Sunday, 23 March 2008

World Peace and Prayer Day Honouring Sacred Sites Healing Papatuanuku Celebrating Matariki

Just Click on each Page to enlarge the Picture to read the details of this years World Peace and Prayer Day Programme and explanations about each days significance















Transport from Whangarei township to Ngaiotonga Marae can be arranged up until Tuesday 17th - (after this you'll need to get yourself to Ngaiotonga Marae) - if participants organise pick up times, dates and locations to be picked up from once you have arrived into Whangarei town either at the airport, Bus Station or other...
Emergency cell phone contact numbers when you are in Whangarei are provided below...


027 240 1929 - Sonya Bishara

021 029 16853 - Zack Bishara


Arrangements will be made for those with extended plans beyond the 22nd of June in Whangarei re accomodation until your departure - please arrange these plans with organisers as early as possible.Map Links From Whangarei to Ngaiotonga along Russell Road Whangaruru North.




Basically go North on state Highway 1 from Whangarei township until you get to the Russell Road turn off on your right.Go along Russell Road for around 40 to 50 minutes until you get to Rawhiti road turn off on your right - go along this road until you see Ngaiotonga marae settlement.
Again stay on Russell Road all the way to Rawhiti Road turn off and do not turn off anywhere else - you will make it to Ngaiotonga.




What is World Peace and Prayer Day?

Te maungarongo ki te whenua,
Te mārino ki te moana,
Te aio ki a Papatuanuku
rāua ko Ranginui
te rangimārie ki te Aorangi

Harmony in the land
Tranquility upon the sea
Serenity, Beauty, Humility
Whole, pure, sacred
Grandmother Earth
Grandfather Sky
Peace to the World

World Peace and Prayer Day is a sacred day shared by Chief Arvol Looking Horse with communities all over the world. It is a time for all people, all nations, all faiths to gather together during summer solstice (Northern hemisphere) or winter solstice/Matariki (Southern hemisphere) to hold sacred ritual and ceremony, to pray for World Peace and to honour sacred sites. It is a time to bring about a positive energy shift for the healing process to occur for Papatuanuku (Grandmother Earth) and all her children from the four directions past, present and yet to be born.



When will WPPD2008 happen and How to Get there?


World Peace and Prayer Day is the 21st of June each year. This year 2008 will see a five day event begin on the 17th of June and unfold into the major ceremony on the 21st of June 2008.


All international participants flying into New Zealand are asked to organise their flights to arrive into Auckland International Airport New Zealand. Once in Auckland International Airport you may choose to organise a couple of rest days in Auckland city and see the sights.

Or you may choose to organise a connecting flight from Auckland Domestic airport (a close 10 minute walk from the International Airport or catch the regular free buses between terminals).

This connecting flight needs to get you from Auckland Domestic terminal to Whangarei airport - its only a short flight - 25 to 30 minutes - but once in Whangarei you will be picked up from the airport and transported to your accomodation prior to the WPPD2008 event commencing.

You will need to ensure that your arrival date and time into Whangarei airport is known by the WPPD2008 organisers so that where appropriate we may ensure your welcome and transport to your accomodation once you have arrived in Whangarei.


You will need to arrange your connecting flights between Auckland and Whangarei via Air New Zealand which is our national Airline.

Flight bookings can be made using these links for Air New Zealand travel arrangements and bookings to Whangarei :-




or




Contact wppd2008@gmail.com should you have any queries


We are asking that all international participants arrive into Whangarei airport at the earliest from the 14th of June 2008 or at the latest by the 16th of June 2008 as the commencement date of WPPD2008 is set for the 18th of June and we will need at least a full day before with all participants to prepare for the opening ceremony.
Please ensure that if you have any reason for arriving earlier than the 14th of June into New Zealand that you have communicated with WPPD2008 organisers what your plans are and that you will be ok to organise yourselves until your arrival into Whangarei from the 14th onwards.

Alternatively the adventurous among you could arrange to organise travelling by rental vehicles and take the beautiful 3 to 4 hour drive from Auckland City north to the town of Whangarei and once there be welcomed at a prior arranged location by the WPPD2008 organisers who will take you onto the WPPD2008 site.

See following sites for possible car rental options direct from Auckland airport

or



Please contact WPPD2008 Organisers via this e-mail address for further enquiries


Where will WPPD2008 happen this year?


Tuparehuia and Ngaiotonga marae are situated in the Northern coastal area of Whangaruru and it is 1 hours drive from Whangarei Town




Tuparehuia Marae is a coastal marae (village community) situated in the northern area of Whangaruru which is a 1 hour drive from the Northland town of Whangarei here in the North Island of Aotearoa, New Zealand.
The main WPPD2008 site will be situated here at Tuparehuia marae while we will use nearby community facilities such as Ngaiotonga Marae as well for accommodation and contingency sites in the unlikely event of conference interruption. The tribal communities of the Whangaruru area mainly affiliate to the over-arching tribe known as Ngāti Wai who will be the hosts for WPPD2008.


What is the connection for WPPD2008 to Aotearoa New Zealand?



The 21st of June event aligns with the presence of Matariki in our skies. Here in the Northland as in the Western sides of our country "Puanga" is the signal star for the new year. Matariki is the Māori name for the Pleiades constellation. One of the primary kaupapa (principle objective) of this hui is to weave the already established activities surrounding Matariki and the Māori new year customs with World Peace and Prayer Day Honouring Sacred sites and acknowledging Grand Mother Earth traditions.


Though for other tribes Puanga is the signal never the less such cosmic events and seasons marked the yearly activity of our ancestors lives motivating them to practice their customs and traditions in resonance with their natural environment both terrestrial and celestial physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially, economically, ecologically and spiritually.

WPPD Background For WPPD2008 Aotearoa


This is the first time Aotearoa New Zealand will be hosting World Peace and Prayer Day. Other host nations have included Mt Fuji, Japan (2004), USA, South Dakota Black Hills (2005), Alaska (2006), and Mexico (2007).

A Māori representative was kindly invited to Japan to attend WPPD2004. Following this 2004 event in Japan four Māori representatives were supported by Wolakota to attend the WPPD2005 Wopila ceremony held in Paha Sapa Black Hills region of South Dakota. It was at this ceremony that the nations to play hosts for the next 3 years following 2005 found themselves invited into the sacred prayer circle to offer prayer at each of the four entrances representing the four sacred directions; The Inuit and Mayan communities have hosted WPPD over 2006 and 2007 respectively...over this time we here in Aotearoa have been preparing for this event.



There is no doubt that this event has been organised by ancestral agreement and we now are merely following an pre-prepared agenda handed down generation by generation to this generation for all generations to come.



There is little coincidence in the advent of WPPD2008 coming to Aotearoa, of Chief Arvol Looking Horse and his family and tribal ancestors 'returning' to this spiritual land, Aotearoa, for the first time, of all nations and all faiths attending in peaceful unison the collective ritual and ceremony of expressing positive heart energy to affect a positive resonance of peace in the world so desparately needed, of healing Papatuanuku Grandmother Earth so urgently needed, of heart to heart communication so deeply needed between human, animal, plant, stone, air, fire, water, earth and spirit.


Here in Tuparehuia the tribal community of Ngāti Wai invite you to participate in this important ceremony from the 18th of June to the 21st 2008...We are the ones needed to heal Papatuanuku for the generations yet to come.


Programme Information for Four Day WPPD2008 Event

At this stage the final Programme covering the Four day WPPD2008 event to be held at Tuparehuia marae is to be finalised in the first week of April after the meeting of organisers on April 5th in Whangarei.

Each day will be set aside for activities acknowledging the natural elements of Papatuanuku Grandmother Earth providing opportunity for paticipants to participate in traditional activities associated with those elements from Māori traditions and other indigneous cultures. Story telling will play a main feature throughout the four days, including presentations from key speakers and opportunities for sharing in collective ceremony, ritual and prayer.

This years event will weave together the traditional sacred fire ceremony of offering tobacco. This traditional ceremony is a gift by Chief Arvol Looking Horse and his people and shall be woven in with traditional Māori custom lead and facilitated by traditional repositories of those rituals sourced from the local tribal community of Ngāti Wai and invited elders of other communities.

Throughout the four days the organisers hope to confirm the nearby Department of Conservation camping grounds for those who would like to camp across the road from the village site of WPPD2008.

It is anticipated that nearby marae village community facilities will accomodate international dignatories while it is expected that local visitors will travel in from Whangarei town each day.

As it is June in the Southern Hemisphere it will be winter and participants would be advised to bring clothing to suit the likely weather patterns. Here in Aotearoa and especially in the coastal regions where Tuparehuia is situated the weather has the capacity to be unpredictable - so bring equipment, clothing and other attire and resources that can help you adapt to the high probability that you will experience the best and worst of the four seasons in the period of a day each day...

Given our calling upon the natural elements to help guide us in this ceremony we will no doubt be in the presence of some awesome natural phenomena over the four days of WPPD2008...this is normal for most if not all indigenous affairs of the spirit...therefore we ask that all who participate and attend WPPD2008 be present with a good heart, humility, and abide by the etiquette of aroha o tetehi ki tetehi, compassion to one another, respect, tolerance and understanding as befitting the kaupapa / first principle of Peace throughout the event.

Chief Arvol Looking Horse and Miracle



Following the birth of a White Buffalo Calf in 1994, the Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe for the Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Nations, Arvol Looking Horse, was directed to honor the Four Directions with ceremony on June 21st. According to Lakota Star Knowledge, the birth of Miracle, a female white buffalo, signalled a time of earth changes and the coming of the mending of the Hoop of All Nations. The Summer Solstice is said to be a powerful time to pray for peace and harmony among all Living Beings. Grandmother Earth's gifts, the air, water, plant, animal and rock nations must be allowed to heal if we are to live in harmony with Her.

Miracles and prophecies have revealed themselves; The white animals are showing their sacred colour to give us the message of change and sacrifice. Throughout the world people have made spiritual commitment to bring peace, harmony and restoration back to our lives. Faith must continue to live in the hearts of the people – to gather at our sacred sites to heal our Grandmother Earth. Join us on June 21st – all nations, all faiths, one prayer – as we walk toward togetherness in respecting and understanding all of life. This is OUR responsibility.

My Grandmother once told me to understand that every person can have a good heart, a heart big enough to change the world. She said the Great Spirit wouldn't give us something we couldn't handle.

Know that you yourself are essential to this World. Believe that. Understand both the blessing and the burden of that. You yourself are desperately needed to save the soul of this world.

Did you think you were put here for something else?

Chief Arvol Looking Horse



Messages of Peace















Seeds of Change













Kotahitanga - Unity














The Meaning of the Hongi -
The Sharing of the Sacred Breath of Life














A Traditional Upbringing - An Elder Speaks
















Singing Peace into the Universe












Message from Rangimarie Turuki Rose Pere

Kia ora koe e te Rangatira, nga tino mihi ki i a koe, ara koutou te whakahirahira i nga taonga i tuku iho e nga Atua Kotahi Ke. Ahakoa te pewhea ka hoki atu taua te tangata ki te Rangatiratanga.

What you are doing is so very important at this time. The whole of humanity is moving on to a much higher vibration. Our ancient tipuna of ancient Hawaiiki were all peacemakers, and they made it very clear that we are the Living Breath of the Central Sun, the Divine Spark, and that we begin and end with the Sun, ara ko “RA NGATI RA” tatau...this is the sacred meaning of the word “Rangatira”. Ngati means living breath, so that you are the living breath of both Ranginui, and [Papatuanuku]

When I call manuhiri on to the marae, I always emphasize the word Ra, ara, Haere mai Ra! I always welcome Manuhiri as Beams of Light from the Central Sun, the Divine Spark. Te Reo Rangatira from the Central Sun, the Divine Spark, has both hidden and sacred meaning. I can assure you that Joe and I and our whanau will definitely support your work on a wairua level if we cannot get there physically.

Kia ora mai tatau i roto i nga ahuatanga o te wa.

Kia noho mai ko te Aio, te Aroha, te koa me te pono ki roto ki te Aorangi,

Arohanui,

Na te Whaea,

Na Rangimarie Turuki Rose Pere





Manaia te Maunga

Manaia te Tangata

Manaia te Pou E!

Whano Whano haramai te toki

Haumi e

Hui e

Taiki e!



The Elders Speak 1











The Elders Speak 2












The Elders Speak 3











The Elders Speak 4












The Elders Speak 5



Light at the Edge of the World The Way Finders 1












Light at the Edge of the World The Way Finders 2












Light at the Edge of the World The Way Finders 3











Light at the Edge of the World The Way Finders 4












Light at the Edge of the World The Way Finders 5













North American Indian Cherokee Morning Song



Ainu First People of Japan





Rimi Natsukawa Sings Famous Okinawan Song

HANA (FLOWER)



Rimi Natsukawa Asadoya Yunta