Māori Battalion

Heather, on AI today ...

Which doesn't, uh, look, uh, doesn't fill you with confidence that you start a sentence with on AI, but on AI today I learned that Rawiri Waititi wears the hat as a respect to war veterans, that his father was in C Company of the Māori Battalion.

Now, I went, I thought, "Okay, I don't believe your AI, so I'm gonna check it with my AI." And in fact, this is true.

He says that his, he says that it, it's basically a nod to a group of soldiers who were know- the C Company boys were known as Ngā Kau- Kaupua, The Cowboys.

... we had our, uh, a marae, uh, over there.

You know, if you look in the history, like 28th Maori Battalion is just one example of how great our Maori warriors have been.

But to me, the great thing about this is, is the strengths that both of those cultures bring, the history that brings, and blending those together or using those strengths, and it's not about making one person one or the other-

Yes

Ooh.

So a quick note before we start then, we'll be talking about combat and the deaths of real people, and we will name some of them, and that will include part of the story of the 28th Māori Battalion.

Neither of us speaks Te Reo Māori, so we've done our best with the names and place names.

If we get anything wrong, we apologize, and we'll be glad to be corrected.

This year's theme was Aki Aki Kia kaha e, forever and ever be strong.

A tribute to the men of the 28th Maori Battalion.

And the kids are all right.

Newfound Sound wrapped up its grand final at the Tuning Fork in Auckland recently.

Um, and of course, if there's not so many voting, that's a real worry.

Um, I sort of got historical reasons for it around, you know, the, the whole Māori Battalion view of our people going over to fight for that ability-

Mm.

Mm

This year's theme is Ake Ake Kia Kaha E, Forever and Ever, Be Strong.

A tribute to the men of the 28th Māori Battalion.

Hamilton's Sun and Water are up for the Best Māori Group, alongside Come On Up and Ototahi duo Dillustrate.

Brett and Jermaine are coming home.