Reviving Te Reo Maori in Each day Household Life
Tangaroa Hau-Hadfield enforces a key rule for his three youngsters: they communicate solely Te Reo Maori within the automotive. “Whether or not it’s a five-minute journey, a 20-minute journey, a two-hour journey, generally it makes the journey good and quiet,” he says with amusing. This apply helps maintain the Maori language and te ao Maori tradition inside his Brisbane dwelling.
“We’re grateful to apply our tradition right here overseas as a result of it’s a misplaced tradition, a misplaced language, and it’s our accountability to revive it for ourselves and our youngsters,” Hau-Hadfield provides.
Like practically 10,000 Kiwis who relocated to Queensland within the final monetary yr, Hau-Hadfield crossed the Tasman Sea over a decade in the past from Hokianga in New Zealand’s far north. He pursued alternatives in Australia’s mining sector, met his spouse, and raised three tamariki, or youngsters. It took 5 years to construct his Brisbane whanau, or prolonged household, via the aggressive kapa haka group Te Kapa Haka o Te Kahu Ariki in Eagleby.
“We’re greater than a kapa haka group; it’s a household—we all know what makes one another tick and completely happy,” he explains. Final yr, the group prevented him and his companion from returning to New Zealand. “That’s the dedication and ties we’ve; I’m glad we stayed.”
Te Kapa Haka o Te Kahu Ariki: A Cultural Lifeline
The group fashioned in Brisbane three years in the past to keep up Maori traditions, in accordance with chief Andre Ahipene. “When one practices who they honestly are via custom and tradition, you grow to be nearer to the land,” he states. “It’s a life-style. We’re lucky that mana whenua—the Indigenous peoples of this land—assist our efforts.”
Co-leader Gaylene Ahipene notes: “To have somebody who understands you, speaks the identical language, and shares the identical ideas helps us keep related to ourselves and one another. In at this time’s world, it retains us grounded.”
The couple arrived in Brisbane practically 20 years in the past for a break however rapidly embraced haka. “It was inevitable; haka wouldn’t allow us to escape who we’re,” Andre says. “It’s our oranga, our fountain of youth, conserving us wholesome, vibrant, match, and ready.”
Aiming for Nationwide Glory at Upcoming Festivals
The group intensifies rehearsals for the tenth Australian Maori Kapa Haka Pageant on the Gold Coast on the finish of March. One among 9 competing groups, they search qualification for Te Matatini 2027 in Waikato—the world’s largest conventional Maori performing arts occasion.
“It will be life-changing for our members who’ve labored exhausting right here, to carry out on our personal whenua with our folks,” Gaylene says throughout a rehearsal. “It’s our kapa retracing ancestral steps dwelling,” Andre provides.
Such massive gatherings stay uncommon for Brisbane’s Maori neighborhood, many drawn by higher jobs. Andre requires extra developmental conferences and language retreats. “Alternatives to unite would assist our folks discover us constantly,” he says.
Passing Traditions to the Subsequent Technology
For Hau-Hadfield and the Ahipenes, these efforts heart on their youngsters. “They enter the area as sponges, choosing up issues as quick as—or sooner than—us,” Hau-Hadfield observes.
“We’ve raised our 4 youngsters right here; it’s evolution—we adapt with the occasions and produce our infants alongside,” Gaylene concludes.
