50 Years of Te Matatini

Ka mau te wehi! Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata kicks off in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland today following a four year hiatus, after the 2021 festival was postponed due to the pandemic. Te Matatini (the many faces) is often described as the Olympics of kapa haka and is the pinnacle event for Māori performing arts, where kapa haka rōpū from across Aotearoa compete over four days to be crowned Toa Whakaihuwaka – the champions of Te Matatini. Te Matatini turned 50 in 2022, so the 2023 festival also celebrates this incredible milestone.

The most recent Te Matatini festival, Te Matatini ki te Ao, was hosted by Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington in 2019 and saw 3000 participants performing in front of a global audience of 1350000! This year, 48 rōpū from across Aotearoa and two from Australia will be taking the stage at Ngā Ana Wai Eden Park, with the nine finalist teams performing on Saturday.

Explore our booklist below, featuring old and new pukapuka about Te Matatini, kapa haka and the history of waiata and Māori performing arts in Aotearoa. We’re especially excited for the arrival of He Tau Makuru, specially released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Te Matatini, and we also have some picture books about kapa haka. Kia pai tāu pānui! Happy reading!

He Tau Makuru : 50 Years of Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival
“Te Matatini (the many faces) is the world’s largest celebration of contemporary Māori performing arts – the Olympics of kapa haka. This national kapa haka festival is held in Aotearoa New Zealand every two years. In 2022, Te Matatini celebrates its fiftieth year, and this book (alongside an album and web series) honours the festival.” (from publisher’s site).

Mātāmua ko te kupu! : te haka tēnā! te wana, taku ihi e, pupuritia / Kāretu, T. S.
“Sir Timoti Karetu is one of the country’s leading exponents of te reo Māori. He is also an unrivalled creator of waiata and haka, composing songs and judging at Te Matatini and other events. In this book, Sir Timoti shares his extensive experience in the artforms of haka and waiata – from Māori songs of the two world wars to the rise of kapa haka competitions, from love songs to action songs, from Sir Apirana Ngata to Te Puea Herangi, and from Te Matatini to contemporary hui on marae. Written in exemplary te reo Māori, Matamua ko te Kupu! will become a taonga of Māori knowledge and language.” (Adapted from catalogue)

Ka mau te Wehi = Taking haka to the world : Bub & Nen’s story / Wehi, Ngapo
“Ngapo and Pimia Wehi, affectionately known as Bub and Nen, have achieved what no other partnership has accomplished in a lifetime of kapa haka. With over a century of combined experience in Māori song and dance, leading teams and teaching, they are recognised as New Zealand’s foremost leaders in this ever-expanding arena. Ka Mau Te Wehi is a rare insight into Bub and Nen’s private lives and their journey to enhance the Māori culture they so dearly loved. Additionally, it offers a personalised history of contemporary Māori music and performance over more than half a century, surveying the origins of modern kapa haka and the path of its intense growth as a national and international phenomenon.” (Adapted from catalogue).

Kia Rōnaki = The Māori performing arts
“In the last thirty years there has been an explosion of interest in the Māori performing arts but until now there has been no general book written in English or Māori about the Māori performing arts by Māori authors and exponents of the various genres. This new work, brings together the expertise of a range of performance artists and academics, consolidating their knowledge into a comprehensive single volume that will be of relevance to all those interested in the Māori performing arts.” (Catalogue)

Ngā mōteatea : he maramara rere nō ngā waka maha / Ngata, Apirana Turupa
“This classic text on Māori culture collects indigenous New Zealand songs recorded over a period of 40 years by a respected Māori leader and distinguished scholar. The essence of Māori culture and its musical tradition is exhibited in the original song texts, translations, audio CDs, and notes from contemporary scholars featured in this new edition. This rare cultural treasure makes accessible a fleeting moment in Māori history when traditional practices and limited experience with the outside world allowed indigenous songs and customs to flourish.” (Catalogue)

Haka : te tohu o te whenua rangatira = the dance of a noble people / Kāretu, T. S.
“All New Zealanders are familiar with haka, especially the famous ‘Ka mate ka mate’, but few would be able to describe what haka really is. Timoti Karetu describes the various types of haka and their different roles in Māori customs.” (Catalogue)

 

 

The Māori action song : waiata a ringa, waiata kori, no whea tenei ahua hou / Shennan, Jennifer
“This book is a discussion of Māori action songs. A number of the earliest action songs are remembered and performed as classics up to 60 years later. Recent developments have taken the action song away from the simplicity of its earliest form with borrowed European melodies, to more sophisticated compositions including dramatic effects with interpolated haka rhythms. It is this process-the instinctive moulding of innovated movement into the aesthetically acceptable dance style-which makes absorbing study.” (Adapted from catalogue)

Māori action songs : words and music, action and instructions / Ngata, Reupena
“The action song is a modern addition to Māori performing arts, pioneered in the early twentieth century by Sir Apirana Ngata.  Almost a century after it first appeared, the waiata kori (action song) is flourishing among kapa haka groups up and down Aotearoa. Māori Action Songs is the classic introduction to this distinctive art form – ideal for teachers, groups or individuals.  This new, totally redesigned edition presents a concise introduction to the important elements of the songs, and outlines in simple terms 30 songs for different occasions with words, music and actions described in easy-to-follow diagrams.” (Catalogue)

Haka : a living tradition / Gardiner, Wira
“A source of pride or a source of controversy, the Haka is an integral part of New Zealand’s culture. One of the most identifiable symbols of New Zealand, most people know little of the history, variation or meaning of this powerful challenge. This work aims to explain it all.” (Catalogue)

 

 

Ngā tatangi a te whare karioi = That special place where uniquely Māori sounds are created / Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival
“A record of the key events of Festival 2009″ — Chairman’s introd.” (Catalogue)

 

 

The greatest haka festival on earth / Tahau-Hodges, Pania
“It’s national kapa haka competition time again, and this Māori performing arts festival is a big event! It needs planning, tactics and dedication – and that’s just for the people watching! Nan’s a hardcore kapa haka follower, and she shows her mokopuna all the tricks to get the best seats, find the choicest pāua and whitebait fritters, hunt out the coolest poi and pounamu, and meet the star performers. And all along, Nan’s keeping a big secret that’s only revealed when the star performer does Nan’s amazing signature poi move – and her group wins the competition”–Publisher information.” (Catalogue)

The girls in the kapahaka / Belcher, Angie
“A children’s kapahaka group prepare for a kapahaka with the help of their whanau. Includes glossary of Māori terms. Suggested level: junior, primary.” (Catalogue)

 

 

Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival 2009, 19-22 February / Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival
Includes brief biographies of judges, emcees and kapa haka teams.
Chiefly in English with some text in Māori.

Nga Waiata me nga haka a te kapa haka o Te Whare Wananga o Waikato
Māori songs with English translations.

Aotearoa Traditional Māori Performing Arts and Te Matatini – Part 3

Haere mai and welcome to the third blog in our ‘Te Whare Tapere to Kapa Haka and Māori Concert Party’ series. You can find Part One, and Part Two here.

The modern kapa haka competitions began around the time of the first Waitangi Day celebrations in 1934:

Ngapuhi performance at Waitangi, 1934 — NZHistory.net

The Polynesian Festivals were held at Rotorua, 1972 and 1976. Regional teams took part, but also present were Pacific rōpū until 1983 when the festivals became the Aotearoa Traditional Māori Performing Arts Festival.

In 1976, rōpū representing Guam and Australia attended the festival. Guam had become an unincorporated territory of USA in August 1950, and its contribution to the festival revealed an almost complete annihilation of the indigenous culture. The rōpū’s waiata-ā-ringa including the shooting down of Japanese invader planes (30 years after the end of WWII), and the singing of the current USA pop song (in English) of ‘How much is that doggie in the window’.

The Aboriginal rōpū told their stories in dramatic role plays backed by their instruments such as didgeridoo — they didn’t stand in kapa / lines for their cultural performances at all.

The Aotearoa Traditional Māori Performing Arts Festival existed between 1983 and 2004.

Have watch of the Iwi Anthems television programme, which began screening on Māori Television in 2013:

Watch episodes of Iwi Anthems

Every iwi has an anthem, they are the waiata and haka we love to perform at gatherings. Our iwi anthems tell unique stories about our tribes revealing who we are and what’s important to us.

The competitions rotated from marae to marae setting, with tribal influences dominant in each iwi/hapū territory. The iwi anthems became signature tunes for the respective iwi, with perpetuation of dialect specific to their region. With the influence of migrations to urban centres in search of jobs and upskilling (by trade training, nursing, etc) there was a move to pan-tribal rōpū with pan-tribal influences for members, composers, tutors.

Watch a video from Te Ara of Kapa haka group Te Waka Huia performing the whakaeke (entrance) at the 1996 Aotearoa Traditional Māori Performing Arts Festival:

Video — Te Waka Huia, 1996

Te Rita Papesch has written an overview of those years in the book: The state of the Māori nation : twenty-first-century issues in Aotearoa, published in 2006:

“Kapa Haka” — Chapter 2 in State of the Māori nation : twenty-first-century issues in Aotearoa
“Dealing with a diverse range of issues that affect Maori living in modern-day New Zealand, State of the Maori Nation is a collection of 22 short and informative essays drawn from Maori commentators, historians, teachers, researchers and academics working across the country in all manner of industries. This is a book with something for everyone — Maori and Pakeha, men and women, young and old — and gives a vision of a confident and capable people moving from strength to strength within every aspect of contemporary New Zealand society. The subjects covered in the book include: kapa haka […]” (Catalogue)

Te Matatini was formed in 2004, and the competition has now moved to a handful of centralised city settings – influenced by underlying economic factors such as the large size of the moveable stage, and the cost of hosting the competitions. But there has also, lately, been a return to the telling of tribal stories alongside themes of world-wide concerns.

Te Matatini performances have become dramatic, passionate, fluid, and topical in the stories they bring to the stage, but the staunch tutors and leaders of the kapa haka teams declare the centre of Kapa Haka lies, and must always lie, with the care and attention to the reo within these cultural performances, even where a regimented “correct” body poses of the past ideals are no longer of paramount importance.

Watch Hikurangi‘s Te Matatini performance in 2019. Here is the signature waiata of Ngāti Porou – where the rangi and costumes honour the legacy of Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa Ngarimu, but the actions, foot, arm, hip movements are vigorous, “lively” and far from “traditional”:

Hikurangi’s kapa haka legacy continues — Article and video

“Aspiring to preserve the waiata, traditions and legacy of their kapa, Hikurangi is one of the longest-standing kapa in the country, having been established in 1934.”

Further books from our shelves:

Haka : te tohu o te whenua rangatira = the dance of a noble people / Kāretu, T. S. (1993)
Timoti Karetu describes the various types of haka and their different roles in Māori customs.

Mātāmua ko te kupu! : te haka tēnā! te wana, taku ihi e, pupuritia / Kāretu, T. S. (2020)
“[Sir Tīmoti Kāretu] is also an unrivalled creator of waiata and haka, composing songs and judging at Te Matatini and other events. In this book, Sir Timoti shares his extensive experience in the artforms of haka and waiata – from Maori songs of the two world wars to the rise of kapa haka competitions, from love songs to action songs, from Sir Apirana Ngata to Te Puea Herangi, and from Te Matatini to contemporary hui on marae.” (Catalogue)

Kia Rōnaki = The Māori performing arts
“In the last thirty years there has been an explosion of interest in the Māori performing arts but until now there has been no general book written in English or Māori about the Māori performing arts by Māori authors and exponents of the various genres. This new work, Kia Rōnaki: The Māori Performing Arts, edited by John Moorfield, Tania Ka’ai and Rachael Ka’ai-Mahuta, brings together the expertise of a range of performance artists and academics, consolidating their knowledge into a comprehensive single volume that will be of relevance to all those interested in the Māori performing arts.” (Catalogue)

Haka : a living tradition / Gardiner, Wira

Chapter “Kapa Haka as a web of cultural meanings” by Hector Kaiwai, in Cultural studies in Aotearoa New Zealand : identity, space and place

Kapa haka mai rānō ki tēnei wā, has been important to iwi on several levels — as a driver of perfection in te reo, as a way of carrying through stories pūrākau and traditions of the past, and now, as a way of raising awareness of current local and global issues.

Kia kaha te reo Māori — mō āke tonu atu.

Read more:

Concert Parties: Movers and shakers – Part 2

Haere mai and welcome to the second blog in our ‘Te Whare Tapere to Kapa Haka and Māori Concert Party’ series. You can find Part One here.

Urban migration was the driver for the formation of pan-tribal groupings such as Ngāti Poneke (1936), Te Rōpū Manutaki (1969), Anglican Māori Clubs formed under the leadership of Kingi Ihaka at Wellington and then Auckland,  and Te Kotahitanga o Waitaha was established early 1980s.

The Ngāti Poneke Concert Party in 1950:

Some of the entertainers of the Ngati-Poneke Concert Party. From Rangiatea Centennial Celebration souvenir, page 25. March 1950.
‘Some of the entertainers of the Ngati-Poneke Concert Party’. From Rangiatea Centennial Celebration souvenir, page 25. March 1950. [Ephemera of octavo size relating to Maori. 1950-1954]. Ref: Eph-A-MAORI-1950-01-25. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23236654
Watch video of Ngāti Poneke performing at the NZ Polynesian Festival in 1981 in Avondale, Auckland:

Strong tribal groups were established in Tokomaru Bay, 1939. Tokomaru Bay waiata and the mahi of Tuini Ngawai are retold/performed by Ngā Taikura o te Hokowhitu a Tū in this video from Taikura Kapa Haka 2022 — watch online at the link below:

Ngā Taikura o te Hokowhitu a Tū – Taikura Kapa Haka 2022

Tuini Ngawai founded Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū Concert Party in 1939 — a ropū which assisted Apirana Ngata to recruit soldiers for 28 Māori Battalion. Her most famous waiata was Arohaina mai e te Kingi Nui (1940) which became the unofficial hymn for the Māori Battalion:

Arohaina mai e te Kingi Nui on YouTube

Watch this programme from TVNZ’s Waka Huia archive (Oct 5 1997), about Māori composers Tuini Ngawai and Ngoi Pewhairangi — this is Part two of a two-part profile, and focuses on the establishment of Te Hokowhitu-a-Tu cultural party and the history of its activities throughout the years:

Ngoi Pewhairangi, niece of Tuini Ngawai was a member of Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū Concert Party. Read more:

Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi : an extraordinary life / Ka’ai, Tania
“This bilingual text is a celebration of Ngoi’s life through the testimonies of many people who knew her.” (Catalogue)

Read this E-Tangata article on Dalvanius Prime:

E-Tangata — “Dalvanius – no one-hit wonder”

And watch the Poi e music video over at Te Ara:

Dalvanius Prime and Pātea Maori Club — ‘Poi e’

From the article:

Dalvanius Prime worked the Australian club circuit in the 1970s as Dalvanius and the Fascinations, and formed a production company called Maui Records in New Zealand in 1983. From then he concentrated on Māori music. His best-known song, ‘Poi e’, was the result of a collaboration with East Cape writer Ngoi Pēwhairangi and was intended to make Māori children feel proud of their ethnicity. It was sung by the Pātea Maori Club to an infectious break-dance rhythm, successfully fusing traditional Māori culture with up-to-the-minute urban sounds. The song was in the New Zealand music charts for 22 weeks in 1984, including four weeks at number one. It re-entered the charts in 2010, popularised by the movie Boy.

Here is an interview with Dalvanius Prime on the making of Poi E (interview was recorded in 2003):

Waihīrere Māori Club formed in Gisborne, (Bill Kerekere), in 1951. Watch Waihīrere Māori Ki Koroneihana Turangawaewae Ngaruawahia on YouTube:

In 1952 Ngāpō (Bub) Wehi became a member of the Waihirere Cultural Group. Read:

Ngapo Wehi – the man who made kapa haka mainstream

Ka mau te Wehi = Taking haka to the world : Bub & Nen’s story / Wehi, Ngapo
With over a century of combined experience in Maori song and dance, leading teams and teaching, Ngapo and Pimia Wehi, affectionately known as Bub and Nen, are recognised as New Zealand’s foremost leaders in this ever-expanding arena, having won six national kapa haka championships, twice as the leaders of The Waihirere Maori Club (1965-1981) and four times with Auckland kapa haka team Te Waka Huia (1981-2011). [… This book] tells the story of Bub and Nen, a loving dedicated couple who taught a generation of Maori how to live the ideals of whanau (family) and hold fast to their cultural identity through participating in kapa haka, one of the biggest and most popular areas of Maori cultural growth to emerge in the last 30 years.” (Catalogue)

Te Whare Tapere to Kapa Haka and Māori Concert Party – Part 1

Kia kawea tātou e te rēhia : Let us be taken by joy and entertainment

The story of kapa haka is a tale of many milestones, developments, and progressions. These are neatly summarized in Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand’s entry on Kapa Haka, where “Kapa” is described as a row of “performers” and kapa haka is acknowledged as both an ancient and a living art form.

A first example of kapa haka occurs in the pūrākau of Tinirau and Kae:

In the 19th century

This article, “19th-century kapa haka” – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand, describes kapa haka in the 1800s.

Concert groups (for tourism) were performing to audiences – especially at Rotorua. The kaupapa were delivered in te reo but the underlying melodies were European – thought to be more attractive to tourists who did not always warm to traditional mōteatea.

Māori concert parties made early trips abroad – Dr McGauran’s troup travelled to Sydney and Melbourne in 1862 and then to the United Kingdom the following year.

Traditional Māori ceremonies were always part of the welcome to Royal visitors — for Prince Albert in 1869, and later for Queen Elizabeth II in 1953-4.

In the 20th Century

Mākereti Papakura’s group toured Australia and United Kingdom, in 1910-1911:

Te Puea Hērangi’s troupe, Te Pou o Mangatāwhiri toured the North Island from 1922, funding the building of Tūrangawaewae:

Te Puea formed a group named Te Pou o Mangatāwhiri. Its name commemorates the pou (post) erected by the Kīngitanga at Mangatāwhiri beyond which Pākehā were not to acquire land or authority, an injunction they ignored. Te Pou o Mangatāwhiri set out to raise the hundreds of pounds needed for the carved house by performing in halls and theatres throughout the North Island. Te Puea kept morale high on the tours, gathering the young people together to tell them stories and share her hopes with them, joking, jumping to her feet to show them how to improve their haka, how to pūkana

Te Puea : A life, by Michael King
Te Puea : a life / King, Michael (Also available as an eBook)

Apirana Ngata was a huge supporter of kapa haka as fundraisers for his Māori Soldiers’ fund. He also began, in 1929, to collect waiata for his Ngā moteatea volumes:

Ngā mōteatea : he maramara rere nō ngā waka maha / Apirana Turupa Ngata

“This classic text on Maori culture collects indigenous New Zealand songs recorded over a period of 40 years by a respected Maori leader and distinguished scholar. The essence of Maori culture and its musical tradition is exhibited in the original song texts, translations, audio CDs, and notes from contemporary scholars featured in this new edition.” (Catalogue)

Apirana Turupa Ngata leading a haka at the 1940 centennial celebrations at Waitangi. The meeting house, Waitangi House, is on the left:

Apirana Turupa Ngata leading a haka at the 1940 centennial celebrations, Waitangi
‘Apirana Turupa Ngata leading a haka at the 1940 centennial celebrations, Waitangi.’ Making New Zealand : Negatives and prints from the Making New Zealand Centennial collection. Ref: MNZ-2746-1/2-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23012205

Read more:

Apirana Ngata : e tipu e rea / King, Michael
“A well-illustrated biography of Ngata, aimed at school students.” (Summary from Wheelers)

He tipua : the life and times of Sir Apirana Ngata / Walker, R. J.
“A biography of Maori leader, Sir Apirana Ngata. It describes in detail the huge impact Ngata had on the social, cultural, economic and political landscape of New Zealand and how he created a new path of reconciliation between Maori and Pakeha and helped build an enduring Maori recovery.” (Catalogue)

Paraire Tomoana and E Pari Rā:

In the First World War Paraire Tomoana put his musical ability to patriotic use. He was in his 40s, too old and too valuable at home to go to war. Instead, he threw his energies into Ngata’s scheme of raising funds to invest for the benefit of the Māori soldiers who returned, and the children of those who did not. By June 1917 he had organised a song and dance group that gave performances to raise money for the Māori Soldiers’ Fund. The members would prepare songs for soldiers’ camps, for those at home, for battlegrounds, for work and for mourning.

Te Karere clip description for the above (from 2015):

An old war-time song written by Paraire Tomoana nearly a hundred years ago is set to be revived on the other side of the world this ANZAC. More than 200 New Zealanders are learning the song and actions to E Pari Rā to perform it in a mass waiata for this year’s ANZAC Day dawn ceremony in London.”

Pōkarekare ana, Ngāti Kahungunu, 2015 Kaumātua Kapa Haka Festival: