Bonjour-Mundo!

We have packed our days in Rotorua full of activities, and we were told the Maori Hangi was something that couldn’t be missed. Therefore last night we packed ourselves onto a touristy bus and went out to see what the fuss was all about.

The Maori are the native people of New Zealand, although their culture was once falling out of existence there has been a push lately to rejuvinate the heritage so it doesn’t disappear forever. Our tour driver on a previous day informed us that students have to take Maori language until they are 13 in school, and at least in Rotorua, although in a touristy manner, the culture seems to be alive and well.

So, onto the Hangi, or Maori feast. Our Hangi was put on by the Mitai family. We arrived at the place not quite sure what to expect. They gathered us in a large dining area and we were seated at numbered tables kind of like a wedding. Then a man came and spoke to us, had us elect a “cheif” to represent us and make a speech at the welcoming ceremony. Turns out only men can be cheifs in Maori culture. However their reasoning was interesting. They say that if they lose a man in battle, it is only one life, but if a female is lost, then they lose a whole family and all those generations to come.

So, after our cheif, an older gentleman from Austrailia, was elected, they took us out back to view our dinner. Hangi feasts are cooked below the ground in a big hole with steam from hot rocks and coal. It was all in a big heap more or less, but I must say it looked and smelled delicious. After seeing what would soon be in our bellies they took us out to see the evenings entertainment.

We walked through forested land to a stream, all the while men in full costume running through on paths above us with fire lit torches.  Then the men posing as Mauri warriors rowed up in a canoe and performed a dance along the stream. We were then led back to a stage sort of area where they had re-created a Maori village. Think sort of Native American almost. Huts and open fires and such. The men performed various dances, and they made a show of offering a piece of branch as a “peace offering” to our selected cheif. He accepted and then made a speech thanking the tribe for having us this evening. The man posing as the Maori chief then came forward. He spoke fluent English, as do all the Maori people these days, and beame the commentator of the evening.

Basically for the next hour or so the performed various dances, musical numbers, introduced us to all the traditional instruments and weapons of Maori culture, and basically just were out to entertain. It was cool to see and interesting as well. Even though it was touristy, it felt like we learned a little bit about the people and their culture. The costumes and the tatoos were probably the most interesting to those who have never seen it before. The men have their faces completely tatooed (although here it was just paint) and the women were a tatoo of an owl on their chin. The men’s costume is nothing more then a loin cloth basically, the women have sort of a wrap dress.

After the performance we were taken in for the feast. And wow, seriously, it was a feast. Almost like Thanksgiving. Heaps and heaps (to speak like a kiwi) of food. Potatoes, and kumara (native sweet potato, super good), chicken, lamb, more potato, salads, breads, chocolate logs, cakes, stuffing, it was awesome. Our bellies were very, very full.

After the dinner they took us out to see the grounds at night and view a few glowworms, nothing too impressive. Although we did see the closest thing to a snake in New Zealand, a freshwater eel, kinda spooky.

But overall, my belly was happy, the feast was a success.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 14th, 2006 at 11:57 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.