Kōrero: Whakairo

Whārangi 4. Te whakairo mai i te tau 1500 ki te tau 1800

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

He wā tēnei i puea ai te wairua auaha, ā, ka hua ngā piko, ngā tauira, ngā rauru e hāngai pū ana ki te toi Māori, ki te taiao Māori. Ko ngā tauira manu he mea hei whakaahua i te tinana tangata.

Te mīharo mai o ngāi Pākehā

Nō tēnei wā ka kai ngā mata o te Pākehā ki te ahurea Māori. I te tau 1770 ka kite a Joseph Banks, te kaimātai taiao o Kāpene Kuki me te kaipuke Endeavour, i ngā waka whakarei i Ūawa. Ka tuhi ia, ‘e hiahia ana au ki te whakaputa whakaaro mō te wairua auaha o ngā whakairo engari tē taea e ahau te tūtūā noa nei.’1

Te pātaka me te waka taua

Kia mana ai, ka whakatū ngā iwi i ngā pātaka whakairo, hei tohu i te whai rawa me te kaha manaaki a te hau kāinga; ka tāraia ngā waka taua hei tohu mō te kaha o te iwi kia tūria te hau.

Ngā rākaitanga tohorā

E kitea whānuitia ana te taratara ā-kae i te motu. I ahu mai i a Tinirau rāua ko Kae, i te patunga o te mōkai tohorā a Tutunui. Kāhore anō te Māori kia hopu i ngā hangarau patu tohorā i taua wā, engari ki te paea mai te tohorā, ka kīa he waimarie nui, ka noho taua ika hei kai, hei whao, hei taonga hoki. He tini ngā tohu mō te kai nui i ngā pātaka, kia mōhio ai te manuhiri he nui ngā rawa kai hei manaaki i ngā tira haere ki te pā o te iwi kāinga.

Ngā momo pātaka

Ko tētahi whakairo nui o tērā wā ko tērā e mōhio nei ko te pātaka o Te Kaha. Ko te maihi me te kūwaha o te pātaka i tū ki Maraenui, kei te taha tika o te awa o Mōtū, i te Moana a Toi. Kei ia maihi ka whakaaturia te wēra e tōia ana e te tangata, me te manaia, me te whakarākei ki te taratara ā kae o te  taowaru (ka whakapapa tētahi whakairo i runga i tētahi). He tohu tēnei momo whakairo mō te tohorā. Nā te āhua o te mahi whakapapa nei me ngā tauira āhua rehu nei ki te tirotiro atu, ka tino ngangahu ake te hōhonu o te whakaahua kei roto i te  whakairo.

Te whakairo tuare

Nō konei, e rua ngā momo whakairo nui i puta me ōna momo rerekētanga ā-rohe. Ko te tuatahi ko te tuare, ka whai pānga ki ngā rohe o Hokianga, o Hauraki, o Te Tai Rāwhiti, o Taranaki, me Ngāti Whātua. I tēnei momo whakairo, he hanga koeko ngā māhunga, ā, he hanga S te tinana. He rite tonu kāore e whakairotia ngā tinana, engari mēnā ka whakarākaitia, ko te unaunahi te whakairo ka kaha mahia, tae rawa ki Te Tai Tokerau. Ko ētahi momo o te unaunahi he ritorito, he pūngāwerewere.

E kitea nuitia ana te unaunahi i Te Tai Tokerau, ā, ko te ritorito ki Te Āti Awa o Taranaki. Ko ngā whakairo o Te Āti Awa he hōhonu ake, ka mutu ka whiri ngā ringa me ngā waewae, ā, he hanga koeko anō te māhunga, hei whakanui i te maunga o Taranaki. 

Ngā tūāhua o te wā

Ko te nuinga o ngā whakairo tapawhā o te rāwhiti ka takea mai i ngā tūtakitaki ki te Pākehā me te whiwhinga i te whao maitai. Nō konei ka pōhēhē ētahi mātanga he whakairo tōmuri te tuare. Heoi i te taunga mai o te Endeavour ki Ūawa i te tau 1769 ka tāia ngā pikitia e whakaatu ana i ngā tuare, ngā haehae me ngā pākati.

Te whakairo tapawhā o te rāwhiti

Ko tētahi o ngā momo whakairo o tērā wā ko ‘ngā whakairo tapawhā o te rāwhiti’ i kitea i Te Pēwhairangi, i Hauraki, i Te Tai Rawhiti, i Rotorua, i te tonga o Te Ika-a-Māui me Te Wai Pounamu. Ka kīa tēnei momo he whakairo tapawhā nā te mea he pērā te hanga o ngā tinana, he tapawhā, ā, kei tētahi hautoru o te whakairo katoa te rahi o te upoko.

Ngā whare whakairo nui

Ka kite hoki ngā kauhoe a Kuki i te angaanga o te whare whakairo kaita, neke atu i te 10 mita te roa. Nā te kore e kitea o ngā whare nunui ki ētahi atu rohe, ko te whakaaro i tīmata mai pea ngā whare whakairo nui i te Tai Rāwhiti, ki te wānanga o Te Rāwheoro i Ūawa. Mai i reira ka mahora haere. E ai ki ētahi i takohangia e Ngāti Awa te wharenui tuatahi o Te Arawa hei kaipākūhā. Tae rawa ake ki ngā tekau tau o 1830 me 1840, kua kapi katoa te whenua i ngā wharenui.

Kupu tāpiri
  1. Tohutoro Anne Salmond, Two worlds: first meetings between Maori and Europeans, 1642–1772. Tāmakimakaurau: Viking, 1993, p. 281. Back
Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Brett Graham, 'Whakairo - Te whakairo mai i te tau 1500 ki te tau 1800', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/whakairo/page-4 (accessed 30 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Brett Graham, i tāngia i te 22 Oct 2014