Ma wai e moe te tane
Mangere ki te mahi-kai?
He whakataukī tēnei hei tohu i te nui whakaharahara o tēnei mea te mahi kai i ngā wā o mua atu i te rautau 1800. Ko te kai te oranga o te tangata, mai i te ūnga o ngā waka i Hawaiki i te rautau 1200. Nā reira ka pau atu ngā tāngata ki te whakatipu, ki te kato, ki te aruaru kai mā te iwi. Nā whai anō i mahi ai te tangata i te ao i te pō.
Ngā karakia i te whitinga o te rā
Ki ētahi iwi ko te mahi tuatahi he whakamoemiti i te whitinga ake o te rā. I te tau 1805 ka kite te kaipoka tinana a John Savage i ngā iwi o Pēwhairangi e karakia moata ana, ā, ka hora ngā ringa, ka tuohu ngā māhunga me te ‘harakoa o te kanohi, e whakaatu ana i te ngākau whakaiti.’1 I tēnei wā ka waiata i runga i te koa me te aiō.
Ngā marama tūturu
He mea whakarōpū e te Māori ngā kaupeka o te tau; ka whai tikanga hoki ngā ingoa wāhanga o te tau. Tekau noa iho ngā marama a ētahi iwi. Ko te tuangahuru o ngā marama (i te Pēpuere-Maehe) nei ko Poutū-terangi. Kāore he mahi nui i ngā huringa marama e rua whai i muri, nā reira kāre he ingoa motuhake mō aua marama. Nā te pukahu o te kai i tēnei wāhanga o te tau, kua whakawhanaunga, kua kai, kua tākaro, kua moemoe.
Ngā mahitahi a te hapori
I muri ka haere ngā mahi ngaki i ngā māra, ngā mahi hī ika, kohi mātaitai rānei. Ka aruarungia te moa (i ngā wā o te moa ki Aotearoa) me ētahi manu anō, kēkeno hoki. Ko te kai tuatahi o te rā, nō te 10, nō te 11 o ngā haora i te ata. I muri, ka tīmata anō ngā mahi me ngā waiata kia tapatahi ai ngā mahi, pērā i te mahi keri.
Ngā tūranga mahi
Mahi ai ngā rangatira i te taha o te iwi. He whakataukī tonu te pūkenga, me te whai hihiri o ā rātou mahi. Ko ētahi rangatira he ringa rehe ki ngā mahi whakairo, tā moko, whatu korowai rānei. Ka mahi tahi hoki ngā tamariki i te taha o ngā mātua kia pai ai te tāwhai i ngā mahi pakeke. Ka whai wāhi anō ngā kaumātua ki te tapitapi i ngā kupenga, ki te kauorooro rānei i ngā whao me ngā taonga pounamu.
Te kai aruhe
I te tau 1771 ka kite te heramana Wīwī i ētahi Māori e kai ana i te aruhe. ‘He roa rātou e kai ana; inā hoki he mahi uaua te whakarite i te aruhe hei kai…He hatekēhi te kite i ngā tāngata tekau mā rima, tāne mai, wāhine mai, tamariki mai e whakatatae ana ki te toro i ngā aruhe ki roro i te ahi, ki te tukituki me te ngangau i ngā aruhe.'2
Te whakarite mō te pō
Nō te tōnga haeretanga o te rā, ka hoki haere te iwi ki te kāinga. Ko te wai, te wāhie me ngā kai he mea kawe mai e te hunga wāhine e ngā hapai ō rānei – kore rawa ēnei mahi i te hunga rangatira. Mā te rangatira anō e tohatoha ngā kai ki te hunga kāinga, he ika, he huahua, he aha atu rānei. I taua wā anō ka tahuna ngā umu me ngā ahi mō te tunu kai. Koirā i kīa tēnei wāhanga o te rā ko te ahiahi.
I muri i te kai
I te roanga o te pō kua tākaro, kua whakawhiti kōrero ngā reanga katoa. I konei kua tukuna ngā tamariki kia whakarongo ki ngā kōrero a ngā rangatira o te marae. I ētahi anō wāhi, ka tuku karakia i te tōnga o te rā, ā, ka waiatatia ngā waiata, ka tākina hoki ngā kōrero takutaku ahi. Pō noa, kua moe. Atu i ētahi mahi aruaru, hī ika rānei, kāore i pai te mahi i te pō, i te mea e haere ana ngā wairua i te pōuri.
