Te Hautoka 2021

The Secondary School Regional Kapa Haka Competition is the premier Māori event and only competitive Kapa Haka in Otago and Southland. Te Hautoka’s primary objective is to celebrate and encourage excellence in Te Reo Māori, the Māori Language, and Māori Performing Arts. First and second placed teams qualify for the National Secondary School Kapa Haka competition, which is second only to ‘Te Matatini’ in quality and size as a celebration of Māori performing arts.

This year the Te Ohu Kaiako o Otepoti, hosted the Bi-Annual regional competition at the Dunedin Town Hall. There were over 1000 people who came to watch and support these kapa throughout the day. This is the most well attended Hautoka that we have had to date. It was great to see the local community getting involved and supporting Rangatahi Māori and Māori Performing Arts.

It is through Kapa Haka that relationships are developed with our rangatahi and whānau, it is here that they are able to identify their strengths in order to help them grow. Rangatahi who are part of kapa haka learn cultural competency, te reo Māori, they grow confidence in Māori performance, coordination, timing, commitment and teamwork. They learn Māori values, Māori tikanga, Māori identity and the obligations that tangata whenua carry as kaitiaki of their lands.

The purpose of the competition is to come together as Māori, share pūrākau, whakaaro as well as all of the important traits listed above. Typically this is all displayed in a 30 minute competitive bracket which demonstrates discipline, fitness, timing, teamwork, Poi, Haka and Waiata. Traditional forms of weaponry like Mau Rākau, Tī Rākau and patu can also be incorporated within a performance. These disciplines require hours of commitment and dedication to master and the efforts of the kapa were all showcased on the stage.

For the first time Ngahau groups were encouraged to showcase their work from this year and get a feel for what it's like to be on stage. We are hoping this experience will encourage more schools to get involved in the competition and build confidence within these students.

This year there were 4 competing rōpū. These 4 rōpū have been consistent entries into the competition for several years. The judges comments at the end of the day mentioned noticeable lift in the performance standard and the energy from all of our competing rōpū. This is a trend we have been following for the past 10 years.

Due to the effects of COVID-19 this is the first time any of these teams has performed in a event of this size since 2019. Losing momentum often results in a drop of fitness level and a drop in discipline. But we suspect that it was this loss of momentum that pushed these rōpū to work even harder to make up lost time. Due to their incredible efforts, all rōpū exceeded the standard they had set in previous years, which is a huge testament to the commitment and dedication from these rangatahi as well as from their tutors and whānau.

The overall placings for Te Hautoka were as follows:

3rd: Wairua Pūhou

2nd: Te Wharekura o Arowhenua

1st: He Waka Kōtuia

Te Wharekura o Arowhenua will be accompanying He Waka Kōtuia in representing Ōtākou/Murihiku at Ngā Kapa Haka Kura Tuarua o Aotearoa in Tāmaki Makau Rau, July next year.

We must also acknowledge our generous sponsors, without their support this event would not have been able to happen; Otago Community Trust, Kotahi Mano Kaika, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou, Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki, Te Pūtahitanga, Te Puni Kōkiri, University of Otago, Otago Polytechnic, PPTA, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori and Suzanne Ellison.

A special mention also to Tahu FM who recorded the groups, Rewa Pene Photography, Gravity Events, Southern Lights and Dunedin Venues