Although it has been a couple of months since I’ve been home from New Zealand I have been meaning to share a little bit more on a memorable experience that I had with the Maori culture. Throughout my journies in Aotearoa, I got the chance to have a real taste of these unique cultural traditions. For dinner one evening, the group that I was traveling with took a trip to Tamaki Brothers Maori Village in Rotorua.
Upon arrival to the village, we were greeted by the native people with their ancient welcome ceremony otherwise known as powhiri. We were considered the manuhiri (guests) and were gathered in front of the gate to the village. We were considered a visiting tribe and had to designate one male member to be our chief leader. Our friend, Ian, took pleasure in doing so. Our leader began by exchanging with the Tamaki chief the hongi, which in order to hongi, two people will grasp each others right hand, putting their left on the other’s shoulder. They will then move forward to gently press noses, with eyes closed. It is also custom for the leader to present an offering to the hosting tribe, we gave flowers. In time, we watched the call of welcome (karanga). While we stood there and observed, numerous warriors came forward and issued a wero (challenge) to our chief. This is intended to determine whether we come with peaceful intentions. The warriors proceeded to wave a taiaha (spear) as a means of threatening/intimidating us. Meanwhile, they layed a small, carved dart on the ground for our leader to pick up as a sign that we come in peace. It was quite the experience to be able to witness something so intense and incredible such as this greeting.
Eventually, we made our way in to the village and got a chance to learn about some of their traditions and wonder about the village, which was very cool! One thing in particular that I participated in was a game played by the children, which we called the Maori stick game. This involves a lot of quick thinking and passing of the sticks with your competitors. I sadly did not win. After working up a hunger, we proceeded to the dining room where we were accompanied by some song, dance and story telling. Then began our feast! We learned that our meal is referred to as a ‘hangi’, which involves various types of meats and vegetables, such as kumara (or sweet potato) and pork. They are prepared and then wrapped in leaves for cooking. These items are then placed in a hole in the ground and cooked with hot stones. This would take a couple of hours but boy did it give the food an awesome, smokey taste. This was definitely my favorite meal of the entire trip. For dessert we had a common dessert called pavlova. This was an amazingly sweet meringue with fresh fruit. It was served with a ‘hottie’ which is hot chocolate with a touch of chili powder. While eating our dessert, we got to see the famous haka. The haka is a traditional dance/chant done by the Maori men right before they go to war. With exessive tongue showing and eye bulging, it was an intimidating sight to see, which is their intention. You may recognize the haka due to New Zealand's rugby team performing it before each game to their opponents. I did have it memorized but I need to work on my facial actions a bit more. This was such a great way to end the evening.
Check out the Haka performed by the All Blacks:
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| this is where our food was cooked |
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| some entertainment |
I’ve always found it to be a lot of fun to experience another cultures food besides my own. Even if I’m not the biggest fan, I still enjoy learning about it. Cheers!
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