Maori Cultural Tours
Rotorua - heart of Maori culture
Visitors to New Zealand are presented with many opportunities to experience Maori culture first-hand in numerous regions of the country. Best known of these is the thermal region of Rotorua in the North Island, where tourists can experience Maori kai (food) cooked on hot stones underground as part of a traditional hangi (earth oven). They can also enjoy a Maori powhiri (welcome ceremony), visit local marae (tribal grounds), listen to kapa haka (traditional performances of song and dance) and relax in the popular thermal pools.
Marae visits
A visit to a marae allows a first-hand experience of Maori culture including powhiri (welcome ceremony), hangi (traditional meal), and performance. An invitation is required to visit a marae and protocol is of the utmost importance. There are many Maori cultural tour operators, all over the country. Start by contacting Tourism New Zealand.
Other places to visit
Auckland War Memorial Museum: For an interpretation of New Zealand's beginnings as part of Gondwanaland, Auckland War Memorial Museum is worth a visit. The museum also features live Maori cultural performances three times a day and tours of the Pacific Island histories, legends and journeys. The Museum was established in 1852, and contains extensive collections of natural history, ethnology and archaeology, New Zealand history, applied arts and photography.
Further Information
Marketing and Communications Manager
Phone + 64 9 309 0443
Email marketing@akmuseum.org.nz
Haka The Legend, National Maritime Museum, Hobson Wharf, Auckland: Maori and Polynesian cultural performances.
Cape Reinga, Northland: A region of cultural and spiritual significance. It is the northern-most tip of New Zealand, where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Oceans meet. In Maori mythology, this is the place from where spirits depart for the after-life.
Arataki Visitors Centre, Waitakere Ranges, Titirangi, Auckland: A place to learn about the history of the land and its indigenous people. Carvings are a dominant feature.
Te Taumata Art Gallery, Finance Plaza, Victoria Street, Auckland. Contemporary Maori art made by Maori artists.
Golden Bay's Golden Moment
Many tourists visit the Nelson area to experience some of the magnificent walks in the region. But behind the scenes is a strong Maori community. The opening in January 2001 of Onetahua Marae in Pohara, in the Tasman Bay area at the top of the South Island, was significant for more reasons than bringing three local Golden Bay iwi (tribes) together on the one marae. It was a symbol of Kiwi DIY (Do It Yourself) attitude and dedication. This saw a former two-classroom school (Tarakohe, which closed in 1985) transformed into a whare whakairo (carved meeting house) with ornate murals and carvings. Much of the work was done by locals on the weekends. The three iwi (tribes) - Ngati Tama, Ngati Rarua and Te Atiawa - now share the marae, which was the inspiration of Maori from outside the bay, such as marae committee chairman Tui Martin. Maori in the area had not been able to have a true marae-based culture until the development of Onetahua. Pa (fortified village) sites and burial grounds (urupa) and other signs of a centuries-old Maori occupation are scattered throughout the bay, including Pohara, but Martin says the new marae gives the mana (dignity, standing) back to the tangata whenua iwi (local tribes of the land), and brings their culture back to them.
Further information:
Tui Martin
Phone +64 3 525 9484
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