Te Arawa Kaumatua Games

Friday saw the last day of the 2014 Te Arawa Kaumatua Games at Whakarewarewa.

The three day event hosted by Tuhourangi Ngāti Wahiao began on Wednesday at Te Puia with traditional Māori games including Whai, Tapuwae and Poi Rākau and a walk around the grounds to share kōrero.

On Thursday, the team and a few kaumatua accompanied Anaha Hiini to the top of Maunga Tuturu (Pohaturoa track) to conduct karakia to celebrate Matariki, Ariki Matanui.  Ā, i toro mai ngā ringa manaaki a Whaitiri rāua ko Tawhirimatea ki a mātou e taki ana i ngā karakia i te tihi o te maunga!

To finish off the week and the Games, our Kaumatua were guided around the Whakarewarewa village by Ngarepo Eparaima but the nanny's were also quick to jump and share their knowledge and stories of the place they grew up in. After our walk around the village, we enjoyed sweetcorn cooked in Parekohuru, kātahi hoki te reka!! 

With our puku filled with sweetcorn, we headed into Wahiao to listen to Jason Phillips share his knowledge about taonga pūoro and listen to the sounds from the beautiful taonga.

The Games ended with a recap of Kia Tekau, one of the traditional Māori games our kaumatua learned on Wednesday.  Laughter filled the village, which is the aim of our traditional games that are derived from Te Whare Tapere: The House of Entertainment.

He mihi nui ki ngā kaumatua i tae mai ki te whakangahau, te whakanui me te whakatakoto i ō koutou kōrero e pā ana ki tō tātou whenua, o tātou tupuna, ā, haere tonu... Ki te whānau o Te Puia me Te Whakarewarewa, kei te mihi hoki ki a koutou mo te ringa manaaki i whakatū i te kaupapa nei hei whakanui i ā tātou Kōeke.