Reunion for cultural group
As the 55th anniversary of one of Manawatu¯ and Tararua’s first Ma¯ ori culture groups approaches, a Woodville man is trying to reunite the original members’ farflung wha¯ nau.
Joel Mudford revived the Wharetı¯tı¯ Ma¯ ori Culture Club two years ago, after a long period of inactivity.
The young Ma¯ ori leader was following in the footsteps of his father Dick Mudford, who helped found the group 55 years ago to allow young Tararua Ma¯ori to rediscover the mana of their heritage.
Now, the Mudfords hope to gather the original group’s wha¯ nau, who’ve scattered across Australasia, for a two-day celebration at the Te Ahu a Tu¯ ranaga Marae for Whaetı¯tı¯’s anniversary this June.
Dick Mudford said Ma¯ ori from all over the country moved to Woodville to get jobs working on the railway in the 1960s. It was long before the ko¯ hanga reo movement started to revitalise the language in 1982. So, disconnected from their iwi, many of their children weren’t learning to speak te reo or the history of their whakapapa.
Dick Mudford and a group of four community elders came together to found Wharetı¯tı¯ as a way for the children of Woodville, and neighbouring towns, reconnect with their heritage.
The group organised te reo classes and began teaching kapa haka in 1964. It was one of the first such groups in the area and Wharetı¯tı¯ was in hot demand for performances across the central North Island. to