Hui enhances cultural skills

September 29, 2014
Mac Te Houkamau of Flaxmere delivers the pau, the traditional cry to food, inviting all to Te Ūranga Waka’s dining hall.

Mac Te Houkamau of Flaxmere delivers the pau, the traditional cry to food, inviting all to Te Ūranga Waka’s dining hall.

Two hundred people gathered at EIT’s Te Ūranga Waka in July to buff up their Māoritanga skills and develop confidence to stand up on marae.

A Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated initiative, the hui focused on whaikōrero (formal oratory) and karanga (the ceremonial call welcoming visitors onto a marae).

Run over five days, it attracted participants, including kaiarataki and kaumātua, from marae as far north as Gisborne south to the Wairarapa and covered three levels of learning – beginners, intermediate and advanced.

EIT was a major sponsor for the hui and teachers included senior lecturer Materoa Haenga and lecturer Pare Rohe-Belmont.

EIT Māori and Pacific Island Liaison Advisor Lee Kershaw-Karaitiana said the hui encouraged intergenerational communication, with kaumātua passing on their knowledge and young people expressing their views.