Te whakamahi i ngā anga mātaitai kia tika ai te kimi i te wā o ngā kainoho Māori o neherā

Published on 3 Whiringa-ā-rangi November 2021 

Kāore tonu i te tino mōhiotia ngā wāhanga tuatahi o te noho a te Māori i te mea kāore i whakahāngaitia ngā whakaaturanga taiao, ngā karinga whaipara me ngā hītori Māori e ai ki ngā wā kua whakaraupapatia. I tēnei wā, ko te raupapatanga tuku iho e mōhiotia ana mō te whakanohotanga a te Māori kua wehe ki ngā wāhanga e toru ka tīmata atu i te whakanohotanga o te haurāwhiti o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa, he wā whitinga o te nohonga me te whakawhānuitanga, whai muri mai ko te Māori 'Tauhira" i kōrerohia e te kaihōpara Pākehā. Engari, e tohu ana ngā whakaaturanga whaipara me ngā hītori ā-iwi he matawhānui ake te āhua o te whakanohotanga. He iti noa ngā hono o te hanganga wāhanga takitoru ki ngā kōrero tuku iho ahuahu ai i te ao Māori, ā, he iti noa ngā whakamārama mō te urutau ki te taiao, te whanaketanga pori-tōrangapū, ngā rerekētanga ā-ahurea, te honohono ā-pāpori rānei. Nā te kūare ki te āhua o te rerekē o te whanonga nā te wā kua tukituki ngā whakamāoritanga mō te ao o nehe o Aotearoa.

Excavation of 500-year-old coastal Māori midden deposit, Te Tara-o-te-ika-a-Māui. Whakaahua: Louise Furey

E whai ana a Ahorangi Tuarua Petchey me tōna rōpū kaimātai whaipara me ngā tohunga tikanga tangata – Tākuta Louise Furey (Tāmaki Paenga Hira), Tākuta Gerard O'Regan (Te Whare Taoka o Ōtākou) Ahorangi Atholl Anderson (Kairangahau Motuhake), Tākuta Magdalena Schmid (Te Whare Wānanga o Kiel, Tiamana) – ki te takahuri i tēnei. I roto i tā rātau takuhe Tahua Marsden Arowhānui ka whakamahia e rātau te inewā horowaro o ngā mahuetanga mai o ngā angaanga mātaitai i whakarērea mai e ngā tīpuna Māori kia tika ai tā tātau titiro ki a Aotearoa i mua o te taenga mai o te Pākehā. Ko te inewā horowaro he kanoirite o te waro e kitea ana i roto i ngā tipu me ngā kararehe katoa. I muri i te matenga, ka pīrau haere te horowaro i roto i te wa, a, ko te rahinga ka toe mai ka taea te whakamahi hei whakatau tata te tawhito o ngā mahuetanga mai o te kararehe, tipu rānei. Kei tua kē atu te kaha o tēnei kaupapa i ngā tikanga inewā horowaro noa, arā, mā te whakakotahi i ngā rauemi whaipara mai i te whenua, me te moana – e taea ai e te rōpū te tirotiro i ētahi atu hono i waenga i ngā huringa ā-tangata, ā-taiao hoki.

Tākuta Petchey in front of equipment used for radiocarbon dating. Whakaahua supplied.

Mā te whakamahi i ngā angaanga kaimoana, ka kitea e te rōpū ētahi atu taipitopito mō te āhua o te nekeneke haere a te tangata me te waihanga i ngā wā e mārama ai ki ngā pānga tūturu, ā-tangata hoki ki ngā pūnaha rauropi o te motu. Ka tukuna e tēnei rangahau ko ngā tirohanga ki te tere o te whakarite a te tangata ki ngā rerekētanga o te taiao me te urutau ki te tupuheke āhuarangi wā roa. Mā te pai ake o te inewā i ngā angaanga mātaitai – ko ngā matū e tino kitea ana i ngā wāhi putunga i tātahi – e puta ai ngā mōhiohio pūtaiao me te horopaki mārama ake ai ngā mōhiotanga o ngā hapori Māori ki ngā wāhi tūpuna puta noa i Aotearoa. Ka puta mai i ngā mōhiohio ka riro mai ko tētahi tauira āmiki ake o ngā rerekētanga ka taea te whakamahi hei hōpara i ngā tapuwae me ngā tirohanga a te Māori. Ka whakatenatena tēnei kia nui ake te whakamahi i ngā utauta me ngā mōhiotanga o nā noa nei kia hāngai ake ngā kitenga whaipara ki ngā tikanga tuku iho.

Close up of eroding midden deposit, Te Tara-o-te-ika-a-Māui. Whakaahua: Louise Furey