About Ma-wai-hakona:

Te Ao Hou, 1973, Page 62

About Ma-wai-hakona: The Ma-wai-hakona Maori Association had its beginnings in the fund-raising campaign for the Maori Education Foundation in 1961. A group was formed amongst Upper Hutt Maoris to raise money and from this effort came the decision to form a Maori cultural group to cater for the people in the area. ‘Ma-wai-hakona’ is the Maori name for the Trentham district as well as for a stream which winds through the area. In former times a scoop or hako was used to dip for water. Thus ‘Ma-wai-hakona’ is ‘the stream where water was scooped out’. Almost since its inception ‘Ma-wai-hakona’ has been one of the giants on the Wellington Maori cultural scene and next to Ngati Poneke is the oldest established group actively performing in the area. From 1965 to 1968 they held the Tahiwi trophy for best performance of an original action song in the Maori section of the Wellington Competitions. In 1968 they also won almost all the remainder of the major prizes and tied for the Ngata Trophy for highest aggregate points. The Association has a large membership which although predominantly Maori includes Pakeha and Polynesians from other parts of the Pacific.