Te Waipounamu Maori Arts Festival 1982

Tu Tangata, Issue 10, 1 March 1983, Page 28

Te Waipounamu Maori Arts Festival 1982

WABPOUNAMU RESULTS

SENIOR AGG. SNR. CHORAL SNR. A/SONG SNR. POI SNR. ANCIENT SNR. WHAIKORERO SNR. HAKA TAPARAHI SNR. HAKA TAIAHA SNR. FEMALE LEADER

SNR. HAKA LEADER SNR. ENTRY/EXIT

nsrr. agg. nsrr. choral. nsrr. haka nsrr. leader INT. WHAIKORERO JNR. AGG. JNR. WHAIKORERO

JNR. POI JNR. LEADER JNR. A/SONG OPEN AGG. ORIGINAL COSTUME

TE KOTAHITANGA KIA NGAWARI TE KOTAHITANGA NGA POTIKI TE KOTAHITANGA TE RONGOPAI ARAI TE URU TE KOTAHITANGA NGA POTIKI TE KOTAHITANGA (TIE) TE KOTAHITANGA NGA POTIKI

KINGSWELL HIGH SCHOOL KINGSWELL HIGH SCHOOL KINGSWELL HIGH SCHOOL KINGSWELL HIGH SCHOOL TE HUINGA RANGATAHI O NGA

OTAUTAHI TE HUINGA RANGATAHI O NGA HAU E WHA OTAUTAHI OTAUTAHI OTAUTAHI

TE RONGOPAI ARAI TE URU (JNRS) NGA POTIKI

Labour Weekend 1982 saw the culmination of many weeks work in preparation for Nelson being the venue for Te Waipoinamu Maori Arts Festival. This was the 16th year cultural competitions have been held in the South Island and only the second time in Nelson.

A total of 12 clubs participated in the weekend with 20 teams entered from as far south as Invercargill. Biggest contingent was Te Rongopai Club from Invercargill with 127 travelling. Competitions were held in the Theatre Royal and accommodation was at the Trafalgar Centre.

On our arrival at the competitions in Nelson, the huge crowd of competitors inside the temporary marae complex really amazed us. From a small beginning just three months ago in a predominantly pakeha school to this.

The people who said that ‘Maoritanga is dead in the South Island’ were definitely wrong. Representatives from most of the Maori committees in the South Island were there. All of our group, since it was the first time we had been to a Maori gathering of such size and grandeur, were very impressed and very proud to be South Island Maoris.

Because we were intermediates we came up against hard competition from Te Rongopai and Kingswell High of Invercargill and Te Huinga Rangatahi of Dunedin. The amount of kaha that all the groups put into their performances was so much, that you could feel the theatre shake as the haka were performed. We ‘Te Rangatahi of Wairau’ went there to watch, hear and learn the Maori way of life. Most of our kaumatua have gone already. Only a handful are left to teach us young and those less gifted in Maoritanga. Here is a plea to you older Maori. Do what you can to preserve our heritage for us young ones who have no say in the matter. Remember the proverb “kei muri i te awe kapara he tangata ke, mana te ao he ma”. In giving you pride in performing and being part of it, it gives you pride in being a Maori and that is good.

K. Pacey, member Te Rangatahi o Wairua Intermediate Team Marlborough Girls/Marlborough Boys Colleges Blenheim.

This Maori carving by a man who took up carving only after damaging his hands is to be presented to the City of Adelaide, Australia this month.

The carving was made by Ronald Williams of Christchurch who took up the craft only at the age of 26 after an accident. The accident crushed his hand badly but as he comments. “It is said that to gain something one must first lose something”.

Commissioned by the New Zealand Sawmillers’ Federation, the carving will be presented during South Australia’s annual Wood Week celebrations.

Each year a different national organisation has offered a timber gift to the city and the New Zealand presentation is destined to appear in Adelaide’s prestigious Festival Centre complex.

The carving is of the head of the Maori god Tane and the spirals emerging from his head are representations of the rising whirlwinds by.which he ascended to the overworld.

According to Maori lore, Tane’s ascent to the overworld was made at great personal risk. He returned to earth with three baskets containing sacred knowledge which has subsequently been passed down from one generation to the next.

Recognition of Mr Williams’ ability came in 1973 with a Queen Elizabeth II

Art Award which allowed him to study full time for a year. During the past three years he has been experimenting with contemporary Maori art. “This is essential if the art is to become an integral part of contemporary society and not merely some-

thing we associate with our past,” Mr Williams says. The presentation is expected to be made on behalf of the Sawmillers’ Federation by the New Zealand High Commissioner in Australia, Sir Laurie Francis.