Pacifika Displays. 6.8.2015

Last Week on Thursday the 6th of August, the sun was out, the sky was blue, and the birds were chirping. Today was going to be a good day. To make it even better, 6 people from each of the senior classes were selected to go the Glen Innes Library to see a display that the friendly people at the Auckland Museum showed us to celebrate pasifika culture, especially the Cook Island culture, as it was the Cook Island Week this week.

First, at 10 30, we had to assemble outside the hall and wait for the teachers to come out. When they did, Miss Elia, our principal selected some people to go with each teacher. The teachers there were Miss Maruariki, Miss Card, Miss Elia and Mrs Adcock. I went with Miss Maruariki. The students who came with us was Voni, Matthew, Charlie, Danny and Loto. We jumped in, and seeing that I was the only girl, Miss Maruariki let me sit in the front. When she pushed the button to turn on her van, Ciara silently re-started playing. Then she reversed out. Then we saw what her van was really capable of. It had a reversing camera. The boys and I were in awe as she backed out of the park and started driving. “What year is your van, miss?” I asked with awe. “I think it’s from 2006” she said. We got there in about 10-15 minutes with plenty of time to spare before 10 00.

Miss parked the car up at one of Te Oro’s parking spaces and turned the car off with one click of a button. Then we hopped out of the car and closed the doors. The two back doors automatically closed. Then we walked away from the car and towards the library. We went inside, but one of the librarians ushered us out and told us that she would be welcoming us in. So we waited outside. There were still people to come anyways.

When it was time, the lady welcomed us in by singing us a wiata. Then we walked in. When we walked in, the lady told us to get into two lines and sit down on the mat. The lady introduced herself. Her name was Mama piri. Then the others introduced themselves. The tongan man’s name was Vili, the Fijian man’s name was Darren, and the Samoan lady’s name was Freda.  Then they showed us some taonga (treasures) from the pacific Islands.  Then they showed us a map of the pacific Islands. Darren shared with us a poem about the Islands. Then we talked about the Coconut tree. In Cook Islands, Coconut tree means Tomunou. Freda asked why the coconut tree was also known as the tree of life, but she wanted to know why we thought that. The correct answer was “The coconut tree is also known as the tree of life because the whole coconut tree, from the root to the tip is useful in Island life, ancient and present times.” They asked us how they got coconuts from the tall trees. The correct answers were that they either climbed up the trees or used a long stick called a lou to get the coconuts down. Then they showed us a plaited string which was also made from a coconut tree. They said it was called a Kaa.

Then we moved on to Historical fishing devices the early pacific Islanders used. First they showed us a enaki. An enaki was used in the Cook Islands as a net that caught eels. Next they showed us a maka feke, a lure that caught octopuses. The origin of this object came from Tonga. Then they showed us a matau, a fishing hook tied to a long kaa. The fishing hooks were usually made out of bird, fish or mother of pearl shells. They used sharp rocks to cut and shape the hook, and then used flat rocks to polish them.

Next, they split us up into three groups. They each went to one group. Vili came to our group, and he brought some of his fishing tools with him. He let us touch the enaki and the maka feke. Then Freda came with her rocks and her bones. She told us that she was going to see who could try and make a hook out of the bones. We found out that it was a very hard process, and we wondered how hard it could’ve been for the people in the olden days to make one hook. Then Darren came with his blocks of wood and his old drills and he told us that the drills were very sharp and he said to be careful. He demonstrated how to do it, and then he told us to have a try. He then said that we were going to have a challenge. The one who kept the drill running the longest won. I won, and he gave me a pack of colouring pencils.

Then we looked at different traditional instruments. First they showed us a big shell we all knew to be a horn. Vili asked if anyone wanted to have a try at blowing it, and Candice and Charlie put their hands up to try. Then Vili blew it. Then they showed us a bamboo flute called a fung fung. Voni volunteered to play it, thinking that he was supposed to play it with his mouth, but Vili showed us how it was actually played. He showed us that it was played with the nose. Next they showed us a wind instrument. They told us that the instrument also helped people with chest problems to help breathe. Then they showed us a drum from Fiji. I volunteered to try. I stood up and started drumming a little beat. The surface felt soft underneath my skin. I sat back down after that. Then they showed us another drum, this time from the Cook Islands. Voni volunteered to play it, and he was really good. No one was expecting to see or hear what he just did. He was really good. Everyone in the library was in shock.

After that magnificent drumming we heard, Freda teached us a sasa - a traditional Samoan dance. Doing the sasa, we really felt energetic. Going to the beat of the actions, we felt a rush of excitement when we did it. After doing the sasa for the last time, they thanked us for being such a great audience. But, then one of the librarians asked if we could stay for a snack. We gladly accepted. We sat back down, while they offered us some slices of banana, french toast, apples, sandwich, cookies, and a glass of water. We gladly accepted, and ate. The librarians started playing a song for us, and one of them started singing and dancing. It was a great sight, and their singing was amazing, and her dance moves was very graceful. If I was braver, I might of actually joined her.

When I finished eating, I found a tray, and went around asking everyone if they had anything that needed to go to the bin. If they did, I put it on the tray. When I had gone around the group collecting all the rubbish, one of the librarians offered to take the tray out to the bin. I gave it to her, not knowing where the bin was. She thanked me, and I thanked her back, with a shy smile on my lips. Then I sat back down. When everyone was done eating, we all thanked the librarians and the museum educators for the lesson and the food.

We went back to Miss Maruariki’s car,and hopped in. I was the only girl, so again, I sat in the front. I felt very happy sitting in the front, I felt like it was an advantage against the boys who were all squashed in the back. I asked Voni for the Ipad, and all the way back to school, we were taking some photos. We were also talking, and we found out that Danny was going to go to Niue. I gave the Ipad back to Voni,and he started taking more photos with the boys in the back, until I asked for it back. We were almost back at school, so I made the most of “photo time.” We were almost at the school carpark, so I turned the Ipad off. When the car was off, we hopped out and thanked miss for the ride. Earlier she pointed out to one of the smaller cars parked and said “ This is Mr Numia’s car.” Mr Numia was one of our Kiwi Can teachers. We all laughed when she told us. When the boys saw him, the started teasing him. Voni said “Maybe you should take some points off from their class, Mr.” He lightly laughed before saying “Yeah, maybe.” Then Voni and I went off to class.

We had a lot of fun, and we learnt a lot. I had a blast, and I would like to thank Miss Elia, the Museum educators, the Librarians, and everyone else who came along for a great time. I am sure I will remember this for a very long time.