The second day of celebrations for Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po saw five whānau, each celebrated for championing te reo and te ao Māori, share their whakaaro at Ako Ararau ki Koroneihana.
Ako Ararau is a Waikato-based Māori expo bringing together leaders, educators, creatives, and learners promoting the Māori language and culture.
The kaupapa for the day's kōrero: 'e oho rangatahi, maranga mai'.
Among the kaikōrero were te whānau Kapa-Kingi, which include triplets Eru, Tipene and Heemi, sons of Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.
Their kōrero drew on their tūpuna, the vision of Ngāpuhi tohunga Penetana Papahurihia, and the importance of preparing rangatahi to take their place in the future of Aotearoa.
Eru reflected on rangatahi leadership both past and present.
"Our Declaration of Sovereignty in 1835 and Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840 were both documents that were fundamentally forged by the kaha of rangatahi," he said, pointing to his tūpuna, Eruera Pare Hongi, one of the prime writers of He Whakaputanga in 1835.
"Four years before that, he was responsible for penning the first formal correspondence to the British Crown in the form of a petition, basically saying to King George, come and sort your people out because they're playing up.
"Five years later, not only was he an architect of the work of He Whakaputanga through his pen, he was also a signatory. Barely 20 years old."
Kapa-Kingi said if it wasn't for his premature death, he would have also been a signatory of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
"He said that Te Tiriti o Waitangi would become like a spider consuming the insides of Māori people and the result would be like the carcass of a cicada.
"Ka mea hoki ia, ka mau tātou ki te ripo, and we will be stuck in the whirlpool."
Kapa-Kingi said through the actions of the government today, they were "indeed stuck in the whirlpool."
"Erangi, ko te kōrero mutunga i roto i tana matakite e mea ana ka taka ki tua o te 200 tau o te tā mokohanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi ka maranga ake ko te pono ki te hakatikatika i ngā mea katoa."
The final word in [Papahurihia's] vision was: "When 200 years have passed since the making of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the truth will rise to bring justice to everything".
"Now if you're OK at maths, you'll be able to calculate that 200 years from the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, 1840 takes us to 2040. That's 15 years from now."
"Ask yourself, who will be in their prime by 2040? Who will be ready and waiting by 2040?
Traditionally, a taniwha has been the government in Wellington.
"Kahore, the real taniwha is te reanga o te rangatahi. He taniwha e moe ana, erangi, ko te oho ake i aini, ko te maranga ake i aini. E te ariki nui, māku e ki, e, ko koe te ariki nui o te unuhanga o te taniwha, o te maranga o te taniwha."
The real taniwha is the generation of rangatahi. A taniwha that sleeps. The awakening is within you, the rising is within you.
Great leader, it is for you to say, you are the leader of the stirring of the taniwha, of its rising.
He closed with a call to both elders and young people.
"Aku kōrero mutunga, i runga i te aroha, hei ngā tai pakeke, tai kaumātua."
My final words, with love, to the adults, to the elders.
"Stop gatekeeping please. Rangatahi mā, stop asking for permission."
Heemi Kapa-Kingi, a doctoral candidate and mental health researcher, focused on the responsibility of older generations to make space for the next generation.
"I think we focus a lot on the preparation, the availability, and the readiness of our rangatahi.
"But the inverse must also happen as a reflection of the older generations to understand when to vacate the places and powers that they hold," he said.
"Nō reira koutou, mātou e hanga pakeke nei; we must be ready to bring on our rangatahi into these positions of power so they can grow and develop and gain experience if needed for change."
"Ko waimarie mātou ko tōku whānau i tēnei āhuatanga."
He gave a mihi to his parents, who he said "were pivotal and instrumental in growing us, and making sure we had the opportunities and chances to test ourselves".
"Me whakamātau ngā rangatahi i a rātou anō kia rite mō te wā, e tika ana kia rātou anō."
Young people must test themselves so that when the time is right, they are prepared in their own way.
Their proud māmā, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, Te Tai Tokerau MP also shared her whakaaro on rangatahi, and reflected on the deliberate care needed to guide young people.
"What I know about rangatahi is this, I care about them deeply.
"I care so much that I would never send them out alone, untrained, unprepared. That's what I know, and that's what I believe."
She said that's exactly what she and her husband Korotangi have "tried to do".
"To make sure this is done deliberately, not by accident."
The first word to come to mind when she read the Ako Ararau ki Koroneihana brief was "evolve", she said.
"My grandparents were better than their parents. My parents were an improvement again. And I am better than my parents," she laughed, adding that her children would say the same.
"And so we must tell our children, you are the next best thing. You are the best thing I have ever done. And my kids know that.
"It is a joy and privilege to stand here and share some of my mere mortal motherly moments.
"To all the mothers here, those yet to be, even those who choose not to be, the power is with you. Know that, be that, do that, and it will come to you."