New Zealand

Moving on to the next card - one that was in my favourites for a long time, and dear Heather decided to surprise my mailbox with it!

it shows two people from the Tamaki Maori Village in Rotoroua, doing the hongi, which is a traditional Maori greeting, where people touch their noses briefly once or twice as a way of saying 'hello'
Isn't that just lovely?? And I thought only the Eskimos had this nose-thing (though for them it is an act of kissing....)

The two lovely stamps are from a set of 6 issued in 2013, under the name Matariki - Koru. At first the name means nothing to me, but it turns out that when the star cluster known as Matariki appears in the night sky it signals the Maori New Year and a time of new beginnings. The Matariki 2013 stamp issue celebrates the koru - a pattern symbolising new life and regeneration.

Matariki is a significant event for Māori, and is widely acknowledged to signal a change of seasons. In traditional Māori society, Matariki was believed to foretell whether the year ahead would be plentiful. It was also a time of festivity, when communities would come together to reflect on the past and look ahead to new beginnings. The message of new beginnings is represented in the koru pattern, which is derived from an unfurling silver fern frond. Each of the six self-adhesive stamps in this issue incorporates the koru pattern along with aspects of traditional Māori culture that have particular significance during the time of Matariki.

Thank you very very much Heather!

América Andina, Chile

A few Chile cards I received in a swap two years ago...all people related, so I post them altogether now.
They are all fantastic, and I just love this kind of traditional clothing..esp. those scarves!! something i'd wear on daily basis! LOVE THEM!!

All three cards feature people from the Andes (the longest continental mountain range in the world.

The first card shows local peasant girls dressed in traditional clothing.
Traditional Chilean clothing, as it can be seen, is very vivid, lively, and festive and is also based a lot around comfort because most of the population in Chile works in jobs that use manual labor and modern fashion also has a lot of influence on the traditional Chilean clothing because it is very patriotic, showing pictures that represent the country. This relates to the ethnic composition because most of the articles of clothing made take a lot of work and manual labor, which is the type of work that the majority of the population does, it is very versatile, and people from all walks of life can wear it.

a cute stamp issued in 2008 in a set of 10 stamps representing Typical Chilean characters, and here you can see a road sweeper...who looks really happy and content while whistling some songs during his working hours.
And also there is an additional postage sticker (on all three cards)...it is funny to me that they weigh the cards....


This second card...isn't it one of the most adorable ones you've seen? I sooo much love it!!!!

and just look at all those colours she is tucked in! And those almond shaped deep-black eyes! Adorable!!!

the stamp is from a set of two stamps issued in 2006, for the World Forum for Quality


the third card shows a peasant family, again dressed in traditional clothing.

I do appreciate OUR traditional clothing and stuff...but often I wish I lived in one of these Latin/South American countries, that have this kind of clothing that is both like traditional and modern and absolutely MY taste! Add to this that I've been told on a number of occasions that I have something Latin/South American in my appearance...beats me why, it is not something i've made up...ask others for an explanation...but that's just probably another reason why unconsciously I find such clothing so appealing =)

this stamp is also from the set representing Typical Chilean Characters, and this one shows a Barrel Organ Grinder...

Māori Concert Group, New Zealand

A great official I received some months ago from New Zealand.

NZ-80754

the card shows the Māori Concert Group, New Zealand's award winning Māori cultural group at Te Puia. (thats a place in NZ in case it got you confused).

I read that there are a number of movies featuring the Māori culture...I don't know how relevant they are, but I think I'll make a few downloads here, so next time I post a Māori card, I can give you some insights or impressions from these movies...in case some of  you would be interested as well, here are the movies listed regarding the subject...maybe some will catch your attention and interest.

Utu, Ngati, Boy, Whale Rider, Once Were Warriors.

some overlapping cancellations here, over two nice stamps...the lighthouse, at the top, was issued in 2012, as a definitive in a set of 5 stamps, and it shows the Cape Reinga lighthouse, while the stamp below it is a definitive from 2007, from a set of 7 stamps and it shows us Lake Colerdige.

Tjapukai People, Australia

next comes an awesome Australian card!

I love this Aboriginal Australia cards portraying indigenous people and different Australian tribes.
On this one here you can see the Tjapukai (or Djabugay) people (or People of the rain forest, as it is often used to describe them)
They are a group of Australian Aborigines who are the original inhabitants of mountains, gorges, lands and waters of a richly forested part of the Great Dividing Range.
They were nomads within their own tribal boundaries, whose major beliefs are in the Elder’s knowledge and reincarnation.
Even though Tjapukai is seen as a Patriarchal tribe, men did their own business, women did theirs. Yet they would all get together when all clans celebrated or when neighbouring tribes visited.
The Tjapukai community can be seen today as “Village in the Rainforest”, one of the major tourists towns in the Far North Queensland. It is home to the majority of the Djabugay people, if not the outer indigenous communities – Oak Forest, Mantaka, Korowra, Koah and Mona Mona.

the stamp is from a set of 4 issued in 2012, representing road trips.

Tāngata Whenua, New Zealand

My last card for today is this very cool and great card from New Zealand.

The term "Tāngata Whenua" translates to "People of the land" and is used to describe the Māori inhabitants that settled in New Zealand many centuries ago, but generally reckoned to be 1200-1300 AD.
Tāngata means 'people' and Whenua means 'land'.

The notion of tāngata whenua is sometimes contrasted with that of tāngata tiriti - literally, "the people of the Treaty". Tāngata tiriti refers to non-indigenous New Zealanders, who are in the country by virtue of the Treaty of Waitangi

and three nice stamps....the first one is from an issue of 7 scenic definitives issued in 2007 and this one shows Central Otago. The middle stamp is a Christmas one from a set of 7, issued in 2010, while the third stamp comes from a FANTASTIC sheet called A Slice of Heaven, of a total of 25 stamps, representing tourism in NZ. If you are interested, you can see the whole sheet here.

Thanks for following and for still dropping by...hope you have a nice sunny Sunday...at least here we have some sun.. 

Canada

Canada is one of those countries where i have so many great cards from, that it has become impossible to pick one for an update....so ive started picking by random, either eyes closed or some eeny-meeny kind of choice.

This is a very interesting card actually....the colours are just fantastic and the entire card is so full of life and positive energy. Me likes it very much
On the back it says: Canada owes much to the First Nations people, the true founders of our country.
I guess this is somewhere in the middle of a dance or a ritual.
Cards with people are not maybe on my very favourites list but this one definitely ranks high.

and a few nice stamps....the Five pin bowling one is from 2009 from a set of 4 stamps depicting sports- Canadian inventions.; the one above is also from 2009 commemorates the 100th anniversary of Montreal Canadiens (Ice Hockey related).Next to it is the Lest we forget stamp from 2009. And the two small ones are from the 5 stamps set from 2007 depicting insects (a golden-eyed Lacewing and a Northern Bumblebee).

Thanks a lot for reading and for bearing with me during my silent days :)