SHARING CULTURAL EXPERIENCES

Between Maori and First Nations we share so many cultural and family similarities and traditions – oh and we both love eating! Both through our Vancouver based Te Tini a Maui Kapa Haka group and Kāhui Tautoko Consulting we have attended many cultural events.

Some events that stand out for me personally has been the shared cultural performance with the Hltaaxuulang Guud Ad K’aaju performers in Haida Gwaii – a beautiful island in BC, Canada about a 2-hour flight (20 minute bus and 20 minute ferry) from Vancouver. The Skidegate Community Hall was filled – and I mean absolutely chocka block – with community members from Haida Gwaii (Skidegate). We both shared our cultural performances which represented stories, song, drumming and dancing handed down from our ancestors which was followed by a rather exhausting ‘jumping’ dance (I need to find the name of the dance) – much respect to all the men who jumped up and down for about an hour!!! The women then shared a blanket dance – I recall not being quite as elegant as the locals! All of this was followed by a beautiful shared meal – LOTS of food - a community dance at the local hall by the sea – oh and maybe a few beverages shared at a local’s house somewhere…..(could have been similar to the good old garage parties). The following day we then participated in their Skidegate Days events which involved us participating in a canoe race (didn’t quite wake up early enough for the walk/run!); sharing culture and just generally having fun with the locals! Think I recall the locals saying “don’t let the Maori’s win the canoe race” – let’s just say we didn’t embarrass ourselves. We felt very humbled to be invited and become part of their family.

To be part of the opening of the Heiltsuk Nation Big House (similar to a Marae) ceremony is and will continue to be a lasting and beautiful memory. It had been 120 years since the community lost their Big House and therefore there were so many emotions flowing – both of sadness and happiness. As a fly-in only community about a 2-3-hour flight from Vancouver, the Nation was filled with close to 2,000 visitors. On behalf of our Uncle Binnie we were fortunate to be part of their opening ceremonies along with MANY other local Nations and visitors. We had arranged a carving from Aotearoa to be gifted to Heiltsuk Nation. I cannot even express the ‘ihi’ felt when we walked through the doors, you could feel that this was a momentous moment for the local community – a firepit burning in the middle of the Big House, locals and visitors singing, drumming and dancing - words cannot express the feeling! To gift the carving to their hereditary Chiefs (Koroua), perform for the locals and be part of the opening of their ‘beautiful’ Big House and witness their beautiful traditions was an absolute honor.

The Kamloops Pow Wow – similar to Te Matatini - again was a cultural event that our Te Tini a Maui Kapa Haka group was humbled to be part of. The Pow Wow was held in a huge open-air circular building with grass in the middle and it felt like every tribe in BC was there! I can only guess there were over 5,000 people from different tribes. Upon arrival we were fortunate to watch their events from little children performing (so gorgeous!) through to the ‘experts’ of Pow Wow dancing – the dancing stamina of both the men and women was incredible. Their regalia was out of this world – feathers, bells, colors – this was THE event! Surrounding the grass area was tribal drummers who each had turns at drumming and singing through high pitched sounds – it appeared this was the competition that gave you honor and so everyone went all out. We were staying about 5 kms away and you could hear their performances!! Following our performance, we were invited to join their final ceremony – you can imagine dancing in circle with these beautiful dancers in their regalia! Wowee!

The list goes on from participating in local, regional, and important traditional events – through these we have been fortunate to make new relationships and friends……actually it is like having a family away from home. We are always welcomed in community and ‘told off’ if we don’t stay with our hosts. Thank you to all of whom we have been fortunate to spend time in communities – thank you for your hospitality, warm welcoming, the extra kilos from the feasts provided, the shared experiences and the connections. These experiences are not something you would see in a tourist catalogue or something you just get to see in everyday lives. We understand that relationships are probably one of the most important things in our work and I again feel VERY humbled to be part of these experiences as I am sure my colleagues and whanau here would attest to - Memories forever. Thank you to all the First Nations communities we have had the privilege of sharing time together – the favor will always be reciprocated when you come to Aoteraoa.

What has eventuated from being part of these MANY very special events, is the ability to feel the importance of culture and the role culture plays within each and every community. This has helped inform the development of many overarching cultural frameworks, applying them to health services for example and building Quality and Accreditation models that Kāhui Tautoko has supported. If I hadn’t had the humbling experience of being able to witness these special events firsthand, then I quite frankly didn’t have any place to support the development of any cultural models of practice. I would have merely been writing or creating models from afar – and missing the true essence of what is being practiced, reflected, and lived in everyday lives.