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Māwai Hakona
History
HistoryKapa haka group Māwai Hakona had its beginnings in several Māori cultural performances held in Upper Hutt in 1961 and 1962 to raise funds for the Māori Women’s Welfare League and the Māori Education Foundation. These concerts included members of the Māori Women’s Welfare League, along with senior public servant Jock McEwen, who had been involved with Wellington cultural group Ngāti Pōneke since its early days. Ned Nathan and Ted Pomare (both of whom had been working with McEwen running a carving class for inmates of Wi Tako Prison) were also involved, and Bruce Hammond used to drive members to practices.
Pākehā, and of Scottish descent, McEwen was a fluent speaker of te reo Māori and highly knowledgeable about Māori culture. In 1963 he was appointed Secretary of Māori Affairs, a position he would hold until 1975.
He became one of the group's first tutors, along with a friend from Ngāti Pōneke, Hera 'Aunty Dovey' Katene-Horvath, a performer and composer of great mana. Of Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Tama, Te Āti Awa, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Whātua descent, Aunty Dovey became a leading light of Māwai Hakona along with McEwen. They soon began writing waiata for the group: ‘Dovey and I were fed up with the use of pop tunes for action songs, so we started composing our own,’ remembered McEwen. Aunty Dovey went on to be renowned for her waiata, including 'Hoea-Ra' and 'Te Ra Pouri'.
From its early days, Māwai Hakona provided its members – many of whom had moved to Upper Hutt to work in factories such as General Motors, and were away from their wider whānau – with a place to socialise and take part in Māori cultural activities. Welcoming anyone with an interest in Māori culture, Māwai Hakona included Pacific Islanders and Pākehā among its members (and at one stage comprised 13 different nationalities). Māori trade trainees and inmates from nearby Wi Tako (later Rimutaka) Prison also took part.
Originally called Mā-wai-Akona after the stream that runs through Trentham Memorial Park, the group entered their first competition in 1963, coming last. Two years later they won the Kīngi Tāhiwi Cup – a trophy they were to win several more times. In 1963 the group's name was changed to Māwai Hakona.
The group became a fixture of the Upper Hutt scene, performing regularly to raise money for various causes and organisations, and playing a prominent role in the 1966 civic celebrations. A Junior Club for children began in 1963.
Marie Isaacs, Huia Hobman and Hakirere Langford (a Cook Islander) formed Tiare Māori, a group within Māwai Hakona to perform Pacific Island songs and hula, in 1967; it continued until 1972.
In early 1969 Māwai Hakona hosted a Native American group who were visiting New Zealand on a Ford Foundation Exchange Scheme.
In 1970 the desire for a marae in Upper Hutt – initially as a place to hold tangi – led to a huge fundraising effort that involved much of the local community. Activities included a sponsored walk, a baby contest and a queen carnival, in which Upper Hutt businesses each sponsored a ‘princess’. Māwai Hakona members played a central part in the fundraising, and went on to be involved in managing Ōrongomai marae after it was built in 1976.
Two dozen Māwai Hakona members and 50 young Māori trade trainees from the Trentham hostel appeared in Te Rauparaha, a 1972 National Film Unit production about the 19th-century Ngāti Toa leader, which re-created the 1843 Wairau incident and concluded with Te Rauparaha’s death. Scenes for the film were shot in the Akatarawa valley and at Queen Elizabeth Park in Paekākāriki in March 1971. Group members also appeared in The Governor TV series in the late 1970s.
In 1973 Māwai Hakona won the national title at the Polynesian Festival in Rotorua; as a result they were invited to perform at the opening of the Sydney Opera House in October of that year.
Members of the group also performed at Papua New Guinea's independence celebrations in 1974, along with members of two other kapa haka groups – Aotea from South Taranaki and the Auckland Anglican Māori Club under the Reverend Kīngi Īhaka.
From March 1963 the group used Silverstream Social Club hall for their practices; they moved to Ōrongomai Marae in late 1976.
They welcomed the Māori Queen, Dame Te Ātairangikaahu, on her visit to the marae in January 1978.
The group's recordings included the albums Songs of Maori Heroes (1970) and Te Reo o Ma-wai-hakona: The Voice of Ma-wai-hakona (1978).
From their early beginnings until the mid-1980s Māwai Hakona had a close relationship with Wi Tako Prison, with inmates permitted to regularly attend practices and travel with the group to perform. However from the later 1980s more restrictive policies made it difficult for prisoners to be involved with activities outside the prison.
For many years Hine Poa (Tūhoe) was Māwai Hakona's tutor and Hariata Jaspers (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri) led the women in performances.
Aunty Dovey (by then living in Porirua) died in 1987; after her death, numbers attending Māwai Hakona practices dwindled.
Interviewed in 2016, longtime member Grace Nicholls (Ngāti Kahungunu) remembered the group's closeness: 'It was just like one big family there with Māwai Hakona.'
Pākehā, and of Scottish descent, McEwen was a fluent speaker of te reo Māori and highly knowledgeable about Māori culture. In 1963 he was appointed Secretary of Māori Affairs, a position he would hold until 1975.
He became one of the group's first tutors, along with a friend from Ngāti Pōneke, Hera 'Aunty Dovey' Katene-Horvath, a performer and composer of great mana. Of Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Tama, Te Āti Awa, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Whātua descent, Aunty Dovey became a leading light of Māwai Hakona along with McEwen. They soon began writing waiata for the group: ‘Dovey and I were fed up with the use of pop tunes for action songs, so we started composing our own,’ remembered McEwen. Aunty Dovey went on to be renowned for her waiata, including 'Hoea-Ra' and 'Te Ra Pouri'.
From its early days, Māwai Hakona provided its members – many of whom had moved to Upper Hutt to work in factories such as General Motors, and were away from their wider whānau – with a place to socialise and take part in Māori cultural activities. Welcoming anyone with an interest in Māori culture, Māwai Hakona included Pacific Islanders and Pākehā among its members (and at one stage comprised 13 different nationalities). Māori trade trainees and inmates from nearby Wi Tako (later Rimutaka) Prison also took part.
Originally called Mā-wai-Akona after the stream that runs through Trentham Memorial Park, the group entered their first competition in 1963, coming last. Two years later they won the Kīngi Tāhiwi Cup – a trophy they were to win several more times. In 1963 the group's name was changed to Māwai Hakona.
The group became a fixture of the Upper Hutt scene, performing regularly to raise money for various causes and organisations, and playing a prominent role in the 1966 civic celebrations. A Junior Club for children began in 1963.
Marie Isaacs, Huia Hobman and Hakirere Langford (a Cook Islander) formed Tiare Māori, a group within Māwai Hakona to perform Pacific Island songs and hula, in 1967; it continued until 1972.
In early 1969 Māwai Hakona hosted a Native American group who were visiting New Zealand on a Ford Foundation Exchange Scheme.
In 1970 the desire for a marae in Upper Hutt – initially as a place to hold tangi – led to a huge fundraising effort that involved much of the local community. Activities included a sponsored walk, a baby contest and a queen carnival, in which Upper Hutt businesses each sponsored a ‘princess’. Māwai Hakona members played a central part in the fundraising, and went on to be involved in managing Ōrongomai marae after it was built in 1976.
Two dozen Māwai Hakona members and 50 young Māori trade trainees from the Trentham hostel appeared in Te Rauparaha, a 1972 National Film Unit production about the 19th-century Ngāti Toa leader, which re-created the 1843 Wairau incident and concluded with Te Rauparaha’s death. Scenes for the film were shot in the Akatarawa valley and at Queen Elizabeth Park in Paekākāriki in March 1971. Group members also appeared in The Governor TV series in the late 1970s.
In 1973 Māwai Hakona won the national title at the Polynesian Festival in Rotorua; as a result they were invited to perform at the opening of the Sydney Opera House in October of that year.
Members of the group also performed at Papua New Guinea's independence celebrations in 1974, along with members of two other kapa haka groups – Aotea from South Taranaki and the Auckland Anglican Māori Club under the Reverend Kīngi Īhaka.
From March 1963 the group used Silverstream Social Club hall for their practices; they moved to Ōrongomai Marae in late 1976.
They welcomed the Māori Queen, Dame Te Ātairangikaahu, on her visit to the marae in January 1978.
The group's recordings included the albums Songs of Maori Heroes (1970) and Te Reo o Ma-wai-hakona: The Voice of Ma-wai-hakona (1978).
From their early beginnings until the mid-1980s Māwai Hakona had a close relationship with Wi Tako Prison, with inmates permitted to regularly attend practices and travel with the group to perform. However from the later 1980s more restrictive policies made it difficult for prisoners to be involved with activities outside the prison.
For many years Hine Poa (Tūhoe) was Māwai Hakona's tutor and Hariata Jaspers (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri) led the women in performances.
Aunty Dovey (by then living in Porirua) died in 1987; after her death, numbers attending Māwai Hakona practices dwindled.
Interviewed in 2016, longtime member Grace Nicholls (Ngāti Kahungunu) remembered the group's closeness: 'It was just like one big family there with Māwai Hakona.'
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Māwai Hakona. Upper Hutt City Library, accessed 06/12/2024, https://uhcl.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/16575