Tauranga, and the Exit of New Zealand

Before we were unceremoniously booted out of New Zealand by Mother Nature and her cohorts, the Nga Wairua Kino (Māori evil spirits) we had a chance to learn some more about the Māori culture in the port of Tauranga, which loosely translated from Māori conveniently means….. Port!

                                      Our bus picked us up at the ship and we were first transported to a local Māori High School. This school was obviously started to ensure that the Māori culture and customs were passed down to the succeeding generations. But one does not need to be of Māori descent to be enrolled here. Anyone that is interested in learning more about the Māori culture may attend!

                             The fine young folks that put on a wonderful performance of just a few of their customs and rituals were obviously fully immersed in it. They did specifically say that we were not witnessing a performance per se, but in reality, when these routines were being executed, we were seeing the real thing because every time that they went through these movements it was the real thing.

                   When we arrived, they were all standing in front of us, lined up on the “stage”. They looked rather nervous, their hands were visibly shaking at their sides. We were not sure how this was going to go based on our initial observations.

Whoa! Were we ever wrong!

Apparently, the Māori believe that movement is life and so by standing still, they needed to show some movement and that is displayed by the shaking hands.

They proceeded to bowl us over with their voices in song and their movements in dance. This particular school took fourth place in the nationwide Māori Culture gathering last year. There were over fifty tribes represented at that event.

          So, these guys and gals were good!

          After they were finished with showing (and teaching 😊) us, they all stayed to meet us, answer any questions, and have a few photo opportunities.

          It was an eye-opening experience for all of us and the perfect introduction for our next stop, that of visiting an actual Māori Wharenui or meeting house. This where it really did get serious and if you were not in the mood to participate, you best stay on the bus.

          Our Guide, who was a member of this particular Wharenui prepared us on the way there. We needed to learn a song, and the correct responses to certain phrases of greeting and other such things.

          I have a feeling that most of us are at least vaguely familiar with photos of menacing Māori Warriors in stances of defiance with their tongues sticking out and/or rolled up, again in a fierce manner. Well, that is exactly who greeted us upon our arrival. There we stood facing the Wharenui when the Warrior came out and very aggressively advanced towards us spear in hand, chanting and screaming in Māori, challenging us to either break and run or stand our ground. I will be honest, there were times when breaking and running seemed like the intelligent thing to do!

          Luckily for us, we had nominated a “Chief” of our own to represent us and assure this Warrior that we had, in fact, come in peace. The Warrior dropped a peace offering on the ground and it was up to us to either pick it up (good) or ignore it on the ground (bad).

                   It was quite a relief to see our “Chief” pick it up and advance towards the Warrior because even though there were about fifty of us and only one of him, my money would have been on him!

          This ceremony was exactly what would have happened when a lookout from the Wharenui would spot some war canoes filled with members of other tribes advancing towards them. The Warrior was always the largest and fiercest one that a tribe would have, and his display was meant to be a show of “Don’t mess with us.”

          The peace offering was not always accepted and that’s when the battle would break out.

          We were invited inside, but not before removing our shoes and promising not to take any photos of the inside. Once we were inside and seated (Men in front of the women, in order to protect them if any untoward exhibits were to happen in the front of the Wharenui) we were greeted by a lengthy speech in Māori delivered by the fierce Warrior who, as it turned out, was only 18 years old. Could have fooled us! We then sang our song of greeting to their Chief (the real one) and once we were accepted by him things calmed down a bit. We were encouraged to ask questions. The answers were honest and forthright, acknowledging the trials and tribulations of trying to keep the Māori culture alive, much like our own Native Americans are trying to do.

          We were then invited into their dining hall for some refreshments and to have further conversations with them. This total experience was thoroughly enjoying and eye-opening at the same time…. and oh, our rendition of our “song” was obviously better than what they were used to because their surprised expressions of amazement were quite obvious!

                             Kia Ora!