When we first arrived at our work, we had a whakatau which is where we get welcomed into the place of work. I first learn that men of the group are always in front of women when songs or greeting happen which occurs out of a sign of respect.
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2024\/02\/20240226_120451-1.jpg\")
<\/a>This is from a recent whakatau to welcome a new event assist, receptionist and AUT student.
We had to introduce ourselves separately and then go around all the staff members present on the day and do a hongi which is a M\u0101ori greeting where you press your nose and forehead together with the nose and forehead of the person you are greeting. Through this exchange one is no longer considered manuhiri (a visitor) but rather tangata whenua (one of the people of the land).
M\u0101ori people are the indigenous people of New Zealand also known as the polynesian Indigenous tribes. The tribes in New Zealand are defined by what Waka (outrigger) canoe they arrived in on the shores of Aotearoa (the long white cloud) New Zealand.
Cultural significance for New Zealand<\/strong>
Pepeha<\/strong> - is a way of introducing yourself in M\u0101ori. It tells people who you are by sharing your connections with people and places that are important to you. We all had to do our own Pepeha in the first 3 weeks of being at Harbour Sport. For us they included where you live, where you grew up and where you call home. It can change but for a more traditional pepeha it would include the mountain you live nearest, the river\/body of water you live by and your family name.
Waiata<\/strong> - M\u0101ori song, dance and music were important ways of celebrating, retaining and transmitting the life and history of M\u0101ori. Traditionally there is a song for every occasion. Some of the ones we have learnt are Tutira mai nga iwi, Toro mai to ringa and whakataka te hau.
<\/a>Kai<\/strong> \u2013 Food is literally life for M\u0101ori. M\u0101ori Kai (food) traditions go back 3000 years. kai is a very important part of culture because gathering, preparing and sharing kai shows hospitality and respect for visitors.
<\/a> Food and the culture and customs around it create a sense of community. <\/p>\r\n
T\u0101 moko<\/strong> - M\u0101ori tattoos which they believe is a person's mana, their spiritual power of life force, which is displayed through their tattoo. I thought it would be a great idea to explain the M\u0101ori culture, language, living out in New Zealand and where the indigenous people originate from. Let's dive into a few things that we have learnt from Harbour sport...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1855,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[598,24],"tags":[925,910],"class_list":["post-9296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-department-for-health","category-faculty-of-humanities-social-sciences","tag-livingabroad","tag-placement"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1855"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9296\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Haka<\/strong> - it varies with every tribal region, telling the story of significant events in an iwi's (tribes) history. Haka is used as a sign of respect and is performed at sports events, weddings, funerals and powhiri (a traditional welcome)
Pounamu Jewellery or greenstone - carved into traditional Maori symbols. It represents ancestors, connection with the natural world or attributes such as strength, prosperity, love and harmony. When an employee leaves the company, a greenstone is given to them as you shouldnt buy or carve one for yourself and it should be instead a gift between two people.
Matariki<\/strong> - A star cluster that appears in New Zealand sky during the mid- winter months. It is one of the brightest clusters in the sky, containing hundreds of member stars. In New Zealand it is known the M\u0101ori New Year in Te Ao M\u0101ori (the M\u0101ori world view). Bringing the year to a close and welcoming a new one.
M\u0101tauranga M\u0101ori (ancestral knowledge and wisdom) is at the heart of celebrations of the Matariki public holiday and it will be a time for;
Remembrance \u2013 Honouring those we have lost since the last rising of Matariki
Celebrating the present \u2013 Gathering together to give thanks for what we have
Looking to the future \u2013 Looking forward to the promise of a new year
Language - Living in a different country you hear loads of different sayings and slang and a completely different language which we aren't used to in the UK. I'll let you know of the most used phrases.
Kia Ora \u2013 hello, goodbye, thank you
Karakia \u2013 it's used to talk about the songs\/chants that we do in our morning meetings
Tamariki \u2013 children
Rangatahi \u2013 teenages and young adults
Hui \u2013 meeting or conference
Kai \u2013 food
Morena \u2013 morning
Mahi \u2013 work
Hongi - M\u0101ori greeting
Yarn \u2013 friendly chat
Far out \u2013 wow
Chur \u2013 thank you
Mean \u2013 awesome
Sweet as - Thank you\/ no worries\/ that's cool
Bach \u2013 holiday house
Hard out \u2013 agreeing with someone
Yeah na \u2013 no
Togs - swimsuit
Maori games - M\u0101ori have traditionally played a wide range of sports and games some aimed at teaching skills and others practiced as part of ritual and others used as forms of pure entertainment. <\/a>Poi dances \u2013 physical objects used by the dancers, the choreography itself, or the accompanying music to make a cinchonized dance. Hakariki and kilikiti which we included in our school events that we planned.
This is Hakariki from the international sports day we run in November 2023.<\/p>\r\n
Living in a different culture allows you to slowly integrate into the new world which is presented to you and not be rushed to learn everything as you would be on a two-week holiday. I have greatly appreciated Harbour sport being open to teaching us the waiatas and answer any questions that we have.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"