The crew at Hui Takataapui 2012 The Maori King will be among the dignitaries who will attend a formal dinner at Hui Takatāpui, which is being held in Waikato next month. The New Zealand AIDS Foundation supported gathering is centred on promoting safe sex, and supporting and celebrating takatāpui, which has a rough modern translation encompassing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Māori. This year’s event will be held at Te-Papa-O-Rotu Marae in Whatawhata, just outside Hamilton, from 6 to 9 November. Organisers expect 150 to 200 people to attend, and say numbers have steadily grown since the gathering’s inception in 1986. It will open with a powhiri at 3PM on Thursday 6 November, with Labour MPs Louisa Wall and Nanaia Mahuta among the speakers on Friday, and Tamati Coffey speaking on Saturday. On Saturday night a formal dinner will be attended by Kīngi Tuheitia Paki, the Māori King, along with other dignitaries from Iwi Māori and the Cook Islands’ Ariki. This year’s theme is “Te Kohao o te Ngira”, celebrating the coming together of Takatāpui, whānau and friends, and embodying the diversity implicit in the whakatauki of Kīngi Pōtatau: "Kotahi ano te kohao o te ngira, e kuhu ai te miro whero, te miro ma, te miro pango." It translates to "There is but one eye of the needle, through which the red, white, and black thread must pass," a saying which means we are all equal in the eyes of god. The New Zealand AIDS Foundation’s Community Engagement Coordinator for Māori, Maihi Makiha, says over a quarter of a century, Hui Takatāpui have contributed to a decrease in HIV an increase in general awareness about HIV and sexual diversity among Maori. “It has also strengthened relationships between takatāpui and the wider Māori community,” he says. At Hui Takatāpui 2014, Love Your Condom will present an update on a book the Māori team at NZAF has been working on which shares the history of takatāpui. This project is near completion and the team hopes to launch the book early next year. “Our voice is often the most invisible and we wanted to ensure we capture the lives of our community to pass on to the next generations,” says NZAF Kaiārahi Jordon Harris. Makiha adds: “For a lot of our rangatahi today, they have no idea who are our icons or tuakana are and what significant role they played in our journey as takatāpui.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 29th October 2014 - 9:26am