Ngati Raukawa Marae                                     

On Wednesday the 14th of June the students and staff of Waitohu School are going to visit Ngati Raukawa Marae on the Kapiti coast in Otaki , Mill Road. The students and staff from  Waitohu School who  belong to the Ngati Raukawa Marae are leaving slightly earlier than the students and staff who do not belong to Ngati Raukawa Marae, So that the people who belong to Ngati Raukawa Marae can welcome the rest of the school to their Marae. I am feeling nervous because I have never been to a Marae and I have no Maori heritage, but I am also excited because I think I will really enjoy it at the Ngati Raukawa Marae.

On Wednesday the fourteenth of June 2023 Waitohu school visited Te Ngati Raukawa Marae. At ten o’clock a bell rang to tell the teachers to get their classes to line up on the court. When we got to the court we lined up in our class lines and went out to the buses. My class room ( RM 12) got split up in the different buses because there were not enough buses for us to have one by ourselves. I was on a bus with Room 5. The room 12 kids on the bus I went on were Kiri, Keeana, Kahu, Christi-may and Bailey. I sat next to Bailey and we played one round of chopsticks and then sang waiata for the rest of the bus ride. When we got there we had to wait outside the fire station and lots of the juniors were crowded around the glass looking at the fire trucks.

 

When we went into the marae the wahine were at the front and the tama were at the back so they would be at the front in the whare tupuna. After we went in the gate whaea Kim did the Karanga and some students from Te- kura-a- Iwi o Whakatupuranga Rua Mano were doing a kapa haka performance for us while we entered the marae. After we went through the gate we took our shoes off and went into the whare tupuna.

 

While we were in the whare tupuna Matua Rahwhiri made a speech which I could only pick up a couple of words from because it was in Maori. After that matua Kahura did some talking and then there was another speaker. Then Matua Rawhiri spoke again. After that matua said we should file out the front door to the whare Kai and had some morning tea. I had A jelly, A pie, Two sausages and a bread bun. After morning tea we did some activities. The school was split into two groups. Room 12 was doing poi first and then we went to Matua Kahura and learnt about Mukakai. After