City Slickers Go Bush: Haututū Hunters – On Whakaata Māori

They say you can take the boy out of the country, but what happens when you take four ‘city slickers’ back to the whenua and ask them to hunt for their kai?

Funded by NZ On Air, HAUTUTŪ HUNTERS is a six-part series premiering on Tuesday 7 November at 9.00 PM on Whakaata Māori and MĀORI+.

The series follows popular Māori & Pasifika personalities Beulah Koale (Sala’ilua, Savai’I, Aele Fou,Upolu), Jordan Vaha’akolo (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Maniapoto), Te Kohe Tuhaka (Ngāti Porou, Ngai Tūhoe), and Xavier Horan (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Pikiāo, Ngāti Pūkenga) who journey back to their respective hau kāinga in Aotearoa and the Pacific.

Producer Nicole Horan of Hi Mama Productions says the series uses a light-hearted approach to conveying a serious message about the power of connection – and reconnection – to the past, to the whenua, and to whānau.

Te Kohe Tuhaka takes his mates back to Whakatāne and is surprised to learn he’s about to meet his very famous uncle: “It really kicked things off for me because, as much as [it is about] coming here to do the hunting, for me it was more important to begin those connections.”

Watching these experiences is moving. We travel along with Beulah Koale returning to Samoa 16 years after his grandfather passed, to reconnect with his grandmother.

Xavier Horan, growing up in South Auckland travels to the land of his tūpuna on Mōtītī Island for the very first time.

“The boys’ have very few bush or sea skills, but they have a thirst for knowledge and an enthusiasm for learning,” says Nicole Horan.

“They discover they have whānau in these places more than happy to guide, teach and encourage them on their journeys of reconnection.

Nicole Horan says it’s something many Māori and Pacifika will relate to.

“Life can throw up all sorts of excuses for putting off doing things, but you can also just leap into it with your mates by your side.”

“We all lead busy lives and time can get away from us. But it’s never too late to reconnect, or to give something new a go, and have some fun along the way,” says Nicole.

COMING UP ON HAUTUTŪ HUNTERS:

EPISODE 1: TUESDAY 7 NOVEMBER 9.00 PM – Whakatāne – The boys travel to Whakatāne to meet Te Kohe’s Uncle Harold. Uncle Harold is the Hunter Gatherer in Te Kohe’s whānau and is just the man to whip these city slickers into shape. Te Kohe is on a journey of reconnection with his Tūhoe whānau and gets the chance to put pieces of

the puzzle together through a surprising whanaunga.

EPISODE 2: 14 NOVEMBER 9.00 PM – Mōtītī Island – Jammed into a tiny plane, the boys fly into the paddock of Mōtītī Island with Xavier’s cousin, Britton. Although from the island, Xavier’s two feet have never stepped onto his whenua, let alone tried to gather kai from it. With some anxiousness and resistance the boys are thrown into the safest part of the moana to see what they can pull up.

EPISODE 3: 21 NOVEMBER 9.00 PM – Kākahi – Wanting to know where his tamariki are from Beulah takes the boys to meet his father-in-law Terrence in Kākahi, a small town just outside of Taumarunui. With not a lot going on, the boys are tasked with eradicating some pests on the whānau land.

EPISODE 4: 28 NOVEMBER 9.00 PM – Samoa – With the dream of hunting like his Grandfather, Beulah and the boys head to Samoa to try their hand at some traditional Samoan hunting. But first, Beulah must visit the village that he hasn’t been back to since his Grandfather passed away, sixteen years ago.

EPISODE 5: 5 DECEMBER 9.00 PM – Ōakura – The boys head up North to Ōakura to help Jordan start the journey of reconnection with his whānau, beginning with his cousin Louis. Louis takes the boys out for some fishing off the rocks, but in true Haututū style, things don’t go exactly to plan.

EPISODE 6: 12 DECEMBER 9.00 PM – Kaua`i – We reconnect two stars of the upcoming Apple TV series Chief of War in the beautiful island of Kaua`i. Te Kohe introduces the boys to Kaina Makua, a direct descendent of King Kamehameha who heard the call from his tipuna to return home. Kaina takes us into his kalo farm and shows us how he and his community are living sustainably in West Kaua`i.

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