The native people to this land are the Maori and they are some of the most hospitable people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. They can be a bit rough around the edges and being native to a country westernized by the white man, a lack of education and social class is many times grounds for prejudice.
My team and I had the pleasure of attending a Maori funeral for the mother of a new friend at a local church here in NZ. We were unsure if attending was appropriate, but after being encouraged by some of the Y staff, we were convinced to go. It was amazing how welcoming the family was to our presence there. We were told by some locals that during the 3 day funeral process or “tangi” people will go out of their way to either help or give to the family. He told us of one guy going to a funeral and mentioning it to another at a gas station and he gave the man his entire cart of corn to take to the tangi. The most powerful moment of the funeral was on the last day, during the service, a haka was performed as the body was taken out to be buried. A haka is a traditional Maori dance performed for many things from war to weddings. Check out this video for a few clips of the tangi.
We have also met some of the most kind people in our stay here. Our hosts, 
Leigh and Sandy let us completely take over their back yard with a tent and in their guest room/house. Leigh cooked dinner for us just about every night we were in Gisborne. We also met this amazing family from the local church who invited us to their home for dinner, but really just blessed us thoroughly with Godly conversations and His presence in their lives. We’ve had so many of the Y staff go out of their way to make sure we had a good time and got a full cultural experience while here.
