He Hītori

E ngā Uri o te iwi o Apakura, nau mai haere mai ki Pūāwhe Kapa Haka

Welcome to Pūāwhe Kapa Haka, of Apakura, who have been established to strive for the reclamation of Apakura identity and pride amidst the difficulties our people have suffered in the past and the present. We assert that such conditions and persecutions we have been subjected to in the past and the present will not be accepted for our future, our tamariki, our mokopuna.

We have a rich history, spanning back before the atrocities at Rangiaowhia, Ngāhuruhuru Pā. Our tūpuna were prosperous, entrepreneurial, strategic people. We wish to create the possibility of an illuminated future, to return the prosperity of the past to this future for our iwi in our knowledge of our identity. We proclaim that Kapa Haka will be a vessel to assist in this possibility.

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The name "Pūāwhe" is the name given to the cone on the Pirongia ranges, but was also the name given by the Patupaiarehe for this maunga. We assert that, like climbing to the top of such lofty peaks like Pūāwhe, the journey will be challenging. But once you ascend the peaks you will see the expanse and beauty of all the whenua that our tūpuna called home, our ūkaipō, our whenua taurikura, our stories prior to Te Riri a te Pākeha.  It is at the summit we bow!
In using the iwi patupaiarehe name for our kapa haka, it also reiterates the longevity of our occupation of and connection to this land, spanning back to times immemorial, reaffirming Apakura's own connection to her patupaiarehe ancestry.