YEAR 7 MĀORI VIRTUAL SHARED KAI

By Tim Lucas | Posted: Thursday May 14, 2020

Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou ka ora ai te iwi. With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive.

The last lesson in lockdown for our Year 7 Māori Studies classes began with a shared kai. Students from 7OCS and 7TLP were asked to make, bake or create something for kai o te ata (morning tea). Both classes started the lesson by blessing the food in Māori. 

Here is the karakia mō te kai (Grace):

E tō mātou matua (Our Father)
I te rangi whakamoemiti (In the glorious heavens)
Anga mātou ki a koe (We turn to you)
Mō te kai nei. (To express our thanks for this food)
Āmene. (Amen)


With mugs of hot chocolate and milo in hand, the kai was enjoyed by all. Students reminisced about the past six-weeks in lockdown and spoke of how excited they are to be finally allowed back at school to catch up with 'long, lost friends'. There was also a lot of chat about lost freedom and resuming things like "going into town and meeting up with mates at Macca's!". 

In traditional times, the onset of the colder weather signaled the time for the harvest. With kai and kaimoana (seafood) dried, prepared and stored for the winter ahead, Māori too, would celebrate the abundance of food with a hākari (feast) surrounded by friends and whānau.