Kōrero: Kai Māori

Whārangi 1. Te whakatipu me te kohi kai i mua

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Ngā tipu nā te ringa tangata i whakatō

Nā ngā tīpuna o te Māori i kawe mai āna tipu kai mai i Hawaiki. Ko te kūmara, te uwhi, te taro me te tī pore ētahi kai i mauria mai e rātou.

He māeke ake te whenua o Aotearoa i ngā whenua i ahu mai ai ēnei rākau, nā whai anō ka urutau te Māori i ōna mātauranga hei whakatipu i ngā rākau nei ki tōna whenua hou. Ko te kirikiri, te onepū, te anga moana me te ngārehu ētahi tāpiringa hei whakahaumako i ngā māra. He momo ipu te hue ka whakamahia hei whakatipu rākau.

Ka whakatipuria ngā momo rākau māori, harakeke me ngā puapua tūtata ki ngā pā hei whakapoapoa i ngā manu ki ngā nōhanga tangata. He rahi ngā uru tī kouka i whakatipuria e ngā tīpuna e kitea tonutia ana i tēnei rā tonu.

Ngā huawhenua o te rautau 1700

E ai ki a Kāpene Kuki i tōna haerenga mai i te tau 1769: ‘Kāore he tarutaru o te whenua – inā te tau o te āhua o ngā māra, ā, kei runga noa atu me ngā māra tino rangatira o Ingarangi. E rāngai ana te kūmara i ōna ahuahu … ā, kei ngā arearenga te taro e whakatipuria ana – anō nei ko ngā mereni whakatipu a ō mātou tohunga whakatipu mereni i te kāinga … He rite tonu te whakatipu o te uwhi ki tērā o te kūmara: ka karapotia ēnei māra ki roto i te taiapa i hangā ki te wīwī, e rua tekau īnihi te teitei'.1

Ngā tipu a Haumia

I ngā wā o te ao kōhatu he whenua ngāherehere a Aotearoa, kī ana i te rarauhe, i te aka, i te nīkau, me te hekaheka, nā whai anō ka whai hiranga ngā hua me ngā kākano o te kāinga hou ki ngā tīpuna Māori. He tino kai te aruhe i ō mua wā. E ai ki te tohunga pūtaiao a Joseph Banks i te rautau 1700, ‘ko te aruhe te kai matua i ā rātou kai o ia rā.'2

Ngā kai kararehe

Ko te kiore me te kurī i mauria mai i Hawaiki ētahi kai whakahirahira ki te Māori.

Ka whāia te moa ki tōna korehāhātanga atu. Arā atu ngā momo manu ka hopukina, pērā i te kereru, i te weka, i te tūī, i te whio, i te kuihi māori, i te takahē me te mahi a te manu tai.

Kei te tini a Tangaroa ko ngā ika, ngā kēkeno, ngā tohorā, ngā aihe, ngā kaimoana. I muri i te korehāhātanga o te moa ka whai hiranga ake ēnei kai. He kai rangatira hoki te tuna, ā, ina noa tōna pukahu ki ētahi wāhi o te motu. E rongonui ana tōna reka.

Ko ētahi kaimoana ko te tuatua, te toheroa, te pipi, te tuangi, te pāua, te kina, te tītiko, te pūpū, te kuku me te kākahi. Ahakoa he mahi nā te tāne te hī ika, nō te wahine te ruku kai moana.

I te wā o te haerenga tuatahi mai o Kuki mā ka kite a Joseph Banks i te tau o ngā mahi ohu kaimoana a te Māori. I te tau 1769 ka tuhi ia mō tētahi kupenga i kitea ia, ara ‘e 5 aronui pea te hōhonu, ā, e whā, e rima rau aronui rānei tōna roa.’ Ka mea anō ia: ‘ko te hī ika te umanga nui i tēnei pito o te motu; kei ngā pā katoa te mahi a te kupenga e heipū ana. Kei te nuinga o ngā whare ngā kupenga e iri ana, ā, he rite hoki te āhua o ngā kupenga'.3

Ngā mahinga kai

Kei tēnā iwi, kei tēnā iwi e manaakitia ana ōna anō taunga ika, tumu ruku rānei. I ngā wā o mua he tapu ētahi o ngā wāhi nei, inā hoki he puna oranga nō aua iwi. I roto i te tau ruamano e kohi tonu ana te Māori i ēnei kai ki ngā wāhi nei.

Ngā inu

He waimāori tonu te inu a te Māori, ka mutu ka rumakina te rimurimu, te huarākau me te rau rākau ki te wai hei rongoā. Kāore anō te waipiro me te tupeka, ā, kīhai te Māori i tino kai i ngā kai whakahiwa, ahakoa ngā rongoā hei inu mā ngā toa haere ki te pakanga.

Kupu tāpiri
  1. Captain James Cook, The journals of Captain James Cook on his voyages of discovery: the voyage of the Endeavour 1768–1771, edited by J. C. Beaglehole. England: Cambridge University Press for the Hakluyt Society, 1968, pp. 583–584. Back
  2. Joseph Banks, The Endeavour journal of Joseph Banks 1768–1771, Volume 2, edited by J. C. Beaglehole. Australia: Angus and Robertson, 1962, p. 21. Back
  3. Joseph Banks, The Endeavour journal of Joseph Banks 1768–1771, Volume 1, edited by J. C. Beaglehole. Australia: Angus and Robertson, 1962, p. 444. Back
Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Charles Royal and Jenny Kaka-Scott, 'Kai Māori - Te whakatipu me te kohi kai i mua', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/kai-maori/page-1 (accessed 28 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Charles Royal and Jenny Kaka-Scott, i tāngia i te 5 Sep 2013