Kei te pūtake o te whakapono Māori ko ngā atua Māori. I roto i te whakapono Māori he kotahi te ao turoa me te ao atua – ka mutu kāre kau he kupu ake ā te Māori mō te ‘religion’. Nā ngā mihinare i whakamahi te kupu whakapono mō te ‘religion’.
Te Kore
Ka timata mai ngā kōrero o te orokohanga i Te Kore, ka puta ko Te Pō, ka hua ko Te Ao Mārama. He manomano tau tēnei āhuatanga, ā, he maha ngā tātainga o Te Kore, Te Pō me Te Ao Mārama i roto i ngā whakapapa. Ka mutu he rerekē ngā kōrero a tēnā iwi, a tēnā iwi.
Ko Rangi, ko Papa me ā rāua tamariki
Ko tētahi kōrero hihira o te orokohanga ko Ranginui rāua ko Papatūānuku. I a rāua e piritahi ana ko ā rāua tamariki e noho ana i waenganui i te pōuri ka toko ake te whakaaro ki te whakawehe i ō rātou mātua. I tua atu i a Tāwhirimātea ka ngana ngā tamariki katoa ki te whakawehe i a rāua engari auare ake. Kātahi ka tokona e Tāne ki ana waewae ka māwehe ko Rangi ki runga ko Papa ki raro.
Nā ko Tāwhirimātea te atua o ngā hau, ko Tāne te atua o te ngahere, ko Rongo te atua o te kai hauhake, ko Haumia te atua o te aruhe me ngā kai kaore i ngakina.
Ko ētahi atu atua ko ngā atua pakanga ko Maru, ko Uenuku ko Kahukura hoki.
Ngā atua me ngā whakapapa
Ki te ao Māori, honohono ai ngā mea ora katoa mā te whakapapa. Nā Tāne a Hineahuone i poke mai i te oneone, ā, ka moea hei wahine māna. Ko ēnei ngā tīpuna o te ira tangata.
Ki ētahi ka heke kē mai te tangata i a Tiki, ka mutu he whakapapa tō te tangata ki ngā manu, ngā ika, ngā rakau me ngā āhuatanga Māori katoa o te taiao.
Ngā ioio tamaki
Ko te hunga e rapu nei i ngā taunakitanga o te atua nui kotahi o te Māori o Io Matua-Kore ka rangahau i ngā tuhituhinga o mua. Nā te mihinare a John White i tuhi korero mō ‘io’ i roto i ngā korero o Ngāti Ruanui. Kei taua tuhinga anō rā e kōrerohia ana ētahi tohu pēnei i te wiriwiri o ētahi wāhanga o te Tinana. Ko ētahi o ēnei ka kīa he ‘io’, ā, he wā ka whai pū matua te pūreta tuatahi o tēnei kupu. Heoi hei te hunga rangahau anō rā kāore tēnei e tohu ana i tētahi Atua Nui kotahi o te Māori.
Io – atua matua
E taupatupatuhia ana ngā kōrero mēnā he atua matua kotahi tonu rānei tō te Māori, ko tōna ingoa ko Io. He nui ngā ingoa o tēnei atua ko Io-matua-kore anō tētahi.
Ko rātou ka whakaae ko Io te atua nui o te Māori i mua i te taenga mai o tauiwi ka tohu ki ngā kōrero i kohia e Te Whatahoro Jury mai i ngā tohunga o Wairarapa a Te Matorohanga rāua ko Nēpia Pōhūhū. E whakapae ana rātou he kōrero tuku iho ērā mō Io.
Ko ngā kōrero mō te Kauwaerunga me te Kauwaeraro e ai ki a rātou e tohu ana i ngā kōrero mō Io. Ahakoa tokoiti anake i mau ki ngā kōrero o te Kauwaerunga, i mōhio whānuitia ngā mātauranga o te Kauwaeraro. I roto i te rautau 1900 ka rongo whānuitia a Io ki roto o Ngāti Kahungunu me Ngāpuhi.
Heoi arā anō te hunga whakapae ehara a Io i te atua Māori tūturu engari nā te mihinare kē. E ai ki te pūkenga nei a Te Rangi Hīroa, ‘The discovery of a supreme god named Io in New Zealand was a surprise to Maori and Pakeha alike' (Tūmeke tahi te ao Māori me te ao Pākehā ki te rongo ko Io te atua matua).1
Ngā tipua
Tērā anō ngā tipua. Ko te taniwha he momo tipua noho ki taiao. He maha ngā āhua me ngā āria o ēnei kaitiaki.
Ko ētahi atu momo atua iti nei he tipua, ā, he mea koha ki ngā taunga o ēnei tipua he peka rākau he rau rākau rānei hei whakaratarata.
Rākau me te kōhatu tipua
I ētahi wā ko te rākau, ko te kōhatu rānei he tipua. He mea waiho hoki ki ēnei rākau tipua, kōhatu tipua rānei he peka he rau rānei e te hunga haere hei whakawātea i te huarahi.
