Week One : Day 4 : Activities 1, 2 + Bonus Activity

Thursday-21st-December-2017

Day 4: Hitting a High Note…

Activity 1: The Waiata - A Song in Your Heart

In the past, Māori would often use song as a way of sharing

information or communicating emotions.  A waiata is the

name given to a traditional Māori song. One of my all-time

favourite waiata is Kia Paimarie. What about you?

Use Google to research traditional Māori Waiata. Listen to

a number of Waiata and read the lyrics. On your blog tell us

which one of the waiata you found you like the most.

Why do you like it?

He Honore:

I like this Waiata because it represents the Glory given to

God and the good thoughts that are brought to all men but

also women too. I do also like it because it has a nice tune

to it as well as a background of the Lord our Refuge

meaning he is always there to protect us anywhere anytime.

Activity 2: Playing Games

Hundreds of years ago, young Māori children were taught to

play a number of games, including Poi Rakau, Ki O Rahi,

Koruru Taonga and Poi Toa. Read about each of these four

games on the Rangatahi tu Rangatira website. Have you

played any of them before? Isn’t it cool how the games have

been passed down for generations?

Choose one game, and on your blog, tell us the (i) name of

the game, (ii) the goal or purpose of the game, and (iii) two rules.

You could try playing some of the games with a friend.

Koruru Taonga/Knuckle Bones:

(i) I have chosen the game Koruru Taonga, or in other words

Knuckle Bones.

(ii) The purpose of this game is to throw 1 stone at a time into

the air and pick 1 off of the ground whilst the stone is up in

the air.

(iii) Two rules that are contained in this game is that;

> You must have 5 Knuckle bones.

> Following the rules at all times unless you’ll end up

getting confused throughout the game.

Bonus Activity: Musical Festivals – Matatini

In New Zealand, a huge festival is held every two years, called

Te Matatini. This performing arts festival celebrates the tikanga

(culture or customs) of Māori. Kapa Haka groups from around

New Zealand are invited to attend the festival and each group

gives a 25-minute performance. The performances are judged

and the best teams win prizes.

The gold medal winning team from this year (2017) was

Te Kapa Haka o Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti.

Watch these three clips from previous Te Matatini festivals:

Tamatea Arikinui

Te Iti Kahurangi

Te Puku o Te Ika

On your blog, rank the performances from your favourite (#1)

to least favourite (#3) and tell us why you gave them the

ranking that you did.

Ranking Below:

#1 Tamatea Arikinui

I gave this performance a Rank #1 because I really liked the

singing mixed with the dancing and work with the 2 different

poi’s they had, a short lengthed poi and a long lengthed poi.

Everytime they hit the poi against their palms and their piu piu

skirts made a clicking noise it really sounded good with the

singing as if it gave the music a beat.

#2 Te Puku o Te Ika

I gave this performance a Rank 2 because the harmonizing

during the performance was so dedicating as they were

dedicating their singing to a man that must’ve been very

special to them. The way they sang their voices out it

sounded very touching.

#3 Te Iti Kahurangi

I decided to give this performance a Rank 3 not because I

disliked the singing or anything, it was just because to me

most of the singing was done by the lady in the middle and

I thought that every other performance out of the three were

better and full of harmony.

BONUS POINTS: 6