Story summary
E ai ki te Māori ko te wahine te whare tangata, te mana whakawhānau toiora.
Ngā atua wāhine
Ngā atua wāhine o te ao kōhatu:
- ko te whaea, te whenua ko Papatūānuku
- ko te wahine tuatahi ko Hineahuone
- ko Hinetītama i rere ki Rarohēnga ka huri ko Hine-nui-te-pō, i tana rongo ko Tāne anō tōna matua
- ko ngā tuawahine i ngā pūrākau mō te tipua tuatangata a Māui.
Te tapu me te noa
I ōnamata he tapu te mate o te wahine. Ka rāhuitia i ngā pātaka kai, ngā māra, ā, kāore rātou e pā ki te hunga tāne.
Heoi kei te wahine te mana ki te whakanoa (hiki tapu) ki ngā pure whakanoa o te tā kawa whare o te toa tauā rānei.
Wahine rangatira
Noho tapu ai te mātāmua wahine o ngā whānau rangatira, ka mutu i te wā e puhi ana, ka taumautia ki te rangatira o wāhi kē. Ko ētahi wāhine whai mana i tāngia ki te moko kauae.
Ko ētahi o ngā ariki tapairu o te ao Māori:
- ko Hinematioro o Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, e kīia ana he pērā rawa tōna tapu kāore ia i haere mā raro, engari he mea amorangi haere mai.
- ko Rangi Topeora, rangatira o Ngāti Toa nāna i haina te Tiriti o Waitangi
- ko te Arikinui Te Ātairangikaahu, te kuini Māori tuatahi.
Ngā waiata me ngā kawa marae
Inā kē ngā wāhine tito waiata i te rautau 1800 pērā i a Puhiwāhine, ā, ahu atu ki roto i te rautau 1900 ko Tuini Ngāwai me Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi.
Ko te wahine te reo karanga tuatahi o runga marae. Kei ētahi iwi e āhei ana ki te whaikōrero i runga marae, heoi kei ētahi, korekore rawa.
Te nohonoho a te Pākehā
Ka whai wāhi hoki te wahine Māori ki ngā take ā-iwi, ka mutu ka poua hoki ki a rātou ngā whenua. Heoi kore rawa te Pākehā mō te whakawhiti kōrero ki te wahine. Tekau mā toru noa iho ngā wāhine nā rātou i waitohu te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ka ū tonu te hunga wāhine ki ngā tohe whenua me te mana pōti o te wahine.
Te mautohe me te tōrangapū
Ka whakatūhia te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora i te tau 1951 hei taituarā i te Māori, i te hūnuku hoki ki te taone. Inā anō ngā wāhine pakanga mō ngā take whenua me te reo Māori, ko Eva Rickard, ko Whina Cooper mā ērā.
Ko te wahine Māori mema paremata tuatahi ko Iriaka Rātana i pōtitia i te tau 1949.
