I journeyed North again. I took a five hour bus journey at 8.30 on Tuesday morning. My uncle had passed away and there was lots of activity happening down at the marae.
Dad had 'dropped' a cow. My brothers had spent the previous two days fishing. Dad spent the evening scaling, gutting and cleaning the fish. In the early hours of the morning he gathered mussels and oysters. On the day of the Tangi we were up at 5.30am to dig the grave.
Meanwhile the women of the marae are up at 6.00am cutting onions, cooking steak, making salads, kneading fried bread, boiling kumara, prepping meat, mashing potatoes, buttering bread... All day and all night there was a frenzy of activity as the Marae catered to the hundred odd people who attended tangi.
It is such a beautiful thing for me to be immersed by my own whanau uniting and standing strong on a sad occasion.
Just a few quick shots I took. There are lots of photos to look at still. I shot some film so I'm excited to see how they turn out too.
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| cousins on the wharf |
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| our church |
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| lone cloud over my awa |
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| my brother |
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| little boy smiling |
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| family portrait |
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| beautiful old kuia |
Especially that photo of the little boy smiling :) I like.
ReplyDeleteLooks like such a beautiful country, you are so very lucky.
Yes New Zealand is a beautiful place to live! We are lucky :)
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