Kaupapa Māori is taking centre stage within Aotearoa’s Commonwealth Games team, with athletes saying they’re embracing te reo Māori, tikanga and haka more deeply than ever before.
The Glasgow Games get underway on Friday (NZT), with 116 athletes representing Aotearoa.
Of those selected, 21 have whakapapa Māori, making up about 20 percent of the team.
While Māori athlete numbers have more than halved since the Birmingham 2022 Games, Pou Whiringa for the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC), Rapaera Tawhai, says Māori culture and language are being more deeply embedded.
“E kitea ana i ngā kaipara whānui kua tae mai ki Karahiko, e whai ana rātau i te huarahi o te ao Māori, otirā i te reo Māori,” says Rapaera Tawhai, Pou Whiringa for the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC).
“He nui tonu ngā Māori kua whai wāhi mai, ka mutu, kāre ētahi o ēnei Māori i tipu Māori mai, nō reira, nō nakua nei, timata ai rātau i tēnei huarahi, te whakaaro nui pea ki tō rātau tuakiri Māori.”
Atu i Aotearoa ki Karahiko
As athletes continue to arrive from Aotearoa, pōhiri and whakatau are underway in Glasgow with the haka has already drawn attention from athletes around the world. One haka was led by Aotearoa lawn bowler Shannon Mcilroy (Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata).
“It’s pretty powerful. It’s not just your on-green training, it’s your off-green training, everything.”
He says the bowls team had daily haka practices in the leadup to the Games.
“There’s some people here who have probably never done the haka before, and then this is the first time they get to do it - at a Commonwealth Games.” he said
Mcilroy, one of Aotearoa’s most successful lawn bowlers, is competing at his fifth Commonwealth Games.
“I’ve played bowls since [I was] 5, 6 years old. And there haven’t been a lot of Māori come through, so we do see change in that space now which is pretty awesome.”
Mcilroy competes in the men’s singles, with his opening match against Tonga on Friday 24 July at 8.30pm NZT.
“I come from a big family, so I know that there’s not much couch space when I’m playing on TV at home.”
Te hunga i para i te huarahi
The national team has competed at the Commonwealth Games for nearly a century, but its modern Māori cultural framework has largely developed over the past two decades.
Tawhai acknowledges those who helped shape that journey.
“Me mihi ka tika ki te hunga pēnei i a Oriini [Kaipara] – koia te pouwhiringa o mua, te pouwhiringa tuatahi. Ki a Tā Derek Lardelli, koia hoki te kaiwhakairo i te whare o Pou Tangata. Ka mutu ko Pāpā Amster Reedy, ko Trevor Shailer anō hoki."
The late Amster Reedy, who served as the team’s kaumātua and cultural advisor from 2004, helped embed tikanga like Te Māhutonga, the mauri stone and the use of karakia and haka.
That legacy continues today through Te Whare o Pou Tangata and its kaupapa Māori approach.
He kawe i ngā tikanga Māori ki tua o te papa tūwaewae
Tawhai says the kaupapa goes beyond haka and waiata.
“Ko te āta whakarite i ngā wāhi noho, e rite ai ki tētahi momo whare wānanga, tētahi wharenui anō hoki pea. Ka tīmata ake ki ngā momo karakia [me te] ako waiata.”
He says te reo Māori is also growing within the team.
“Ko tētahi o ngā kaipara e ako ana i te reo Māori, he Māori tonu ia, a Courtney McGregor. Ka mutu, ko ia tonu te kaiwhakautu i te wāhi ki a rātau, ka puta tana kauhau i roto tonu i te reo Māori.”
The NZOC has also developed a glossary of te reo Māori sports terms, with Tawhai wanting more kaipara and kaimahi to continue learning the language.
“Ētahi [kaipara], ehara tonu i te Māori. Nō reira ko tāku pea, he hiahia kia whao anō i tētahi whakairo ki roto i Te Whare o Pou Tangata, e waihangatia ai pea tētahi mahere reo Māori ki tenei whare.”
Kua huri te tai o te whakataetae
This year’s Commonwealth Games programme has been reduced from 19 sports to 10. Rugby sevens, hockey, road cycling, mountain biking, badminton, squash, diving, cricket and triathlon have been removed.
Tawhai says the loss of rugby sevens has had a major impact, with many Māori athletes traditionally coming through that pathway.
“I ngā rā o mua, i whai wāhi mai ko ngā kapa takiwhitu, ki reira te nuinga o ngā kaipara Māori,” he says.
“Tērā pea he Māori kei ngā tīma katoa i tēnei tau.”
The Opening Ceremony begins on Friday 24 July at 7.30am NZT, with the Games closing on Monday 3 August at 7.00am NZT.
