Te Hokinga Mai - The Journey Home

At dawn this morning, the doors of the Robert McDougall Gallery at Canterbury Museum opened and Ngai Tahu whanau and invited dignatories made there way inside, in quiet procession, for the blessing of the taonga (treasures) that lay within. Te Kokinga Mai is a beautiful exhibition of Ngai Tahu taonga in two parts. It features the return home of Mo Tatou, the Ngai Tahu whanui exhibition that has been on display at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand for the last three years; and Mo Ka Uri: Ngai Tahu taonga from Canterbury Museum.

A crowd of 300-400 gathered for the early morning occasion and after a rousing welcome and whakanoa (blessing) by resident Ngai Tahu hapu, Ngai Tuahuriri we made our way inside. For most of us, it was a brief encounter -either a first time look, or a chance to welcome back the treasures that have been viewed by over 850,000 people at Te Papa over the last three years. It's a stunning show - beautifully conceived, with some wonderfully intricate shadows cast across the gallery walls. Each of the taonga is accompanied by a sprig of kawakawa leaves (as above) - this to represent the mauri or life force, the wairua or spirit of the treasures.

Mark Solomon, Kaiwhakahaere, Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu (left) and Kukupa Tirakatene (right) meeting manuhiri (guests) outside the gallery.

As Mark Solomon writes in the exhibition catalogue: "Mo Tatou: The Ngai Tahu Whanui Exhibition endeavours to reflect our values, traditions and aspirations as an iwi (tribe).....The exhibition tells us where we have come from, how we lived, who we were and who we are...." Now, after its highly successful showing at Te Papa, the exhibition has come home for the first part of its journey throughout Te Waipounamu (the South Island), where it will be exhibited in Christchurch, Otago and Southland.

The second part of the exhibition, 'Mo Ka Uri,' brings together an astonishing array of taonga from the vaults of Canterbury Museum that have never been shown before. Over 200 beautiful items are showcased - carvings, korowai (cloaks), kete (baskets), pounamu treasures and more. (It should be noted that the korowai shown in these photographs are not from the exhibition but were worn to celebrate the importance of the occasion). I have many more photographs from this morning's event, which I'll feature here over the coming weeks. And if you happen to be in Christchurch, a visit to Te Hokinga Mai is definitely worth your time. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

From the Kete Files

One Woven Kete

Hanging on a Wall

Takutai o te Titi Marae, Colac Bay

Southland

Nov.2009 Ajr

A Portrait - 2

Waiting for a Call

Kapa Haka Performer

Te Puia, Rotorua

May 2009.

www.tepuia.com

An Historic Wharenui

I photographed this beautiful little wharenui at Te Puia in Rotorua last year. Te Whare Wananga a Hatu Patu was built in 1901 and transported to Christchurch, where it formed part of the traditional Maori village that was constructed in Hagley Park for the Royal visit in 1906. It was later returned to Whakarewarewa. It's beautifully carved and contains classic examples of Ngati Porou carving from East Cape.

Maori Place Names - 50

Karikari Peninsula, Far North

North Island

April 2009 Ajr.

Meet the People - 28

Another in the Series Meet the People - Contemporary Maori Doing Ordinary and Extraordinary Things - Corban Te Aika (Ngai Tahu/Ngai Tuahuriri) is confident te reo Maori (Maori language) has changed his life. Taking a break from his duties as a tutor in Te Reo Maori and Maori Indigenous Studies at Canterbury University, he talks about the power of language immersion and the benefits of attending language programmes and workshops run by Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu.

"My learning te reo was driven by a desire to learn more about myself, my heritage, my culture. My father is Maori but we never spoke te reo at home. For me, studying for my BA in te reo Maori and Political Science was a natural progression after my introduction to Maori language at high school. I haven't even graduated from university yet and it's already given me lots of opportunities," he says.

Corban, 19, has been attending Ngai Tahu's Kotahi Mano Kaika language workshop, Ka Pari Karakaraka for the last six years - six times in all - and he speaks highly of the positive impact they have had on his linguistic abilities. "The wanaka give you an opportunity to totally immerse yourself in all things te reo and Maori. I've found that a huge benefit. They put you in an environment where you are expected to speak te reo yet at the same time, it's a caring and encouraging environment where it's okay to make mistakes."

"Te reo Maori is in danger but Ngai Tahu's 25-year language strategy, driven by the vision of having te reo o Ngai Tahu spoken in 1,000 Ngai Tahu homes by 2025, is a terrific approach. It takes one generation to lose a language and three to get it back. I'm from the second generation of new learners and while we have a long way to go yet, the Kotahi Mano Kaika, Kotahi Mano Wawata initiative is an excellent one - and one that has definitely set the pathway to my future." www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Te Wananga Whakairo

Last year's trip around New Zealand researching my travel guide manuscript (Frommers New Zealand), provided me with a bounty of photographic opportunities for both my blogs. My visit (one of many) and tour of Rotorua's Te Puia was especially fruitful - this despite the grim, wet weather on the day. A core part of Te Puia is the New Zealand Maori Arts & Crafts Institute, which features both weaving and carving schools.

Te Wananga Whakairo (The Carving School) was established in 1966. The school's first Tohunga (Master), Hone Te Kauru Taiapa was appointed when the school opened and remained its head until he passed away in 1979. He was succeeded later that year by the now-late Master Carver, Tuti Tukaokao. Heads and carving tutors have since been appointed from the ranks of successful, experienced graduates of the carving school.

If you visit Te Puia, you can enter both the weaving and the carving schools and watch the craftsmen and women, as they work on their weaving and carving projects. In the carving studio, the smell of timber and wood chips is pleasantly strong and visitors come and go, taking photographs and chatting with carvers, who have a little time on their hands. The key lesson at Te Wananga Whakairo is "learning the art to pass it on to younger generations."

"Ehara i a te rakau te whakaaro, kei a te Tohunga tarai i te rakau te whakaaro"

"It is the carver, not the wood that has the understanding."

'If you forget your ancestors, you too are forgotten."

I found it a fascinating place to spend time in and my camera was kept busy as I photographed close-up carving details and the intent expressions of carvers at work. They're used to the attention, though some obviously relish it more than others. Fulltime students spend three years at the carving school under the guidance of master carvers, many of whom were once students at the school themselves. In the forty or more years it has been operating, the Carving School has (partly or fully) carved over 30 wharenui (meeting houses) throughout New Zealand, plus "countless gifts for official guests and dignataries visiting new Zealand. www.tepuia.com

Two by Two

Carvings

A Pair

At Rotorua

May 2009 Ajr

A Southern Hui

I've been sorting through my photo files and thought it was time I featured a few more shots from the Ngai Tahu Hui-a-Tau, which was held at Takutai o te Titi Marae, at Colac Bay in Southland, last November
Mo Tatou, a, mo ka uri a muri aki nei
For us and our children after us

A lunch break inside the whare kai - a lovely space where the rafters are painted in contemporary interpretations of traditional designs. Despite the grim weather that saw some of the huge marquees blown down, everyone had a great time - their days punctuated with meetings, speeches, singing, dancing, eating, chatting, laughing and more eating. It's an annual event when many hundreds of Ngai Tahu iwi (tribe) members from the eighteen Ngai Tahu runanga around the South Island, get together at one of the runanga to discuss the business of the year as it relates to the tribe. www.nagitahu.iwi.nz

A Swirl of Patterns

I am seldom without my camera. This means I can almost always try and capture some pleasing visual encounter; and invariably, that is as much about the small, often overlooked details of things as much as it is the wider view. Other people for instance, photograph the bigger scene of the Maori cultural performance; I home in on the small vignettes, the little peeps into the bigger picture - the fabrics and fibres, the tattoos, the traditional jewellery and in this case, at Te Puia in Rotorua, the traditionally, patterned carpet. For me it makes a richer picture. It alludes to the unseen and it makes you consider something that might otherwise never have been seen.

Maori Proverbs - 4

He Whakatauaki - Maori Proverbs

Nau te rourou, naku te rourou ka ora te manuwhiri.

With your basket and my food basket the guests will have enough.

(May each contribute)

From The Reed Pocket Dictionary of Modern Maori.

By P.M. Ryan

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

Maori Place Names - 49

Rapaki, Banks Peninsular

Canterbury, South Island

January 2010. Ajr

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.

Traditional Designs - 16

Cushions & Tikis

Ngai Tahu Hui-a-Tau

Colac Bay, Southland

November 2009 Ajr

One Carving, Two Views

Ohinemutu

Rotorua

May 2009 Ajr

More From the Pounamu Files

Traditional Designs

In Pounamu

A Market Sale

Maori Place Names - 48

Kaiapoi Railway Station

Kaiapoi, North of Christchurch

South Island

Taking Tea

I spent a lot of time wandering around Rotorua’s Government Gardens when I last visited the city during my 2009 Frommers New Zealand update in May. And for the first time, I peeked through the windows of Te Runanga Tea House.

Built in 1903 as a tea pavilion, Te Runanga was a popular meeting place in Rotorua for many years. It was a place to relax with friends and perhaps enjoy a drink of tea or mineral water – that is, until the Blue Baths tearooms opened in 1933. From then until its closure in 1991, Te Runanga served as a bowling pavilion. It was re-opened in 1993 after it had been extensively restored. www.rotoruanz.com