Spotlight on... Maoris

Size: There are no statistics on the exact number of Maori Londoners but there are estimated to be about 8,000 New Zealanders of Maori descent living in England.

Age: Maoris have been travelling to, and sometimes settling in, London since the early 19th century. The traditional performing groups first performed in the 1860s. The Maori rugby team followed 20 years later.

Favourite parts of London: The London Maori Club meets every Wednesday at 6.30pm and can be found on the fourth floor of New Zealand House, on Piccadilly Circus. It was set up in the 1950s and is called Ngati Ranana — Maori for “the London tribe”.

You mean all the Maori in London belong to a single tribe and are therefore related to each other? No, don’t be ridiculous. It’s just a name.

Hey I thought it sounded cool. I want to be in a tribe. I’m not even in a club. Wait till you see Hinemihi, their hand-built wooden club HQ in Guildford. Set in the grounds of Clandon Park, it was transported to England in 1892 and is one of the only historic Maori meeting houses you can see outside New Zealand.

You don’t say. And I can just rock up there? The best time to go is in June when the Ngati Ranana hold their spectacular annual fundraising feast. They serve a traditional meal called a hangi, which involves slow-roasting meat in the ground before serving it to several hundred guests.

Sounds thrilling. What are the funds being raised for? Mostly it goes towards the Te Kohanga Reo O Ranana — a language school that meets every Saturday morning also at the NZ House. It was set up in 1997 by Maori parents who were concerned that their tamariki (children) were being deprived of the knowledge of their reo (Maori language) and their tikanga (Maori customs).

Reo and tikanga are very well, but what if I want something a bit more physical? The London branch of the National School of Ancient Maori Weaponry holds classes in Wimbledon where you can learn the Maori fighting art of mau taiaha.

Actually I was thinking more like a dance class … Oh! In that case you should attend one of the Manaia’s haka workshops. That’s the stamping and clapping posture dance you see the All Blacks rugby team doing before games.

Perfect — I’ve got eight months to learn a routine in time for the next hangi. I look forward to watching.