Hongi

Well this is my first painting for My Zealand Show!  In November of 2011 my husband and I went to New Zealand to visit our son, Jeff and his wife Stormye and it was a fabulous trip.  Jeff and Stormye were our tour guides!  Jeff married Stormye in Las Vegas but Stormye's heritage is Maori, from New Zealand.  Stormye's grandparents and mother are all from New Zealand, but Stormye had never lived in New Zealand.  Stormye and Jeff decided to move to New Zealand  so she could experience her heritage.  The "Hongi" is the pressing of noses - a welcome gesture for the Maori.  We visited Stormye's Aunts, Uncle and cousins but no one actually greeted us with the pressing of noses though it was much talked about on all our tours.

This is a pastel painting of Stormye greeting the warrior on the Waka (canoe) at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.  A canoe that is 35 metres long and requires a minimum of 76 paddlers, nothing like the canoes in Indiana!  The Wakas were elaborately carved and this one, the Ngatokimatawhaorua, had a carving of a warrior at the end of it.  Well I plan to learn much more about the Maori's and my daughter-in-law as I prepare for my New Zealand show.