Well, my first week in Puketapu Kindergarten has been "full on," as they say here. I have learned all 45 children's names and about... 2 or 3 of the parents' names, which is awesome and pathetic, respectively. I love the centre, am getting along great with children, teachers, and parents, and think that I am going to have a wonderful year! I have been working on taking pictures of all the different areas of the classroom and playground to post for you, but I'm going to wait until they're all done before I post any. When I do that, I will do a whole post about work, and it will be great.
In the meantime, I found some neat videos about rituals in tikanga Māori (Māori culture) that I thought would be interesting to post.
If you have watched any videos about tikanga Māori, you have probably seen a haka. A haka is a traditional war dance, although it can also be used in peaceful encounters. It is meant to be very threatening and shows strength, pride, and unity. The words of the haka often describe important ancestors and the tribe's history. Nowadays, the All Blacks do a haka before every game, and there are competitions between schools for who can create and perform the best haka. This video is one of many on youtube, but I think it's a good example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI851yJUQQw
This next video has two parts: Māori rākau and poi. Rākau are sticks/poles that are used to make rhythms. It is also a game that children play, that used to be used for training young men in spear fighting.
Poi are soft balls on the end of a string, which was used, "many years ago, by the indigenous Māori people of NZ increase their flexibility and strength in their hands and arms as well as improving coordination. Wahine (female) dancers perform the Māori Poi, a dance performed with balls attached to flax strings, swung rhythmically. The Poi dance was originally used by the Māori women for keping their hands flexible for weaving and by the men for strength and coordination required during battle. Poi are used as a training aid for other ancient weapeons like the Mere or Patu" (http://www.homeofpoi.com/lessons_all/teach/History-of-Maori-POI-in-New-Zealand-34_293_1947).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3p2dcGNpWY
I hope you enjoy the videos. I will try to finish my picture-taking this weekend and do my big kindergarten post soon.
Ve Ve interesting. We danced with the bamboo sticks but did not toss them. Poi in Hawaii is a bland tasting paste eaten at most of the natives meals. It is made from the root of a plant. The Hawaiian skirts are made of dry grass where as these skirts appear to be made with beads. I also danced while in Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting, too. It does look like their skirts are made with beads, but it's actually patterns of dyed and unburnt flax fibers, giving it that patterned look. Pretty cool, huh?
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