Karakia mō te Kai

At Whare Kea, we say a karakia mō te kai before we eat. It is a prayer of thankfulness for the kai (food) we have been given. Since I started, we have been doing a few different karakia (prayers), but we decided that we wanted to find one that was particularly meaningful and start only doing that one. Traditionally, Māori people used karakia for a wide variety of reasons, and one very consistent one was to say thank you for their food, to the places and atua (guardians) who provided it. My colleague Sinead found the traditional karakia mō te kai that we eventually decided to use, and I think it's wonderful and inspiring.

I supported six children to draw pictures of the six atua who we thank in our karakia. For the four atua who have domains that specific foods come from, I put pictures of their domains next to them, to help the children (and parents) make those connections. As we say the karakia each day, I point to each place and atua as we thank them.

(Sorry for the glare, but I laminated them before it occurred to me that I should take pictures.)

In the display, I intentionally made the English translation tiny, as I think that all language learners benefit from trying to actually understand in the new language, rather than relying on translations. However, as you are likely not trying to learn te reo Māori, I will provide you with legible English.

Nau mai e ngā hua

 Welcome the gifts of food

o te wao

from the sacred forests

o te ngakina

from the cultivated gardens

o te wai tai

from the sea

o te wai Māori

from the fresh waters

Nā Tane

The food of Tane (atua of the forest)

Nā Rongo

of Rongo (atua of peace and agriculture)

Nā Tangaroa

of Tangaroa (atua of the sea)

Nā Maru

of Maru (atua of fresh water)

Ko Ranginui e tū iho nei

I acknowledge Ranginui who is above me (atua of the sky)

Ko Papatūānuku e takoto nei

Papatūānuku who lies beneath me (atua of the earth)

Tuturu whakamaua

Let this be my commitment to all!

Kia tina! TINA! Hui e! TĀIKI E!

Draw together! Affirm!

The children are rapidly learning and identifying with this karakia, and I think it is bringing some mindfulness to our lunch routine. Regardless of which culture inspires us, it is always a good thing to be thankful, and to remember all the resources that go into giving us what we need. When I asked the children why we say this karakia the other day, one girl answered, "To say thank you to all the natural world." Well said.

If you'd like to hear a recording of this karakia mō te kai, you can go to the following website, and scroll all the way down to the last karakia, labeled as "traditional." You'll notice that there are some Christian-ified karakia on that page as well. There are lots of those around, but we wanted an original, traditional one, of course. Here is the website: http://maori.otago.ac.nz/reo-tikanga-treaty/te-reo/karakia