Captions by Faith Hamblyn. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023. (WOMAN SINGS KARANGA) (CHEERING) - (CHANTS KARANGA) (ALL CHANT KARANGA) - (CHANTS KARANGA) (ALL SING WAIATA) (CHEERING, WHISTLING) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (CHEERING) (CHEERING) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (CHEERING) (CHEERING) (CHEERING) (CHEERING) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (CHEERING) (ALL CHANT KARANGA) (ALL SING WAIATA) (CHEERING) - IN TE REO MAORI: Pull the canoe, Te Arawa to shore. Who is the paddler? It's Kereama. Hurray! - Kia ora tatou. Kia ora. Kia ora. - IN TE REO MAORI: (CHUCKLES) My close friend, Kereama, we are very lucky to have you join us, you, as the representative for that amazing team ` only because Te Ngawari couldn't make it. Actually, Kereama is lucky. - Ae. - IN TE REO MAORI: Welcome to Haka Yarns. - IN TE REO MAORI: Thank you. I am the second choice, I suppose. - IN TE REO MAORI: (LAUGHS) However, the group placed second this year. How was that? Did the group get to where you wanted to? - IN TE REO MAORI: Greetings, Pere. I will say, we exceeded our own expectations and the expectations of our people. We didn't dream of coming second, especially from 17th place last time. We are very happy and proud. Not because we placed second, but because our people were happy. Ngati Whakaue, our children, the elders were all proud of the representation of our ancestors that was displayed. - Mm. IN TE REO MAORI: Let's talk now about kapa haka and what it means to Whakaue. Te Ngawari won the female leader trophy. - Ah. - Then there's the likes of yourself, who represented your tribe. What was the feeling like, representing your people and being that mouthpiece for your iwi? Huro, was your saying! - I loved it, because it was different. I must admit, I'm a newbie to this group. I have longed stood for Te Matarae i Orehu. My whanau and I had decided that we would stand for the tribal team, so that we all stand together, my cousins and sisters too. It was awesome, because it was an iwi stand. Our elders would all come to be amongst us. Koro Bom, the only 28th Maori Battalion veteran, was one of them. They would come and share their golden nuggets with us. - Mm. - Our children were there, arguing amongst each other in te reo, in the practice arena and outside the marae as well. To me, that's what was cool about going back to perform for an iwi group like Ngati Whakaue. - That's the reason why we felt that performance. For a performer to get to that level of performance,... - Mm. - IN TE REO MAORI: ...what are the three golden nuggets? Share with us, what Ngati Whakaue looks for in a performer. - IN TE REO MAORI: Those of us that have been performing in teams for a long time know, to get to that level of success, you think like a winner. Although some might say they aren't, they're lying. These practices were different. - (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) - I must refer to Tenga and Cory ` they are the main tutors of our group. They brought happy vibes into the competition. They changed the mindset of competition to more joyful ways of practicing. Through that, I feel the audience felt it as well. - Ae. - That's one. Don't let your nerves take over. Go with good thoughts. If you think and feel that way, so will the audience. What's the second? Put your best foot forward ` kaua e haere hauware anoa mai. - (CHUCKLES) IN TE REO MAORI: But don't come willy-nilly ` still come with the goods. - (LAUGHS) Mm. - Show your strengths, and be proud of them too. But also remembering the saying preached by the likes of Ngapo Wehi and them ` remain humble. Although the heights climbed, remain humble. Grab a tea towel. Actually, you must introduce yourself to the tea towel before jumping in line. - Mm. Oh! IN TE REO MAORI: What great insight! Be joyful, come with the goods and remain humble. Don't go far ` after the break, we will dive deeper into the knowledge shared, which saw the quality stand from this champion team. Welcome back. Our guest is no other than the person who wowed the crowd at this year's Te Matatini, 2023. Let's talk about your speech, which grabbed the attention of the crowd. Your thoughts, watching that back? - That task was given to me, because I was the last person to arrive at practice the night before. - (LAUGHS) - I was still working at Eden Park at the time. - You lost at rock-paper-scissors? - Yeah! I arrived, and Tenga reckons, 'Hey, you will do the speech.' - (CHUCKLES) - So, it was a surprise, actually. I will thank my relation, because he is one of my older relations, by blood too. If I'm being honest, I don't remember much. I don't remember what I said. When you watch it back, you hear all the mistakes, like, Kingi Tuheitia's name and all that. - The word 'Huro' went viral at Te Matatini ` even the crowd cheered you on too. Scotty's leg also broke, because of him crawling to grab his shirt from the stage. - (GIGGLES) Yes, we cheered on stage too, because we made it to the finals. That's a first in history, for our group and iwi. We wanted the crowd to share that happiness too. In terms of the shirt, we heard Scotty moaning the day before because he didn't get a shirt. So I had planned to take one on stage for him. So that he could wear it while we performed. Cory, our tutor, said, 'Here, take this on stage.' - Cory, eh? Actually, is Cory the main ingredient? - Ae, ae, ae. - (LAUGHS) - He is! That was his idea. He said for me to do it. I was wary at first about the rules and if it's allowed. - (LAUGHS) Mm. - That was a way of getting rid of the group's nerves as well. - Ae. - However, we wanted to go away from thinking competition. We didn't know that Scotty, uh, would actually come and grab the shirt. But that's the way it goes sometimes. - Oh, you focused on the Maori Battalion in most of your items this year. - Mm. - Please elaborate on that. - Ae. - What was the reasoning behind the focus of the Maori Battalion? - The Ngati Whakaue group have longed focused on that. Right outside our marae, Te Papaiouru is Muruika. That's the cemetery of the 28th Maori Battalion B Company veterans. Our members and descendants of these soldiers have always attended Anzac Day commemorations. Also, the last of the 28th is Sir Bom Gillies; he is one of our main elders. He would drive himself to our practices. It's only right for us to acknowledge him. Tenga had asked Timoti ` Karetu ` to compose an action song for him, because of his ties to Waimarama. Long story short, Timoti agreed. This was the outcome of his composition married with the tune by Eugene Temara and his wife, Erena. How can we not acknowledge the only remaining veteran of that time? Me pehea e kore ai e whakarangatira, whakarangai ake i a ia, i te mea ko ia te morehu whakamutunga. - Let's now listen to this trio and this beautiful action song. (GENTLE MUSIC PLAYS) - ALL: # Takoto # kino mai # e koro ma # hei aki # nga hau # i papamao # u # takoto i te taunga, # te moenga roa (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) # he moumou # koutou, # he moe ma koutou # kai te ika # a whiro # kai te makorea # a tu # ko koe ra te kanohi o te hunga # e tipapa mai ra # i whenua # ke, # i iwi ke # koianei ra te utu # o te tatau # pounamu # hekenga toto, # hekenga # roimata, # roimata # hi! Hi! # Hi ha! # E ta rapata # tu mai ra # ko te ua kai runga, # whamenemene kei roto, # ko te nohonga, ko te whariki # o te whakaiti # ki te ure tu, # ko te ketunga, ko te katonga, # ko nga tai ka horu ki te akau # ki waimarama. - MEN: # ki waimarama. - ALL: # Ko to hiringa korero. - MEN: # Taupunga! - ALL: # He whare kokau me tona wehi, # ngati kurukuru # te hapu # kahungungu, # rongo mai papa, # uenuku kopako # ko whakaaue e tu nei # kahungungu, # rongo mai papa, # uenuku kopako # ko whakaaue e tu nei # ki te kete ruru # o nga wai pokarekare # o te rotorua nui a kahu # matamomore - MEN: # matamomore - ALL: # ko to hiringa korero # he whare whakairo tona wehi # tona mana whakaaue # te pumanawa # kahugungu, # rongomai papa # uenuku kopako # ko whakaaue e tu nei # kahungungu # rongomai papa, - (MEN CHANT HAKA) - ALL: # uenuku kopako # ko whakaaue e tu nei (MEN CHANT HAKA) - ALL: # e ta rapata # tu mai ra. # ALL: Hi! Hi! Hi-ha! (CHEERING, WHISTLING) - The war party of Tu and the war party of Ngati Whakaue ` The two going side by side at this year's Te Matatini, 2023. However, let's look to the year 2024. - Mm. - It's regionals ` are you ready? - Ngati Whakaue has started. - Oh! Ae. - Maybe cos of our success at Te Matatini, - (CHUCKLES) - ...many people from Ngati Whakaue is trialling. A secret maybe I could share is we have 96 people trialling. - (GIGGLES) - I'm going to get in trouble from my tutors for that. - (LAUGHS) - That's what comes with success, I suppose. - That's the question, eh ` is it a good or bad thing, having too many people? - Oh, I think it's great. I like seeing Ngati Whakaue progeny proud of their Whakauetanga. Also, I like seeing the many offspring and younger ones joining the group. They are the future, after all. At the end of the day, our iwi comes first, and then kapa haka. So, it's going well. We aren't feeling the pressure right now,... - Ooh! - ...and I'll go back to what our tutor, Cory, says ` the main part of it is the enjoyment factor. - Maybe the question is, will you be the leader this year? - Oh. - Will we have a Wright duo? - (LAUGHS) - IN TE REO MAORI: Maybe a Wright sibling combo? - IN TE REO MAORI: Hell no! - (CHUCKLES) - Cory is awesome. I reckon him and Tenga are our secret weapons. Cory knows the old ways, so that's his style. I think his stance is special ` you don't see it anywhere else. It's only right he remains. He's humbled too ` the rest of us are the growlers and talkers; he stays humble and quiet. The true example of what a good performer is. - (LAUGHS) The regionals is very different to Te Matatini. Also, Te Matarae i Orehu's absence leaves a major gap. - Mm. - Which team from Te Arawa will gill that gap, heading to Te Matatini o te Kahui Mounga? - Ae, ae. Good question. Te Hikuwai has made it before and still strong contenders. Uh, there are two new teams from Te Arawa ki Tai,... - Ooh. - ...and Ngati Tahu, Ngati Whaoa. There's a whole lot of anticipation heading into the competition, because of that. - Oh! What a beautiful conversation we've had today! Thank you, my long-time friend, for joining Te Matahaka. This is where we wrap things up. Let's finish it off with this song and item. Here it is. Mauri ora e te iwi, anei. (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) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (ALL CONTINUE SINGING WAIATA) (WOMAN SINGS KARANGA) (MAN CHANTS KARANGA) (WOMAN CHANTS KARANGA) (ALL CHANT) Captions by Faith Hamblyn. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023.