爆料社区

Visitors to the largest urban park in T膩maki Makaurau/Auckland had an opportunity to immerse themselves in traditional M膩ori games as part of a 爆料社区 Ihi Aotearoa initiative.

A kaimahi from Cornwall Park鈥檚 Huia Lodge Discovery Hub reached out to Aktive and its He Oranga Poutama team about hosting workshops in M膩ori games as part of its summer events programme.

He Oranga Poutama is a kaupapa M膩ori wellbeing programme set up to develop, promote and implement physical activities that are culturally appropriate to M膩ori.

The T膩maki Makaurau-based team took up the chance to run taonga t膩karo (traditional M膩ori games) to engage wh膩nau, rangatahi and tamariki, build connections and have fun at the same time.

Led by Aktive's He Oranga Poutama kaiwhakahaere (adviser) Desiree Heke-Ready, the sessions involved r膩kau (stick) games, t膩karo-a-ringa (hand games), tititorea (M膩ori short stick game) and poi toa (pass and catch poi game).

The sessions began with te mauri (life force) to build connections and ended with a porowhita (a circle) whereby participants shared one thing they enjoyed about their experience.

鈥淚 loved being outside having fun with my mum and learning new games,鈥� said one tamariki.

鈥淚 loved throwing the poi around and trying to catch it on the full,鈥� said another.

A third couldn鈥檛 wait to tell their friends at work what they鈥檇 learnt.

The best part, Desiree says, was seeing wh膩nau playing and interacting with each other and, more importantly, having fun and lots of laughs.

鈥淢ost participants were wh膩nau 鈥� mums, dads, kids, grandparents, grandchildren 鈥� and they saw it as a great opportunity to learn some traditional M膩ori games, to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather,鈥� she says.

Through word of mouth, the He Oranga Poutama team has also run successful taonga t膩karo sessions at school holiday programmes throughout T膩maki Makaurau.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had holiday programme co-ordinators come to us after hearing great things about the mahi we do within the community and they鈥檝e invited us to run similar sessions with them,鈥� says Desiree.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been amazing allowing these tamariki to explore and experience some traditional M膩ori games that they can play with their friends and wh膩nau.

鈥淚 have been running the theme of hononga/connection with games I teach, connection either through a person, an item or a feeling/wairua.

鈥淏y the end of these sessions the tamariki can understand what connection really means.鈥�

Desiree is now keen to take taonga t膩karo into the wider community and on to community and school marae.

鈥淲e see and hear the impact these sessions have on our tamariki and wh膩nau. To take them into the wider community and on to marae would be a wonderful next step."