Picking up the Taki; an indication that the visitor to this marae comes with peaceful intentions. Image; Su Leslie, 2017
Visiting a marae (Maori meeting ground) begins with a highly symbolic welcome ceremony. As part of that, a young man of the iwi (tribal group) to which the marae belongs will issue a challenge (wero) to the visiting party.
The challenge involves a symbolic demonstration of the iwi’s fighting prowess in the form of the young man and his weapon. It is asking the visitors “do you come here with peaceful intentions?”
A representative of the visiting group (usually a man) accepts the challenge by picking up the taki — a symbolic object which in many cases is a branch (think olive branch in terms of symbolism).
After that the group is welcomed onto the marae.
Visitors, in this case a bride and groom, being welcomed onto the Te Tii Waitangi Marae at Waitangi, Northland, NZ. Su Leslie 2017
You can find out more about this powhiri (welcome process) here.
Posted to Debbie’s One Word Sunday at Travel with Intent
Zimmerbitch 
When one considers the mess and muddle of the Trump/ Putin meeting, one wishes that more of the world followed a powhiri type process.
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What an excellent idea!
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Very interesting – thanks for a great match for the theme and teaching me something new
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Thank you Debbie 🙏 Cheers, Su.
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Wow! This is so cool! Never heard of this welcome ceremony and think it´s just awesome! Your pics are wonderful – I actually would have run away from the guy in the first pic! Which would be a pity because when he smiles he´s rather handsome. 😉
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When you visit (I can hope — especially for a lottery win), we’ll try and arrange a marae trip. They always choose a young (and virile) man to do the challenge because he is meant to represent the strength and potential ferocity of the tribe. And there are usually other handsome young men involved too, so of course, the ceremony is very enjoyable.
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That does sound very enjoyable indeed! 😉 And no worries – lottery win or not I intend to come and visit you one day and then we´ll have the best of fun! 😀 xxxxxxxx
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Yay. If I can’t win the lottery, I can at least be the best host and tour guide I’m capable of 😀
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And there´s absolutely no doubt on my part that you will be exactly that! Now it´s just me who has to take care being the best guest I can (and to carefully read any signs of body language that might indicate that you need some alone-time 😉 )
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That you even understand I would want alone-time is a very good sign. To be honest, I’ve got quite good at telling people when I need time out. It wasn’t always so, but these days I’m less worried about offending people, and realise that honestly is actually better all round. At least I hope so xxxxx
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I totally agree on this, honesty is better and you wouldn’t have to worry to offend me in any way because I perfectly understand the need of some alone-time only too well. Just bring me to a bookstore and you’ll have hours on your own! 😄 xxxxxxx
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Haha. I’d have to be in the bookshop too. Another of my weaknesses 😀
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LOL! 😀
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Oh, and who knows, I might just fall in love with one of these handsome warriors and simply stay! 😉
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I shall buy a lottery ticket immediately!!!!!
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Hehe! Me too!!! 😀 xxxxxxx
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how amazingly wonderful – what a great tradition
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Isn’t it. I think we have lost a lot by abandoning our own cultures’ traditions around hospitality and interacting with strangers.
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Finally, a people who believe in tradition. Sounds like a group I’d like to meet.
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Maori have had to work really hard to preserve their culture in the face of European colonisation. I’m glad to say that in many ways the fight has been successful and that parts of the culture have been enthusiastically embraced by NZ’s wider population.
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I’m glad to hear that too. Here, we’ve about demolished it.
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That is tragic.
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You said it!!
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I’d love to see this. It’s interesting that you chose today to share this as we’ve been watching the Rugby Sevens Championships this weekend, taking place in San Francisco and this reminds me of the haka. Unfortunately, the NZ sevens apparently don’t do the haka, which I love, love, love and makes me smile every time I see it. But there’s a wonderful ad interspersing the haka with things like volcanoes, thunderstorms, etc. I wish I could find it online to share, as it’s just perfect.
janet
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The wero is a sort of individual haka, performed for much the same function — as a challenge. Rugby haka are much more impressive now than they were when I was a kid and it was more like a bunch of white boys slapping their knees and waving their arms around. I didn’t realise our Sevens team doesn’t do one; but I guess the games are pretty short and relatively speaking, the haka would take up a lot of time.
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If they did one, I didn’t see it. I just love seeing them do it.
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I must read that the NZ women’s sevens team has won the cup, and they did a haka afterwards. Is that a separate event, or are both sexes teams’ playing at the same time? I’m not really a sports fan.
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My husband said that they did and although I was here for most of the game, I was so tired that I was falling asleep and I’d gone to bed, so I missed the haka. 😦 I’ll have to look it up and watch it online. My husband played rugby (and quite well) for a number of years before I met him and right after we met, so we love watching when it’s on TV. Right now, we’re also loving watching the Tour de France. 🙂
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Here’s the video of their post-game haka in San Francisco last night. 🙂
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/sport/rugby/watch-black-ferns-sevens-silence-san-francisco-rousing-haka-celebrate-world-cup-win
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I enjoyed learning about this. Thanks, Sue.
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Thanks for sharing this kiwi tradition. I have been to Waitangi but never observed this ritual.
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We were there for a wedding, so we had to have special permission to be on the marae.
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I see. Lucky you!! Thanks for sharing and stay warm🤗
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I do feel lucky to have been there. It was a very interesting wedding. 😀
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Great tradition. Silent bending down and putting yourself in a vulnerable position shows trust.
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That demonstration of vulnerability and trust is fundamental to building the relationship.
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We can learn a lot from their culture, Su.
Leslie
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I find the Kiwi culture vibrant and colorful. Maori art and their colors…their culture and ethnicity plus painted faces all tell their stories. I hope you do a post on the wedding. I am sure it will be a great read. 😊
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😀 thank you.
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so culture rich ….
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And fighting so hard not to have it swallowed up.
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…. yes…..
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