Ngā take whāngai
He whewheia nui te whāngai ki tā te Pākehā whakamahi. Engari ki tā te Māori, he nui ngā hua i te whāngai tamariki. E ai ki te kairangahau a Joan Metge; ara katoa ngā kaupapa huhua mō tēnei tikanga:
It could not prevent some children from feeling rejected by their birth parents or deprived of the special love of a mother; it could not prevent siblings being split up or atawhai being overworked or abused in particular cases. But philosophically and in practice it had many strengths and advantages.
Kāore tēnei tikanga e aukati i te tamaiti mai i ōna mātua ake, e aukati rānei i te aroha o te māmā; heoi kāore e taea i tēnei tikanga te whakaea katoa i ngā tauwehewehe whānau, i te tūkino rānei o tēnei mea o te atawhai. Engari ia ko te huatau kei roto ake i tēnei tikanga ara noa atu ōna painga.1
Nga whāngai rongonui
- ko te rangatira o Ngāti Porou a Rāpata Wahawaha, nāna i whāngai te matua o Apirana Ngata, a Paratene Ngata
- ko te mokopuna a te kingi Māori a Tawhiao a Te Puea Hērangi. Neke atu i te 50 te maha o ana whāngai
- te rangatira o Ngāpuhi Tā Hemi Henare. Tokoono ana tamariki ake, e rima ana tamariki whāngai.
Ko ētahi tamariki whāngai:
- ko Edward Pōhau Ellison, tētahi o ngā rata Māori tuatahi
- te tohunga reo me te kaituhi a Pei Te Hurinui Jones
- ko Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, te kaiwhakaū i te Hāhi Rātana
- ko te kaiwaiata ko Inia te Wiata
- ko Robert Te Kotahitanga Māhuta, te tungāne whāngai o te kuini Māori a Te Ātairangikaahu
- ko Billy T. James, tētahi o ngā kaiwhakangahau rongonui o Aotearoa
- ko Wira Gardiner, kaimahi kāwanatanga, tiamana o te Tertiary Education Commission i te tau 2010
- ko te kaitākaro o Ngā Rau Hiriwa ko Joline Henry.
Māori me te whāngai
He wā anō ka whakamanahia ā-ture te whāngai, he wā ka kore anō. I te tau 1997 ka whakatau ake a Hirini Mead ko te tamaiti Māori te taonga nui rawa o te ao Māori, ā, me whakaaro ngā tika e whai ake nei:
- te mana kia mohio ki ngā āhuatanga o tōna whāngaitanga
- te mana kia mōhio ki tōna whakapapa
- te mana whānaungatanga (kinship) – kia paihere i a ia ki tōna hapū, iwi rānei
- te mana tikanga whakaaro – kia whai wāhi ki roto i tōna ao Māori.
Te tikanga panoni o te whāngai
E ai ki te rangahau o ngā tāngata whāngai ka kitea ko ngā kaupapa nui ko te whanaungatanga, me te whakapau ngākau ki tō whānau i ngā tau ō muri atu. 'The practice is diluted today. It has many faces, many manifestations. Gone are the values, the history and the very essence that makes us intrinsically Maori.' (Ki tā ētahi kei te rerekē haere tēnei tikanga o te whāngai. Ara noa atu ōna kanohi, me ōna āhua i ēnei rā. Kua kore ngā tikanga, ngā hītori hoki e paihere nei i a tātou ki tō tātou Māoritanga).2
E ai ki te whakatepe a te hunga kairangahau, ‘[t]he preservation of this traditional practice is reliant upon Maori whānau practising and living by the values and principles that underlie it. Also seen by most to be pivotal to its maintenance are: current Māori participating in the practice; teaching future generations the values of this practice; and providing whāngai with positive environments that include the opportunity to interact in the wider whānau group' (Ko te oranga tonutanga o tēnei tikanga kei ngā whānau Māori e pupuri ana kia ū kia pūmau ki ngā tikanga me ngā ūara ō roto. Ko tētahi atu mea nui: ko te whai wāhi o Ngāi Māori i tēnei tikanga; ko te ako i ngā uara o tēnei tikanga ki ngā reanga; me te whakatipu i te tamaiti ki roto ki te aroha me te manaaki o te whānau whānui).3
