I ngā rā whakatā, i hui ngā whānau Māori ki Rotorua ki te whakanui i te pā whutupōro Māori! I tū te Whakataetae Māori ā-Motu tuatahi i te tau 1998. Kua 25 tau te iwi e kaingākaunui ana ki te pā whutupōro me te karawhiu i ngā papa tākaro o te motu. I neke atu i te 60 ngā tīma i tākaro i ngā reanga rerekē, pēnei i te reanga 17 tau heke iho, i te reanga wātea ki te katoa, me ngā mea pakeke.
I whakaritea ētahi kaupapa mīharo mā ngā manuhiri, pēnei i tētahi mākete Māori me ētahi taonga tākaro mā ngā tamariki kāore i tākaro pā whutupōro, kia whai wāhi ai rātou ki ētahi kaupapa Māori. He nui ngā pānui i puta i te whakataetae nei e pā ana ki te hauora o te tangata me te whānau Māori.
I te Rāhoroi, i tū tētahi pō whakangahau hei whakanui i ngā tau 25 o tā rātou ū ki tō rātou ara, o tō rātou poho kererū hoki ki tō rātou Māoritanga. I tū tētahi whakangahau haka, ā, i tū mai ngā tīma me ngā kaihāpai – ka mau kē te wehi!
Kua noho motuhake te pā whutupōro Māori mō ēnei tau katoa. Nō reira kāore rātou i hiahia ki te tautoko a ngā whakahaere nui; nā ngā tūao manawanui, nā ngā whānau, nā ngā hapori anō hoki ēnei mahi i kawe.
Ko tētahi āhuatanga whakahirahira o tēnei wīkēne ko te tīpakohia o ētahi kaitākaro mai i tēnei whakataetae hei waewae mō te tīma Taketake ka tākaro i Kuīnirangi ā te tau e tū mai nei. Ka wani kē!
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ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Over the weekend, Māori whānau gathered in Rotorua to celebrate Māori touch! The first Māori National Tournament was held in 1998. For 25 whole years, touch enthusiasts have been playing and having a blast on the field. Over 60 teams turned up to compete in different grades like Under 17’s, Opens and Masters.
There were awesome things organised for visitors like a Māori market and taonga tākaro for tamariki who weren’t playing touch to get involved in kaupapa Māori activities. There were lots of messages around the tournament around hauora and keeping our Māori whānau healthy.
On Saturday, a pō whakangahau was held to celebrate 25 years of doing things their way and being super proud of being Māori. A haka performance was held and touch teams and their supporters performed – awesome!
Māori touch has been independent for all these years. That means they didn’t need help from big organisations; it was all done by amazing volunteers, families, and communities.
What’s even cooler is they select players from this tournament to play in the Indigenous All Stars team that will be played in 2024 in Queensland. How awesome!
