Ratana Pa locals woke up to the aftermath of another successful celebration and all that remains is the big tidy up. Many of the workers are members of the local kapahaka 'Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana' who now focus on Te Matatini ki te Ao, and appropriately so they're up first on day 1 of the competition.
24 hours ago Ratana Pa was a hive of activity, and now a bare marae is all that remains. Coordinator for the cook house at Ratana Tracey Tamou says, "We're just cleaning up making sure everything is put back in place and just go home and have a bit of a rest and get ready for whakamoemiti tomorrow where we go down to give thanks to Ihoa for the blessings that he has bestowed upon us and everybody that came."
Commonly known to locals as 'Te Reanga', debuted at the 2009 Te Matatini in Tauranga Moana and have been a regular feature at Te Matatini since. Te Reanga started under the Mōrehu Youth Movement (MYM) club in 1982 under the president of the church, Te Reo Hura.
Tutor of Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana and Te Arawa descendant Te Taepa Kameta says, "Obviously everyone is tired after all the festivities of the celebrations but now we turn our focus to Te Matatini and we are still in preparations for that but no doubt our members will enjoy this weekends break. The focus of our bracket is to give prayers and to glorify the holy name of Jahovah of the multitudes, and to preach the good news of the gospel. We also have a long history in politics and our ongoing relationship with the Labour party."
Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana take the stage at 8.40am Thursday 21 February at the Westpac Stadium.