The kapa haka edition

Nau mai, hoki mai ki Te Arawhata—the kapa haka edition!

A few wiki/weeks back, when I visited an aunty in Rotorua, she showed me this ātaahua/beautiful haka she’d found on Tik Tok. 

Wīīīī did we love it.

Osshhhh could we feel the wana/passion.

And maaaaaan, could we still not quite tell you what it was e pā ana/about… 😅

This edition is for anyone else who absolutely gets the feels from watching kapa haka and would love to know a little more about why. More advanced readers will love it too.

Kia reri? Hope!/Ready, hands on hips fam, we’ve got behind the scenes tv series, the yarn behind the absolute OG haka, the full back story to ‘Ka Mate’, and more coming right up. 

Tuatahi/Firstly, lets warm up the ol’ hinengaro/mind with a quick round of ‘talk of the tāone’.

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Talk of the tāone

Your weekly round up of the arts, media, and events everybody’s talking about

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- Take that, Wīwī/France! Aotearoa just claimed the Guinness World Record for the largest haka—like 6,531 people large.

- Hot off the press! Two new must-reads are out āpōpō/tomorrow: ‘Dear Moko’ by Dr. Hinemoa Elder and the sequel to the beloved ‘Auē’ by Becky Manawatu.

- The rārangi/list is out for this year’s Billy T Award nominees, including the verrrrrry funny Hoani Hotene.

- Get ready for BEING TURI, a groundbreaking docuseries diving deep into the lives of turi/deaf Māori—premiering this Tāite/Thursday.

- The judges are set and sales are on fire with 2,000 Te Matatini 2025 tīketi/tickets vanishing in an hour—don’t wait to get yours!

- ‘I believe the children are the future!’ 🎶 Check out the tino/very interesting census stats showing iwi populations booming by 46.3% in the last decade, with nearly half under 25.

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Picks o te wiki

Our top 4 kapa haka inspired recommendations from the world of Māori arts, media, and events.

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Watch: ‘Haka Life, Te Matatini 2023’ a doco-series on Ngā Tūmanako in the lead up nationals

OK, most of us will know the putanga/outcome to Matatini 2023, but that doesn’t take anything away from this! Experience exactly what the rā tuatahi/first day of tryouts looks like and hear the unfiltered version of what’s going through the mind of a kaikaranga before her first go on stage. Think F1s ‘Drive to survive’, but (way) pai kē atu/better.

_{Find it: on Māori+ I Time: 9×15min episodes I Cost: free I Credits: produced by Mako Media}

Read: ‘Tinirau and His Whale’ (or watch it here if it’s sold out)

According to some, this legend is THE origin story for kapa haka (and wāhine Māori were THE original performers!). In the way only a pūrākau Māori can, it squeezes no holds barred utu/retaliation, the distinctive power of femininity in te ao Māori, and pet tohorā/whales into a captivating wee yarn. These books are puiaki/rare now, so we’re including this animation option too.

_{Find it: in book stores like this or on the Te Papa website I Time: 10mins to read, 6mins to watch I Cost: $16 or free I Credits: book written by Ron Bacon (who isn’t Māori) and illustrated by Manu Smith (who is). We can’t find credits for the animation! If anyone knows, please kōrero mai.}

Do: get tickets to Te Matatini 2025

There are five months to our national kapa haka comp and tūtara/rumours are that accommo is already getting tight fam, so if you’re considering attending (which you should because everyone reading this will love it) we seriously taunaki/recommend sorting your plans TODAY. Don’t miss out! Come hang with us (and no you do NOT need to be a haka aficionado).

_{Find it: on the Te Matatini website  I Time: 5 days I Cost: from $53 for a single adult day pass, youth and seniors are cheaper I Credits: run by Te Matatini Society}

Listen to: the origin story of the ‘Ka Mate’ haka on Taringa

Is it just me, or is this clip and its follow up STILL one of the funniest things on the ipurangi/internet?! If you don’t know the backstory to ‘Ka Mate’, the Taringa crew are here to save you from doing a Brian Tāmaki and getting ‘ka ora/to live’ mixed up with ‘koura/crayfish’. It all begins with the famous Ngāti Tōa leader, Te Rauparaha…

_{Find it: on Spotify l Time: 30mins I Cost: free I Credits: produced by the Taringa team over at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa}

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Help us with next week’s kaupapa…

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We’re lining up an interview with a very impressive haka performer next week e te whānau, so please reply to this email with any pātai you’d like us to ask.

And yep—that’s us for the wiki! We’re trying out a slightly snappier format in response to your feedback last week (thank you SO much).

One week we’ll do picks, and the next a deepdive. Let’s see how it goes eh?

As always, we hope this newsletter helped you to enjoy, learn more about, and deepen your connection with te ao Māori today… and to snap up your place at Te Matatini 😁.

Mā te wā!/Laters!

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