Waitangi Day 2012

Dave Brennon, Leader of Pounamu Ngāi Tahu, who performed on the day.

On Monday, we celebrated Waitangi Day in New Zealand -  February 6th, 172 years after the signing of the country's founding document, The Treaty of Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, Northland, in 1840. As usual, there were organised official and social celebrations throughout the country. I went along to the Ngāi Tahu celebrations at Kaiapoi (although Ngāi Tahu's official celebrations were this year staged at Te Rau Aroha Marae in Bluff).

The Kaiapoi celebrations at Trousselot Park, took the form of a light-hearted re-enactment with a signing of the Treaty of Tuahiwi. Dozens of locals came in period dress and Pounamu Ngāi Tahu entertained the crowds with a Māori cultural performance. I've selected a few photos to show something of the mood of the day.

Waiting with Mum before the show

Always a surprise when 'a colonial' uses a modern camera.

Traditional Ta Moko

Performing for the crowds

The weather at Kaiapoi was baking hot on the day but locals relished the chance to forget earthquakes for a while, and to lounge about in the sun, thinking their own thoughts about the Treaty and what it has meant for their lives.

Hangi in a Parcel

Steamed Hangi Meals

Wrapped in the News of the Day

(Salt Provided)

Waitangi Day Celebrations

Christchurch Art Gallery

February 6, 2010.

A Portrait - 1

Watching the Crowd

Waitangi Day Celebrations

Christchurch Art Gallery

February 6, 2010

More From Waitangi Day

More shots from yesterday's Waitangi Day celebrations at Christchurch Art Gallery.

Hangi meals wrapped in newspaper made for a popular lunch. I liked the presentation - a kind of 'ethnic take' on traditional New Zealand fish and chips wrapped in newspaper.

Red Poi

Red Umbrellas

On a Very Hot Afternoon.

February 6, 2010

Waitangi Celebrations

I was disappointed that my plans to drive across to Onuku Marae at Akaroa on Banks Peninsular were thrown awry today. Instead, in between my hideous workload, I managed to get down to Christchurch Art Gallery to take in the celebrations there. I missed the powhiri (welcome) and I only got the tale end of the band, Hikoikoi but I saw a good part of the performance by the second act, The Mamaku Project. Their lead singer, Tui Mamaki, is shown below.

The sun had come out by then and it was baking hot but I was surprised by the small crowd. Last year's Waitangi Day celebrations here (which you can see if you click on Waitangi Day in the label line below this post), were patronised by a much larger crowd. Still, the two guys selling hangi meals in wrapped newspaper parcels were doing a roaring trade; and the cool jazz of the Mamaku Project went down a treat with all who stuck around. You can read more about the group, the band members, their national and international performances and their recordings by clicking on www.mamakuproject.com

Celebrating Waitangi Day

Today is a public holiday in New Zealand - designated such to celebrate Waitangi Day, which in turn celebrates the signing of The Treaty of Waitangi at Waitangi in 1840. That's an aerial view of the Waitangi National Trust grounds at Waitangi above. The bridge across the causeway links Waitangi to the nearby village of Paihia in the Bay of Islands.

The two photographs above are among the many I took when I visited Waitangi last April, while travelling New Zealand updating the travel guide Frommers New Zealand. They show two views of Te Tii Marae, which sits adjacent to the Waitangi National Trust grounds and is the focus of Waitangi Day celebrations. Thousands of people and politicians will be packed in here today - and if today is like any other Waitangi Day celebration, some controversey is bound to arise.

The flagpole in the Treaty Grounds
I meanwhile, will be attending the Ngai Tahu Waitangi Day celebrations, which are being held at Onuku Marae in Akaroa. The Governor General of New Zealand, Sir Anand Satyanand will be in attendance. I hope to bring you photographs from today's Akaroa event later today and tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Poi Pupil

I spend a lot of time sitting around waiting for what I consider to be an interesting photograph.

Sometimes - often - I find that photograph in the detail of things rather than in 'the main event.'
That was certainly the case here - last year on Waitangi Day, at a kapa haka performance at Christchurch Art Gallery. I did in fact, get some terrific shots of the group performing but I loved these shots of the little girl best of all. Like so many Maori cultural groups, they encourage the young ones from a very early age and the adult performers never seem put off or distracted by the inattentions of the young. I loved the way she just kept doing her own thing, fiddling with one of the women's piupiu (skirts).

Maori Flag Gets the Nod

The Maori flag Tino Rangatiratanga, once associated with Maori protest, has been given the official seal of approval by the New Zealand Government and will fly from the Prime Minister's official residence on Waitangi Day in February. Of the flags suggested, Tino Rangatiratanga won the support of 80% of people consulted. It is likely the flag will also fly beside the New Zealand flag from the top of the Auckland Harbour Bridge on Waitangi Day. I photographed this flag flying from one of the many cars at Ngai Tahu's Hui-a-Tau at Colac Bay in Southland during the weekend.

Flying the Flag

Tikitiki, East Cape May 2009 Ajr

There has been recent national debate on a Maori flag to fly from Parliament. This arose after Transit New Zealand refused to fly Tino Rangatiratanga on the Auckland Harbour Bridge on Waitangi Day this year. Tino Rangatiratanga was unveiled on Waitangi Day in 1990 as the winning Maori flag design in a 1989 competition. The red, black and white flag incorporates a koru design, which represents the unfolding of new life, rebirth, renewal, hope and continuity; and red represents mana (prestige/power) for Maori. I often saw this flag flying in strong Maori areas on my recent travels around New Zealand, especially in the Far North and around East Cape. I took the top photograph of it draped across a window of a house in the tiny East Cape village of Tikitiki; and the one below in the tiny Maori seaside community at Matai Bay in the Far North.
Matai Bay. Karikari Peninsula, Far North. April 2009 Ajr
Prime Minister John Key has entered into the debate by suggesting that if Maori could come up with a flag that everyone can agree on, it will be flown on Parliament House. Tino Rangatiratanga is one of four contenders. The other three are the Flag of the Independent Tribes, designed in 1834; the New Zealand flag; and the New Zealand Red Ensign, which was gifted to Maori by Queen Victoria to use on occasions of special significance to Maori. Maori have quite an established tradition of two things – flags and a difficulty in coming together as one united voice representative of all iwi (tribes), so it is likely the flag debate will take some time to find a resolution. In the meantime, I rather like the boldness of Tino Rangatiratanga. It seems to me to have a power and an individuality that some of the other more traditional designs lack.

Steeped in History

Waitangi, Northland. April 2009. Ajr

I HAD to stop and photograph these magnificent carvings at Te Tii Marae in Waitangi when I was there in April. The marae (often inappropriately referred to as the Lower Waitangi marae - in relation to its proximity to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds), sits beside the Waitangi River and opposite Te Tii Beach and is the focal point of Waitangi Day celebrations on February 6th each year. It is also an important meeting place for the Ngapuhi people.

Giant Waka Gets Makeover

Image Courtesy Waitangi National Trust

Ngatokimatawhaorua is a sight to behold. Probably the largest waka (war canoe) in the world it is 35 metres long, weighs in at 6 tonnes, has room for 120 paddlers and has reached a maximum speed of 27 knots (35mph/51kph). Built in 1935 from three massive kauri trees felled in Northland’s Puketi Fortest and launched as part of the Centenary Celebrations in 1940, it now sits in a specially designed korowai (shelter) at Hobson’s Beach on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in the Bay of Islands. It was carved by seven carvers at Waipapa, near Kerikeri under the supervision of Pita Hepera, and is a larger version of the waka that carried visiting and raiding parties on long coastal voyages before and after the first Europeans arrived in New Zealand. The name Ngatokimatawhaorua was the name of the original voyaging waka in which the ancient explorer, Kupe is said to have used on his voyage to Aotearoa.

Left: Tau Iho Right: Taurapa Photo: Ajr April 2009

Tauiho - April 2009. Ajr
The carved tau iho, at the front of the canoe, is an ancient genealogical record and a history of construction; while the elaborately carved taurapa (sternpost) is used for navigation. It is designed to cut the head wind and when it whistles, it is an indication that the vessel is balanced and travelling in a straight line.

Rear View showing taurapa. April 2009. Ajr
The waka is still used every year during the Waitangi Day celebrations and it will be the showstopper at the 2010 Year of the Waka Waitangi Day celebrations, when over 50 waka from around the South Pacific come together. To ready her for the event – and her 70th birthday - the team from Te Aurere Waka recently met at Waitangi to give her a makeover. The waka was completely pulled apart and repaired, tarred, repainted and relashed. www.waitangi.net.nz

Contemporary Maori Tattoo

There was a time not so many years ago when, if you saw a kapa haka group performing, most of the traditional tattoos you saw on the performers were drawn on for the occasion. Not so now. There’s been a huge resurgence in traditional Maori tattoo - though few women actually tattoo their lips (kauae) and chins – chin moko are still largely drawn on, as with the performers shown above.

All images Mareikura Kapa Haka performers, Waitangi Day, Christchurch Feb 2009. Ajr

However, increasing numbers of both men and women are getting real tattoos to their body - like the two above. Some of them are very beautiful too. I snapped these photographs at the Waitangi Day kapa haka performance in Christchurch a week or so ago. I came away almost tempted to get a tattoo of my own. It’s just a pity I’m a total coward.

Meet the People - 1

Toni Huata, Waitangi Day Celebrations Christchurch Art Gallery. Feb 6 Ajr

The first in my new series Meet the People – Contemporary Maori Doing Ordinary and Extraordinary Things - Wellington-based Maori songwriter and vocalist, Toni Huata (Ngati Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata) has blazed a successful trail through the music world at concert and festival performances nationally and internationally. Armed with a music degree from Whitireia Polytechnic in Porirua, Wellington, she became a member of Te Rakau Hua O Te Wao Tapu touring theatre company headed by Jim Moriarty in 1995. She’s since toured throughout USA, Europe, Asia and the Pacific; she’s performed with the Neville Brothers in USA; and she was the first Maori to ever perform at the world renowned jazz club, Ronnie Scotts in London. Brought up in the Hawke’s Bay, Toni attended the famous Turakina Maori Girls’ College and says she was always surrounded by an eclectic array of influences – the Anglican Church choir, tap dancing and Maori cultural performance. Her debut album “Te Maori e” released in 2001, is a reflection of that. A fusion of jazz, jungle, flamenco, classical, dub poi and traditional waiata, it is dedicated to her grandparents, the late Te Okanga Kahutapere (Aussie) Huata and Ngaro Rangi-Huata. The theme for the album was built around the song “Te Maori e,” composed by her grandfather for the Te Maori exhibition in 1986.

Toni Huata @ PAO Wellington. Photo Supplied by Toni Huata

Toni Huata at Parihaka. Image by Kiritahi Takiari. Supplied by Toni Huata.

Recognised as an accomplished singer/songwriter, dancer, voice expert, actor and an inspirational ambassador of Maori Language, Toni also has her own entertainment business, WaaHuu Creations that provides production services and tuition in theatre, music and dance with the aim of enhancing the exposure of Maori in performing arts, language and culture. Toni’s music reflects her deep spiritual roots – a result of being raised within the traditions of Maori culture, song and her whakapapa (geneology). She confidently blends both Maori and non-Maori worlds and in drawing on the past she hopes to pave the way to new sounds of the future. “Werohia – Challenge yourself,” she says. “Pass the limits…grasp an idea and enter into it.” Toni’s second album, “Mauri To – Everlasting Force” was released in 2004. www.tonihuata.com

In Training

Waitangi Day, Mareikura Kapa Haka, Christchurch Feb 2009 Ajr

These are just some of the dozens of photographs I took of the Mareikura kapa haka performance at yesterday’s Waitangi Day celebrations at Christchurch Art Gallery. I loved the fact that they included some very small children – and this little girl almost stole the show with her confidence. It’s good to know that the youngest generation are being taught about their culture at an early age. She may not have been the best at twirling the poi (soft balls on string) but she gave it her best shot and what she lacked in skill she more than made up for with enthusiasm. There are more shots below in my Waitangi Day post.

Waitangi Day Celebrations

Mareikura Performance, Christchurch Art Gallery. Waitangi Day 2009. Ajr

Today – February 6th, 2009 – marks the 169th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between Maori and Pakeha (New Zealanders of European ancestry) in 1840. The Treaty was signed in a tent in the grounds of what is now known as the Treaty house at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, north of Auckland. It made New Zealand part of the British Empire, guaranteed Maori rights to their land and the rights to be British citizens. The signing was not commemorated annually until 1947 and it wasn’t until 1973 that the day was officially marked into law as a public holiday – then called New Zealand Day. It was officially re-named Waitangi Day in 1976. Since then this national day of commemoration has often been marked by controversy and protests by Maori activists over what many feel to be treaty injustices. Away from the discontent though, many New Zealanders – Maori and Pakeha alike – celebrate the day with public concerts, festivals and traditional Maori performances. They see it as a chance to celebrate people, partnership and unity. I spent the best part of today – a very HOT day – attending the Waitangi Day celebrations at Christchurch Art Gallery. We watched a terrific traditional kapa haka performace by the Mareikura group (above), which was followed by a reading by Maori poet, Ben Brown and a performance by contemporary Maori singer, Toni Huata. I sat beside an English couple who had only been in the country three days. They’d just watched a showing of Vincent Ward’s movie, “Children of the Rain,” they were tucking in to a hangi platter and they were “blown away” by the “singing and dancing” – all up a pretty good first immersion into Maori culture I told them.