Three Ngāi Tahu rangatahi will represent their kura, whānau and iwi at this year’s Ngā Manu Kōrero National Secondary School competition held in late September and hosted by Te Reo o Te Tai Tokerau. Ahinata (Ahi) Kaitai-Mullane, Mei Riwai-Couch and Tumai Cassidy are all busy preparing for their hīkoi to Whangarei. We would like to wish all three rangatahi the best of luck – karawhiua e koutou!
Ahinata Kaitai-Mullane
Kia ora, my name is Ahi and I’m in Year 12 at Logan Park High School in Dunedin. I love learning and I really enjoy chemistry and drama. After I leave school I want to go to university and study science and drama to make a difference in the world. My Ngā Manu Kōrero speech topic was ‘to teach me you must know me’ and I chose this topic because I wanted to share my experiences in education and my views on raising Māori achievement.
I have been a part of Ngā Manu Kōrero for the past three years and the encouraging atmosphere and opportunity to learn from everybody’s speeches is what has kept me coming back. I am excited for nationals.
Ahinata (Ahi) Kaitai-Mullane.
Mei Riwai-Couch
This year, Mei Riwai-Couch, a Year nine student at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Whānau Tahi in Christchurch, won first place in the Junior English Ngā Manu Kōrero ki Waitaha competitions. Her six minute speech was about why people should try different things and how being curious and courageous can help us to find new and innovative ways to solve problems and create a better future for rangatahi in Aotearoa.
Mei follows in her older brother Brigham’s footsteps, who was the Waitaha winner of Junior English last year. Mei recently competed at the National Secondary Schools Kapa Haka Competition in Napier and says she is excited and nervous to stand at the national Ngā Manu Kōrero, but she adds that she is grateful to be representing Ngāi Tahu. Mei is the daughter of Jared (Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke, Rapaki) and Melanie Riwai-Couch.
Mei Riwai-Couch.
Tumai Cassidy
E te rau o tītapu, e te rau o huna. E taku iwi, tēnā koutou i tō koutou tautoko mai ki ahau. Nōku te whiwhi, nōku te mārikanui. Ko Te Atua o Taiehu te mauka. Ko Ōtākou te awa. Ko Ōtākou te marae. Ko Tumai Te Manene Pononga Tamati Cassidy tōku ikoa. Ko Kāi Tahu, Ngā Puhi, Ngāi Takoto, Te Atiawa, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama, Taranaki ōku iwi. A kō ake nei, ka tū anō au ki te atamira ki te Whakataetae a Motu mō Ngā Manu Kōrero. Hikaka katoa au ki te tū, ki te whakaputa taku kōrero “He āka onamata, hai aroka anamata.” Ka hoki ōku whakaaro ki ō tātou tipuna me tō rātou nā ao, he ao Māori rawa atu. He iwi pōkai moana, he iwi whakatakoto rautaki, he iwi kaha ki te whawhai mō te oraka o kā uri whakatipu rātou. Ko te pātai e toko ake nei i roto i au, me pēhea tātou kā urupā o rātou mā e tū Māori ana i tēnei ao hurihuri? Ka kōrero au mō taku iwi o Kāi Tahu me kā reaka e whitu, i whakapau riaka ki te kerēme o Kāi Tahu, kia whāi oraka mō tātou, ā, mō kā uri a muri ake nei, ekari ka whakaaro hoki ahau mō taku reaka. Kai ō tātou rika tō tātou nei ao.
Kia ora koutou. My name is Tumai Cassidy. I’m 14-years-old (Year 10) at Kings’ High School in Dunedin. Ōtākou is my marae. I’m excited to be representing my rohe (Ōtākou/Murihiku) for the second time at the national Ngā Manu Kōrero contest and will again be speaking in the Te Rāwhiti Ihaka section, Junior Māori. My kōrero is about being future focused but ancestrally driven. Kāi Tahu have always been an intergenerational thinking people, from the first migration to Te Waipounamu, throughout the Ngāi Tahu claim to the present day.
My kōrero will focus on the efforts made not only by our Kāi Tahu tipuna but throughout Māoridom, and I will be speaking about my aspirations for the future and the legacy I wish to leave for any future mokopuna. Last year, I was proud to have come fourth equal, and I think I was the only speaker in the world to have ever delivered a Ngā Manu Kōrero speech in our Kāi Tahu dialect on a national stage, so I hope to do that again.
I want to thank Kāi Tahu for the pūtea tautoko that will help my rōpū from Kings’ High and I attend the event in Whangarei. Mei kore ake i a koutou, he mihi tēnei ki aku Poua, ki aku Taua, ki a koutou katoa mai i te takere o taku kākau.
Tumai Cassidy.