Five-year-old Ōpōtiki boy Raukura Amai-Hill has clocked over 57,000 views on Facebook after his aunty posted a clip of him performing the poi inspired by his parents' group Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti.
Poi is a skill that Raukura Amai-Hill inherited.
Raukura’s mother, Cath Amai (Te Whakatōhea) told Te Kāea, “Just coming to noho all the time, to Ōpotiki mai tawhiti, I perform for them, and he just pick up the poi.”
After his mother's sister uploaded a video of Raukura performing the Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti poi, Raupō, it's gone viral.
Alycia Amai says, “We were just kicking it at home, work centre at Ōpotiki primary school and he just started doing to poi and I just pulled out my phone and started taping him usually he doesn't carry on but he did.”
A student of the Māori medium school, Waioweka, he's being raised with strong Māori values with the support of his family. But it's Māori performing arts that he's passionate about.
Cath Amai says, “He does everything, the rākau, the patu not just the poi but the poi is his main one.”
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