Rangitīkei mayor Andy Watson with rangatahi reporters Imara Ruth Tamou and Anahera Apanui Hohepa. Photo: RNZ / Emma Andrews
Young reporters Imara Ruth Tamou and Anahera Apanui Hohepa have been asking the tough questions at Rātana this week.
In a single day, the pair - aged 10 and 11 - interviewed more than 10 people, including Rangīkei mayor Andy Watson.
"We were just bored, and we wanted to make people smile," Anahera said.
The pair interviewed the mayor for about 10 minutes, asking him what it was like to be in office.
"It was so exciting interviewing someone that was, like... famous.
"And people said to us, 'you can interview people and then get, like, big (well-known).'"
Imara and Anahera were inspired by watching interviews on YouTube, but do not currently publish their own interviews there. Instead, they said they were using them for practice.
Kōtiro Imara Ruth Tamou and Anahera Apanui Hohepa pictured with Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke at Rātana Photo: RNZ / Emma Andrews
This week, they spoke to a range of people, from radio hosts to the National Party's deputy leader Nicola Willis.
Anahera wants to be an "interviewer" when she grows up, while Ruth is torn between that profession and becoming a mayor.
Both kōtiro are followers of the Rātana church, or mōrehu, and enjoy catching up with whānau at Rātana.
They said what they particularly enjoyed about this year's celebrations was meeting Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, or the "girl who did the haka" in parliament.
"The 25th is just amazing, how people just run around, play, be happy," Imara said.
Their next goal was to interview new Māori Queen Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, who made her first visit to Rātana Pā as queen this year.
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