by Lynette Burroughs

46 Years of Kapa Haka!

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With the recent HBHS and HGHS elite Kapa Haka group of Te Maurea Whiritoi competing at the 2021 Tainui Regional Festival and qualifying for the National competition in 2022, we thought it was time to take a moment to look back to where this all started - 1975!!

 Excerpt from The Hamiltonian 1975

‘MĀORI CULTURAL CLUB'

Writer: Guy Gudex

Kia Hiwa ra! Kia hiwa ra! He koreo tenei mo to kura o nga tame o Hamutana. Tihei Māori Ora! Tena tatou, tena tatou, tena tatou katoa.

Māori has been taught as a subject for the first time this year in Boys' High, and as a result a Māori Cultural Club was formed. This was organised by our new Māori studies teacher Moanu Paul. We met on Wednesday at lunchtimes mainly in the Girls' High Hall. We were very lucky to get the Rev. Waaka and his family to help us. There has long been a need for such a cultural group and judging by the number of people who dropped in to watch us practise, Māori and Pakeha alike, it seems to have generated an interest in Māoritanga in both Boys’ and Girls’ schools.

Our goal for the beginning of the year was to get organised so we could compete in a South Auckland Māori Cultural Competition — we did this, and everyone enjoyed it, not minding that we weren't highly placed. However, we proved to be the highlight of a concert at the end of the school term, drowning out a Gilbert and Sullivan play.

The main aim before the end of the year is to raise $400 for the buying of equipment such as piupiu and rapaki (cloth skirts). This club has already contributed to school life and should be a great asset next year. He poro poroakitenei kia tatou katoa. Kia kaha, kia mau, kia mau, ki to tatou Māoritanga. Ma to tatou kaitiaki a Ihu karaiti e manaaki is tatou.’

For 46 years Kapa Haka has grown in strength, beginning with a group of 20+ students, to now, a squad of 100+ HBHS boys and HGHS girls trialling for the elite Kapa Haka groups. They strive to stand together, to perform and compete on stage at Regional and National competitions. Students also find non-competitive values and many attend to enjoy positive interaction with others, establishing friendships and gaining valuable skills. Kapa Haka is an integral part of the everyday ethos in student life at Hamilton Boys’ High School.

We congratulate the Kapa Haka group, Te Maurea Whiritoi on their achievements.