Fulbright Orientation - Wellington - Part II

I just returned from seeing a wonderful movie at the Christchurch Arts Centre: "Gloomy Sunday" or "Ein Lied von Lieve und Tod." A restaurant, two men and their shared lover, Ilona, and a song are at the heart of this story, which takes place in a romantically depicted 1930s Budapest. I won't tell you much more, only that it's a very tightly executed film with beautiful photography, performances, and characters. Perhaps speaking for its merit, the director of the cinema at the Art Centre has been screening this melancholy film in a cozy 11 seat theater everyday for the past three years. Intrigued, two of my friends and I sought refuge from the unrelenting drizzle outside and filed into the back three seats of this dark, intimate space. It was a perfect ending to a gray, damp South Island day.

But back to Wellington . . . As I've fallen behind and have gotten caught up in the present, I'll just tell you about the most important aspect of our trip to Wellington: staying at the Marae.

The morning that we were to leave for the Marae, we practiced our Maori songs, attended a class on Maori pronunciation, and were debriefed on Maori greeting customs and Marae rules. When we arrived, the women first entered through the fence, walking forward only at the beckoning song of the Maori woman caller. The men followed behind. We were then required to remove our shoes (they are not allowed in the meeting house) and queue up behind the men to greet approximately 10 community members waiting for us. Each time, we grasped their hands as if to shake, closed our eyes, pressed our noses and foreheads together, exchanged breath between us, opened our eyes, and moved onto the next. (Imagine the Mazel Tov line leading guests to the Kiddush at a Bar Mitzvah)

After our group of 30 or so finished, we sat down in rows facing the members of the community who began the ceremony by reciting a Christian prayer. (The Maori have always been a culture very receptive to new beliefs and gods, and have found interesting and new ways of incorporating and reenacting Christian theologies and practices into their own traditions and cultural tropes). The meeting house is traditionally a place for gatherings, funerals, greeting guests, and public speaking. For the next few minutes we listened to the leader welcome us in Maori. His slow, deliberate, and thoughtful speech was followed by song, and a few reciprocating words in Maori from us. After each speech, we stood to sing the songs we had learned. Following the presentation of a monetary gift to the Marae and a few closing words, the official ceremony was concluded and we were put at ease, invited to afternoon tea, and allowed to socialize and explore the Marae.

As an important virtue of Maori culture, we enjoyed the most generous hospitality, an abundance of food--we were fed 5 times a day, including 3 meals and morning and afternoon teas--and the company and stories of an important and admirable Maori community and leader. After extensive lectures on the history and peopling of the Pacific, the leader of the Marae (and the son of its founder) sat before us to recite the history of his people, the building of his modern community, and the values and meanings inscribed into the woven and carved walls of the Marae. Sitting on the floor in front of him, I felt like we were children gathered around listening attentively to our wise, soft-spoken, and venerable grandpa.

From his explanations, the walls made of woven flax and carved native woods, peering out at us with with abalone eyes acquired a life of its own, as well as culturally and historically situated meanings. We also learned that the meeting house itself was the body of an ancestor into which we sat, slept, and were welcomed into the community: the head is at the apex of the A frame roof, the arms stretch out to form the A, the midrib of the home represents the spine, and the rafters, the ribs. As genealogies are very important in determining status in Maori culture, building ancestral bodies into the Marae allows the past and stories of origin to occupy the forefront of Maori consciousness and heritage, as reminders of where they come from and who they are.

During our second and last day at the Marae, we were given a tour of the rest of the community buildings: the social center of 400 acres of tribal land that have been reclaimed from an original 400,000 from the government. This Marae has a radio station, an art gallery and studios for weaving and carving, a recreational center and sports fields, and a home for their Waka, or their canoes (a central treasure to any Maori community). I left that day not only impressed by their craftsmanship, openness to outsiders, and accomplishments, but also by their pledge to improve their community, generate good will, and persevere with their values and customs intact. I also left that day extremely uplifted and encouraged by their efforts and spirit, and wishing that more Kiwis could have the privilege of experiencing and learning from this amazing place.

Tomorrow, I go hiking for two days in Arthur's Pass . . . I'll let you know how it goes.

For more pictures from the orientation, follow this link. The back of my head is in a few of them (look for curly dark hair), and I'm 9th from the right in the first row of our group picture at the Marae.




Cheers,

Dana