Receiving a roaring haka was a "heart-warming" moment for a Dunedin secondary student who took top honours in a Māori speech competition.
King’s High School student Zane Rakete-Gray, 16, won the Korimako senior English contest at the Ōtākou and Murihiku Ngā Manu Kōrero regional speech competition at the Dunedin Town Hall yesterday.
Zane placed first in both impromptu and prepared speeches categories.
For his prepared speech, Zane spoke about what the world could look like in 2085 if the present coalition government got its way.
"There won’t be a competition like this in 2085, our language will be dead, the land will be destroyed beyond repair and our environment will not be good enough to live in."
The competition was a good way to express his culture to the rest of the country, if not the world, he said.
"It just shows that there is still people who can speak Māori."
When he was announced the winner, a haka erupted in the town hall from his peers in the King’s and Queen’s High Schools’ kapa haka group, He Waka Kōtuia.
"It was a bit heart-warming."
For the Ta Turi Kara junior English contest winner Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Otepoti student Ngaki Kiore, 14, speaking was about showing her peers they could stand on a stage and speak their minds.
"There is a place for you here, whether you speak te reo Maori or not."
Ngaki’s sister Matoia Wilson won the senior English competition in 2009 and Ngaki was proud to follow in her sister’s footsteps.
Her speech was about connection to her ancestors and why her fully immersion Māori school’s curriculum offered the best opportunity for students to succeed, Ngaki said.
"At Kura Kaupapa we are not just based off learning, we are based off how we can grow in ourselves."
About 40 speakers from 23 schools across Otago and Southland took part n over two days.
Zane and Ngaki will be joined by Pei Te Hurinui Jones senior Māori contest winner Hana Davis and Rawhiti Ihaka junior Māori contest winner Kyra Bachelor-Tata at the national finals in Whanganui this September.
