Portrait - 43

At the Opening

Rapaki Marae

Lyttelton Harbour

Nov. 2010. Ajr

A Portrait - 34

The Opening of Rapaki Marae's New Whare Tipuna

Lyttelton Harbour, Canterbury

Nov. 2010. Ajr

A Portrait - 32

Sheltering from the Heat

Rapaki Marae Opening

Nov. 2010. Ajr

A Portrait - 31

At the Opening

Rapaki Marae's New Whare Tipuna

Rapaki, Lyttelton Harbour

Nov.2010 Ajr

Traditional Designs - 24

Traditonal Kowhaiwhai Patterns

Wrapping a Gift

For a New Whare Tipuna

Rapaki Marae
November 2010

Rapaki - A Parade of Hats

In November, I attended the opening of Ngati Wheke's new whare tipuna at Rapaki Marae, over the hills from Christchurch. It was a long stay that started with a dawn ceremony at 4.30am. It was also a baking hot day and, as usual, I was drawn to people wearing hats.

I love photographing people in hats. They add 'something extra' - more to the point, I think a hat *says* something extra about a person; and they add another compositional dimension to a photograph. So it's a recurring theme for me. But rather than prattling on, here are a few of the hats I photographed on the day.

Cick on Hats at a Hui (below)for another recent series of hat shots.

Of Beauty & Symbolism - Tokotoko

I took this series of photographs of tokotoko (walking sticks) at the opening of Ngati Wheke's new whare tipuna at Rapaki Marae in November. The men you see carrying tokotoko at a hui (meeting) or on a marae (meeting place), are generally those recognised as orators, with an authority to speak (at the gathering).

The tokotoko is very much an object of beauty, symbolic of authority and status; and it is generally decorated with carving that represents the owner's ancestry, or a legend. Historically it represented the history from which that status was derived and in former times, they were often notched with carvings which successive generations of owners used to help them recite their genealogy.

I can understand why so many owners consider a well-carved tokotoko a prized possession and an heirloom. Some of them are exquisitely and elaborately carved and rightly deserve to be passed down through the generations.

All in a Blur

I save a lot of blurry photographs.

Technically they're far from perfect and most photographers would probably delete them immediately Not me. There's often something visually appealing about a partially blurred photograph - a sense of movement, a fleeting mood - and as long as the item is still recognisable, I'll often keep it. This is one example - two teenage girls that I photographed at the opening of Rapaki Marae over the hill from Christchurch, in November. A number of things appeal to me about this image - the pink korowai (cloak) [it's not often you see a pink cloak for a start]; the way the feathers have blurred (reminding me of a bird in flight); and the traditional taniko weaving and the hei tiki on the second girl's neck, in close proximity to the modern cellphone that one of them is clutching. It's a shot of it's time in that sense.

A New Ngai Tahu Whare Tipuna

Close to 1,000 people gathered in the tiny Lyttelton harbour settlement of Rapaki last Saturday, for the dawn opening of Wheke, the new whare tipuna of Te Hapu o Ngati Wheke, Ngai Tahu that has been ten years in the planning and making.

It was always going to be a long day - I woke up at 2am and couldn't get back to sleep, so I was ready for action way ahead of the 4.30am Whakatuwhera - the dawn ceremony. Later in the morning - after breakfast for 600, when the sun was up - a team of waka taua (war canoe) paddlers arrived at Rapaki's Gallipoli Jetty (built in 1916 as a memory to soldiers who fell at Gallipoli) to start the second half of the formal celebrations - the powhiri for invited dignatories.

It was a baking hot day and while everyone huddled under umbrellas, sunhats and nearby trees, local kaumatua (elders) welcomed the guests. I spent some of that time taking photographs - hundreds of photographs - and these are a tiny sample of some of my favourites from the day. I'll be bringing a few more to this blog in the coming days.

I always find a wealth of photographic material at Maori events - the carved tokotoko (walking sticks), the beauty of the hongi (greeting; above), the hats, the splendour of carvings, the luxury of feather korowai (cloaks- below), the intricacy of patterns and ta moko. I'm never short of a subject.

I'll bring you more of the hats, the tokotoko, the hongi and the exterior carvings in future blogs. Unfortunately, I can't show you the exquisite carvings and tukutuku panels and the elaborately painted heke (rafters) inside the whare tipuna. While I was able to photograph them for Ngai Tahu's TE KARAKA magazine, that's where they have to stay, as photography is not generally permitted inside a wharenui. Suffice to say, Master Carver, Christchurch-based Ngati Porou artist, Riki Manuel and his team have created a sublime interior that is completely unique. Manuel has invented what he loosely terms "a Rapaki style" that is based on local whakapapa, birds, plants and kaimoana (seafood) - in short, the unique local lifestyle that sets this divine little community - just across the Port Hills from Christchurch - apart. www.ngaitahi.iwi.nz

Maori Place Names - 49

Rapaki, Banks Peninsular

Canterbury, South Island

January 2010. Ajr

Down at the Jetty

Man Fishing

At the end of Rapaki Jetty

Discarded Mussel Shells

Signs Of

A Previous Feast

Marae Progress

The weather was picture-perfect on Tuesday when I decided to drive over the Port Hills to visit the little Maori community of Rapaki, which nestles into a bay in Lyttelton Harbour between Lyttelton township and Governor's Bay. That's it pictured above.

For some time now, the Maori community here have been building a new wharenui (meeting house) at the marae, which sits in the heart of the tiny village. I've featured the early stages of the building here before and thought I'd just slip across the hills to see how things are coming along. There was a gathering at the marae when I drove by, so I didn't stop. I just snapped this one image of the new building as I drove by. You can't see a lot but with the new tiled courtyard laid and the building itself roofed and fully closed in, it's fair to say they're much closer to completion that I expected. The craftsmen and women are now working on carvings and taniko panels for the interior of the wharenui.

I drove down the hill to the water's edge to see what was happening at the jetty - a beautiful little construction that is a feature of the community. The last time I went across to Rapaki, I chatted with a Maori woman who was drying tuna (eels) in the traditional manner, hanging them off the side of the jetty on nails.

This time, there was a man fishing off the end of the jetty and a few Maori kids checking out his catch. The caretaker was mowing lawns at the nearby Maori church and people were visitng the urupa (cemetery) on the hill above to pay their respects to late whanau (family) and friends. All up it's a gorgeous spot and I look forward to seeing the marae when it is completed sometime this year.

A Tasty Dried Snack

When I visited Tuahiwi Marae near Christchurch recently, to write about the big hangi – the final in the set of kai features for Ngai Tahu’s TE KARAKA magazine – I got these great shots of Grenville Pitama smoking and preparing tuna (eel) for a snack for the men who had helped lay down the hangi. Once the prepared food had been safely laid on the hot rocks and then buried in earth and left to cook for four hours, Grenville hauled out his tin smoker and set it over the hot embers that had been removed from the hangi fire pit. He tossed a little manuka ash in to flavour the fish, laid down the pawhared (dried) Wairewa tuna and left it to cook for around ten minutes. “You wait,” he said with a grin, “That will cook up beautifully in just a few minutes.” And it did – golden, chewy, flavoursome.

A couple of years ago, one of our kai features had taken us to Lake Wairewa ( east of Christchurch, close to Little River. I spoke with many of the kaumatua (elders) about their traditions of eeling and one I remember was Naomi Butler, who was just ten when she started learning the tikanga of tuna gathering. It was always an important part of her life and by the time she caught her first eel at sixteen, she was well versed in family traditions and gathering practices.Then in her early eighties she talked to me about how eeling had shaped her childhood.
“I was the third eldest of fifteen children and during the war years we’d always be out gathering tuna and kaimoana. But Mum and Dad only ever took two of us at a time when they taught us how to catch tuna.

"Back in the 1920s and 1930s families had their own drain and we’d go and sit there at night and wait for the eels to come in. Everyone had to be very quiet and we’d listen for their tails flapping in the water. We had torches to spot them but you weren’t allowed to turn them on until someone gave the signal. The best time for tuna was when the sky was dark and a norwester was blowing. The eels would be thick then – hundreds of them, writing about in the drains,” she says.
“We’d gaff the eels in their hundreds and toss them into the shingle parua (pit) beside the drains. I’ve been there when over 700 tuna were caught in a night.”
Tuna migration has always had an element of mystery and strict tikanga has surrounded tuna harvest. They have traditionally been caught between February and April during the last quarter of the moon (hinepouri) when the nights were darker and the eels had begun moving down the streams and into Lake Wairewa, ready to migrate out to sea to spawn in the Pacific. Local whanau adhered to strict rules – food, drink and smoking were all banned from the drains and stepping across drains was equally frowned upon. I’ve written about tuna (eels) here before and shown the drying process at Rapaki, which you can see by clicking on traditional foods below this post. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Seaside Church

This is the cute-as-a-button Whare Karakia (church) at Rapaki Marae. A Maori mission was established here and in 1865 when the Methodist missionary, Te Koti Te Rato moved to Rapaki, the local community built this little church on the rise above the beach. It opened on May 4, 1869 with a multi-denominational service with hymns sung in both Maori and English. It’s still used today for occasional services.

Whare Karakia, Rapaki, Banks Peninsular. March 2009. Ajr
It’s a peaceful retreat tucked under giant trees and surrounded by a small cemetery. I sat awhile and thought about the photos of kaumatua hanging at the front of the church, wondering what their lives may have been like in 1869; and I admired the tukutuku panelling on the little altar and the shelves at the rear of the church, neatly stacked with old bibles.

New Marae, New Era

The New Marae Under Construction at Rapaki. March 2009. Ajr

Building is forging ahead on the new Rapaki Marae Development Project. I drove by the construction site a few days ago. The roof is on, the windows are about to go in and the actual building is due for completion by the end of May. Then it’s down to the business of interior decoration. Christchurch carvers, Fayne Robinson (Ngai Tahu) and Riki Manuel (Ngati Porou) are completing all the interior and exterior carvings; and Rapaki weaver, Doe Parata will oversee the weaving of tukutuku panels. The new marae replaces the old Te Wheke Hall and sits on a grassy knoll overlooking the sandy crescent and rocky foreshore of Rapaki Bay, over the Port Hills from Christchurch. The new development is due for completion in November 2009.

Eel Drying

Eel Catch, Rapaki. March 2009. Ajr

It was a perfect, sunny, early autumn day in Christchurch today, so I drove over the hills to check out building progress on the new Rapaki Marae – more on that in a day or two. When I got there I was delighted to find local Maori woman, Marianna Phillips busy preparing her eel catch down at the very cute Rapaki jetty. Once she had washed and gutted the eel, she strung them up by their heads with a strip of harakeke (flax) and suspended them from the jetty. Local Maori have been doing that for decades – the old nails are still in the jetty timbers to prove it. They’ll be left to dry for a couple of days before she starts the next part of the process – filleting them and re-hanging them.

Everyone has different ways of drying tuna (eel) but there’s no question that the salting and curing of them is a long and involved process. Generally, once the tuna had been hung up their tails were cut off to help them bleed before they were left to dry further. Once they had been filleted, salt would be rubbed into the flesh and they’d be re-hung. The tuna would be rolled every day and hung out again. Depending on the weather, that process could take two weeks. After that the rolled tuna would be boiled for about ten minutes, laid out, unrolled and left to dry for the last time. Many Maori made a tent-shaped manuka whata under the trees and the tuna would hang over the manuka rails for three to six months – or until they had all been eaten. Other people kept them in a pataka, or a store room of some sort. For Rapaki locals though, the jetty has always served as the ideal whata – and these juicy specimens are destined for the modern-day freezer to reappear at the opening celebrations of Te Hapu o Ngati Wheke’s new marae in November.

Banks Peninsular Settlement

Rapaki, Banks Peninsular. 2008. Ajr

This is a view of the cute little settlement of Rapaki, just around the coast a little from Lyttelton. The Rapaki Marae is the silver-roofed building in the centre of the image, although the Rapaki Runanga is about to start building its new marae soon - if it hasn't already started.