29/05/2025
How can I indigenise mahi Hōiho?
Tikanga - Karakia mo te Kai
Values - giving thanks/blessing the food
Over the past few years as I’ve gone on my journey in te ao Maori we started to incorporate karakia Kai into our daily routine before we eat. Now it’s just part of us, who we are and what we do. My five year old will pull up anyone who forgets, as five year olds do ;)
Yesterday I had one of our nephews out, he’s only 7 and totally horse mad. And because he’s right at the start of his journey it’s making me be really thoughtful about how I want to guide him. It’s the perfect opportunity to make me step outside what I’ve always done, and reassess does this align with our values, the tikanga based on indigenous ways? (And don’t get me wrong, I’m still learning here)
As the kids and I prepared the Kai for our Hōiho I thought hey, why not incorporate it here too?!
So that’s what we did! We gave thanks to the Kai and where it had come from, Papatūānuku and Ranginui, and we asked that it give the horses wellness.
Neither of kids blinked an eye, at what would likely be considered weird, or a waste of time in the western world, and it made me smile to think this is their normal and how powerful it is that we can reclaim indigenous ways in our mahi Hōiho too!
