Tamariki, taiohi and kaiako celebrate being Māori at Te Matatini

Some awesome taiohi doing a haka for TikTok.

Te Matatini is the much-anticipated kapa haka festival held every two years, in a different rohe. This year’s event – Te Matatini 2023 Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata, also celebrated 50 years of Te Matatini. This event was even more anticipated than usual due to the 2021 competition being cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.  

This year’s competition, hosted by Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei, saw 45 groups from 13 rohe compete for the top spot. The event – which took place from 22 February to 25 February – brought tens of thousands of people through Eden Park and even more watched from kura, work or home via livestream. 

Te Matatini is more than a kapa haka competition: it’s a chance for whakawhanaungatanga me te whakanuia i te Ao Māori (relationships and celebration of Māori).

Whangārei teacher Tatyana Te Hira says language, identity and culture is the most important.

Celebrating identity, culture, and language  

Among the thousands of people attending Te Matatini 2023 are students from around the country – some have come with their kura, schools and others with their whānau.  

But the pride these tamariki and taiohi have for their culture and language is evident as soon as you walk through the gates to Te Matatini. Te reo Māori was spoken freely, haka tautoko flowed and Ahurea Māori was proudly on display in all corners. 

Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | The Ministry of Education is a proud supporter of kaupapa Māori and this year’s campaign ensured that identity, language, and culture was front and centre. The Ministry tent was one of a record-breaking number of stallholders at Te Matatini 2023. Students gathered with the Ministry’s Te Mahau teams to send a shout out to their favourite kaiako, via te reo Māori, waiata and their favourite haka. These were posted on the Ministry’s TikTok with the hashtag #moeattematatini. 

The campaign is focused on ‘Become an influencer, become a kaiako’. The kaiako represented in the campaign were also kai haka who took to the stage over the three days. In addition to the campaign, the kaimahi also focused on gaining an understanding from whānau about their schooling engagement needs.

The cap sums it up – being Māori was celebrated at Te Matatini.

Students Te Ataakura, Mia and Rereiao from Hoani Waititi, and Erena from Ngā Puna o Waiōrea shared that their favourite teachers are the best because of kapa haka and because they’re really fun. 

“To be a good teacher you need to be respectful to your students,” says Erena.  

“And you need to learn, but in a fun way,” adds Te Ataakura.  

The girls say kapa haka is very important to them and on Friday they were all supporting Te Roopū Manutaki, with Erena also supporting Hātea, and Rereiao also supporting Te Pikikōtuku o Ngāti Rongomai.  

They say being at Te Matatini allows them to support their whānau, see their cousins and learn how to do kapa haka. The girls say it’s very important to have teachers who respect their language and culture.

“If you don’t, you could make the kids forget where they’re from or forget their language,” they say.  

“If you know where you’re from, you know who your whānau is – you know your whakapapa.”

Ministry of Education kaimahi with students Erena, Rereiao, Te Ataakura, Mia and Mareikura.

Inspiring kaiako  

Waitarehu says her two favourite kaiako are Whaea Lisa, who was her teacher at Finlayson Park School and Kia Aroha College, and Matua Chris, her mau rākau tutor.  

Tamariki were encouraged to perform a waiata and talk about their favourite kaiako at the Ministry of Education’s Te Matatini stall.

“Whaea Lisa helped me improve – te reo Māori is my first language so Whaea Lisa taught me to be out there with te reo Pākeha. Matua Chris, he helped me to be proud, to be confident and to be brave,” she says.  

Waitarehu was at the festival with whānau business Kaikihikihi Arts and was also supporting her two sisters – one is a member of Te Waka Huia and the other is a member of Angitu.  

She says it is important to have so many kura attending Te Matatini.  

Ministry of Education kaimahi with Braydon from Wainui High School.

“Not many Māori schools get the chance to go to Te Matatini, so this is a really good experience for them, and they get to be part of their culture.”

Whangārei teacher Tatyana Te Hira was at Te Matatini supporting the roopū Hātea.

She says one kaiako who inspired her to become a teacher was a kuia named Ngawai Anaru.

“She was a teacher at Tikipunga High School. She was just funny and relatable. She always made jokes which was always fun.”  

Passion and dreams 

Tatyana has been teaching for five years now and says her favourite thing about teaching is meeting new tamariki and their whānau and engaging with families from the North.  

She says language, culture, and identity is the most important.  

Tahi, rua, toru, whā – pukana!

“That’s sort of the first thing that you use to ground yourself and to make it known about who you are.”  

She says she would encourage those wanting to be a teacher to pursue their dreams.

“If you have passion and you love what you do – then it doesn’t really feel like a job.”  

The final day of Te Matatini drew many people from all walks of life to Ngā Ana Wai. After rain poured on Friday afternoon, the sun came out on Saturday for supporters – young and old – who gathered to tautoko the finalists and await the overall results.  

After four days of kapa haka, whanaungatanga and celebrating Māori language and culture, Te Kapa Haka o Te Whānau-ā-Apanui from the Mātaatua rohe, were named the supreme winners for the third time.

The Aotea rohe which embraces the Taranaki/Whanganui district will host Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival in 2025.

Students gathered at the Ministry of Education tent and performed waiata and haka.

Waitarehu (right) singing a beautiful waiata at the Ministry of Education stall.