For Māori the reappearance of the Matariki stars signals a time for remembrance, joy and peace.  To think of the year that has passed and the year ahead, to remember all our loved ones that have passed on over the year and it's a time for whanau and communities to come together and celebrate.  This year at Kuranui College we wanted to celebrate Matariki by coming together and sharing kai as a whole school. What better kai to share than to have a traditionally cooked hangi.

So on Wednesday 22nd of July the entire Kuranui teaching and support staff were joined by a contingency of over 30 senior students and headed out to Papawai Marae for the afternoon.  After our Powhiri and an afternoon cup of tea our senior students along with a handful of remaining teachers settled in for a noho marae.  Our sights were set on the mammoth task of preparing a 400 portion hangi that would feed the whole school for lunch time the next day.

Throughout the evening everyone got stuck in, peeling over 60kg of potatoes and 30kg of kumara, cutting up copious amounts of pumpkin and onion and painstakingly breaking up over 30 loaves of bread into teeny tiny crumbs for our stuffing.  To break up the grind of preparations we were privileged to have Herewini Ammunson join us to provide our senior students with a historical overview of the Marae.

The next day it was an early morning wake-up call with alarms set at 4am to begin cooking our Hangi. After final preparations of all our veggies, stuffing and meat we laid our baskets in the ground to cook our kai for the students and staff back at school.  

While we waited for our kai to cook we cleaned the marae, had an impromptu Kapa Haka session, cut and buttered over 25 loaves of rewana bread and were joined by Wikitoria Burdon who gave the students a presentation on Matariki.

Pulling up the hangi was a special moment. We took time to remember our loved ones that had passed and then the boys got stuck in uncovering and lifting our kai. There are no words to explain the feeling of pulling into school with kai prepared by the students to feed all those that were at school.

What a way to celebrate Matakiri!!! 

It truly was a special time out at the Marae and could not have happened without the assistance of so many people, a huge thanks to all those involved especially Mr Kingi who provided our boys with the tikanga of cooking a hangi, our mana whenua at the marae who provided guidance and support throughout our stay, Herewini Ammunson and Wikitoria Burdon for coming and talking with our students, Fallprotect Scaffolding for donating our pork and rewana bread and lastly to all those students who were out at the Marae, you were all amazing and you made our school proud with all you have accomplished.

Hutia te rito o te harakeke, kei hea rā te kōmako e kō?

Kī mai ki ahau, he aha te mea nui o te Ao?

Māku e kī atu, he tangata, he tangata, he tangata.

If you were to pluck out the centre of the flax bush, where would the bellbird sing?

If you were to ask me, "What is the most important thing in the world?"

I would reply, "It is people, people, people."

Article added: Tuesday 02 August 2022

Article written by Hine Toko Isaac