Loud, frantic chanting rushes in waves over the crowd. Visitors are gathered together just out of the rain, slanting through the carved doorway.
Tattooed warriors appear, fierce on their canoes, cutting through low hanging trees. Agile, they hop out of the boat and approach the chiefs, chosen from the group of visitors. The warriors punch the air; slap their legs, wide eyed with their tongues out, backlit by the torches hung high in the trees.
No one under the shelter moves, no one speaks or cracks a smile. It would be disrespectful to do so.
This ceremony, a traditional haka, is a far cry from the boisterous crowd found a few hours later in the Māori’s dining hall, chatting with warriors, chowing down on a buffet-style hangi, a traditional meal prepared over volcanic rocks and wood in the ground, by gracious hosts. The haka isn’t meant to scare away its recipients. Not anymore.
While the haka was once performed for many things, ranging from war, funerals, battle or simply anger, in present day Tamaki Māori Village, it sets the stage for an evening of immersion into Māori culture.
The Tamaki Māori Village, located just outside of Rotorua, is a highly-ranked New Zealand tourist attraction with a unique twist; it was created to be completely authentic. Each person working the ceremonies was raised in, or has a tie to, the Tamaki.
Tourism for the Māori people is rooted deeply within their culture, reaching as far back as the 1800s.
“We’ve got this value of manakitama, which means, ‘look after people,’” Tania Tapsell-Bennett, a sales and marketing person for the Tamaki Māori Village, explained. “So whenever people would come over, we would always look after our visitors, put them up and feed them. Tourism just evolved from our natural values here.”
Tapsell stated that the Māori got along so well with their visitors they didn’t sign the Treaty of Waitangi, the Māori and European equivalent to the Declaration of Independence.
“It was to say, ‘let’s get along and be peaceful,’” Tapsell stated. “But we were already peaceful and we had really well established businesses.”
According to oral history, the Māori originally came to New Zealand in seven canoes, each with hundreds of people aboard. Upon arrival they branched into countless tribes, and from there Māori tradition rooted itself deeply.
In some instances, Māori traditions and stories aren’t common knowledge, as many are passed down orally. While in recent years, full immersion Māori schools are more common, and Māori teachings have made their way into public curriculum, for many the best way to learn about the fascinating ins and outs of Māori culture is a tourist venture.
“When the Europeans arrived, our race was rapidly becoming a dead language, a dead culture,” Rawhira Tekeeti, a Tamaki Māori Village tour guide explained. “We couldn’t really hold onto all the knowledge, and so now, the knowledge that we do have, people feel like they can’t share it because it’s too sacred.”
Despite how far relations between the Māori and other Kiwis have come since recent years, the Māori people do still face discrimination from some outside of their culture. Tapsell said that statistically, Māori are convicted of crimes more often than other New Zealanders.
"There is still discrimination even going through school," Tekeeti said. "People just are not wanting to understand. I don't dwell in the past. In this environment, being here and moving here has definitely helped."
For the Māori there is a lost generation. Grandmothers, grandfathers, even parents were not allowed to speak the Māori language growing up. In the 1970s and 1980s, however, there was a resurgence of Māori culture and language through the arts. Youths today will not experience the cultural drought that plagued the previous generations.
"That's how fresh our culture is," the Tamaki's chief explained to visitors.
Those in the Tamaki Māori Village are excited to teach willing visitors the intricacies of their past.
“It means the world to me,” Rangiatea Simon, a cultural performer for the Tamaki Evening Experience stated proudly. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s something to be proud of really. To be able to stand and portray our culture to people around the world and for them to take it back to their homeland is a big thing for me. Not only am I a face of Māori, but I’m a face for my people and my tribe. So for me it’s everything. It’s not only a part of me, but it’s pretty much all of me.”
Being involved in the ceremonies help the Māori stay connected to their traditions.
“We get to practice our own culture and our language every single day,” Nepia Takuira-Mita, a Tamaki Māori warrior, said of the Tamaki Village Evening Experience, holding out his weapon. “It challenges us to find new ways to portray our culture and to find better ways. So I will go back home after this and I’ll practice [the performance] with this weapon and find new ways to do things. I think doing that helps me find out a little bit more about who I am and where I fit in my culture.”
In the tribe, there is a specific role for everyone; this is how it has always been. Tourists can involve themselves in the three and a half hour experience with the tribe by purchasing a ticket at tamakimaorivillage.co.nz. The ticket price includes a traditional hangi dinner and transportation to and from your Rotorua accommodation. An overnight stay is also an option for an additional fee.
“Those of my friends who don’t do this stuff [tourism], do contribute to the Māori world in other ways,” Takuira-Mita said. “They teach at schools or those sorts of things. I think we all, as a Māori people, are doing something to help promote the Māori culture.”
This article was originally part of a co-written story for Alpine Living Magazine. In the Feature Story of the Year category of the Pacemaker Awards, it won Honorable Mention. The article above is my half of the story, History Celebrated. Here's a sneak peak of the full story and a link to the online version: The Story of Māori
Visitors to New Zealand may catch glimpses of Māori culture, tattooed on passersby and tucked around every corner, never realizing the strong influence the culture has had on the past, present and future. Through chatting with locals and immersing themselves in tourist attractions, visitors can see all the Māori have to offer...
📍 Tamaki Māori Village, New Zealand
