Karakia mō te kai

Blessing and acknowledging the beautiful food and tea you are about to consume together is very important, and is a practice in mindfulness that everything comes from nature and we should respect that. In the Maori world, sharing a kai together breaks tapu, it means that after formalities are over sharing a kai means people become one. Or as my Reo teacher once said: having a kai makes everyone happy, so it’s good to do to bring everyone together after debate, challenge, working, travelling, celebrating or whatever the occasion is. These are two of the most common karakia said before kai. Perhaps you’d like to learn them and practice them at home when you have kapu Tī…

E te atua

E te atua, whakapaingia ēnei kai,

Hei oranga mō ō mātou tinana,

Whāngaia hoki ō mātou wairua ki te taro o te ora.

Ko Ihu Karaiti, tō mātou kai whakaora

Āmine

Nau mai e ngā hua

Nau mai e ngā hua o te wao, o te māra

o te wai tai, o te wai Māori.

Nā Tane, nā Rongo, nā Haumie, nā Tangaroa

Ko Ranginui e tū iho nei,

Ko Papatūānuku e takoto nei

Tūturu whakamaua kia tīna! TINA!

Haumi e, hui e… TAIKI E!