Matariki hāngi at kindergarten
Golden Bay Kindergarten’s hangi was part of the Matariki unit. Photo: Neil Wilson.
Hāngi food worked its customary magic at Golden Bay Kindergarten this week.
The hangi was the culmination of a month-long unit of learning around Matariki, the Māori New Year. It also meshed neatly with the theme of Maori Language Week, which is manaakitanga (see story this page)
Parents and supporters donated ham, venison, pork, chicken beef, sausages, pumpkin, carrots and kumara to fill the hangi and together with children, grandparents and guests tucked in to a delicious lunch.
Many children enjoyed serving themselves, as well as the luxury of eating with their fingers. Everyone spoken to agreed that the Matariki learning experience had been just as big a success as the hāngi.
Head teacher Biddy Leigh explained how fitting it was that the hāngi completed the Matariki unit:
“We all agree that employing Chachi Roden to lead our weekly Matariki sessions has enhanced our programme enormously. The teaching team is aligned to what Professor Jenny Ritchie says about this kind of cultural learning…that teachers can’t be experts in another person’s culture if they don’t share that cultural background. Having Chachi and his partner Rea Stout contribute so usefully to our programme has really helped us in the enriching process of moving towards biculturalism.”
The kindergarten received a special grant to engage Chachi (also known as Te Rangi) to lead the learning. He is of Ngati Awa and Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau descent, and says that the teaching experience has been a rewarding one for him, for Rea and for their children, who are on the kindergarten roll.
“I love it,” he says. “Every Monday morning during Matariki, we’ve been teaching the children their numbers up to 10 and the colours of the rainbow. We’ve learned karakia and waiata together, and Rea has a warm-up exercise where they have to remember that ‘oma’ means to run, and so on. We’ve also worked out a little play around the Matariki theme too, and the children just love being in the drama. We’ve taken a pretty relaxed approach to it and it’s great to see so many of the children taking it on board. We approached Manawhenua ki Mohua to get their approval for the programme and John Ward-Holmes and Laurelee Duff were totally supportive. The experience has been important for me too – it’s reawakened my own hunger for learning so I’m planning to enrol in another Te Ataarangi language course next year.”
Jo Haldane is a parent and an enthusiastic supporter of the kindergarten’s approach to biculturalism. Her daughter Maren (3) has engaged with Chachi and Rea’s lessons with such gusto that she is now able to sprinkle some words of Maori through her everyday conversation, and her parents are impressed with the quality of the learning she has done.
“I think it’s important for our kids to know about cultures,” said Jo. “We’ve made sure that our children know all about the Norwegian and Australian parts of their heritage, for example. This is the first formal learning about Maori culture that Maren has done and I think it’s beautiful. She’s really taken to it.”
Evelyn Green is a new teacher at the kindergarten, having moved here from Wanaka. She was enjoying the pumpkin, potatoes, kumara and cabbage at the hangi as she is a vegetarian. She said that she had fallen in love with the kindergarten while she was here on a teaching section.
“The importance of whānau, the involvement of the community and the quality of the programme all made me want to come here,” she said. “I liked the emphasis on sustainability and visual art. Golden Bay is my home now. The children are beautiful. They are so willing to learn and experience the world through wonder and awe.”
Neil Wilson
Chachi Roden would be interested in getting some volcanic rocks to use for future hangi. They heat up beautifully without exploding. If anyone could help him out, please let us know at The GB Weekly.
