Weekend at Hangarau Marae

If someone would ask me what’s the best thing that has happened to me since moving to NZ, I’d answer without any hesitation: my Maori class. One week away from finishing the first level, I’m 100% sure I’m want to move on with this language. I find the Maori language and culture so intriguing that I can’t get enough of it. My interest is nothing compared to my passion for Polish and Poland of course, mainly because it’s really hard for me to fully understand this Pacific culture, being from Europe. Many aspects of it are also too spiritual and deep for me to grasp. Another problem is that this language is not as accessible as I’d wish it were. It’s hard to find someone who speaks it fluently. Some linguists even reckon it might be extinct in 50 years time, if the NZ government doesn’t put more effort into reviving it.

This weekend it was finally time for our school’s two-day-visit to the Hauraki Marae in Bethlehem (if there’s a place in the world that doesn’t look anything like Bethlehem, then it’s this town in the Bay of Plenty). We had all been preparing our pepeha (introduction of yourself) and whakapapa (your family history) for months to be able to deliver it at this occasion. Everyone was incredibly nervous. For our classmates of Maori descent the genealogy can get extremely complicated. Martin, the clown of our class, wrote his speech on his hand, but the sweat caused by the stress wiped everything out.

We had a great time, in this magic, peaceful place, with its fantastic views on one of the estuaries. It’s Maori custom to accommodate all guests in the wharenui (the big house), where we slept underneath the pictures of community members that have passed away and brilliant carvings depicting local legends. If you know that 50% of my schoolmates have snoring issues, you can imagine how magic and peaceful our first night in the wharenui was.

We took part in various workshops: poi (performance art with a white soft ball), mau rakau (martial art), waiata (Maori songs), ... and enjoyed the excellent kai (food).
Wednesday night I’m going to do a presentation about Hinemoana Baker, a young New Zealand poet of Maori-Pakeha descent, to finish off my first year, before we move to the Kapiti Coast the next morning. The coming three days will be without doubt very intense. More news when we’re all installed in our new house in Raumati (Paraparaumu)!





Te wharenui









Martin's hand before his speech