I ngā tau kua pahure, i tū ngā tauira Māori ki te ātamira o tēnei āhua ko te whakataetae kapa haka. He whakataetae tēnei ka tu ki ia Huinga Tauira mā ngā tauira Māori katoa o te motu. I te tau 2007, i haere te ope o Ngāi Tauira ki te rohe o Waikato mō te Huinga Tauira. I reira, ka rangona te kaha o ngā pūkenga Māori, anō hoki, i kitea te wehi o ngā tauira Māori ki Wikitōria. I arahitia te rōpu ki te taumata ahurei o ngā mahi a rēhia.
I tērā tau, i eke anō te rōpu i te ātamira o te Huinga Tauira i Ōtautahi. I ngā wiki o mua, he ringa tohau nui rātou. Ahakoa kāore tēnei i te hunga matatau ki tēnei mahi, i tū whakahīhī mātou katoa ki te āhua o te rōpu. Ka rere te whakaaro ki runga i te kōtengitengi o ngā kupu, i tutū te puehu, haruru ana te whenua , ka kī te ngākau i te rawe o te mahi. I tū anō ngā tauira hei āhuatanga o te whare wānanga, māku e kī atu, me tū whakahīhī tātou ki te āhua o aua tauira i taua whakataetae.
Hei whakautu i te wawata a te tauira, i tēnei tau i whakatū te kaupapa Te Roopu Kapa Haka o Ngāi Tauira. I ngā tau kua pahure, kua kitea e ngākaunui ana te tokomaha ki tēnei taonga o te ao Māori. I tono te kōmiti whakahaere o Ngāi Tauira ki a Teurikore Biddle, Patariki Hape, Anipiki Tuari rātou ko Mākere Kupenga ki te whakatītina ngā pūmanawa a nga tauira. Ināianei, ko te tirohanga o Ngāi Tauira me te whakaaro o te rōpu, kia whakatū ngā pou o te manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, kotahitanga, me te rangatiratanga hei aratakina te rōpu. Ko tētahi mea nui o te whanaungatanga, ko ngā whānau o te tauira e pīrangi ana ki te haere mai ki ngā wānanga. Nō reira, ko tētahi āhua o te rōpu ko ngā tamariki, ko ngā tuākana, ngā tēina rātou ko ngā hoa rangatira. Ka pōwhiri atu ki te iwi katoa hei manaaki i te tauira.
I te marama o Poutū-te-rangi, i raro i te marumaru o te kura tuarua o Rongotai, i tū te noho tuatahi o te rōpu. Tokomaha ngā Māori i reira. Ehara te mahi whakataetae i te aronga o te noho engari he kai mō te wairua kē. Ki te nuinga o mātou kāore anō kia rongo i te āhua o te ātamira heoi anō ka tuia ngā rāranga o te kapa, ka waiata te waiata, ka takahi te waewae, ka whakawhānau te rōpu i roto i ngā mahi. Kāore he whāinga i tua atu i tērā.
I ngā marama o muri, pēnei nā ngā wānanga o te rōpu. I ngā marama o Paengawhāwhā me Haratua i piki ngā wānanga ki Te Ako Pai Marae ki te kawe i te kaupapa o te rōpu. He whakangāhau anō ngā waiata o aua wānanga. Nā te hararei me te rahi o ngā mahi, i wātea ngā hui i te mārama o Pipiri kia hoki ngā tauira ki te kāinga me te whakatā. Engari i tēnei tīmatanga o te wāhanga tuarua, ko te whakataetae anō te kaupapa o ngā wānanga. I te mea, i tēnei tau, ka hoki anō te Huinga Tauira ki te Ūpoko-o-te-ika. I whakakīngia te Ako Pai Marae e ngā rerenga waiata me ngā whakamāramatanga kōrero e hāpai ana i te wairua o ngā tauira i te hokinga mai ki Pōneke me te mahi ako. He taumaha anō te mahi o tēnei hui.
I tērā wiki, i wānanga te rōpu, ā, kua mārama te āhua o te kapa. He kapa ka tū ki te oke i te whakataetae o te Huinga Tauira 2010. Nō reira, ki a koutou e whai ana i tēnei ara, tuku i tōu ingoa ki a: morganjoan@myvuw.ac.nz. Ka whakawhānuihia ngā wānanga kei te haramai.