I roto i te ao Māori, nō te whānau me te hapū katoa ngā tamariki. Tere tonu te tamariki kia ako ko wai rātou i roto i te noho hapū. Ehara ko ngā mātua ake anake ngā mātua o te tamariki – engari ka whakapakekehia e ngā kaumātua, e ngā whāea me ngā pāpara. Mā konei ka noho haumaru ngā tamariki, arā ngā rangatira o te ao o āpōpō. Kei roto i tēnei whakataukī tērā āria e pupuri ana: ‘He kai poutaka me kinikini atu, he kai poutaka me horehore atu, mā te tamaiti te iho’.
Ka titoa ngā waiata oriori mō ngā tamariki rangatira. Kei roto i ngā oriori ngā whakapapa me ngā kōrero tuku iho e whai pānga ana ki te tamaiti. Mai i te kōpū, ka waiatatia te oriori hei ako kōrero ki te tamaiti. Ko tētahi tauira pai ko te waiata o ‘Pinepine te kura’, arā he oriori mō Te Umurangi, he uri nō te rangatira toa o Ngāti Kahungunu a Te Whatuiāpiti.
He mea whakapuhi, he mea poipoi te hunga tamariki Māori. Ko te pōtiki tētahi i whakapuhingia. Ka kitea tēnei manaakitanga e ngā mihinare me ngā tauiwi tuatahi ī haere mai. Ki tā te kaihōpara Wīwī ki a Julien Marie Crozet i tana haere ki Pēwhairangi i te tau 1772: ‘They seemed to be good mothers and showed affection for their offspring. I have often seen them play with the children, caress them, chew the fern root, pick out the stringy parts, and then take it out of their mouth in order to put it into that of their nurslings. The men were also very fond of and kind to their children' (He rawe ngā mama ki ngā tamariki. Ka tākaro me ngā tamariki, ka poipoihia, ka nānāhia ngā aruhe kia ngohengohe ai hei mānga kai mā ngā tamariki. He ngāwari hoki te manaaki a ngā tāne ki ngā tamariki). 1
I te tau 1820 ka kī ake te mihinare nei a Samuel Marsden: 'There can be no finer children than those of the New Zealanders. Their parents are very indulgent, and they appear also happy, and playful, and very active' (Kāre he tamariki i tua atu i ērā o Aotearoa. Ka whakapuhingia e ngā mātua, ā ki taku titiro, he tino ora ngā tamariki). 2 Ki tā te tohunga tā peita a George French Angas: ‘Both parents are almost idolatrously fond of their children; and the father frequently spends a considerable portion of his time in nursing his infant, who nestles in his blanket, and is lulled to rest by some native song' (He whakapuhi tonu ngā mātua tokorua i ngā tamariki; he rahi hoki te wā ka riro te tamaiti mā te pāpā e whakapuhi ki roto i te korowai aroha me te waiata oriori).3
Tohi ki te wai nō Tū!
Whano koe – tāngaengae,
Ki te hopu tangata – tāngaengae,
Ki te piki maunga – tāngaengae,
Me homai – tāngaengae,
Mō te tama nei.
Tohi ki te wai nō Tū!
Whano koe – tāngaengae,
Ki te mahi kai māu,
Ki te whatu pūweru mōu,
Ki te whatu kaitakā mōu
Ki te karanga pahī,
Ki te waha wāhie, māu
Ki te keri mātaitai, māu
Me homai
Hei whakatupu
Mō te tapairu nei.
Ko te wairua ake o te hunga tamariki he nohinohi, he wāwāhi mea. E kitea ana tēnei āhua i te kōrero, ‘Ko te mahi a te tamariki, he wāwāhi tahā’. He kōrero hoki tēnei hei whakamahara i ngā mātua kia ako tikahia ā rātou tamariki, ā, kia kaua mā te ringa patu hei whakatika.
Ka whānau mai he tamaiti, kua toroa ake te tātai whakapapa o te tangata. He mea nui tēnei ki te aho rangatira hei whakanoho i te mana me te tapu o tō rātou tātai whakapapa.
Ka whakanōhia ngā wāhine hapū ki tētahi wāhi motuhake i te papakāinga. Ka kīia ēnei wāhi he whare kahu, ā, he wāhi tapu nō raro mai i te manaakitanga o te tohunga. Ka motu te tohunga i te pito me te whenua ā ka tanumia ki tētahi wāhi huna, ki tētahi rākau, ki tētahi ana rānei. Mā konei kua poua te tamaiti rā ki taua wāhi, ā, kua whai tūrangawaewae te tamaiti i roto i te iwi.
Ko ngā tamariki tāne rangatira ka tohia ki te atua o te pakanga ki a Tū. Ko te kōhine, ka tohia ki a Hineteiwaiwa. Ka whakaritea ngā tohi e te tohunga ki te kōawa waimarino. Mā te tohi ka whakaritea ngā mahi katoa o te tamaiti me te whakapūmau i tōna mauri. Ko tā ngā tāne he whai i ngā mahi a te matua, ko tā ngā wāhine he whai i ngā mahi a te whaea. Inā hoki te kōrero: ‘Ngā tamariki tāne ka whai ki te ure tū, ngā tamariki wāhine ka whai ki te ūkaipō’.
He tikanga nui te whāngai ki roto i te ao Māori. He rite tonu ka whāngaihia te tamaiti ki ētahi kāre e āhei te whai tamariki. Anō nei aua tamariki nā ngā mātua whāngai ērā tamariki, ā, ka tukua ki a rātou he taonga, he whenua hoki. Hei ētahi wā ka whāngaihia te tamariki ki te whakapūmau anō i te taura here whānau, ēngari ka mau tonu te taura hono ki ōna mātua ake.
Ka whāngaihia hoki ngā tamariki e te kuia me te koroua hei whakapakeke kia wātea ai ngā mātua ki te mahi. Nō konei ko te kuia me te koroua ngā kaiako tuatahi o te tamariki. Kei ngā kōrero mō Māui Pōtiki e tauiratia ana tēnei tikanga, arā, ko te nuinga o ana mōhiotanga, ka haramai i te reanga kaumātua. Nā ōna kuia i a Murirangawhenua, i a Mahuika, i a Hine-nui-te-pō me tōna koroua i a Tamanuikiterangi a Māui i akoako ki te whakatutuki i ngā mahi i mahia e ia. I te nuinga o te wā ka riro te matāmua i ngā kaumātua hei ako ki ngā kōrero me ngā whakapapa o te iwi.
Ka whakamauhia ngā tamariki ki ngā mōhiotanga hei whakarite i a rātou mō te ao. Mā te titiro me te whai wāhi ki ngā mahi o te māra, te kohi kaimoana me te mahi manu ka ako ai rātou. Ka tirohia hoki ngā tamariki mēnā kei a rātou ngā pūmanawa ki te whakanoho ki roto i ngā whare wānanga.
He maha ngā mahi hei whakaharakoa i te tamariki pērā i te waiata, te haka, te kōrero pakiwatara me ngā tākaro pērā i te whakarere manu aute, te pōtaka, te mahi whai me te whiu kōpere. Hei ngā pō, kua kohi katoa ngā tamariki ki roto i te whare tāpere, arā he whare mō ngā mahi ā Rēhia. Hei te awatea kua mene katoa ki tētahi moari. E ai ki a George Angas: ‘A pole, generally the trunk of a kahikatea pine, is erected in the centre of an open space adjoining the village; flax ropes are suspended from the top, and, holding on to these, the natives swing themselves round and round' (Ka tiria he pou, he tinana rākau kahikātea rānei ki waenganui i te pā; kātahi ka herea ngā taura harakeke ki runga kia pai ai te tārere haere).1
He wā kua whakaritea tētahi tamaiti hei hoa rangatira mō tētahi atu tamaiti. E kīia a ana tēnei tikanga he taumau, he tomo rānei. He tikanga nui tēnei ka tū ki mua tonu i te iwi. Ko te nuinga o ēnei taumau he paihere whānau, iwi hoki. Ko te wahine ka taumauhia ka kīia ia he puhi, ā, ka āta manaakihia tōna whakapakeketanga. I te nuinga o te wā ka whakaaetia e ngā tamariki ēnei hononga. He hōnore nui te taumau, ā, mā ngā taha e rua e manaaki te kaupapa tae noa ki tōna tutukitanga.
E ai ki ngā kōrero o mua, ka tāia te tangata i mua tata i te pakeketanga. Hei tohu te moko i te ahunga ki te pakeketanga, tāne mai, wahine mai. E ai hoki ki ngā kaikōrero o mua, pēnā kāre he moko tō te tama, ehara ia i te toa, ā, ko te kōtiro, kāre anō kia rite mō te moe tāne. Ka tāia katoatia ngā tuāhine, ngā whanaunga rānei o tētahi hapū ki te moko kauae, ka mutu ka āta tohu ngā kaumātua i ēnei wāhine kia whiwhi i te moko hei tohu rangatira.
Ko ngā kura mihana o ngā tau tōmua o te rautau 1800 te take nui i panoni ai te āhua o ngā tamariki Māori. I roto i ngā mahi ki te whakapai i te noho a te Māori, ka āta titiro ngā mihinare ki te whakarerekē i ngā whanonga o ngā tamariki me ngā mātua Māori. Nā ngā mihinare ngā kura tuatahi mō te Māori i waihanga, ā, atu i te ako ki te pānui me te tuhituhi, ka ako hoki rātou ki te patu tamariki hei whakatika i a rātou. Ko te reo Māori te reo o ēnei kura, ā, ka tino matatau ngā tauira o ēnei kura ki tō rātou reo. Nō ngā pakanga whenua o te tekau tau 1860, ka whakarērea ēnei kura.
He tauira a Merimeri Penfold o Ngāti Kurī ki te Kura Māori o Te Hāpua ki te Tai Tokerau i te tekau tau 1920. E maumahara ana ia, ‘We did not have homework. Reading, however, was very much an attraction. It was common practice to stuff books and journals in our clothes and trouser pants to read at home … I often resorted to reading secretly in the maize crop, in bed, by moonlight at night hanging out the window, or under the beds' (Kāre he mahi kāinga. Heoi he tino mahi ki a mātou te pānui. Ko tā mātou he puru i ō matou tarau ki ngā puka me ngā hautaka kia panui ki te kāinga ... ko tāku he pānui huna i roto i ngā kānga, i taku moenga, ki raro i te aho o te marama, ki raro rānei i ngā moenga). 1
I te tau 1867 ka whakatū te kāwanatanga i tētahi pūnaha kura tuatahi hōu mō ngā Māori ki ngā taiwhenua. Ka whakahaere ngātahi ēnei kura i te taha o ngā kura Pākehā mō te kotahi rautau te roa. Ko te reo Pākehā anake te reo o ēnei kura (i te tau 1947 ka whakaingoa hōutia ko ngā kura Māori), hāunga te whakamahia o te reo Māori hei ētahi wā. Ka akiaki ngā mātua Māori i ēnei kura, ā, ka whai wāhi hoki rātou ki ngā whenua me ngā utu whare, kaiako hoki ki ngā kura hōu.
Ka whai wāhi hoki te Māori ki ngā tikanga ako, ngā mahi whakatika me te ako i ngā kaiako. Hei tauira, ko Mary Tautari te tumuaki Māori tuatahi, i tōna tū hei tumuaki ki te Kura Māori o Taumārere ki Pēwhairangi i te tau 1875. E ai ki tētahi manuhiri rā i te akohia ngā kōtiro ki ngā pūoro whakatangitangi me ngā mahi whakapai whare, ‘in order that they may be Europeanised as much as possible, and in all respects rendered fit to become the wives of settlers' (kia Pākehā ake ai te āhua, kia tau hoki ai hei wāhine mā ngā tangata whai). 2
He whānui ake te kaupapa o ngā kura tūmatanui me ngā kura Māori i te ako mātauranga, pūkenga mahi rānei. Mā ēnei kura ka tūwhera ngā tamariki Māori ki te ao hōu. I te tau 1897, ka kī a Hamiora Hei, mema o te Rōpū Tauira o Te Aute, ‘In order that Maori girls may become good, useful wives and mothers, it is essential that a knowledge of the most simple rules of health and medicine should be imparted to them. They require it to break down traditional superstition and the power of the tohungas' (E pai ai ngā kōtiro Māori hei hoa wahine, whaea pai hoki, me tuku ngā ture māmā o te hauora me te rongoā ki a rātou. Mā konei ka āhei rātou ki te wetewete i te mana e puritia ana e ngā tohunga). 3 Heoi arā anō ngā tikanga Māori i whakaurua ki te pūnaha mātauranga hou, pērā i te tikanga ‘tuakana-teina’. He āria tēnei i rongonui ai a Sylvia Henderson (ko Sylvia Ashton-Warner tōna ingoa tuhi) i roto i tana pukapuka Teacher, i whakaputahia i te tau 1963.
Ka ora tonu ētahi tikanga i te kāinga me te kura. Hāunga tonu te whakakorenga e te Ture Whenua Māori o te tau 1909 i te tikanga whāngai, ka haere tonu tēnei tikanga i waenganui i te iwi Māori.
Ko tētahi whakataukī rongonui mō te hunga rangatahi ko tēnei, ‘Ka pū te rūhā, ka hao te rangatahi’.
I te pokapū o te rautau 1900 ka kitea tonu ētahi tikanga whakatipu tamariki ki ngā hapori Māori. Ka mutu he nui te aroha, te manaaki, te whāngai me te poipoi o te hunga pakeke mai, tungāne mai.
He nui ake ngā whānau Māori i ngā whānau manene, ā, mā ngā tuākana e manaaki ngā teina. Ka tautokohia anō ngā mātua Māori e ētahi atu whanaunga. ‘For the Maori child, there is always someone to turn to. He is rarely alone, and other children become an extension of the family. Sometimes the home of an uncle or grandparents becomes like a second home' (He nui ngā tāngata hei tahuritanga atu mā te tamaiti Māori. Kore rawa ia e tū mokemoke. He wā kua noho kāinga rua te kāinga o tana kuia, koroua hoki). 4
I te rautau 1900 ka puta te wero a te Rōpū Tauira o Te Aute (ko te Rōpū Rangatahi Māori) me te kaiārahi a Apirana Ngata kia tū ake ngā rangatahi ki ngā tūranga arataki i ngā whānau me ngā tamariki Māori ki te oranga nui. Ko tā rātou whakataukī, ko ‘Ka pū te rūhā, ka hao te rangatahi'.
I te tau 1949 ka tuhi a Apirana Ngata ki roto i te hautaka o te puka o Rangi Bennett, ‘E tipu, e rea, mō ngā rā o tōu ao, ko tō ringa ki ngā rākau a te Pākehā hei ora mō te tinana, ko tō ngākau ki ngā taonga a ō tīpuna Māori hei tikitiki mō tō māhuna, ā ko tō wairua ki tō Atua, nāna nei ngā mea katoa.’ Ka noho tēnei whakataukī hei kōrero nui mā te rangatahi Māori.
Nā te tokomaha o ngā Māori i heke mai i te kāinga o ō rātou iwi ki ngā taone i waenganui i te rautau 1900 i taurangi te whakatipu tamariki. I whakatūria ngā kura Māori ki ngā rohe Māori, ā, nā te heke o ngā tamariki Māori ki ngā taone ka heke iho te pānga ki te kuranga mō te Māori. I te noho ngā mātua o ngā tamariki nohinohi ki ngā whare iti i te rerekētanga tāone, kāre e pātata ana ki ngā whanaunga, ā, ka rerekē te tūmanako o ngā karetiwhare me ngā tātanga tauiwi e noho pātata ana. Nā ēnei āhuatanga uaua, ka ngaro atu ngā tikanga whakatipu tamariki, ka rerekē rawa rānei. Ko te hua o te noho rerekē a te iwi me te iti o te pūtea o te iwi Māori, he nui ake te māuiuitanga, ngā aituā, me te rangatahi e whakamomori ana ki tā te Pākehā. I whakatūria te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora e ngā wāhine Māori hei whakatikatika i ngā take o te noho whare me te hauora.
E whakaae ana ngā ngāio tikanga Māori ehara te kai-whiore (ngau-whiore rānei) me te pāwhera i te āhuatanga nō te ao Māori tūturu. Nō te hekenga taone kātahi ka kitea nuitia tēnei āhuatanga. Ka mutu nō ngā tau tōmua o te rautau 2000, o ngā tamariki 1,000 ka tūkinotia 12 he Māori. Ko tā tauiwi e ono. He wā kua whakawāngia te kaihara ki runga i te marae, ā, ko tētahi whakawhiu ko te tango i te mana kōrero i a ia. I te tau 2007, ka whakawhanake a Tākuta Hone Kaa mā i tētahi rautaki ki te whakakore i te tūkino tamariki. Ko te hua o tēnā ko te rōpū o Ngā Mana Ririki.
I te tau 1988 ka puta te pūrongo o Pūao te ata tū e karanga ana kia whakawāngia ngā kaihara rangatahi i runga i ngā tikanga me ngā whakapono Māori. Ko te hua o tēnā ko te Ture Tamariki, Rangatahi me ngā Whānau o te tau 1989. Mā konei me titiro ngā kaimahi papori ki ngā tirohanga o te whānau, te hapū me te iwi.
Nā runga i ngā taunaki i puta i te tekau tau 1970 ka waihangatia te kaupapa o Te Kōhanga Reo. Nō te tau 1982 ka whakatūwherahia te kōhanga tuatahi ki Wainuiomata. Nō muri mai ka whakatūhia ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori me te Whare Kura.
Kua tū hira hoki ngā rangatahi Māori ki ngā hākinakina o te ao katoa. Ko Lui Paewai te tangata paku iho te pakeke kia tākaro mō te Kapa Ō Pango, arā 17 noa iho ōna tau. Ko Hōri Nēpia hoki tētahi kaitākaro rangatahi Māori kaha rawa. I te tau 1979 ka riro i te kapa whutupaoro o Te Aute te Ipu Moascar mō ngā whakataetae kura tuarua. Ko Louisa Wall tērā i tākaro mō te kapa netipōro o Ngā Rau Hiriwa, ā, 17 noa iho ōna tau.
He maha hoki ngā kaupapa ā-iwi e hāpai ana i ngā rangatahi ki tō rātou iwitanga. Ko tētahi kaupapa nui ko Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe, e whakahoki ana i te hunga taiohi ki te one matua o te iwi.
Metge, Joan. New growth from old: the whānau in the modern world. Te Whanganui-a-Tara: Victoria University Press, 1995.
Penetito, Kim. Whānau identity and whānau development are interdependent: an experience of whānau. Saarbrücken, Tiamani: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2008.