April 14, 2022
Te Matatini history in 50 waiata
Te Matatini is marking 50 years of the national kapa haka competition by releasing a waiata each weekday for the next 10 weeks, along with its background story.
The waiata will go up at 4 pm each day on the Māori Television website https://www.maoritelevision.com
Board member Annette Wehi says tracking the changes over the half century is like tracking the Māori language revival.
She says back in 1972 few of the performers were fluent in te reo Māori.
“Through the efforts of Tā Timoti Karetu and papa Wharehuia Milroy and Pou Temara and many others we now see a different kind of kapa haka and our reo is very natural on and off the stage now,” she says.
The next festival is set for Auckland’s Eden Park from February 21 to 25 next year, using the same draw as for the competition which couldn’t go ahead because of Covid restrictions.