Loafing Around

Riccarton Rotary Market, Christchurch. March 2009. Ajr

I visited Riccarton Rotary Market last weekend and came upon a woman selling Rewena Paraoa, more commonly known as Maori bread. It is traditionally made by creating a ‘bug’ or starter’ from boiled potato, flour and sugar and leaving it to ferment for several days; part of the bug is then used to make the bread and a small portion saved and ‘fed’ until the next baking session. Rewena bread has a distinctive sweet/sour flavour and a firm texture. It can also be made using yeast.

One Rare Bird

Tokoeka, Makaawhio Runanga. Bruce Bay. Feb 2009. Ajr

This is the Haast Tokoeka, which, along with the Haast Rowi from Okarito, is our rarest kiwi. The Maori named it tokoeka because it has hindquarters like a weka and a beak like a tokotoko (walking stick). It is specific to Haast in South Westland, although a different sub-species of Tokoeka are found on Stewart Island. The Makaawhio Runanga has kaitiaki (guardianship) over both species in Haast, and works closely with the Department of Conservation to protect them and encourage their breeding. Eggs are collected and sent to Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, where the New Zealand Conservation Trust runs a very successful kiwi breeding programme and is part of Operation Nest Egg in partnership with DOC. When the chicks are around a month old (and strong enough) they are released onto predator-free islands in Marlborough Sounds. www.doc.govt.nz www.nzconservationtrust.org.nz www.makaawhio.maori.nz

Te Puka - The Anchor Stone

Lee Bay, Stewart Island. Feb 2009. Ajr

When I was on Stewart Island (Rakiura) recently, I drove around to pretty deserted Lee Bay to photograph the giant chain that meanders out of the bush, across the walking track and ‘under the sand.’ Beside it sits Te Puka – the anchor stone which states: “Maori creation stories tell how Maui, a legendary Polynesian voyager, pulled up from the sea floor the anchor stone Te Puka a Maui (Stewart Island/Rakiura) to act as the anchor for the great ancestral canoe Te Waka o Aoraki (South Island of New Zealand). The stylised anchor chain is secured firmly on land by a shackle but disappears beneath Foveaux Strait/Te Ara a Kewa, to remind us of the spiritual and physical connections between Stewart Island/Rakiura and Bluff/Motu Pohue, the traditional taurapa or stern post of Te Waka o Aoraki. The chain links also symbolise a history of inter-relationships that have given the peoples of Stewart Island/Rakiura a strong sense of heritage and identity.” On my way back across Foveaux Strait to the mainland, I caught a second snap of the chain - white at Landsend, on the southern tip of the South Island.

A Haka Lesson

Images supplied by Haka World
Rotorua’s Tiki Edwards of Haka World shows a group of international backpackers at Kiwi Paka Rotorua just how the traditional Haka is done. You can read more about the haka in a post I wrote a couple of weeks ago – here. If the link doesn’t work just click on Haka in the label line below to be delivered to the posting.

Koukourarata - On the Edge of the Bay

Koukourarata-Port Levy. 2007. Ajr

You come upon Koukourarata -Port Levy - quite suddenly; up and over the high winding roads of the north face of Banks Peninsular and down to a sleepy spread of tiny houses hanging on to the pebbly shoreline of a tranquil bay. Koukourarata Marae sits at the far end of the road - a cluster of buildings on a grassy slope overlooking a stony beach and a pretty jetty. It’s home to the people of Te Runanga o Koukourarata. Koukourarata was the largest Maori settlement in Canterbury in the mid-1800s with a population of around 400 people. Back then, Maori from Koukourarata bartered shark and other kai moana for eels caught by hapu from Waihora and Wairewa over the hills; and tons of dried fish were carried inland to trade. It was also the site of the first Maori Anglican church in Canterbury (Te Whare Karakia Mihinare ki Puari) and the first Native School, which operated from 1924 to 1932. The Tutehuarewa Hall (whare) was built in 1924-25 and named Tutehuarewa after an ancestress. It is rare for a woman’s name to be bestowed upon a whare tipuna; it is customarily a male privilege.

Making a Meal of Mussels

Top: Baked Mussels. Bottom: Mussel Patties. 2007. Ajr.

Koukourarata, or Port Levy as it is commonly known to Pakeha, is well known for its delicious mussels. When we visited the marae about eighteen months ago to do another contemporary kai feature for Ngai Tahu's TE KARAKA magazine, chef Jason Dell created a feast for the kaumatua (elders) that included baked mussels and tasty mussel patties.

Meet the People - 5

Another in the Series Meet the People – Contemporary Maori Doing Ordinary and Extraordinary Things – Ulva Goodwillie (Waitaha, Ngati Mamoe) is passionate about birds and in the nine years since she started taking guided walks to Ulva Island Bird Sanctuary just off Stewart Island, she’s given thousands of people a better understanding of our native birds and their conservation. Her mother named her after Ulva Island; and after fourteen years away from Stewart Island, Ulva was drawn back to the place she loved best. Her successful tourism operation is a long way from her former career as a music teacher – or so you’d think; but for Ulva, birds have a magical music all of their own.

All Photos on Ulva Island. Feb 2009. Ajr

She knows every inch of Ulva Island and the particular sound of every bird that lives there. Just by their call she knows if they are male, female, chicks or adults – and she’s just as knowledgeable about the native flora. She knows both their Maori and Latin names and she can tell you how certain plants and trees were used by Maori in the early days. “I am Maori and I operate from a Maori perspective but my walks are not Maori tours as such. My tours are about the lifestyles of the birds not the lifestyles of Maori. Most people are interested in botanical and zoological aspects but if people are interested in the Maori stories and legends of the birds and forest, I can also add those,” she says. It’s the perfect combination and sharing her passion for natural history is what excites her the most. www.ulva.co.nz

Spotting Saddlebacks

Saddleback. Ulva Island. Feb 2009. Ajr

The day I joined Ulva’s Guided Tour of Ulva Island Bird Sanctuary we had barely gone fifteen feet before we had spotted ten bird species. The one I was most excited about was the Saddleback or tieke as the Maori call it. It belongs to New Zealand’s unique wattlebird family (Callaeidae), an ancient group of birds that includes the endangered kokako and the extinct huia. There are two sub-species – the North Island Saddleback and the South Island Saddleback. My photo – a sneaky glimpse from afar between tree branches - doesn’t show the bird’s gorgeous red-brown ‘saddle’ but it does show its cute little wattles. The Department of Conservation is actively engaged in a recovery plan for both North and South Island tieke, releasing them onto predator free islands – like Ulva Island – so that their populations might recover. Thirty South Island saddlebacks were released on Ulva Island eight years ago; now there are 250 living there, so the plan is obviously working well. www.ulva.co.nz www.doc.govt.nz

Art in the Park

I went into Christchurch Botanic Gardens on Saturday morning to check out the sculpture show Flora and Forma, which presents a number of works by New Zealand sculptors tucked away in various parts of the gardens. I completely fell in love with this beautiful work by contemporary Maori artist, Aaron Te Rangiao.

The Pataka, or storehouse - that little 'hut' on top of a tall pole that Te Rangiao has reinterpreted in the top image above - is central to the exhibit. It is symbolic here as the home of all Maori culture and traditions. Made of mirrored glass on totara poles, these exquisitely crafted pataka hint at visibility and invisibility; they catch the sun and they reflect their surrounds in quite a bewitching way.

All images: Christchurch Botanic Gardens. March 2009. Ajr

Te Rangiao protects the pataka by surrounding it with traditional wooden palisading carved with imagery designed to ward off evil spirits. Aaron Te Rangiao graduated from massey University with a Bachelor of Maori Visual Arts and he has exhibited regularly throughout the country.

Kotane Culture

Another shot from the Kotane Maori Cultural Experience

@

Willowbank Wildlife Reserve

www.willowbank.co.nz www.kotane.co.nz

For other shots from this performance scroll down

The Business of Bone Carving

Bone Carving

@

Riccarton Rotary Market

Christchurch.

Based on the traditional Maori fish hook design

Tattoo Graphics

Christchurch store windows. March 2009. Ajr

Two separate tattoo studios in Otautahi (Christchurch)

Advertising

Traditional Designs - 3

The Words of the Haka

'Kamate Kamate'

On a Tee-Shirt

To see other examples of how traditional words and designs have been incorporated into everyday New Zealand life, click on Traditional Designs in the label line below.

A Ngai Tahu Cultural Experience

The facial moko (tattoo) were only drawn on but they seemed authentic at the time. Some of the international visitors beside me were quite jumpy and nervous when the warriors leapt out from behind the trees

I loved this combination of colour, texture and pattern - the forest greenery, the 'feathered' cloak, the arm tattoo and the traditional hair comb.

The small village whare (house/hut)

All Photos Kotane Cultural Group and Village at Willowbank, Christchurch. March 2009. Ajr

A couple of days ago I visited Willowbank Wildlife Park and stayed on for Kotane’s Ngai Tahu Maori Cultural Experience. After the Maori welcome we were lead through the bush to the replica pa (village), where one of our foreign visitors faced the challenge from a ‘resident’ warrior before we could enter for the performance itself. It was a relaxed night – a small group of us put through our paces with the poi dance and haka routines – and lots of laughs and photographs. The two Americans beside me were enthralled and I was as happy as a pig in mud taking my usual dozens of photographs. Kotane offer two evening performances at Willowbank each day. www.willowbank.co.nz www.kotane.co.nz

A Treasured Plant

Flax - Phormium tenax. Feb 2009. Ajr

This is harakeke or flax. It is a member of the lily family and has been used by Maori for generations as a vital fibre resource. Long ago Maori often had a pa harakeke, or flax plantation, close to their marae. The roots were used in the concoction of treatments for skin complaints and the older outside leaves were cut and used for weaving. Different species were favoured by different iwi for their strength, softness, colour and fibre content and once the muka (fibre) had been separated from the green flesh with a shell and pounded to make it soft and pliable, it was woven into ropes for bird snares, fishing lines, nets, sandals and clothing. The full leaves, either fresh or dried, were used to make kete (baskets) and other woven items - and still are of course.

Taking a Hot Dip

Image Courtesy Whakarewarewa Thermal Village, Rotorua

I can clearly remember visiting Rotorua’s Whakarewarewa Maori Village when I was a kid and being amazed by two things – the overpowering smell of sulphur from the thermal activity; and the village kids leaping off the bridge to dive for coins. That traditional of diving for coins in the cold stream continues today, and afterwards, the local Maori children will usually warm themselves by bathing in the natural hot pools nearby. www.whakarewarewa.com

The Head of the Fish Speaks

Image & Loggo Supplied by NZ Maori Tourism Council

Visitors and New Zealanders flying into the country can now see our capital city, Wellington, through Maori eyes thanks to a new documentary-style film available on Air New Zealand flights. The New Zealand Maori Tourism Council (NZMTC), the Maori regional organisation, Te Ara a Maui and Positively Wellington worked together to create the 18-minute film, which tells the story of Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui – the Head of the Fish of Maui. The film is currently featured on Air New Zealand’s in-flight entertainment system and is the first of a number of films planned as part of the NZMTC’s Living Landscape Strategy – a promotional framework that introduces the regions of New Zealand from a Maori view and adds significant value to the portrayal of the New Zealand experience. Living Landscapes expresses the important connection that New Zealanders, and particularly Maori, have to the land through genealogy and legends such as the Fish of Maui. You can see the new film on the Te Ara a Maui website – www.taamtourism.co.nz – plus another called Te Tau Ihu o te Waka a Maui – The Prow of Maui’s Waka, which features the top of the South Island. www.maoritourism.co.nz www.livinglandscapes.co.nz

Runanga Enterprise

Taare Bradshaw sorting gentians at Hokonui Marae. Feb 2009. Ajr

As I’ve travelled around the eighteen different Ngai Tahu iwi over the last four years with my journalist hat on, I’ve always been surprised and delighted by the wide variety of enterprises many of them have launched into. Take Hokonui Runanga at Gore for instance. Nine years ago they took over an old nursery on the edge of town, complete with barns and turned it into their new Marae. It’s set on 18 acres of semi-rural land and blessed with poplar windbreaks and assorted work sheds, it’s turned out to have a heap of potential. They’ve already trialled and successfully grown Maori potato varieties and now they’ve moved on to the growing and export of gentian flowers. They’ve got around eight acres planted out and most of their crop heads into Asia.

Maori Art

Maori Art

Image supplied by Tourism Auckland 2007

www.aucklandnz.com

Relaxing in Rainforest

Glacier Hot Pools, Franz Josef. Feb 2009 Ajr

I stopped in at the West Coast’s latest attraction a week or so ago – the Glacier Hot Pools, which opened in the South Westland village of Franz Josef in November 2008. Developed by Ngai Tahu Tourism in partnership with Joseph Developments (Franz) Ltd, the multi-million dollar complex sits discreetly amid a fist of ferny rainforest – as if they’ve always been there – a perfect example of the ‘touching the landscape lightly’ principle. They’re the only commercial hot pools on the South Island’s rugged West Coast and with three outdoor pools and three private pools (with more to come) at temperatures 36-40 degrees, they’re a big hit. It’s a very attractive and well designed complex. www.glacierhotpools.com

Traditional Designs - 2

A Pair of Jandals

UsingTraditional

Maori Design Motifs

West Coast, South Island

Feb 2009. Ajr

Meet the People - 4

Another in the Series Meet the People - Contemporary Maori Doing Ordinary and Extraordinary Things - Jason Dell is living the chef’s dream. Having worked as executive chef at the internationally top-ranked luxury lodge, Blanket Bay in Glenorchy for the last four years or so, he’s now heading up a swanky new restaurant development – The Nautilus Project – in Singapore. He’s recently moved there with his family and will be overseeing the development of a number of the company’s new restaurants – first up, a new seafood restaurant located in a new multi-million dollar development on Orchard Road, which is set to open in July. Jason (Ngai Tahu, Ngati Wheke) is no stranger to generous food budgets, fabulous kitchens and the ability to recruit a top brigade of chefs. He’s also published his own cookbook, “Savvy.” “Any good chef worth his weight aspires to producing his own cookbook. For me it was all about the challenge of extending myself beyond the stove, of putting what I do down into words. As well as being judged a New Zealand Chef of the Year, Jason was a gold medallist team member of the New Zealand Culinary team in Singapore in 2006. Most recently he won the prestigious 2007 Pacific Asia Travel Association Young Tourism Professional Award. He’s also proud of his Ngai Tahu heritage. “Most of my experience of traditional Maori kai came from extended family members at Rapaki when I was growing up. I think as you get older you also gain a greater appreciation for your ancestry and I’m definitely much more interested in learning about Maori kai than I was in my early years. I’ve managed to get hold of some very good books about native plants and how to grow vegetables in the old ways and I think it’s safe to say that Savvy won’t be my last book,” he says. www.jasondell.co.nz

Greetings!

Image Courtesy Tamaki Maori Village, Rotorua. 2007

The Hongi

(A traditional Maori Greeting)

at

Tamaki Maori Village

Rotorua

www.maoriculture.co.nz

Whitebait Feast

Wai Scott making whitebait fritters at Te Tauraka Waka a Maui Marae, Bruce Bay. Feb 2009 Ajr

When we visited the Makaawhio Runanga at Bruce Bay recently to do one of our last kai features for Ngai Tahu’s TE KARAKA magazine, we were very lucky to have – in addition to locally-hunted wild venison and fish – a big bowl of whitebait. Chef Jason Dell (Ngai Tahu,Ngati Wheki) got Wai Scott on the job of fritter-making. To Maori, whitebait are known generally as mata. Whitebait are the juvenile form of six native freshwater species. The most common is inanga (Galaxias maculatus). Others include koaro or mountain trout (G.brevipinnis), the banded kokopu (G.fasciatus), taiwharu or the giant kokopu (G.argenteus), the short-jawed kokopu (G.prostvectis), and the common smelt (Retropinna retropinna). All migrate in large, mixed shoals from the sea to freshwater rivers and streams during the season. In every river system the whitebait species are moving up and down the river according to their separate life cycles. In autumn when the inanga are migrating downstream to spawn on estuarine sedges, smelts are migrating upstream to spawn on the river sandbanks. Most inanga spawn and die in an annual cycle while koaro and kokopu survive spawning and return upstream. Banded kokopu are thought to live as long as nine years.
In the old days Maori cooked whitebait in leaf packages or dried them in the sun for storage. Today almost everyone loves them cooked in fritters. www.makaawhio.maori.nz

Maori Place Names - 3

South Westland Feb 2009. Ajr

Lake Mapourika

Near Franz Josef, South Westland

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.

Multi-Cultural Marae

Nga Hau E Whau National Marae, Christchurch. Jan. 2009. Ajr

I was out biking the other day and found myself outside Nga Hau E Whau National Marae, a multi-tribal, multi-cultural marae that was built in Christchurch in the 1980s on land gifted by the Christchurch City Council. It’s the only marae in New Zealand that was founded as a meeting place for all the peoples of New Zealand regardless of tribal affiliations, race, religion or geography. It operates as a place of culture, education and entertainment and frequently welcomes visitors and tourists, who can watch Maori weavers and wood carvers at work. I love the Marae buildings here but as the complex was closed when I stopped by, I photographed this rather impressive front gate instead. The prominent lintel over the gateway is called Te Amorangi. The two top carved human figures are of Governor William Hobson (the Queen’s representative) and a Maori Rangatira (chief), who represents the three Ngai Tahu chiefs who signed the Treaty of Waitangi. Both represent the coming together of Maori and Pakeha (Europeans) at the Marae.