My Pepeha

As I have grown older I have become more interested and more appreciative of te ao Māori. After all it is the culture of Aotearoa New Zealand, home grown and heavily influenced by the local environment.

Te Reo is beautiful and vibrant and unique. Māori place names are so appropriate and leave their European alternatives, which tend to be based on the names of men who partook in battles, for dead.

And Marae are beautiful places. They are socialism in action, from each according to their ability and to each according to their need.

I visit the Hoani Waititi marae often. It is one of the most significant cultural centres out west and it achieves a great deal of good.

Marae protocol is that when you first visit a Marae you should introduce yourself by way of a short speech or pepeha, preferably in Te Reo. I have been learning and practising mine for a while and I thought I should blog about it in the hope that others may enthused and practise theirs.

This is a very basic pepeha and as I grow older I hope to improve it.

It starts with a greeting.

Tena kotou, Tena kotou, Tena kotou katoa 

Greetings, greetings, greetings to you all

There are some time honoured things to say, first you should acknowledge those that have gone before you

E ngā mate, haere, haere, haere atu rā 

You should acknowledge the whare that you are standing in.

Te whare e tu nei tēnā koe - to the house that stands here greetings.

The name of the Whare at Hoani Waititi Marae is Tumanako which means “hope” and is very appropriate given the huge amounts of home the Marae generates.

Then you should acknowledge local Iwi

E ngā iwi i huihui nei, tēnā koutou

Then you should acknowledge all visitors.

E ngā manuhiri, nau mai haere mai ki tēnei hui

Then conclude by greeting everyone again.

Nor reira Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa 

The details of my pepeha refer to the mountain that is important to me, the waterway that is important to me, the land that is important to me, my iwi affiliation, my parents and finally my name.

Ko Te Pane o Mataoho te Maunga

Ko Manukau te Moana

Ko Waitakere Ranges ko te wao nui o Tiriwa te whenua

Ko Ngati Pakeha ko Tangata Tiriti te iwi

Ko Don Presland te Papa

Ko Janet Presland te mama

Ko Greg Presland tenei