He kura wiwini, He kura wawana o te hau kāenga: Taikura Kapa Haka 2025
As part of our Matariki offerings, Rongowhakaata Iwi Trust is privileged to support the initiatives of our Kāhui Kaumātua, who continue to demonstrate strong leadership, provide invaluable guidance, and share their vast mātauranga in line with the organisation’s core values and principles—expressing vitality, rangatiratanga, and kaitiakitanga. He kitenga onamata, he mahi inamata, he whāinga anamata.
The Kāhui Kaumātua led their 2025 programme with ongoing wānanga and kaupapa motuhake carefully crafted through their monthly hui throughout the year, with the intention to attend He Kura Te Tangata Taikura Kapa Haka 2025, held on 28–29 June 2025 at Te Papa, Wellington. This marked the 19th year of the event, celebrating the legacy of Māori performing arts and kaumātua.
In the Wairua of the Kaupapa—reviving and performing compositions by iconic figures—our kāhui practised a bespoke bracket featuring waiata of local significance, including a selection penned by iwi iconic composers such as the late Moe Brown, Hone Poi, and their contemporaries Derek Lardelli, Teina Moetara, and Bub Te Kurapa. These waiata celebrate narratives of navigation, kūmara, hapū, and aroha.
The opportunity to reconnect with Te Hau ki Tūranga led our Kāhui to hold wānanga in the whare, where three of our iwi ringa toi shared artform narratives through their unique creative perspectives as uri of Rongowhakaata—through whakairo, kōwhaiwhai, and rāranga. In addition, the Kāhui brought their own voices to the forum, sharing their research findings about tīpuna featured in the whare whakairo.
A memorable moment was the early morning pōhiri when the karanga filled the space. Of the five kaikaranga, three were Rongowhakaata wāhine, showing the strong leadership, dignity, and mana of our women within Rongowhakaata.
Kāhui Kaumātua also initiated an invitation to all uri o Rongowhakaata—especially taura here living in Pōneke—to join wānanga sessions while in residence, creating space for whakawhanaungatanga and reminding us how closely connected we all are.
Uri learned and sang Taku Manu Kārearea alongside our kaumātua—strengthening intergenerational ties and affirming the power of sharing mātauranga through lived experience, collective action, and the joy of being together.
Taikura 2025 was a vibrant expression of our kaumātua leadership in full flight—with dignity and connection, our whare was filled with laughter, vitality, and warmth. Kaumātua reminded us not just of the importance of knowledge, but of the life force that carries it forward—joy, humour, aroha, and the strength found in coming together.
In the spirit of Matariki—a time to remember, reset, and renew—this kaupapa reaffirmed our living legacy of vitality, sustained through the light and laughter of our cherished Kāhui Kaumātua.
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