Harry Potter, a boy with a poi, and suddenly we're hōkī fans 🪄🏑
Kia ora e te whānau,
We’re back with your weekly culture dose of mīharo/awesome Māori arts, media, and events.
Te ao Māori/The Māori world is full of epic underdog stories and today we’re giving them the spotlight they deserve.
Quick and fun takeaways from our top picks and waka-loads of inspiration for your ‘to watch/read/listen/do lists’, coming right up.
This one’s for the dreamers, the schemers, the ones who like to go against the grain (exactly our kind of tāngata/people).
P.s - the new prize for our monthly draw is a $300 Moana Fresh voucher.
. All entries from last month carry over. Details at the bottom of this newsletter for anyone else who wants a shot.
The boys of TKKM o Ruamata hockey team are determined to break into the upper echelons of secondary school hockey by winning The Rankin Cup.
With a draw full of schools 10x their size and refs constantly penalising them for ‘cursing’ on field (even after they explain that ‘whaka’ is the Māori prefix for every verb), it’s a mammoth task.
Heoi/but, in an increasingly common kōrero/story, their cultural knowledge, sense of belonging, whanaungatanga/relationships, and whakapono/belief provide tangible advantage.
The Mighty Ducks ain’t got nothing on this kapa/team - an incredible edge of your seat watch.
Find it: on youtube
Time: 1hour
Cost: free
Reo: primarily te reo Māori with subtitles
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It was a childhood spent listening at hui as a chauffeur for her koro/grandad, a waitress, an iwi transcriber, and finally—after a collective decision by the hāpori/community—a potential candidate, that won Hana her seat in the beehive.
Host, Julian Wilcox, asks if she truly understands that power of listening, admitting it's one of his own and many other Māori mens’ weaknesses.
In demonstration of an earlier point about leadership requiring one to walk the hard line between humility and confidence, she replies with a simple word. ”Yes.”
Whatever your political persuasions, this is one wahine you should know about.
Find it: on the Indigenous 100 website, Spotify, or your fav podcast platform
Time: 52mins
Cost: free
Reo: primarily English with a few intermediate-advanced Māori sections interspersed
Epic news—the team at Kotahi Rau Pukapuka (pretty much the Justice League of reo Māori including Sir Tīmoti Kāretu, Pānia Papa, and Hēmi Kelly) are creating physical, ebook, and audiobook versions of 100 great books in te reo Māori.
With a goal to fortify the scope of quality books in reo Māori, they’re lining up the best Māori books (like Pounamu Pounamu), as well as classics from other cultures (like Hare Pota/Harry Potter, and Te Ruānuku/The Alchemist).
Vote for their next title or tautoko/support Te Arawhata team choices; ‘Holes’ for Grace, ‘Love Stories’ for Lizzie, and ‘Dune’ for Han.
Find the opp: at the Kotahi Rau Pukapuka website
Time: Hare Pota has had us busy for over two months
Cost: $40
Reo: fully in te reo Māori - read alongside your English version for some awesome reo learning.
Trying to make lead poi in the school kapa haka group is the perfect set-up for any underdog story, but what about if you’re a little tama/boy? Or irarere/gender fluid?
Stakes officially raised.
Inspired by the author, Tangaroa’s, own childhood, this story cheerfully celebrates a young tama letting his true colours and poi rere atu/fly.
In a modern Māori world where many believe poi was never just for wāhine, and Aingitu kapa haka is world famous in Aotearoa, it’s another step forward for an important movement.
Our young ones loved it (and had more pātai about poi actions than gender).
Get it: from your library or Oratia Publishers
Time: 15mins
Cost: $22,99
Reo: bilingual - te reo Māori & English in the one pukapuka
I was pretty surprised to get an D on my essay. The kaiako/teacher suspected plagiarism. He was wrong, I’m way too whakahīhī/proud for that.
It didn’t count for anything, nor really bother me, but e hika, it sure set my māmā off.
Within five minutes she was on the waea/phone to Mr. G. The next day she stormed down to let loose in person, while I pleaded the hallways walls outside to swallow me.
Afterward, I asked her why she was so upset. She wasn’t one to stress about my grades.
Click.
In defence of my kaiako, I don’t think he knew I was Māori, and I think James B might have been too…
The point was, it triggered my māmā, who people CAN tell is Māori, because she’s been treated as an underdog—expected to lose—her entire life.
She’s actually a borderline genius. No, really, she was studied for a while as a tamaiti/child, but then let go when she seemed to drift back to just super-smart range
She runs an uber successful company, is the greatest māmā and nana ever, and wins at pretty much everything in life, (except baking—avoid her brownies at all costs).
Ētahi wā/sometimes that’s due to aukati iwi/racism and ētahi wā, a plain understanding that we live in an inequitable society.
We picked this kaupapa for a reason e hoa ma and it wasn’t to preach (we know Te Arawhata readers are all over matters like these).
In sharing stories of the Māori underdog, Māori creatives are highlighting not only the massive achievements, but the massive barriers their main characters have had to overcome.
Having those barriers seen, shared and talked about, is sure-fire progress on the road toward equity.
E mihi ana ki a koutou/acknowledgements to you all for playing your part.
Legends, alright.
