He huhua ngā kōrero e pā ana ki ngā waiata me ngā haka, me te tikanga o tēnā, o tēnā. He maha anō ngā tūmomo waiata, pērā i te waiata aroha me te waiata whakautu. Kei te horopaki o te āhua o te waiata ka kitea tōna tino tikanga.
He nui ngā whakarite, ngā pohewa i roto i te waiata hei whakatauira i te wairua auaha o tōna titonga. Titoa ai te oriori mā te tamaiti, ā, titoa ai te waiata tangi ina mate tētahi rangatira.
He nui ngā kaupapa o te waiata i roto i ngā tūmomo horopaki o te ahurea me te iwi Māori. Ka whakamahia te waiata hei kīnaki i te whaikōrero i runga i te marae, hei whakapuaki rānei i te mamae i te matenga o tētahi. Ka whakamahia anō te waiata hei ako i te tamaiti, hei whakatenatena i te iwi ki te hiki i tētahi wero i ngā wā o te pūhore me te hauhauaitū. Tāpiri atu ka hopukina ngā kōrero i roto i ngā waiata, arā, ngā tīpuna ngā mahi me ngā tohu whenua. Ko ētahi waiata ka whakamahara ki ētahi pakanga hei whakaea i ngā whakaaro a te kaitito me tōna iwi. Ka waiatatia anō te waiata hei tautoko i ngā take tīpuna, hei tautoko rānei i ngā take mohoa, take hītori hoki.
E waiata tonutia ana ngā waiata mōteatea i ēnei rā ki waenganui i ngā iwi, ngā hapū, me ngā huihuinga whānau. Ahakoa he rerekē ngā kaupapa i titoa ai te waiata i ō te waiata o tuawhakarere, e ora tonu ana te waiata i ēnei rā. Ka urutau, ka whanake, ka tipu i roto i ngā kaupapa me ngā horopaki hou. E ai rā ki te mātanga ki a Tīmoti Kāretu, ‘Ka noho ka noho ko te haka tonu te kaikawe i ngā whakaaro, i ngā nawe me ngā pūmahara katoa a te iwi.’1 Ahakoa i kōrero ia mō te haka anake, engari ka taea tonutia te uta ki tēnā tūmomo waiata, ki tēnā tūmomo waiata Māori.
He rite tonu ngā waiata ki ngā tūāhua katoa o te ahurea Māori, arā, he taha atua tōna. Ko ngā atua e whai pānga nui ana ki te waiata me te haka ko Hineruhi, ko Tānerore me Rēhia.
Ka kitea a Hineruhi i te ata, te kairui i ngā ataata o te tōmairangi. Inā tū te wahine ki te whare tapere, he tau te tū, ka kīia, ‘Ko Hineruhi koe, nāna i tū te ata hāpara’.
He whakapapa anō tō te poi mai i a Tānemahuta, te atua o te ngahere. Ka noho a Tānemahuta i a Hineiterepo kia puta ko Raupō. Ka moe anō a Tāne ka noho i a Pakoti (Pakoki), ā, ka puta te momo kaha nei a Harakeke. Ko Raupō, ko Harakeke ngā rawa mō te hanga poi.
Ko Hineruhi ka moe i a Tānerore, he atua nō te ao marama. He tama a Tānerore nā Tamanuiterā rāua ko Hineraumati, ā, nāna te haka tuatahi. Ko te hau wera e kānapanapa ana i te takiwā o te waru, ko te haka o Tānerore. Ko tōna rite ko ngā ringa wiriwiri o Tānerore, i kī ai te kōrero, ‘Te haka a Tānerore’. Ko ‘Ngā mahi a te rēhia’, he whakataukī anō ka pā ki te harakoa me te haka.
Tērā te kōrero mō Tinirau rāua ko Kae. Ka whānau mai te tamaiti a Tinirau rāua ko Hineteiwaiwa, ka tapaina ko Tūhuruhuru. Ka tono a Tinirau kia haramai te tohunga, a Kae ki te tohi i te tamaiti. Ko te utu ki a Kae mō taua mahinga, ko te maramara o te kiko o tana mōkai o Tutunui. Ka rangona te reka o te kai, āia rawatia e Kae a Tutunui ki tōna motu, ka patua te mōkai rā, kātahi ka kainga. Nā tana rongoa i te auahi hāngī ka mātau a Tinirau he tinihanga, inā hoki te mōkarakara o Tutunui e hau mai nei i te motu pāmamao o Kae. Nā te hanga pouri ki tā rāua mōkai, ka whakatūria te kapa māreikura hei nukarau i a Kae i roto i tana whare. Kātahi ka kāhakina a Kae e ngā wāhine ki te motu a Tinirau, ki reira patua ai, hei utu mō tōna hara.
Ko Raukatamea rāua ko Raukatauri ngā māreikura e kitea nui ana i ngā kōrero huhua a ngā iwi mō Tinirau rāua ko Kae. Ko Raukatamea (ko Hineraukatamea rānei) te atua o te whakangahau, ko Raukatauri (ko Hineraukatauri rānei) te atua o te puoro. Ko te pepe tōna āria, ko te pūtōrino tōna tauira.
Ka tūhonohono ngā waiata mōteatea a te Māori ki te whare tapere, he whare manaaki manuhiri, he whare korikori. E ai ki a Te Ahukaramū Royal, ‘He momo whare te Whare Tapere mō ngā tūmomo whakangahau, whakaharakoa a te tangata. Ko ētahi ngahau he kōrero pūrākau, he waiata, he haka, he whakatangi taonga puoro, he kukume keretao, he tākaro.’1 He huhua ngā kōrero mō te whare tapere, ā, ko tēnei te wāhi i tūtataki ai ngā tīpuna tētahi ki tētahi.
Inā kē te huhua o ngā kōrero o roto i ngā waiata me ngā haka. Ko te whai a Māui i ōna mātua me ōna tuākana tērā, ko te putanga o te ihu o Tamatekapua rāua ko Whakatūria i a Uenuku tērā, ko te kōrero a Ngāti Raukawa mō te haka a Wairangi tērā.
Kei runga i tōna tikanga me tōna whakamahi ka raupapatia ngā waiata Māori. E kī ana a Āpirana Ngata, e toru ngā momo waiata mōteatea matua, arā, he pōpō (he oriori rānei), he waiata tangi, he waiata aroha. Tokowhitu atu anō ngā momo whāiti o te waiata tangi, e ai ki a Ngata. Tērā anō hoki ētahi atu momo waiata, pērā i te ruri, i te mata, i te haka me te karakia.
Ko ētahi waiata tangi:
Arā anō ngā momo waiata o tēnei rārangi, he momo waiata atu anō nā runga i te āhua o tōna whakamahinga.
Hei tauira ko te waiata whaiāipo he whakahiamo i te tau, ā, ko te pātere he wai ka titoa e te wahine hei whakautu i te tāunu. Ko te kaioraora he momo waiata kanga, ā, ko te apakura ka puakina e te pouaru nōna e noho nei i roto i te wharemate.
Ko ētahi atu waiata:
He wā kāore e tino mārakerake te rerekē i waenganui i ngā momo, ā, kei ngā kaupapa whakatumeke o te waiata ka kitea pea te rerekētanga. Hei tauira, he ōrite te waiata tangi me te waiata aroha, ā, ko tōna ito he kukume i te ngākau o te tangata ki tā rātou i hiahia ai.
Kāore te waiata aroha i whakanui i te taha pai o te aroha, engari ana ka haku, ka whakaputa kōrero mō ngā manawapā me ngā māharahara ka haere tahi nei me te aroha. Arā, ko ētahi waiata aroha e pā ana ki te tāne kei te pakanga; ki te aroha mō te hoa rangatira; ki te kōingo mō te tau, me te whakarere hoa. Ka titoa anō te waiata aroha mō te tamāhine pākūhā, mō te tamāhine kua tūkinotia e te tāne, mō te whenua, mō te pū. Kāore i ārikarika ngā kaupapa o te waiata aroha.
I waihangatia te waiata oriori hei whakatau ake i te tamaiti rangatira. Ehara tēnei i te waiata noa iho, engari he whakahua mō te tamaiti ki ōna whenua, ki ōna tātai kōrero. Ko te oriori o Te Tai Rāwhiti, ko ‘Pō! Pō!’ tērā ka hoki rā anō ki te whitinga mai o te kūmara mai i Hawaiki ki Aotearoa.
He mea whakatō te oriori ki roto ki te tamaiti kia ū ai ki ngā kawenga a te iwi. Ā tōna wā ka whakakī ia i ngā whārua a ōna tīpuna.
Ka pātuki tahi te rere me te pakō o te poi ki te ia o te waiata, pērā i a ‘Poia atu taku poi’ nā Erenora Taratoa o Ngāti Raukawa. He rite tonu ka āmio whenua ngā waiata poi, ā, ka tākina te kaiwhakarongo e te poi i runga i tētahi haerenga.
Ka tarea te kī he peka te haka nō te waiata, he tūmomo waiata. I te tau 1975 ka whakamahuki a Arapeta Marukitipua Awatere i ngā tūāhua o ngā tūmomo haka. E kī ana ia, ‘Kei tēnā momo, kei tēnā momo anō tōnā ake āhua, me ōna ake ringa, tū, rākau, whakatautau ki te whakatau i tētahi āhuatanga ā-iwi, ahakoa he kikokiko, he tohu wairua rānei taua tūāhua.’1 E rima ngā momo haka ka whakarārangitia e Awatere:
Ko te peruperu te haka tū taua i ngā pehu kaitangata. E kī ana a Awatere ko tēnei ‘te tino haka tū taua’:
Mā ngā haratau whakauaua ka mārohirohi te tinana me te hinengaro kia kotahi ki te haka nei. Ko tōna he whākana, he whakapōhane, he ngengere, he whakaue, he tīkoro, he whakakaitoa i te hoariri ki te whātero, ki te whakahako, ki te puha, ki te patero uerangi o te atua nguha; he pohū, he tātaka, he tīoro i te āinga o hikareia ki te mura o te ahi.2
Kei tēnā iwi, kei tēnā iwi ōna kārangaranga ingoa mō ngā tū haka. Ka mutu i tuhia e Awatere ngā ingoa ā-iwi. Ki a Te Arawa, ka mōhiotia anō te peruperu he puha. Ko te maemae, ka kīia he pōkeka ki a Te Arawa, he ngākau-maemae, he kiriwera rānei ki a Ngāti Porou, ā, he manawawera ki a Ngāi Tūhoe. Ko te ngārahu, ko te tū ngārahu rānei he whakarewarewa ki a Te Arawa, he whakatūwaewae ki a Ngāti Porou, he tūtūngārahu ki a Waikato.
Ko te haka pōwhiri ka hakaina i ngā pōwhiri ki te manuhiri. Ahakoa ka mahia whānuitia te haka pōwhiri, ko Ngāti Porou me Te Whānau-a-Apanui anake ngā iwi ko ngā wāhine kē ka taki i te haka.
Grey, George. Ngā mahi a ngā tūpuna. Ōtautahi: Kiwi Publications, 1997 (first published 1928).
Kāretu, Tīmoti. Haka: te tohu o te whenua rangatira: the dance of a noble people. Tāmakimakaurau: Reed, 1993.
McLean, Mervyn, and Margaret Orbell. Traditional songs of the Māori. Tāmakimakaurau: Auckland University Press, 2004.
Mitcalfe, Barry. The singing word: Maori poetry. Te Whanganui-a-Tara: Price Milburn for Victoria University Press, 1974.
Ngata, Āpirana Turupa. Ngā mōteatea: he maramara rere nō ngā waka maha. 4 vols. Tāmakimakaurau: Auckland University Press, 2004–7.