Te Matatini

The tradition & historical record

Te Matatini is a nationwide Māori performing arts festival and competition for kapa haka performers from all of New Zealand and Australia. The name was given by Professor Wharehuia Milroy, a composite of mata meaning "face" and tini denoting "many", therefore the meaning of Te Matatini is "the many faces". The Te Matatini festival is held every two years in different regions of New Zealand. Authority (mana) is given to different tribes (iwi) to host the festival. For example, in 2017 the mana was given to Te Whanganui-a-Tara on behalf of the Ngāti Kahungunu (Heretaunga) region. Mead (2003) explains: Mana is undergone by a set of rules before it is given, the people or person in charge has to accept these constraints and strive to rise above them in order to do the job that is set before them. Te Matatini celebrates the Māori culture, its beauty, and its core values. Kapa haka is a form of Māori identity and contributes to New Zealand being unique. The Te Matatini Society is the driving force behind Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival. Initially emerging in the late 1960s, it has evolved into the sponsor of a variety of Māori festivals and Polynesian events. ¹

Prizes are awarded on the final competition day. Across the five days, each team are judged against set criteria, by expert judges, appointed from around New Zealand. ¹

The taonga (trophies) are awarded to the teams with the highest score in the seven compulsory (aggregate) and non-compulsory (non-aggregate) disciplines from the pool rounds. The toa whakaihuwaka (overall winner) taonga is awarded to the team with the highest scores from the final day (Te Matangirua) and also determines first second and third place. ¹

The performances are made up of different disciplines and each haka group is required to perform six disciplines within their performance piece or bracket - whakaeke (a choreographed entry), mōteatea (traditional chant), poi (light ball swung on the end of a rope), waiata-ā-ringa (action song), haka and whakawātea (exit). They must perfect every discipline in a polished 25-minute performance. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Te Matatini”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Te Matatini is biennial performing arts festival in New Zealand, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 7 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²