Aleigha | Arahura, West Coast

“So I’ve recently started a kapa haka thing with my cousin, and we have to go to Christchurch every Sunday, and I couldn’t find a place to go, or a ride to get there, and then one of my teachers woke up at 6:30 to come get me, and drop me off three hours away from where we live. I really appreciate that. 

So, there’s a kapa haka competition coming up in Christchurch called Haka Fest, and it’s where heaps of kapa haka groups come and perform their brackets, and just have a good time. I’ve been doing kapa haka my whole life, and when I’m on the stage, I feel just at my best: confident, and Māori, and I really enjoy that.

Ahakoa he iti nō te kopa o Raureka, 

tāku toki pounamu e.

So I grew up in Arahura. It’s a pa, just outside of Hokitika. We recently got our Marae. Well, we re-built one. So ever since I was a kid, I’ve just spent my whole childhood up there with all my cousins and family, just learning about my tūrangawaewae and where I’m from. There’s a famous whakataukī here, because we are on te ao Poutini which is the land of the pounamu. So you say ahakoa he iti, he pounamu, even though the gift may be small, it’s still precious, and you treat it that way forever.”