Experiencing Maori Culture in Rotorua – Tamaki Maori Village Day Trip

Very rarely do you get an opportunity to interact with & be a part of a foreign tribe’s culture. To see their journey right from their establishment – to their struggles – to their continuing prosperity across generations and evolution with passing time. Thanks to Kiwiway vacations, I got the chance of experiencing Maori culture through a Tamaki Maori Village Day trip with a Hangi dinner & Concert.

First I’ll give you a bit of information about the Maori tribe. Information that I got to know from the people of the country itself.

 

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE MAORI TRIBE

 

New Zealand is the home of the indigenous Polynesian settler tribe called the Maori. The tribe originated with settlers from eastern Polynesia coming to the territory of NZ in groups between 1250 & 1300.

After spending a few centuries in isolation, they developed their own way of living, with their unique language & performing art and craft. A culture that began with the art of garden cultivation (horticulture) evolved soon into a warrior culture.

 

 

They are the second largest ethnic group in New Zealand. They’ve made a smooth transition from merging amicably with the Europeans arriving here in the 17th century, to protecting their rights and functioning smoothly in the modern NZ societal set-up.

But it’s not been that easy a journey for this tribe. They have had to fight to defend their lands at various stages and the fact that they are moving with the times, making progress in the fields of media, politics & sport- speaks volumes of their tenacity & progressive mindset.

 

JOURNEY OF THE FOUNDERS OF TAMAKI MAORI

In order to portray their culture to the international visitors & fellow New Zealanders, two brothers – Mike and Doug Tamaki decided to set up a company whose primary objective was to tell the Maori tale so that the world had a better understanding of who Maori were as people.

But the journey of the dream that they set out with was not a bed of roses. With zero finances & banks that were reluctant to back them, Mike convinced Doug in 1989, to sell his prized possession- a Harley Davidson motorcycle for a deposit on a 16-seat minibus in order to get their business underway.

Today the brothers & their wives employ over 150 Maori staff in locations throughout New Zealand. And visitors get a chance of experiencing Maori culture in an authentic setup.

 

 

BEGINNING THE JOURNEY AND MEETING OUR DRIVER CUM GUIDE – TALENT OF A KIND

We left from the Holiday Inn hotel to the Tamaki Maori Village in the evening at around sunset time. The tour was part of our customized New Zealand itinerary. So if you plan to do the tour separately, you can ask your hotel reception to book it for you.

 

 

Our driver cum guide for the tour had a name which was difficult to memorize. The name sounded like a heady cocktail of all the 26 English alphabets.

However, what I do remember was his unbelievable language skills. The man was a proud Maori himself and knew almost all the languages in the world (not even exaggerating). He greeted us with a Kia Ora. 

He explained to us that it was the traditional New Zealand way of saying “Hi or welcome”.

Then he spoke to me in Hindi – an Indian language saying “Namaste (hello/welcome), Main jata hoon (I’ll go now), Kaise ho? (How are you?) & Shukriya (Thank you)” & subsequently went on picking people up from hotels en route to the Tamaki Maori village and greeting all of them in their own language!

I literally counted the number of languages he greeted people in. He’d said the Kia Ora greeting in 59 languages leaving all the tourists in the bus astonished. And he did all this, looking at each person in the rear-view mirror while driving the coach (no one died).

He seemed a complete pro at his job and even sung songs and cracked funny one-liners mainly taking a dig at the Aussies in the group with reference to their Rugby team & how the New Zealand Rugby team was better at the sport. (Trans-Tasman rivalry).

 

RULES AND PROTOCOLS YOU NEED TO KNOW

 

Enroute to the “Tamaki Maori Village“, he instructed us on the rules & protocols of entering a Marae.

When entering these sacred places, it’s customary for the welcoming tribe (the Maori) to send out a challenge of peace.

The Maori warrior will go through movements & recite chants until the peace offering is placed in front of the visiting tribe (here, the tourists ie. Us). The visiting tribe must have a “Chief” to accept the peace offering.

Since it was our guide’s job to select a chief from among us, he selected one from our tourist group. Representation of the visiting tribe is considered as an honourable task in Maori’dom.

On arrival at the venue, we were not supposed to enter the fortified village until the “Powhiri” (welcome dance) had been performed by the Maori. As our guide had informed us, it was the time for the host tribe to send out a challenge of peace which they did, and did it in style as we stood in a courtyard.

 

COMING FACE TO FACE WITH THE MAORI

You know the feeling when you hear so much about someone that you get restless in anticipation of meeting them. Our anticipation was met with a Maori-style heroic entry.

A war like horn sound signalled the arrival of the Maori group. The group then arrived on a boat, paddling their way onto the courtyard giving the “Karanga” (welcome call ).

The scene seemed straight out of a Hollywood film. Then the warriors came & did some intimidatory gestures, displaying certain movements with a spear-like weapon, until the peace offering was placed & received by the visiting chief of our group.

We stood behind our chief & observed the Maori group during the entire ceremony like obedient students. The Maori dudes were tattooed, pierced & huge and we were glad we weren’t fighting them for survival because I am sure we’d need quite a bit of work with our spear handling skills.

Just a tip – Certain movements & gestures of the warriors with their tongues out can appear funny but try, out of respect for the Maori culture, not laughing, smiling or poking fun by sticking your tongue out.

 

PARTICIPATING IN THE TRADITIONAL MAORI ACTIVITIES – FUN AND GAMES

 

After the Powhiri welcome, we entered the village grounds. There the “Tangata Whenua” or “people of the land” demonstrated different activities they indulged in for recreation.

Activities like poi twirling, hand games, weaponry displays, and even the traditional Haka dance were demonstrated.

Haka dance is a dance that the National Rugby Team of New Zealand performs before it’s international matches. Infact, post the demonstration we too were asked to participate. It was fun seeing my parents play traditional Maori games & to be honest they were pretty good at it.

As for me, after not entangling myself successfully while poi twirling (It is like some flowing poetry to look at when done smoothly), and doing a pretty good job at the Haka Dance with my dad & the other men in the group ( the laughter of the females notwithstanding), we entered the Maori meeting house also known as the “Wharenui“.

 

GETTING A GLIMPSE OF THE MAORI CULTURE THROUGH A CULTURAL PERFORMANCE

 

The building – we were said, represented an ancestor from their past. We were told about their customs like women not being seated in the front row because if fighting were to occur between the Maori & the visitors (which I would not volunteer to be a part of), the men would be the protectors.

The Maori men made the “Whaikorero” (welcome speeches) & then the “Hongi” (pressing of noses) was performed by them and our chief – thus sealing the bond of friendship between the two cultures. From there the cultural group took over & through their traditional song and dance told us stories of a proud race – Te Maori.

I couldn’t understand the language but thoroughly enjoyed experiencing Maori culture through their performance. The ladies were graceful and elegance personified & the men, for their bulked up physiques, were surprisingly flexible & expressive.

At the end of the performance the whole concert hall echoed with applause. We were then jokingly told that the Maori wanted to feed us instead of feasting on us. They had a humourous take on everything and I liked that about them.

 

PREPARATION FOR THE “HANGI” DINNER

 

It was time for dinner. The traditional Hangi (feast) , which we were told had been under the earth on hot rocks for three hours. It was the age old traditional cooking method of the Maori. The rocks are heated to a white hot state with some native timber.

They are then put into a pit dug in the earth. The baskets of meat are then put directly on the hot stones, followed by vegetable baskets & the pudding basket on top of that.

A wet cloth is placed over the food. Earth mud is then piled quickly over everything to keep the heat inside the earth oven.

Since we were vegetarians & had requested in advance for a vegetarian meal, they catered to our request by collecting our vegetarian food coupons (you’ll be provided a coupon post boarding the Tamaki Maori coach).

Just a tip: Remember to collect your vegetarian food coupon & let them know your food preference in advance. They can, therefore, prepare accordingly because they assume you’re a non-vegetarian if you don’t specify you’re vegetarian.

 

DINNER AND THE CLOSING CEREMONY

 

All of us walked to the “Wharekai” (food house) where the Maori blessed the food with a prayer. A prayer they call “Karakia“. Our meal was a buffet-style dinner.

The dinner was organised smoothly considering the crowd of people that were present (there were other tour groups as well). It wasn’t long before everyone was enjoying the succulent Hangi feast.

A couple of people had their birthdays that very day. Therefore, the Maori leader as a kind gesture sang a song wishing them, with all of us joining in.

The evening ended with an official closing ceremony called the “Poroporoaki” comprising songs & speeches before we got on to the coach & were safely transferred back to our hotel.

 

MY EXPERIENCE AT THE MAORI VILLAGE

I felt so much more connected to the country after getting up close and personal with the authentic Maori people. I absolutely loved & cherished my time at the village.

The thing they had in common with us Indians was the pride they took in their history. Pride in the principle of their guests being close to god.

 

 

Some Maori people I met there and had a conversation with personally, were really approachable, friendly and practical. They were moving along with the times.

They were making the necessary adjustments & progressing in every field in the New Zealand society but not forgetting their roots. That was very important. Problems were plenty but they took it up as a challenge to move forward as a group.

It’s that streak of unity, optimism, pride, deep-rootedness and courage which I took home with me. Experiencing Maori culture truly made it a night to remember!

That was my experience with this magnificent tribe from New Zealand. It truly was educative yet entertaining.

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