If they weren't before, things are quite official now. I've spent the past two days with all the Fulbright grantees in Aotearoa New Zealand. There were 30-something of us, plus families-- people studying everything from the introduction of the dungbeetle to NZ, and the start of the NZ version of Teach for America, to poetry, female prime ministers, and coastal conservation and water quality.
First, we had a talk on NZ history by Jock Philips, who is the former General Editor of Te Ara, an amazing online resource on the history of Aotearoa New Zealand. He's also a man who helped design Te Papa history exhibits. He had the difficult task of doing a 45 minute overview of NZ history and given the constraints of time, I guess he did a pretty good job. For me the most interesting part was his explanation of the implications of NZ islands splitting off from Gondwana 85 million years ago. Before arriving here I hadn't spent much time pondering the implications of NZ's isolation, but he pointed out that this had huge ramifications in terms of animal species. For example, there are only two surviving mammals in NZ, both bats. This meant that other animals such as birds thrived and developed in ways very different from the rest of the world-- i.e. flightless, with whiskers, with very slow breeding habits.
We also went on a tour of parliament, which was neither here nor there.
After lunch our guest, Maia Wikaira, gave us a brief overview of Maori language and customs at a powhiri. She got us signing the Maori alphabet song, which is a jazzy little piece I highly recommend. :) She told us some Maori words and place-names, the most helpful of which seem to be kia ora (hello and thank you) and Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara (Wellington). I really liked Maia. There's just something about people who are so clearly bi-cultural and able to know where their audience is at. She was impressive. Notably, she was also our kaikaranga (caller) who led us on to the Waiwhetu Marae,
After the 1-hour introduction to all things Maori, we drove out to Lower Hutt, which is a suburb about 15 minutes from Wellington. We arrived at Waiwhetu Marae and first on the agenda was a powhiri. If you're interested in the specifics, a little googling will tell you a lot, especially this resource. My short summary is this: as guests, or manuhiri, we arrived at a marae and set out stuff down along the fence. Historically, I'm guessing people weren't unloading their goods inside the fence, but ya know... From here, the kaikaranga (a woman from the hosting group) began the karanga, or call for us to enter. Our kaikaranga, Maia, called back and we began walking towards the marae, women in front. The calling continued as we walked and eventually we stopped in front of the marae. The men moved to the front and one by one took off their shoes and greeted each host with a hongi. (All of this can be different between iwi (tribes) and apparently this was one thing that is somewhat unique--doing the hongi before the whaikōrero (speeches). The women followed and we all went in side.
From here, our hosts gave whaikōrero (speeches) followed by a waiata (song). Then, our group did the same. We had practiced our waiata, and while it was a little out of tune, I don't think we embarrassed ourselves too badly. The powhiri ended with a koha, a gift from us to them. And then the hākari (in other words, we ate!)
First, we had a talk on NZ history by Jock Philips, who is the former General Editor of Te Ara, an amazing online resource on the history of Aotearoa New Zealand. He's also a man who helped design Te Papa history exhibits. He had the difficult task of doing a 45 minute overview of NZ history and given the constraints of time, I guess he did a pretty good job. For me the most interesting part was his explanation of the implications of NZ islands splitting off from Gondwana 85 million years ago. Before arriving here I hadn't spent much time pondering the implications of NZ's isolation, but he pointed out that this had huge ramifications in terms of animal species. For example, there are only two surviving mammals in NZ, both bats. This meant that other animals such as birds thrived and developed in ways very different from the rest of the world-- i.e. flightless, with whiskers, with very slow breeding habits.
We also went on a tour of parliament, which was neither here nor there.
After lunch our guest, Maia Wikaira, gave us a brief overview of Maori language and customs at a powhiri. She got us signing the Maori alphabet song, which is a jazzy little piece I highly recommend. :) She told us some Maori words and place-names, the most helpful of which seem to be kia ora (hello and thank you) and Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara (Wellington). I really liked Maia. There's just something about people who are so clearly bi-cultural and able to know where their audience is at. She was impressive. Notably, she was also our kaikaranga (caller) who led us on to the Waiwhetu Marae,
After the 1-hour introduction to all things Maori, we drove out to Lower Hutt, which is a suburb about 15 minutes from Wellington. We arrived at Waiwhetu Marae and first on the agenda was a powhiri. If you're interested in the specifics, a little googling will tell you a lot, especially this resource. My short summary is this: as guests, or manuhiri, we arrived at a marae and set out stuff down along the fence. Historically, I'm guessing people weren't unloading their goods inside the fence, but ya know... From here, the kaikaranga (a woman from the hosting group) began the karanga, or call for us to enter. Our kaikaranga, Maia, called back and we began walking towards the marae, women in front. The calling continued as we walked and eventually we stopped in front of the marae. The men moved to the front and one by one took off their shoes and greeted each host with a hongi. (All of this can be different between iwi (tribes) and apparently this was one thing that is somewhat unique--doing the hongi before the whaikōrero (speeches). The women followed and we all went in side.
From here, our hosts gave whaikōrero (speeches) followed by a waiata (song). Then, our group did the same. We had practiced our waiata, and while it was a little out of tune, I don't think we embarrassed ourselves too badly. The powhiri ended with a koha, a gift from us to them. And then the hākari (in other words, we ate!)
With the formalities over (kind of), we had a night and morning full of hanging out, hearing from a man who helped build the marae, Teri Puketapu, and a talk the next morning by Kura Moeahu. He's the chairman of the marae and has the title of Kaiwhakarite in parliament. I think that means he oversees all things Maori in official government events. He was a cool guy and led us through a simulation to help us think about losses of Maori land over time. Three things he said have left me thinking:
First, he said these land losses were an issue between the Crown and the Maori, not between Pakeha and Maori. I'm still trying to figure out what, exactly, he meant by that. At first I thought he was trying to say "I know white New Zealanders of today didn't do this to us" but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed that he was trying to point out that Maori are on par with the government and deserve to negotiate and work directly with it, as opposed to dealing with Pakeha society. If that's what he was trying to say, I'm still trying to figure out the implications of that.
The second thing that stood out to me was when he asked, "What about Pasifika? Refugees? Where do they belong in this Maori vs. Crown conversation? Do they have to choose a side?" I've wondered this, because I imagine that many Pasifika or other people of color have a lot more in common politically with Maori people than with Pakeha people. Plus, in a society that is so clearly labelled "bi-cultural" it seems like these groups get left out. Kura Moeahu's answer was definitive: anyone not Maori is on the side of the crown. He didn't say this in an aggressive or angry way, to him it was just fact. But I'm not entirely sure what he meant by it.
And third, after an hour-long talk about the Treaty of Waitangi and the loss of Maori lands he left us by saying if there was one thing we took from his talk, it's that we should ask ourselves what are we doing to protect the treasures (meaning land, language, art, etc) of the indigenous people of North America. If you know me, you know that I cried at this point. (Side note: part of me wants to refocus my project to ask what I can learn from NZ teachers in regards to making our history curriculum more centered on Native American history.)
The visit to the marae ended with songs from our hosts, us, and a small group of kids from the Kōhanga reo (Maori preschool) that is on-site. The rest of orientation was pretty anti-climactic. We drove back to Wellington, talked through some specific details of our awards, and went home.
Overall, I feel very lucky to have had the experience I did. As a tourist it's pretty hard to experience things like a powhiri in a way that doesn't feel completely exploitative towards those who are "hosting." But this experience wasn't yucky in that way at all, for which I am very grateful.