Karakia
A Maori chant or prayer recited to open and close gatherings, to begin work and to ask protection.
Also: maori incantation, karakia timatanga
Karakia is the Maori word for an incantation or prayer. Traditional karakia were recited by tohunga for planting, a canoe launching, a birth, a death, and for healing or protection, and each needed to be word perfect. Some are kept within families and tribes and are not for sharing. Others are open and widely used: a karakia opens a meeting, a meal or a school day, and closes it. Karakia may be Christian in form, since many Maori belong to the churches, or draw on older texts. Recent years have seen karakia in government offices and in sport, as an expression of Maori identity. Respect for the proper use of a karakia and who may say it remains a living question.