Hemana Waaka
Hemana Waaka was the first Reporter for Waka Huia when he joined the team in November 1986 and covered the first programme on Waitangi Day Feb 1987.
Before establishing his own company in 1997, Hemana assisted with the establishment of Aotearoa Radio, was a reporter for Te Karere and a senior journalist providing Maori News and Current Affairs programmes for National Radio.
Hemana's company conducted Maori sports commentaries to iwi radio for six years and during this period he commenced translating sports vocabulary as part of promoting and developing Te Reo Maori. In 2000, he created the first TV/Radio medium of conducting sports commentaries at all levels 100% in Te Reo Maori with Sky TV. This enabled him to travel extensively to the UK, Pacific Islands and Australia following the Maori All Black teams and Kiwi national teams abroad.
In 2006, Hemana's company won the Best National Maori Sports Awards in 2006 for his series on champion Maori disabled athletes. He has recently made two documentaries for Maori Television about the Malaysian 50th Independence celebrations, which was attended by ninety New Zealand/Malayan veterans.
He has been assisting Waka Huia over the past two years as a Director/Reporter.
