Rnz: Te Ahi Kaa

Playwright Albert Belz talks about writing for radio and how it compares to the stage and screen.

Skin Writing was developed to encourage more Māori writers to give writing for radio a go. Jason Te Kare researched Māori pūrakau (stories) of Mataora and Niwareka for his story, which is set in a tattoo studio called The Underground. He discusses the concept with Justine Murray.

A family take a road trip to join the Wellington leg of the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Hikoi. Aside from the normal sibling squabbles along the way, the trip provides the space and time to discuss how the proposed government legislation will affect them and their iwi.

Te Rakau Hua o te Wao Tapu Trust is a theatre company that has performed in prisons, schools, marae, and even in the lounges of homes. Ngāti Toa actor Jim Moriarty has worked in film, television and theatre for the last forty years. The trust has performed the play, The Battalion since 2002, the stories main characters Georgia, Rimene and World War II veteran Paora. There are secrets that bubble to the surface, and Paora (played by Moriarty) is haunted by his past where he left his brother, thought to be dead, in Crete. The highly charged play uses dance, kapahaka, and waiata to tell the story. Written by Helen Pearse-Otene, Jim explains the story and the importance of honouring māori men who served overseas.

On April 18th the exhibition Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War opened at Te Papa, the National Museum in Wellington. As part of the curatorial team, Puawai Cairns has researched the lives of the some of the Māori men who fought at Gallipoli.

In the Far North, Captain Harding Leaf is quite legendary. He fought in the first World War at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. An athletic man who also was known for his keen sense of humour, he served as Lieutenant in the Pioneer Battalion from 1914 - 1918, and enlisted in World War II in 1939.

E kore ratou e koroheketia Penei i a tatou kua mahue nei E kore hoki ratou e ngoikore Ahakoa pehea i nga ahuatanga o te wa. I te hekenga atu o te ra Tae noa ki te aranga mai i te ata Ka maumahara tonu tatou ki a ratou. Ka maumahara tonu tatou ki a ratou. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. We will remember them.

Artist Ngataiharuru Taepa talks about his tupuna (ancestors) who fought in the Land Wars, the First World War and World War II.

Justine Murray visits Te Papa curator Puawai Cairns at her home and over a cup of tea, she shares a couple of photos from her research, she unravels the story of Lieutenant George Gardiner, who not only fought for his country, but made a name for himself as a rugby league player and a wrestler who went under the moniker Hori Tiki.

Piimio Mei was turned down twice to attend The New Zealand School of Dance in Wellington, but that didn't deter the 17 year old from pursuing her dream of becoming a Ballerina. A late starter to Ballet at 12 years old, Piimio was taught a few techniques from her mother and then moved into formal lessons at Kapiti Dance Centre with Alison Pond. It was after watching the movie First Position that she learned about The Rock, a dance school in Philadelphia, United States. Piimio, who practises on the hard wooden floor of the kitchen at her home in Wellington, decided to send in an audition tape to attend their summer school Ballet Intensive programme, she learned in March she was accepted. Aside from studying engineering at Weltech, she is busy fundraising for the school fees, travel and accommodation costs. A Marae in Newlands, Wellington is hosting a hangi fundraiser this weekend.

Ruia taitea, Ruia Taitea, Kia Tu ko Taikaha anake. Strip away the Taitea, the Sap. The heart is Taikaha. This week's whakatauaki is explained by Ngataiharuru Taepa no Te AtiAwa, Te Arawa.

Lanakila Michael Casupanga teaches Hula at Mid-Pacific Institute, a college preparatory school for school children from ages 5 -18 years old in Honolulu, Hawaii. As part of their school programme, the Hula students and staff of Pupukahi I Ke Alo O Na Pua Hula group travelled to Aotearoa to perform, share stories, and exchange cultural knowledge. During the trip, the group of forty one staff and students spent time in Auckland at Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Mangere, they were looked after by host families in Whakatane, and Wellington based Kapahaka group Nga Tai Hononga o Marutawhiti hosted the students at Maraeroa Marae, Porirua. It is at Maraeroa that Justine Murray talks to Lanakila Casupang about their trip, while High School Principal Thomas MacManus provides his perspective of experiencing manaakitanga (hospitality), and witnessing the practise of tikanga and Kawa on the Marae.

Teacher, Waiata Moteatea (Traditional Chant) scholar and researcher Dr Wayne Ngata attended the recent Kei Tua o te Pae conference held at Te Wananga o Raukawa, Otaki. In tackling the subject matter of Innovating Matauranga and Re-searching Rangatiratanga, the ideas of his keynote speech did not come to mind easily. But for this keynote korero, Dr Ngata talks about the challenges he encountered when he was part of the Independent Adjudication Panel that oversaw the Central North Island (CNI) iwi collective and the allocation of land, mainly in the Kaingaroa Forest. As a Rawaho (an outsider) from the eight iwi that formed the collective, there was a fine balancing act of adhering to the rules and guidelines of his role whilst maintaining tika (doing what is right). According to Dr Ngata the process and the end result, in which an allocation model was agreed upon by the collective is a form of Matauranga Maori. Highlights from his keynote speech feature in this week's Te Ahi Kaa.

On March 25th this year, the official dawn blessing ceremony took place at the Pukeahu National War Memorial park, Buckle Street in Wellington. Built above the Arras Tunnel, the park provides a space for recreational activity and reflection. The park is very much still a work in progress according to Wellington Tenths Trust Chairman Morrie Love.

Maungarongo ki te whenua. Peace on Earth. This week's whakatāuki is explained by Morrie Love no Te Ati Awa.

From Australia's ABC Radio National programme, Earshot Tusiata Avia provides a narrative about her poetry from two of her poetry collection books, Wild Dogs Under My Skirt and Bloodclot. Tusiata grew up in Christchurch and visited Samoa when she was fourteen years old. In her early twenties she left Christchurch and spent a year or so there teaching. Her experiences in Samoa and her dual heritage as Samoan Palagi would form part of the inspiration of her poetry, which is described as raw and lyrical . Avia spent over a decade travelling overseas teaching, and seriously took to writing in 2001, a year later she completed the MA Creative Writing Programme at the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University, Wellington. In 2002, the children's books, Mele and the Fofo and The Song were published. Her work was adapted for broadcast on Radio New Zealand, and her first collection of poetry Wild Dogs Under My Skirt was published in 2004. In 2009 the book Bloodclot was published, in 2013 she was a

Ōkea Ururoatia. To Die like a Shark.

Straddling both the Pakeha and Māori worlds it's fair to say his influence on Māoridom has been profound. Sir Tipene O'Regan has been described as the architect of the Maori economic model, who negotiated his guts out, in the words of The Press, to secure an historic 170 million dollar settlement for South Island tribe Ngāi Tahu.

In a 1994 episode of He Puna Wai Korero hosted by Henare Te Ua (1933 - 2007), coverage features of the Sir Apirana Ngata centenary celebrations in which Ngata graduated from University in 1894. To honour his contribution to Te Ao Maori, Dr Timoti Karetu talks about his work in traditional maori performing arts and the māori language.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of Opera in the Pa at Rotowhio Marae, Te Puia at Rotorua. This year the event will commemorate the centenary of World War I and operatic arias will be adapted to familiar tunes of that period. Musical Director Robert Wiremu is a vocal coach and Senior Music Tutor at The University of Auckland, he is a trained pianist and sang at Opera in the Pa in the mid-nineties. Since that time he was worked with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Malvina Major and The New Zealand Secondary Schools Choir. Robert grew up in Flaxmere, and that's where his musical career began as he explains with Justine Murray.