"Show Oprah your pukana eyes - she wants to see your pukana eyes." That was the instruction given to those waiting to perform a powhiri for the US talk show queen and media mogul Oprah Winfrey during her visit to Auckland's Orakei Marae.
The Ngati Whatua people, young and old, were to be a "guard of honour" for Winfrey during her time there tonight, lining the path as she moved from the marae to the whare kai.
When the woman herself arrived, dressed in a traditional cloak and accompanied by her entourage and local elders, she was greeted with a rousing haka, which echoed out over Bastion Point.
After removing her high-heels outside the marae, Winfrey entered to the sounds of How Great Thou Art. Speeches and songs were interspersed with peals of laughter, as media waited patiently outside for Winfrey to re-emerge.
"It was truly a spiritual experience, to be in the presence of Ngati Whatua people, who are now my people," she told reporters. "Who knew I had these people over on the other side of the world?"
She also paid tribute to the iwi's strong focus on honouring the ancestors and holding on to cultural traditions.
"I think if everyone did that in the world, we'd have a different world. Because when you lose sight of where you've come from and your traditions and your culture, then you lose your way."
Winfrey also inadvertently stepped into a live cross by Maori TV's Te Kaea news show and told them why it was important for her to visit the marae.
"Because it's their land and I'm on their land and I'm visiting their land," she said. "To be welcomed here is such a great honour, but to give respect and honour to the people who really founded this land, that's why it's important."
However, Winfrey wouldn't get drawn into the flag debate, saying she'd have to spend more than a week in the country before she could decide.
When asked what audiences could expect from her Vector Arena show tomorrow, Winfrey joked that New Zealanders didn't seem to need her message of "helping people to live their fullest lives" -- as we're doing it already.
"As I've been around New Zealand, I think I can go home now - I think everybody's already doing that here.
"As a culture and as a people - in terms of understanding what matters, family, tradition, values - I think New Zealanders, Kiwis, have it."
It is the broadcasting billionaire's first visit to New Zealand for the event An Evening With Oprah at Auckland's Vector Arena tomorrow night.
- By Eli Orzessek of the New Zealand Herald
