As a sign of “tautoko,” Maori for respect or support, a handful of students of various Polynesian backgrounds performed an impromptu haka in response to this year’s convocation address, explained Te Manu Matenga, a junior social work major from New Zealand.
With the audience still paused in their plans to exit the building after a faculty member began chanting unannounced in Maori, seven students rushed to the floor of the Cannon Activities Center and started the haka. Immediately the room went silent.
Lina Kiessieh, a senior from Jordan studying psychology, said she had goosebumps throughout the talk and started crying when the chanting began. “I thought about how these people are here, and they’re still carrying their culture with them. That’s who they are. If [they] lose [their] culture, [they] lose [their] sense of self.”
Manaakitanga: A reverence for humanity
A convocation speech was given this semester in September by Dr. AnnaMarie Christiansen, an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts & Letters, who is of Maori descent, particularly the Ngati Hine tribe. In her speech, Christiansen used the Maori concept of manaakitanga as the framework for telling the story of her people and their interactions with a Church missionary named Ephraim Magleby in the latter end of the 1800s.
Christiansen said manaakitanga loosely translates to the practice of hospitality but can be broken down into parts to get a deeper sense of its true meaning: “mana,” which refers to a person’s inner spiritual force or power, “aki,” which means “to encourage” and “tanga,” a word that describes a process.
“Thus, manaakitanga is a process of protecting or encouraging the spiritual force of others. Manaakitanga emphasizes connection and care in life-affirming ways. It is an ethic of care and support, reverence for humanity,” stated Christiansen in her speech.
Maraea Tsing, adjunct faculty in the Faculty of Education & Social Work and one of Christiansen’s cousins, grew up in one of the areas belonging to the Ngati Hine, Pipiwai. She added her thoughts on manaakitanga during the panel discussion that followed convocation.
“In manaakitanga Maori culture there is not really a word for ‘Thank you,’ because it is expected if you share or do something for somebody else, they would do it back.”
Branden McQueen-Bryers, a senior from New Zealand majoring in intercultural peacebuilding, said in a way, the students’ haka was manaakitanga in action. She explained the call and the haka were acts of giving thanks for the knowledge that was received.
“It was an opportunity for the community here to thank Sister Christiansen for her family’s contribution as well as her contribution in giving this information to us.”
During the panel discussion that followed the convocation address, Alisi Langi, assistant professor in the Faculty of Religious Education and panel member, shared she felt empowered by both the speech and spontaneous haka that was presented. “I thought it was so empowering to see her [Christiansen] use her platform as an opportunity to introduce the University community to so much of the Maori culture and history. I felt like the fruition of that was seeing our Maori students … [present] the haka [as] an honor given back to her. I can only imagine how empowering it was for them to hear their history spoken from the pulpit.”
A Maori story, a story of saints
In her speech, Christiansen shared the origin of the Ngati Hine people and how Hineamaru, a female ancestor on Christiansen’s maternal grandfather’s side, worked diligently to prove to her father the land she had found would be suitable for her people. “To be clear, this is a Maori story,” Christiansen said in her address. “It is also an American story. Lastly, this is a story that stretches across time.”
Kiessieh said because her roots are deep in the Middle East and Palestine, she could relate to how Christiansen was trying to preserve her culture. “I thought it was extremely empowering … for her to talk about her history and her ancestors and to bring that into today. I feel like so many of us forget where we came from, our roots and what our ancestors did to put us in the spot we’re in today.”
Another family connection included the student who gave the closing prayer, Ellie Magleby, a junior from Lehi, Utah studying hospitality and tourism management. Magleby explained she is the fourth great-granddaughter to Ephraim Magleby, the missionary whose story Christiansen shared in her speech.
Magleby shared she grew up hearing stories about Ephraim Magleby, but it wasn’t until she came to BYUH that she really felt his significance and saw it on a personal level. She explained she has had numerous encounters with people connected to her fourth great-grandfather, including her bishop, fellow students and someone who is named “Epi” after “Eparaima Makapi,” the Maori transliteration of his name.
“It’s been really special for me to see [his impact], and I feel kind of inadequate to be his descendant in a way because I was just born,” said Magleby. “But it’s helped to strengthen my testimony, especially with manaakitanga, because manaakitanga, or hospitality, is basically the essence of what Christ’s gospel is.”
Kim Makekau, adjunct faculty in the Faculty of Culture, Language & Performing Arts, director of the Maori village at the Polynesian Cultural Center and panel member, said Christiansen’s discussion on manaakitanga led him to reexamine his own efforts in ministering to others.
During the panel discussion, Makekau said, “We, by covenant, must ensure our manaakitanga carries on and is exemplified in our generation so the next one carries it on, and the next one, and so on.”
Ancestor's wildest dreams
One of Christiansen’s current students, Nat Stewart, a junior from Utah studying English, said Christiansen has taught her about “the toll Christian missionaries can sometimes have on the people.” Stewart added with emotion that Christiansen’s speech showed her “a shining example of somebody [Ephraim Magleby] who was so willing to serve the people first and [put] religion second.”
Although Stewart said she has only known Christiansen for a short time, she shared Christiansen has become a tremendous role model in her life.
When asked in the panel discussion about how her project works within the framework of writing against the narratives of colonization, Christiansen stated, “I think these stories need to be told. And even if I do it badly, hopefully I won’t, then it still enables a conversation.”
Christiansen, during the panel discussion, explained she is part of the Maori diaspora as someone who was born in Australia but grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, away from the origin of her culture.
“I think especially when I was young, I was kind of resentful that I had the genealogy, but I hadn’t had the experience. Now I’m old and I don’t care as much. I [have learned to] acknowledge there’s more than one way to be Maori.”
She then advised students who want to preserve their own family’s stories to remember their genealogy, not let anybody else define them, and remember the name of a poem by Darius Simpson, which she referenced in her speech as well, “You are your ancestors' wildest dreams.”
According to the convocation program, convocation is an academic tradition that, for BYUH, was first started in 1989 by then Academic Vice President R. Lanier Britsch. Organized by the Dean’s Council, convocations are held every Fall Semester with a selected faculty member presenting on a topic of their choice. Faculty in attendance dress in their caps, hoods and gowns with various colors to represent where each faculty member received their degrees. The program further explains the hoods and trim represent “the highest degree achieved by the wearer—bachelor's, master's or doctorate.”