Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Arowhenua student Dalea-Ray Karauria always knew she would receive her moko kauae. The only thing she waited for was her first īkura.

“Kei te tino harikoa ahau, kei te mōhio ahau kua rite, kua tae te wā,” she said.

Despite it being the school holidays, whānau and friends gathered at the Invercargill kura to witness the occasion.

Her mother, Ngā Roimata, said her daughter’s decision brought joy to both her and Dalea-Ray’s father.

“I ohorere au, engari i oho pai. I te wā i kōrero mai a ia ki a māua ko tōna pāpā, i taua wā, kāore e roa i te whiwhinga o tōna hoa, ki Kahungunu..

“Nō reira, i puta tōna whakaaro i mōhio matua a ia, kei te hiahia au i taku moko. Nā te kitenga o tōna hoa, nā reira, i te wā e kōrero mai ia ki a māua ko tōna pāpā, i harikoa.”

Ngā Roimata also marked her daughter’s big moment by completing her moko kauae with the permanent colouring of her lips, or ngutu pūrua.

“Ko tāku take i tāngia aku ngutu, koia taku mātāmua, nō mai rā anō i mōhio ahau ka tāngia aku ngutu pūrua.”

Ko te raukura te kaitā

I riro i a Jay Wiremu Davis, raukura ō-mua o te kura te kiri e tā. Hei tāna, he honore nui kia whai wāhi ai ia ki te kaupapa, waihoki, he whakatinanatanga tēnei kaupapa i ngā mātāpono i whakatō ki roto ki a ia.

“Ko te kaupapa matua mōna, ko te ora pai o ōna mātua tūpuna i roto i a ia, tēnei taonga te moko me tōna reo. Ko Te Aho Matua te tāhu o tōna whare me tōna whānau.”

“Kāore tōna pakeke engari ko te whakaaro ko ana hoa e rata ana ki tēnei taonga.”