This was our first occasion to get dressed up since our arrival - women and girls had to wear dresses or long skirts, and men were to wear slacks and a nice dress shirt or jacket. Here we are looking our best.
We met outside the health board marae - community meeting hall - on site at the Hospital, and were briefed a bit about what we were about to take part in, and then the ceremony began!
The powhiri can typically begin with a challenge from the local iwi to the visitors but ours began with what is typically the next stage - the karanga, or welcome call. An elderly Maori woman came to the front of the marae and began to sing to us in Maori. Our sponsors responded with singing of their own and we walked (the women first, followed by the two men) solemnly and deliberately up into the marae where the welcoming group was positioned inside.
Taking a seat opposite them, we were welcomed by an older Maori man who's name was Uncle John. He spoke at great length in maori, and gestured about and must have been quite funny because the people who understood Maori were laughing. Finally his welcome came to an end.
Our group had to have a representative who speaks for the group, accepting the welcome and telling why we had come. Pete took on this role for our group, and at this point he gave his speech, which was simple and to the point.
At this point, a couple more formal speeches (the whaikorero) were made, and then we sang some traditional songs (waiata) all together in Maori. We did our best, but only Lindsay really did well, since she knew one of the songs, having memorized it at school! Then we did a sort of receiving line, in which we did the hongi, or pressing of noses. Typically one presses the forehead to forehead first, followed simultaneously by a nose to nose press, signifying a spiritual coming together of the two people.
There were of course curveballs thrown at us on the receiving line, some more embarrassing than others. For instance, some of the people receiving us were Euros and DID press noses, while other Euros did NOT (all of the Maori DID.) Also, some of the people did the hongi and then followed that with a kiss on the cheek. Anyway, there was definitely a lot of awkward lean-ins at times, but we did our best to just go with the flow.
After that welcome, we all made personal introductions, a basic statement of who we are, where we come from and anything else we wanted to add. The Maori people usually use this time to name their own personal mountain and River that they identify with, usually based on the iwi that they come from. So, for instance, Uncle John being from Wanganui and the Wanganui Valley, identified with the Wanganui River and Mt Ruapeho as those are the areas of sacred meaning to his iwi.
We all gave great introduction of ourselves, and we were very impressed with how confident and well spoken our kids were. Kendra was so eloquent, Lauryn was very funny, and of course, Lindsay sounded a "little" precocious. Jen expressed her appreciation at the friendly atmosphere and collegiality of the Hospital and Peter expressed his delight at the town of Whanganui, and said that "our" river was the Bear Creek and our mountain was Mt Evans, both of Evergreen, CO.
The most humorous moment of the welcome was "the latecomer," a female health worker who came ten minutes after the start of the ceremony and so wasn't briefed as we had been on the process. So, she didn't know about the receiving line or the hongi. So when Uncle John stood to receive her (with all eyes watching) and leaned forward to press noses, she looked a little alarmed and confused and backed away, turning toward us with a nervous expression. After about ten seconds, she seemed to figure it out and pressed noses, but then, thinking this is what you did with everyone, proceeded to try that out on the people who merely shook hands or kissed cheeks. We were glad we had arrived on time to get the lowdown, and relieved we didn't have an audience watching us make our way through the receiving line!
Following the welcome, the powhiri ended with the sharing of food, or "kai". This is an expression of acceptance and lifts the atmosphere from a feeling of sacredness and returns it to a more informal feeling. So, we had "tea" with the whole group and sat down to talk. They served coffee and tea and had plates of sandwiches, fruit and treats, all very traditional Kiwi fare.
Thank you for the welcome to the Health Board! We will never forget it!
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