Calls for Te Matatini to be postponed or cancelled as whānau deal with cyclone’s impact

The world’s largest kapa haka festival, Te Matatini, is set to celebrate its 50th year and kick off on February 22 at Auckland’s Eden park.

However, as Aotearoa deals with the devastating aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, calls have been made to either postpone, or cancel the festival altogether.

Should Te Matatini be cancelled for 2023?

A pānui sent to kapa haka rōpū from Te Matatini chief executive Carl Ross on Tuesday said the event would go ahead as scheduled at Ngā Ana Wai Eden Park next week.

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“Kei ngā rangatira o te ao kapa haka, ngā whānau, ngā hapū, ngā iwi, ngā kaitautoko o Te Matatini, kia kaha kia manawanui, kia haumaru te noho ki roto i ngā karawhiunga o te hau matakataka a Kaperiera, huri noa i Aotearoa whānui,” it read.

“The health and safety of Te Matatini’s wider whānau is of the utmost importance. Please take care to the best of your ability across our rohe.

“During the National State of Emergency, updates will be provided on Te Matatini’s website at 10am daily.

“Kia tau ngā manaakitanga a Te Wāhi Ngaro ki runga i a tātou katoa.”

A spokesperson for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei said, as the host iwi for Te Matatini, it was waiting for updates from the board of any changes.

“We are host iwi of the event, and we are hosting the pōhiri, so we will be guided by whatever comms Te Matatini share,” they said.

Te Tai Tokerau/Northland

Ngā Manu Mātui’s head tutor Mana Epiha (Ngāpuhi) said his group, based in Te Tai Tokerau, hadn’t been affected too badly in the cyclone, but had been watching on as chaos struck Te Tairāwhiti.

The latest pānui he’d received from Te Matatini’s board on Tuesday, said the event would go ahead, but Epiha thought that may not be the right call for all the groups that intended to perform.

“The other rōpū about the motu, especially Hawke’s Bay, Gizzy, the places that got hit the hardest, I really feel for those guys and I think that they should make the call.

“I saw the Ngaruroro River burst through and break down one of the main bridges, so with all of that I completely understand if the Hawke’s Bay group wants to postpone and if, or when, they postpone, I tautoko that stance.”

Epiha said coming together for Te Matatini might be a good thing for the teams to rally around each other through kapa haka to bring strength to the most affected groups, but only if they were able to travel to Tāmaki Makaurau.

“Logic tells me that if you can’t get out of your district then we have to postpone.

“If they have to postpone then everybody should postpone, because we want to compete against the best, and they are some of the best. If they can’t make it then we’re not doing that.”

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Te Matau-a-Māui/Hawke’s Bay

Ngāti Kahungunu kapa haka leader and expert Helena Winiata, of Tamatea Arikinui, said Te Matatini should either be cancelled or postponed for 2023.

“The devastation that has hit the country, a lot of it in rural areas such as Porangahau. Tamatea Arikinui’s base is Porangahau,” she said.

“Then there’s Tāmaki, can they really deal with hundreds of thousands of people arriving at the moment?”

The team had spent months preparing for Te Matatini, and now they weren’t sure they would be able to make it to the festival.

“Our whānau can’t even get to each other now. We were supposed to have a practice in Palmerston North, but the way the roads are, we aren’t sure we’ll be able to even make that.”

Winiata said that while Te Matatini taking place would be a good opportunity for Māori to come together and “celebrate being Māori”, she wanted to raise the question: “Is this really the right time?”

“I have said my sentiment to the club, call it off.”

Te Waka Huia

Te Waka Huia co-leader Tapeta Wehi (Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Whānau Apanui, Te Whakatōhea) said members of his rōpū come from all over Aoteaora.

Wehi said he hasn’t been able to touch base with some members because of the power cuts, and some he has managed to contact have lost a lot in the cyclone.

“We’re at the crossroads again, but we’re pretty resilient people with all these challenges that have been thrown at us. We’ve cancelled and had two postponements and now the cyclone, yeah, it’s strange times.

“I think maybe give it a couple of days to see if it blows over but definitely in support off all those teams. If there’s teams struggling to get up next week, then we need to all come together and support them.

“It’s quite sad what’s happening at the moment, but I hope it turns out OK.”

A Kīngitanga spokesperson said the festival was locked in and starting next week, noting that Te Matatini CEO Ross reaching out to rōpū to offer assistance.

Wellington hosted the last Te Matatini festival in 2019 before the pandemic struck, forcing the postponement of the 2021 biennial festival.