Cook Islands Ministry of Cultural Development has ruled out the possibility of reintroducing the ranking system for Te Maeva Nui unless all participating teams agree, citing concerns about fairness and the preservation of cultural diversity.

The annual cultural festival to celebrate the country’s self-governance was held earlier this month at the National Auditorium.

The Atiu, Mangaia, Oire Nikao, Puaikura, Pukapuka, Takitumu, Te Fuinga O Niva, and Tupapa Maraerenga groups participated in the event, which featured kapa rima (action song), imene pupu (choir), imene tuki (traditional hymn), pe’e (chant), ura pa’u (drum dance), and ute (traditional folk song).

Without an overall winner and with the lucrative costume prize seen by many as the main prize, calls were made to “bring back the days when there was one team which stood out from the rest”.

According to a Letter to the Editor, the Ministry should reconsider going back to the ranking competition where one team stood out from the rest claiming that many who watch Te Maeva Nui have never liked the recently introduced grading-concept.

“It is our natural human desire to want to see an overall winner and therefore find out which is the best dance team in the Cook Islands for that given year. Competition is good; it makes people want to improve their game.

“Bring back the days when there was one team which stood out from the rest,” the letter writer said.

Emile Kairua, Secretary of Ministry of Cultural Development, said there was no chance of going back unless all the teams agreed to change the current grading system.

Kairua emphasised that it would be difficult to veto the judges based on their background, as the only background considered is their experience in judging and knowledge of the rules, regardless of their origin.

“No that’s not going to happen because we’ve done it before and we’ve had so many issues,” Kairua told Cook Islands News earlier this month.

“If anything, the comments that you need to get on that respect will be from the teams whether they prefer to go back to the first, second and third.”

Sharna Matapuku, the Ministry’s manager HR and media and communications, added that returning to ranking system would only be possible if all the teams want to be judged that way “so it won’t backfire on them”.

“But the problem is, if it’s not about the 1,2,3, it’s about the judges. If it’s not about the judges, it’s about something else. It’s always got to be something else but we will do what’s best for the teams but also what’s best for the ministry,” Matapuku said.

Sonny Williams, Vaka Takitumu team leader and Member of Parliament for Titikaveka, introduced the grading system decades ago while he was the Secretary of Cultural Development.

Williams said that he supported the grading system, considering the impartiality among the teams, but also recommended that the same should be the case for the costume category.

“Since I’m the one that changed it, there are some very good reasons for it because I started according to Te Maeva Nui format in 2001 and in 2009, I think, the teams asked for a fairer format especially the Pa Enua teams who don’t get into the big money prizes,” he explained.

“The fairer format is where they have a chance to be amongst the top prizes because back then, the Rarotonga and Aitutaki teams and even Vaka Takitumu won everything … the year 2007 when Takitumu won all major prizes and walked away with over $30,000 and the other teams who were never placed they were lucky to get about $4000 overall.

“So it became apparent in those days that the system was secured towards the Vaka teams, Oire teams, Nikao, Tupapa, winning all those prizes while outer islands never do.”

Williams added that the whole idea was to distribute the prizes fairly, stressing that he does not support going back to the ranking system for these reasons.

However, he recommended that the Ministry should also apply the same grading system to the costume category, which was the only category that was ranked.

“I would strongly recommend the Ministry to revert back to the ABC for the costume because everybody feel like they got their worth. We all spend the same amount of energy and then for someone to get $3000 and we only get $500, there’s no sense of fairness and maybe the points are so close but the prize is too far, so why? And we all know the effort is almost the same and so should the prize money,” Williams said.

“Even the costume was graded a few years ago but now they reverted it back to the first, second and third, and now you see that’s the only problematic area with complaints while all the other areas, everyone is just happy to get something they feel worth it and everyone feel rewarded.”

Simiona Teiotu, the leader of the Oire Nikao team, expressed similar sentiments but stated that he would refrain from commenting on the possibility of the entire competition returning to a ranking system until he had consulted with his group.

However, Teiotu emphasised that the Ministry should’ve done their part better by informing and clarifying to all teams that the costume category would be ranked.

He said this was the only “unfair part” of the competition, adding that his team had poured so much effort into their costume in relation to the theme and all areas required.

Ministry of Cultural Development’s Matapuku further explained that judging teams from different islands based on a single standard could be unfair and undermine the diversity of cultures celebrated at Te Maeva Nui.

“And the reason being is that how can you judge Pukapuka who come out strong with their culture for Pukapuka but is not as fun and as interactive as Takitumu who has the drum and everything. Pukapuka has a different style of judging but we cannot judge them the same as we judge Takitumu,” she said.

“Each island has their own tradition and that’s what Te Maeva Nui is all about. It’s about keeping the traditions of the islands

“So we can’t tell Pukapuka oh your culture is boring. You got to adopt everybody else’s culture. You can’t do that. What may be boring to some people could be A-grade in Pukapuka’s eyes because that’s exactly how their culture is and we’re not here to tell other islands, yours is boring you got to adopt theirs.

“If we were to have a first, second, third, how do you weigh that up? Even the languages in the singing. Some sound really beautiful and some sound like they come from Samoa.

“But again, that’s their island. We’re trying to preserve their island. We’re trying to preserve Pukapuka as real as Pukapuka can be and Manihiki as rare as Manihiki can be.”