Kōrero: Whare Māori

Whārangi 1. Ngā whare Māori tuatahi

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te whare whakairo

Ko te whare whakairo te whare rongonui ake o te ahurea Māori. Kotahi te wāhi noho, he tuanui heke ka toro mai i te tuarongo ki te mahau, ki te pou mataaho. Tētahi mea nui, ka kitea he  whakaniko i roto, i waho hoki, e whakaahuatia ai ngā tīpuna, ngā atua me ngā kaitiaki e pā ana ki te whare. Ko te whare whakairo he nui kē atu i ngā whare o mua ake pērā i te wharepuni. Ehara i te mea nō mai anō te whare whakairo. E whakaarotia ana nō te pānga ki te Pākehā i te puku o te rautau 1800 tīmata ai te hanga o ngā whare whakairo. 

Auahi ana te moe

Ko ngā whare tuatahi he māmā noa iho te hanga. E ai ki a George French Angas, ‘kei raro iho i te pae one ngā moenga, ā, he tuanui heke ngā momo tuanui. Kei waho atu tētahi mahau, ā, hei noho mō te iwi. Kei roto ko te wāhi moe. Kia pō takoto, ka tahuna te ahi, ā, ka katia ngā putanga kia kore ai e puta te mahana. I te awatea kua putaputa katoa mai te iwi ki waho hongi ai i te hau mātao o te ata, me te heke o te werawera i te kiri.’1

Ngā whare tōmua

Ko ngā whare tuatahi i hangaia e te Māori he mea tauira i ērā o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. He puni noa ngā whare tuatahi, arā, nā ngā nekeneke ki te kimi kai, rauemi hoki. Hangaia ai te tini o ēnei whare i roto i tōna rōpū whare tekau, otirā kotahi te wharepuni noho mō ia whānau. Kotahi noa iho te taiwhanga o ia whare. He porowhita ētahi whare, he tapawhā paenga i waenganui i te pouri me te auahi o roto me te ao o waho. Kīhai i kitea te mahau puta noa i te Moananui-a-Kiwa. 

Te ahi tāmou

He maha ngā tūāhua i mahana ai ngā whare i ngā huarere mātao o Aotearoa. He kino ake te māeke i tō rātou kāinga i Hawaiki. He pāpaku ngā whare, he hāhaka te kuaha, kotahi koa, kāore noa iho rānei he matapihi hei pupuri tonu i te mahana. Kei roto kē ngā pakitara i te whenua e tapoko ana, ka mutu hei whakahaumaru i te whare. He takuahi anō tō ngā whare hei whakamahana, ā, he whare anō mō te tunu. Ko tōna aumanga he putanga iti i runga i te tuanui. 

Te Wharepuni

I te takiwā o te rautau 1500 ka mātotoru te iwi Māori, ā, ka whānui ake ngā kāinga, ka puta mai hoki he momo whare hou. Ko te wharepuni tētahi,, ā, neke atu i te kotahi whānau ka āhei te uru ki roto. Kāore e whakairotia te wharepuni, hāunga ngā whare mō te tangata whai mana. Nā whai anō ka whakairotia he pare, he tekoteko, he poutokomanawa rānei hei tohu i te mana o te rangatira. Nō muri ka tāpiritia ngā mahau hei paenga i waenganui i te pouri me te auahi o roto me te ao o waho. Kīhai i kitea te mahau puta noa i te Moananui-a-Kiwa. 

Te Pātaka

Mai anō i te tau 1400, ka whai pātaka kai ngā kāinga Māori. He mea whakarewa te pātaka ki runga i te pou (i ngā pou e rua rānei), hei ārai i ngā kīrehe. Ko tōna huarahi piki he taura, he arawhata rānei. Arā atu te momo pātaka mō te pupuri kupenga, rākau, taonga, kākahu anō hoki. He tohu whai mana te pātaka, nā whai anō ka whakairotia a waho. 

Kāuta

I waho noa atu i te whare ngā mahi taka kai, i roto kāuta rānei. He tīhokahoka, he rauwhare noa ēnei whare, i hangaia ki ngā peka tāwhao wahie mō te ahi tahu kai. I te kore e whakairotia o te kāuta ka mārama ki te tikanga a te Māori e pā ana ki te kai. Kīhai i pā te kai ki te tapu, mō te hunga tauware noa, tūtūā hei taka i te kai. 

Kupu tāpiri
  1. George French Angas, Polynesia: a popular description of the physical features, inhabitants, natural history, and productions of the islands of the Pacific. With an account of their discovery, and the progress of civilisation and Christianity amongst them. Rānana: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1866, p. 153. Back
Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Deidre Brown, 'Whare Māori - Ngā whare Māori tuatahi', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/whare-maori/page-1 (accessed 29 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Deidre Brown, i tāngia i te 22 Oct 2014