Following the Te Matatini 50th Birthday Project Launch yesterday, Te Pāti Māori are reigniting calls for a significant injection of funding into Te Matatini. In their 2021 campaign Te Pāti Māori released their Toi Māori Policy which would commit $19m to Te Matatini and a further $10m to Community, Hapū and Iwi development of Kapa Haka and its accompanying art forms.

“The inequities in funding is an absolute joke! Te Matatini receives $1.9million compared to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) who receive $16.3 million and The Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) who receive $5.4 million each year. Te Matatini consistently outperforms these groups on target audience measures.”

“If Te Matatini was funded at the same audience participation rate as the NZSO, Te Matatini would be allocated $19 million. Seems fair to me”.

“Kapa Haka also has one of the largest audiences in Aotearoa. Look at all the Primary School and High School Kapa Haka events and competitions. Māori performing arts qualifications in schools and tertiary institutes, Iwi, Hapū and Marae-based Kapa Haka activities and events. Kapa Haka in organisations and the dial-a-pōhiri events that everyone likes to use. All Kapa Haka.”

“The first step to colonising any country begins with the active destruction of indigenous story tellers and custodians of knowledge. It happened here through legislation like The Native Schools Act and The Tohunga Suppression Act to name a few. So it makes sense that investment into these areas is crucial for our healing and our re-indigenisation.”

“Kapa Haka is the library to our world as Māori. Within Kapa Haka sits our academic research, our science, our history, our art, our whakapapa and our tikanga. It is a training ground for future custodians of our indigenous knowledge. It also has the power to unite Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti”

“Kapa Haka is the very intellectual and cultural property the Government exploits when they want to sell our country to the world. $1.9 million, is a joke! It’s offensive and it no longer cuts the mustard. With the Hon. Kiri Allan now at the helm, we’re hopeful that the indigenous culture of this country will at the very least be resourced appropriately”

© Scoop Media