Museum Blog

My feather-down jacket and marino thermals, indicative of the dawning of Puanga; the Māori New Year; were happily exchanged for SUNglasses, SUNscreen and SUN Francisco, the first port of call in my June excursion overseas.

San Francisco is as beautiful and laid-back as its inhabitants and so our group fit right in. We were en route to Rapid City, South Dakota, but the lack of seating on flights necessitated a brief – but wonderful – stop over. 

Māori on San Francisco tuk tuk, Pier 39

Sightseeing with the bus driver who was so cool, she dropped us back near the underground subway station.

This haerenga (jaunt) was instigated by Dr Timoti Karetū QSO, a stalwart supporter of Total Immersion Learning techniques. Well known for his passion for excellence in te reo Māori and his focus on the development of competent speakers he has been prominent in initiatives like the establishment of Kohanga Reo: Pre-school Language Nests, Kura Kaupapa Māori and Wharekura: Total Immersion Primary and Secondary Schools, Te Taurawhiri i te Reo Māori: Māori Language Commission, and Te Panekiretanga i te Reo Māori: The Institute of Excellence in the Māori Language.

His expertise has been internationally sought after by indigenous kin of the world fighting for the continued existence of their respective dialects. For the past four years, he has been invited to be the keynote speaker at Lakota, Dakota, Nakota and Mohigan conferences.

Dr Timoti  Karetū

Keen to provide our Native American relations with examples of the level of fluency achievable by implementing Immersive Methodologies, Dr Karetū invited graduates of his most intensive language course; Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo Māori; to accompany him to the USA. The aphorism of this higher school of learning is: 

“Ko te reo kia rere, ko te reo kia tika, ko te reo kia Māori”

This could loosely be translated as - no matter what, no matter where, exemplary Māori is the only language we employ when addressing other Māori speaking peers. This is something we choose to do, and it is heavily enforced - by pride! Dr Karetū wanted our Native American relations to see how natural this could be, no matter what the setting. He also realised that we, as second-language learners, could be helpful to those trying to teach second-language learners by sharing our vastly different stories of why we began to learn, what drove us to continue learning despite adversities, trial and error approaches to learning, to how language is implemented nowadays within our careers.

And so, our entourage of 21 second-language learners of Māori and 4 first-language speakers of te reo Māori, flew to America for a cultural survival exchange of learning and hope.

In Rapid City we were hosted by Karen Little Wounded and her partner Joseph Iron Thunder.

 Joseph Iron Thunder and Karen Little Wounded, our hosts

Our main purpose here was to meet with Lakota Language Scholars and Teachers.  We listened to their triumphs and concerns, methods and dreams. We offered a series of synopsis of different forums we are employed in – from pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary immersion, to curriculum writing and composing language resources, to 5-10 yr tribal language revitalisation initiatives and plans, to Māori language media, to changing old negative attitudes for a positive outlook. This was well received and opened a torrent of questions. Despite dividing into smaller groups to allow more people to pose their questions and gain answers, we ran out of time to answer them all. Thank goodness for email and facebook.

Albert WHite Hat, Lakota Elder, Teacher and Author

In between these sessions we were privileged to visit some areas of iwi (tribal) importance. 

Karen offers up a Lakota song to tatanka - buffalo. This was the first time that her and Joseph had seen live tatanka, and we were very lucky to be there with them.

Some of the places we visited were the Black Hills with its tribute to Chief Crazy Horse, Triple U Buffalo Ranch – where Dances with Wolves was filmed, Pine Ridge Reservation, a Native American Art Exhibition at Red Cloud Indian School where we were meet by local historian Wilmer who guided us to Wounded Knee.

Ascending onto Wounded Knee to offer our tributes.

This would have to be the ‘emotional highlight’ of our trip, the scene of a most terrible massacre. Here we offered karakia - traditional Māori prayers, mihi - tributes and poroporoakī - farewells to a proud but persecuted people after they had sought sanctuary and refuge unde the white flag of surrender.

Karanga, ngeri, mihi and auē resound as we enter Wounded Knee

The urupā, burial ground. The large strip up the middle is the mass grave

After leaving Rapid City we were hosted at Eagle Butte, the home of our two hosts, for a meal and a short cultural exchange before continuing on to Standing Rock Reservation.

Thunder and bucketing rain broke over Sitting Bull College just as we pulled up.  Both Lakota and Māori held this as a blessing and an auspicious beginning to the Lakota Summer Institute – even though it delayed the welcoming ceremony a bit.  After about 10 minutes of a pounding downpour, the shower stopped and the clouds parted, the air smelled wonderful and the prairie showed a deeper green. 

Three large tipis were set up in an outdoor space the size of a football field behind the College, with everyone gathered in front of them.

Paraone, Kīngi and Tūpoutahi getting ready for the welcome

We ascended ‘Māori style’. Karanga - traditional calls of welcome - resounding o’er the gathering, goose-bumps soon turned to fear as the bellowing cry beginning our ngeri - short, free-style posture dance - rang out. With various rākau - weapons - and a recently acquired tomahawk expertly swinging, quivering hands flying, pūkana - dilated and flashing eyes - accompanying the ngeri, we moved forward, voices lifting to a crescendo to acknowledge and honour our hosts. We were later told that we were extremely frightening. Whether it be ‘inspirational’ or ‘frightening’, I consider that a compliment!

Here come the Māori!

An elder welcomed us in Lakota, we replied in Māori. The exchange of koha - gifts  was done to the rhythmic beating of a large drum by 5 men singing a traditional song of welcome, which invited us into the tipi and the human circle of warmth at Lakota Language Consortium at Sitting Bull College. 

Over the next few days we were invited to interact in different ways. We had a couple of presentation/question and answer sessions with different classes within the forum. Some of our group were interviewed for their documentary. We joined into classes, and at one stage some of us became ‘prospective Lakota student guinea pigs’, where we were used to test the teaching skills of aspiring or beginner Total Immersion language teachers.

The Māori Lakota Class - can you tell who is who?

I enjoyed that session immensely. We were only allowed to speak in Māori or Lakota – which suited us fine, they were only to speak Lakota. Our ambitious teachers standing in pairs to teach us, were visible flustered when we seemed not to understand them and begun furiously speaking in Māori to each other to see if anyone in our collective knew what was going on. Afterwards we were invited to give feedback. Education, broadcasting, politics, doctors, strategists and iwi exponents make up the professions of our group, but most of us have also been Total Immersion teachers of the Māori language for years now, and so we knew what sorts of anxieties they had, and we were happy to help, to encourage….and to learn!

“Āwhina emaċiyapi.  Āotearoa, Whanganui el wati.”

It was at Sitting Bull that our tutor, Dr Timoti Karetū was  made a Lakota whāngai (adopted member) of their Nation, an immense honour presented in a ceremony that we were proud to witness. He was adorned with an eagle feather given a prized star quilt, a drum and beater and bestowed with the name Paha Haᶇskaska – The Long Ridge. We responded on his behalf with karanga and haka ( posture dance with actions) – with all the energy of our first ascent, to thank them for their highest tribute to our tutor, their latest son.

Getting ready to make Timoti an honorary Lakota. No photos were allowed during the actually ceremony.

On our last evening we performed a bracket of Māori action song, haka and  poi (ball on a string struck rhythmically against the body in various graceful movements), with all the power, melodic sweetness and vigour we could muster to toast our hosts.

Performing for our hosts at Standing Rock Reservation

They responded by gifting us a star blanket each. Tears rolled down our faces as we lined up to accept their prized gifts, all lovingly stitched by the community.

Some of the beautiful Star Blankets that we were all gifted. Sooo lucky!

Its seems that the busy throng of a huge cities like Minneapolis and Minnesotta drowns out the melodic lilt of the indigenous tongue, and this was a bit of a sad shock for us. Hardships had befallen some of the group that were to host us here, and so all but one of the proposed events that we were to attend did not occur.  We entertained ourselves for a couple of days until our excursion to the Dakota Language and Health Services Centre where we were invited for breakfast. A humble building in the middle of the destitute side of town was full of warm and open people, who were excited to host us and share stories and skills. We were taught to make beaded medicine pouches, sitting in more intimate circles of Māōri and Dakota, which meant that conversations, questions and song flowed freely.

Oahu, Hawaii was our last stop. Our tutor had studied Hawaiin many years ago, gaining fluency in 6 months. He helped them set up their Punaga Leo: Hawaiin Language Nest Pre-schools and Kula Kaiapuni: Hawaiin Immersion Primary Schools and in February-March some of their top language exponents were hosted by us in Aotearoa, as they are interested in developing a Hawaiin version of Te Panekiretanga o te Reo Māori. They wished to reciprocate the hospitality, and to offer their students the opportunity to converse and integrate with us.

The Hawaiin language is as beautiful as its lands and its people! When in Hawaii (or any Pacific Island) I always look for fluent speakers to converse with, it’s amazing how many similarities there are. A luau (feast with entertainment) was held, and we spent the time networking with professionals of similar ilk, tangata Māori o Aotearoa (Māori/indigenous people of Aotearoa/New Zealand) and  kanaka Māoli o Hawaii (Māoli/ indigenous  people of Hawaii) each speaking our own dialect; pausing briefly when we could understand a word or phrase. We entertained each other in keeping with our respective traditions and left Hawaii knowing we would meet again soon. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful, magical and eye-opening excursion.

I have many people to thank, and I am hesitant to name names, lest I miss someone out! But I would like to thank all those who helped me to get there – my parents and friends; who looked after my children while I was away; and the Whanganui Regional Museum, who are a great team – especially at recognising opportunities, and helping people to achieve them. I would like to thank all those that we meet on this trip, who shared something of themselves with us. I hope that we too shared something that you can remember, and that we will see each other again or keep in contact.

I am the product of all who I have meet – thank you for making me a better, stronger and more educated person.  Nā te ngākau iti – from the most humblest of hearts – Āwhina Twomey.