Food in my cuture

Food in my Culture

One of the things  my family celebrates are funerals. Where we usually have a funeral is inside a Marae and first we say good morning to everyone inside the Marae so then we wait until the speakers are finished speaking about the person who has passed away, then everyone goes to the person who has passed away and hugs or kisses the person.

At the Marae you have to prepare the food. What you have to do is, first the men have someone dig a hole and put a metal basket in, that is filled with tin foil, then you put the hangi inside the basket and cover it over with a big cloth, because if you don’t air would get into it. When you put it into a hot fire then it will cook the hangi.

Once the hangi is finished we eat it, but first you must tell everyone to come and sit down at the tables and then everyone says a little karakia before eating, then we can finally eat the hangi.

After everybody has finished eating their food that is when the burial will start, and everyone will gather at the cemetery, and watch the burial and then whoever would like to say a few words can come up to the grave and say what they want to say.  After the people are done speaking everyone will sing a Maori song and that is when the funeral is over.

Now I have just told you about what happens at a Marae, if there is a funeral, and how the food is prepared.  I hope that you now know about what happens at a Maori funeral and will get to go to a Maori funeral one day.

Rangi