CULTURAL IMMERSION
MEETING THE MAORI Living, laughing and exploring with New Zealand’s indigenous people reveals how hospitality is at the heart of their culture.
© Fraser Clements
BY LIZ FLEMING
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early stumbling into one of the hot bubbling mud pits near Rotorua should have been my most exciting New Zealand moment. But it wasn’t. When I arrived at Tāmaki, the small marae (village) where I would spend three nights living with a Māori tribe, everything I’d experienced previously during my visit paled in comparison to meeting the country’s tangata whenua (indigenous people), whose warm hospitality lies at the heart of their culture. We were hungry and tired after a long day of hiking, but quickly discovered you don’t just wander into a Māori marae. Our hosts may have been dressed in the same casual campsite-chic as we were, but their welcome was a solemnly orchestrated affair. First, the chief strode to the entrance of the village and laid a taiaha (spear) on the ground and invited our guide to pick it up
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to show our group came in peace. A woman behind the chief sang a beautiful karanga (call of welcome) to which the women in our group were expected to sing a reply. Ummm… Our female songsters were Canadian, French and German and had few options in our common songbook, so we warbled “Silent Night” in three languages. Definitely not Grammy-worthy, but good enough to gain us entry into the village. As manuhiri (visitors), we entered in single file, women first. “Remember your ancestors,” the chief said as we passed him. “They walk with you in spirit.” The wide-open marae was dominated by the Ancestral House, a circular, thatched-roof building. Inside, two rows of chairs faced each other for visitors on one side, hosts on the other. The chief spoke about his pride in showing us his culture and our guide presented him with a koha (gift), leading up to the main event – the hongi.
