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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
 Posted - 03/14/2005 : 8:01:27 PM
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aloha all,
here's a brief report on the last two weeks of travels...
south island is as beautiful as you have probably heard. it's an island, and so there's rapid changes in weather and scenery (the kona side is the east and the ko`olau side is the west). the mountains are awesome - glaciated, and still going up fast. the drive on the west coast is like the drive to hana with a revenge (what water!) and the northwest corner - abel tasman national park - is one of the most beautiful moderate-weather places in the world. this would be a very easy place to live in...
being the 'patch, though, let me talk a bit about the maori. i've been lucky to talk story with a few, and it's so odd for me to see someone who looks so polynesian but talks with a kiwi accent. i guess i have my stereotypes...
the maori language seems pretty close to hawaiian, at least to someone with my level of understanding. the stress is a big deal - it goes on the first long vowel or dipthong, or first vowel if there are no long or dipthongs. so, hokitika is HOkitika. but, i can't tell how important this is in the language. when i have heard some recorded chants, the stress didn't seem very strong - about like in hawaiian.
(last night on maori TV i saw a TV commercial in maori! they were talking it fast - a lot faster than what i've heard, say, kanahele speak hawaiian. it was a great show too, following a modern inuit family on a hunting trip, and with the parents telling stories about hunts when they were young.)
the consonants are different: T is hawaiian K, K is `okina, R is L, NG is N, WH is H. so, te matangi is ka makani (which is breeze, rather than wind). there are some bigger changes, eg te puka is ka pu`u. the place names are very different - many record exceptionally violent incidents, based i suppose on the musket wars during the early european settlement. the success of kamehameha was perhaps one of the best things that happened in hawai`i...
i got a maori nose flute. it's very ornate, and i cant' get a peep out of it yet (i can play the hawaiian nose flute, barely). i hope to have it humming by AMC.
there is a movement to revive maori music and chant, which is a welcome thing to see. and, since the 80s, maori has been made an official second language so you see it written on all of the national signs (like in parks). i didn't hear any on the street, but perhaps on the north island where there is a higher density, it is spoken. there have been some huge cash settlements for some early land swindling and illegal fishing restrictions that has made some of the maori tribes considerably wealthy, which is changing life here in a way not unlike the american indians becoming wealthy through casinos. the people i talked with here all think that, in general, it's good to see the issues being addressed directly (although, of course, there is a lot of debate about the details).
i've been playing the ukulele all over, and the locals seem to love it. i think braddahs kevin and patrick needs to go touring over here! the maori i talked with expressed a love for the hawaiians who came over and taught them how to do the long distance sailing again.
... aroha mai,
keith
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Edited by - marzullo on 03/15/2005 05:24:12 AM |
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chunky monkey
Ha`aha`a
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - 03/15/2005 : 05:53:27 AM
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Kia Orana Keith,
See! I know my Maori greetings. Looking forward to stories. The princess and I are tentatively headed to S Island next year; we'll need your advice - going to visit a running friend who is moving there in June from SD. Maybe see ya next week at L & L
Maitaki |
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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 03/15/2005 : 08:32:54 AM
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Keith,
The girls and I are headed there this summer. Would like to talk to you before we go.
When is your next gig at the E-Street cafe?
Is a Maori nose flute made of bamboo as well? Do they have and stringed instruments? |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
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slkho
`Olu`olu
740 Posts |
Posted - 03/15/2005 : 2:41:18 PM
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Keith,
I'm all about the mountains there, take some good pic's.
Glad to know your having a great time...keep the hanabata out of the nose flute.
-slkho |
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