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High schools in Te Tairawhiti have held their first kapa haka and Ngā Manu Kōrero speech competitions since the start of the pandemic.
Spokesperson Kerry-Ann Matahiki says it still wasn’t smooth sailing – at least one kura couldn’t make it because it was still involved in cyclone clean-up.
She says the events of recent years affected the tone.
“There was a time when we would get a lot of comedy, a lot of funny korero, but just of late the kaupapa have been not heavy but they are serious, eh, and our tamariki are quite willing to talk about their views on those sorts of things,” Ms Matahiki says.
Kerry-Ann Matahiki says the kapa haka was won by Tū ki Uta, a combined ropu bringing together three small schools, Manutūkē, Horouta Wānanga and Hawaiki Hōu, with a ropu from Gisborne Boys and Girls High Schools also going forward to the national competition next year, and Tolaga bay Area School third.
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