Performers at last year’s Ruia Taitea.

Waitangi Day celebrations in Taupō will take the form of a day of remembrance and celebration at Riverside Park.

By Chris Marshall

Friday’s 10am-3pm free event – Waitangi ki Tūwharetoa – is organised by radio station Tūwharetoa On, with the support of the Ariki's office, Te Kapua Whakapipi, the hapu of the Taupō region, Te Hikuwai, and the Taupō District Council.

Hinana Media co-director Tupoutama Paki says the event to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi will have some “different flavours coming through” this year.

One is a mobile exhibition featuring a timeline of Tūwharetoa’s history and engagement with Te Tiriti, including a short form documentary and some key taonga.

The exhibition will run for two days at Waitangi ki Tūwharetoa and at Saturday’s Ruia Taitea (a celebration for Tūwharetoa hapu at the same venue).

“Once both events have finished, components from the timeline and the exhibition will be taken into the Taupō Museum for people to look at during February,” Paki says.

“That'll be one of the features, I guess, that's relatively different to what we've had in the past.”

The celebrations will have a festive atmosphere with music and activities designed to be fun and educational.

How Te Tiriti is received or treated is different for every region, he says.

“And with Tūwharetoa although we had Iwikau signing the actual Tiriti o Waitangi, his older brother was the leader, or the ariki of the time. So, he (Iwikau) had to go back and take his name off Te Tiriti because his older brother (Mananui Te Heuheu) … didn't agree with it.
“So a really interesting history … and this particular event is an opportunity to share some of that.”

Entertainment includes local acts like Tyree Wall, Whirimako Black and Betty-Anne (formerly of Ardijah) who will perform as the finale for the concert.
There will be youth performances, kapa haka, a kids’ area with bouncy castles and water slides, and an art station where kids can add their creative flair to a big Waitangi finger painting piece.
On Saturday the same venue will then host a festival celebrating Tūwharetoa whanaungatanga – Ruia Taitea.
“Waitangi ki Tūwharetoa is for all, it’s a community event, tangata whenua and tangata tiriti where Ruia Taitea is a bit more of an opportunity for Tūwharetoa to come together in celebration of the home bodies or home fires,” says Paki.

This will be the second time the festival has run, with last year’s attracting between 5,000-7,000 participants and audience members.

This year more than 20 hapu are expected to congregate to share performances through the day.

“It's probably one of the only gatherings that we have as Tūwharetoa where all parts of the tribe come together in celebration of Tūwharetoatanga…
“The idea of Ruia Taitea is to really encourage our hapu and our marae to come together… it's not a competition as such… You have babies, kids, adults, grandparents all taking the stage together and sharing in song, haka, mōteatea, poi, and storytelling. It celebrates who they are as the many hapu, or subtribes of Ngati Tūwharetoa, all come under the korowai or the banner of our chief, our ariki, Te Rangimaheu (te Heuheu Tūkino IX).”
Saturday will be of more interest to iwi, Paki says.

“Whoever will turn up will turn up and we will take care of whoever our visitors are, but it's more of an internal opportunity for Tūwharetoa to come together and celebrate our connections with one another… It's probably a real cultural experience if people do come because it's not in English, it's all in te reo Māori. What's shared on stage is by Tūwharetoa for Tūwharetoa, if you like.”