Mar

Day 17 – Marae visit

After yesterday’s class on Maori culture with Kim, today he took us to the local Whakatu Marae [see website], the meeting area for Nelson’s iwi (tribal groups). First we experienced a powhiri (formal welcome) – we were called onto the marae grounds by one of the elders, then we all sat inside the wharenui meeting house while another of their elders gave a welcoming speech in Maori, after which they all sang to us. On our behalf, Kim gave a speech – again in Maori – and then the girls sang Japan’s national anthem very beautifully. We then ended the greeting with a hongi greeting.

Following that, we were taken to the new dining hall for afternoon tea, then Kim’s much younger sister gave us a tour of the grounds. It’s a wonderful community, where great care is taken to ensure that the needy and elderly are all well taken care of. We finished off back in the meeting hall where they explained the meaning of the different carvings – all of which represent ancestors – and the various tukutuku woven panels.

We ended with the girls giving a farewell speech in Japanese and English, followed by singing in Maori the song Te Aroha – in fact, their singing was so lovely our host was lost for words. This was a wonderful cultural experience that few foreign visitors could experience in such a genuine form! *Note: we could not photograph inside the meeting house.