Ka waimeha te pūrākau mō te Moriori
Tokorua ngā kaimātai tikanga tangata o Aotearoa i tohe i te ariā e mea ana i konei te Moriori i mua i te Māori – ko H. D Skinner, i te tekau tau atu i 1920, ā, ko Roger Duff i te tekau tau atu i 1940. I whakapae rāua ko ngā tāngata tuatahi o tēnei motu – ngā iwi patu moa, i puta mai i Poronihia tonu. Nā ana kerikeritanga ki te tāhuna o te awa o Te Wairau, ka kitea e Duff ngā taunaki pono, arā, he iwi Māori tōmua aua iwi whaiwhai moa. Ko tana whakamārama mō te rerekē o ngā taputapu i kitea i ngā papanga i kerikeria ki ngā wāhi whaipara tangata e mea ana, nā te Māori katoa aua taputapu i hanga, e whakaatu ana i te pakaritanga o te ahurea o te Māori, ehara i te taunaki mō tētahi iwi tōmua ake i te Māori ki Aotearoa.
E whai ake nei ko te māramatanga o ēnei wā; ko ngā tāngata o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa ngā iwi tuatahi kia noho ki Aotearoa i te takiwā o te rau tau atu i 1200. I te takiwā o te rau tau atu i 1400, ka rere ētahi tāngata ki Wharekauri, e 800 kiromita te pāmamao. Ka motu ngā here ki Aotearoa, ka tipu ā rātou tikanga whakahaere. I te tekau tau atu i 1830 ka tae atu ētahi Māori ki Wharekauri mā runga i tētahi kaipuke Pākehā. Koinei te tūtakitanga tuatahi a ngā iwi kiritata e rua nei mō ngā tau e 300 te roa. Ko te ingoa kārangaranga o ngā iwi o Wharekauri ko te Moriori – tā rātou whakahua i te kupu Māori.
Te whakahē i te ariā o te Tāruru Nui
I tautoko tonu a Skinner rāua ko Duff i te kōrero a Te Mete (S. Percy Smith) mō ngā kaihōpara tōmua o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa – mō Kupe (750 AD), mō Toi rāua ko Whātonga (1000–1100) – me te Tāruru Nui i te takiwā o te tau 1350.
I te tekau tau atu i 1950 ka hua tētahi tikanga hōu mō te tātari i te pakeke o tētahi mea (pēnei i te rākau, te angaanga, te kōiwi) mai i ngā wāhi whaipara tangata. Ko te tikanga o te radiocarbon dating ko te tiro i te tawhito o ētahi para mā te kite i te nui o te isotope carbon-14 e toe ana i roto i te para. Nā ngā taunaki hōu nei, ka puta te whakatau he tōmua noa atu te taenga mai o te Māori – i te takiwā o te tau 800 AD. Ko te radiocarbon dating tētahi o ngā tūmomo mātauranga rangahau i whakahē i te kōrero mō te Tāruru Nui.
I te tekau tau atu i 1960 ka wetewetea e te kaimātai momo tangata e David Simmons te ariā o Te Mete mō te Tāruru Nui. I whakaaturia e ia ngā mahi mūrere a Te Mete ki te raweke i ngā kōrero tuku iho me ngā whakapapa a te Māori, kia hua ko te kōrero e pai ana ki a ia. Hei tauira, i whakapono a Te Mete he tika katoa ngā kōrero tuku iho a te Māori. Ko te nuinga o ngā kōrero nei he whakapapa, tīmata mai ana i te ūnga o tētahi waka. Mā te uta i te 25 tau ki runga i ngā ingoa o te whakapapa ka kitea te tawhito o ngā tau o tētahi kōrero. Heoi ko te mate, kīhai ngā kōrero ā-iwi i tīmata i te wā kotahi. Nā reira ka tahuri ia ki te whakaōrite i ngā kōrero nei. Nō konei ka hua mai a 1350 AD mō te tau tae ai te Tāruru Nui ki Aotearoa.
Whāia, ahakoa te whakapae a Te Mete he tika katoa ngā kōrero i whakamahia e ia, he rangirua ētahi o ana whiriwhiringa. Ko tētahi o ngā tāngata whāngai korero ki a ia ko Te Whatahoro Jury. Ko te whakapae a Te Whatahoro i ako ia ki roto i ngā kura wānanga a Te Mātorohanga i te tekau tau atu i 1860. Heoi, ehara i te mea he tūturu ngā akoranga katoa a Te Whatahoro. I iriiritia a ia hei Mōmona, i āwhina a ia ki te whakamāori i te Puka Mōmona (kei roto e kī ana ko ngā iwi o Poronihia tētahi o ngā Iwi Korara o Iharaira). He mema anō hoki ia nō te Rōpū Poronihiana, ā, he tino tata a ia ki a Te Mete i roto i ā rāua mahi. Ko ia tonu tana kaitohutohu ki ngā tikanga Māori. Nō mua tata nei kua kitea i tū anō a Te Whatahoro mō te rōpū tōrangapū Māori a Te Kotahitanga. Mārama te kitea, kei raro kē ana mahi kohikohi kōrero tuku iho i te maru o Te Kotahitanga. Ka whakamahia a Te Whatahoro e Te Mete, ka whakamahia hoki a Te Mete e Te Whatahoro.
Tāpiri atu ki te kōrero tito mō te Tāruru Nui, ko te whakamāramatanga tito a Te Mete e mea ana, ko Kupe te kaihōpara tuatahi i tae mai i te tau 750 AD. Kīhai a Kupe i rongonuitia ki roto i ngā kōrero tuku iho; nō muri rawa a ia, nō te rau tau 1300. Whāia nāna katoa ngā kōrero mō Toi rāua ko Whātonga. Ka whiriwhiri ia i ngā kōrero e tautoko ana i āna ariā, ka whakatahangia e ia ngā kōrero e whakahē ana i ana ariā.
I te tekau tau atu i 1960 ka whakahēhia anōtia te ariā mō te Tāruru Nui e te tumu kōrero e Andrew Sharp. Ko tāna i whakapae, kīhai i ngā iwi o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa te mātauranga mō te haere i runga i te moana uriuri. E ai ki a Sharp, i ahu mai ngā tāngata hura i Aotearoa i te taha rāwhiti o Poronihia, i tūpono noa mai ki konei. He tirohanga tēnei i tautohetia, engari i whāia e te rahi i taua wā.
Te Tāruru Nui, he tohu nui
Tere kē te iwi Pākehā ki te whakamahi i ngā taonga me ngā tikanga a te Māori, hei tohu tuakiritanga. Ka kite rātou he hua i roto i tēnei ina tauhokohoko ai a Aotearoa ki tāwāhi, ina tipu ai ngā mahi wae tāpoi. Ka manaakitia ngā tikanga Māori pēnei i te haka me te koru. I tua atu ka tīkina ngā kōrero mō ngā waka i heke ki Aotearoa ka hurihia kia hua ko te Tāruru Nui.
Te tirohanga o ēnei rā
Atu i te paunga o te rau tau 1900, he maha ngā tūmomo rangahau mō te takenga mai o te Māori. Otirā ko te radiocarbon dating ki ngā wāhi whaipara tangata tērā, ko te tātaritanga o ngā pungarehu mai i ngā puia tērā, ko te tātaritanga pītau ira mai i ngā wāhine Māori me te kiore o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa tērā, ko te tāraitanga hōutanga o ngā waka tere moana o Poronihia hoki tērā.
I nāianei e whakaponohia ana i nōhia tuatahitia a Aotearoa e tētahi iwi nō te taha rāwhiti o Poronihia – mai i te takiwā o Rarotonga me Tahiti; i āta heke rātou i runga i ngā waka rerekē, i ngā hekenga maha, ā, nō te takiwā o te whakamutunga o te rau tau 1200 tae ai rātou ki Aotearoa.
Ahakoa te kaha o ngā taunaki pūtaiao e tautoko ana i ngā whakamārama nei, ka panoni pea ngā whakamārama nei ki te puta mai ētahi taunaki hōu. Waihoki ki ngā ariā katoa e pā ana ki te pūtakenga mai o te Māori, he whakaaturanga ngā ariā ki ngā mātauranga me ngā māramatanga o taua wā. E whai tonu ana ētahi i te ariā o te Tāruru Nui – kāore te tangata e tumeke ki tēnei – otirā koinei te mātauranga i whāngaia ki roto i ngā kura mō ngā tekau tau maha.
