The conference started on Wednesday. My talk was last, on Friday so I didn't get to relax until after it was all over. Robb wandered Auckland while I worked, which was great because he knew his way around by the time I was free on Saturday and Sunday. If you want to see the agenda, it is posted here: Working forum for early childhood teacher educators.
Our Wednesday afternoon session was held at the Orakai Marae. This was a really wonderful experience. A common tourist activity is to go to a cultural show in which paid Maori wearing historic costumes enact the traditional welcoming ceremony, followed by dancing and songs. This was a genuine visit with a genuine welcoming ceremony.
We were lead by Ra, one of the local conference participants, and all followed his instructions on protocol. First we approached this entrance silently, walking close together in a group. We stopped and stood together in the central open space and the welcoming group came out. No photography was allowed until after the ceremony, so these photos were all taken afterwards as we milled around.
After Maori dancing and chanting, we were welcomed inside the ancestral house.
No shoes are allowed inside the ancestral house.
We all took them off in the little open space in front of the door.
There was an exchange of speeches and then we were allowed to use the house for our session on biculturalism/multiculturalism in early childhood education. After our session, we were treated to dancing and singing and then wandered about admiring the place.
We were served dinner here.
It really was wonderful to visit an active, living marae. This is a school break period and the marae was filled with children and teenagers spending their break studying cultural traditions with their elders. Two of the young men who performed the ceremony wore Denver and Celtics basketball shirts. No musty historical costumes here. You can read more about the Orakei Marae at http://www.ngatiwhatuaorakei.com/Orakei_Marae.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment