Traditional Designs - 4

Traditional Maori Design Motifs

Used on Crockery

To see other examples of traditional Maori design elements incoporated into everyday NZ life click on Traditonal Designs in the label line below

Meet the People - 6

Another in the Series Meet the People – Contemporary Maori Doing Ordinary and Extraordinary Things – Zane Smith (Ngati Mamoe, Waitaha, Ngai Tahu) of Rakiura (Stewart Island) in New Zealand’s deep south is passionate about two things – helicopters and the island he has always called home. He’s a sixth generation Stewart Islander and now, thanks to his hard work and dedication, he brings the two together in his new company, Rakiura Helicopters Ltd, which boasts the only helicopter – a shiny blue Hughes 500E - permanently based on the island. Zane, 34, spent twelve years working as a crayfisherman and paua diver around Stewart Island and Fiordland before selling his boat to follow his dream. After gaining his private and commercial helicopter licences – training under world renowned helicopter instructor, Simon Spencer-Bower in Wanaka – he spent two years working as a heli-musterer in Australia’s Northern Territories.

Fern Gully, Stewart Island. Feb 2009 Ajr
Now back on Stewart Island and based in his brand new hangar in Fern Gully, Zane is planning to operate a safe helicopter service for tourist, hunters, fishermen, trampers, photographers and muttonbirders. He can get to anywhere on the island in twenty-five minutes or less; and there isn’t an inch of Rakiura that he doesn’t know. “I’ve dived in every bay and there isn’t a piece of coastline or beach that I haven’t swum around,” he says. “That was just part of growing up here.” And when it comes to muttonbirding on the southern Titi Islands off the coast of Stewart Island, he’s never missed a season in all his 34 years and he’s looking forward to flying other Rakiura Maori – the kaitiaki (guardians) of the Titi Island muttonbirds – to the islands for their annual hunt. http://www.stewartisland.co.nz/

Northland Waka Enterprise

Here’s another terrific photograph from the team at Waka Taiamai Heritage Tours that I wrote about on Saturday – a post you can see if you scroll down a couple of postings. This is their waka – called Tupi after one of their local Bay of Islands kaumatua (elders), Tupi Puriri. The waka is central to their Kaikohe/Paihia-based tourism operation. It took a month to build using composite and traditional materials and it adheres to traditional Maori waka design principles, which means it’s very stable and safe to paddle. It can be paddled by a minimum of ten people and can carry a maximum load of sixteen people. Speed of course depends on the type of crew and strength behind the paddles – naturally, with tourists on board it’s usually a slower passage, which suits the story-telling occasion.


Both images supplied by Taiamai Tours, Northland.
Waka Taiamai is a Maori family-owned and operated tourism business with very strong hapu (sub-tribe) and iwi (tribe) values. It was established by Hone Mihaka (Ngapuhi) of Ohaeawai, Kaikohe in 2000. The Mihaka whanau (family) have lived in the Te Tai Tokerau (Birthplace of a Nation; Northland) region for over 900 years and are part of New Zealand’s largest Maori tribe, Ngapuhi; and if you take part in their tours you get to visit their tribal marae, Parawhenua. www.taiamaitours.co.nz www.ngapuhi.iwi.nz

A Legendary Romance

Image Supplied by Mokoia Isalnd WaiOra Experiences.

Maori culture is underpinned with numerous legends and myths and one of the best known is that of Hinemoa and Tutanekai – Rotorua’s famous romance based on a true story of forbidden love between a high-ranking Maori maiden and Tutanekai, the illegimate son of a Mokoia Island family. You can see a theatrical-style re-enactment of the legend - the brainchild of Mokoia Island WaiOra Experiences – whose guides re-tell the history of the island (along with the love story) and talk about the island’s unique wairua (spirit). You can read the full legend by visiting their website. www.moikoiaisland.com

Souvenirs in a Box

Christchurch. March 2009. Ajr
Maori Souvenir Dolls
in a Christchurch shop window

Maori Places Names - 4

Port Levy March 2009. Ajr

Port Levy

Banks Peninsular, Canterbury

A Te Tai Tokerau Experience

Photograph by John Panoho of Navigator Tours, Supplied by Taiamai Tours, Northland.

Every time I update Frommers New Zealand (travel guide) I come upon more and more interesting Maori tourism ventures. One that's been running successfully for some years is the Te Tai Tokerau (Northland - the Tail of the Fish) operation Waka Tai-a-mai Heritage Journeys, which is based in Paihia in the Bay of Islands. You have a number of choices - being taken across the bay in a 50-foot traditional waka (canoe); soaking in geothermal mineral pools alongside Ngapuhi elders; visiting their marae and enjoying a traditional hangi meal and Maori storytelling; and/or a walk through the Waitangi Maori Village with a Ngapuhi guide. It's another fascinating glimpse into the intricately-woven tapestry that is New Zealand Maori culture. www.taiamaitours.co.nz www.frommers.com www.visitnorthland.co.nz/

It's a Sign

Spotted in Christchurch.

http://www.harakekeflowers.co.nz/

Through the Traditional Entrance

Traditional Maori Carvings

Are part of the Kotane Maori Experience

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Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch

http://www.kotane.co.nz/ http://www.willowbank.co.nz/

March 2009. Ajr

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

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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

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Riccarton Rotary Market

Christchurch.

Based on the traditional Maori fish hook design