Hello everyone and welcome to our New segment! Today I'm introducing a new co-host, Simon.

Kiaora!

Hi Simon. First of all, let me briefly introduce Simon to all of you. Simon is my friend for ages. He is New Zealander/ British, dual nationality, and then he had experience of working for the New Zealand government and now you own a company servicing local governments in New Zealand.

That is correct.

And he also has extensive experience living in East Asian countries; actually he speaks quite good Chinese.

Being modest. So today we're going to have a chat with Simon about something relating to New Zealand. So when I said hi, when I said hello to you, you said to me...?

Kiaora.

Kiaora. Is it KIAORA?

Yeah, that's correct.

I heard that from other New Zealanders as well. But that doesn't sound like English. What is it?

So Kiaora is Maori or Tereo, the native language of New Zealand.

Maori, for a lot of Chinese, this is still like a very very unfamiliar culture and we know it's from New Zealand, native New Zealand, so they were originally from Polynesia?

Well some people think they're originally from China.

Oh really?

Yeah, depending on who you talk to, there isn't one single definitive answer, but many Maori people believed that they originated from China, starting off on mainland China, then moving into the islands. In fact the Maori people say hariki nui, hariki rua, hariki ko mama which basically translates as originating from big land mass, down through a long land mass, possibly Southeast Asia and then across the island, smaller island and masses. So that's the origin story of the Maori.

Okay, that's actually the first time I heard about that. So talking about Maori, I've actually been to New Zealand before and I saw obviously saw and met Maori people. I have to say for me the first impression is they look quite intimidating; they are quite big strong people and then have all these painting or so, on their faces.

To Moko, or the tattoos.

So why do they have those tattoos? Is it for them to look intimidating?

No no, not to be intimidating. The tattoos actually tell a story. They tell about the background of the individual, so who they are, who their parents are, what family unit they belong to, what tribe...

So it's kind of like a family tree on your face.

That's correct. Yeah.

So that is what the face tattoo is about. By the way, how many Maori people are there in New Zealand?

Well the, at the last census which was in 2013, there's around fifteen percent of the population identified as Maori. That would have increased, not, not a lot, but I would say probably it's more like to be, likely around seventeen or eighteen percent today.

So it is increasing, the population is actually going up.

Yes the Maori population is increasing and the European population is slowly decreasing.

Okay. Do they still stay in their own tribes? Do they still have a tribal culture?

Yes, in Maori and Maori culture, tribes or iwi are quite important. And so people will consider themselves as part of a particular tribe. So we have harpu which is a family, an extended family, a group of harpu would make up an iwi, a tribe.

And people identify very strongly with their tribes.

Yes. Yeah. So someone might say that they come from multiple tribes and that would be because their ancestors came from different tribes. But generally speaking, people would be aligned to one and it's usually geographic. So depending on which city or region you're in, is more likely to be from a particular tribe. And also something interesting is different tribes have different cultural characteristics.

Aren't they all Maori culture?

Yes and no. A lot of the more traditional Maori people do not consider themselves just Maori. They consider themselves Maori and their specific tribe.

Is it a bit like Native Americans? And then you have all these different tribes and then...

Exactly the same. Yes.

So Maori is just the big group, the name given to the big group. And I'm quite curious, so can you find Maori people all over New Zealand, are they concentrated in specific parts of New Zealand?

Yeah. So certain parts of the country have more Maori population than others. Where I lived on the east coast of New Zealand, there is quite a high Maori population. One of the towns where I lived is called apoteki and over half of the population is Maori.

Oh, so you do have those concentrated zones. Um. All right, now Maori culture sounds actually fascinating. Some of the things I observed by watching TV or actually going to New Zealand, for example, apart from the face tattoo, one of the things I noticed is this whole greeting ceremony they have when they touch their nose, put their nose together. What is that about?

So that's called A hongi.

A hongi.

A hongi, it's a little bit like shaking hands.

OK.

But what you do is you have to grab the person's hand, you look into the person, you greet in their eyes and then you touch your noses together.

Okay.

Now you know, you shake hands very easily with anyone. You do hongi with someone that you respect and it's a way of solidifying your, developing your relationship.

It's kind of like a more intimate or more advanced handshake.

That's correct.

So you do hongi with people you met for the first time or?

Yes. I mean you do it with people that you meet for the first time, but also familiar, if you're familiar with someone, you can also do it with them. The concept is you touch your nose and then you're sharing their breath, you're sharing a breath with them and through that...

You have the solidarity.

Coming together. Yeah, yes.

Well you better have good breath for that, better have a minty fresh breath for that.

It helps.

Does it matter if you're younger, older, man or woman?

So respect in Maori culture, it's actually there's a lot of similarities with Northeast Asian cultures. Maori people they respect the elders, they put a lot of emphasis on treating the elders well. So with women, yes they also do the hongi, but sometimes they will do a kissing on each cheek.

Oh so it's becoming a bit more, sort of westernized.

Correct, yes.

And another thing, I mean all these face tattoo you explained, hongi you explained, it sounds so lovely. But one thing I do find intimidating. I have just been watching some rugby. The New Zealand rugby team, they are very strong, like they are all blacks. Yeah they were doing this terrifying, like war dance, right? That's supposed to be Maori before the kickoff.

Yeah. So that's called A haka.

A haka.

A haka. And you're exactly right, it is a war dance.

So it's designed to intimidate the opponents, now seeing on the TV, you think, oh, that looks cool. But to be honest, I'm a New Zealander, I grew up in New Zealand, but I only really experienced a proper haka in real life a few years ago. And this was at a national competition. There was a group of maybe one hundred people, and the power and the energy, I actually seeing they right there in front of me. It was very intimidating, very impressive, really recommended.

I guess you can still see those at some cultural events right? Or like cultural experience center.

Oh absolutely. A lot of Chinese friends when they come to New Zealand, they visit Rotorua. Rotorua is a very famous...

Oh I've been to Rotorua.

Yes you have, yeah. It's a very famous destination, but of course the experience you'll get in Rotorua is more touristy; it's a little bit more oriented for tourists. If you want true, perhaps a more authentic cultural experience, you can visit some of the other communities which are less developed as tourism locations.

But I guess you need to have connections for that.

Well just I think be a bit adventurous.

Oh yeah I guess to explore more.

To explore more. So to jump on a bus and go to a city less explored or rent a car if you can get a license.

And apart from all these cultural practice, they also have their own arts and crafts. I understand they have a lot of carvings. Actually when I was in Rotorua, they have a quite big Maori population, right? So I went to one of the Maori crafts shop and then they were recommending this very special thing to me, it's like a fish hook. So is that a specific Maori thing?

Yes. You're right. So the fish hook it represents good luck and safety. Now generally you get these fish hooks, you can get them in bone, or in your case wood, the one that you've got, however also a green stone, jade. And so I know that many Chinese people they really cherish green stone, jade.

Yeah we do like that.

And Maori people are the same. However jade in New Zealand is slightly different. It's a lot darker. It's a very dark green color.

More like emerald color.

Dark still. Yeah.

So they represent like good luck.

Good luck. Yeah.

Yeah, especially for travelers.

Yes. Come back safely. Yep.

Hence the fish hook. And now moving on to food, do they have special food?

Oh yes.

Foodies like me always asking for special food.

Yeah, we do. As with in Chinese culture, the Maori people, the Maori have their own way of preparing any type of food they eat. Probably the most famous would be the concept of the hangi.

Hangi. Is that a concept? So that's not a specific food.

Well, it's a way of cooking. And it's also a style of meals. So the hangi, you actually cook the food in the ground. So you start off by digging a hole, and you put volcanic rocks. So these are rocks, at the bottom, the rocks keep heat; they hold a lot of heat.

I believe we do have something similar in China. So maybe we do share the same cultural roots.

So you put the rocks down, you light a fire, you heat the rocks up at the same time you're preparing the food. This could be kumura which is sweet potato. You'd have some meat, could be mutton or some other meats. So you'd have all this food and then you'd wrap them up in flax leaves. So I believe in China, you like to, you can wrap food up in leaves as well.

Yeah, in leaves or and also you put mud outside to seal in the heat. So that's a specific way of cooking.

Yes. So I mean that's the same. So the hangi you have the, you make a flax sheet.

Like a wrap.

Yeah exactly, and you put that down, and then you put the soil back on top, and you let it cook over a series of hours, over a period of time.

Oh, that's nice.

It's really delicious. And what's great is it's uh it becomes a family event. So you know the whole family are working together, you know, they're digging the hole, they're burying the food and bring it all up.

Group effort.

It is, it's a really group effort that's bringing people together. It's a really nice experience.

Sounds very nice. So I certainly learned a lot more about Maori culture and I find it a lot less intimidating after you explained everything. So they're very family oriented. They treasure or cherish their origin, their history and this I can truly identify with that.

Perhaps I can finish with one anecdote. I grew up, I was born and grew up in part of New Zealand which is predominantly European. So when I went through elementary school through to high school, I had no introduction to Maori people. In fact in my high school we only had three Maori students.

Wow.

So I couldn't speak any Maori. I didn't know anything about Maori culture and then I left New Zealand, I went overseas, I came to China, I lived in China and I lived in Korea. After many years of being away from New Zealand, I returned and I moved to an area where there was a high Maori population. 54 percent of the population was Maori.

They are the majority.

Yes now at the time when I first got there, I also felt intimidated. I found through not understanding the culture, not understanding the language; I found myself very uncomfortable.

A lot of that is probably just misinterpretation.

Correct, it is, and over my time in that, in that city, in that town, I learnt some Tereo, some Maori language, I learnt the kaah which is the, like the customs, the culture of the way of doing things and now I feel very comfortable in those, in that environment. And I find I'm always surprised just how similar Maori culture and Chinese culture is.

I guess it's, if only everyone can think like that, can try to learn about other cultures rather than start judging them.

Exactly.

The world would be a better place.

Absolutely.

Being more harmonious place.

Yes.

So we're gonna wrap up here, and in the advanced episode, we're gonna talk a little bit about the history and then also like the cultural interaction with European population and also the government's effort to revive or protect Maori culture and perhaps you can also teaches a few phrases in Maori. All right, until next time, bye~

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