{"id":31210,"date":"2025-09-19T09:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/31210\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T09:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:14:10","slug":"young-speech-winners-speak-of-overcoming-adversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/31210\/","title":{"rendered":"Young speech winners speak of overcoming adversity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Young speakers spoke about overcoming adversity at this year\u2019s national Ng\u0101 Manu K\u014drero secondary schools\u2019 speech competition \u2013 marking its 60th anniversary, and winners include a defending champion and an award-winning singer.<\/p>\n

Students from around the country gathered at Jubilee Stadium in Whanganui to hear what their peers had to say on topics around tikanga, identity, aspiration and ambition.<\/p>\n

Pou Ariki Hemara-Daniels defended his national speech title at this year\u2019s Ng\u0101 Manu K\u014drero competition. The Sir Turi Carroll junior English speaker from Kaitaia\u2019s Te Kura Kaupapa M\u0101ori o Te Rangi \u0100niwaniwa used \u201csavage\u201d humour and an energetic performance to deliver a memorable speech to describe his \u2018Hawaiki\u2019, loosely translated to mean his aspirational place or state of being.<\/p>\n

When describing the general state of living in the Far North, it was by using \u201cgrim\u201d labels about the impoverished region to illustrate the less-than-ideal reality of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the closest to Hawaiki, yet the furthest away from Hawaiki hou,\u201d he said, referring to the ancient homeland of M\u0101ori and comparing it to a brighter future of a \u2018new Hawaiki\u2019 \u2013 a catch-cry made popular by the Toit\u016b Te Tiriti movement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was the only dark cloud in a speech full of hope and aspiration which made it all the more powerful in its delivery.<\/p>\n

Last year, Pou Ariki’s winning speech<\/a> was on the subject ‘We need more regulators’, paying homage to the role models in his life and referencing a classic hip hop song, Regulate by Warren G.<\/p>\n

Atareta Milne from Te Kura o Te Koutu in Rotorua delivered an impassioned speech about the value of growing up with te reo M\u0101ori as her first language in a fully immersed environment at home.<\/p>\n

As the oldest mokopuna, she recalled being the \u201ckini piiki\u201d (guinea pig) for her parents\u2019 language revitalisation strategies and initiatives within their wh\u0101nau.<\/p>\n

\"Atareta<\/p>\n

Atareta Milne <\/p>\n

Her speech was a personal account of the challenges her parents faced, including the backlash from a New Zealand Herald article they featured in as part of Te Wiki o Te Reo M\u0101ori in 2013. The article detailed her parents’ decision to raise Atareta \u2013 then a toddler \u2013 exclusively in te reo.<\/p>\n

\u201cKo ng\u0101 t\u0101 kupu \u0101 \u0113tahi he kaikiri, he whakaweti, he whakahawea i a m\u0101tou,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

(Some of the feedback included were racist, threatening and discriminatory against us.)<\/p>\n

She said critics told her parents that she would never achieve or get a job. The worst described what they were doing as child abuse.<\/p>\n

Twelve years on, Atareta can add the title of Te R\u0101whiti Ihaka junior M\u0101ori speaker to her list of achievements, which already includes being an award-winning singer<\/a> alongside her cousin Te Haakura Ihimaera-Manley of Te N\u016btube<\/a> fame.<\/p>\n

Scott Picard from Wellington\u2019s Onslow College delivered a powerful spoken-word-esque speech on growing up M\u0101ori \u2013 \u201cnever taught to be me, only taught to be them\u201d \u2013 that saw him take out the Korimako senior English category.<\/p>\n

He shaped his speech around the analogy of learning and being tested at school, skilfully comparing it to the challenges he faced in trying to learn and maintain his M\u0101ori identity in the face of oppressive external forces. <\/p>\n

\"Scott<\/p>\n

Scott Picard <\/p>\n

\u201cThey tell us to get over it but tell me what part should I get over first?\u201d he asked at one point before reciting a long list of grievances made against M\u0101ori.<\/p>\n

He rattled off sobering statistics of M\u0101ori suicide where the rate is 30 per 100,000 \u2013 three times higher than non-M\u0101ori, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree times the grief, three times the pain, three times more lives stolen, not lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd still they ask, \u2018What is wrong with them?\u2019, when the real question is \u2018What is happening to us?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a confronting speech, but that was the point, he said. He wasn\u2019t here to \u201cplay the victim card\u201d or the next \u201cstat\u201d, he said, he was here to be \u201cthe next start of something better\u201d.<\/p>\n

Te Kahurangi Teinakore-Huaki of Te Wharekura o Kirikiriroa tackled an ongoing debate within te ao M\u0101ori about gender roles. Using poi as a way to drive her point home, she delved into tikanga around poi, whaik\u014drero, karanga, and karakia.<\/p>\n

She explained complex concepts and outlined her arguments in a way that was reminiscent of a university 300-level tikanga paper.<\/p>\n

For example, she spoke of the origin of karanga that stem from the traditional narrative of female deities Hine-ahu-one, Hine-t\u012btama, and Hine-nui-te-po \u2013 generally characterised as the first woman created by T\u0101ne, the first woman born of a womb, and the deity of death, respectively.<\/p>\n

She said according to her female elders, karanga was only done by women because of their inherent connection to the three deities, as well as to Papat\u016b\u0101nuku (Mother Earth).<\/p>\n

\u201cNg\u0101 wahanga katoa me kapi te karanga,\u201d she explained, \u201cte whenua, te kaupapa, te mate, me te ora.\u201d<\/p>\n

(A karanga must encapsulate all these aspects: the land, the purpose of the occasion, death, and life.)<\/p>\n

Her argument was that if men were allowed to fulfil women’s roles, then the same applied for women to fulfil men’s roles.<\/p>\n

As all things must be balanced and equal, she said in M\u0101ori, stay in your lane or allow me to do the same.<\/p>\n

Considering whaik\u014drero was traditionally a male responsibility, her win in the Pei Te Hurinui senior M\u0101ori section was especially poignant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Young speakers spoke about overcoming adversity at this year\u2019s national Ng\u0101 Manu K\u014drero secondary schools\u2019 speech competition \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4432,29720,111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-31210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-maori-issues","tag-matauranga","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}