A Portrait - 14

Penny Diver, Whakarewarewa

Counting His Coins
Rotorua
May 2009, Ajr

A Portrait - 9

Mother & Daughter

Performers at Whakarewarewa

Rotorua

May 2009, Ajr

An Eye on the Detail

Viewed from afar, these carvings, at the entrance to Whakarewarewa Thermal Village in Rotorua have an undeniable strength and power; up close, they exude and even greater sense of history, spirit and character. They are some of my favourite examples of traditional carving and I photographed them from every angle, focussing in on the detail of carving technique, the symbols and the patterns. I'm a little disappointed my collage has reduced down to such a small size, but it will hopefully give you an idea of the beautiful craftsmanship involved in these works. www.whakarewarewa.com

A Poi Collage

I've been playing about with assorted photo-shopping programmes to see which one will produce the best collages and panoramas. This is one result - poi dancers performing at Whakarewarewa Thermal Village when I visited Rotorua last year. There is room for improvement though, so expect to see a few more experiments in the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you'd like to know more about Whakarewarewa, either click on their name in the label line below this post for other things I've written, or check their website: www.whakarewarewa.com

Whakarewarewa - Two Sides

Rotorua's Whakarewarewa Thermal Village is one of New Zealand's iconic tourism attractions. In addition to its natural geothermal activity, the village is home to the Ngati Wahiao people, who have resided here for over 300 years, tapping into the geothermal resources for cooking and washing practices. If you visit, you'll get an insight into both their traditional and contemporary way of life. The above carving is a detail from the wharenui (meeting house) of Wahiao Marae - one of dozens of traditional carvings that give Whakarewarewa so much character.

But you don't have to go far to see that the seventy or so people (in 25 families) living in the village live ordinary lives that involve doing things like the daily washing. Some may be employed as your tour guide, some may be weavers, carvers or tattoists, but at the end of the day they are simply New Zealanders going about everyday life - privileged if you ask me, to live in a unique place so riddled with history and mystery. www.whakarewarewa.com

Carving Detail

Up Close

Carving Detail

At the entry to Whakarewarewa Thermal Village

Rotorua.

May 2009 Ajr

www.whakarewarewa.com

More from the Kete Files

One Woven Kete

On Display

Whakarewarewa Thermal Village

Rotorua

www.whakarewarewa.com

Poi at Rest

Poi

Hanging from an Antler

An Unexpected Vignette at Whakarewarewa.

Rotorua

May 2009, Ajr

www.whakarewarewa.com

The Tene Waitere Legacy

Maori art is generally considered to be ‘a frontal art’ – that is, the traditional works were designed to be viewed from the front; whereas the less common three-dimensional pieces like these, could be viewed from all angles. That said, even they feature the most detailed artistic expression in the front view. I photographed these fabulous figures at the gates to the Rotorua Museum grounds. It’s a carving style I love and I’m always drawn to the intricate spiral patterns used to depict shoulders and buttocks. I keep meaning to make a concentrated photographic study of these spiral patterns – they come in a wide variety of designs – but I keep forgetting. So much to do, so little time!

These figures stand at the Hinemoa and Arawa Street entrances to the Rotorua museum grounds and I copied the text from a plaque nearby, which I assumed was referring to these carvings. I hope so because here it is: “These carvings were presented by the people of Ngati Whakaue to commemorate their original gift of land in 1880. Hei oranga mo nga iwi katoa a tea o – for the benefit of the people of the world. They were carved by master carver Tene Waitere and they depict tribal ancestors.” I’ve just spent a fascinating hour reading about Tene Waitere (Ngati Tarawhai), who was born near Kaitaia in Northland in 1854 and died in Rotorua in 1931.

He was regarded as one of New Zealand’s most prolific and innovative Maori carvers and his wide range of work – from canoes and meetings houses to walking sticks, tobacco pipes and replicas of traditional artefacts for the growing tourism market - and for royal visitors -in the early 1900s – lives on as some of the finest carving from the time. Many of his carvings were created for and are still at Whakarewarewa Maori Village, where he lived after surviving the Tarawera eruption that descecrated his village of Te Wairoa. His grand-daughter in fact, was the great Rangitiaria, or Guide Rangi as she became known – perhaps the earliest trailblazer for Maori tourism for her work guiding tourists through the famous Pink and White Terraces, which were destroyed by the Tarawera eruption. Waitere's story is an intriguing one and thankfully is well documented. I intend to look out one or two excellent books that detail his life and work. www.rotoruamuseum.co.nz

Shopping for Piupiu

The piupiu is the traditional skirt worn by women for kapa haka.

When I visited Rotorua's Whakarewarewa Thermal Village some months back, I got some great shots of women making piupiu from harakeke (flax) and within the village itself, I stopped a while to watch people coming and going around this souvenir shop - you can see some piupiu hanging on the balcony. It's one of several shops that sells the wares of the Maori craftspeople living and working within the village, which is located in the middle of one of Rotorua's natural geothermal fields. The Ngati Wahiao people in fact, have lived in this village for over 300 years, utilising the natural steam for cooking, bathing and cleaning.

Most of us in New Zealand know the village as Whaka or Whakarewarewa but in fact its full name is Te Whakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao. www.whakarewarewa.com

Song and Dance

Traditional Piupui used in kapa haka performances.

On Display at Whakarewarewa Thermal Village, Rotorua.

Making a good sized piupiu is a labour intensive business. They can contain up to 250 strands of harakeke (flax), each of which has been treated by hand - often by several people. Once the treated and dyed flax has dried, it forms the thin cylinders that make up the skirt. www.whakarewarewa.com

Hot and Steamy

Rotorua. May 2009 Ajr

Things can get pretty hot and steamy at Rotorua’s Whakarewarewa Living Thermal Village. It is an active geothermal area after all – not that that ever stopped the Ngati Wahiao people from settling there over three hundred years ago. In fact, it’s probably one of the chief reasons they did settle there – for the natural hot water, the warm earth that kept them warm in winter and the natural steaming hot pools that they used for washing, bathing and cooking. Around 70-80 Ngati Wahiao people still live in the village today and still make use of the geothermal resources. The reserve is peppered with little raised boxes that cover their cooking vents; and the community bathing pools are still used regularly. On a bigger scale, the hot pool they call Parekohuru (above), which means ‘murderous rippling waters,’ is used for cooking large quantities of food. The water is 95 degrees Celsius on the top of the pool and it gets hotters as it goes down. Its blue colour indicates the presence of minerals and salts. The water is hot enough to boil and egg in one minute and the locals can cook 200 frozen cobs – lowered into the water in muslin bags tied with a rope – in just ten minutes. The hottest pool in the village is Korotiotio, which means ‘Grumpy Old Man’ – aptly named given that its temperature measures 155 degrees Celsius. In the old days, the women of the tribe threw freshly killed poultry into the water for 15 to 20 seconds to make them easy to pluck. The steam from the pool is said to be very good for asthmatics. www.whakarewarewa.com

Maori Place Names - 16

Wahiao Whare Tipuna

(Ancestors' House)

Wakarewarewa Living Thermal Village

Rotorua

www.whakarewarewa.com

A Sunday Church Moment

Rotorua. May 2009. Ajr

I LOVE Maori churches and the fact that elaborate decoration is the order of the day. This one, the Catholic Church - The Church of the Immaculate Conception - at Whakarewarewa Thermal Village in Rotorua is a little more restrained than others I've been in, but it's beautiful nonetheless - serene, quiet, peaceful. Built in 1904, it is the oldest building in the village and it sits at the highest point of the village.

Rotorua 2009. Ajr

The church is surrounded by a fascinating, beautifully kept urupa (cemetery), where many whanau (family) of the resident Ngati Wahiao people are buried in pristine white tombs. Because the village sits on an active and very hot geothermal field, the people are unable to bury their dead underground. Instead they are interred in these white tombs above ground.
www.whakarewarewa.com

Scene Stealer

Rotorua. May 2009. Ajr
When I visited Whakarewarewa Maori Thermal Village in Rotorua in May, I was treated to a kapa haka performance - one where the tiny whanau (family) were encouraged onto the stage to take their place with the performing grown-ups. This little girl in the pink was a complete natural and she stole the show. She and her little friend are taking their turn with the pois. www.whakarewarewa.com

Craft Traditions

Whakarewarewa Thermal Village, Rotorua. May 2009. Ajr

If you’ve ever been to a Maori kapa haka performance, you’ll be familiar with that lovely clicking sound that the traditional piupiu (skirt) makes as the performers move. Made of dried harakeke (flax), each piupiu requires a great deal of time and fiddly effort. When I visited Te Puia at Rotorua recently I watched a group of women making them in the Arts & Crafts Centre (below images), so by the time I got to Whakarewarewa Thermal Village and saw these piupiu for sale in one of the family craft outlets, I had a much better understanding of just how detailed the process is.

Te Puia Arts & CRafts Centre, Rotorua. May 2009. Ajr

Once the fresh flax has been cut to the required length, each leaf is marked with a piece of shell, or a knife, to designate the areas of darker pattern on the end garment. The shiny green leaf surface above and below the dark area is then scrapped off to reveal the inner fibre. Traditionally the flax was dyed – often in dark mud (containing iron oxide) and then set in a mix of pounded hinau bark and water. Once the dying process is completed, the dyed leaves are hung to dry (as above). That’s when the normal part of the leaf curls into a hard, straw-like cylinder (which makes the clicking noise during movement). The leaves are then woven together at the top to form a skirt. www.tepuia.com www.whakarewarewa.com

The Coin Divers

Whakarewarewa. May 2009. Ajr

It was late afternoon on a winter May day when I leaned over the memorial bridge at the entrance to Whakarewarewa village and saw this little guy soaking in one of the natural hot pools on the side of the river. He called out and asked if I had any coins I could throw down into the river for him to dive for. Unfortunately I didn’t. I would have loved to have gotten a shot of him in action. But we had a chat anyway – he busily counting the coins as he soaked in warm water. And when he felt he had the measure of his gains, he crammed the coins into his mouth and went about splashing himself. The Whakarewarewa coin divers are famous around the world. It’s a tradition that’s been in place for generations and in summer during the height of the tourist season, they can make $70 or $80 each. They no longer for pennies of course – these days it’s one and two dollar coins, so their tally mounts up much more rapidly. And there’s an age limit on diving. These days they have to stop at fourteen and go and find themselves other jobs, leaving the next round of younger kids to take their place. www.whakarewarewa.com

Making a Meal of It

Gisborne. May 2009. Ajr

Am I imagining it or it the hangi suddenly becoming fashionable?

Maybe it's just more common in the North Island. When I was travelling up there recently I came upon everything from Whakarewarewa's hangi pie (see my May blog) to Northland roadside vendors selling 'hot hangi for $10' and this Gisborne takeaway outlet selling hangi meals, fish and chips, creamed mussels, sticky pork, steamed puddings and, as they say, "a whole lot more."

Song and Dance

Rotorua. May 2009 Ajr

Piupiu Twirling

At the Kapa Haka Performance

At Whakarewarewa Village Last Week

Hangi Pie

Rotorua. May 2009. Ajr

When I visited Whakarewarewa Village in Rotorua last week, I was delighted to find out that the 25 families (70 people) living permanently in the village, still harness the natural georthermal energy for washing, bathing and cooking. There are seven cooking vents (covered with steaming boxes) located around the village and in addition, the large scalding hot geothermal pool, Parekohuru (95degC at the top) is also used for cooking. Meaning 'murderous rippling waters,' Parekohuru makes short work of 200 frozen corn cobs. They're wrapped in a cheese-cloth bag, tied to a rope and lowered into the pool. Just ten minutes later, they're cooked. The pool will boil an egg in just one minute. While I was in the village, I was treated to one of their unique specialities - a hangi pie. I'd heard from several people in the village that they were the best thing ever invented and I'm here to tell you, they are. The pastry treats are filled with hangi meat and vegetables cooked in one of the geothermal steam vents and they are delicious. Whakarewarewa is well aware of their popularity and they now sell them at some Rotorua outlets beyond the village. I saw this sign above, as I was leaving town a few days ago - just so you know I'm not making this up as I go. Whakarewarewa is now in the process of securing IP rights over the hangi pie concept. www. whakarewarewa.com