Kia Ora! Maybe you've visited Marae before?
Maybe you haven't?
Before you can walk into a Marae for the first time,
the people of the Marae must welcome you in.
To begin the welcome, there is a powhiri.
A powhiri is a welcoming ceremony.
Within your visiting group,
make sure that there is one person
to do the speeches,
and one person to do the calling.
They're called the Kaikaranga.
When the powhiri starts, the Marae becomes tapu.
That's because people from the past
who have died, are called into the present.
To begin a powhiri, there may be a wero,
which is a challenge.
The challenger will place something on the ground.
If you pick it up, it means you're a friend,
if you don't it means you're an enemy.
The visiting group is led by the women,
then the men will follow behind.
Together the visiting group move onto the Marae.
The women from the Marae will call first,
then the women from the visiting group will call back.
The visiting woman will then lead their group on.
The second call is to honour the spirits
of the ancestors who have died.
Next will be a moment of silence,
this is to show respect to all those who
have died in the past.
The visiting group will sit down.
Tangata whenua and the visitors
begin giving their speeches and songs.
Both groups will take turns.
Lastly is the koha,
which is a gift from the visiting group.
A person from the Marae will pick up the koha.
When the speeches are finished,
everyone will line up and hongi,
which means they shake hands and touch noses.
What's the meaning of a hongi?
It's the joining of each others breath and spirit.
So now the visitors are joined with the
tangata whenua, the people of the land.
When the powhiri is finished
the tangata whenua invite
the visitors to share food.
First is a karakia, which is a prayer.
You say karakia before you eat the food.
It's important to remember with Maori culture,
the head is a special part of the body.
Passing food over the head is not allowed.
Pass the food another way.
Sitting on tables is also not allowed.
By sharing the food, the tapu is off the visitors,
so the tangata whenua and the visitors
can come together and become one group.
So now, you can go into the Marae!
There are some important things to remember.
Make sure your group has a caller and a speaker.
The speaker leads the group during the powhiri.
When they have finished speaking
it's the other groups turn to speak.
Each group takes turns.
When the speeches are finished,
it's time to shake hands and hongi.
Sitting on the tables is not allowed.
It's important to respect the Marae.
The Marae is a spiritual place.