As part of the learning in Year 9 Te Reo Māori classes, Ms Lindsay and Ms Rose had the pleasure of taking a group of students to the Araiteuru Marae in Shetland St in early May.

We had a wonderful visit which began with a mihi whakatau/welcome ceremony inside the meeting house. We were very fortunate to have Kerry Van der Laan accompanying us as our speaker for this ceremony. Kerry has supported a number of Columba French Exchange marae visits over the years so we were grateful to have him, and his son Samuel, helping us again on this occasion. As part of the welcome ceremony our students sang a waiata that we had been learning in class, and they did a beautiful job.

The day was led by our hosts Alex Whittaker and Kane Holmes, who put us all at ease with their informative and relaxed approach.

As part of our learning we all shared our Mihimihi/personal introduction with the group. Our students did very well remembering their Mihimihi and stood with confidence to share it. During this session we learnt that it was Alex Whittaker who carved the beautiful border and dove on the tukutuku panel in our school hall.

The Araiteuru Marae is an urban marae that was established as a place for all people, no matter where they come from. Matua Kane shared interesting stories about the marae buildings and he showed us the named bricks of all the oranisations and people who had helped pay for it to be built. He also took us on a tour of the garden and shared information about how Māori people have traditionally used plants and trees. For example, they knew that the time to collect shellfish was when the kōwhai bloomed. He showed us which parts of the cabbage tree are good to eat, and we all had a little sample. He also showed us how to get the juice from the cabbage tree leaves and told us that it heals cracked feet. Early Māori made shoes from these leaves which healed their feet as they walked. One of the most interesting trees was the Kumarahou which has flowers that turn to soap suds when mixed with water. The gum diggers used this “soap” to get the gum off their hands.

At the end of the day we had an opportunity to thank our hosts during the poroporoaki/farewell. Our students were able to share their favourite parts of the day, and Matua Kane expressed his appreciation to them for their wonderful participation, and especially their beautiful singing.

Thank you/Ngā mihi,

Ms Rose