2017-10 Maori community of Ohinemutu

What would a visit to New Zealand be without experiencing a bit of Maori culture? At Waitangi, we had been greeted by a haka and enjoyed a show. However, now, we were getting a chance to visit a Maori community that has been around since the 13th century!

Ohinemutu was founded by Tama Te Kapua who had to leave his home island of Hawaiki after another chief ate their relative's dog. Three things that Tama Te Kapua was know for were that (1) he was a thief, (2) he loved to play practical jokes and (3) he was the greatest lover of the south pacific with two wives in Tahiti and five more in New Zealand. Did you know that with the right winds, it would only have taken two weeks for Tama Te Kapue to sail his catamarans from Tahiti to New Zealand? He brought with him 108 people, dogs and rats (for food). Yet the name for the community comes from the Maori words "O" for "of", "hine" for "girl" and "mutu" for "death". Ohinemutu is the place where a chief's daughter was found murdered.

Our Maori guide Shaloh greeted us into the community within the community center. He gave a short speech and sang a song of welcome. Then, it was time for our group's elected "chief" to speak; and, we all sang a Maori song in response. Thankfully, our host was gracious with our lack of tune! Perhaps the most intimate portion of the welcoming ceremony was the individual greeting by touching noses, the hongi. This changed our status from not just visitors to part of the community.

Now that we were part of the community, Shaloh showed us to his house, which is also his parents' house and was his grandparents' house. The land has been his family for 23 generations. The house is like any other house in contemporary New Zealand. The only difference would be the bath house that is a separate building not attached to the house. There is no bath or shower within the house itself. Instead, there is a communal bath and shower on the property. The hot water is straight from the hot springs that bubble all over the community, coming in at a boiling 100 degrees C (212 degrees F). All of the hot water used in the community is from the slightly sulforous smelling hot springs. The thermal springs are slightly acidic. And, the cold water is slightly alkaline, blending to a neutral PH level.

Ohinemutu Marae

Shaloh's house was very near to the Marae or meeting house of Ohinemutu. In Maori, Marae is made up of three words: Ma represents female energy and the moon; Ra represents male energy and the sun; and, E brings together. In a meeting of the Marae, there must be both males and females represented. The different parts of the house are all anthropomorphic: the head is the head; the center pole represents the spine; the eaves represent arms; the door represents the mouth but also the womb of a woman. There are three main Maraes in New Zealand: the Waitangi Treaty House Marae, the King's Marae and the Marae at Ohinemutu.

Carving from Ohinemutu Marae

Carved on the Marae in Ohinemutu are 39 generations of Maori, counting back from it's building in 1871. Before colonization brought the Christian religion, the Maori were cannibals. In order for a person to earn a carving in the Marae, a male would have to go through a rite of passage of killing an enemy and eating the human flesh, which would help the warrior gain the other person's mana. Mana is what a person is born with, an aggregation of all your ancestry passed onto you. This is also how a male would earn a tattoo, which was wearing the pain of your enemy on your face. Facial tattoos on men listed their ancestry (whakapapa) whereas tattoos on their thighs were a resume of their exploits. Females did not have to kill anyone to earn their tattoos. Instead, females acquired a tattoo on their chin after giving birth. Tattoos were inked by either tapping or chiseling into the skin.