It weaves a spiritual rope to pull the waka (canoe) of the
manuhiri (visitors) onto the marae (sacred meeting place).
In my tribal area, seating for the
manuhiri (visitors) is situated to the left of the outstretched arms of the ancestral meeting house.
A marae is able to gain mana as a result of extending hospitality, and also by "maintaing a noticeably high level of activity at the marae" (Department, n.d) as expressed in multiple whakatauki, including, for instance, "he tangata takahi
manuhiri, he marae puehu, he whare pungawerewere (29)" A marae puehu can be interpreted as a marae at which only dust remains (ie without people or interactions), which is a disadvantage to the haukainga on a number of levels.
* The kawa must be explained to all, including
manuhiri and new members of the group.
As the conference opened, Victoria's Toiahurei, Professor Piri Sciascia, offered a formal welcome to all
manuhiri. Fittingly, in addition to the traditional elements of his mihi, Professor Sciascia included the following whakataukl: Kei muri i te awe kapara, he tangata ke, mana te ao, he ma.
In universities and news media opinion columns, the idea gradually took hold that the Treaty had guaranteed Maori 'tino rangatiratanga' as a self governing people, and that Pakeha New Zealanders were merely '
manuhiri', or 'guests' whose continued right to live in Aotearoa was entirely at the mercy of Maori whim.
For one thing going through it is a public acceptance of one's position as
manuhiri (guest) of the tangata whenua (hosts) who are owners of the land.
It is traditionally laid down by outsiders (
manuhiri) when visiting the meeting house (marae) of the home people to a particular area (tangata whenua) during a welcome ritual known as a powhiri.
Mikaere argues that the nation is in a state of disequilibrium due to the fact that currently '
manuhiri [visitors] dictate the way things should be done in the tangata whenua's domain', leading to the wronged-party of colonial history being expected to adhere to the laws of the wrong-doer.
Along with the ESR non-Maori researchers, she therefore had
manuhiri (visitor) status, observed ceremonially/ritually in situations in which the researchers came together with the local people.
A cultural embedding in appropriate order, this chronology extends from the silence that falls upon the
manuhiri as they draw near to their destination, through the sequential process of correct observance and ritual until the cycle complete, the
manuhiri become part of the tangata whenua and bring in the new arrivals in their turn.