Author: Delaney Vetter
Hello World! We are all alive and well here in New Zealand, currently we are hanging out wrangling cattle, chasing sheep, collecting eggs and impatiently waiting for a mama pig to have her babies but our blog is still a couple days behind so let’s rewind to a couple days ago in Raglan.
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Unlike the majority of the trip I woke up dreading today’s activities. I was feeling a bit run down and the slower pace of the last couple days and embracing the “ma te wa” mentality was getting a bit harder for me. Last night we were told we would leave directly after breakfast for several hours of “hard manual labor” and then in the evening we would have what Suzannah described as the most impactful and emotional night of the trip. After the sweat lodge a couple days before I wasn’t sure how ready I was for another intense day. But, to my pleasant surprise, today ended up being one of my favorite days of the trip so far.
Everyone woke up with sleepy eyes and bed head, throwing on clothes and shuffling into the dining room to have a quick breakfast before we left to start our day. We hopped into the vans and drove just a couple minutes outside of Raglan’s main street to the side of the channel where Dr. Carpenter led some activities focused on the environment in New Zealand, what we thought they were doing well and areas we saw as room for improvement, after about 20 minutes of discussion we piled back into the vans to head to Tiaki’s for the “hard manual labor” part of our day.
We pulled up a field with rolling hills and a view of the water. Tiaki, his partner Maddie and their adorable little boy Tawhai greeted us and we gathered in the grass (attempting to avoid cow pies) and we introduced ourselves to Maddie in Maori “our Mehi.” Then Tiaki told us about the land we were sitting on, he shared that he and Maddie purchased it with the hope of turning it back into the lush forest that it once was and for it to produce food and resources for his children and grandchildren. Our job for the day was to continue the work of last years group to help all the trees grow.
The non-native grasses covered all the saplings planted by last year’s UP group so we went through carefully searching for the tiny trees and stomping down the grasses around them to give them room to breathe. What could have been tedious and frustrating, ended up becoming a rescue mission/scavenger hunt which included baby talking to trees from nearly every member of the group. We took a break for lunch which promptly became lunch in the vans as the rain started pouring.
After lunch we said goodbye to Tiaki and his family (and Tawhai Hangied me which was the cutest thing ever!). We drove to a nearby waterfall that now is a popular tourist destination but for the Maori people was a place used for rituals and where people went to grieve. On the walk down to the start of the falls we were in pairs of two and told to discuss the sites or places that are important to us and if we know about their indigenous history. Then we walked solo down 105 steps to the base of the falls, it was a beautiful walk through the trees and a great time to be reflective. The falls were so gorgeous and we all sat there for a while watching the water pour over the rocks and figuring out that if you watch water fall for too long you might get a little dizzy.
We went back to the Marae, prepared dinner and Tiaki came back to run our evening session. He asked us to fill a page with images or symbols of things that were important to us and that feed our “Manna.” Everyone put a ton of care into their drawings, coloring mountains, families, friends, the ocean or anything else that was meaningful to them. After a brief dinner break we gathered in a circle and Tiaki began to pass around a document and asked us to each read one of the paragraphs and pass it along.
Each paragraph described a law enacted by colonizers in New Zealand regarding Maori people. They ranged from land rights to language to breast-feeding. Nearly every aspect of Maori life and culture was affected by the colonists. With each law spoken, Tiaki told us to rip off of piece of our drawing. By the end of the list, our drawings were in pieces, a symbol for the way colonization ripped apart the most essential parts of indigenous people here in New Zealand.
What made this experience even more gut wrenching was that in every law I saw striking similarities to the history of the indigenous people of the U.S. It wasn’t surprising but it was a wake-up call from Tiaki that while it is amazing to gain a deeper understanding of indigenous perspectives in New Zealand, many of us don’t even know the names of the tribes that were once on the lands we call home, much less about their culture, way of life or language.
We all went outside under the stars and discussed the evening and it was apparent to me that the group felt inspired, angry, hopeful and frustrated all at the same time.
Once thing Tiaki has said to us is to know where we come from and now that means a lot more than just the name of a city, it means taking the time to acknowledge the land we are on and its history. I hope to bring this mentality back to my life in the U.S. and I think I can speak for the group when I say that being able to immerse ourselves, even if it is only for a couple weeks, into the Maori culture will create change in many aspects of our lives.
p.s. Hi friends and family! I am alive and well, eating lots of bread and as much Cadbury as I can find when we have access to stores JCan’t wait to see/talk to you all so so soon!