What moments shaped you in 2025?
Mānuera | Kaikohe
Mānuera reflects on Te Matatini as a joyful moment from 2025 – it strengthened him as a performer, while showing its role in preserving Māori knowledge and stories.
“E ai ki tōku whānau, he whare wānanga a Te Matatini.
Ko te wā tino harihari ki ahau i te tau kua taha ake nei, ko Te Matatini, nā te mea, ka noho tahi au me tōku whānau ki te mātakitaki i te ao haka, ki te mātakitaki i ngā kapa tino pai rawa atu ki ahau – Te Pikikōtuku, Ngāti Whakaue, aua atu kapa.
He pai hoki ki ahau nā te mea ka kite au i tētahi tauira pai ki roto i ngā kapa kia tū hei kaihaka tino pai, kia kaha ake tōku oro waiata, tōku oro haka, kia pakari ake ōku nekehanga haka kia tuitui i ngā kōrero tuku iho me ngā taonga tuku iho ki roto i wēnei momo waiata ki Te Matatini. Nō reira, āe, ka whakakaha ake i ahau ki roto i te whare o Tānerore rāua ko Hinerēhia.
Ā-wairua, i rongo au i te aroha nui o te iwi Māori, tokomaha ngā tāngata Māori, tāngata kiri mā anō hoki, kei te pai tērā. Tō rātou aroha nui mō tēnei momo huinga ahurei kia kotahi ai tātou ki tēnei hui kia whakanuia ai te whare o Hinerēhia rāua ko Tānerore ki runga i te atamira o Te Matatini. Nā te mea, e ai ki tōku whānau, he whare wānanga a Te Matatini, ā, he tika. He hākari nui, ā-hinengaro, ā-manawa, ā-pūmanawa me ngā mātauranga Māori, ngā kōrero tuku iho anō hoki.
Nui rawa tōku aroha me te aroha o taku whānau katoa mō te ao haka. Hei tauira, haere ai mātou ko ngā tamariki ki te ngahau ki ētahi atu huinga, ki ngā tāngata kē, ki ngā kura, ki ngā kōhanga reo, whakanuia ai te reo Māori, whakanuia ai te ao haka anō hoki.
Ko taku kōrero ki ngā iwi, te nuinga he pai Te Matatini nā te mea ka whakahoki mai, ka whakahoki mai ngā kōrero tuku iho ki a tātou. Kia pupuri tonu ki roto i ngā manawa o te iwi Māori, kia kore ai ērā mātauranga ērā kōrero tuku iho e ngaro, pērā ki te moa. Kia pupuri tonu ai tātou ki roto i te kapu o ō tātou ringa, kia tohatoha ai ki te ao. Nō reira, āe, koinā te take he tino pai te Matatini ki ahau.” (See comment section for English translation)
English translation:
“According to my whānau, Te Matatini is a whare wānanga (house of learning). The most joyful time for me in the year that has just passed was Te Matatini, because I sat together with my whānau to watch haka, to watch my favourite groups – Te Pikikōtuku, Ngāti Whakaue, and others. I like it because I see an excellent example within the groups to stand as a really good performer, to strengthen my singing voice, my haka voice, to strengthen my haka movements, and to weave together the stories of the past and our inherited gifts into these types of songs at Te Matatini. Therefore, yes, it strengthens me within the arts of Tānerore and Hinerēhia.
Spiritually, I felt the great love of Māoridom, there were many Māori, and many Pākehā too, that’s good. They have great love for this type of festival so that we are united at this gathering to celebrate the house of Hinerēhia and Tānerore upon the stage of Te Matatini. Because according to my whānau, Te Matatini is a whare wānanga, and that’s correct. It’s a great feast of the mind, of the heart, of talent, of Māori knowledge, and stories of the past as well.
My whānau and I have great love for the world of haka. For example, we, the children, go to entertain at other gatherings, to other people, at schools, at kōhanga reo, to celebrate the Māori language, the world of haka as well.
My message to the people is that Te Matatini is very good because it brings back ancestral knowledge to us. To hold them firmly within the hearts of the Māori people, so that that knowledge, those oral histories don’t become lost, like the moa. So that we hold them still within the cup of our hands, to share with the world. So, yes, that’s the reason why Te Matatini is so good to me.”
