Churr my familia,
Just writing into the critic to make sure you all are being recognized for all the amazing mahi that you have all done! TREE TREE TREE x
Te Rōpū Māori had 30 of their tauira go up to Tāmaki for Te Huinga Tauira, the National Tertiary Māori Students Conference which was held at Waipapa Marae. Within the conference there are mean kaupapa such as Tautohe (Manu Kōrero edition dis year), Kapa Haka, Sports (this year was ki-o-rahi & multisports), Workshops, Formal night and ofc a few weee pāti pāti. It was a mean as kaupapa and like my tauira we enjoyed it, as discussed in the article last week.
But what wasn’t discussed was to signify how hard each and every one of them worked to get to Tāmaki in the first place. My role was solely kāihāpai (due to my other commitments amongst my various kaupapa), which means my only purpose for going on this kaupapa was to support and be there for my rōpū, their prime contact almost. But because of this, I was able to see from the outside in.
I was able to watch my Tutors; Daughter (Renee Brown), Son (Taraia Butler), Mama (Ngaroma-Urupekengarangi Bennett), Barrett (Kowhai Tepania-Morgan) and Bestie (Teone Hotu) create a whakaeke and whakawātea from nothing, brush up and polish an array of waiata-ā-ringa. Get the perfect pitch for each waiata and perfect every action and redefine our haka. All in a space of 4 weeks.
Their hard mahi did not go unnoticed, it was almost as though there was a ripple effect. It then became everyone’s hard mahi, dedication and love for Te Rōpū Māori. I watched the endless amounts of wānanga and countless evenings that were dedicated simply to hakas. I watched my tutors sacrifice their own whānau time for the betterment of TRM. I watched tauira spend countless hours becoming kāihaka for the love of TRM. I watched the countless kaupapa they had to attend, from the study nights to sports and so forth. I watched them all fundraise and cook mass amounts of kai to make sure we get all 30 to Tāmaki and back. I watched them sacrifice their academics for an opportunity to be Māori. To be amongst other Māori that looked like them and thought like them. I watched their smiles deepen as our whānau grew bigger, with each personality growing into their own character that was uniquely to them and only them. It was due to the campaigning and then Huinga, that I witnessed the true essence of got backs amongst our tauira Māori.
It was almost as though the campaign was the flower and Huinga allowed the putiputi to blossom. Where the importance of “TREE, TREE, TREE” was signified, haka anthems were sung, chants for the other associated were made and line dancing & cowboy hats entered the group chat. There were memories made and relationships formed that I know will last the decades. This is the beauty of Te Rōpū Māori.
Each one of these tauira deserve to have their hard mahi recognised. Every one of these tauira deserve to know how proud the university was to have this rōpū represent Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka.
And Critic, I wish you got to see what I saw within our rōpū during the build-up, the midst and now post.
Also family, can we finally get a proper whānuk photo we always missing like half of us lmfao
Aroha nui ki a koutou, Te Rōpū Māori x
TREE TREE TREE
Gemella Reynolds-Hatem
Tumuaki Takirua o Te Rōpū Māori