The trip to the Marae
Last week, my class(Toroa) walked to our Waitara local Marae.
At the entrance to the Marae, there is a carved entranceway. The carvings tell the story of how Whaitara got its name.
When my class walked in, a light shower of rain started so we walked to shelter. The shelter we walked to was called the Tari. We were under the Tari for about ten minutes then the rain stopped. We then walked around and we saw Whaea Tiri.
There was a circle thing in the middle and Whaea Tiri told us that the circle part in the middle was called the Marae Atea. She explained it was called Marae Atea because there was once a building there but it got taken away by the non-maori. This is also a place where visitors get welcomed onto the marae.
Whaitara Nui a Ngarue was the 2nd place at the Marae we visited. Something we learnt about Whaitara Nui a Ngarue was that it was made in 1886 and rebuilt in 1986. The short name for the building was Ngarue.
The next place we visited was called Ko Tama Wahine. It was a new building that was made 3 years ago. On the building were some patterns called ‘patiki’ or flounders. One thing I learnt about this building was it’s for women.
Then we walked to Ko Tama Tane, the next building. This building was opened during March 1916. This building is a bit like Ko Tama Wahine but this building was for the men so they could rest.
We then went to Te Ika a Maui. At the top of Te Ika a Maui was carved Maui Tikitiki and Maui Pomare and at the bottom was Wiremu Kingi Te Rangitake. We got to go in Te Ika a Maui inside were photos, carved men and patterns. Whaea AJ then talked to us about the patterns and how it is reflection and translation.
We walked over to the statue of sir Maui Pomare and as we were walking there we saw the bell and Whaea Tiri said that the bell can only be rang if there was an emergency and if you ring the bell and there is no emergency your parents have to pay a big fine. Then we actually walked to the statue of sir Maui Pomare and then Whaea Tiri said do you know where sir Maui Pomare died. We told Whaea Tiri all of the things we knew about sir Maui Pomare.
I enjoyed my day there and I look forward to going there again to learn more.
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