This year we had a clean sweep of the regional competition giving us four speakers in the national competition. Tūmai Cassidy, Pei Te Hurunui Jones - Senior Māori representing He Waka Kōtiua; Jordyn Katipa-Martin, Korimako - Senior English representing Queen's High School; and Kiringāua Cassidy, Rāwhiti Ihaka - Junior English and Te Kahurangi Mclean, Sir Turi Carroll - Junior English representing King's High School.
This competition was held in Gisborne and because He Waka Kōtuia, King’s and Queen’s were being represented, this gave us the opportunity to take more people than we normally would. We took a support crew of 16 with Whaea Cherie from Queen's and Matua Isaac Hensmen from King's, Nanny Rena and a mix of students from both King's and Queen's High Schools. We stayed at the Tidal Waters Log Lodge in Waihau Beach.
This year our junior Māori speaker Kiringāua's, performance was outstanding with his speech, "Mātanga mā, he aha i hē ai te reo te rangatahi?". He was the second speaker early on in the day and although there wasn’t a large crowd he had both the crowd and the judges enthralled with his speech. This prompted the presenter to say, "Akene pēa, kātahi anō ka kite i te toa mō tēnei rā". He scored 299.5 out of 300 and took out second place. This was only the second time in the history of the competition that a South Island speaker placed in the junior Māori section. This was a momentous occasion celebrated by us all, and truly a magnificent achievement for Kiringāua.
"Kāore taku reo i whānau hē mai, hapa mai, e, ko au kē tēnā!"
Tūmai and Jordyn, our two senior speakers were midway through the order of speakers on day one and held their own in their impromptu speeches. Tūmai's speech was about the fight for the ongoing survival of the language, he finished off by urging our rangatahi to be strong in that fight and that as rangatahi, the life of the language is in their hands,
"Rangatahi mā, kei ō tātou ringaringa te oranga o te reo!"
Jordyn's impromptu speech also also focussed on te reo revitilisation and the change that needs to happen in our education system in order for this to happen.
In their prepared speeches they both carried on a similar theme to their impromptu's. Tūmai's topic was, 'Ko tōku ao Māori e tata ngaro nei'. This was Tūmai's fourth and final time competing at Ngā Manu Kōrero nationals. His presentation and the confidence with which he spoke belied the fact that he'd written and learnt his speech in the couple of days prior to the competition. The main point of his kōrero being that our Māori world is like the ti-kouka, regardless of attacks against it, will continue to rise.
This was Jordyn's first time at the national competition and her impassioned, thoughtful and purposeful speech, "10 ways to teach me" really struck a chord with the audience. Jordyn was animated, confident and strong and it was fantastic to see her represent her views with such potency.
"Passion. Passion is the reason that I can get Excellence in history and Not Achieved in English"
Like Jordyn, this was also Te Kahurangi's first standing at Ngā Manu Kōrero national speech competition. Although Te Kahurangi wasn't as at ease as he had been on the regional stage earlier in the year his speech, 'Is mana inherited or earned?' was a well thought out speech that had equal parts of serious, well researched content and humour. How did his quip about his mother finding a pair of soiled undies relate to earned or lost mana?
"I earned mana in the eyes of my brother for taking the blame, but I probably lost mana in my mum's eyes, because she thinks I don't know how to keep my cheeks clean"
It was awesome to have Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti Te Kura Poutama rangatahi come in support and hope that their trip to the nationals inspires them as they move in to Year 9 in 2019. Our accommodation in Waihau Beach was fantastic and although it was a bit of a hike to get there it was a beautiful place to stay.
All in all it was a great trip having four of our rangatahi stand in each of the four categories of the competition. It was a real indicator of the strength and passion our rangatahi have for te ao Māori, made even more special by Kiringāua's second placing. We also found some time to go the wharf at Tolaga Bay before we headed home.
You can watch the whole competition here: https://livestream.com/eclive/events/8375541
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