New Zealand

New Zealand Wars

The New Zealand Wars were generally fought in New Zealand between 1843 and 1872, though opinion on this time frame does vary.Some historians have suggested that the wars did not finish until after the Parihaka invasion of 1881, by the Armed Constabulary, when the New Zealand frontier might be said to have been ‘closed’. This was the time when, as historian Alan Ward puts it, ‘the rifle was replaced by the rubber truncheon.’Other historians have suggested the wars finished after the ‘Dog Tax War’ of 1898. Most historians however who think the wars extended beyond 1872 point to closure after the Police invasion of Maungapohatu, in 1916. It was here, some have suggested, that the ‘last shots fired of the New Zealand Wars’ were fired.

poi dance

Dance is an intrinsic part of Maori culture, and here Maori women perform the traditional poi dance. The atomic weave is a fusion of a 3 beat weave and split time opposites. It is also a portal to the wonderful world of 3 dimensional spinning for poi. The other end of the cord was often decorated with a mukamuka — a tassel made from muka formed around a smaller knot. Poi piu were smaller tassels occasionally affixed to the base of the poi ball. There were a wide variety of regional, tribal and personal variations on construction and design.

Maori Hangi

Hangi is Maori for "feast." Tonight our dinner was cooked in a traditional Maori fashion, which means the food is burried deep within the earth's crust. The heat from the geothermal ground of Rotorura cooks the food to absolute perfection.Hangi actually refers to the method of cooking in the ground with hot stones, or to the underground oven so created, and to the food so cooked.When you're asked to a hangi, you're actually being invited to a feast of Maori food cooked in the manner described.