Te Manahua and Whakataetae History

In New Zealand, over 400,000 people a year — including almost half of all indigenous Polynesian Maori — attend some type of kapa haka or traditional Maori performing arts presentation.

Like all Polynesian peoples, the Maori of Aotearoa as they call New Zealand, have engaged in these traditional performing arts — songs, dances and chants — for centuries.

In 1911 the first known Maori performing group successfully toured Great Britain. The first national Maori Traditional Performing Arts Festival, now called Te Matatini or "the many faces" in the Maori language, premiered in 1972 and is held every other year in various locations around New Zealand.

In a recent Te Matatini Festival almost 40,000 people watched over 1,200 competitors.

The Polynesian Cultural Center, which opened in 1963 and has proudly featured Maori kapa haka ever since in its spectacular and authentic Aotearoa marae or village, as well as the outstanding evening show, Horizons, began a series of annual Maori cultural competitions over six years ago, which we now call the Whakataetae Festival. Whakataetae in Maori [the 'wh' is pronounced like an 'f'] means "competition."

Seamus Fitzgerald, PCC's former Maori ambassador of culture who is originally from Turangi, New Zealand, explains, "There's a regional competition every two years, and a national competition on the opposite second year. The winners of the regional competitions represent their tribal area at the national competition, which was in Palmerston North this year. I went, and there were 45 groups who performed, with an awesome level of competition."Fitzgerald adds that since 2003 the format of PCC's Whakataetae Festival follows the outline of Te Matatini competitions in New Zealand."I believe the senior groups here have the same skill level as the ones in New Zealand," Fitzgerald says. "That was supported by [previous] judges. I have a letter from the key judge, Watini Mitai-Ngatai — who in the area of performing arts is probably respected as much as anyone could be for his expertise in kapa haka and Maoritanga [Maori culture] — who wrote the national committee, saying that the Hawaii competition needs to be part of the regional competition, and the winners should perform at the nationals because they're at the same level.""That's our ultimate goal," Fitzgerald said, "that we qualify here in regional competition and the winner goes back and represents North America in New Zealand."

Until then, you can enjoy a superior level of Maori kapa haka at the Polynesian Cultural Center, especially during future annual Te Manahua festivals.

People behind the scenes

In staging the Polynesian Cultural Center’s Te Manahua festivals, many people such as Fitzgerald and the 2008-09 coordinator, Rahira Makekau, have been part of a talented, hard-working group of cultural specialists working behind the scenes to make this a special event.

Of his own competing group, Te Hokioi, Fitzgerald — who is currently working on a doctoral degree in New Zealand — said, “Our goal has always been to keep the culture alive. Our tutors taught me what I've been given is not mine to hold. There's an obligation to pass it on to anybody who has the right heart and who comes seeking for it. I can't be selective of who I teach. If someone comes to me and sincerely wants to learn something, I have an obligation to teach them. We are just caretakers of the culture. It's not ours to own. We must pass it on."

"When we pass it on to the students who are here, it becomes more dynamic in their own lives. It strengthens them spiritually and mentally, and it will be an advantage to them as they move into the rest of the world. They'll have a stronger identity of who they are, of who their ancestors were. That's always portrayed through the dance and the language."

More recently, Rahira Makekau said she’s very pleased with tutoring aspects of Te Manahua: “It’s so significant in helping the MMaori families that are here to retain our culture. There are Maori kids who have been born here, far removed from home, there are Maori kids who have been raised at home and have come to live here, and there are part-Maori kids who have lived in both places. One of the significances of Te Manahua is to keep our culture strong for our kids while they’re being raised in another land.”

“The culture back home is evolving, and if we don’t stay on top of it, we’re going to get stuck in a certain time period. So to me, it’s significant to have people such as our judges come over to perform to keep us fresh. I also go home at least once a year or so for that purpose. If we don’t do that, we could quite easily keep this place back in the 1980s,” she said.

“I also think there’s nothing more humbling for me than to see how real and sincere people from other places are in wanting to learn Maori culture. For example, when I watch the BYU–Hawaii Kiwi Club perform, I see that half of them are Asians. That’s the most wonderful thing in that setting. I love it, and it’s one of the diverse things about this community that is unique and special.”

Other Te Manahua committee members have or now include Hawaiian cultural expert Cy Bridges, Special Events Coordinator; recently retired Aotearoa village rangatira or chief Colin Shelford; the late Nihipora Kereama Wallace; Aunty Valetta Jeremiah; Uncle George Kaka, Mark Clawson, Tama Halvorsen and Kim Makekau.