Hato Pāora
It’s hard being Māori in 2016. Look at all this carry-on about boys-with-their-poi.
Most of us know that males did poi back in the day as a warm-up for close-armed combat. But I didn’t know boys were actually performing poi routines in the national secondary schools kapa haka competitions until this new ruling came out saying they couldn’t. Not if they wanted marks. From now on, boys-only schools would have to substitute the poi with the martial arts Mau Rakau.
Whatever the rationale, the decision to marginalise male poi performances was mean-spirited, particularly five months out from the competition.
My mate Debra Marshall-Lobb, the principal at Hato Pāora, called the ruling sexist. Fair enough, too.
The thing is, Māori, like Pākehā, aren’t always on the same page. Not just between but inside iwi, and within various marae. As we saw at Te Tii Marae and within Ngāpuhi around Waitangi Day.
Kingi Taurua knows all about that. “Because of concerns around the TPPA, Ngāpuhi held a hui and voted that the PM wouldn’t be invited to the marae. And then a couple of the marae trustees just invited the PM anyway. And then they said he couldn’t speak. As far as I’m concerned, tikanga went right out the window.”
I’m no expert when it comes to kawa and tikanga. As kids, we learned about kawa and tikanga through osmosis. We played on the fringes of tangihanga, weddings and family reunions and, in between chores, we got the gist of what not to do on the marae. Can’t say I took that much notice at the time but I did manage to avoid any diplomatic incidents.
Not all Māori of my generation went to marae. When I started learning te reo through Ngāti Raukawa, the tutors gave us the lowdown on kawa and tikanga, and helpfully explained the basic rules around conduct inside the whare tupuna. Stuff like no kai inside the meeting house. And dignified behaviour at all times.
I remember heading to a tangi, hard on the heels of one wānanga, feeling I’d nailed the etiquette side of things. For once, I wasn’t sneaking furtive glances at the ones in front of me, desperately looking for cues.
But things got confusing for me after a grumpy uncle nutted off at the sons of the deceased. They’d been working out the back of the kitchen all day and had no opportunity to scrub up before entering the whare to say goodnight to their mum.
Uncle took exception to that and let them have it. I felt sorry for them. I could have handled that rebuke if I hadn’t seen one of the aunties whip off her top and, in her bra, dance in front of the coffin and entertain the whānau pani.
Okay. Didn’t expect that.
So I lost my bearings on the dress code. Maybe topless is okay but paru swannis aren’t? Or maybe Grumpy Uncle was outside when Auntie did her thing. He must’ve been outside when the plate of pikelets (I kid you not), complete with jam and whipped cream, was passed around the wharenui. No one except me seemed to bat an eyelid.
What were those Ngāti Raukawa on about, I thought?
Mind you, Amiria Reriti remembers the Ūpoko at her Kai Tahu marae instructing her to wheel the tea trolley into the wharenui. “Don’t forget the biscuits,” he yelled after her. Amiria tensed in anticipation of a lightning strike.
There seem to be these hardcore rules but then, at various times, they go out the window. As for the different way different iwi do things? There’s a minefield.
I’m reminded of the Flying Youth Tour back in ’89. It wasn’t a circus, although there were always going to be comical elements taking 70 musicians on the road. Most of the group had never been near a marae. So before leaving Auckland, we had a team talk.
“The first thing that’s going to happen,” said Tour Manager (aka Willie Jackson), “is that a wahine is going to call us on to the marae. That’s called the karanga.”
Everyone mouthed the word “karanga”.
“Now once inside,” Tour Manager continued, “a local man will stand up and give us a speech of welcome. It’ll be in Māori. And then they’ll sing a song. And then our speaker will reply and we’ll sing his song. Get it?”
Nodding like crazy.
“Now some of you haven’t been through a pōwhiri,” Tour Manager said. “You might get emotional and feel a bit of a rush coming on. Whatever you do, resist the urge to jump to your feet to speak, okay?”
The musicians nodded in wide-eyed unison.
We piled into a bunch of minibuses and headed up north. At the marae, everyone huddled together in nervous anticipation as the karanga rang out. There was a murmur among the ranks. Then, slowly, all eyes turned on us in bewilderment.
It was a man. Doing the karanga.
Okay. Didn’t expect that.
There were two people there on the paepae. A woman stood up first. She welcomed us in Māori. The other was male, with a suspiciously Aussie accent. I remember him saying something like: “None of you can understand Māori, so waste of time. I’ll speak English.” All the musicians looked at Tour Manager, me, and the other so-called know-it-alls with narrowed eyes.
Our credibility rating plummeted.
Then Hareruia Aperahama stood up on our behalf and saved the day. You could have heard a pin drop.
The thing is, every hapū has their own specific tikanga, their own way of doing things. It’s accepted that the hau kainga of any particular marae set the kawa. If they want to open the proceedings for speeches in English, all good. It’s just that the first time you strike a different way of doing things, you do get a fright.
Like the time Scotty Morrison, Jaz Coleman and I headed to the Urewera for the tangi of Hirini Melbourne. We recognised Tame Iti heading towards us. He was wearing a blanket. Not looking his usual friendly self, actually. Then he fired his shotgun into the air.
Okay. Didn’t expect that.
Going on to a marae in Taranaki for the first time, my friend guided my elbow as I was about to head to the seats. Taranaki iwi hongi before whaikorero.
Didn’t expect that.
Scotty told me that for our lot in Te Arawa, kawa represents sacred obligations handed down from the gods. For example, the ritual of powhiri is made up of various protocols — whaikorero, waiata, wero, whakawaatea. Tikanga represents the various practices that each hapū develop to express that kawa. As Uncle Jimmy at Waitetoko says: “You do what is right for the occasion.”
For Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whātua, the terminology is the other way around.
In January, a number of local Auckland marae said they would boycott the official welcome of TPPA signatories. Te Runanga o Ngāti Whatua stepped in “as a fallback position”, to perform a mihi whakatau. This was consistent, said Tame te Rangi, with the tribe’s sacred obligation or tikanga of welcoming dignitaries to the rohe — of manaakitanga.
However, delegates were welcomed into Sky City, not on to a marae. Does that make any difference?
No. For Tame, it was about Ngāti Whatua asserting their sovereignty inside an encounter between representatives of sovereign nations within Ngāti Whatua turf. I get that. But where does this obligation start and end? Where do you draw the line? Actually, it was Tame who raised the issue of a welcome for Mickey Mouse.
“Yeah,” sighed Tame. “That was some of our lot.”
Tame gave me the distinct impression that a line had been crossed when it came to Mickey. Moana Jackson reminded me once that a racehorse got its own welcome too. I mean, you have to wonder, don’t you? And not just about what happened when it got to the hongi bit.
On the other hand, our welcome ceremonies are not always so … welcoming.
While many were boycotting the Springboks during 1981, Poho-o-Rawiri marae decided to reluctantly welcome the team and let the New Zealand Māori Council chairman, Graham Latimer, get stuck into them over apartheid. On that occasion, politics and culture converged.
Media reports this year suggested that potential speakers were instructed by hosts at both Ratana and Waitangi not to raise certain controversial subjects.
I was told that if anything, the whaikorero part of the pōwhiri was exactly the place to raise any controversial issues and get into a meaty argument. You’d think that if people have carte blanche to abuse and insult a dead person in their coffin, a bit of verbal argy-bargy about politics would be completely acceptable, wouldn’t you?
Lots of things have changed. In ancient times, we obviously didn’t sit in rows or even in chairs for pōwhiri. Koha wouldn’t necessarily fit into a tidy little envelope either.
At the end of the day, how those practices are run is completely up to the marae or hapū. And as my mate Amiria says: “Whoever is in charge of the marae on any given day, ultimately calls the shots.”
“I believe our people are so involved now with different political parties that their allegiances too often colour the discussion and sometimes even undermines tikanga,” says Kingi, sadly. “I hate to say it, but I think tikanga and kawa are gone.”
As far as Scotty is concerned: “While kawa doesn’t change, the tikanga or practices are constantly evolving.”
Yes, the rest of us may roll our eyes and drop our lip when things don’t go our way. But even if we don’t like how a particular marae or hapū runs the show, it is their show. They have the mana whenua. That’s what tino rangatiratanga is all about.
Good theme for a poi…
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Tena koe Moana, Ataa maari.
Tena koe Moana, Ataa maari. Your humour is so lovely. I agree with everything you say, and if we can’t laugh, or shake our head at the many experiences of tikanga that we come across at hui or tangihanga, we would worry ourselves sick. For our tane to be doing the poi, well I was told many years ago the poi was originally for them to keep their wrists flexible during battle with the tiaha. Correct me if I’m wrong. May we look forward to many more interesting experiences from you Moana.
Loved your take on tikanga in
Loved your take on tikanga in today’s confused world. I am an urban Maori with no prior marae or tikanga knowledge. In my maturer years, I have yearned to learn about my heritage, reo and culture, tikanga being the mantle of all. However, my journey has been terrifying to say the least and I’ve experienced overwhelming anxiety attacks during hui at work when its been my turn to speak my pepiha, often with embarrasing outcomes. Your whakaaro eases my sense of ignorance slightly, as I’m glad to hear that the marae raised, reo speaking whanau will and do experience times of confusion such as myself when entering onto unfamiliar grounds. Thank you for your honesty and poignant way of describing some of your learning experiences with different iwi and kawa. Your humourous dialogue reminds me not to take myself too seriously and enjoy the lessons along the way.
From what I understand, the
From what I understand, the terms Kawa and Tikanga refer to that spiritual concept or obligation (in Te Arawa, the term used is ‘Kawa’ while in other Iwi, its ‘Tikanga.’) I think Kingi was very disillusioned and sad at what happened, and those are his observations as a 79 year old whose watched things change. That’s not to say everyone agrees. Quintin, I reckon a lot of practices – like taking shoes off, are probably just to keep the interiors clean – though no one had ever given a satisfactory reason why men can leave theirs on and women can’t. Given we had no shoes pre-colonisation and I don’t know enough about whether powhiri were conducted inside or out, I’d say that’s an example of Tikanga evolving. Wish I’d asked Mauriora. I’ve asked Scotty but he’s never looked like he’s going to go uncover some deep and meaningful explanation for that. He’s also clear that Kawa in are Arawa remains strong. Interesting eh?
Kia orana Moana Im Cook
Kia orana Moana Im Cook Island descent Aotearoa toku toi whenua love your work and reading this article about “Tikanga” & “Kawa” what I witnessed in my lifetime growing up and just completing a 4 year
Bachelor Degree in Social Services of Bi-
culturalism at Te Wananga O Aotearoa, I
observed that some iwi have their own way of conducting a powhiri and in each one there is minor differences, I have learnt to always reposition my thoughts, shift my
thinking, be mindful of what falls out my mouth before speaking, slow to speak
quick to listen and be respectful in all you
do and say. My worldview and
understanding on both Tikanga & Kawa
explains one is a set of guideline rules put
in place to manage the order in which a hui
or meeting is conducted to be respectful
and fair to all. The other being Tikanga are
guiding principles and values that action our daily practice with our whanau, friends, work colleagues, our tamariki and moko etc “tino rangatiratanga” meaning absolute integrity if these two words are phasing out like this article says maybe some of our whanau have lost the drive to continue their tipuna legacy or maybe our whanau are seeing something different I believe in “Te mea nui tonu is he tangata he tangata he tangata”Our people see, feel, hear and if these senses don’t synchronise we know
its not right. If our daily principle practice is
compromised then who we trying to kid
people are very observant of what you do,
what you say, how well you do things. My
Atua & family is my center being of Mana,
Tikanga, Kawa, Whakatika, Whakapono &
Aroha which are all values guiding my
everyday “Principled Practice” so that I am able to help whanau in crisis personally
people don’t care what we know or where
weve come from truly from where I stand our people just want to know if we care. My whakaro is Maori Tikanga, Mana, Culture, Tradition, Spiritual, Karakia, Waiata has reshaped, given me a purpose, basket of knowledge to challenge the hegemonic system and advocate on behalf of all, people. Ka pai to wiki whanau
Haha that’s maoridom for you
Haha that’s maoridom for you got a love it bludi scratch your head sometimes but once your in the zone of our Maori world it’s no hard to accept the different protocols of the various marae because it is what it is and its quite easy to walk away from if you don’t accept or agree with their ways
Some speakers mihi their loved ones as part of their whaikorero at formal events inside the wharekai or off the marae however other speakers do not ( ie.Scotty for one)and stick to their teachings that the mihi to the dead must be done either on the marae areare or inside the wharenui
Some males remove their shoes before entering the Wharenui others don’t
The late Mauriora Kingi told me Te Arawa men do not remove their shoes on their Marae because it’s a mana thing and not disrespect to the Wharenui??
My reply to him was e hoa is it because you can’t bend down to unlace or have you had your shoes pinched in the past bro he just laughed and said we should be taking them off in the wharekai as well and what a shambles that would be
however a lot of Te Arawa men unlace out of respect for the Wharenui
However after all the confusion and different head scratching ways the hardworking Ringawera balance the books with a good feed but one does sigh when it’s only a cuppa and a biscuit lol where the boil up and fry bread !! kia ora Moana
I would like to join this
I would like to join this group. I am hopping this is not too soon.
Yes a lot of our Maori
Yes a lot of our Maori traditions are dying away because of many changes in the country by leaders that are in Parliament.They are forgetting,”te mea nui tonu he tanga ta he tangata,he tangata”
Ah yes, we are a contrary lot
Ah yes, we are a contrary lot Tomaloms! Moana J also said to me this morning, that some of our questionable ritual (welcoming the giant World Cup rugby ball etc)?is typical of indigenous peoples clinging to ritual in the face of the devastating consequence of colonisation. I’d like to be as optimistic as you are Sarah, there is Kawa and there is Tikanga (which sometimes is very ‘wobbly dog’) and the challenge is to ensure the values are consistent. Kingi and Amiria keep things real though eh?! Gotta keep a sense of humour, black though it may be. Mahalo x
Couldn’t resist commenting e
Couldn’t resist commenting e hoa. Smiles all around…shared memories growing up on our marae, watching the evolution in visiting other marae and even at home. And just missing the dynamics of our living culture in action whilst here in Hawaii. Debates like this ‘nga tane me Te poi’ are a fantastic salute to the living breathing evolution of our desire to grow in the celebration of ourselves. A great problem to have my late Uncle Tama Huata would have said I’m sure. I loved your article…but agree with Scotty. Tikanga is man made so if the teachings on Kawa aren’t passed down it does get a bit ‘mickiri’ up. Which can be funny or sad…sometimes a mixrure of both. Otira…Arohanui ki Te Whanau kei Te kainga e hapai Ana Te kaupapa. Xx
Tres bien mon Ami Mo
Tres bien mon Ami Mo
I constantly question our esteemed elders who stand up on the paepae and expell the virtues of kaitiakitanga of our whenua – then go home and pour poisonous Agri chemicals all over their Kiwifruit – where’s the tikanga in that?
The day is fast coming when culturally cool and tikanga will clash. I just wish it would hurry up for our Papatuanuku’s sake
My late husband always said
My late husband always said ‘There’s Tikanga and there’s what actually happens “. Too true.
OH Wow what a fantastic read
OH Wow what a fantastic read Moana split my sides with so much laughter and remembering my own hilarious experiences on marae, the good ole saying When in Rome!
Very enlightening, thank you.
Very enlightening, thank you. My marae is Piritahi on Waiheke, with Maori from various iwi and hapu and it must be difficult for them to come to a consensus sometimes but they always miraculously manage.
Thank you ive learned by
Thank you ive learned by rwading this column