The Haka

On my way home from my magical trip to the Hamilton Gardens (see last post), I was drawn to a large number of big white tents and a sign for a Maori cultural and arts festival across from the Gardens parking lot. There were displays, workshops, war canoe rides, carving etc. So I was bumbling about taking the displays in when a woman asked if I wanted to go to the Haka. Haka is the name for a Maori dance, which comes in a wide variation of forms. Not knowing much, but up for anything, I said yes and headed outside to wait with a Maori guide in a grassy area, and we started to chat. He explained very little and then asked/told me that I would sort of be “the white chief” for the Haka, which meant I was the spokesperson for the audience. It seems that one must first be challenged outside by the dancers, and if one accepts the challenge properly and appropriately, everyone is then invited inside for the full performance.

So I sat waiting out front of everyone. From the tent, three Maori warriors with full face paint and war clubs ceremoniously advanced on me, stopping just a couple of feet in front of me with war clubs flying by my face in a martial arts sort of way. My Maori tour guide explained what to do and politely suggested that I not move forward before he instructed me to (unfortunately he was whispering in my bad ear but don’t worry, there was little chance of me challenging the war clubs which were zinging by my face). Eventually, the last warrior laid a rose on the ground between us, stepped back, and then I was told to fetch it and return to my spot. Presto, the intensely hostile and intimidating faces turned welcoming and we all followed the warriors inside to a tent theatre and were treated to a wonderful performance of various forms of dances. By the end I was dragged up on stage to practice the specific Haka that the New Zealand Rugby team (the All Blacks) performs in front of their opponents before every match. It was pretty funny. The performance troop had been together for many years (about 25 of tem) and made the finals of the Maori national competition, which is a huge yearly event with regional qualifying, etc. They were good. These pictures are not of the performers but are from the web (it was not an appropriate time or place for pictures. These web pictures look very similar and at least give you the feel).

I have been reading a bit of New Zealand history and appreciating the differences between the Maori place in New Zealand culture vs aboriginal cultural presence in Canadian culture. Though Maori are economically and socially disadvantaged relative to “pakehas”, it is nowhere near as bad as Canada. Maori culture is seen as a proud foundation for mainstream New Zealand culture. Can you imagine Team Canada proudly performing an aboriginal war dance just after O Canada at every Olympic hockey game?  But that’s what the New Zealand rugby team does (the All Blacks) as every other New Zealand national team. The Rugby All Blacks are even more famous here than Team Canada would be in Canada (rugby rules!).

The fact that that the Maori word “pakeha” exists and is used by pakeha suggests the fundamental difference. Pakeha means “people who came from across the sea (i.e., British/European).” It is a constant implicit reminder that white New Zealanders were not the first peoples of this land, which everyone recognizes. In Canada, First Nations people often remind others that they are the first peoples, but there is no word that non-aboriginal Canadians use to describe themselves as not of this land. Can you imagine non-aboriginal Canadians describing themselves as “Second Canadians”? This is an important distinction. This sense of Maori presence is always about as most place names are Maori except those of the major cities (everyone groans when I butcher another Maori name despite my best efforts). All the formal events we have been to are opened by a Maori welcome. Also most institutions, even if they are pakeha, have a “Kumatua”. This is a Maori elder or advisor, sort of in the role of a chaplain.

I am starting to explore how and why there is such a different ethic here. So far I have uncovered a bunch of things. The Maori never lost on the battle field where they fought aggressively against the British. There were heavy casualties on both sides.  They were instead marginalized from the huge numbers of British landing and through the devastation of population loss due to no immunity to European germs. They also all spoke the same language, united in the face of the British invasion, and were more settled on land. They “missed out” on residential schools and an “Indian Act” though there was a lot of racism and discrimination. A strong aggressive posture won them more respect from the British even if there are lots of challenges and social issues before them today. Something to think about.

Magic in the Gardens

At the end of the last post I noted the Sustainable Garden presentation at the Hamilton Gardens just five minutes away by bike. Ginny had told me about it so I added it in the blog and then thought some pictures would be nice and I went off to see it. My head was so blown away by my garden adventure that I decided to leave the last post alone and save my further reflections for this one. Ginny had told me the gardens were amazing, but of course seeing is believing. The Sustainable Backyard garden was superb, lots of displays on backyard aquaculture, composting, crop rotation, etc. The whole thing is maintained by the Hamilton Permaculture Society and provides a wonderful demo and model of what can be grown in a small backyard for the whole city to see, and believe me, the whole city sees it. The parking lots were overflowing and people were everywhere— all ages and cultures. A pack of four year olds was watching the chickens and running in circles all about. Teens were hanging out on the paths and twenty somethings were walking about in couples and clumps. Then there were us older folks, a mother and a 14 year old, and some that were significantly older than me! There were anglo Kiwis, women in saris and a good dose of Chinese. These gardens were not just for the snooty but the preserve of all sorts of people— the whole commuity. It did not take long to figure out why.

The gardens are pure magic, the best interpretive environmental education centre I have ever been in, though that was not explicitly the intention. Around every corner was a new garden ecosystem with greenery, water forms, statues that drew you in and evoked surprise, wonder and beauty. There were no plant name tags, only one or two simple descriptive signs for each large garden with no images on them. The clear message was that the gardens would speak for themselves, and each garden was a snapshot of a particular place and time, portraying that culture’s philosophy and view of nature and beauty. They present each garden as a story, and everyone knows I am a sucker for stories. Sure enough, the Sustainable Backyard was there because of its educational mission, but it was also there because represented an important 21^st century philosophical view of nature. 

So here are some pictures of just a few angles on of the gardens… and remember this is free all year round, and supported by a city half the size of Halifax. Whoever designed the gardens had to have read the famous architectural design book called "Pattern Language", because they have every basic principle of good architectural design I could think of built in. The sign for the Chinese scholars garden is the only interpretation in that garden. When I read it, my next thought is I want to go see it!

Then you look up... and who would not be a sucker for this entrance. It was amazing inside but my camera could not do it justice...

Here is the short intro to the 17th century Mogul garden...

And here is the garden!

The Japanese dry zen garden.

And so with all this beauty, how did they get the expoitation of nature as a commodity across as a contrast to the Sustainable Backyard? There is nothing better than a 1950s California American garden...

So several hours evaporated quickly as I wandered about and sat in various places taking it in. Fittingly a blue kingfisher was catching minnows in the Zen water garden, a unique New Zealand kingfisher... most all the birds in New Zealand are unique. Ultimately, it was time to head home for supper so out to the parking lot I went to fetch my bike... but then there were a whole mess of white tents across from the parking lot. The sign said Haka... What could this be? In I went and it quickly became apparent that the wild adventures in the Gardens were not anywhere near being done... but that must wait for the next post.

Why not in Canada?

New Zealand is an interesting place in that is very similar to Canada (affluent, small population, English-speaking, commonwealth country with an economy highlighting commodity production and tourism), so you sort of expect things to always be the same but then you stumble into differences. It makes you ask, if it can happen here, why not in Canada? The cutest example this week was the gift pack we received for hooking up the electricity with a local power company (Meridian, check out the web site at Meridianenergy.co.nz if you are interested). We just signed up because someone said this is a good company to call (there are multiple power companies). So yesterday I came home to a box awaiting us on the step. It was from Meridian and it included a compost bucket made of recycled plastic with a mix of eco-green cleaning supplies and soap in it. With it was a welcome card. It was a recycled Meridian Christmas card. Above the printed holiday message was a hand written note, and I quote:

“Hi There!

Thanks for joining Meridian. As you can see we don’t believe in wasting anything— even these left over 2007 Christmas cards came in handy. It is all part of being a New Zealand owned, 100% renewable energy company. Anyway, it’s great to have you on board. Have a happy… Err… day.”

The last line is a reference to the printed holiday greeting below in which the “holiday” in the wish for a “sustainable holiday’ has been crossed out and replaced by “day.”

Other examples… 80% of the produce in the grocery store is grown in New Zealand. There are local bakeries in every neighbourhood (across the street from us—yum) and just up the way is a bulk food store specializing in organic stuff at prices that seem quite similar to the supermarket. We are in the midst of a huge dairy and meat producing agricultural region. All the animals are free-range, grass fed in fenced pastures with animals moving from one pasture to another regularly. Manure just falls on the pasture (ok so the river through the city is not clean). Given the climate, there are no barns or feedlots. All in all, it is a lot easier to eat more sustainably. Mind you, New Zealanders love their meat and dairy and those cows fart a lot, but not as much as Canadian feedlots. Oh yes, at the fancy Hamilton Botanical Gardens, one of the demo gardens is a sustainable organic one including a mini-chicken tractor with the chickens in it. How about that for the Irving Centre?

Of course they could learn a bit from us too. The older houses are not insulated with single pane glass, and winters are cool though not Canadian cold. Also, you take your life into your hands when you step off a curb, and I never step, I run across the street after calculating I can get to the other side before the oncoming car runs me over. Cars fatally ran over bicyclists 5 days in a row last summer in the country. So all is not better on this side of the world… but they have a lot to teach us.

Ki Ora...

Welcome to Our New Zealand/Aotearoa blog… A brief chronicle of some of our adventures in New Zealand over the next 8 months. Unlike WarPoTay Adventures, it will not be daily, but hopefully it will still share some of the places we visit and the people we meet in a fun and informal way.

So, we’ve been here nearly two weeks and we have a new home in the middle of Hamilton with most things we need, a car to get outside of the city with, and two bicycles! I have an office at the University of Wakaito (a short walk from the house) and we have started to explore this world and adjust to our new kiwi lifestyle, like driving on the other side and remembering that the warm afternoon sun comes from the North, and that it is Spring!

Our house...

Sunset from the living room window...

Much seems familiar but then we constantly make cultural mistakes or identify ourselves as North Americans in gauche ways. You do not take a university course, rather it is a “paper.” And there is always the question… “Why do North Americans always carry around travel mugs, why don’t they just use the real cups that are already waiting for them at the cafes? And then there are the expressions… “togs”, to go “flatting,” “he’s just a box of fluffyducks,” “we’re cooking with gas” and “Bob’s your uncle.” Oh my. How many of those can you non-Kiwis understand?

A few pictures from last weekends adventures…

Raglan, an amazing nearby beach

Surf's up... 

This weekend has been lots of “tramping” in the “bush.” Today we headed off to the launch of NZ Conservation Week festivities at a campsite, which was a 3km walk from the road. The weather report was for a major rainstorm and sure enough it started raining as we headed out to the car. We figured we would be the only ones there, how many Canadians would walk 6 km round trip in the rain on a Sunday morning, for a welcome speech, a bit of music and a hot dog. In fact there were about 50 folks, this is NZ and they take their tramping seriously. We stayed through for a guided walk in the rainforest and a trip through a neat limestone cave. Along the way we had the undivided attention of the 2^nd interpreter who told us lots about the forest and some of the environmental issues here (Conservation officials seem freer to speak their minds here without Stephen Harper gagging them). New Zealand is spectacularly beautiful and it is very “green” as in the actual colour, but when one starts talking to folks one realizes that it is not the green philosophical place that the world perceives of it and it likes to portray. Of course it is better than Canada, but that is not saying much of anything. It is amazing how much of the forest is gone around here, even if what is left is spectacular.

The problems with invasive species are absolutely enormous. Specifically the rats, stouts and possums (brought here by the Polynesian ancestors of the Maori and the Europeans), can quickly eradicate most of the native birds in an area as the birds have not evolved defenses to ward them off. What is to be done? Lose all the bird species or try to control the rats and the possums. So they are putting out toxic poison pellets for the mammals in large areas to control them. But though they can kill them relatively quickly, the rats in particular rapidly reproduce and return within a year. Do you do this forever? Many conservationists seem to support the programs but we have not heard the alternative views as yet. HMMM, quite a mess (that’s our happy environmental thought for today).

After our guided walk, we did a beautiful hike in the rain up a stream to the tallest Kahikatea tree in New Zealand (66 metres). We are sure that Golum was running along beside us, hidden from view and occasionally peering out— that was the feel of the place.  Every time we turn a corner or see a new landscape, we recognize it from Lord of the Rings (so I guess Hollywood does define our reality). The bush (forest in Kiwi) is stunning with all sorts of fern trees and exotic leafy tree species, many of which do not exist anywhere else in the world. The forest is dark, I felt like we needed flashlights to navigate at mid-day given the gray today. Even yesterday, which was sunny, only the occasional shaft of light lit up the forest floor. We saw a good number of birds but it was hard to make out their colours in the dim light. Unfortunately rainforest pictures must wait as I forgot my camera yesterday and it was too wet for a camera today.

A view of the "Shire", the real Shire set is only 30 minutes away.

Alan