FSO - Entrances

Around Northland where I live, and around the rest of New Zealand, you will find Maori Marae.  Marae are Māori community facilities that usually consist of a carved meeting house, a dining hall and cooking area and the marae ātea (sacred space in front of the meeting house).  They serve religious and social purposes in Maori society and are still a vital part of everyday life.

 The main entrance to a marae with elaborately carved posts.

 Door to meeting house on the marae

Occasionally I go to see a film at Forum North, the event and conference centre operated by Whangarei District Council.  The stairs below lead to the blue door entrace to the movie theatre.

Just across the road from Forum North is one of my favourite cafes, Vinyl, seen below with its doors standing open in welcome.

Closer to home our entrances are more humble.   The poison warning on the post should not be ignored.  The sign warns that 1080 poison has been laid on the property by the Department of Conservation.

1080 (sodium fluoroacetate) is a poison that is mixed into baits and used to control a range of pests, especially possums, rats and the stoats which eat the poisoned rats.   1080 is biodegradable, dilutes quickly in water and does not build up in the food chain. The active component of the poison occurs naturally in many plants found in Australia, South America and Africa. These plants evolved the poison as a defence against browsing animals. 

This reminds me of something that happened when my grand-daughters Krystal and Shayde were three or four.  Of the time I went to war with the Department of Conservation. We were living at Tapora on the Kaipara Harbour with access to a lovely little beach.  The girls had a little friend visiting and I took the three of them out to the beach to play.  The three little girls dived out of the car the minute it stopped and disappeared into the bush, following a track that we knew from previous adventures.  I wasn't concerned and followed at my own pace.  Then I heard their excited voices arguing which one of them should have 'it'.  I broke into a run and arrived at the foot of the tree where they were standing just as Krystal started to shinny up the tree, her little hands reaching out to grab something I couldn't see.  When I got closer I reached up and snapped it from the tree before Krystal could reach it.  Honest, the shape and size looked just like the packet of a lemonade iceblock.   But, that innocent looking packet contained 1080 poison.  

I got nowhere in my war with the Department of Conservation.  Not even a sorry you were alarmed.   I wonder if they still put the poison in packets that look like lemonade iceblock packets.  Probably.  The DoC staff I spoke to, and I spoke to a few, seemed to think they did everything right.  They put out warning signs.  Check.  They put the poison some distance from human habitation.  Check.  They attached the poison to the tree out of the reach of children.  Check.  I followed up my phone call with a letter asking them to please consider putting the poison in a packet that would not be so appealing to children.  Letter was duty acknowledged,.  End of story. 

Anyway, back to entrances.  We had 17 participants in the Friday My Town Shoot Out last week.  Check out this weeks entries here.  And then why not pop back and join us.  It's easy.  Just think for a minute about Mersad's prompt - "Show us usual and unusual entrances in your towns and cities, from home doors, to gates in the city" -  then prepare a post showing us an example, along with a few words about your town, and link your post on the FMTSO blog.

Friday Shoot Out - Town Plaza

This past week hasn't been my best ever.  The weather has been hot and very, very humid.  I don't mind a bit of heat but I don't like humidity.  And I haven't been feeling myself, been a bit out of sorts really.  Probably not drinking enough water. 

Not being in a good frame of mind, every time I thought about this week's topic I had a brain freeze because there is no town plaza around here.  Finally this morning driving to work thinking, "It's Friday.  Think, girl, think",  I was hit with an inspiration.  Let's not quibble about what constitutes inspiration.

A polytechnic college is a community.  Choosing the words that suit my purpose from Redlan's description, we have places at the polytech where crowds gather to celebrate special occasions. A small marae (maori meeting house) stands at the entrance to the polytech and it is here that people gather on special occasions. 

On Monday, we had the first day of the new semester and an Orientation Day for new students.  However, we knew there would be more people than the marae can accommodate so an area was set up in the car park for the powhiri (welcoming ceremony) and that area became, to all intents and purposes, the marae.

 I'm not going to try to explain the protocols because they are quite complicated.  Just share with you a series of photos taken at the powhiri.  Above, the karanga, a unique form of female oratory, in which the high pitched voices of women from both sides call to each other to exchange information to begin to establish intent and the purpose of the visit.

 The crowd comes slowly forward

Whaikōrero or formal speech making follows the karanga:

A waiata or song is sung after each whaikōrero by the group the orator represents. It is common to hear traditional waiata during pōwhiri. Above is the tangata whenua (home people).  Below gathered opposite them, and a little apart, are the new students.

After all the speech making is done with, the visitors come forward across the space separating the two groups to shake hands and hongi with the tangata whenua (home people).  The traditional hongi, the pressing of noses, signifies the mingling together of the sacred breath of life, and the two sides become one.  In this case, the new students and the polytech.  However, most Maori elders will greet their visitors in a manner that the visitor feels comfortable with. 

The sharing of food signifies the end of the powhiri.

Then, if you are a student and don't have a class, you can lay under a tree and contemplate your future.  Staff, like me, had to go back to work!

I'm happy now.  So, we don't have a town plaza!  We do have our own unique gathering places.  To check out other's photos just visit here.