Te Mātārae I Ōrehu. Photo: Supplied / Te Matatini
After three decades of performance at the top of the kapa haka world, Te Mātārae-i-Ōrehu haka group have announced their retirement.
The innovative Rotorua based group have taken home the title of Toa Whakaihuwaka at the national kapa haka festival Te Matatini twice, in 2000 and 2011.
Group leader Wetini Mitai-Ngatai said the decision has been coming for a while and after thirty years it feels like the time is right to hang up his maro.
"There is a sadness and a sense of loss, I'm feeling that, I think everybody is feeling that with the group and the whānau," he said.
Founded in 1994 by Irirangi Tiakiawa Tāhuriorangi, Te Mātārae has collaborated with the NZ Royal Ballet Company, performed at the opening of the Rugby World Cup in 2011 and at festivals across the globe.
Mitai-Ngatai said he was proud of what the group has achieved and was hopeful that they have been able to have an influence on Kapa Haka.
"I've always thought going right back before Mātārae started, we are so heavily colonised that we don't realise that we are singing a western song using the guitar... There is a time and place where we have the opportunity to present our haka, but you have to present with a little sugar and spice hence the movement, hence the weaponry, hence the storytelling."
Mitai-Ngatai said kapa haka was about pulling on heartstrings but also about making Māori people proud to stand for their tūpuna, their culture.
The future of kapa haka was in good stead with the recent increase in funding, he said.
"I'm so happy to hear [Te Matatini] got a bigger pūtea this year, I think it's going to hold is in good stead for the future and that our culture just continues to do what they do."
As the group bids farewell to the competition stage, Mitai-Ngatai thanked the whānau and supporters who stood by their side across the 30 years.
He said the group also expresses their gratitude to Te Matatini and the Māori Kapa Haka World for embracing and supporting them through the years.