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The Press is this week published under the masthead Te Matatika, reflecting our history and showing our support for Ma¯ori Language Week. Te Matatika means to be honest, fair, impartial and unbiased. These are attributes our newsroom strives for and are reflected in our Latin motto Nihil utile quod non honestum meaning ‘‘Nothing is useful that is not honest’’.
Abilingual class at one of Christchurch’s newest schools has children and parents signing up to learn te reo Ma¯ ori. The class at Haeata Community Campus, in Aranui, aims to use Ma¯ori 70 per cent of the time.
Teacher Raewyn Himona said about 80 children had signed up to join the class and there was strong interest from parents.
‘‘A lot of our parents don’t speak te reo at home but that’s what they want for their children . . . we have [re reo] night classes for parents too.’’
About 150 of Haeata’s 800 pupils also take kapa haka classes.
Kapa haka kaiwhakaako (tutor) Raewyn Hodge said her teaching was about ‘‘getting along’’ with others and ‘‘bringing people together’’.
In te reo Ma¯ ori, this is called whakawhanaungatanga.
‘‘That’s a big thing with kapa haka ‘cause you can’t be a team if you’re not all trying to get along. It’s a way of learning about your past, your whakapapa.’’
She said her students, on average, spend 45 to 90 minutes a day in kapa haka class.
‘‘It’s like another world,’’ Hodge said. ‘‘I don’t know how to explain the feeling but when you start singing, everything is amazing.’’
Te Ara, the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, says ‘‘kapa’’ means to stand in a row or rank and ‘‘haka’’ means dance.
Kapa haka can be performed by groups on marae, at schools, events or festivals.
Hodge said the key elements of kapa haka were takahia (stamping), wiri (movement of the hands) and pu¯ kana (showing the whites of your eyes).
‘‘With the babies [5-year-olds] we’d make up new Ma¯ ori games, just to help them with the Ma¯ ori language . . . it’s all with rhythm so we do the takahia, and we make up games with it and with the wiri, it just helps them learn te reo.’’
She said conveying emotions was an essential part of kapa haka.
‘‘We sit and we practise smiles, while we’re singing and [practise] the eyebrows, because when you’re telling a story you can use your eyebrows to tell it, just that little stuff.’’
Hodge completed her schooling in te reo Ma¯ ori at Te Kura Kaupapa Ma¯ ori O Te Whanau
‘‘A lot of our parents don’t speak te reo at home but that’s what they want for their children.’’ Teacher Raewyn Himona
Tahi in Spreydon, Christchurch.
Haeata director of learning Iriha¯ peti Mahuika said children were ‘‘strongly encouraged’’ to participate in kapa haka classes.
‘‘We have a strong commitment to Te Ao Ma¯ ori at Haeata, the expectation is all staff are nurturing that.’’