Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato, Te Arawa and Ngāti Porou.

Musician, educator, and haka stalwart Te Rita Papesch has been inducted as a Companion of the Royal Society Te Apārangi. It’s an honour she never expected, but one that she attributes to decades of dedicating her life to te ao Māori and empowering her whānau through its many facets.

“I was very surprised to have received this honour, but very grateful that it has been awarded to me while I am still with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa,” she says.

Te Rita was raised in a small town beneath her maunga, Pirongia, surrounded by music. She has fond memories of her community coming together to sing.

“My father would often gather the community together to share his homebrew and those are my earliest memories seeing and hearing music.”

When reflecting on her childhood immersed in classical and opera music, Te Rita didn’t foresee kapa haka having such a profound influence on her life, especially on her career as an educator.

She studied classical opera at the Conservatorium of Music at Auckland University in 1976, all while raising a young whānau. Life presented its fair share of challenges, and she eventually stepped away from her studies.

Upon returning home to Waikato, she enrolled at Waikato University studying te reo Māori, under the guidance of Tā Tīmoti Kāretu. Kapa haka soon emerged in her life, giving her journey a whole new meaning.

“Haka reawakened te reo Māori, and the proficiency I have acquired is because of haka.”

As a solo mother of seven children, Te Rita pays tribute to the students and staff of her kapa haka at Waikato University, all of whom made it possible for her to continue pursuing te reo Māori and haka.

“Honestly, if it wasn’t for kapa haka during my time at Waikato University, I would not have had such a fulfilling life.”

Her parents believed that education and Western knowledge were key to a stable life, and it just so happened that seven of the ten siblings became teachers.

“The eldest was already working as an educator at the time and he had a big part to play in me pivoting in that direction. There were six educators, so how could I not?”

After completing her studies, she secured a teaching position at Waikato University, during the time the kōhanga reo movement was being established. Concerned about the number of tamariki (children of students and staff) who were in the university crèche, she shared her thoughts with Tīmoti Kāretu. He simply replied “Oh well, you have a home, open it up.” So she did.

She started a humble kōhanga in her own home, which ran for about six months before moving on-site to the university. That kōhanga is now known as Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Kuaka.

She’s taught across kura, high schools, polytechnics, wānanga and universities. Her academic and haka journey prompted her to write her PhD thesis, exploring what it means to create a modern Māori identity through kapa haka.

Overwhelmed with pride, Te Rita cherishes knowing her children and mokopuna are thriving in Māori spaces.

“I’m so grateful for my passion for music because that put me on the trajectory I’ve been on. I’m also grateful that I sat with myself and ruminated on reawakening te reo Māori, because that had a natural ripple effect onto my children and their children, and everything that I’ve been able to accomplish in my lifetime.”

He Toa Whakarauora, He Toa Kairangi

Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato, Te Arawa and Ngāti Porou.

He kaipuoro, he kaiako, he pou haka hoki a Te Rita Papesch, ā, kua tohua ia hei kairangi mō te Royal Society Te Apārangi. Ehara tēnei i te whiwhinga i āta whāia rā e ia, engari he whiwhinga tēnei e whakatōrōpuku ana i ngā tau maha i whakatange riaka ai ia mō te ao Māori te take, mō te toitūtanga o tōna whānau te take, mā roto tonu i tana tuku i tōna katoa ki te ao Māori.

Hei tāna, “E mīharo ana ahau, kua whakaae mai rātou ki te homai i tēnei hōnore. Engari e harikoa ana ahau kua riro i a au nōku tonu i Te Wānanga o Aotearoa”.

I whakapakekengia a Te Rita i ngā ihonga o tōna maunga, o Pirongia. I paorooro pai te puoro, ā, ko tētahi maharatanga e motuhake nei ki a ia, ko te nohonga tahitanga o te hapori ki te waiata.

“I whakahuihui taku pāpā i te hapori, nā, ko tā rātou mahi he inu i tana pia me te waiata. Koirā tētahi o aku maharatanga tuatahi ki te puoro.”

I te hokinga o ō Te Rita mahara ki tōna ohinga, ki te nui o te whaiwāhitanga atu ki ngā oro ōkawa me ngā oro whakaari, ka kōrero ia mō te korenga ōna i matakite i tētahi ao i whai tikanga ai te kapa haka, ina hoki, koia tēnā ko tōna ara ki ngā mahi whakaako.

I te tau 1976, ka whai ia i tētahi tohu puoro whakaari i Tāmaki Makaurau, i te Consevatorium of Music, nōna e whakapakeke tamariki ana. Ko te wā me tōna mana ka karawhiu i a ia, me te aha, ka mate ia ki te whakairi i te kaupapa nei mō ‘tahi wā.

I tōna hokinga atu ki te kāinga, ki Waikato, ka whakauruhia ia ki te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, ki reira ako ai i te reo i raro i te tautetanga a Tā Tīmoti Kāretu. Nō konā, ka hua mai te kapa haka, nā konā hoki i kite ai ia i mōhio ai ia ki te ara hei takahi māna.

“I a au i te whare wānanga, i piki anō taku wairua, taku oranga, arā, i mōhio au he aha te ara mōku kia ora ai tōku ao.”

Ahakoa te pakeke o te whakapakekek i ngā tamariki tokowhitu i tana kotahi, me mihi e Te Rita ngā tauira me ngā kaimahi o Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, nā rātou nei i taea tonutia ai e ia te reo me te ao haka te whai.

“Me pono aku kōrero, ki te kore aku kapa haka i te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, kāore pea a Te Rita e ora nei, pēnei nei.”

Nō ōna mātua te whakapono ki te hua o te whai i ngā rākau a te Pākehā kia tau ai te noho i te ao, ehara, kua kaiako te tokowhitu o roto i te tekau o ōna hāmua me ōna hāmuri.

“I te whakaako kē te mātāmua i tērā wā, ā, ko ia tētahi take i whai au i te ao Mātauranga. Nā, tokowhitu mātou e whakaako ana.”

I te putanga o tana ihu hei tauira, ka whakawhiwhia ia ki tētahi tūranga whakaako i Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, ā, i taua wā rā hoki, kua tīmata te hau haeretanga o ngā rongo mō te kaupapa o te kōhanga reo. Ka tupu haere te tūmatakuru i roto i a ia, he mōhio nōna ki te autaia tokomaha tamariki e tukua ana ki te crèche. Ko tā Tīmoti ki a ia, “Ā kāti, he kāinga tōu, whakatuwharetia.” Nā, kotahi tonu atu ana.

Ka tū i a ia tētahi kōhanga reo i tōna kāinga ake, nāwai ka rere te ono marama, kua hūnuku ki runga anō i ngā papa o te whare wānanga. E mōhiotia ana te kōhanga ināianei ko Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Kuaka.

Kua whakaako a Te Rita i ngā kura, i ngā kura tuarua, i ngā kuratini, i ngā whare wānanga anō hoki. Nā tōna konau ki te kapa haka i tahuri ai ia ki te tuhi i tana tuhinga Kairangi mō te tū a te tangata i tōna tuakiri Māori, i tōna mana ahurea, mā roto tonu tana kuhu i a ia anō ki ngā mahi haka.

Kua teitei te tū o tō Te Rita poho, ka mutu, e moku tā ana tōna ngākau i runga i tōna mōhio e ora ana āna tamariki mokopuna i ngā horopaki maha o te ao Māori.

“Ko te reo tonu te kaiwhakaora, tē taea te karo. E waimarie ana au i whai whakaaro ai au ki te ako i tōku reo, ki te titiro whakaroto, kātahi ka kumea mai mā te waha. Waimarie ana au i ōku hoa, i tōku whānau. Nā, ko te puoro anō tētahi. Ko ēnei taonga katoa kua heke ki aku tamariki mokopuna.”