Papakura Marae Trip
This week, as a follow up to our trip to Papakura Marae, you are to write a reflection comment about your experience.
Answer these questions in your statement:
What did you enjoy the most and why?
What cultural learnings took place for you ? If you wish, give clear examples and link to one of our previous posts, you can quote yourself or another student – look in ‘What does culture mean to you?’ and/or ‘Maori cultural artifacts’. For example: you may wish to talk about the things we have previously found out about carvings, hongi and so on.
You can finish off with a statement about the roles and responsibilities you noticed. What role/responsibilities did the tanga tewhenua have? Us as the manuhiri? You as students? The teachers and parents?
32 Responses to “Papakura Marae Trip”
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Hi,
I enjoyed the whole visit to the marae. I really liked doing the poi dance and learning a new way of doing knucklebones. I liked them because I liked learning that they did these for eye and hand coordination and also to strengthen their wrists.
I liked being part of the culture and it was interesting to do the protocol e.g. taking shoes off and also parts of the powhiri such as heads bowed.
Linking up to my other statement in “Maori Culture artifacts”, it was interesting to see the tattoos on the face and you could indentify the women from their moko.
The roles, which I noticed in the Tanga
Tewhenea were the kakaranga. In this role she had to call the Manuhiri in and separate the spirits.
The Manuhiri had the Kakoreo to do the speach. The students sang a Waita.
From Louisa
Hi
I liked the whole trip to the marae like Louisa, but I realy liked doing the poi dance with jodie and the flax weaving with Amber.
I also liked looking at the maori carvings and seeing how detailed they were.
The worst part of the trip was saying my mihi because I forgot the words!
I also loved the cookies for afternoon tea. Yummy!
From Tessa.
Hi guys,
On the papakura marae trip i learnt that everyone who enters needs to be respectful and that the maori people had games and special dances that help them get stronger for wars and flexable for wars. I also learnt the maori people did traditional dances of war.
From Sammy
olivia
I enjoyed everything at the marae. I really liked the poi’s. I learnt to weave flax which strengthens your wrists. Culture was fun because I learnt heaps of new stuff.
The role of the manuhiri (who are the visitors on the marae)to respect the marae and their culture.
Hi
I enjoyed the sketching and the thing we did with the black sticks with red ends – rakau.
I learnt that Maori invented some string games we know. Also that they would have had strong wrists because they had alot of things to strengthen their wrists.
eg: poi-poi and the game with black sticks with red ends (rakau).
There were many responsibilities in the marae. These included the kaikaranga who had to clear away the spirits of the dead by song and the tangata-whenua had to greet the maruhiri to the marae in the powhiri.
Hamish
Hi Room 29 – Once again well done to Louisa for reading the instructions. I am enjoying reading your feedback and learning.
I had a lot of learning occur for me also – especially in relation to the carvings and tukutuku. I found it interesting that the carvings in Papakura marae also represented some of the mythological characters we are learning about.
Jock in one of his Maori artifacts post found that …
According to one Maori oral tradition, the art of woodcarving was brought to their ancestors by the cultural hero Ruatepupuke. In the story, Ruatepupuke’s son Manuruhi offended Tangaroa, the god of the sea. As punishment, Tangaroa abducted Manuruhi, transforming him into a woodcarving to adorn the gable of his house beneath the sea. Ruatepupuke descended into the sea in search of his son, where he overheard the carved ancestor posts of Tangaroa’s house talking to each other. The posts told him where to find Manuruhi. Angered by the mistreatment of his son, Ruatepupuke set fire to Tangaroa’s house. He then returned to the human world, bringing Manuruhi and several carved posts with him, and introduced the art of woodcarving to humanity.
(http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/maor/hd_maor.htm)
There we many roles and responsibilities during our visit. The teachers were responsible for organising the event, booking and communicating with the tangata whenua prior to our visit, arranging the activities and how to teach them to you. A koha (gift) needed to be arranged, and Malcom was organised as our kaikorero. The buses needed to be booked, newsletters typed, permsission slips collected and ticked off, money collected, rules explained, afternoon tea purchased and equipment needed bought and transported to the marae. Children had to be monitored and safe during the whole day … there is more, but I think you understand that there are many responsibilities associated with roles.
Please check the instructions and follow the structure. Keep it up!! You can also post more than once, and respond to other peoples comments.
BJ
I enjoyed when we were weaving flax,and transforming them or making them into flowers. I learnt about doing the hongi. I learnt something new,and experienced what maori culture is like.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Wicked time.!!
Hi Andrew,
It was interesting that they had the gods in there. There was also alot of art about the ancestors.
I also found it interesting too about how the marae got it’s name. It was because of the threads comming through the door way like a needle.
The place where it was, had red dirt which they say is from where the people got killed in a war. In english the place where the marae is, is called red dirt.
I also liked the cross where that repersents you and the stars behind it is your ancestors.
From Louisa
I enjoyed doing the poi because they are so much fun and the string games were cool because I learnt how to do double diamonds and heaps more stuff.
I think culture is very important because it has what people believe in. I learnt that all of the patterns even the very simple ones have stories like there was a pattern that looked like stairs and that was a story about life. Culture to me means something or someone believes in. I think you can’t have I one person culture group because you will have no one to share your culture with.
-Eden-
Hello,
I enjoyed the whole experience of the Marae trip. I learned heaps more about the Maori culture.
I liked the Maori art. That includes doing poi, rakau sticks, sketching the Tukutuku panels and flax weaving.
I also enjoyed being part of the cultural experience. It was very interesting following all the set rules and doing the powhiri.
In the powhiri I liked listening to the kiakaranga and the wiata (song).
When we did our mihi’s, I was extremely glad that I remembered it.
Linking up to my statement about the hongi, from “Maori culture artifacts”, I can see how it is a strong tradition, because it did include breathing the same breath and sharing thoughts. Also it was interesting to see the details on the carvings, inside the Wharenui. Also to see they had carvings of gods in there.
The tukutuku pannels had very god details too; but what caught my eye was that they weren’t just shapes, but they were pictures too. That is different to last years marae.
That is because every marae is different with what they believe in.
Some roles that I saw for the Tangata whenua, was the Karanga, and Koreroe. At the marae we went to, the Koreroe was actually a woman, not a man.
Also the teachers had to book the trip, book the buses, make and give out notices/permission slips, to teach rules to the children, to have equipment provided for the marae, to have the equipment taken to the marae, to look after the kids, to organise the money, to provide afternoon tea, to organise the activities etc.
The kids had to memorise their mihi’s, bring lunch etc., learn, respect the tangata whenua and practice the powhiri and wiata.
The parents had to look after the children and help them.
Malcolm had to do the kiakorereo for us.
I also liked how the marae is named after a needle and how the different threads come threw the door.
Yours sincerely,
HANNAH LIELL
Gabbie.B
I liked the whole experience and the different cultural meanings because in the Papakura marae you could go and touch the carvings of the ancestors but in the other marae you couldn’t. I learnt a lot of thing at this marae and I think it was a great marae.
Some things I learnt was that the people of the Maori culture used the poi to strengthen up there wrests but the warriors used rocks instead of fluff.
By:
GABBIE
Gabbie.B
what did you learn on the marae I bet you learned heaps!!!
BY:
GABBIE.B
Hi guys,
I enjoyed the Papakura marae trip at the marae I also enjoyed the poi and string games because they were fun and I learnt lots from them both e.g. I learnt that the poi was used to strengthen the fighters arms for times at war. I also learnt that the string games were used to make women’s wrists more flexible so they could weave easier.
One of the things that was really interesting was seeing portraits of the old people with authentic tattoos and moko’s on their faces. They were quite different from what I’ve seen on modern day Maori people. I think that what I see today doesn’t really give enough detail of the family.
One of the roles that the Tanga Tewhenea had were the karanga calling us (the Manuhiri) into their marae, which is also known as the wharenue.
Some of the responsibilities that the Munuhiri had were to learn about the Maori culture and how some of our ancestors lived their lives.
From Ella.
I enjoyed the flax weaving and the string games. One good thing about the flax weaving is that I know how to do a flower and we have flax at home. I was quite amazed to be able to go to a marae. It was also good being allowed to touch the pou pou.
from Jacob
I enjoyed doing everything at the marae. I especially enjoyed the string games and weaving. I learned that poi are a lot harder than they look and that they are designed to make your wrists strong for weaving. Rakau are also for making your wrists strong.
The marae looked a lot different to how I imagined it would. I thought it would be made completely from wood, but it was mainly metal and concrete.
Oliver B
When I was at the Marae I learnt a lot about their culture and their ways, but mostly my favourite thing was the games that we played.
These games were knuckle bones, string games, rakau,poi.
I found them interesting because they were all unique to Maori culture. The knuckle bones were made out of rocks and in the old days they would have been made out of animal’s knuckles. The string game was just string, rakau were wooden sticks. The pois we used were made out of plastic bags but in the old days they would have used a natural material.
When we first came in to the Marae we were greeted by a hongi. We did a hongi to the Tanga tewhenua (the people who looked after the marae). Truely I felt a little bit strange but now that I understand the meaning of the hongi I felt more welcomed.
Some roles and responsibilities that I noticed for the Tanga tewhenua was to welcome in people and show us around the Marae. After we were were hongi we were part of their culture and we had to give them respect and follow their protocols.
I really enjoyed my trip at the Marae.
By Gray Barclay
Hi here is my reflection of the marae.
I found the marae really fun and especially liked the string games. This was because the different patterns you could make with the strings were amazing.
I also liked the flax weaving because I liked being able to make complicated designs out of a few pieces of flax.
Something that challenged me was the sketching of tuku tuku patterns. This as I found out was very hard with all the detail.
I also learnt heaps about the why the moaris did the activities we did for example they did the poi to make their wrists stronger.
The last thing that I am going to talk about is the powphiri, which I found a lot different to what I thought it would be.
1 it was much shorter
2 the tangata whenua was much smaller
From Frankie
Hi!
I like those pics you put up andrew =) How can I save them? Oh no! I’m going off topic.
I enjoyed the Poi and the weaving the most. I enjoyed it because it I learnt new stuff. I never actually knew how to use a poi. When I first saw some girls using them, I thought it was soooo easy! Twirling a thing around-How hard can it be? I guess I’m wrong. I still can’t do it right! =(
I didn’t go to the marae last year
So I didn’t know how to wave those flowers and the fish. Actually to be honest, it’s seems easy. But I still found it fun! I wish I could make another flower!
I noticed the Kaikaranga, the Kaikorero, the tangata whenua and us, the maunhiri. I also didn’t know the Manuhiri also supposed to have a Kairkorero, now I can completely understand what Mackay and Felix were doing on our practice powhiri.
I agree with Louisa about the tatoo thing.
-Jennifer
Hey it’s Bianca here my favourite part or the papakura marae was doing the flax weaving ,because I learn that the Maoris use it for lots of things E.G bags, ropes and clothes. Also I liked the drawing because I found out the tukutuku patens and carvings can be very detailed when you look at them closely.
From Bianca
When we went to the marae, i enjoyed everything that we did, but the activity that stood out most to me was the string games and knucklebones, aswell as the rakau.
I enjoyed these games, because they were fun, interesting, and challenging at times. also they were a good and enjoyable way to pass time, other than electronics.
Inside the wharenui (meeting house) there were lots of interesting maori tuku tuku panels and maori carvings. There were also two main paintings on the front and back of the whare nui.
One of the paintings was a picture of Maui fishing up the north island of New Zealand with his grandfathers magic jawbone and a strong flax rope.
The carvings spoke about some interesting things like the one of tangaroa (the Maori god of sea) holding a fish.
bye Erik
My visit to the Marae taught me:
That when you are using the pois it makes your wrist stronger and that when you do the figure of 8 you use your wrist and not your elbow.
When you are doing flax weaving it is very hard and the Maori people do it because it is a sign of art for their culture.
That every Koru is an ancestor.
You shouldn’t run around in the grounds of a Marae and always take your shoes off when you going into the meeting house. This is because the shoes carry the dust of the god or war. The meeting house represents the god of peace.
Tukutuku patterns are on the wall and are made from wood and a type of thread.
The carvings in the Marae tells a legend and a mythical story.
Ruby .S.
Hi
I enjoyed the weaving and sketching.
This visit taught me:
(I THINK)Flax weaving is for designing Maori people’s rooms. Or it’s their culture?
Poi makes Maori woman’s wrist stronger. Also it’s like a game.
Sketching (tukutuku patterns and (?). We learnt how to draw Maori patterns.
String and hand games, we learnt how to make double diamonds……
THAT’S ALL I CAN THINK OF!
From Erin
P.S good night
Hello,
I enjoyed the whole marae trip because I leaned more about the Maori culture to put on me and Hamish’s board and it is done but all we need to do is write the instructions any way I loved the flax weaving I had help the fist time but on my second one I did it by myself.
Now the string games I could not do because the string kept falling off my middle finger but I just kept trying and trying, the knucklebones were cool as I got up to scramble, which is the highest level.
I liked how the Maori weaving on the walls how they were like crosses they made it easier to do them so we would draw a strait picture and then change it with the crosses on them so they would look the same as the ones on the wall.
It was quite good to see how the Maori danced (I needed a little more practice) I liked it how the men did the poi with rocks so they could have really strong wrists so they could use the spear and I think it was like a club as well.
The Rocco I think it is called that well I liked to here about how the Maoris used it to also make there wrists stronger to use those skills for battle and maybe for dances like the haka.
What I though about the trip.
I really liked this marae trip. Two things that I liked the most was the poi and the flax because when I was doing the poi I learnt what they use to use it for in the olden days e.g they use to use it to make their arms and wrist stronger when they went off to war, and the flax they use to use it to make stuff like bags to carry things in like food and they could also use the flax if someone had hurt themselves. If some one had hurt a foot what they did was they would get a piece of flax from down the bottom of the plant where it is the hardest and they would attach it to the leg with a softer bit to give the leg support.
I liked being a part of the tanga tewhenua while we were there because I learned more Maori protocol and I also liked the way that everybody said there mihi because we don’t get to do that every day.
I hope everybody else liked the trip as much as I did.
Brittany:)
I learnt about the maori kings and how the threads go through the eye of the needle and if we crossed over with another class we would be the tangata whenua.
The woman, who was the kai karanga had the reponsiblities to call the karanga and ot take the manuhiri in safely.
The kai korero’s role is to speak in the wharenui and welcome us onto the wharenui, talking about his ancestors.
I enjoyed the Rakau most, because I enjoyed the music and usibg the Rakau. Rakau was originally used to stregthen wrists, used by warriors for hand/eye co-ordination.
Oliver RD
What I Learnt At the Marae:
The last time I went to a Marae I learned the Tuku Tuku panels are a way of telling a story and so do the patens and the ancestors.
When you do the poi’s it makes your wrist stronger and when you do the figure of 8 you don’t use your arm or elbow you use your wrist and that helps you get faster at flax weaving.
I enjoyed the Marae activities, because I learnt a lot more about Mori culture and I liked it how I was there to support the Mori culture.
Micaela .H.
i lernt about that you cant turn your back when you put down a gift and you got to keep looking at the person and the poi makes the worriors wrist strong and i learnt the tangata whenua welcomes you to the maroe and the responsibitity for the tangata whenua is to clear the bad spirits to let the manuhiri to come safely to the maroe i enjoyed the poi because it helped my wrist sronger.
jackliu
I learnt lot things at the marae, such as most the things has roles, and it was the flacks and the string tricks. For example, if you put a piece of flax through the other one the wrong way, the whole thing will look weird. I also learnt manuhiri are the people that come to the marae. I learnt that the manuhiri needs to take their shoes off inside the marae because it is the rules.
The best things I liked were the string games, because I learnt lots of new ways of making cool things with strings. You do this by your self.
I learnt that each and every carving and Tukutuku panel represent stories and the ancestors of the Tangata Whenua. Every carving means and is a part of one or more of the Tangata Whenua.
Some roles I noticed in the Powhiri were the Kai Karanga and the Kai Korero. Some of the responsibilities that go with the role of the Kai Karanga are calling the Manuhiri onto the Marae. She is clearing a path for the Manuhiri to walk. The Kai Karanga is always a female.
Some of the responsibilities that go with the role of the Kai Korero are speaking and welcoming the Manuhiri onto their Marae. The Kai Korero is always a male.
At the Marae the activity I enjoyed the most was the Poi.
I enjoyed the Poi because I re-learnt the Poi dance.
Hi I have just read your descriptions of your trip to Papakura Marae. It sounds like you all had heaps of fun. Brittany has shown me how to weave a flax flower. In fact she has woven four flowers for me and I have them in a vase in my kitchen.They are lovely.
The poi and the different Maori games that you all learnt sound interesting and fun.
I look forward to reading more of your responses on the happenings of Room 29.
Bye for now.
Lorraine Skinner. (Brittany’s Aunt).
Hi room 29….your blog is looking fantastic! I am so impressed with your level of thinking, and your ability to add to each other’s posts is excellent. I thought your use of simile when discussing the shining cuckoo proverb was a great way to visualise, or see, the proverb in a number of different ways.
I have also enjoyed reading about your responses to the trip to the marae. It is good to know you learnt some new skills, as well as became familiar with many protocols. I wish I’d been able to visit with you. Keep up the deep thinking, and your thoughtful responses.
Carmel
PS Room 29 is THE BEST!!!
Hi Carmel
Thanks for coming to our site. Also ofcourse we are the best!
Is Malcolm coming on?
-Jennifer