YEAR 7 MARAE VISIT

By Tim Lucas | Posted: Wednesday November 13, 2019

Kā manu kā kai i te miro, nōnā te ngahere. Kā manu kā kai i te mātauraka, nōnā te ao. The bird that eats the miro berry, theirs is the forest. The bird that consumes knowledge, theirs is the world.

Today our Year 7s visited Āraiteuru marae in Kaikorai Valley. Mātauraka Māori (Learning in a Māori context) was the theme for the visit this year. The day started with a brisk 3km walk from Kavanagh College up and over the hill to Āraiteuru. At 10am the pōwhiri (welcoming ceremony) began with the kaikāranga calling us onto the marae. Kavanagh College kaiako (teacher), Whaea Mbizvo, from our side replied. Ryleigh Makiiti from 7DGR had the special task of carrying the koha (a miro tree) on to the marae. Once inside, Matua Lucas said the whaikōrero on behalf of the school and welcomed our tūmuaki (principal), Mrs Nicholson and tūmuaki tuarua (assistant principal) Ms James, who were in attendance. A highlight of the pōwhiri was the student's singing. They sang Ka Waiata beautifully and this waiata (song) was led by Anamika Jones and Therese Tili from 7HEN.

After the haruru and hongi, we shared kai with the tangata whenua (local people) in the whare kai. 7DGR student Te Wero Haua-Bartlett blessed the food in Māori. Then the hands-on the learning activities commenced with students experiencing rāranga (weaving), mau rākau (stick martial arts), ngā tākaro (traditional games) and pūrākau (mythical stories) for the remainder of the day.

At 2pm the Year 7 group gathered on the marae lawn and performed our school haka (which was led by Joseph Chen of 7DGR) as a way of saying farewell and thank you to the tutors who were fantastic. 

It was another special visit to the marae and Ruby Oskam from 7WLF said the day was "awesome!". A special thanks to Mrs de Graaf, Miss Henderson, Mr Wolfreys, Whaea Mbizvo and the tutors for making the day so successful. Tihei mauri ora!