New Zealand Pt 3- Maori Dinner

Sunday 24 April

Our group with a traditional Maori sculpture. 

     Tonight we had booked a traditional Maori dinner. The Maori are the indiginous people of New Zealand and we were really excited to learn more about their culture... and also about not having to cook our own meal.

Intimidation dance.

    The evening started with us walking to the company's main offices where we were being picked up for the evening. Here we received our itinerary for the evening and some phrases we would need to know. Such as Kia Ora (pronounced key oar-a) which means hello and goodbye among other things. We then got on our bus (or waka), and headed to the village.
    While on the bus our guide gave us some background on the Maori people and told us some things we should expect that night. He also picked out chief who would represent our waka when we got the village and during the opening and closing ceremonies.
     Once we got off the bus, we followed our chief to the front of the village where we gathered around to watch our chief and the other waka chiefs face the warriors. The warriors of village were doing their traditional intimidation dance to see if our chiefs were weak. We were soon let into the village where there were little huts with someone at each explaining something different about the Maori culture. We learned a traditional Maori games, how they stored their food and how they carved their houses.

Explaining about carving. It would have taken his ancestors 10 years to carve the mantel behind him. 

Earth Oven.

    After learning about their village we went over the cooking area where our dinner was being prepared in a traditional earth oven. They explained how the dug a hole in the ground and used lava rocks to cook the food because they won't crack in half because of the heat. Then they put the meat in, and the vegetables, and then finally the desert on top, and over the whole thing in huge wet leave and then pile on the dirt from the dug hole to keep the heat inside.
     After this we went into the meeting house for the welcoming ceremony which is "The Pressing of Noses, Twice." Most Maori villages only do the pressing of noses once, but the particular tribe we were visiting does it twice. Our chiefs all got on stage with the village chief and each shook his right hand while pressing noses together once, then twice. After the ceremony the chief and his family put on a show for us. Check the video bar to see some of the songs performed.

Pressing of noses twice ceremony.

     Finally it was time for dinner. There was chicken and lamb, along with potatoes and sweet potatoes, stuffing, oysters (not that I ate those), bread, and a pasta salad. Everything was so delicious! It had that great smokey flavor and was so tender from cooking all day. My favorite part was the stuffing, I actually had a whole plate of just that for seconds! There was also dessert which was a spice cake with a white sauce and fruit or a traditional dessert that is kind of like a marshmallow, but less dense, and toasted on the outside.
     Finally it was time for the closing ceremony. The elders sang a few songs for us and we all sang one together and finally they blessed us and sent us on our way.

Outside a traditional house. 

KIA ORA!