Kua mana te tūranga o tētahi kapa rīki wāhine Māori, Poronīhia, Iwi Moemoeā hoki nō Kuinirani me Aotearoa, ki te whitiwara taki-iwa o te NRL ki Las Vegas, Amerika.
Ko Indigenous Mana te ingoa o te kapa, ka mutu, ka noho ia hei kanohi mō tētahi rōpu mohihua kore nō Ahitereiria tonu, mō Indigenous Mana.
Kātahi anō ka whakatūria te kapa nei, i te marama o Tīhema. Hai tā te pouako o te kapa nei, hei tā Ronnie Lavender, uri o Ngāi Tūhoe, kei tua o te papatākaro ngā tino whāinga a te kapa.
“It’s providing a pathway for wāhine in this instance, also our tāne, but in this instance our wāhine. Providing them a pathway with new opportunities,” he says.
“We’re going over there, and we’re actually going to spend time with the First Nations people there. We’re going to be taking our Indigenous women and our Polynesian, Māori women and taking part in their ceremonies. That’s a part of it.”
He wāhanga te whitiwara nei o tētahi hākari nui o te NRL, hei whakamānu i te tau tākaro. Me te aha, ko te rauna tuatahi o te whakataetae ka tākarohia ki mua i tētahi whakaminenga taunga iti nei ki te rīki.
Hei tā Lavender, ka mate ururoa te tīma mō te wikitōria te take.
“We’re going there to win, as every team there is going to do. We’re not setting our expectations to where it will be demoralizing if we don’t. But we’re fully overwhelmed and overtaken with excitement of the opportunity,” he says.
“The team we’re taking over is a very good team but we’ve made it clear that this is a pathway for you to experience other cultures.”
Ka tīmata te whitiwara nei hei te rua tekau mā whitu o Pepuere.
