Meanwhile, hui Maori throughout the country
are being called off or postponed.
Changes are being made to remaining regional kapa haka events
while Tuhoe's largest gathering,
Te Hui Ahurei a Tuhoe has been called off.
For more,
we are joined live by reporter Te Okiwa McLean,
Te Okiwa.
Indeed, Scotty,
changes and cancellations have been made to events
that will include 500 or more people.
Te Tai Tokerau Kapa Haka Committee made the call last night
that their competition will still go ahead
but to judges and cameras only.
In terms of Te Hui Ahurei a Tuhoe,
at this stage that remains cancelled.
Normally, Te Hui Ahurei a Tuhoe brings its people together.
But this year, the event has officially been postponed.
Cancelling is not an easy choice to make,
however, the well-being of the people is paramount.
The Prime Minister made the call that any gathering 500
or more people will be cancelled.
Furthermore, tribal elders are on edge about catching the virus.
Over the last five ahurei,
Te Ahurei has taken good care of kaumatua.
But regardless of that,
to date it has always the elderly who are at disproportionate risk
of dying,
and often are quickly wiped out by coronavirus.
So for our elders,
I'm completely elated the event has been cancelled.
This gives the various ahurei committees time to pause
and gather their thoughts to come up with a plan B
for the festival.
It's a postponement of the ahurei for another time.
Next year,
it'll be the 50th anniversary of the ahurei
so it'll be good to have the ahurei back in Te Waimana
once we're over this coronavirus, all to celebrate 50 years of ahurei.
From Tuhoe to Northland,
the general public have been banned from attending
the Te Tai Tokerau regionals but groups will still perform
but just to the judges and cameras only.
I'm a little bit in two minds at the moment
because all the teams have put in so much training and effort
into the event but we're also cognisant
of the need to look after the well-being of the people
and for us that is the paramount consideration.
Ihimaera is also a senior member of the new group Puangarua.
She is wary given the time they've put in for the event.
If I take off my committee hat and put on my kaihaka hat,
this is an extraordinary circumstance.
However, we need to be more focused on well-being firstly,
and secondly, we have to remember that when it comes to small places
like Whangarei in Northland,
they only have one hospital
which needs to be taken into consideration.
She also questions how will kapa haka be able to draw energy in
with no crowd?
I feel for the judges.
Will they be allowed to applaud or what?
I have no idea.
With a message to the Te Matatini board.
How can we move forward with certainty
if Te Matatini doesn't make any decisions,
so for now,
never mind the regionals?
So, we should hopefully hear from them soon.
As Covid-19 is a global pandemic,
no doubt more upcoming events will be altered, cancelled
or postponed til later.
Te Okiwa, kapa haka regional competitions for Aotea,
and Te Tai Rawhiti, Tamararo and other major Maori events
are set to take place.
What's the update on those events?
I attempted to make contact with all of those committees,
however, only one of them got back to me and that was Aotea.
They said that their competition
will continue to run this upcoming weekend.
They will be making an official announcement
on this at 6 pm tonight
so everyone is across what's happening, Scotty.
Thank you for the update,
Te Okiwa McLean.