Being present with the community was an important part of Te Matatini
The return of Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata was a resounding success with thousands attending the live event at Ngā Ana Wai (Eden Park) in Tāmaki Makaurau, and 1.8 million viewers tuning into the live stream extravaganza of haka at its best.
Each and every kapa from rohe around the country and Australia gave it their all, showing the world the beauty, the elegance and ferocity of Māori performing arts.
Te Whānau-a-Apanui, hailing from the east coast, took home the overall championship of the event.
Whānau from Unitec and MIT Ngā Kete Wananga Marae were among the masses from start to finish taking up a valuable opportunity to connect with Māori communities supporting and participating in the kaupapa.
Our teams collaborated for the Festival, hosting an activity space at Mt Eden Stadium across the week. More than 4,500 people connected with our team on site and our presence provided an opportunity to reconnect with communities from near and far.
Andrea Thumath, Director – Under 25s Success says the stand was constantly busy. “Spectators made use of our activity space and rest area and also asked questions about our programmes. A few of these questions were some re-enrolments into programmes by 2020 Covid impacted students. We also had a lot of visits from current and past students (Unitec and UPC), Kaiako and other community members.
“Being present with and for our community at kaupapa such as Te Matatini is integral to maintaining the strong relationships we hold. Personally and professionally to be able to catch up with many a rangatahi that had come through our UPC programmes and see where they are now at on their journey was incredibly rewarding, and reinforced that the way we work, works for our communities.”
Well done to the UPC team members, who did more than 120,00 steps across the week, says Andrea.
“A sincere thanks from UPC to Viv, Toni, Romy and Whaea Jonyne for their support of the Unitec space.”
Unitec Pou Hatu Toni Vaughn says: ‘Many kapa made difficult decision in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle to attend Te Matatini, but were encouraged by their iwi to attend. The event provided an opportunity to heal and connect with one another again after not only the cyclone, but also Covid and floods and the loss of many whānau members over the past four years where attendance was not always possible.
Funding in an equitable way for the event has been highlighted as an area of priority for many Māori and it is hoped that with an audience of around 2 million that this will be seriously considered.”
L to R: Viv Merito, Blair Sorensen, Andrea Thumath Sione Taufa, Priscilla Abraham, David McKay
