By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer

When Tribal member and Language and Cultural Specialist Bobby Mercier travels to the north island of New Zealand on Feb. 1, he will renew Grand Ronde relations with the Māori Tribe started almost five years ago.
As ambassador of the Grand Ronde Tribe, Mercier will join two others from the Suquamish Tribe in Washington state. On his back, Mercier will carry the responsibility of a nation everywhere he goes, showing with respect what it means to be a member of the Grand Ronde Tribe.
Last summer, when Māori ambassadors Tamahou Temara and Francis Mamaku came to the United States to join in the Northwest nations’ Tribal Canoe Journey, Mercier said, “They had a real good effect on our kids – the way they carried themselves and treated everybody with respect. They’re a really respectful people.
“They pulled in our canoes every day. They shared in our culture. They showed our kids the men’s and women’s haka,” that Mercier described as “their performance, their dance, their rituals.
“They had a blast here. Everybody took them in.”
The reciprocal invitation to Mercier is also part of the aboriginal culture, he said, and he will play a role similar to the one that the Māoris played here during his visit.
“I’m going mainly to canoe with the guys and be a guest.” He’ll give talks. He’ll sing the traditional canoe songs. “I’ll be a witness to the events going on.”
The event will be held in the brisk waters of the Bay of Islands east of Auckland, New Zealand.
The Māori have not yet brought their big, traditional waka (canoes) to the Northwest, but while there, Mercier said, he looks forward to canoeing in some of their bigger canoes, including a 100-footer that holds as many as 100 people and hasn’t been out in the water for 70 years.
The canoes are large and heavy, Mercier said. They come from the ancient Kauri and Totara trees, prehistoric in age, with the last stands now owned by a Māori carver.
On his trip, Mercier says he will take journeys similar to the Canoe Family journeys that last summer brought together dozens of Northwest Tribes and Canadian First Nations. The journeys may not be quite as long as the two weeks Northwest Tribes spend on the water, however.
“We’ll go around the bay, with all kinds of spiritual protocols,” Mercier said. There will be chants and dances in the canoes.
“Longhouses line the beach and there’s a lot of protocol on the beach. They say that the wakas get us here, but this (the cultural protocols) is who we are.”
Hundreds of tents line the beach. “They call it ‘tent city.’ They’re up at five in the morning and ready to go.”
“The plan is to keep the relationship (with Northwest Tribes) strong,” Mercier said. In the future, the Māoris hope to bring one of their canoes here, and keep it here for future visits.
The U.S. Embassy in New Zealand is funding the trip, and will help publicize the visit with photographs and special events.
Mercier said he expects to stay in tents by the longhouses for a week, and then visit a village out in the country to meet other Māori people.
He intends to take a laptop and write a blog during his visit.
Mercier anticipates that later this year, two more Māori delegates will visit Grand Ronde.
The Grand Ronde Tribe first made contact with the Māori Tribes of New Zealand in the fall of 2005, through the Māori Arts Council, Toi Māori Aotearoa. With the help of a $25,000 Spirit Mountain Community Fund grant, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University in Salem brought more than 100 Māori weavings, and the artists who made them, to town.
“It’s a really big responsibility,” Mercier said about being an ambassador.
And he is taking it seriously.

Photo by Michelle Alaimo