Tēnā koe e hoa ma. Ko Richard toku ingoa, ko Kupenga toku whanau ingoa. I was fortunate enough to be an MC recently at my whare karakia in Ōtepoti for our new event called “Matariki whanau hui”. In this photo I’m with my cohost Jay and had just finished delivering a mihi whakatau.

The event was about injecting Te Ao Maori into te hāpori and teaching a wider audience about Matariki and why we celebrate it. Our attractions included Kapa Haka groups both professional and at school level, kōrero with te Kuia and what Matariki meant to her, waiata from local Maori and Samoan groups, taonga pūtētere with a good friend of mine, fire poi artist and a free kai to solidify unity amongst te hāpori. We even had a crafts station using flax to create Kete and stars, face paint and colouring for ngā tamariki and Otago Museum brought their inflatable star lab to demonstrate how to find Matariki. I loved seeing the many diverse ethnicities enter the building, I was proud to be part of this event and can’t wait to do it all over again next year!

Mānawatia a Matariki!