Here, watch the footage of Te Herenga Waka’s first and only performance at the national kapa haka competition. Another milestone and memory for our community.
In 1992 a rōpū from Te Herenga Waka performed at Aotearoa Traditional Māori Performing Arts Festival (now known as Te Matatini). As seen in the Ngā Taonga film above, the group was made up of around 60 percent Te Herenga Waka staff and students, with additional participants from outside the University.
In 1990, two years before the kapa haka competition, the 150th anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi saw an explosion of activity around the country as various iwi groups committed themselves to building waka and training crews for the celebrations.
At Waiwhetu, Sam Hauwaho and crew had built two of the three Wellington waka and taken them on their maiden voyages. In 1992, the Waiwhetu waka crews were still around and they were roped into joining Te Herenga Waka’s kapa haka group.
Sir Pou Temara, then a lecturer in Te Kawa a Māui, had decided Te Herenga Waka would compete at the Aotearoa Performing Arts Festival, and the group achieved a few firsts: 1992 was Te Herenga Waka’s first and only performance, and the academic hoods worn as gospel-styled dress for the choral performance had never been done before. The academic gowns were loaned to the rōpū by Waikato University, due to the competition being held in Ngāruawāhia. It was also the first time a group had swung patu on stage. That was a new concept back then, especially to do so in a choreographed, uniform way.
Nineteen ninety-two was the year that Te Waka Huia became legends, and they carried on to achieve back-to-back wins, including the 1994 competition. The competition was stiff in 1992, with notable performances from Te Roopu Manutaki, and Ngāti Rangiwewehi.
The week after the national competition was the opening of Te Wānanga o Awanuiārangi in Whakatane, and many of the performers in this film travelled to that event to tautoko the koroua, Tā Hirini Moko Mead, the first professor of Māori studies at Victoria University.
Question is, who still has their jacket?
Get your kapa haka on for the Living Pā whakatuwheratanga
The opening of the new Living Pā and the reawakening of Te Tumu Herenga Waka, on 6 December 2024, gave some impetus to a project called ‘Ngā tau o Te Herenga Waka—A collection of waiata’. This project saw past and present students come together to learn, practice, and then record a series of 13 Te Herenga Waka waiata from over the years.