Projects for Māori Immersion
Here you will find some recent ngā toi education projects designed specifically for children in Māori immersion kura kaupapa contexts. This includes the music and movement resources created by Poutokomanawa, aimed at primary kura level: Te Koha a Tāne Rātā me te Tōtara hei whakaakoranga puoro kanikani hoki, Aruaru ki Tawhiri: Kupe me te Wheke a Muturangi hei whakaakoranga puoro kanikani hoki and Hā Ora. You will also find Te Ahi Kātoro, a haka about the pandemic, and a video series, Te Hōtaka Auaha, created by Makaira Waugh to support children and whānau during our time in lockdown. You will also find a poem for two voices, Otari Kūkū, Otari Kākā, written by Makaira as part of an ONZA Networks of Expertise project at Otari School, which he co-led with Priya between 2018 and 2020.
Te Ahi Kātoro
He haka nā Makaira Waigh o Te Ātiawa
Tērā te wā, ka toro ko te ahi
That was the time when the fire spread
Wiwī, wawā, katoa te ao
Here, there, all over the world
Toipoto ka tanuku, toiroa ka ora
Close together failed, distance prevailed
Auē te mokemoke e!
Oh the loneliness!
Tūngia ururua kia pāhorehore
Burn off the overgrowth
He aha te rito e pihi ake?
What new shoots grow?
Ruia taitea kia puea mai
Scatter away the superficial layer
Ko te mana o te whānau e pūtahi nei
The mana of families stands strong
Mā te aha e toko ō wawata?
What will prop up your dreams?
Mā te wai pupuke o te aroha!
The flooding power of love!
Some of the whakataukī in this haka are about letting go of things that don’t serve us to find new growth and meanings. My hope is that the lockdown experienced in Aotearoa and overseas gave people a chance to reflect on what is important in life, and the opportunity to create the kind of world they want for their whānau now and in the future. When we act on the things we are passionate about or believe in, and for the people we love, this gives our purpose a special power.
Te Hōtaka Auaha
nā Makaira Waugh
He kohinga kiriata Te Hōtaka Auaha hei mahi mā ngā tamariki kura tuatahi huri noa i Aotearoa. Ko te hauora o te tamaiti te takapou whāriki o tēnei whare, ā, mā te auahatanga e puāwai ai tōna mouri. He koha tēnei hōtaka hei tautoko i ngā whānau maha i te wā o te mate urutā, kia piki te oranga wairua, oranga hinengaro me te oranga whānau mā te hāpaii ngā mahi a te tamaiti - he tutū, he tākaro, he tito kōrero - i roto i tōna ao noho kāinga.
Te Hōtaka Auaha is a children’s show aimed at supporting whānau during lockdown 2020, with fun and engaging creative activities for tamariki that the whole whānau can join in on. We had such wonderful leadership from our prime minister during the pandemic and it made me question what I could do to contribute, what my own leadership could look like.
My response was to try to make lockdown a magical time for tamariki where they could thrive through creative play in the world around them, and where mātua and older siblings could be drawn in to take part, building stronger relationships during this potentially stressful time to make it one of growth. I wanted to encourage whānau to take their own lead and respond to the crisis positively by actively choosing the world they create for their tamariki during this time, rather than just reacting in fear to the stresses around us.
The videos include making model rafts and creating scenes of your adventures on them, turning your own stories into a book, making music from language patterns using ingredients collected from the back yard, and celebrating the people in your whānau bubble. They are rich in original waiata and karakia composed for this kaupapa.
Te Hōtaka Auaha nā Makaira Waugh
Te Hōtaka Auaha nā Makaira Waugh
1 He Hanga Mōkihi
2 Auaha Mai
3 He Terenga Mōkihi
Otari Kūkū, Otari Kākā
This poem for two contrasting voices below explore the musical possibilities of poetry in te reo Māori. The context of the poem is the Otari bush, which surrounds Otari kura. The poem was created as part of a Networks of Expertise Project at Otari School Wellington.
Aaaa-
Turuturu katakata
Tuna, kōura, tino rata
Nekeneke whatiwhati
Tō hope pukunati
Mahia ngā mahi pai
Kohia i uta, haria ki tai
E kani tō kani e.
Shh!
Hauhā ki roto
Hāora ki waho
Whātoro ki runga
Whārōrō ki raro
Mahia ngā mahi pai
Kia tokorangi ai
E kani tō kani e.
