May 24, 2005
Haere mai!
Last week we were invited to participate in a Maori welcome ceremony. This is a ceremony between the host and guest when visiting a marae, or meeting house. The ceremony starts on the lawn in front of the marae, as you can see in the photo below. (The photo was taken after the ceremony, no pictures were allowed during.) The visitors stand in a tight group, women in front, men behind. This shows the hosts that they do not intend aggression. The senior woman from the host group calls out a greeting to the guests, which is answered by a woman from the visiting group. Often before they enter the marae a warrior from the host tribe, or iwi, will place a gift which is picked up by the chief of the visitors. Before entering the marae you remove your shoes as a symbol of respect. When greetings have been exchanged, the visitors enter the marae, women seated on the right, men on the left. Then a member of the host tribe will stand and give a speech, which is followed by a song. The visitors have a speaker and a song as well. This goes back and forth for a while, depending on how many speakers there are. After the speeches, a prayer and the meal.
Our friend Ray invited us to the marae for the ceremony. He is a missionary with Island Breeze and we’ve been able to spend some time with Ray and his wife Shaneane learning about what they do. It has been so exciting and interesting to hear about their work with different cultures and how they spread the gospel message. We are beginning to look at culture as God’s handprint. Just as He designed the mountains and valleys, he designed the cultures of the world to teach us about Himself.
Posted by at 7:04 pm
Great comparison of culture and nature, Erica… I like that a lot!Sounds like a very fun (and interesting) experience!
timsamoff () (URL) - May 24, 2005 at 10:28 pm
