Owae Marae – Manukorihi Pa

Venue/Accommodation: Owae Marae, Waitara
Address: 16 North St, 4320, Waitara, New Zealand
View SCANZ – Owae Marae in a larger map

The SCANZ 2011: Eco sapiens symposium is being held as a hui at Owae Marae. Therefore the below arrangements apply, and the event will be initiated with a powhiri, or welcoming ceremony.

Powhiri / Welcoming Ceremony – 14 January, Meet at Gates, 9am

9am – Meet at Gates and practise songs.
10am – Official Powhiri begins.

The Powhiri ceremony is a formal welcoming ceremony for visitors, which will officially start at 10am.

We will however need to arrive early – 9am – in order to prepare. There are two sides in a Powhiri – tangata whenua (people of the land) who are hosts and manuhiri (visitors). First the manuhiri are called on to the marae. This is conducted in te reo, Maori language. Then speeches commence, with a song after each speaker. After speakers on each side have spoken, there is an exchange of breath – the pressing of noses which signifies that tangata whenua and manuhiri have become one.

Some further information is available online about the steps involved in powhiri and the ideas behind it. Please note there are many kinds of powhiri ranging from very formal to quite informal and also each marae has it’s own protocols.

Presently we are thinking of two people speaking for us, the manuhiri,  so we need to practice two songs.  Following are two simple, direct and meaningful songs that are often sung. It is a compliment to tangata whenua if we are able to sing these songs well, not hesitating or being shy.

Te Aroha
Te aroha
Te whakapono
Me te rangimarie
Tatou, tatou, e

E Hara
E hara I te mea
No inaiane te aroha
No nga tupuna
Tuku iho
Tuku iho

Coming from out of town?

If you are coming from out of town we recommend that you arrive on the 13th, or are able to arrange your travel in order to arrive in time at the Marae gates an hour prior to the powhiri ceremony. For those staying at Accommodation on Bell, we will arrange for vans to leave this accommodation. Waitara is approximately 25mins from WITT campus.

Shard Cooking / Eating / Sleeping Arrangements

Please note that the event is organised as an all-pitch-in arrangement, where we everyone will be helping out with making our own meals together, and sleeping in the shared space of the large wharenui (central meeting house) together, as is customary.

We look forward to seeing you there!