Students of Te Kura Nui o Rototuna are embracing te ao Māori through the art of haka theatre dubbed as ‘hakaari’.
“Getting here has kind of gotten me to get more interested in my personal pēpēha and marae and it’s getting me comfortable with my aunties and my cousins,” says year Sailah-Maree Malcom.
“This is probably my first year really getting into te ao Māori, Māori everything. Obviously through year 7 and 8 we got kind of like mixing into it but now it’s starting to get serious and back at home we didn’t experience any of that,” says Malcolm.
Many Māori students at the kura have a passion for Kapa Haka. Despite the school being mainstream, an initiative arose to expand beyond Haka with Haka Theatre, incorporating Te Reo Māori and Tikanga Māori. For many students, this is a new experience for them.
“I never really had te reo Māori at home. I’d never been taught, never gone to a te reo Māori school. Never ever in my life have I experienced it until Rototuna Junior High School,” says year Neihana Kiripatea.
“I reckon just give it a go. It will have a really good impact on you, it will get you pretty far in life,” he says.
Ko ‘hakaari’ he kuaha ki te ao Māori: te hononga o te ao haka me te ao whakaari
Kua whakawhāiti a Wairea Company ki te tautoko i te rautaki whakarauora reo o Te Kura Nui o Rototuna.
“Me kī ko te tino pūtake, he tākoha atu i ngā taonga tuku iho kua tākoha mai ki ahau i roto i ngā tau mā roto mai i ngā toi whakaari, ngā mahi kanikani, ngā mahi o te ao haka. Kei konei mātou o Wairea ki te tautoko i te rautaki whakarauora i te reo Māori o Te Kura Tuarua o Rototuna,” hei tā Rangipo Ihakara o Wairea Company.
“Ko te wawata noa iho māku, otirā mō mātou ngā kaiako, kia tū rangatira, kia tū pakari te tauira i roto i tōna ake ao. Kei a ia te kōwhiringa he aha te huarahi mōna. Ko tō mātou mahi, he poipoi, he whakakipakipa i a rātou,” hei tā Ihakara anō.
Ko te Wairea Company he kamupene Toi Whakaari me te Whare Tapere nō ngā Iwi Taketake, nō Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa hoki, ko tō kāinga kei te Waiariki engari he haere hoki ki ētehi atu wāhi pēnei i Waikato nei ki te whakatū hakaari.
E tino kitea ana e Kaharau Keogh, pouako ki Te Kura Nui o Rototuna i ngā hua o te kaupapa nei. Ko te wawata nui mō ngā akonga kia Māori, kia pakari hoki tā rātou noho i tō rātou ao Māori.
“Ko taku hiahia kia tukuna he tūāpapa ki tēnei rāngai tauira e tāea ai e rātou te tūhono anō, te whakakaha anō i te renarena o te taukaea aroha ki ō rātou ao Māori i waho ake i te kura,” hei tā Kaharau Keogh.
“Ko te akoranga nui ki ahau i roto i ēnei mahi, ko te rongo i te mamae me te kite ka pēwhea koe. Ka haere tonu rānei, ka taupīore rānei, ka amuamu rānei. Ko te hiahia nei, kia whakaako i ēnei tamariki kia ururoa, kia whai kaha,” hei tā Keogh anō.