Fale Poaka

  Fale Poaka ki Te Māwhai

Tēna koutou katoa

(Greetings to you all)

This is the first time I've had the pleasure of seeing pigs being raised since my very Māori upbringing so the experience has been a wonderful remembering and learning curve for me and my children.

Our first pig was a wild boar called 'Boss' who had been purchased by a family member as a pair of brothers for a spit roasting session.

 

But Boss was spared and destined to become our first 'daddy' pig. Now apparently bush pigs are notorious for trying to mate with all the females and he is a hoha (annoying) all the time to the girls, but he shows genuine love to his 3 brides.  Of course he treats the first lady the best and gives her the best of the tidbits.

Then came Yum Yum, our Kunekune Princess.  If you are unfamiliar with this breed, they are a short, stoutish and barrel shaped pig with a fat neck.  We are hoping the mix of wild boar and Kunekune produces a much leaner pig.  We shall see because she is due in mid-November.  She was the last of the pigs to mate and again my mate tells me that Kunekune are 'like that ALL time' in Tonga so thanks to Boss and his constant hoha.

  Then came Little Pig who was impregnated first and just gave birth to 3 little boars on August 16th, 2012.  We do not know her proper breed but were told she could be a mix of Duroc, bit of Wild Pig and Large White also so our pigs are real mongrels but they're our mongrels.

And last but not least came Christmas who is my nephew's pig but we are looking after her for him and she is now hapū (pregnant) too and due in mid-November.  We have no idea what breed she is but she is now going to be a 'mama' so she may have been spared during this Christmas as she will still be feeding her babies.

Here are the 3 new boys and we are keeping the one furthest away with the blackish marking on his back to one day become the next 'daddy' pig.

This is a wonderful opportunity for my children to experience rearing pigs and to understand that they will eventually be sold or used for food one day. We make them part of the whole process to teach them about the continuing circle of life. 

And this is our humble pig pen or pig fale which we prefer calling it seeming it was built by my Tongan friend with the help of neighbours, whose way of life is very different, but reminds me of how my Dad used to do things with whatever is around and lots of hard work.  His wairua (spirit) brings us protection because if anybody is aware of 'OtuFonua' or the 'Offering of Tonga to God' by King Tupou I, you will understand how 'deeply' religious Tongans are.  They understand that God is the only protection they will ever need and have warded off many attempts of other countries trying to invade and colonise their beautiful kingdom.  They believe they are truly blessed and show their love by their hard work.   He is our provider of kai maara (food from the garden) and kai poaka (pork) and the skills of a much older soul, and we are very blessed to have him with us.

We have another bit of paddock in the photo of Boss above, and we are letting the pigs dig it to create this year's garden.  Hoeing and fertilising as they go along rooting the earth up which is another beautiful way to be 'interacting' with Papatuanuku (Mother Earth).  We are recycling scraps back into the whenua (earth) through the pigs' natural fertiliser producing units, their puku (stomach).

My family and I are enjoying this journey of learning how to live in unison with the whenua, and to share the blessings our Creator is providing for us from our kai kāpata (food cupboard).

We're giving one of the piglets to my brother and sister-in law and another to our friend and whanaunga for bringing us pig kai.  We also get scraps from our local Fijian-Indian vegetable shop owners and because they don't eat pork, we give them talo leaves which is our koha (donation) for their kindness.

Mauri Ora!

(Life Force to You!) 

...which is at best is a very loose translation of the entirety of 'Mauri Ora' and it's full meaning but hopefully you get my drift?