The Royal Treatment

New Zealand friends John and Jenny Hornblow created an invitation for us to join Wiremu and his wife Trieste Te Awe Awe at the Rangitaane Marae. Wiremu is Kaumatua (tribal elder/chief) of the Rangitaane Maori community. Trieste and Wiremu treated us to a traditional welcoming ceremony. Following the ceremony Wirmue gave us a tour of the Marae and the history of his family in this area. Wiremu, Trieste, John, and Jenny have visited Montana as representatives of New Zealand and Missoula's sister city Palmerston North. A great photo of Wiremu and Trieste in front of the University of Montana is found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/singsinthetimber/4650133724/in/photostream/

Earlier in the week, we attended a dinner celebration as guests of John and Jenny. The cuisine was great and the company and entertainment was even better. Everyone attending this event was required to sing. Below is a photo of Wiremu singing the old Louis Armstrong tune "What a Wonderful World". 

We thank Wiremue and Trieste for their warm welcome and John and Jenny for bringing us together. Photos below demonstrate the traditional hongi welcome greeting. Hongi indicates we are no longer visitors, but friends of this great land.