I tēnei tau kua 35 tau te Poipātū Māori i Aotearoa, ā, i whakanuia ai i te Whakataetae Poipātū Māori ā-Motu o Ngā Hau e Whā i tū ai i Tauranga Moana i te paunga whitu roa o Reipa.

I kī a Te Pio Kawe, ko te heamana o te kōmiti whakarite i tēnei tau, ko te tūāpapa kaupapa Māori te āhuatanga pai rawa atu o te Whakataetae Poipātū Māori ā-Motu o Ngā Hau e Whā ka kitea, ka rangona e ngā kaitākaro, e ngā kaitautoko katoa hoki, Māori mai, tauiwi mai.

Nui atu i ngā kaitākaro me ngā kaitautoko 150 i tae atu ki te whakataetae, ā, i haere mai i tawhiti tētahi tangata i Pāpua Nūkini ki te whakataetae. Tokomaha ngā whānau ka haere atu, ehara i te mea ki te whakataetae noa iho hei kaitākaro, hei kaitautoko hoki, engari kia kite ai anō i ngā hoa, i whānau kē atu hoki e manawareka ana ki te tākaro nei.

“I haere mai tētahi whānau – tokorima ngā mokopuna i tautokona e ō rātou kuia, kaumātua hoki – i Te Whanganui-a-Tara ki te whakataetae, me tētahi tokorua – he hoa rāua nō Ruapehu, ā, koinei te wā tuatahi mō tētahi o rāua,” te kī a Te Pio.

Koinei hoki te wā tuatahi mō tētahi rōpū nō Taranaki i eke ki ngā taumata o te whakataetae. I tū tētahi rōpū i Taranaki i mua, i te tau 1991. Nā Tamsyn Leevey te rōpū i ārahi, i toa ai i te wāhanga tuwhera wahine mō ngā tau 12, haere tonu.

He kaitākaro ngaio a Leevey, i tākaro mō Aotearoa i te Whakataetae Commonwealth i te tau 2006 i tū ai i Poipiripi, ā, i riro mai i a rāua ko Shelley Kitchen te mētara hiriwa i te whakataetae wāhine tokorua.

Ehara te whakataetae mā te hunga ngaio kua ngungua anake, engari mā te tangata, ahakoa ko wai e hiahia ana ki te tākaro poipātū, ahakoa te taumata pūkenga. 

“Ka taea e te katoa te uru mai ki te whakataetae, mai i te tauhou ki te ngaio. Ehara hoki i te mea me noho koe hei mema o tētahi karapu. Haere mai, mahia te mahi,” te kī a Te Pio.

I whai whakaarotia hoki ngā reanga i roto i te whakataetae – mai i te hunga rangatahi tae atu ki te hunga kaumātua, ā, ka whakaritea ngā wā whakangungu i taua paunga whitu. Tae atu ki 21 ngā rangatahi i whai wāhi i roto i te whakataetae tae atu ki ngā awheawhe i waho i te papa tākaro, pērā i te pā whutupaoro, te kauhoe, me te poirewa.

“I tino pīrangi mātou ki te tiaki i te hunga rangatahi ki te papa tākaro, ki wāhi kē atu hoki. I te ahiahi o te Rāhoroi i noho a Suzanne Devoy ki tō rātou taha, kōrero ai mō āna wheako me tōna manawareka ki te tākaro.

Ka kōrero a Suzanne mō tōna whānau, mōna anō hei kōtiro kotahi i waenga i ōna tūngane, kō ō rātou mātua hoki i tākaro ai i Rotorua. Ināianei, tokowhā āna tama, ā, ka tākaro rātou katoa, waihoki e ngākaunui tonu ana ia ki te tākaro.

“He wāhanga kaumātua tā Ngā Hau e Whā 60 tau neke atu te pakeke. I tēnei tau, tokoono ngā koroua, tokowhā ngā kuia i tākaro i te whakataetae tākaro-ki-te-katoa,” ki tā Te Pio.

I noho te tokomaha kaitākaro i ētahi marae e rua o te rohe – arā, ko Maungatapu me Hairini – i reira ngā āhuatanga papai o te wāhi noho me te wheako tuatahi o tētahi hoa rangatira, ko Aaron, kāore anō kia noho ki tētahi marae. Ko te mutunga kē mai o te pārekareka o te wheako me te pai o te whakataetae, ā, e hiahia ana ia ki te hoki mai anō.

I whakamahia te Karapu Hākinakina, Ahurea hoki a Rangataua hei pūtake ā-pō, ā, i whakauhi i te tauwhāinga kapa haka, whakangahau hoki i te mutunga o te whakataetae. Nā Maungatapu Marae i whakauhi i te tukunga taonga, i reira i kitea ai te eke a te rohe hou, ko Taranaki ki ngā taumata i te toanga o Grace Stanyon, 13 ōna tau, rāua ko Niwa Barlow, 14 ōna tau. I toa tētahi i te taitara kōtiro teina, ā, i toa tērā atu i te taitara tama teina.

“Nā te tautoko a ngā tūao me taunaki ā-pūtea a Te Puni Kōkiri me Opus International Consultants Tauranga me TECT i āhei ai ngā whānau ki te tae atu ki te Whakataetae Poipātū Māori ā-tau ia tau, ia tau. Nā tērā, e tino whakamihi ana mātou ki a rātou katoa,” te kī a Te Pio.

Ko te whakataetae ā tērā tau ka tū ki Porirua, ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara. He kaupapa motuhake hei te tau 2020, arā, ko te huritau 40, ā, e tūmanako ana ngā mema ka tū te whakataetae ki Te Awamutu, i reira tīmata ai te whakataetae nei.

Mō ētahi pārongo anō te paepae tukutuku a Ngā Hau e Whā mō te Poipātū. (http://www.ngahauewha.nz/)