Karanga Aotearoa e!
Te Toa Whakaihuwaka o Te Matatini 2017, Te Kapa Haka o Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti. (Nā Te Matatini tēnei whakaahua)
E ai ki te kōrero nō te tau 1972 i rere te pakirehua a Duncan MacIntryre, te Minita Māori o taua wā ki Te Tari Māori, ‘he aha tētahi huarahi hei whakarauora ake i te reo Māori’. Ka huihui ai ngā rangatira o te motu, ko Tā Kīngi Īhaka tētahi, ko Ngoi Pēwhairangi tētahi, arā atu, arā atu. Ka kōrerotia, ka wānangatia mehemea ka puta he hua, ka whakatauhia kia tū he whetiwara haka o ngā rōpū kapa haka o te motu ki roto o Te Rotorua Nui a Kahumatamomoe. Nō te 24 o Poutūterangi/Maehe 1973 i tū te New Zealand Polynesian Festival tuatahi ki Rotorua. Ko Māwai Hakona nō Heretaunga, Te Whanganui a Tara te toa tuatahi o taua whakataetae.
Hei te marama o Pepuere/Huitanguru 2019 ka tū te Whakataetae Kapa Haka ā-Motu mō te tau 2019 ki roto o Te Whanganui-a-Tara ki te Whare Papatākaro Nui o te tāone e kīia ana ko Te Tini Keke, arā, Te Westpac Stadium mai i te 20 ki te 24 o Huitanguru. 46 ngā rōpū kapa haka ka tū ki te papa whakatū waewae o Te Matatini i tēnei tau, mai i ngā rohe katoa o Aotearoa, otirā, o Ahitereiria anō hoki.
Ki reira ka kitea te mahi a ngā rōpū kapahaka o Aotearoa e whakatauira ana i tō rātou tohungatanga ki te mahi i ngā mahi a Hine Rēhia, ki te haka i te haka a Tānerore. Ka rangona te reo korokoro tūī a tēnā, a tēnā, ka haruru te papa i te takahi ngātahi o ngā waewae, e rotua ai te tangata e te piu a te poi, e te whiu a te rākau, e mataku anō ai i te pūtē o ngā whatu, i te whāitaita o ngā kanohi. Hei aha te mahi nei? Hei whakangahau i te ngākau tangata, hei whakanui i ngā mahi a kui, a koro mā, me te aha kia taea ai te kī i eke whakaihuwaka, i eke tangaroa i runga te papa whakatū waewae a Te Matatini.
Heoi anō e mea ana Te Taura Whiri he kīnaki katoa ēnei āhuatanga ki te reo, ki ngā kupu me ngā kōrero kua tāraihia e ngā mātanga reo huri noa, huri noa i te motu, otirā i te ao. He pai noa iho te rōreka o te rangi o te waiata, engari mēnā kāore he kiko o te kupu, o te rerenga, o te kōrero, e hoa mā e, kāore hoki he kiko o te waiata, kāore tōna wairua. Tūturu anō hoki he ara tēnei e ora ai, e whakanuia ai, e rangona ai te reo, e akona mai, e akona atu ai, e whāngaihia atu anō ai hoki tō tātou reo kāmehameha ki te hunga reo Māori kore, reo Māori iti, reo Māori nui anō hoki. He ara e kawea ai tō tātou reo ki tōna taumata tiketike kia rangona anō ai e te ao, Māori mai, otirā, Aotearoa whānui mai.
Haere mai rā e ngā iwi o te motu ki runga ki te marae o te katoa mō tēnei wiki kia rongo i te ihi, i te wehi, i te wairua o ngā kaihaka kua roa nei e whakapeto ngoi ana, e whakapau kaha ana kia tutū i te puehu ki runga i te atamira o Te Matatini. Tōna tikanga ka muia a Pōneke e te mahi a tangata, e ngā rōpū, otirā e te iwi Māori nui tonu. E whakapaetia ana ka 30,000 pea te tokomaha o te tangata ka tae mai i roto i ngā rā o te hui. Nō reira te akiaki ake nei, tautokona ōu ake, ō makau, ō hoa, ō whanaunga, i te mea kāore pea he momo hui i tua atu, i tua mai mō tāua te Māori.
Me pēnei noa ake te whakakapi
Hope, ki raro, hope,
Ki raro, hurihia, kia wiri, takahia!
Hī auē!
Karanga, karanga, karanga, karanga rā,
Karanga Aotearoa e!