5 hours
Ki Te Whaiao: An Introduction to Maori Culture and Society
Edited by Tania M. Ka’ai, John C Morrfeild, Michael P.J. Reilly and Sharon Mosely
This book was about both traditional and contemporary Maori society and its
interactions with Pakeha. It gave me a deeper understanding of Maori cultural
concepts and practices intrinsic to Maori society.
Some key points I took after reading this were

Tribal histories about creation, the division of Rangi and Papa-tua-nuku
and the first creations of human beings. There are different accounts of
this story which are outlined in the book. There are various tohunga
related stories about the making of human beings. It is believed that Tane
thought he would create humankind and from earth he created a tiral
model in Hawaiki. He named the first human body Tiki-auaha and then he
created the first women they then married and lived together and this is
how humankind began.

Maori tend to have a holistic and cyclic work view where everyone is
linked to everything thing and to the atua. There are key indicators which
the books suggests to help understand a Maori world view. These include
aspects of tribal identity, land and landscape, spirituality, elders and
language.

I learnt about the meaning of a number of Maori terms such as
whakapapa which is a genealogy structure or table based on this
interconnectedness.
This
relationship
extends
beyond
human
relationships into connections between humans and the universe. Mana is
one of the most important concepts of Maori society and is extremely
complex. It defines authority, control, influence, prestige and power.
Individual mana also depends on descent lines. I also learnt about tapu
which describes the influence of atua within the universe and over all
things animate and inanimate. It also relates to a system of protective
prohibitions or restrictions which control relationships between entities
and their expressions of tapu. These are some of the common Maori terms
which I often hear but have not fully understood the meaning of them

I learnt about community values which define Maori society and kin
groups. Maori take care to establish their kinship ties both with the
natural world and with other people. In classic Maori study whanau was
part of a persons kinship group which lives immediately together,
included the joint and extended family. Further from the daily life of a
Maori was their iwi which translates as the bones of ones skin or tribe.
Beyond this kin groups comes the waka as narratives of different kin
groups begin stories around the actions of the tipuna who formed crews
of the different waka. It also learnt that the birth order within classical
Maori kin groups was of great importance as there is an important
distinction between tuakana and teina. These various kinship terms
overlap in their usages.

This book goes into detail about powhiri rituals and encounters. Many
traditional and important events happen on the Marae which traditionally
belong to kinship groups. A powhiri is the ritual welcoming ceremony
that occurs when visitors arrive on a marae. There are a number of
processes that take place during this ceremony before the visitors are
allowed to enter into the marae. I also read about death rituals and rights
around tangihanga and a hui. Their ceremonies have developed over
times with social changes,
technology and Pakeha influence. The
immediate family of the deceased have a role during this process which is
to mourn and remain beside the tupapaku while the rest of the whanau
organize and prepare the marae, do the karanga and prepare the food.
Woemn wear pare kawakawa during the tangihanga which are wreaths of
leaves worn around the head, they also wear black in contemporary
Maori society which is an influence of Pakeha. A tangihanga usually lasts
around three days although they can last longer. Maori encourage people
to openly express their feelings during this time and not conceal
emotions. The last night before the burial is a celebration of the life of the
deceased. On the last day the coffin is closed and a church service is held
on the marae before the body is carried to the burial ground. At the end of
the tangihanga a church minister and the whanau pani go through the
house of the deceased to dispel any spirits that may be dweling there and
to allow the living to feel safe inside. I found it very interesting reading
about these rituals as they have very different to any funeral I have
experienced. After the burial everyone returns to the marae for a hakari.

There is also a section of this book at that focuses on the arts. I found this
very interesting as it discussed many things that I have been able to
experience such as song, haka and musical instruments. The chapter
explains waiata tnagi which are songs for those who have died, waiata
aroha which are love songs, waiata whaiaipo, waiata tohutohu which are
message bearing songs and oriori which are lullabies. It looks at the
origins of haka and poi and the history behind these art forms and how
Paheka influenced them. Poi was traditionally a male dominated sport
which today it reflects women and their beauty

It also looked into traditional Maori art forms such as carving, weaving
and moko which I had a particular interest in art. I think that Maori arts
are a good way to authentically incorporated te reo and tikanga Maori
into the classroom if done effectively.
Maori traditionally lived
surrounded by their art as their houses were carved with the art of
whakairo, their clothes tributes to raring and their bodies adorned with
moko. Pakeha and colonization introduced new materials and tools and
the decline of traditional art for a period of time.

The next part of the book explores the Treaty of Waitangi and the
understandings around the European concepts of terms and the varying
understanding which are evident around sovereignty. The book suggests
that the greatest challenge to understanding the Treaty in society today is
the need to understand society around the time when the Treaty was
signed to understanding what was motivating and guiding peoples
actions. Many question why the Maori signed the Treaty and this book
suggests that this may have been because they were anxious to assert
their own authority and they many have also sought the protection of the
Treaty. The Treaty was first drafted in English and then translated to
Maori in a matter of hours which I was not aware of. The purpose of the
Treaty was the cession of chiefly authority to Queen Victoria but William’s
Maori translation did not make this clear which is where problems arise.
Their were differences in the meanings of terms which has caused issues
with individuals understandings and interpretations of the Treaty.

There is also a section which looks at education and the status of the
Maori language. The colonial education system limited the potential for
Maori students and regarded them as only fit for physical or manual
subject. The chapter notes that although there have been changes since
the 70’s to make a bicultural education system for Maori there have only
been tokenistic achievements based on assimilation. Maori question the
outcomes of state education for their children and the tokenistic form of
Maori culture inclusion. Today Maori parents want an education system
that values Maori students and values their culture. The Maori language
has declined as a means of communication due to colonization. In 1987 is
became an official language and the Maori Language Comission was
established. In the past 20 years there have been developments in te reo’s
return to being an everyday language heard in different contexts such as
Kura Kaupapa, language programmes, Maori operated radio stations,
published books and music, and Maori studies departments in
Universities.