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Home town favourites, Hinerupe marae were crowned the 2017 Ngati Porou Pa Wars Champions at this year's event held in Te Araroa on January the 3rd.
The Ngati Porou Inter-marae Sports Festival has been a regular fixture on the Ngati Porou Calendar of events since 1995, and this year was no exception with hundreds of whanau members travelling to the northern end of the Coast to take part in the whanau oriented competition.
Hinemaurea (Wharekahika) marae also did the Matakaoa community proud by taking second place overall, in addition to winning the fiercely contested Tug o War competition which traditionally marks the conclusion of the day. Previous Pa Wars Champions, Te Ariuru marae rounded off the top trio of marae for 2017, coming in at third place.
Hinemaurea marae ki Wharekahika 2017 Tug o War Champs
Around 20 marae fielded entrants in the various Pa Wars categories this year. Alongside the traditional events they could enter such as trivial pursuits, touch rugby, basketball, sprints and linedancing, were some of the more recently introduced events such as Wearable Arts, Golf, Dodgeball and Ukelele.
Dining room Etiquette made its Pa Wars debut this year, and the inaugural winner, Matahi o Te Tau marae impressed the judges with their creatively themed table setting based on the Ngahere theme.
Next years Pa Wars take place on January the 3rd, but will be held in Ruatoria, the next community to host the event.
