Journal

Prior to my stay at the marae I was given the opportunity to reenacted a powhiri at the University (Epsom Campus). This created a flashback for when I was in intermediate and we performed a powhiri to acknowledge the Māori customs and culture. As we walked through the hall I started to develop nostalgia, class members were situated on the other side of the hall and imitated representatives of tangata whenua thereby making us the manuhiri. They called to us “haere mai, haere mai, haere mai” we continued forward as our woman or kaikaranga performed a karanga. Eventually we sat down and our kaikorero exchanged their identity (whakapapa) and past through Māori and pakeha korero onwards, we sang te reo Māori songs (waiata) we then stood up and gave the tangata whenua individual hongi’. Contrasting to pakeha tradition where a handshake is the usual symbolic gesture of acceptance or greeting. It was an interesting experience going through each and every member of my class member and touching noses with them as this was not a custom to what i’m used to.

We were then asked to repeat this activity except this time we would change roles to allow the opportunity for everyone to interact with the manuhiri and tangata whenua. I was given the responsibility to act as a Māori warrior and perform a wero wielding a taiha, with this I would sway side to side, pounce off of the ground, let my heals fling close to my behind, mimicking the pathing of a ‘Māori warrior’ i made noises as I approached which were gasps and screeches. To instill fear into the visitors I would swing my taiha furiously in attempt to display the skill at which I possess. I placed a rautapu, or in this case a leaf from the environment (a metaphor of a gift to show peace between the meeting of two groups) onto the ground from which Daniel picked up and maintained constant eye contact with me, if he were to break eye contact it would announce tapu or establish a challenge between the two tribes. Once he had done so I turned away and slapped my leg and returned back to the tangata whenua. This was an interesting yet, rewarding experience for me, this was my first time acting as a warrior and performing a wero when asked to do this I was unsure on how it would play out. From memory I remember seeing videos from school on how powhiri’s are commenced, in particular I remember some of the pathing that the warrior had used and because of this I was able to implement this within my own movements. With this experience in mind I would hope to see similar acts on the camp and see how an authentic warrior produces these movements, and their ferocity at which may instill fear into our group.

I always found the idea of pois quiet cool I always saw them around in schools and during cultural performances however, I was never given the opportunity to make a poi within my schooling years.

As a responsibility, all students had to provide the following things; 60 for food and 50 for transport. This meant that for myself I needed to make sure I acquired these things in a given time frame. From what I had witnessed those who had taken the responsibility to receive the money had many issues around getting money from our class members, to make things easier I needed to take the initiative by taking the pressure off of them and get the money for them straight away. As a strategy for this I kept the money I had given to the ‘collectors’ previously in my wallet for the time being for when the opportunity would present itself.

When I first heard about going to a marae I was filled with mixed emotions, I was uneducated on the experiences a marae may entail especially when given it was overnight. Maureen also explained during a history lesson on the treaty and the colonisation process

I started to ponder; what can I do as a visitor to not disrespect their customs and traditions due to ignorance? I knew of some of the basics i.e. taking shoes off prior to entering the marae, not walking over legs. This meant that as a visitor in order for me to achieve the above I had to be extra mindful of the things I would say and be aware of things that are considered ‘tapu’ i had to be optimistic and analyse forthcoming situations to pay respect around cultural differences.

This is a photo of our Marae, I felt that this was an important piece of documentation because this image alone represents the many experiences and lessons that were instilled in me during my stay. The first thing I noticed when looking at the building was the common representation of the colours black and red, these colours in particular reminded me of the Maori flag and it’s connection of these colours.Looking back at this photo I am reminded of the many experiences developed over the four days. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, as for my it represents many memories.

At the end of our journey we arrived on the outskirts of the marae; our class was welcomed by the sight of a beautiful beach. In particular this scenery at the end of our long, tedious, travel was a personal milestone that symbolised  a ‘Pot of gold at the end of a rainbow’. We systematically assorted ourselves into a group by situating our woman in front; as every tribe or group must have woman to signify our valued assets, as Māori believe that if there is an absence of woman the tribe loses it’s value to have families. A kui (elderly woman) welcomed us “haere mai, haere mai” we stepped forward as our representatives supported our welcoming with a response “karanga mai , karanga mai, karanga mai” here they explained their origin and family history. As we drew nearer to the wharenui I grew a sense of worry, unsure of what to would expect as I entered I knew that it was inevitable and that I needed to present as much tikanga and manaakitanga as I possibly could. Upon entrance we relieved our feet of footwear and commenced inside the building. I vividly remember seeing the large whanau associated with the marae suspended on the walls. As we turned we approached the chairs and sat (e noho). Here a whaikorero was exchanged between our kaikorero (the manuhiri) and the tangata whenua which consisted of kaikorero from their kaumatua. During each of these whaikorero waiata were exchanged we sung; E kiwi ee and e toru nga mea. We then ended with a hongi and ventured forth on the beginning of our four day journey.

One of the first lessons I took from the marae was the importance of having our backs on the walls. This was believed to improve the learning environment as information would better circulate throughout the room. As the only exit was the entrance to the marae (excluding the fire exit). Another learning technique was that Māori would typically learn at night and recite words or information with great repetition in order to remember thus, attaining their knowledge. Due to Māori not having a written language it was imperative for Māori to remember through means of reciting and repetition.This was the perfect time to learn because of the absence of distraction. These lessons would consist of waiatas, words, important or significant moments experienced throughout the day. The invention of light disturbed this type of learning according to Howard. We tested this learning theory by learning a waita (ma wai ra e) that further seemed more like a chant as claimed by Maureen

Rakau a stick game was used as a metaphor to help preserve one’s life, this life was encapsulated within the rakau. The objective of the game was to essentially not drop your rakau onto the floor and ‘saving’ another life by retrieving another rakau from death (dropped onto the ground). We learnt many words during this activity such as; maui, matou, ki mua, ki muri. The stick had tape to signify the ‘head’ of a friend, those who had placed the ‘head’ into the dirt were told to rectify this as a head were considered tapu, and sacred. Therefore, placing feet on pillows or sitting on pillows was prohibited and considered as an insult. During this lesson we also learnt that people may look at things but they don’t titiro. By this howard meant that though you may say a bird you don’t notice the intricate details for example feathers, or colour etc. It is important that all though way may be looking at something we should analyse further and titiro of the details that are also happening.

As a sign of manaakitanga before each meal in the wharekai we there was a to bless the kai that we were about to receive. This is commonly connected to my mother’s catholic views where we pray for the found we are going to receive and essentially bless it by say thanks to our God. In addition to positive relations in the forthcoming (the day ahead) or, the day we’ve just had. We also furthered this at the end of our meals by performing waiata after thanking our chiefs for the food.  

Here is a photo I took on the first day; the photo is of a sunset that beamed down on the rocky peripherals surrounding the beach, relative to the front of the Marae. This image alone signified the journey that was about to incur with my classroom. In this particular moment I felt unsure of the following activities and how they would present to me and how i would perceive them, like a sunset and its ability to once again rise, I needed to remain optimistic of the experiences in the forthcoming.

The next day we did a few warm up activities such as a rain dance here we imitated noises of the environment with our hands knees and other body parts. Everyone was situated in the circle and had similar fundamentals of chinese whispers ie there was a leader who choose the movement and everyone had to systematically follow in a chain reaction or mexican wave. Here I was given insight on greeting the morning and the importance that it holds, if you don’t greet the morning you’ve lost the opportunity to do so and you’ve lost it for the day. So if you get the chance greet every morning. After our warmup activities we went gave a hongi to our fellow classmates, prior to the connection we would announce who we were and essential recite our whakapapa through our family name Kia ora ko Karl Heap taku ingoa. The concept of hongi, is that by announcing your family name or whakapapa and connecting noses and staring into eachothers eyes you’re enabled with the ability to see their past, present and future, the breath taken between both parties ignites these paths.

We then commenced into a forest or previously known as a Maori burial ground which had been moved elsewhere. Maureen took us through a segment where she told us to close our eyes and visualize her words or korero. Here she told us to act as a tree and embrace the nature around us and it’s thriving inhabitants. To think of all of the creatures, falling debris and processes that formed within the nature. In addition to the many details of sounds in the distance such as birds, the ocean, and branches moving. On any ordinary day many of these things would be missed however, given the opportunity to analyse and understand the forest allowed for clarity. We were then told as a task to think 4 (wha) descriptive words describing our perception of the forest ie. serrated, dark, moist, cold, timeless etc. Here it was understood that everyone had different understandings and perceptions of what the forest meant to them. Another task was to go out and play human camera where you would take your partner to take four ‘memory’ shots all linked to one theme in hope they would understand what you were looking for. As a teacher the seemed to be a creative and insightful game and a great use of the environment. Further, we were then asked to make a fragrance in peers and present it to our group, this required a lot of creativity and awareness. Keeping an open eye out for useful and aesthetic/great smelling resources as well as implementing them to make it seem appealing to the group, proved much difficulty.  Although as a end result it was interesting to see the interpretations of the task and creativity seen through their products.

Next, we had Howard who took us through a few activities that were a significant contrast to Maureen's, so it was good to see variation between the two teaching styles. However, the use of environment between the two were highly prevalent and showed insight into possible teaching strategies in the forthcoming.Our first activity was to find our designated tree blindfolded. This relied on other senses other than sight, and primarily the sense of touch. I found this to be a difficult experience for me as it took a long period of time to find my designated tree. Once I had chosen the wrong tree it meant that I had to go around inspecting details of other trees and eventually became quite tedious. However, once I found the tree It served as a rewarded feeling and showed that through resilience, patience and commitment I was able to achieve my goal and locate the tree.

At night Howard told us various Maori stories one of which brought insight around reverse colonisation and utilized our class to perform many skits that proved valuable and sparked up much debate and discussion. One of the skits encompassed the meeting between pakeha and maori and how the pakeha travelled via the endeavour and was comprised of a cabin crew; misunderstanding took place between the two cultures. As a result of this, Maori and pakeha or M and P sparked a war of revenge. To understand this concept further, we were split into two tribes the yakka yakka and omma omma tribe. The customs and traditions between the two made it extremely difficult to communicate and trade between the two parties. The miscommunication resulted in a killing of the yakka yakka tribe, through these experiences we reflected and related to the colonisation process.

Our last powhiri was without a doubt the best powhiri I had ever participated in. The atmosphere and authentic feeling was second to none. There were marked improvements ,and the flow as a whole felt comfortable.

It is important that we as teachers advocate Māori culture within schools and education. As with any change I believe a lot of it starts at youth education. If students’ and society are given positive reinforcement around Maori culture they’re likely to show respect and orientate themselves around Maori practices ie speaking the language, allowing for bi-culturalism by having respect for our tangata whenua.

In Mau Rakau we worked on our footwork and learned various attack and defence formations. Learning to strike, the head, body and lower legs. We also learnt how to defend against these strikes and use them in conjunction with one another.

My group rua was responsible for the decorations of the wharekai this required much creativity and initiative. By using the resources and environment around us we were able to effectively shape the wharekai increasing the aesthetics of our eating area.

Another cultural experience was adapting to a haka in a short time frame. Towards the end of our stay at the marae I participated in 2-3 hakas in a short period of time, everyone was included and I felt, for myself, that as a courtesy I should join my class to provide symmetry and solidarity of a group as a whole.