Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe is a festival that was created in 1971 by

John Rangihau John Te Rangianiwaniwa Rangihau (5 September 1919 – 14 October 1987) was a New Zealand academic and Māori leader of the Ngāi Tūhoe iwi. He was also called Te Nika and Te Rangihau. Rangihau was born at Kuha near Waikaremoana. He received his ...

for the

Iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

nation

Ngāi Tūhoe Ngāi Tūhoe (), often known simply as Tūhoe, is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. It takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. ''Tūhoe'' is a Māori-language word meaning "steep" or "high noon". Tūhoe people also bear the sobriquet ...

. Kapa haka teams that come from the Iwi nation perform and Tūhoe people gather to celebrate.

History

The festival has been held in

Ruatoki Ruatoki or Rūātoki is a district in the eastern Bay of Plenty of New Zealand, just south of the small town of Tāneatua and approximately 20 km south of the city of Whakatāne. The Whakatāne River runs northwards through the Ruatoki Valle ...

biannually since 1971, with its 50-year celebration in 2021 pushed back due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. It was founded by John Rangihau. Te Hui Ahurei has a committee led in 2011 by

Pou Temara Sir William Te Rangiua "Pou" Temara (born 1948) is a New Zealand academic. He is professor of Māori language and tikanga Māori (practices) at Waikato University and a cultural authority on (oratory), ''whakapapa'' (genealogy) and ''karakia'' ...

and

Turuhira Hare Turuhira Hare (born ) is a Māori academic of performing arts, composition and education. She is of Tūhoe, Te Arawa and English and Scottish descent and is a daughter of the late renowned Tūhoe kaumātua, Te Uruhina McGarvey. She is a lead ...

. Many people have played key roles in the festival over the years including Te Makariini Temara who died in 2017. Paora Kepa and Rameka Tuhaka are also people involved.

Te Hui Ahurei is the longest running iwi festival in Aotearoa. (
Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...
2023)

In 2003 and 2013 the festival was held at

. In 2023 Waimana, Hawke's Bay hosted and Martin Rakuraku the chairperson of the organising committee.

About

The purpose is to allow Tūhoe people who live outside the region to come home and celebrate together and to 'embody the concept of ''matemate-ā-one'', the profound affection for one's land and people'. In 2023 there were 16 groups divided into junior and senior who presented over two days, and due to the 50 year celebration it was not a competition.

Te Hui Ahurei is the platform where Tūhoe can facilitate new ideas, embrace new challenges and cultivate traditional values as a people. (Te Mātāwai)

The programme of Te Hui Ahurei has kapa haka, sport and debate. Teams compete judged on acts that include ''waiata tira'', ''whakaeke'', ''wero'', ''haka peruperu'' and ''karanga''. Sports events include rugby and netball. In 2016 Ruatoki and Ruatahuna were in the rugby finals and Ruatoki was the winning team, and Te Hono a Te Kiore won the netball. One of the messages of the 2016 festival was the retention of the Tūhoe dialect.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Hui Ahurei A Tuhoe Folk festivals in New Zealand Festivals established in 1971 Cultural festivals in New Zealand Māori festivals