Made to Measure

Yesterday I wrote a little about the traditional Maori hangi - the method of cooking food underground using steam - and specifically about the hangi I attended recently at Tuahiwi. This one had been organised as the final kai feature for Te Karaka magazine. Over the last four and half years a small team of us from Ngai Tahu's editorial team have travelled to all eighteen of the Ngai Tahu runanga scattered around the South Island, writing cooking and photographing the traditional food speciality of the region.
To celebrate the end of the series, a large hangi was organised at Tuahiwi Marae just north of Christchurch and the marae team catered for around 80 people. You can see the work that went into that in previous posts I have made here (click on hangi or Tuahiwi in the label line below to see those). Part of the editorial process for every kai feature has been the styling and photographing of the dishes created by chef, Jason Dell. Every effort has been made to show off both his culinary skill and the featured traditional food.

At Tuahiwi the locals went to a particular effort, weaving baskets from fresh harakeke (flax) so we could show the hangi food off at its best. I was delighted to come upon this young girl weaving in one of the side rooms. She seemed to be about 12 or 13 but was already adept at weaving. A lovely touch and nice to know that the traditional skills are still being passed on to the younger generations. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

H is for Hangi

If you’ve read anything at all about the Maori people of New Zealand, you’ve probably heard about a hangi – the traditional Maori of cooking underground via steam. The hangi is still a popular way of cooking and certainly, on a marae, it is really the only practical way of cooking for large numbers of people who gather for hui (meetings), tangi (funerals) and celebrations. Hangi is about celebration. You don’t have a hangi for no reason. It is a celebration of tikanga (custom) and whanaungatanga (kinship). “From a cultural point of view, ‘hangi is us’,” one kaumatua (elder) told me. “I don’t think we could come up with an improvement on the hangi – it encapsulates the whole concept of bringing our whanau together.”

I recently attended a big hangi at Tuahiwi Marae just north of Christchurch – it was to be the basis of the last kai (food) feature for Ngai Tahu’s TE KARAKA magazine. Buy the time I got there – early in the morning, well before the celebrations were due to begin, the men had already dug the hangi pit and the hole (around 2ft deep) had been fired up and river stones and bits of old railway iron were heating in the flames. Willow wood is a popular choice for the fire because it burns cleanly, leaving little ash and greywacke stones don’t crack in the intense heat. The team had gathered watercress from nearby streams and this was being kept wet in buckets prior to being thrown onto the heated rocks to create steam. It also lines the hangi baskets to act as a barrier between the food and the stones to prevent the food burning. In the absence of watercress, wet cabbage leaves are a common substitute.

The fire usually burns for about two hours. Then the big wood, the large rocks and the iron are taken out, and as many embers as possible are removed from the pit. Too much ash and embers in the bottom makes the food too smoky. Once the food has been loaded into wire baskets lined with watercress, the rocks and irons are put back into the pit and covered with watercress. Huge clouds of steam rise and the men work fast, stacking the wire baskets on top, draping them with wet cloths and sacks and then quickly burying the pit in dirt. That is then left for about four hours – by then everything should be cooked beautifully. On the day at Tuahiwi we had a tremendous feast. I’ve already posted some images from the kitchen preparations on the day. If you’d like to see those, just click on hangi or Tuahiwi in the label line below this post. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

The Beauties of Bone

Heru = Comb

Partnered with Tiki

In Bone

At Ake Aotearoa, Taihape

www.akeaotearoa.co.nz

A New Waharoa

Mou, Moko Mo Nga Iwi Katoa

For You, For Me, For All People

The New Waharoa (gateway)

at Waikawa Marae, Picton

More International Acclaim for Maori Artist

Rachael Rakena, 2009. Image Courtesy Bartley & Company Art, Wellington

Back in 2005 I went along to Christchurch’s SOFA Gallery to see “Taonga Whanau,” a stunning show by Maori artist, Rachael Rakena (Ngai Tahu, Ngapuhi), a collaboration with Otene and Hana Rakena. I still have clear memories of the darkened gallery, the flickering, tantalising video images, the beautiful pounamu taonga (treasures), swinging above reflective surfaces. So I was delighted to learn a couple of days ago that Rakena’s newest video work, He Waiata Whaiaipo, recently exhibited at Wellington’s Bartley & Company Art, is set for international exposure. Rachael is one of the 25 musicians, artists and scholars selected by Wellington composer, Associate Professor Jack Body, to travel to China to take part in an international symposium on New Zealand and Pacific music at the beginning of November. Rachael’s work has been selected to be part of a video installation that Professor Body is curating. The image above – One Man is an Island – is a still from Rachael’s video work – “a love song in moving image employing the act of eating as a metaphor to play out ideas about desire, pursuit and fulfilment. In addition to working as an artist, Rachael is a lecturer at Toioho ki Apiti, School of Maori Studies at Massey University. To describe and locate her art practice, she has coined the term Toi Rerehiko, which plays on rorohiko, the Maori word for computer. Toi Rerehiko is a digital media art form immersed in Maori tikanga (custom) and values. In addition to exhibiting widely throughout New Zealand, Rachael’s work has received much acclaim internationally, particularly her collaborations for Sydney Biennale (2006), Venice Biennale (2007) and Busan Biennale (2008). www.rachaelrakena.com www.bartleyandcompanyart.co.nz

Down by the Sea

Rimirimu or parengo is the Maori word for seaweed and karengo for the specific Porphyra species that was commonly eaten. Rimurapa is the word for the bull kelp, which Maori used for storage – the fleshy inflatable blades of bull kelp were used as bags for preserving food. These kelp bags, or poha, were made by splitting the blades open and inflating them. They were then hung to dry, then deflated and rolled up. Then, southern Rakiura Maori would take them to the Titi Islands around Stewart Island, where they would be used for the storage of muttonbirds. An average-sized poha could hold up to 50 birds and when the bag was full, hot fat was poured in to exclude air and seal the birds. Birds are said to have remained safely preserved for up to five or six years in this way.
Maori traditionally used a number of red and green seaweed species as food, which they pulled off rocks in winter and spring. After it had been dried, the seaweed was stored and used as a good source of protein during the leaner winter months. It should be noted that the photographs I have used here may not be any of the species traditionally used by Maori. I photographed these off the wharf on Stewart Island simply because of their spectacular patterns and shapes moving in the clear water. A number of seaweed species are still protected by customary fishing law for tribal use.

Maori Place Names - 24

Near Tuapeka River Mouth

South West of Dunedin, South Island

Back in the Hokianga

I was heading for the little village of Kohukohu to catch the ferry across to Rawene on the edge of the Hokianga Harbour in the Far North, when I saw the sign for Pikiparia Marae. I swung off the mangrove-bordered main road into Smith Deviation Road about a kilometre north of Kohukohu village. Pikiparia is home to the Te Ihutai, one of the Te Rarawa hapu; and the small cluster of marae buildings are tucked beneath low hills overlooking mangrove swamps. There was a small urupa (cemetery) on the hill above (to the left in the above photo). I didn’t linger because there was no one about for me to chat to and I had a ferry to catch to Rawene but I did regret that this was just another interesting marae that I had had to leave without discovering more about its interesting history.

It's All Too Luscious!

A Subtle Adornment

From the Creative Team

at

Too Luscious

Rotorua

www.tooluscious.com

A Place of Significance

Castle Hill. August 2009. Ajr

I drove up to Castle Hill, between Porter's and Arthur's Passes last week. My Australian visitor was keen to go rock climbing and this is one of the favoured spots in Canterbury for that. I love it for an entirely different reason. The landscapes up here are majestic and ever-changing - a photographer's paradise. Castle Hill, or Kura Tawhiti is also of special significance to Maori. I've written about it here before so I won't repeat all the information. If you click on Castle Hill in the label line below you'll be able to read the piece I did about early Maori using the area as a natural shelter. It's now a Conservation Area and there are early Maori rock drawings in the area - if you kno0w where to look. It was raining when we were up there last week and the gigantic limestone rocks took on a spooky, almost animate quality - so different to the summer photographs of my previous post.

From the Kete Files

A Northland Kete

Shell Attached

Hanging

Singing in the Sun

I've visited two markets in the last two days and at both we were treated to some terrific strumming and singing by Maori buskers. I photographed this guy singing in the sun at the Christchurch Arts Centre market on Saturday. He's a regular there and, not surprisingly, a good crowd had gathered on the nearby lawns and seats to enjoy their lunch and listen to his music.

Waitangi 'Warriors'

Maori culture is very much alive and well in the Bay of Islands and while you won't see too many Maori roaming about town dressed like this, you will see performers like this at Waitangi National Reserve at Paihia. I met these two men as I was coming out of the Waitangi Visitor Centre and when I asked if I could take their photograph, they took up a traditional stance. www.waitangi.net.nz

Maori Place Names - 23

North of Whitianga Bay

East Cape, North Island

Fenced In

A traditional Maori pa was a collection of houses on ancestral land, which were protected by surrounding pallisades. You won't find those in New Zealand these days, although a number of modern marae do have surrounding pallisade fences based on traditional designs. I photographed this new one a couple of weeks ago at Picton's Waikawa Marae, a Te Ati Awa iwi base.

The Gift of Tiki

Tiki

Black and White

Boxed

At Ake Aotearoa

Taihape

www.akeaotearoa.co.nz

A Northern Ancestor

I photographed this stunning carving inside the Whare Runanga at Waitangi National Reserve - which I wrote about here a couple of days ago. This pou tokomanawa represents Rahiri, the Ngapuhi chief. Pou representing the other iwi (tribes) of New Zealand are placed around the walls of the interior, each displaying the ancestors and distinctive carving styles of their region. www.waitangi.net.nz

More From "Digital Marae"

"Maui" Lisa Reihana 2007 Image Courtesy GOvett-Brewster Gallery
"Diva" Lisa Reihana 2007. Image courtesy Govett-Brewster Gallery
Two more images from "Digital Marae/Lisa Reihana"

The new publication produced by Taranaki's Govett-Brewster Gallery.

Click on Govett-Brewster in the label line below to read more about this 48-page collection of stunning photographs created by contemporary Maori artist, Lisa Reihana, who is currently Artist-in-Residence at McCahon House in Titirangi, Auckland. www.govettbrester.com

A Favourite Food

Waitangi. April 2009 Ajr

It always seems a shame to me that Maori potatoes are not easier to come by. These tasty little nuggets, known collectively as taewa, or sometimes riwai, are much more flavoursome than normal potatoes; but it’s all about commercial reality – taewa have self-selected over many generations making them hardy and disease resistant but sadly, they produce fewer tubers than modern potatoes, so they’re not attractive to commercial growers. For Maori though, they have a cultural and historical significance and traditional varieties (over 18 have been identified) have been preserved and passed down through many Maori families. They were first introduced to New Zealand in the late 18th century and they quickly became a staple crop for Maori prior to the arrival of Europeans. Taewa, I’m told, is the collective name for several varieties of Solanum tuberosum, which have been cultivated by Maori for over 200 years. Some of the more common varieties today are the popular purple specimens – Tutaekuri (Urenika), Karuparera and Te Maori; the red-skinned Makoikoi, also known as the Chatham Island Red Rock; Raupi, Moe Moe and Huakaroro, which all have creamy skin and patterned flesh. My favourites are the purple-skinned Urenika, which actually look more like little yams, but I haven’t found any in ages. I must keep a look out.

Waitangi - The Whare Runanga

The Waitangi Treaty Grounds are home to two important buildings in national history – the Waitangi Treaty House, where the treaty was signed; and the Whare Runanga, a Maori meeting house. Both are monuments to a nation its people and its ancestors. When I was in Waitangi during my latest ‘around-New Zealand’ trip, I spent half a day at the Waitangi National Reserve, wandering the grounds and buildings with lead guide, Wil Napier (Ngapuhi). Wil was brought up on the reserve (his father was caretaker), so there’s no better person to have as your Waitangi tour guide.

The Waitangi Whare Runanga is a little different to most in that it is a building of national rather than tribal significance and as such, it welcomes people of all tribes and nationalities; and it is one of the few whare runanga that you are allowed to take photographs in. Its foundation stone was laid by Lord Bledisloe on February 6, 1934 and it opened in 1940 to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the 1840 signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. It is also unique in that its elaborate interior carvings are a monument to the ancestors of not one iwi (tribe) but to all tribes of New Zealand. The poupou (carved figures) down each side of the interior are arranged in pairs (28 in all), and because the whare runanga is in Ngapuhi territory, the Ngapuhi carvings of their tribal ancestors, Hineamaru and Rahiri take pride of place. The carvings for all tribes were created specifically for this whare runanga under the supervision of master carver, Pine Taiapa of Ngati Porou. Carvings from each iwi tell the ancestral story of each in their own distinctive carving style.

For Maori, the meeting house and marae (literally the grassed area in front) sit at the heart of Maori society and culture. They are a symbol of prestige, a monument to tribal ancestors and much more than a simple architectural statement. Each part of the wharenui (meeting house) symbolises a notable tribal ancestor – the head (koruru) at the top of the roof apex is the head of the ancestor; the ridgepole is his backbone; the bargeboards the arms (with lower ends divided to represent fingers); the interior rafters are the ribs; and the interior is the chest and belly. www.waitangi.net.nz