413. Maori Christmas (4/5)
The festivals and celebrations in many countries around the world have a long history, such as the Lantern Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival in China, and the Christmas in Christian countries. The history of these festivals is much longer than that of the country of New Zealand.
New Zealand is a young country, and the Maori are not native to the island. They are the first immigrants to come across the ocean, but they do not have a very fixed festival.
The biggest celebrations of Maori people are either spring celebrations or autumn harvest celebrations. The time is not fixed. As long as you feel that spring is coming or autumn is about to harvest, you can celebrate it.
This time their party is called 'Hakari', which is called haka day in Maori, which means 'great banquet', and is dedicated to entertaining important guests on important days.
There is no doubt that they respected the mainstream residents of New Zealand and regarded Christmas Eve as a major day. They also respected Wang Bo and regarded him as an important guest.
Before coming, Wang Bo thought it was just a party with Maori people, but it was not that simple. All Maori people from Sunset Town came to the scene, and some Maori people in Wanderer Town also arrived. It is roughly estimated that there will be thousands of people!
There is a square in the center of Maori village, about the size of a half football field, with a wide wooden platform on it and a bonfire platform around it. When Wang Bo arrived, the flames burned, and the people who came to the square cheered.
Asulu introduced to him: "This is our Malay, which means the wide courtyard in front of the meeting hall. Today's Hakarie is held here."
Wang Bo exclaimed: "God Moy is above, this is really big!"
Asulu said proudly: "In fact, this scale is quite small. When the Maori tribe was most prosperous in the last century, our Hakaria was huge!"
"You definitely don't believe that our tribe wanted to build a Hakarri at that time, and that had to start preparing ten days ago. For example, to prepare food, it would be necessary to catch a large number of fish, hunt a large number of cattle, sheep and beasts, and build the food one meter high!"
He pointed to a wooden shelf in the north of the square, about twenty meters long and two meters wide, and was covered with huge red satin at this time. Wang Bo didn't pay attention at first, but after hearing the introduction of Asulu, he realized that there should be food below.
Behind the food rack is the gathering hall, a wooden bungalow with a herringbone roof. Some elderly people sat inside and saw flames burning on the bonfire platform, and they walked out tremblingly.
These old people have the most status in the Asuru tribe. The current Maori tradition has been impacted by modern society and civilization and has become a little messy. In many tribes, the patriarch is no longer the most authoritative leader.
For example, in their branch tribe, the patriarch was Astulu, but he was not the most respected person in the clan. Even his ability to become the patriarch was entirely because his grandmother Otutu was a priest in the clan.
Wang Bo, Eva, and the little loli walked over first. The old woman Otutu grabbed Lao Wang's hand with bright eyes and said, "Thank you for joining our Hakaria! The great mayor, our God will bless you and Sunset Town, and our God will bless you and Sunset Town!"
"Thank you very much, priest, I am very happy to receive his blessings." Wang Bo thanked politely.
When Ottu grabbed Eva's hand, the beautiful teacher took out a big red envelope from his bag and handed it to her, and smiled and said, "This is what the mayor asked me to dedicate to your tribe. I wish you a prosperous population and a long life!"
After receiving the red envelope and listening to her words, the old priest showed an unprecedented bright smile on his face.
Wang Bo didn't know that he would have to get red envelopes when he came here to visit. This was the first time he had been visiting Maori tribes seriously.
Astulu guided them to sit in the gathering hall, and Lao Wang asked Eva in a low voice: "When did you prepare the red envelope? Do you still need to prepare the red envelope?"
The beautiful teacher smiled and said, "Of course, I know you won't bother to study other people's etiquette. Maori people have to prepare a lot of food every time they hold a Hakari. If the owner only pays for the expenses, it will cause great pressure, so the guests have to bring gifts."
Wang Bo said awkwardly: "I really don't know this. If it weren't for you, I would be in trouble today."
Eva waved her hand and said, "No, you did not make any mistakes. Asulu told me that most of Hakari's expenses this time were provided by you. The red envelope I brought was not large, it was just beautiful."
They sat and chatted in the party hall, and there were young and beautiful Maori girls pouring them water.
Wang Bo drank two cups of tea and asked, "What are we waiting for?"
Asulu said: "Waiting for other guests, there are still people coming to Wanderer Town, Glorious Warriors, Destroyers, Bakaja, etc. All tribes will send important figures to come."
After more than ten minutes, it was almost three o'clock. The square was filled with noises again, and the warriors with bare shirtless and tattooed radiant warriors arrived.
Wang Bo thought these people were acting like big names and came late. He whispered to Eva, and Eva smiled, and then explained: "This is also a tradition. It was not until modern Maori people that they had the habit of using clocks and clocks. They had no watches before, and the concept of time was very poor. When the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, the Maori Queen and the chiefs of the large tribes were late. This may not be a virtue, but this is a tradition. They were paying tribute to the tradition."
"There are such good things? Everyone is late to pay tribute to tradition?"
"No, it's not that simple. We agreed that at three 3:30, they actually came by time, one minute or two minutes late. Being late is a tribute. If you are too late, it is a provocation!" Eva told these traditions in a casual manner.
After the arrival of the Glorious Warriors and others, they also gave red envelopes. There was also a fat man who gave cash directly. The thick stack of pieces, which Lao Wang roughly estimated to be tens of thousands of yuan.
He had the impression of this Maori fat man, Xiao Wang's former owner, was the richest man in Wanderer Town and a famous rich man among the Maori people in New Zealand. Otherwise, he would not have the financial resources or the skills to bring the lion and tiger beast to his home.
When the two sides met, they hugged each other and greeted each other. Wang Bo did not come at all. He knew that this kind of party ceremonies was not carried out as soon as they met, but that they would not be able to salute them until they officially began.
Different tribes of the Maori have different welcome forms, and those of the Asuru tribe who have higher status brought guests into Malay.
There are many long stools around Malay, and people will sit here, among which Wang Bo is sitting in the first row, Eva and Deer are taken to the last row, and he is on the left and right of the priests of Asuru and Ottu, which is obviously a main seat.
Chapter completed!