Ko Te Āhuareka o Ngāti Hine tērā e kainamu mai ana, ā, kua tahuri mai te mātātahi o te tau kia tū ia ki te atamira.
Hei tā te uri o Hāmoa, a Namulau’ulu Nu’uali’i Eteroa Lafaele (Fogapoa, Leulumoega Tuai, Lefaga), he tohu aroha tēnei ki tana hoa rangatira, ki te iwi Māori anō hoki.
“My fiancé is from Ngāti Hine - Timoti Wharewaka. He always comes to our aoga pese.”
“[Because] of his tautua, his service to me and my family, I thought it was very important to serve back as well.”
Koinei tana tū tuatahi ki atamira o Ngāti Hine, ka mutu, ki tētahi atamira kapa haka.
“I’m very excited. I’m also a bit nervous because I’m a bit injury-prone. But other than that, the mana of the team will carry us to the end.”
“How we siva in Samoa - we use our hands and we use our knees a lot. [It’s] very different. [I] feel like I’ve opened a door of new skills and new muscles to break.”
Te Mātātahi o te Tau
Lafaele, a Samoan software engineer from Porirua, was named Young New Zealander of the Year last week. As founder of DigiTautua and co-founder of Fibre Fale, she bridges the digital divide for Pacific communities, empowering thousands and reaching millions online.
Her work has earned global recognition, including Forbes 30 Under 30 and the NZ Hi-Tech Young Achiever Award.
“I still remember the time when I made it as a finalist - I was in Samoa getting ready for my chief ceremony and I was standing in front of my grandmother’s grave,” she says.
“That itself was a signal to me [that] I am my ancestors’ dreams.”
Te Āhuareka o Ngāti Hine Festival
The biennial Te Āhuareka o Ngāti Hine Festival, launched in 2008, celebrates and preserves Ngāti Hine’s te reo and tikanga.
It has grown to attract hundreds with its debates, kapa haka, kai, entertainment, and art exhibitions.
Named after Te Ruki Kawiti’s whare rūnanga at Waiōmio, built in the 1820s, this year’s theme is ‘Ka Kakati Te Namu’ - a phrase from Te Takuate a Kawiti, meaning ‘the sandfly nips,’ first spoken after the withdrawal from Te Ruapekapeka in 1846.
Ngāti Hine ki Tua is one of many kapa taking the stage this week, aiming to reconnect Ngāti Hine descendants living in Tāmaki Makaurau to their Northland roots.
“Ko tēnei kapa ngahau he waka noa iho hei whakahoki i a tātau ki te kaenga,” says tutor Kataraina Ropati-Snell.
Ko tā Lafaele, he whakapūmau i ngā hononga i waenga i te iwi Māori me ngā iwi o Te Moana Nui-ā-Kiwa.
“At Fibre Fale too, we’re Toitū Te Tiriti. We believe that we have to have partnership with Māori to understand each other.”
“I’ve always been a staunch believer in what’s good for Māori is good for me as a Pasifika woman in Aotearoa.”
Te Ahuareka will be held at Otiria Marae from Friday 28 March to Sunday 30 March.
“You can do all those waiata in the corporate world, but it doesn’t beat the actual experience here where you take your shoes off, feel the whenua and feel the air.”
