Kōrero: Ngā waka tere moana

Whārangi 1. Te tikanga o ngā kōrero tuku iho

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Kei roto i ngā kōrero tuku iho ngā whakamārama mō te taenga mai o te Māori ki Aotearoa mai i te wāhi e kārangahia ai, ko Hawaiki. Ka pā ngā kōrero nei ki te tārai waka, ngā rīriri i mua i te wehenga, ngā whakawhitinga i te moana uriuri, ngā ūnga, ngā hōparatanga ki uta ki tai, tae atu ki te whakatūnga o ngā papakāinga ki ngā whenua hōu.

Me mārama, ko te nuinga o ngā kōrero tuku iho nō roto mai i ngā puka i ahu mai i te ariā o Te Tāruru Nui (Te Nōhanga Nui). E ai ki te ariā nei nā Kupe te whenua nei i hura i te tau 925 AD i tana haerenga mai i Tahiti. Ā, ka whai muri mai ko Toitehuatahi i te tau 1150 AD; nō te tau 1350 AD ka tae mai ngā tūpuna o ngā iwi Māori ki Aotearoa mai i Tahiti me Rarotonga, mā runga i ngā waka e whitu. Nā ngā rangahau a David Simmons rāua ko Keith Sorrenson i whakaatu kei te hē te ariā nei. Nā runga i ngā mātauranga o ēnei rā pērā i te radiocarbon (he tikanga pūtaiao hei whakarite pēhea te pakeke o tētahi mea) e whakaae ana te nuinga, i nōhia a Aotearoa e tētahi iwi nō te taha rāwhiti o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. He maha ngā waka i whakatika mai i ngā kaupeka katoa o te tau; i tae mai ngā waka tuatahi ki Aotearoa i te takiwā o te rau tau 1200.

Te hunga whakamōmona kōrero

Hua mai ana te ariā o Te Heke Nui i ngā mahi a Te Mete [Stephenson Percy Smith], he kaimātai momo tangata, rāua ko Hoani Te Whatahoro Jury, he pūkenga o te ao Māori. Nō tana haerenga ki Rarotonga me Tahiti i te tau 1897, ka mārama a Te Mete ki ngā kōrero o reira. Ko tā Te Whatahoro, he kōrero mō ngā waka Māori i Aotearoa. Kātahi ka ‘tāpaea’ e Te Mete ngā kōrero, e whenumi ai ngā kōrero tuku iho ki ētahi kōrero hōu. I whakaputaina ā rāua kōrero ki ētahi pukapuka e rua, The lore of the whare-wananga me Hawaiki. I hē tā rāua whakapae nā Moihi Te Mātorohanga rāua ko Nēpia Pōhūhū te nuinga o ngā kōrero i ngā pukapuka nei i tuku.

He āta titiro ki ngā kōrero tuku iho

Kei te haere tonu ngā tautohetohe mō te tika o ngā kōrero tuku iho. E ai ki a Te Mete mā, he tika ngā kōrero rā, i runga i te whakaaro ko te kupu ‘waka’ e kōrero ana mō tētahi waka kawe tāngata mai i tāwāhi. Heoi, kāore e whāiti te kōrero tuku iho ki reira anake, i te mea he kōrero huna, he tohu kei roto mō ētahi mea noa atu. E kī ana ētahi kōrero tuku iho, e iwa putu (e 2.7 mita) te tāroaroa o ētahi o ngā tūpuna a te Māori, ko ētahi tūpuna i rere i te rangi, i kauhoe i te wai, i eke taniwha rānei kia tae mai ki Aotearoa. He kupu whakarite te waka a Aoaonui mō te whānautanga mai o te tamaiti ki te ao; ko ngā waka a Rangikēkero rāua ko Rangitōtohu he kupu whakarite mō ngā waka kawe i te hunga mate ki te okiokinga i Te Ao Wairua.

Heoi, arā anō ngā whakaaro o ētahi pērā i a Margaret Orbell e mea ana, he mea whakakotahi noa iho te kōrero tuku iho i te iwi, hei whakaara ake hoki i te tuakiri o te iwi, ehara i te mahinga tūturu. Engari kāore te ariā nei e whai whakaaro ki ngā taunaki hītori, pērā i te ōrite o ētahi ingoa tohu whenua a te Māori ki ērā o ngā iwi o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. Ka whakahē te tumu kōrero a James Belich i ēnei ariā e rua. Ko tāna, he pono tonu kei roto i ngā kōrero tuku iho ahakoa kua hurihia te nuinga hei pūrākau.

Ngā heke i roto i Aotearoa

E ai ki ngā pūkenga pērā i a David Simmons, tērā pea ko te tokomaha o ngā kōrero mō ngā hekenga a ngā waka e kōrero ana mō ngā heke mai i tētahi wāhi i Aotearoa ki tētahi atu wāhi i Aotearoa. E ai ki a Roger Duff rāua ko Janet Davidson, hei ia hekenga o ngā tūpuna a ngā Māori ka heria ā rātou kōrero ki tēnā moutere, ki tēnā moutere o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Nā reira tērā pea e puritia ana kei ngā kōrero tuku iho o ngā waka ngā kōrero mō ngā haerenga ki roto o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa, te hekenga mai o ngā waka ki Aotearoa, te huringa haerenga hoki o ngā waka tōmua i Aotearoa nei. Mēnā koinei te mea tika kāti, kua mārama te take i whenumi ai ngā kōrero tika ki ngā kōrero pūrākau i roto i ngā kōrero tuku iho.

Kōrero tuku iho mō ngā waka

Nāwai rā, ka whai wāhi ngā kōrero tuku iho mō ngā waka ki te tuakiri o te Māori. Mā te whakapapa ki ngā waka ka toitū ngā mana o ngā iwi ki runga i te whenua, ka taea hoki ngā hononga i waenganui i ngā iwi. Hei tauira, he maha ngā iwi ka hono ki a Tainui, ko ētahi iwi pērā i a Te Arawa ka tapaina ki tō rātou waka. Ina tū ana he tangata ki runga marae, kāore e kore ka whakahuatia e rātou tō rātou waka i te tīmatanga o tā rātou whaikōrero.

Nā reira kāore ngā kōrero tuku iho a ngā waka e kōrero mō te takenga mai o te Māori anake, engari ka whakapuaki i te mana, te tuakiri, ngā whenua, ngā hononga hoki o te tangata. Ka nūmia te mōteatea ki te tōrangapū, te hītori ki te pūrākau, te kōrero tika ki te kōrero noa.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Rāwiri Taonui, 'Ngā waka tere moana - Te tikanga o ngā kōrero tuku iho', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/nga-waka-tere-moana/page-1 (accessed 19 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Rāwiri Taonui, i tāngia i te 8 Feb 2005