Photos: Emma Cooper, Stijl - Emma Cooper.
Eden Park regularly plays host to up to 50,000 fans, but on September 29 things will be a little different as Dame Hinewehi Mohi takes to the pitch surrounded by thousands of Kiwis in a bid to break the Guiness World Record for the largest haka.
For the music legend, it’s a chance to unify New Zealand and showcase to the world the mana of our mighty haka. But it’s also a deeply personal mission to raise much-needed funds for the Rautakauri Music Therapy Trust she founded 20 years ago in her daughter’s name.
“When Hineraukatauri was born, she couldn’t breathe or feed and she still feeds through a tube in her stomach,” shares Hinewehi, 59, explaining some of the ways cerebral palsy effects her daughter. “Life is very different for her than an average 28-year-old.
“She has very limited deliberate movement, but music therapy is when she is her most animated, most engaged, most excited and joyous in her week. She just really loves it.”
It was while promoting her iconic album Oceania in the UK in 1999 that Hinewehi was first introduced to music therapy by producer Jaz Coleman.
During these sessions, Hineraukatauri was able to engage and communicate in ways not previously thought possible. Hinewehi and husband George Bradfield became determined to bring the life-changing benefits of music therapy home to Aotearoa.
“Hineraukatauri needs assistance with just about everything. She’s confined to a physical body that doesn’t enable her to do much,” explains Hinewehi. “But with music therapy, she can have really full and expressive sessions with her music therapist. She really comes alive. There’s nothing quite like the joy of seeing that for a parent.”
Two decades on, it has grown from one music room supporting a small group of children to now welcoming around 1000 people of all ages each week in four different regions.
But in the past year, it’s become increasingly difficult to keep the doors open.
“This has been the single biggest challenge we’ve faced,” she says. Hinewehi explains that the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust operates the only music therapy centre in the country. It also receives no direct government funding. “I’ve been a bit staggered by the dramatic shift in funding sources.”
So when she learned France currently holds the world record for the largest haka, set in 2014, a creative idea started to brew to bring the record home and raise funds at the same time.
Now the 2024 New Zealand Music Hall of Fame inductee is putting the call out to Kiwis to join her on September 29 to perform the haka Ka Mate.
Composed by Te Rauparaha, chief of Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ka Mate is recognised around the globe when New Zealand sports teams compete.
To take the record, 4029 people need to do the haka together. However, Hinewehi is dreaming of a 10,000-strong crowd.
“We want to make an impact and really show the world how important this cultural icon is to us. We also to feel a part of something really special. A moment in time that I don’t think we’ll ever forget.”
No haka experience is necessary – learning videos are available – and all ages and genders are welcome.
The event will be live-streamed on a number of a platforms. Good friend Stacey Morrison is hosting and many top local artists are performing, including Anika Moa, Tami Neilson and the Topp Twins.
“I bought my dad a ticket,” she says. “He’s bringing my nine-year-old nephew, who has been practising in the shower. They’re just really excited. This is something they see on TV… see the All Blacks do before a rugby game and get the chills.”
Growing up on a remote farm in Hawke’s Bay, waiata [song] was always a big part of her life. Her dad Mike played Māori records on repeat to help learn the language. But it wasn’t until she started at St Joseph’s Māori Girls College that Hinewehi experienced haka first-hand.
“I just couldn’t get enough of it and in university, I was in two kapa haka.”
She says sharing the record-breaking experience with Hineraukatauri will be a highlight.
Hinewehi tells, “We still live in Hawke’s Bay. A trip to Auckland is no small feat for our whānau with the wheelchair and everything Hineraukatauri needs. But she represents a lot for the disability and music therapy communities, so it’s really important to us and I’m really looking forward to her reaction.
“I’m going to be right there on the pitch with the grass between my toes, doing my thing. It’s been a while since I’ve really done haka. To perform haka of this magnitude is going to be so amazing.”
For more info about the world record attempt or to book tickets, visit hakarecord.co.nz
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