Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey has arrived at Auckland's Orakei Marae.
Dressed in a traditional cloak, Winfrey was greeted with a powhiri as she walked slowly to the marae, with members of her touring entourage and local elders.
"Show Oprah your pukana eyes - she wants to see your pukana eyes."
This was the instruction given to those waiting to perform a powhiri for US talk show queen and media mogul Oprah Winfrey during her visit to Auckland's Orakei Marae yesterday.
The Ngati Whatua people, young and old, were to be a "guard of honour" for Winfrey during her time there, lining the path as she moved from the marae to the whare kai.
Photo / Doug Sherring
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.
As the packed marae emptied out, a kuia briefly stole the show by demanding a photo session with The Edge DJ Dom Harvey's little dog - "Look how many photos I'm getting," she said, laughing.
"Are you her bodyguard?" she then asked a security guard, who shook his head.
"She doesn't need a bodyguard here, eh?" And she was probably right - Oprah's visit was less like a mega-star on a whirlwind tour, and more like an aunt popping by to impart some wisdom.
It was a feeling that seemed to resonate with Winfrey, when she spoke to media, following a cup of tea with kaumata.
"It was truly a spiritual experience, to be in the presence of Ngati Whatua people, who are now my people," she said.
"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."
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."
