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Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Youth involvement increased in honour of Māori Queen
A cosy bonfire set up by the Kahu Youth Team for Matariki. PHOTOS: RAWAN SAADI Young rangatahi were the stars of this year's annual Wānaka Matariki celebration, as hundreds of locals gathered to enjoy the festivities. For the 16th year in a row, Kahu Youth delivered a successful Matariki celebration across Wānaka's lakefront, complete with seven kapa haka groups, a hangi and a beachfront bonfire. The day started at 2pm with performances, while a team from the Mt Aspiring College (MAC) cultural committee helped prepare the hangi at the Wānaka Dinosaur Playground. Local Paul Tamati, who was heavily involved with the organising the hangi, said that year they had involved more young people to honour the Māori Queen, Kuini Nga Wai Hono i te Po. "These are our young people of today coming forward to learn hangi," Mr Tamati said. " ... We see it as a representation of who their new Māori queen represents." The Mt Aspiring College cultural committee (from left) Jacob Fielding, Joseph Combe, Ethan Prince, Isaiah Chin-Nyika, Lucas Parry and Eli McArthur. Joe Miller and Axel MacDougall help prepare the hangi. He added that the Māori Queen had made it clear in her maiden speech that she would represent rangatahi, and Matariki was a perfect opportunity for the Wānaka community to contribute to that sentiment. The hangi was certainly a crowd favourite, as dozens of people lined up to purchase a plate after the group of MAC students helped to prepare the food. The day was also filled with performances from locals of all ages, including the Hāwea Kindergarten, Wānaka Primary School and the community waiata group, Matariki Tupu Hou. Weaving workshops, face painting and a beachfront bonfire also brought people together and were made possible by rangatahi volunteers from Kahu Youth, further involving the town's young people. Kahu Youth youth worker Imogen Smith spoke passionately about the importance of being able to have a big event that showcased Māori heritage for the local community. Community group Matariki Tupu Hou performs a haka. Having grown up in Christchurch, she felt Māori culture in a city could often be more accessible to young people as there were larger populations and therefore more Māori communities, in comparison to small towns where the same heritage could be more sparse. "This event is really important to bring te ao Māori to a small community and creating that accessibility for rangatahi and the community in general," she said. Local kamatua and chairman of the Mana Tahuna Charitable Trust Darren Rewi had come from Queenstown to celebrate with the community and expressed how the performances by young kapa haka groups made the event more special. "The children doing kapa haka always brings people in and it's a relaxing way to celebrate the Māori new year," he said. As the sun set and the star constellations began to appear in the sky, the event's busy activities ended with the community coming together to sing a group waiata.
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Strong advocate for Māori heritage
Paul Tamati at Affinity Funerals, where he works as a funeral director. PHOTO: RAWAN SAADI Preserving the Māori identity in Wānaka has become a source of immense pride for longtime local Paul Tamati. He was 10 when his father got a job working in Cromwell on the Clyde Dam project and they moved south from Huntly. More than 110 other Māori families had made their way to the region during the 1980s from all over New Zealand for the same reason — work. Cromwell had a mainly Pakeha population and experienced something of a culture shock during this wave of migration. "It was a surprise for the Cromwellians that a strong Māori population had come in there, because they weren't familiar with Māori people," Mr Tamati said. The early days of the move were not easy. The shift in the population cast a harsh spotlight on the state of the cultural and political climate in the South. Arguments about colour quickly spread and racism was felt among Māori families. It didn't last too long, as the local community started to adjust and realised the value the new families brought to the area. "It settled down because it strengthened their sports teams. It strengthened all their other things by having Māori involved." Mr Tamati described a time when coping with racial differences was not as it is now. There were no protests or big movements. It was a quiet, more subtle fight for equality, where the new Māori families proved their strength through their work and the value they added to the community. "We coped with it as best as we could, but not as Māori people back then. You coped as people that were working," he said. "When we came down, we didn't actually look at ourselves as being Māori and that there's going to be people that will be wondering, 'what are you?'." After meeting his wife during a New Year's Eve party in Wānaka, Mr Tamati decided to settle in the town and became even more involved with the community. Most significant were joining local school boards, the A&P show and starting Aspiring Young Musicians, but he wasn't as invested in advocating for Māori heritage as he is now. The past five years for Mr Tamati have been eye-opening, with a shift in the political climate, including the introduction of the Te Tiriti o Waitangi Principles Bill. "I didn't know why we are doing this ... [I've been ] told countless times, this is who you're doing it for — you're doing it to save your own identity as a Māori," he said, recalling the words of Ngai Tahu elders he had spoken to. Originally from Rotorua, Mr Tamati's iwi is Te Arawa and his hapu is Ngati Pikiao. Aside from helping with events like the annual Kahu Youth Matariki celebration, he is also encouraging other Māori individuals and families in the region to learn more about their heritage. Although he feels that Māori migration to the region hasn't been huge over the past few decades, he has noted more diversity in the region and a greater openness to learn about Māori history. "The biggest appreciators of Māori culture are the tourists, or the people that have migrated here." One thing was clear from Mr Tamati's message — Māori heritage is not only for Māori to know, but for everyone. He said Maoridom and its customs were a crucial and special part of the New Zealand identity and should be carried with pride.
