Spirit of the Land

This land is my home

where the naked mountains caress

the sky

and the veins of hills run to the sea.

This land is my home

where I’ll live alone until 

            my hair grows white

            and my bones grow old

then I’ll hang my spirit on tree tops

to provide a cushion of coolness

for children who gather round

evening fires.

By Makiutii Tongia (Cook Islands)

Complete the following tasks on refill or on your weebly:

1.      Which of these three adjectives best describes the poet’s feeling for his country? Give a reason for your choice.

-         Bitter

-         Proud

-         Sad

2.      From the first stanza, write down the line that describes the rivers.

3.      Which line is repeated in the poem? 

4.      Repetition is one way a poet can draw our attention to an important word or idea. Why has Makiutii Tongia drawn our attention to this line?

5.      Write down the lines from the second stanza that describe what the poet feels he will leave behind after he dies.

6.      How do these lines suggest that the poet feels there is a link between our ancestors and the next generation of children?

7.      The first stanza describes the land as if it is like a human body: ‘the naked mountains caress the sky and the veins of hills run to the sea.’ Explain why this idea is important in the poem.

Responding to the Text

Think about these questions:

Where do you feel most at ‘home’? Why?

Where is your favourite place? Why?

Brainstorm places that you feel a strong emotional connection to. 

In pairs, you discussed what you knew about how Maori people came to New Zealand.  You didn't seem to know very much! You all seemed to say the same thing which was that you thought Maori people travelled here by waka a long time ago.

This is the article I read in class that you listened to and then you mapped the journey to New Zealand of Maori people. http://maaori.com/people/maoriara.htm

Once we had done this you could all write down three things that you learned from hearing the article about how Maori people did come to New Zealand.

 

After thinking about your favourite place to be on Waitangi day, and having looked at how Vivienne used the five senses to bring her poem to life, I want you to write a DESCIPTION of your favourite place to be on Waitangi day. Write these descriptions on your creative writing page on your blog.
Try to include the five senses and describe in detail so that somebody else reading your piece of writing could imagine what you are describing.

1.      What date is Waitangi Day and what is its significance to New Zealand?

2.      Identify at least three languages used in the poem.

3.      List at least four types of food for sale.

4.      Use the details in the poem to copy and complete this chart:

In Porirua on Waitangi Day you can:

See…

Hear…

Smell…

Taste…

Touch…

and you will understand that…

5.      Waitangi Day commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, which symbolised the two races of Maori and Pakeha joining together to share one land. Vivienne Plumb does not mention the treaty in her poem, but she begins by saying she feels as if she is ‘inside the body’ of the land.

a.      How does the poem show her view of what New Zealand is like today?

b.      What is so special about the Waitangi Day she shows us?

c.       In what way does her poem celebrate Waitangi Day?

Waitangi Day, Porirua   By Vivienne Plumb

The best place to be on Waitangi

Day is Porirua, and I gaze

up and the clouds right above me have

elongated themselves, so they resemble

ribs, and I look out as if I am

inside the body. Tahi, rua,

two moons in one small month and they are

calling them blue. Paua fritters three

dollars, big yellow blow-up bouncy

castle, flax bangles, sausage on a

stick, watermelon, eight guys in a

Waka on the still lagoon. Bhuja.*                 *An Indian snack of toasted spicy nuts   

An Indian woman sells me bhuja.

Porirua reggae is the best.

It is Bob Marley’s birthday, stir it

up little darlin. The men wearing

lava lava beat the drums, the kids

jump in the fountain, hangi be quick

only four dollars for a good feed.

Tī Kōuka, a symbol for our city

Imagine a distant past where the mist and fog shrouded flatlands, spreading out towards the sea, rich with bird and water life.

There were few landmarks emerging from the mists of what was then essentially swampland. If the hills were obscured by weather there was no way of knowing where you were. That is if it were not for the tī kōuka (cabbage trees) that were carefully planted in significant places to mark out routes across the land like green spiky beacons.

Tī kōuka were prized trees for the Māori of Te Wai Pounamu. Aside from their use as navigational markers, they provided the favoured fibre for fishing due to superior strength and the kōuru or new shoots were an important source of protein in a land where kūmara was difficult if not impossible to grow.

The site of the ancient Waitaha pā, Puari on the banks of Ōtākaro (Avon River) is home to a very old stand of cabbage trees that cluster together in an enduring circle. These trees are the mokopuna (grandchildren) of a great tī kōuka who grew in their place before them. These mokopuna today mark out the circumference of the ancient tree from which they sprung. They are a living memorial to their ancestor.

The growth pattern of the tī kōuka mirrors the concept of whakapapa and the connectedness of tribal and local history. Our ancestors are closer to us than we may think. The land around us is imbued with their histories. While we cannot go back, we can learn from those who were here before us. Our present is formed out of our past. In turn, our future is born of our present.

A greater understanding of the important places of our past will nurture us and our futures.

  By Terry Ryan

Mihi›
Mihimihi are introductory speeches which take place at the beginning of a gathering after the more formal pōwhiri. Mihimihi are generally in Te Reo Māori and can be given by females and males.
›Mihimihi establish links with other people present. Mihimihi involve individuals standing to introduce themselves by sharing their whakapapa (genealogy, ancestral ties) and other relevant information. It is important for Māori to know and to share their whakapapa - to know one’s whakapapa is to know one’s identity.
›Mihimihi can vary in length depending on the reason for the gathering, how well the individuals at the hui know each other and their links to one another.
›A person will usually identify specific geographical features associated with their tribal area including their maunga (mountain), awa (river) and moana (sea). They may also identify their waka (ancestral canoe), hapū (sub tribe), iwi (tribe), marae and an eponymous ancestor. This information is considered more important than the individual’s own name which may be the last piece of information given in mihimihi.

In the first lesson I introduced myself to you as a mihi and then you all went around the room and introduced yourselves and told us a little about your whakapapa. Well done everybody for speaking so clearly to the whole class.

Aims of the Introductory Unit

• You will develop your understanding of what diversity means and will think about the advantages of diversity for our class, our school and our country.
• You will demonstrate the importance of respecting other class members
• You will speak in front of the whole class
• You will communicate information about your cultural heritage
• You will explore the cultural heritage of Burnside High School
• You will write a description of a place that is important to you
• You will begin to have an understanding of key features of descriptive writing
• You will draw a representation of your ancestral history and/or migration to NZ
• You will learn some key words/ concepts of Te Reo