For over 60 years, secondary school students have battled for the right to represent their kura, rohe, hapū, and iwi at the annual Ngā Manu Kōrero speech competitions.
This year is no different, with students packing out Te Raukura ki Kāpiti at Kāpiti High School for the Te Upoko o te Ika regional qualifier.
Students have spent months prepping their speeches, and competition is fierce.
Only four contestants will gain the right to represent the region at nationals in the following categories: Pei Te Hurinui Jones (Senior Māori), Te Korimako (Senior English), Te Rāwhiti Ihaka (Junior Māori), and Tā Turi Kara (Junior English).
But how has the competition evolved over the years, and what can we glean from the topics assigned to this year’s competitors? One thing is clear: the subject matter is wide-ranging and thought-provoking.
One of the major themes in the English section is the rise of technology and social media, with topics including “AI tutors – Helping hand or homework hackers?” and “TikTok – Tiny videos, big understanding!”
Meanwhile, in the te reo Māori sections, Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po is top of mind for many competitors.
Two of the topics are taken directly from Te Arikinui’s inaugural kauhau at this year’s Koroneihana: “Tino rangatiratangatia tō reo” and “Mana motuhaketia te taiao.”
From humble beginnings to a national institution
To fully appreciate the vibrant, bilingual powerhouse that Ngā Manu Kōrero is today, one has to look back to its inception in 1965.
Originally established as the Korimako Speech Contest, the competition’s initial mandate was vastly different from its current reality; it was created to encourage greater fluency in the English language among Māori students.
However, the rangatahi who stepped onto those early stages had a way of redefining the platform to serve the shifting needs of Te Ao Māori.
The very first winner of the competition was none other than Donna Awatere Huata, who would go on to become a renowned activist and political figure.
Reflecting on the legacy of those early years and the generations of speakers who followed her, Awatere Huata notes the profound internal shift the competition sparked.
“We transformed a nation, and the transformation was we transformed Māoridom, that’s who we transformed,” Awatere Huata says. “Not Pākehā—they just carried on.”
This internal transformation galvanised a generation. What began as a tool for English language acquisition quickly evolved into a fiercely contested arena for Māori political expression, intellectual debate, and cultural reclamation.
Raising the bar: the evolution of the categories
As the decades rolled on, the competition expanded to reflect the growing bilingualism and dual-language excellence of Māori youth.
A pivotal turning point arrived in 1977, when the competition structure evolved to include the prestigious Pei Te Hurinui Jones contest for Senior Māori oratory alongside the Korimako section for Senior English.
This era also introduced the Rāwhiti Ihaka category for Junior Māori and the Sir Turi Carroll (Tā Turi Kara) category for Junior English.
The introduction of these categories significantly upped the technical and intellectual difficulty of the competition.
For senior speakers, the challenge became twofold: delivering a rigorously researched, prepared speech and navigating a high-stakes impromptu section.
In the impromptu category, students receive their topics a mere five minutes before stepping up to the microphone, demanding an extraordinary level of mental agility, vocabulary, and composure under pressure.
