He mea tuatahi, kua whakatū tētahi Kapa Haka ki Rarotonga. Ko atu i te whā tekau ngā kaihaka e whakatōpū nei hei whakakaha i ā rātou hononga ki te ahurea Māori me Aotearoa mā ngā waiata Māori.
Hei tā Derek Tini Fox nō Ngāti Porou, e pai tonu kia rangona te Reo Māori.
“Ngā waiata o te Reo Māori i roto i te marae o Aotearoa i konei,” i kī atu a Fox.
“Me te tautoko i te rōpū, tērā pea, ka tū ētahi hui, he aha ai e kore mātou e haere ki reira ki te tautoko.”
Tekau mā rua tau ki muri i hoki mai a Pamela Brider nō Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Rarotonga, Aitutaki, ki Tumutevarovaro, ā ngana ana ia ki te hono atu ki te kapa me tōna taha Māori.
I tērā tau, i te marama o Oketopa i tuku ai te pouwhakatū a Anna Glassie i tētehi pōhi ki te Rārangi Pukamata ā-hapori o Rarotonga, mēnā āe rānei he hiahia nō ngētehi atu ki te waiata i ngā waiata Māori, ka mutu, he nui te tōmina.
Ā, ko ngētehi o ngā kaihaka pūmau he Pākehā.
“Ko tētahi mea tino pai ki ahau, kua whakaaro ētahi, i te āhua mataku pea ki te uru mai i mua, engari ināianei i raro i te kākahu o te waiata, kua uru mai i ētahi o rātou,” i kōrero mai a Fox.
Mā te Kapa Waiata e hautu ngā whakatairanga mō te Rā o Waitangi (tō te wā Kuki Airani), ā kua tuku te reo pōwhiri ki ngā whānau me ngā hoa. Ka tū rātou ki te whakangahau i te marea me te kaikai tahi.
Hei ngā pō i mua i ngā whakanuinga ka whakaatu i ngā kiriata Māori i te Marae o Aotearoa, mai i te rā tuawhā o Pēpuere.