Up at the crack of dawn for the traditional opening of the new Chancery in Wellington - New Zealand
Up at the crack of dawn for the traditional opening of the new Chancery in Wellington
With a Tohi Tangaengae ceremony, the new Chancery of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Wellington, New Zealand, was traditionally opened by local Māori authorities in the morning of 2 December. A Tohi ceremony is a Māori custom, done by the local Iwi (tribe) representative to welcome us into our new office space and give their blessing, as the traditional custodians of the land where the Chancery is located.
Up at the crack of dawn for the traditional opening of our new Chancery in Wellington
The ceremony was held in the presence of our SG BZ Christiaan Rebergen, who was joined by his colleagues Gert-Jan Buitendijk (SG AZ) and Vincent Roozen (SG BZK). Our team was also joined by our Police, Defense and Customs Attachees traveling from Canberra, and our Honorary Consuls from across the Pacific Ocean. Among other guests were the CEO of Toi M ā ori Aotearoa (M ā ori Arts NZ) and the CEO of the M ā ori Language Commission.
To align with the energies of a fresh new day, the Tohi is traditionally done at dawn, just before the sunlight wakes up the natural world around us. As December is summer in New Zealand, this meant the gathering started bright and early at 4:30am. The Tohi Tangaengae ceremony involved the ceremonial blessing of every room in the office by Kāranga (ritual calls) and Karakia (prayers), followed by Kōrero (speeches) and Waiata (songs). Afterwards, the formal proceedings are ended by a shared consumption of breakfast (kai).
