Dancer of the year takes centre stage
Women journalists want to move forward
Pride and joy on stage
Fine wine and a mouth-watering menu
Te Vaerua to open soon
Thanks from Rotaract
Te Uki Ou records history on website
Cook Islander named The Apprentice
Searching for Ken Graham links
The WeekEnd Crossword

Junior and intermediate dancers will begin tonight’s dancer of the year competition at the National Auditorium followed by the much awaited senior dancer of the year category. 09050111

Twenty nine Cook Islands dancers will take to the stage tonight for the 2010 Dancer of the Year competition in all divisions juniors, intermediate and seniors.

The competition will start at 6pm with the 10 junior and six intermediate dancers to showcase their slow and fast beat performances.

The prize giving for the junior and intermediate dancer of the year section will be held immediately after the competition before a short break.

The senior dancers will then take to the stage in the second half with a total of 13 dancers entered into the competition.

Tickets will be on sale at the entrance to the National Auditorium at $15 for reserve seats, $10 general adult admission and $5 for children.

- Matariki Wilson

The dancers taking to the stage this evening are:

Junior section – Issabelle Nikoro (Arorangi School), Edmund Tupuna (Akatokamanava), Tevaikura Tatuava (Tupapa Maraerenga), Teaui Wichman Rairoa (Rangiatea), Elisa Taru (Puaikura), Kanoa Taru (Puaikura), Vetina Nicholas (Pue), Richard Unuka (Araura Enua), Moanaura Friend (Akatokamanava), Jarves Ambrose Aperau (Inave/Puaikura), Intermediate section – Vaineritua Koteka (Rarotonga), Ngatokoa Mataio (Puaikura), Jane Tiaore (Oire Nikao), Gideon Ota-a-kii Ngati Tika-ki-te-ope Ama (Takitumu), Poko Tangata (Oire Nikao), Mary Taio (Araura Enua), Senior section – Louisa Mokoha (Avatiu/Mangaia), Tuarii ‘SV’ Jnr Yaewua Turaki (Pue/Pukapuka), Elizabeth Pitomaki (Oire Nikao), Okirua Okirua (Atiu), Mihimana Ioaba (Manihiki), Ngametua Willie (Akatokamanava), Uirangi Bishop (Aitutaki), John Elisa (Pukapuka), Marianne Pokipoki (Puaikura), Ngamata Tutai (Mangaia), Ana Howard (Mauke/Rarotonga), Teariki Mateariki (Defending Champ), Henrianna Savage (Mangaia).

CINews reporter Rachel Reeves (seated) with WAVE coordinator Ulamila Kurai-Wragg at the pre-WPFD conference. 10042917

BRISBANE, April 30 Women journalists attending the Pacific WAVE Media Network in Brisbane this week, including a number from the Cook Islands, have confirmed they want to move forward on a draft strategic plan developed over the last year.

They say they want to work on their governance and working documents helping them to lead, excel and develop the kind of Pacific media they want to see.

They have talked about safety and the challenges facing Pacific women in the media, and the discussion continued with the impacts of culture, training, gender roles, and feminism on content and newsroom standards. The women journalists are gathering in the wings of the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day event which begins this weekend in Brisbane.

But while the passion and sharing of information, experiences and strategies waged back and forth over the challenging agenda topics, the workshop was unanimous in its closing sessions that the Pacific women want to network with each other on the issues that matter, and they want that network to be strong and effective.

Others also want to strengthen the links between gender advocacy and media literacy for the region. More than 20 participants from 12 Pacific nations covering all three sub-regions and all facets of media work have set a three month timeline for themselves to help develop the kind of organisation they want.

They have also confirmed Cook Islands journalist and climate change/gender activist Ulamila Wragg as the WAVE coordinator who will work with an inaugural WAVE working committee to develop the founding documents, rules and procedures of the network, aimed at helping it to function more effectively.

Wragg, who facilitated the session aimed at defining future directions for Pacific women in media, presented the draft of a strategic planning process for consideration and discussion. The draft will be taken up by the inaugural working group members endorsed by the meeting, and their work will also feature in consultations with an online network of some 200 women in newsrooms, advocacy and civil society media, PR, and academic institutions.

She says she’s pleased at the progress made in the two days of talks thus far. The meeting ends tomorrow (Friday) with an outcomes document feeding into a consultation session with review team members for the AusAID Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PacMAS), before a mini-workshop on ICTs and online advocacy.

WAVE members will also be part of the Pacific presence at the  UNESCO World Press Freedom Day global commemorations, being hosted this weekend in Australia by the School of Journalism and Communications at the University of Queensland.

The WPFD events are historic for the region as its the first time UNESCO has chosen to host the event in this part of the world.

WAVE’s Media Freedom@Work workshop is a partnership involving UQ and AusAID and supported by UNESCO, IFJ, and key partners in the region including the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

Cultural inheritance is a birthright and the 29 dancers who took to the dancer of the year stage on Thursday night showed nothing but respect and pride for their Cook Islands culture.

In opening the night’s show, minister Apii Piho commended all the competitors for taking on the challenge. He said that although there would only be one winner, every single dancer on the stage was a winner in his eyes and the eyes of all Cook Islanders.

The combined junior, intermediate and senior dancer of the year competition drew a large crowd to the national auditorium to watch the Cook Islands dancing festival.

The combined dance show was a fantastic way to see the development and growth of Cook Islands dancers of all ages.

The show began with the junior section where the quality of dancing by all 10 dancers made the hearts of every Cook Islander in the crowd burst with joy.

Pue beauty Vetina Nicholas was the judges’ favourite as she won the slow and fast beat sections as well as the ultimate junior female of the year dance title.

A confident Teaui Rairoa won the junior male dancer of the year title but it was a close competition with pint sized dancer Richard Unuka taking out second and Jarves Aperau of Arorangi taking out third.

The quality of dancing stepped up a notch with the intermediate dancer of the year competitors exhibiting more control in their dancing.

With just six dancers in this category – everyone received a sponsor’s pack prize, but the ultimate champion dancer titles went to the stunning Mary Taio in the female section and Gideon Ama in the male section. Both dancers took out the special awards.

After the junior and intermediate dance competitions, it was time for the senior dance competition and as expected all 13 dancers were polished in their performances.

Pukapuka dancers Tuarii ‘SV’ Turaki and John Eliza were without a doubt the crowd favourites with their saucy dance styles.

But the passionate chant and agility of Teariki Mateariki couldn’t be matched as he successfully defended his champion dancer title.

Aitutaki maiden Uirangi Bishop’s fluid actions and lightning speed fast beat dance topped the rest.

During his sponsor’s speech, Ben Bergman, himself a former dancer of the year champion, of Hideaway Bar and Bergman and Sons, said that the success of all the dancers was due to the collective work by their families, costume designers, drummers, choreographers and of course the spectators who had ventured out to support the dance show.

All the winners will take to the stage again in November for the international dancer of the year competition which will include dancers from New Zealand and Australia.

For now – it’s safe to say that here at home the Cook Islands culture is still vibrant and well respected and loved by all.

- Matariki Wilson

Dancer of the year full results

Junior female division-1st Vetina Nicholas, 2nd Elisa Taru, 3rd Tevaikura Tatuava, junior male division-1st Teaui Rairoa, 2nd Richard Unuka, 3rd Jarves Aperau, most promising dancer- (female) Issabelle Nikoro, (male) Edmund Tupuna, best costume-(female) Elisa Taru, (male) Jarves Aperau, best slow beat-(female) Vetina Nicholas, (male) Richard Unuka, best fast beat-(female) Vetina Nicholas, (male) Teaui Rairoa.

Intermediate female division-1st Mary Taio, 2nd Poko Tangata, 3rd Jane Tiaore, intermediate male division-1st Gideon Ama, 2nd Ngatokoa Mataio, most promising-(female) Vaineritua Koteka, (male) Gideon Ama, best costume-(female) Mary Taio, (male) Gideon Ama, best slow beat-(female) Mary Taio, (male) Gideon Ama, best fast beat-(female) Mary Taio.

Senior female division-1st Uirangi Bishop, 2nd Henrianna Savage, 3rd Mihimana Ioaba, senior male division-1st Teariki Mateariki, 2nd Tuarii Turaki, 3rd Ngametua Willie, most promising-(female) Elizabeth Pitomaki, (male) Ngametua Willie, best costume-(female) Henrianna Savage, (male) Teariki Mateariki, best slow beat-(female) Uirangi Bishop, (male) Teariki Mateariki, best fast beat-(female) Uirangi Bishop, (male) Teariki Mateariki.

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Mihimana Ioaba was stunning on stage in natural rauti costume. 10052877

 

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LEFT: Mangaia warrior Ngamata Tutai did his people proud on stage. RIGHT: Mihimana Ioaba was stunning on stage in natural rauti costume. 10052853

 

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Tevaikura Tatuava came third in the junior female dancer of the year competition. 10052805

 

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Champion dancer for the second year running, Teariki Mateariki in full dancer of the year mode on Thursday. 10052858

 

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Jarves Aperau ends his fast beat dance on a dramatic note. 10052840

 

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Tuarii ‘SV’ Turaki brought his Pukapuka flare to the stage and placed second overall in the male dancer of the year competition. 10052861

 

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2010 junior female dancer of the year Vetina Nicholas of Pue was radiant on stage. She also took out the best slow beat and fast beat divisions. 10052811

 

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2010 female champion dancer Uirangi Bishop of Aitutaki went all natural for her slow beat dance costume. She also won the slow and fast beat dance divisions. 10052869

 

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Mary Taio (left) during her victory dance after being announced as the intermediate female dancer of the year. 10052848

 

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Mihimana Ioaba was stunning on stage in natural rauti costume. 10052876

 

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Poko Tangata of Nikao was a vision of grace on stage. 10052829

 

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Ngametua Willie during the fast beat dance division. 10052870

 

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John Eliza the Pukapuka warrior ends his fast beat dance with an almighty lion’s roar. 10052867

 

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2010 junior male dancer of the year Teaui Wichman Rairoa. 10052806

 

Chef Tim Tierney (right) with Tokerau Turia, who chefs at Pawpaw Patch and played MC on Friday night. 10052449

Wine club members and eager guests had a chance to enjoy an exquisite evening of dinner, drinks and conversation last Friday at Sails Restaurant in Muri.

Chef Tim Tierney of Deli Foods whipped up a mouth-watering five-course menu, and paired each dish with an apposite wine from the Deli Foods cellar, to make for a lovely meal.

The evening kicked off with a fruits de mer, which is French for “fruits of the sea” and denotes not fruit but seafood.

A carefully-arranged plate boasted champagne-poached oysters, smoked marlin with caper cream and a hint of ginger, and salsa verde mussels, which were air-freighted from New Zealand the night before the function.

The seafood was superb on its own, but enhanced by its liquid counterpart – a light and fruity Craggy Range Riesling 2007.

Next up was an orange-infused parrotfish with a green pea puree and crispy kumara wafers, paired with a Te Mata Elston Chardonnay 2006, both of which were followed by a palate-cleansing champagne lime and passion fruit sorbet.

Our palates cleansed and appetites piqued, we then dug into a braised forrest mushroom and beef dish, complemented by a German pasta called spatzle and rukau.

The accompanying wine was a rich Bluegrass Cabernet Merlot 2006, half cabernet sauvignon and half merlot.

To cap the evening, waiters presented a dessert that even the fullest diners couldn’t turn down.

A rich, velvety Varlhrona chocolate tart with mixed berry compote and vanilla bean anglaise suited the final wine of the evening – a Peregrine Pinot Noir 2007.

The evening was thoroughly enjoyable, and the five courses and their complementing wines were a real treat.

If you’d like to attend Wine Club’s next event, visit www.delifoods.co.ck

Next month, Pacific Resort will host an “Amisfield” Wine Club night, and in July, Wine Club will gather at Le Bon Vivant.

In August, Tierney will teach a cooking course at the Hospitality Tourism Training Centre, so if you’re interested, contact him at Deli Foods in Muri.

Cheers, Tim and Wine Club, for a lovely evening.

• Rachel Reeves

Te Vaerua Community Rehabilitation Service is on the verge of opening its Arorangi office inside a re-modelled residential building.

The service is free and aims to rehabilitate those with health issues and disabilities.

Te Vaerua was registered as a non-charitable organisation in 2007, and in the absence of a functional office building, has been sending a physiotherapist into the community and up to hospital.

The organisation intends to take a multidisciplinary approach to rehabilitation and relies on the medical expertise of a range of health personnel, including physiotherapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, general practitioners and local nurses.

The grand opening of the office building, which coordinator Donna Smith said she hopes will take place within the next few weeks, is just pending the completion of electrical wiring and the installation of broadband.

Te Vaerua intends to eventually install a therapy pool and gym.

Smith said that the project has come this far thanks to Hawkins Construction, Global Volunteers and the Office of the Prime Minister, all of which have done voluntary manual work.

Te Vaerua receives minimal funding from the Ministry of Health and the Community Initiative Scheme, but otherwise finances its operations by fundraising.

Coordinator Donna Smith said that Te Vaerua will host a community garage sale on Friday, June 11, opposite the Banana Court in town, and asked that anyone willing to donate items for sale or time is welcome to contact her.

• Rachel Reeves

Member development and more funding for local projects are currently key initiatives for the Rotaract Club of Rarotonga.

The club has been fundraising this month with the goals of contributing more funding to local projects, helping develop members and for other club activities.

With the help of Rotary, members of Rotaract have been selling sausage sizzles, toasties and Rotaract president Christian Mani said the club did well.

Rotaract would like to say a big meitaki maata to all sponsors who contributed to the fundraisers: Avarua Bakery, Dan O’Brien and Dion Paul of CITC, Tapu Munro, Kevin Powell, George George, Rite Price, CIPS Image & Copy Centre, ANZ and Raromart.

Rotaract welcomes members of the public who are between 18 to 30 years to attend the meetings every fortnight on Wednesday.

Anybody who is interested should contact Rotaract via email rotaractck@hotmail.com or become a fan on the club’s Facebook page Rotaract Rarotonga.

• PK

Tahia and Tehana hold gifts sent from two Wellington schools which have already published their Living Heritage stories online. 10052125

Year 7 and 8 students from Apii Te Uki Ou launched their website about the history of the school last week.

They interviewed members of the community about the origins of the school, which served as an introduction to the research process. The introduction to the research process coincides with the school’s current building project which will combine the library and the computer room into an information library centre.

The history database will be hosted on the New Zealand National Library’s Living Heritage website. This is a UNESCO funded pilot scheme for Pacific island nations to record their cultural heritage and share it internationally.

Living Heritage is an online bilingual initiative. Schools identify a heritage resource in their local community, write a story about it, take pictures, complete interviews and research the resource, and then they publish this information on the website. It was decided this year to bring the Living Heritage awards website to the schools in the Pacific – starting with the Cook Islands.

The first story has been completed at Te Uki Ou School, with the second being developed at Mitiaro High School. Two New Zealand schools have completed stories already – Titahi Bay North School and Rangikura School.

The website stores all information so that in 100 years from now a student will be able to see how the children of today viewed their environment.

Schools have chosen historic buildings, native birds, heritage sites, street names, statues and historic events in their community. At the moment there are over 100 stories published on the site, with 30 being developed.

Living Heritage was launched towards the end of 2000. It was started by the 2020 Communications Trust in partnership with the New Zealand National Library. The site it still supported by the trust and the National Library and now includes the CWA New Media support.

The New Zealand Government has acknowledged the value that Living Heritage provides and has supported the initiative with Digital Strategy Community Partnership funding in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

It was also selected as a finalist at the World Summit on the Information Society Awards in Geneva in 2004. It was also a finalist in the 2003/2004 Stockholm Challenge.

However, the real winners are the schools in New Zealand and now the Cook Islands who have captured the vision and produced a website. - Te Uki Ou

Check out the website –

www.livingheritage.org.nz

Cook Islander Thomas Ben won The Apprentice New Zealand, which means a new job with a six-figure salary, a BMW and luxury accommodation. 10052886

Earlier this month, a Cook Islander was dubbed the winner of The Apprentice New Zealand, a reality television series in which contestants battled it out to win an employment contract with multimillionaire Terry Serepisos.

Thomas Ben, 35, won the coveted one-year employment contract at property development company Century City, of which Serepisos is chief executive officer.

He beat out 13 other candidates, and the perks of his win include a six-figure salary, a BMW for a year and luxury accommodation at his new office.

Ben was raised in Otara and told reporters that he credits his success to the “street-smarts” he acquired growing up in South Auckland.

His wife Antoinette and five children, who are between the ages of three and 13, will be accompanying him to Wellington when he starts his new job.

Serepisos had only good things to say about the new hire.

“Tom has been the most steady and talented contestant right the way through this process. He’s performed extremely well both as a leader and as part of a team. He’s shown me such a wide range of skills and is a very versatile, very competent person who I know I can trust to get the job done.

Tom will be taking a very senior role in my company. Obviously, I’m working on a lot of developments, property-wise, but I have other aspects of my business that he will be across too - the football club, commercial property and residential property - and I want Tom to be that right-hand man that I’ve been missing since the death of my brother. I want him to help drive Century City to a whole new level, and I know he will be the perfect person to do that,” he said.

When Serepisos announced that Ben was the series winner, he told him: “You remind me a lot of myself you’ve come from nothing and you’ve had to fight for everything. I believe you’re going to continue that battle for me at Century City. Tom, you’re hired.”

• Rachel Reeves

New Zealand woman Kaye Winter is researching aspects of the life of her father Ken Graham during his time living and working in the Cook Islands in the late 1920s and through the 1930s.

Winter said although this was a long time ago, there could be descendants of people he knew during those times who may be able to add some further details that link with his life there. She said she would be delighted to hear from them.

Winter has managed to put together a brief summary of her father’s time in the Cooks from personal knowledge and his records.

As a young man Graham obtained a posting to a teaching position on Mangaia to run the three schools there – Ivirua, Oneroa and Tamarua. His records note that he sailed on the Waipaki with the Mangaian resident agent John McGruther and his wife.

When they finally reached Mangaia the group went ashore in an outrigger canoe Graham noted that “the Mangaians are expert boatmen” and they were received by a large welcoming party which “turned out to meet the returning McGruthers and all wanted to see what kind of papa’a they had brought back from New Zealand”.

The McGruther household included a headman by the name of Rimemotu, and a French-Tahitian family comprising Papa, Mania, two girls Tangi and Pati, and a teenage boy.

As well as running the three schools, Graham was also a fruit inspector and carried out duties for the Public Works Department. This latter work involved the use if explosives for the road building and reef blasting for a boat passage. He was assisted in this work by Rimamotu, the foreman, and a gang of ‘mouauri’ between 20 and 50 prisoners “who worked out their fines of two shillings a day”. Graham stated that he learned a lot from Rimamotu, especially the language, and soon became fluent in the Mangaian and later Rarotongan dialects.

As well as his numerous friendships with the local people, Graham made mention of many others including Dick Aubin, the manager of the Cook Islands Native Association store, and Bob Shepherd, manager of the branch store for the Cook Islands Trading Company at the village of Te Vainga. Bob’s talented wife Mata made Graham a variety of garments including “beautiful hatbands and coloured woven belts”.

Graham was a very keen sportsman and taught the Mangaians to play cricket. He considered that “they developed into the best team in the Cook Group”. Tennis was also played on a court on top of the makatea, constructed from crushed and rolled coral, and players used racquets made of steel.

Graham was later transferred to Rarotonga as the head of Titikaveka School. Following numerous farewells on Mangaia, he sailed there with Andy Thompson on his schooner Tagua. He had also sailed with him on the Tiare Taporo. Graham considered Thompson to be “probably the best known seafaring man in the Pacific and a truly great man”.

The Titikaveka School had a roll of around 200 pupils at that time and “comprised a couple of concrete buildings, open air style, with walls about six feet high and wide overhang and also a kikau arc. The site was within 40-50 yards of the lagoon, right on a lovely sandy beach with great swimming”.

He lived in a house close to “the edge of probably the best swimming beach seen anywhere. The sand was pure dazzling white coral”.

As a keen fisherman Ken frequently went night fishing “in canoes with a benzene pressure lamp on the prow... and two types of spear”. One of his fishing companions was a man by the name of Vaka whose expertise once helped save the pair during a stormy night on the edge of the reef. Graham also raced with a canoe club in outriggers.

In addition, Graham ran a plantation, Tihiaki, and lived there for a number of years. He was very involved with Rarotongan sports teams cricket, rugby and tennis.

His daughter said that throughout his long life he detailed some interesting reminiscences about the many colourful characters and officials he knew who had lived there during those times and always spoke with great fondness of the islands he loved.

Winter also sent CI News a number of Graham’s island photographs and some are published here.

Kaye is hoping that readers may be able to possibly identify some of them.

“While this is but a brief summary of Ken’s time in Mangaia and Rarotonga, should any of the above happen to jog a memory or two, or if additional information is available, I may be contacted through my email address: winterclan@xtra.co.nz ,” Winter said.

• KW/MT

www.mycrosswords.com/842/ProfessorDavidRussell/OurPrimeMinisters.html