He korero whakarapopoto
Ngā tikanga me ngā kōrero onamata
He nui ngā kōrero a te Māori mō te hī ika:
- Ko Tangaroa te atua o te moana me ngā ika. He mea nui kia whakamauru i a Tangaroa. He tikanga mō te puta ki te hī, he tikanga mō te mahi kupenga, he tikanga mō ngā āhuatanga katoa.
- E kī ana te kōrero, nā Māui i hī ake tana ika, arā, ko Te Ika-a-Māui. Kei ētahi kōrero, he rite tana ika ki te whai.
- E ai ki te kōrero, nā Kupe a Aotearoa i hura i tana whai i tētahi wheke nui rawa atu.
Ngā tikanga mahi ika
Ka rarangatia ngā kupenga i te harakeke māota. He pērā rawa te nui o ētahi kupenga hei hopu i ngā mango nui. Ka here ngā matau (hook) ki ngā aho (line) – he mea mahi mai te muka - hei mahi ika, ka whakamahi matarau (net fastened to a hoop) rānei ki te hopu pātiki; ko ngā tāruke (pot) hei hopu kōura.
I te mārama ngā mātanga he aha ngā wā pai ki te hī. Ka tiakina paitia ngā tauranga ika. Ka titia he pou ikeike hei tohu ko hea ō rātou wāhi hī kei ngā roto me ngā wahapū.
Ngā karakia me te kawa
He tapu te mahi ika. Ka tukuna he karakia ki a Tangaroa me ērā o ngā atua, tipua o te moana. Kāore i whakaaetia te kai i ngā putanga ki te hī.
Ka whakahokia te ika tuatahi ki a Tangaroa; tērā tētahi momo kōhatu ka purua ki ngā kupenga kia whakatata mai ngā ika.
Te tohatoha i te kai
He mea tao rānei, he mea whakamaroke rānei ngā rawa hao ika i mua i te whakakuhu ki roto pātaka. Hei ētahi wā ka puta te iwi tonu atu ki te mahi ika – neke atu i te e 1,000 tāngata ki ngā waka e 50. Tērā ngā kōrero mō tētahi hākari nui whakaharahara, neke atu i te e 20,000 ngā tuna pāwhara.
Ka haere ngā tauhokohoko i waenganui i ngā iwi ki-tai me ngā iwi ki-uta – te ika pāwhara, te hinu mango o tai, mō te huahua me ētahi atu taonga o uta.
Te hī ika i ēnei rā
Nō te taenga mai o ngā tāngata whai i ngā tau tōmua o te rau tau 1800, ka paheke te mahi ika tūturu a te Māori. Nō te tau 1992 ka tukuna e te kāwanatanga ki te Māori ētahi tauranga ika arumoni. I tēnei wā ko te Māori te rangatira o Sealord, te kamupene hī ika nui rawa ki Aotearoa.
Kei te hī ika tonu te Māori i raro i ngā tikanga tūturu a ngā tūpuna. Kitea tonutia ai te pātiki pāwhara, te ate o te mango me ētahi atu kaimoana reka ki te Māori i ngā hākari.
