Iwi of Origin has returned to Tāmaki Makaurau after a four-year hiatus. It’s a festival that seeks to unite urban Māori with their whānau, marae, hapū, and iwi through sport.
Māori partnership manager from Aktive says the event is modelled after Pā Wars.
“Back in 2006 a colleague of mine, Wiremu Mato, was down on the coast and he saw the Pā Wars down there and he said ‘Hey that will be an awesome concept that we should bring up to Tāmaki.’”
The event boasts a range of different sports, from basketball, netball, and rugby league, to Kī-o-rahi.
Pihama says when the event started, health statistics painted a concerning picture of declining well-being among urban Māori, and that was a motivating factor for establishing the event.
“We layered in some more stuff around health and well-being through movement and uplifting our Māori side a bit more. Particularly in Tāmaki where we have our mana whenua, our urban Māori and Māori who haven’t connected with their taha Māori yet to come along.”
Pihama says this is the first of their five-year strategy to normalise te reo and tikanga into this annual event.