#helu 3

#3 [2020.02.21]

Aloha mai kākou!

Today I write while reminiscing of my first week here in Aotearoa. School has just started, but I’ve found some time to finally write about the pro9gramme that has me so excited to continue my studies here!

Through the international student exchange, I was accepted into attending the inaugural Waipapa noho marae, which is a cultural immersion program held specifically for incoming Study Abroad and exchange students at the University of Auckland. Students get to noho marae (stay overnight at the marae on campus) and participate in a number of cultural games and activities.

The day started at 8:30am, with nearly 20 students from around the world gathering outside the Waipapa Marae. Similar to a Hawaiian welcome, we started with a Pōwhiri (welcoming ceremony) onto the Marae grounds, which consisted of a welcoming song from an orator, and a formal introduction of those welcoming us into onto the marae, and of ourselves as visiting tauira (students).

As a Hawaiian, I was already looking forward to this experience as a form of cultural exchange, and I was so so excited to learn about and thank the people of the land for hosting me. I got so much more than expected, which left me feeling so welcomed and thankful. Following the Pōwhiri was morning tea, and time for the international students to get to know eachother!

Come around 10am, we were ushered into the Whare Nui, the meeting house in which we stayed the night. There, a professor from the Māori Studies department came to speak to us about important parts of Māori culture we should know, such as Te Tiriti, and The Treaty of Waitangi. Without going too much into detail, the experience was enlightening in possibly the saddest way possible.  It seemed to be eye-opening to all the students who sat before the professor as he spoke.

[Waipapa Marae Entrance Detail | pic via UoA]

I can’t remember his name (I’m so sorry) but the professor briefly explained the colonization of Aotearoa, and how Māori and Pacific peoples in New Zealand and treated today (from an indigenous context). I immediately made connections from their history to Hawaiian history, the cultural oppression and loss of language and land among other things, building a bridge between the two.

He also explained the story behind the Whare Nui we stood in, how it was built by Māori students for Māori students. It became a home for people from all walks of life, holding traditional and contemporary styled carvings along the walls and ceilings. Directly from the University website:

Our whare whakairo – Tane-nui-a-Rangi – represents all major tribes, unlike many meeting houses on tribal marae.

The symbolic conception of Tānenuiarangi, the [Whare Nui] meeting-house on Waipapa Marae, was formulated by the tohunga whakairo Pākariki Harrison. The primary ancestors of the house are the ancestor-gods with whom students of all tribes can identify. Around the walls are the captains and priest-navigators of the canoes that brought the ancestors of the different tribes to New Zealand in the 14th century. Also included in the house is Tangi'ia, an ancestor who connects the major islands of the Pacific with New Zealand. Thus, the house is pan-Pacific as well as pan-tribal.

The Marae on which Tāne-nui-a-Rangi stands is named after Waipapa, the landing place of canoes on what is now Beach Road opposite the old railway station. The name acknowledges Ngāti Whātua ki Orākei as the tangata whenua of Waitematā. 

[Waipapa Marae Grounds | pic via UoA]

Their gods, Tāne on the front of the Whare and Tangaroa, Rongo, Tū, and Papatūānuku (known as Kāne, Kanaloa, Lono, Kū and Papahānaumoku in Hawaiʻi), lined the inside roof of the whare. And, in their own introductions, the Māori students told stories of their ancestors, the very carvings that were placed along the four walls.

Tangaroa

Rongo

Tū

Papatūānuku

In the end, I was asked to thank the professor and the students on behalf of the exchange group, and I did so in Hawaiian as well. 

Before a break for afternoon tea, we had Whakawhanaungatanga, which were ice breakers and other games put together by the Māori students. We all got to learn eachothers names a bit better, favorite ice cream flavors, and other random fun facts.

Then we all broke off into groups to learn some Māori songs, make some poi (the Māori kine, not the Hawai’i kine), and do a little Kapa Haka. We even got to play Kīorahi, a Māori ball game that is very very complex so I recommend watching a guide video because--though it was a lot of fun-- it took us forever to figure out at first!

Dinner was a Kiwi special, called a “boil up”, where they pretty much just throw anykine meats and veggies into a big stew pot, and boil it up real good. It seems so simple but it was so so tasty. I was told that this is definitely a popular New Zealand thing, kinda like a barbecue (which are also quite popular here).

Dinner was followed with a FANTASTIC Kapa Haka performance by the Māori students. Their singing was absolutely breath taking and when thy went into their haka? I had goosebumps. It was a beautiful gifts for us exchange students, and in return they asked for a bit from our own cultures. So in true Hawaiian fashion, I performed a hula about Hawai’i for them. A student from India sang a hymn from her village, and another student from Japan spoke a haiku and explained it to us. It was a really heartwarming moment for everyone I think, especially from a global standpoint.