Maisey Rika

He korokoro tūī, he ringa huti punga, he tangata ngākau māhaki, he kaiwaiata a Maisey Rika mō te ao waiata Māori. I whānau mai ia ki Pōneke, heoi i tupu ake ki Rotorua, Whakatāne me Ōmaio. Waihoki, i kuraina ia ki Te Kura Kaupapa Māori ā Rohe ō Ruatoki (Te Wharekura ō Ruatoki).

Mai i tōna nohinohitanga, i kī katoa tana ao ki ngā waiata me te ao Māori. Ko tōna whāea tērā a Honey Rika me ōna tuakana teina (The Rika sisters) i tū ki te waiata, ki te whakangahau, whakaratarata i te minenga, ā, ko Maisey rāua ko tāna tungāne a JJ i whakatā ki muri, mātakitaki ai, whakarongo ai. Hei taiohi, i uru a Maisey ki ngā mahi o tōna whāea hei ringa āwhina ki Whakatāne Manor Inn.

Nā te ngākau nui o tōna whāea ki te ao Māori, i tupu ake a Maisey ki roto i ngā kaupapa Māori, ki roto tonu i te reo Māori, tae atu ki ngā haerenga o Maisey rāua ko JJ ki Ōmaio ako ai ngā kōrero mō tō rāua iwi. Ahakoa kāore i a Honey te reo Māori, i ūpoko pakarū ia kia ākona e Maisey rāua ko JJ te reo.

I te tau 1997, i uru a Maisey ki te ao waiata Māori whānui i ā ia i Hato Hohepa (St Joseph’s Māori girls College). Ki reira, i uru ia ki te rōpu waiata (choir) o te kura, ā, i tū ia hei kaiwaiata matua. I puta i a rātou tētahi kohinga waiata i roto katoa i te reo Māori, ā, ko E Hine: An Anthology of Māori Love Songs (1998) nā Hato Hohepa tērā. Mutunga iho, i riro i a rātou ngā tāonga double-platinum me te Mana Reo best Māori language album. I kitea hoki a Maisey hei toki ki te waiata, ā, kāore e kore ka eke i te ao waiata. Whai muri mai i tēnei kohinga waiata, i puta anō ētahi kohinga waiata e Maisey rāua ko Honey, ko ngā ingoa ko 20 Favourite Māori Songs (1999) me Kotiro Māori = Māori Girl (2000).

I roto i ōna mahi ako ki Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato ako ana i te mātai hinengaro, te reo Māori me ngā mahi whakaako, i tūtaki atu ia ki tōna hoa pūmau a Bossy Hill. Mai i tēnei aroha, i te takiwā o te mutunga o te tohu o Maisey, i puta i a rāua he tamaiti. I rongo tonu a Maisey i te karanga o te ao waiata Māori, noreira i whai tonu ia i tērā ara, ā, ko Bossy hei kaiwhakahaere mōna.

Ahakoa tana puku mahi kia puta i ā ia ngā kohinga waiata ē rua i te tau ōrite, ā, ko Maisey (2009) me Tohu (2009) ēra, i huri tōtika ia ki te rere āwhio i te ao ki te waiata. Pekepeke haere ia ki Japan mō te Giant Rugby Ball, ki Taiwan i runga i te tono o te NZ Commerce and Industry Office me te MFAT’s delegation, ki ngā tāone nui o Ahitereiria, hokihoki mai ki ngā kaupapa maha ki konei ki Aotearoa. I ngā haerenga o Maisey ki Aotearoa, i tūtaki atu ia ki a Tama Waipara ki tētahi kaupapa whakanui i a Matariki ki reira waiata ai. I konei i whakatau a Tama Waipara me pekepeke haere rātou ko Maisey ko JJ i te motu waiata ai. I whakatau hoki a Tama ka noho ia hei tuakana mō Maisey.

I te tau 2010 , i tae atu a Maisey rātou ko JJ ko Tama Waipara ki Leiden ki Netherlands ki te taha o te nui o Toi Māori Aotearoa. Ko tō rātou take ki reira ko te tuku waka tauā i tapaina ko “Te Hono ki Aotearoa”, me tētahi waka tētēkura i tapaina ko “Tāhimana” ki te hunga ki korā hei whakanui, whakapakari hoki i te hononga ki waenga i Aotearoa me Netherlands.

I whai wāhi a Maisey ki te eke ki runga i te waka a ‘Te Hono ki Aotearoa’ me te rongo i te tāonga rā e rere ana i ngā awaawa ō Leiden. Nā ngā mahi kapo kiriata a Wiremu Grace ki te kaupapa nei, i tuku a Maisey i te tono ki tōna matua a Joe Harawira mō ētahi whakaahua o te waka hei whakanikoniko i tana kiriata mō te waiata ‘Sink or Swim’. Pārekareka katoa ki ā ia te hoki atu ki taua kiriata rā hei hokinga mahara, hei koanga ngākau. I waiata tahi ēnei tokotoru i te tānga o te kawa o ngā waka i Leiden.

Atu i te kaupapa ki Leiden, i kaha uru a Maisey ki ngā mahi o Toi Māori Aotearoa. I te tau 2011, i tū ia ki te waiata ki te kaupapa Toi Māori Art Market. I te tau 2016, i tau atu rātou ko ētahi o te whānau o Toi Māori ki Guam hei māngai mō Aotearoa, mō te iwi Māori hoki mo tērā o ngā kaupapa nui rā ō Festpac. I uru hoki ia ki ngā kaupapa maha ō te kōmiti rā a Pūatatangi – he rōpū kei raro i te marumaru o Toi Māori Aotearoa e aro ana ki te tautoko, whakanui me te poipoi i ngā kaiwaiata ki roto i te ao waiata Māori.

Maha hoki ngā wā i tū a Maisey ki te waiata ki te kaupapa Pao Pao Pao, he kaupapa e aro ana ki te whakaatu ki te marea ngā pūkenga, ngā pūmanawa o ngā kaiwaiata Māori, e aro hoki ana ki te tuitui hononga ki waenga i ngā kaiwaiata nei. Ahakoa nui te aroha ō Maisey ki te tū ki te waiata, ko te mahi rawe rawa atu ki ā ia ko te noho, ko te mahi tahi me ngā kaiwaiata, kaitito waiata o ngā tauhou, te hunga e ara mai ana.

Nā tēnei i kaha whai wāhi hoki a Maisey ki te kaupapa Pao Pao Pao Tuakana Teina. E aro ana tēnei kaupapa ki te whakakotahi i ngā rangatira me ngā tauhou o te ao waiata Māori, kia piki ngā pūkenga tito waiata, pūkenga reo waiata, pūkenga whakatairangi o ēnei tauhou. Ko ētahi o te hunga i uru ki tēnei kaupapa ko Dondon (Sherydon Ngāropo-Te Tai), Josie (Jose Clark), (Teeks, Te Karehana Gardienr-Toi) rātou ko Horomona Horo. Ka mutu, nā Maisey te tono i tuku ki ēnei tokowhā hei reo hāpai mō te kohinga waiata o Maisey, ā, ko Tira (2019) tērā. Koia rā te waiata ‘Taku Mana’ e pāohooho ana te hōhonutanga, te tūhonohonotanga o ēnei reo waiata me ēnei reo pūoro, he tauira rangatira o ngā hua o te mahi tahi o te teina me te tuakana. Nā Maisey te kī, “nā rātou anō te waiata i whakamana!”.