiata i tipu mai... i taku moemoea. - Mm. - I had a dream one night, and I can remember waking up from the dream, and I turned to my dear here, and I said, 'Hey, I think I heard the tune of our waiata tira.' - We were actually in the wharenui. - In the wharenui, yeah. We were in the wharenui. We were in the wharenui, yeah, yeah, yeah. - (LAUGHS) - You were like, 'Listen to his,' and starts humming it. - (LAUGHS) - And the picture that I saw in my dream was tauira singing the waiata. There was no words, just... rangi and feeling, and we were singing it to Te Whanau-a-Apanui, our whanaunga up the road. And so anyway, the next morning, we sat down with our to matou pou tikanga. Ko uncle Ereweti Korewha tera, and I said, 'Hey, uncle, I have this tune,' and I can remember we sat under the mahua o ta matou whare, Tukaki, and at that point in time, we happened to be looking out in the distance, and our group happened to be sitting under this tree, and when the were sitting under this tree, we could not only see, but we could feel te Patukitahitanga o te kapa. but we wanted to mihi ki nga ropu kapa haka o te rohe nei o Tamaki Makaurau. Yeah, nga ringa hapai o te kaupapa, tohunga o te manaaki. So in the... written and interwoven in to the waiata are the names of our ropu from Tamaki. - Here in Tamaki. - Here in Tamaki. - Not many people actually realise that, eh? - Yeah. - Kaore au i mohio i tera. (CHUCKLES) - Yeah. So you have, you know, # Huia mai tangata... - Ah! - BOTH: # ...huia mai nga waka. # - (CHUCKLES) Waka Huia. - Ae. - Ano, ko Waka Huia tena. - # Tui ate manako u. - Ae. - Ah, Nga Tumanako! (LAUGHS) - BOTH: # Me # he manutakitaki te... - LAUGHS: Yeah. - # ...takia o taku manawa e. # Angitu te hau wairua... - (LAUGHS) - # ...ki taha tu o te rangi. # - (EXCLAIMS) - (CHUCKLES) - Hidden gems for you all that don't know the names of the local groups from Auckland. Beautiful! I've only just realised, and it has touched my ngakau. Composing and tutoring groups is a spiritual thing to do. How about being a performer? I'm looking for three principles... or tips and tricks... - (CHUCKLES) ...about a performer wanting to join Tauira mai Tawhiti. - IN TE REO MAORI: Oh, number three, I reckon... you need to come... with an open heart, open to our tribe, our elders, our children and the wider Apanui people. - Tribalism is good. - Yeah. - Yeah. - That's number three. What about number two? - Tuarua ` to come with open arms. You know, tuarua ` come with an open mind. - Ah. - You know, the way things operate down the coast are a lot different to how things operate in the city and in the towns, and, you know, we're much like the moana ` it comes, and it goes. And, so, yeah, you know, come with a open mind. - Open arms and open minds. What is the ultimate hidden gem? - BOTH: Trust the process. - Aah. - Trust the process in this` especially for this campaign. That was our main... That was what we lived by. - Our mantra. - Yep. Everyone in the kapa are just like, 'Yep, trust the` OK, trust the process.' (CHUCKLES) - Open arms, open mind and trust in each other. Later, after the break, we find out how they use these principles in their group. - IN TE REO MAORI: Open arms, open mind and trust are the three principles for a performer of Tauira mai Tawhiti. Thank you both for sharing those gems with us. Now, can you two tell me the meaning of the entrance item this year? IN ENGLISH: What was set out for Tauira mai Tawhiti in your journey to Te Matatini ` and specifically that whakaeke? - Yeah, well, the whakaeke talks about the unga mai o to matau waka o Tauira mai Tawhiti, ki runga o Whangaparaoa... - Mm. - ...but it also connects to our journey from Whangaparaoa, from Te Whanau-a-Apanui ki Tamaki Makaurau, the same thing ` following that journey that our ancestors, our tupuna, also set out to embark on. Ae, well, look what we've been taught is that a whakaeke ki runga i te atamira, is like how you would whakaeke on to a marae... - Yeah. - ...and so, you know, we hold true to that principal, but, I guess, having a bit of our own twists and interpretation of what that looks like for us... - Yeah. - ...on the stage, but, yeah, like we were saying, we don't usually do, um... What are they even called? - (GIGGLES) - Formations. - Choreography. - Yeah, yeah, choreography, that's what it's called. - You just go like this, go like that. - Yeah, you know. You just move forward, and that's it and whakaeke, walk back. - Have a karanga in there. - Yeah. - (LAUGHS) - I think you know those that put the action together, yeah, I guess, were just following the wairua, and that's where it` - It was fun to do. - It was fun to do. - Yeah. - IN TE REO MAORI: Let's capture the essence of what was said and watch the entrance of Tauira mai Tawhiti for 2023. - (CHANTS IN TE REO MAORI) (CONTINUES CHANTING) (ALL SING WAIATA) (MEN CHANT) (WOMEN CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) - (CHANTS KARANGA) (ALL CHANT KARANGA) (ALL SING WAIATA) (CONTINUES CHANTING KARANGA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CHANT HAKA) (ALL CHANT HAKA) (ALL CHANT HAKA) (ALL SING) (WOMEN CHANT) (ALL CHANT HAKA) (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - IN TE REO MAORI: Hold tight, everybody, as we hear what the future holds for Tauira mai Tawhiti. Korua tena, korua tena. - Kia ora. - The regional competition is coming up. When is it ` February? Are you ready? How are the preparations? What is in store for Tauira mai Tawhiti? - Well, we're gonna continue to trust the process. (ALL LAUGH) See where that leads us. - It's with us forever now. - Yeah, yeah, see where that leads us, yeah. - (LAUGHS) - Are there any goals coming up for Tauira mai Tawhiti? Are the gates open to others? Will you again lead the group? Will you also lead? (ALL LAUGH) Tell me ` what is coming up? - IN TE REO MAORI: The goal is... to fill our lines... with... our lot from back home. - I want to thank you both for the richness of what was said. Let's gather that information and move on to the winning exit item from this year to wrap us up. Tell me about that item. You were the beautiful soloist of the item. - (CHUCKLES) You won that item. Can you explain to me what that item was about? - IN TE REO MAORI: 'The main focus for the item Pumau... 'was calling upon our Indigenous people around the world.' You would've seen` Everyone would have seen during Covid how a lot of the Indigenous people got to stand in their own tino rangatiratanga, and, you know, um... look after their own in those times, and I think koira te wai pupuake te whakaaro i roto i te kaitito. So it was good to come back on stage and send a message out there for the rangatahi, of all the iwi taketake o te ao. Kia pupuri ki to rangatiratanga, to mana motuhake, to reo... and, you know, just utilise that in everything that you do. But, yeah, it was a beautiful, beautiful song and... very honoured to be known as Auntie Pumau to all the kids back home. (ALL LAUGH) That's my new nickname now ` Auntie Pumau. - Our sitting was awesome and insightful. Thank you both for joining and showcasing your skills for your tribe, also being role models for our people. It's now time for the Tauira mai Tawhiti canoe to head out. To close our show, here is the exit item at this year's Te Matatini. Anei. - (SINGS WAIATA) (ALL SING WAIATA) (ALL SING WAIATA) - (SPEAKS IN TE REO MAORI) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) - (CONTINUES SPEAKING TE REO MAORI) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (CHEERING, APPLAUSE, WHISTLING) Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023