blog 10

Blog Post 10     Hotunui at The Auckland War Memorial Museum

 

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1.              Describe your personal experience as you occupied this space. Think about how you approached the wharenui. How did the atmosphere differ from the exterior to the interior of the wharenui? Did it change the way you behaved? Was there anything unsettling about the experience? (100 words)

The visit to hotunui was a great experience to me. I was very interested in traditional Maori culture because I found that Maori culture has similarities with my own culture.

Hotunui was the most important wharenui of a Maori tribe. The exterior of hotunui has exquisite carving all over it. Those carvings represent Maori history and culture. During our observation from the outside, we could chat with each other and everyone was quite relaxed. Once we walked into the interior of the wharenui everyone became serious and everyone stopped talking because we felt the solemnity of the hotunui. I felt like that Uenuku was watching over on us.

Read the following and answer in your own words. If you use quotes, please make sure you reference appropriately. (400 words)

Austin, Michael. “A Descripton of the Maori Marae (1976).” New Dreamland: Writing New Zealand Architecture. Ed. D. L. Jenkins. Auckland: Random House New Zealand; 2005. pp. 222-235

2.         Who is Michael Austin? Where does he work and what does he specialise in?

Michael Austin is a professor of Unitec, and he is a programme leader of Master of Architecture. He specialized in Architecture.

3.         In what context does Austin say the “marae is not treated as architecture...”? How do you feel about this?

“With this orientation, meeting houses are studied as decorated art objects, and information is gleaned from the history and meanings of the carvings. The marea is not treated as architecture at all.”(Austin, 223)

I do agree with professor Michael Austin. Marea stay in the museum and does not have its original function. People treat it like an art and surviving monument rather than a community building.

4.         What three factors does Austin state are important to understanding the “significance of the marae?”

Three factors of the significance of the marae are architecture, social action and world view. These three factors need to be viewed as a whole.

5.         How does Austin describe a Maori concept of home? How might this differ from a western idea of home?

“This led to an awareness that for the way of life called Maori, the community home was of far more significance than the individual family home.” (Austin, 224) In the Maori culture, home has broader meanings rather than just places to live for individual families. Maori concept of home is for the marae and the whole tribe. 

While the Western idea of home is exactly opposite with Maori concept, they through an individual family is a home. The meaning of home of the Western socirty is quite narrow in contrast with Maori conpet of home.

6.         What/where is home for you? Elaborate.

I think the native place is my home. In Chinese traditional culture, hometown to people who live there is like roots to the trees. Trees would die without roots and people would not be brought to earth without hometown. It is a source of life. The emotion of hometown for Chinese is very similar to Maori with marae. “This community home is the marae, the place that a Maori refers to and expects to return to—on his death if not before.” (Austin, 224) The Chinese also expect the same thing happening on them after death.

7.         Austin offers the definition of the marae, what is it? How is this definition reflected in the social roles of Maori?

The definition of the marae is the space in front of the house.

A marae is the most important space in any Maori tribe. This is paralleled by social roles where those who speak on the marae are know as the ‘man in front’, emphasizing that the house is necessary for the marae to operate. (Austin, 228)

8.         How do these social roles start to discuss space? Pay attention to the translations offered for Tangata i mua, Tangata i waho + Tangata i muri. p. 228, 229+230.

Tangata i mua–––man in front. This space is further defined by the host group who range themselves on one side or the other of the façade of the house.

Tangata i waho—–liaison officers. They can relay in formation of a utilitarian nature from one party to other.

Tangata i muri­–––men who stand behind, Workers in the exclosure area. Because of the tapu of the meeting house, many activities take place in the dining hall. (Austin, 229-230)

9.         According to Austin, how does the meeting house discuss notions of embodiment?

Meeting houses can be interpreted at several different levels. Only the front wall of the house has light and air introduces an environmental gradation down the house, there is a corresponding social gradation in which the host leader is immediately inside the door, and the guest of honour under the window. In other words, one’s social position is defined by the actual position one occupies in the house. Social status decreases down both side of marae. In general the closer to the door the higher the status the person has. (Austin, 230)

Works cited list:

Austin, Michael. “A Descripton of the Maori Marae (1976).” New Dreamland: Writing New Zealand

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