Kahungunu Celebrates Matariki

Friday, 4 June 2010, 11:27 am
Press Release: Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Inc

KEY POINTS

Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated is again helping to fund Matariki events from Wairoa in the north to Wairarapa in the south.

There are eight major events in place to celebrate Matariki in Ngati Kahungunu this year.

The Pahiatua concert will be the first starting at 5.30pm, along with another planned for the National Basketball League match between the Bay Hawks and Taranaki Mountainairs in Napier, at 5pm on Friday, June 11.

‘Kahungunu Celebrates Matariki’
Pahiatua & Dannevirke

It is a time for reflection and a time to set new goals for the coming 12 months, a theme Ataneta Paewai hopes more people will embrace as Pahiatua prepares to celebrate Matariki on Friday, June 11.

Rangitane ki Tamaki nui a Rua and Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated are joining to help people in the Pahiatua district celebrate the changes in seasons with a special Matariki concert at the Bush Multisports Complex, Pahiatia.

Mrs Paewai is one of the event organisers and said the Friday concert will start with a presentation on Matariki, why people celebrate it and what it means to the community.

“During the night we will have questions about Matariki, which will be based on the explanation we will have at the beginning of the evening.

“We ask people to talk about what Matariki means for them, it’s a time for the community to reflect on what they’ve done in the past year and to think about the next year and what they want to achieve,” Mrs Paewai said.

The concert will begin at 5.30pm and feature kapa haka performances from Pahiatua and Dannevirke as well as some “real home-grown singers”, dance and instrumental items.

The Matariki event will draw people in from Eketahuna to the south and Norsewood to the north, a bus services will carry people from Dannevirke and Woodville to Pahiatua for the concert and return at the end of the evening.

The event will culminate in a fireworks display at 8pm.

“This is the fifth year that we have had this event at the sports complex. In the first year I think we had about 100 people. Last year we had 1,000 people … Maori and Pakeha and a wide range of ages from tamariki to kuia and kaumatua, so the event has grown over the years” Mrs Paewai said.

Hauora or health groups, as well as Sport Tararua will also be at the event to talk to people about their services.

Mrs Paewai grew up in Dannevirke and had opted to become more involved in organising the Matariki event in Pahiatua after being shoulder tapped by Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated’s promotions manager Te Rangi Huata.

“We were holding our own small celebrations and thought that it was time to work with the whole district to gain a wider community understanding of Matariki. The event in our district was looking for support so we decided as a family to get in behind it”.

“We were doing planting projects at marae as part of Matariki and we’re still going to do that this year, we did Woodville marae last year and we’re looking at planting native trees at Makirikiri Marae in Dannevirke this year,” she said.

Mrs Paewai is a weaver and said Matariki was an ideal time for her to review programmes she had worked on around harakeke while other family members are planning what they can do in the areas of stone carving and performing arts programmes.

“It is a good time to reflect on the year gone by, our organisation works on a year that begins on June 1 and ends on May 31. During May and April we look at reviewing our previous projects and begin to plan new projects for the year.

“And this year we are looking at supporting Woodville whanau with weaving projects,” she said.

ends

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