Ka Whawhai Tonu Mātou

In 2011 writer Simon Sweetman described Upper Hutt Posse as "less a band, more a musical journey, a concept". 'Ka Whawhai Tonu Mātou' (we continue to fight) is from 2011 album Declaration of Resistance. Mixing te reo Māori and English, the song addresses the negative effects of colonisation on tangata whenua, especially in regard to police racism. The timebending storyline features Taungaroa Emile (Boogie in Once Were Warriors) and his girlfriend encountering a ghostly warrior from the 1864 battle of Ōrākau, who gifts Emile a taiaha to fight back against the state. 

We are not a band that pulls large audiences, we don't have top ten hits. Our songs I know freak people out. I think I freak a lot of people out when I'm on stage, because my shit is so direct. But I think in this music industry in this country, once you come out as an activist or radical, and your music is hard core, you are known as that.

– Dean Hapeta (Te Kupu) in an interview with Radio New Zealand, 12 July 2015

Key Cast & Crew

Dean Hapeta (aka Te Kupu)

Director, Editor, Camera, Performer

Taungaroa Emile

As: Young man

Fantasy Hapeta

As: Young woman