Te Hautoka 2025
He Waka Kōtuia, made up of students from Queen’s, King’s and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti, competed in Te Hautoka at the Edgar Centre.
Te Hautoka is the biennial Otago/Southland secondary school kapa haka competition. This year, there were a record 14 teams performing with 11 of those teams competing for the two national spots for the 2026 national competition in Tauranga.
According to Whaea Cherie, He Waka Kōtuia’s performance was the best that they could have done on the day! They worked hard in the weeks leading up to the competition, and made their tutors, whānau, and wider community proud.
He Waka Kōtuia placed second overall in Te Hautoka, which means that they will compete in next year’s national competition alongside Te Wharekura o Arowhenua from Invercargill. Their performance was outstanding, and they were deserved winners on the day.
This year saw a changing of the guard for our tutor team, Matua Komene Cassidy was still our head tutor, but his son’s Kiringāua and Te Atarau also stepped up to the full time tutor role this year, alongside Kōkā Tenaya Brown. Whaea Angelina and Whaea Paulette also continued to support behind the scenes. We thank all of our tutors, alongside “Māmā Trace” Tracey Cooper our amazing seamstress for all of their ongoing help and support. Also to the whānau who came in on weekends to cook and clean up after the group. Mā pango, mā whero ka oti ai te mahi!
Here is the link to the livestream if anyone would like to watch the performances from the day.
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