Wiki tua waru, Akomanga tua tahi
Task 1
IND1: Research Hakari and in your own words describe what you find. Also, provide your own reflection on the potential or role of Kai in a celebratory context.Consider this from a Māori, Pākehā or other cultural or personal perspective. 200 WORDS.
Textbook Definitions
Just to have something to riff off, I lifted this from the tutorial PDF.
whakakapi, closing, completion, the sharing of food to whakanoa (lift restrictions / tapu) and demonstrates manaakitanga (host responsibility / support)
Hākari is a process for balancing, settling and replenishing oneself and one’s community or whenua.
It takes the form of a feast, which moves the powhiri proceedings from the formal to the informal, and through that movement cements future relationships.
It is an opportunity for reciprocity and friendly rivalry to enhance the mana of the hosts and guests.
My interpretation
Hākari are usually thought of as “feasts”, and these feasts are imbued with significant meanings of rebalancing and reconciliation. The word can also apply to the wooden structure that food for such a feast was traditionally displayed upon. These feasts were held as a way to offer hospitality to others, and also to show mana. Sometimes the feast hosts competed with their guests to outdo each other. Although originally held to mark events, and as rituals, by the 19th century they increased in size enormously with food being displayed in huge piles. Although hākari have persisted to the present day, these are now typically held at the end of a hui (not longer being the sole reason to gather), and the menu have often become more healthy.