From a modern day perspective, the purpose of the marae has been as a place for the more official parts of Māori culture. The marae are unequalled places of importance. "Marae hold the knowledge of the Māori culture. They are the repositories of their history, their stories, and their existence." Ratima, 2010. Importantly, as highlighted in the creation story in Ahorangi Genesis, the ancestor link is through Tane, as the whare is an embodiment of Tane. His precious gift was te whare kura as a physical structure to house knowledge which can be viewed as the parallel to the human “structure”.
Whereas in earlier times, the term marae applied only to the open area, often now called marae-atea, in front of the whare, today the term marae is commonly used to describe the entire compound (Tauroa & Tauroa, 1986). The whare (tipuna or nui), sometimes called meeting house, reads, to the initiated, like a history book. With arms outstretched in welcome, the body of the ancestor, generally endowing his name to the marae, is represented by the whare. His carved form, tekoteko, is atop the roof (maori.org.nz, 2011). The carved pieces under the head and down towards the ground- maihi, represent the arms, with the tahuhu or centre ridge pole being the spine of the ancestor, then the heke, or rafters, running off the tahuhu on both sides representing the ribs. In the fully carved whare, the walls are adorned with poupou or carvings, as well as tukutuku, or woven panels. The uprights, normally two, hold up the tahuhu, representing the connection between Ranginui, the sky father and Papatuanuku, the earth mother, (māori.org.nz) (Tauroa & Tauroa 1986). “Carvings of the ancestors serve to preserve history” (Graham, 1997, p. 38).
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...on by NZQA for its courses in crafts and Māori arts and carving, hospitality and employment skills (Christchurch city council, 2011). Incredibly, in keeping pace with technological advances, we have virtual marae, as shown by the artist Lisa Reihana, who has created her own virtual marae, accessible to Māori living worldwide, using photography and video (visualarts.qld.gov.au).
In conclusion, as an institution, the marae stands for much more than the official parts of Māori culture. It has its own system, its own learning and its own function. It is operaring still as Tane’s gift to mankind. Education is dominant on Marae, which now provide pathways to degrees, trade training and other NZQA opportunities. Marae are leading the way, taking their proper place in Māori society. “Marae are the foundation of Māori autonomy and tinorangatiratanga” ( Ratima, 2010).
In the novel ‘Us Mob Walawurru’ Composed by David Spillman and Lisa Wilyuka we observe the life of a young Aboriginal girl and the dilemmas that she and the Luritja people must face. The narrative illustrates the significance of respect in the Luritja tribe. It is presented that respect is shown to all cultures and backgrounds which makes a very caring and joyful atmosphere. The Walawurru community honour their laws and guidelines, and use the land with great admiration. Although in times disrespect is shown by some of the Walawurru members, overall respect is an extremely important aspect in the Walawurru people’s lives.
In the chronological, descriptive ethnography Nest in the Wind, Martha Ward described her experience on the rainy, Micronesian island of Pohnpei using both the concepts of anthropological research and personal, underlying realities of participant observation to convey a genuine depiction of the people of Pohnpei. Ward’s objective in writing Nest in the Wind was to document the concrete, specific events of Pohnpeian everyday life and traditions through decades of change. While informing the reader of the rich beliefs, practices, and legends circulated among the people of Pohnpei, the ethnography also documents the effects of the change itself: the island’s adaptation to the age of globalization and the survival of pre-colonial culture.
“Museum Notes: An Introduction to Hopi Pottery Design.” Northern Arizona Society of Science and Art, Inc., July 1937.
During times of questioning and guidance, the makaʻāinana would see a kahuna for insight of direction within their daily practices or lives. In my opinion, they would see a kahuna when they needed help or wanted to create something for their family or community. Things of creation and need of assistance would include building a house, a canoe, or perhaps needing to be healed from an illness. For example, when a person wanted to build a canoe, they would see a kahuna kālai waʻa. This kahuna would instruct the person on how to carve the waʻa and things that would be offered to the tree for its sacrifice. The kāhuna were people with all the knowledge in their field of expertise. As these kāhuna would grow in age, they would take in a young child, around the age of 5, to study under them so that the knowledge could be passed down from generation to generation. Moʻolelo are a collection of events that reflect indigenous ways of knowing. They have the ability to cover all categories of life and are passed down from one generation to the next. Leslie Marmon Silko expresses moʻolelo to be “all we have to fight off illness and death. You don’t have anything if you don’t have the stories…” A kahuna will spend their entire lives memorizing and studying moʻolelo because they are a source of instructions to our lives. Without these moʻolelo, there would be a limited of, or even perhaps none, ways to
In the Hawaiian culture, “Ohana” is a significant phrase referring to the bondage of family. There are many heritages across the world that have their own way of communicating that affection and showing their love to their own heritage. Hispanic heritage, for example, have the delicious food while other cultures have different focuses. Through heritage, communities find their niches in society to form an American Heritage. Though heritage exists through communities sharing a common culture, heritage definitely coincides with family and reigning stability within their niche. In the poem “Heritage” by Linda Hogan and the image “Mother Daughter Posing as Ourselves” by Elaine O’Neil, showing affection is one of the most prominent ways to communicate
The Hawaiian culture is known throughout the western world for their extravagant luaus, beautiful islands, and a language that comes nowhere near being pronounceable to anyone but a Hawaiian. Whenever someone wants to “get away” their first thought is to sit on the beach in Hawai’i with a Mai tai in their hand and watch the sun go down. Haunani-Kay Trask is a native Hawaiian educated on the mainland because it was believed to provide a better education. She questioned the stories of her heritage she heard as a child when she began learning of her ancestors in books at school. Confused by which story was correct, she returned to Hawai’i and discovered that the books of the mainland schools had been all wrong and her heritage was correctly told through the language and teachings of her own people. With her use of pathos and connotative language, Trask does a fine job of defending her argument that the western world destroyed her vibrant Hawaiian culture.
An important theme in Potiki is the enduring idea that creating and sharing stories as a central part of being human is important. It is a significant theme because the novel is heavily imbued with Maori culture, in which the stories and spoken teachings are given prominence, and also because it is a popular belief that people need narratives to give meaning, structure and value to their lives. This theme is displayed resolutely and poignantly in Potiki’s plot, characters, setting and symbolism, as the people of a small rural New Zealand community rediscover themselves through stories spoken and found in Maori carvings. The idea that humans need narratives is the core theme in Potiki, and it is used also to link other themes and aspects of the novel; it is in this way that we know the idea of storytelling is an intrinsic part of the novel’s structure.
The Maori myth is a Polynesian story about the creation of the universe which according to Rosenberg was different from other creation myths because it begins with nothing and then progresses through a process of “nonbeing to thought to the creation of the universe and human beings” (351). Even though it may be different because it goes from “nonbeing to thought” instead of nothingness to a spoken word or action, it has many similarities to other creation myths in how it explains the origins of the Gods and how each one represents a natural event or aspect of nature and humanity. The myth begins with an “idea” that “was remembered” and then “became conscious” and then “a wish to create”, all of which created a “power to live and to grow, even in emptiness” (352). At this point there was still no being, only thought and desire which gives the idea that what is being addressed are the human attributes of feeling, sensing, desire and thought, this is where this story is different from other creation myths.
Hawai'i is a land full of diverse people and ideas, starting from the Polynesians who decided to cross the ocean to settle and form the traditions practiced today by the Hawaiians. Unlike many other states, the beliefs of Hawai'i have managed to stay alive. Its unique culture is what attracts tourists most. Many people see it as a vacation spot, full of fun attractions and say, “When I go to Hawai'i I'm going to get some Hawaiian tattoos, they look so cool!” or “I'm going to buy a hula skirt, they're really pretty!” But all those hula dances and tattoos are not just for show. People do not know that there is more to it than ink or hip swaying; behind every hula skirt and every tattoo there is a story. Hawai’i’s culture consists of the significance of its dances, tattoos, and traditions that give Hawaiians their unique lifestyle.
The gods and their fighting are responsible for much of the weather. Tawhiri, who is the god of wind, creates the winds and hurricanes. Tane is a god specifically for forests, typical of a tropical island. Tangaroa is the god of the sea, given that the Polynesians are an island culture. He accounts for the waves and whirlpools. Rangi and Papa’s tears due to separation are responsible for rain and dew in the mornings. (“Creation Myth – Maori”) The Polynesian diet consists of many organic roots and crops. Rongo is the god of sweet potato and other cultivated foods, illustrating the importance of sweet potato itself, being that it has its own god. Rongo also means “peace,” further strengthening the importance of their agricultural lifestyle. (“Maori Gods and Goddesses”) There is also a god for fern root and wild edible plants, named Haumia. Earthquakes are explained in the creation myth as well. The Polynesian are located in the Ring of Fire, an area in the Pacific of active volcanoes and earthquakes, which explains it scientifically. However, in their creation myth, Hine Timata’s son, Ruaumoko, causes earthquakes when he walks around in the Underworld. The creation of New Zealand segments provides a detailed explanation of the mountainous formation of the island, due to Maui’s mischievousness and the inability of his brother’s to follow orders. The Polynesians have carefully supplied explanations and corresponding gods and goddesses for each part of their culture and environment. Much of the Maori creation myths intertwine emotion and divinity together to form realistic situations on a larger scale in order to explain the formation of the world the Maoris know
Butcher, M. (August 2003). “Who is Maori? Who is Pakeha?” In North &South Magazine. New Zealand.
New Zealand has the second highest imprisonment rate in the Western world (101 East, 2013). With Mori being overrepresented in all spectrums of the criminal justice system. The institutional racism that is present in the justice system links to the isolation and disconnection that many Mori feel in New Zealand society. Quince (2014) states that ‘nearly 200 years of dispossession and alienation as a result of the colonising process that undermined Maori epistemologies and methods of dealing with harm within the community,’ is what causes Mori to fall into this cycle of crime. Where there is no connection in modern New Zealand society with Tikanga Mori, whakapapa, whenua or whanaungatanga, this causes a person of Mori descent to disconnect from this society that is heavily linked with Eurocentrism.
Te Whᾱriki is the New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum, which was developed in 1996. Compared with Reggio Emilia Approach, they have similarities as focus on children’s interests; develop children’s learning though interacting in relationship with others, emphasise the importance of environment and adults’ active responding. They also differ in many ways, such as teacher’s role, culture background and documentation and Assessment.
According to Maori legends and myths Te reo Maori is one of the treasures give to them by Tane, (God of the forest) when he climbed to the twelfth heavens to collect the three kete of knowledge that man-kind needed for survival (Pohatu, 2000). Te reo Maori is a unique identity of all Maori people, it is sacred and indigenous language because it was handed to them by their ancestors to be treasured, nurtured and encourage to positive influence the future generations (Barlow, 1991). In the Maori tradition they used Te reo to pass down their history, tell myths and legends, to korero through karakia, waiata and education from ear to ear (Pohatu, 2000). For instance the significance of Te reo Maori still can be seen when they have gathering at the Marae to welcome, waiata and do karakia before kai.
The Treaty of Waitangi is a very important document to New Zealand. It is an agreement that was drawn up by representatives of the British Crown and Maori Hapu and Iwi. It was first signed at the Bay of Islands on February 6th, 1840. There has been a lot of debate over the years about the translation of words between the English and Te Reo Maori versions of the text and the differences in the word meaning over the who languages. In this assignment I am going to cover the rights and responsibilities that the treaty contains and an explanation of the differences in wordings and I am also going to contextualise my understanding of the differences of wording against the Maori Worldview and the Declaration of Independence.