Awarua hui nui! Ka rere kā mihi ki a koutou i kaha manaaki mai i a mātou i tō tātou Kura Reo Rakatahi kua hori ake nei. Ahakoa uaina e te ua, whitikina e te rā, i whāi mātou i tō tātou reo rakatira. Kua paiheretia tātou e te taukaea aroha ki tō tātou iwi, ki tō tātou reo, e kore e motu.
Nāia te toa o Kāi Tahu, kai a ia anō tōna reo Māori! Ko te toa i a tini, i a mano takatā.
I aukahatia tō tātou waka unua, arā ko te waka reo. Ko kā kaiuruki, ko kā kaihoe ko ā mātou rakatahi. Kua hiki te manawa o Tahu Pōtiki i a koutou, kā korokoro tūī, kā kākā haetara o tēnei reaka i whakairi kōrero ki ruka anō i ōnā pātū rā, i kā pakitara o tō tātou whare.
Ka timu te tai, ka pao te torea, ka ina te harakeke a Hinekakai.
The recent week spent at Awarua Marae with 50 rakatahi from across our Kāi Tahu takiwā was invigorating! Among them are some of our finest future orators, who like their tīpuna, have innate qualities and abilities in quickly attaining new knowledge, making the most of the opportunity to build on their awareness of ancestral stories and creation narratives of our tīpuna. He kai mā te hirikapo, kia mau, kia titia ki te manawa.
A huge thanks to the Awarua Marae whānau – Bubba and Gail, Dean Whaanga, Stephanie Leith and Ataahua, Missy, Maria Pera, Aimee and Jason, Thomas, Jackie and all who came to tautoko, to share, to celebrate our Kāi Tahutaka with our young titirei – future leaders.
Participants thoroughly enjoyed connecting to our taiao with Hākui Steph, who took us on a short hīkoi through a stunning patch of native bush, te wao nui o Tāne. A lot of fun was had constructing our own wharau/shelters and learning about rākau Māori.
Thanks also to Tane Davis and whānau from Ōraka Aparima and the other waka ama experts who supported our waka session which saw a fine patch of weather that permitted us to take our 50 strong crew out on the water for some waka ama experience.
In remembrance of those iwi leaders no longer here with us, who fought so that we might have opportunities such as Kura Reo Rakatahi for these very tamariki and mokopuna today, we leave you with a waiata taki, adapted by our rakatahi at the Kura Reo from a tribute given by Timoti Rapatini upon the death of his wife, Kiti Rapatini (née Burns) in 1875. Something old, something new. He kākano i ruia mai i Rakiātea.
