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Published: March 3rd 2008
A night in the Marae
Group shot after the performances"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it solely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
- Mark Twain Kia Ora,
There was always going to come a point where I became more aware of the importance of the culture around me and decided to share it with you all. New Zealand is a place like no other, a truely special majestical place. The Maori people are amongst the most passionate I have ever met, they hold a sense of pride, ruled by intense emotion and strong feeling of their history and origins. A culture, refreshingly stooped with its anchor in its history, where most around seem only to have forgotten theirs.
Now I had written this section months ago but have been waiting for a friend to send me the video they took of us doing the Haka. Unfortunatly it still hasn't come to me but if it ever does, i'll put it up here for all of your amusement! It is simply genious and if i get it i'll
Excited Scotsman
Getting right into the feeling of the place put it with the other haka clips at the end of this blog section.
New Zealand is roughly the same size as Great Britain but with a pooulation of only 4 million, over a quater of whom live in Auckland. There are even less than 1 million in the whole of the south island. The indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand are the Maori. Before them there was only bird life on both the north and the south Islands. The Pakeha (white settlers), who were European came originally from Great Britain, however since then peoples from all ovr the world, largely form Asia and the Pacific, have come here and given New Zealand a rich and diverse society.
New zealand is not the first place, I believe there is an island, but the first country to see the sun every day. which is a funny thing if you think about it as time is really and invented measurement for us to use. Its not really that the sun rises there first for the new day, the sun doesn't move at all (unless its in some gigantic cosmic circuit through the universe) but its the world that rotates
The Boys
The lads after their Haka and we just happened to align the global time zones in such a way that New Zealand is the first of our countries to start the day. Sorry, mumbling thoughts...
New Zealand was the firts country to give women the vote in 1893. It was Lord Earnest Rutherford, a NZ scientist, who was the first to split the atom, ironically enough, NZ is now (almost) 100% nuclear free. Sir Edmund Hillary (recently deceased) was the fist person in the world to climb Mount everest, another Kiwi. New Zealands sheep population is approximately 47,390,000 which works out at 12.6 sheep per person (i knew you were waiting for that one!). The Wright brothers were not the first to fly a powered and manned aircraft, it was in fact a Kiwi, Richard Pearse on 1st March 1902, beating them by a year and 9 months. ok, enough random facts Ian...
One of the main main things that differs the Maori fom the rest of the worlds peoples is the way in which they have passed on their knowledge and history. Little or none of it has ever been documented to be reffered to. It has been by word
Cultural meeting
Scotland and New Zealand of mouth, by stories and vocally passed on from generation to generation. There is little documentaion of anything before the signing of the Waitangi treaty which took place in 1840. The treaty had the Maori cede sovereignty to Queen Victoria in excange for granting to the Maori people he same rights as the citizens of England. There was however, a huge difference in the translations of the Treaty between the two cultures, and the Maori people had massive amounts of their land taken from them without their understanding. There are still a number of ongoing greivances regarding rights to land and sea.
TE IKA A MAUI
One day when he was very young, Maui hid in the bottom of his brothers boat in order to go out fishing with them. Once out at sea, Maui was found by his brothers and they were angry and started to take him back to land. But Maui used hispowers and made the shore look too far away to get to. The brothers decided to carry on fishing regardless so Maui droppped his fish hook over the side of the waka (canoe). Soon he felt a tug but it was
The ladies
The Ladies after their Poi performance too strong and he called for his brothers to help him. After they all wrestled to bring it to the surface for a long time, they brought up
Te Ika a Maui (the fish of Maui), known today as The North Island. Maui told his brothers that the gods might be angry and he asked his brothers to wait while he went to make peace with them. But his brothers began to argue in his abscence as to who the new land belonged to and started to fight, pounding the catch with their weapons as they did so. The violent blows that landed helped to create the mountains and valleys on the North Island. The South Island is called TeWaka a Maui (The Canoe of Maui) and Stewart Island which lies at the bottom of South Island is Te Punga a Maui (Maui's Anchor). The far north of Te Ika a Maui is called Te Hiku o Te Ika (the tail of the fish) and it is suggested to look like the tail of a stingray that points towards Maui's canoe.
After Leaving The Bay of Islands I took The 'Stray' bus tour of the main part
Haka
I dont know if there's anything to say about this really... of the North Island. One of the stop overs was at Uncle Boys' Marae at Maketu. This was a fantastic affair as the whole group got the chance to sample some of the traditions and culture of the Maori. Marae (mah-r-eye) are the cornerstones of most iwi (tribes) or hapu. A marae is like a community house where people gather together. They usually are the places where whakapapa (Geneology) is discussed and where stories are shared of ancestors- tipuna (tea-poo-nah), family - whanau (fah-no), songs- waiata (why-ah-tah), old feuds and tribal legends. To by-pass your local ancestral marae when researching whakapapa, is usually a mistake as much information is there - if you ask the right questions.
Uncle boys' Marae show I Uncle boys' Marae show II Uncle boys' Marae show III Uncle boys' Marae show IIII Uncle Boy is a lively soul, a quite unique character that welcomes you with open arms, IF, you get involved and participate, which, to be honest, you'd be a fool not to. After being fed the guys and the girls were sparated. Girls went to learn the Poi's and the guys went to learn the Haka. The Haka is traditionally perfomed without your tops on and in Maori dress. Well, i'm sure you all realise
Haka 2
Oh dear. Well at least I can say I gave it everything I had. that I wouldn't miss this chance to perform it in MY national dress. And once again, on goes the Macleod of Lewis tartan. Now, the video your all about to wintess may have most of you in stitches, the odd wrong action and a very red faced Scot thorwing himself right into the firely belly that is the Haka. The only problem was that the grassy area between the practice ground and the bus was full of some type of thorn that detaches from the soil and attaches into your foot. Needless to say the guys, Maori and traveller alike, gave a bellyfull of laughter to the new Scottish country prancing manouvres as I lept, crablike on hot coals, from foot to foot in the direction of the bus.
The haka is a composition played by many instruments. Hands, feet, legs, body, voice, tongue, and eyes all play their part in blending together to convey in their fullness the challenge, welcome, exultation, defiance or contempt of the words. The actions are as follows: Slap the hands against the thighs, Puff out the chest, Bend the knees, Let the hip follow, Stamp the feet as hard as you
Me and Uncle Boy
Traditional Moari greeting can.
The real All Black Haka The Scottish version! The Gingerbread version Beginers Haka! Leader cries out Ringa pakia
Uma tiraha
Turi whatia
Hope whai ake
Waewae takahia kia kino
Team cry out Ka Mate! Ka Mate!
Ka Ora! Ka Ora!
Tenei te ta ngata puhuru huru
Nana nei i tiki mai
Whakawhiti te ra
A upane ka upane!
A upane kaupane whiti te ra!
Hi!!
Translation It is death! It is death!
It is life! It is life!
This is the hairy person
Who caused the sun to shine
Keep abreast! Keep abreast
The rank! Hold fast!
Into the sun that shines!
So, what else can I leave you with? well if you thought the Welsh had the longest named place in the world? -
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch and tanslates to "The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio's of the red cave". Well its not like the Maoris to be out done and theirs is slightly longer -
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungapokaiwhenuakitanatahu and it translates to..."the hilltop, where Tamatea with big knees, conqueror of mountains, eater of land, traveller over land and sea, played his koauau to his beloved!"
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