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You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the thesis. ‘Kōrero Tuku Iho’: Reconfiguring Oral History and Oral Tradition A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Waikato by NĒPIA MAHUIKA University of Waikato 2012 Ngā Tohu Whakawhetai Me mihi motuhake awau ki wera o wāku mātua tīpuna a rātou nei ngā awhina i tutuki ai wāku mahi mo taku tohu PhD. Ka nui te aroha mo rātou kua wheturangitia. Ki a Te Kapunga (Koro) Matemoana Dewes tetahi o ngā tohunga o ngā kōrero me ngā tikanga o Ngāti Porou whanui. Ki taku tipuna hoki ki a Nēpia Mahuika, ko ia nei tetahi o wāku poutokomanawa, me wēra atu o rātou kua katohia e te ringa kaha o aitua. Ko koutou ko wāku karangatanga tena koutou kua riro atu nei ki te huia o te Kahurangi. Haere! Haere! Haere! i Abstract The studies of oral history and oral tradition each have their own distinctive bodies of literature and preferred methodologies, yet share significant overlaps that make them difficult to differentiate. For many indigenous peoples, oral histories and traditions are key to their their past, present, and future lives, and are rarely considered separate. This thesis examines the differences and similarities between the studies of oral history and oral tradition. It explores how these areas of research converge and diverge in form, politics, practice, and theory, and the extent to which they resonate within a specific ‘indigenous’ context and community. The thesis draws on the life narrative interviews of four generations of Ngāti Porou descendents, the second largest tribal group in New Zealand, whose home boundaries extend from Potikirua in the north to Te Toka-a-Taiau in the south on the East Coast of the North Island. Drawing on these voices, this study offers a commentary on the form and nature of oral traditions and histories from an indigenous perspective, and explores the ways they converge and depart from ‘international’ understandings. An exploration of these intersections offers insights to the ways oral history and oral traditions might be reconsidered as distinctive fields of study. Reconfigured through an indigenous frame of reference, this thesis challenges scholars of both oral history and oral tradition to expand their conceptions. Likewise, it urges indigenous scholars to consider more deeply the work of oral historians and oral traditionalists to further enhance their scholarship. Moreover, this thesis revisits the intellectual and conceptual territory that names and claims oral history and oral tradition, and invites all those who work in these areas to develop a more extensive comprehension of the interconnections that exist between each area of study. ii Acknowledgements Ka rere waku mihi me waku tangi ki taku iwi ki a Ngāti Porou me wōna whānau/hapu tokomaha, ko wau nei tetahi o wō rātou uri, e whakapuaki nei i woku whakaaro mo rātou me wō rātou hitori. Na reria, ki a koutou, ki wōku mātua, tipuna, whānaunga hoki, tena koutou mo ngā ringa awhina, mo ngā whakaaro, me ngā tautoko, i taea ai te whakatinana i ngā kōrero mo tenei tohu o te mātauranga. I would like to express my gratitude to the people of Te Tairawhiti, to my iwi, various hapu, and whānau, who have contributed to the preparation and completion of this thesis. I would especially like to thank those who participated in, and greatly enriched, this study by sharing not only their time and knowledge, but their unique life stories and experiences. This thesis stands on the testimonies of our people who gave their time and energy to impart personal and tribal knowledge. ‘Ehara taku toa i te toa takatahi, engari he toa takatini taku toa’ ‘My individuality is not my strength, but that strength lies in my communal and collective actions and activities’ This study would have been exceptionally more taxing had it not been for the support of a ‘Top Achievers Scholarship’ awarded by the Tertiary Education Commission, and a ‘Bridging Grant’ from the University of Waikato Scholarships Office. I would like to acknowledge their assistance, which significantly eased the financial burdens that accompanied the completion of this thesis. I particularly want to thank my supervision panel for their patience and hard work, Prof. Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Prof. Giselle Byrnes, and Assoc Prof. Catharine Coleborne, who offered invaluable feedback and support throughout. It seems fitting that a thesis that draws so heavily on Ngāti Porou history and mātauranga would be supervised by a triumvirate of determined, tenacious, and erudite women. Thank you all for your commitment, encouragement, and expertise. There have been a colourful group of individuals, whānau, and friends, who offered tremendous support in regard to this thesis. Mikaere Taiapa and Awatea Hahunga iii spent considerable time undertaking, checking, and completing transcriptions and translations. Dr Graham Smith, John Armstrong, Jenny Robertson, and Simon Dench provided much needed assistance with a range of technical issues, including the preparation and completion of maps, proof reading, and advice on chapter drafts. I would like to express my gratitude also to Dr Peter Gibbons, who read a number of drafts, gave generously of his time and knowledge, and has been a great friend and mentor. Most importantly, I am heavily indebted to the guidance of Dr Apirana Mahuika, whose wisdom and expertise has been crucial to the completion of this study. Often, thesis discussions, even the most fleeting, with ‘papa’ Api have been the most stressful because his opinion matters most, and because his voice carries the visions and mātauranga of our people. Finally, to my long-suffering whānau, particularly my children, who have made many sacrifices, and most of all, to Rangimarie, who has walked every step of the way, often carried my burdens, and been a constant source of peace and inspiration - I cannot thank you enough. iv CONTENTS Ngā Tohu Whakawhetai i Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Contents v ______________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter One: Ngā Tātai Hekenga Kōrero: Strands of a Vocal History 1 Chapter Two: ‘Te Wiwi Nati‛: Ngāti Porou Landscapes 26 Chapter Three: Between the Intersections of Oral History and Oral Tradition 70 Chapter Four: Kōrero Tuku-Iho as Oral History and Oral Tradition 124 Chapter Five: Mai te Kupu-a-Waha: From the Spoken Word. 153 Chapter Six: ‘Ko Porou Koa!’ Politics of Power in Oral History and Tradition 189 Chapter Seven: Ngā Tikanga Kōrero Onamata: Oral History and Tradition in Practice 230 Chapter Eight: ‘Te Matātara-a-Whare’: Oral History and Tradition in Theory 270 Chapter Nine: Reflections from Hikurangi 310 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Appendix 1 Glossary of Māori and Iwi Terms 328 Appendix 2 Selected Mōteatea, Waiata, and Haka 333 Appendix 3 Selected Whakapapa and Hapu Tables 354 Appendix 4 Maps 374 Bibliography 376 v We reck not that the day is past; That Death and Time, the cruel Fates, Have torn us from the scenes we loved, And brought us to this unknown world. In mem’ry ling’ring, all too hazy, Blurred, uncertain, still they charm us. Ah, we love them! Language doth but Clothe in artifice our passion, Doth but to the world proclaim We are traitors to the past. Traitors? When our hearts are beating, Thrilling stirred by recollections? Present, Future? Them we know not; For us no memories they hold. Traitors? When our ears are ringing, Filled with echoes from the dead? Deaf to all these chords alone Make heavenly music, penetrating Souls by strangeness long since deadened, Now in sympathy vibrating. Traitors? Nay, we scorn the name; Bigots, blind fanatic worshippers, Idolaters serving things of clay! Call us, and that name were dear! - from Sir Apirana T. Ngata, ‚A SCENE FROM THE PAST‛ written in 1892. Chapter One: Ngā Tātai Hekenga Kōrero: Strands of a Vocal History1 ‘Ko Hikurangi te maunga Ko Waiapu te awa Ko Ngāti Porou te iwi’2 I am the product of many things, and my history has many threads. This is a thesis about how those threads are woven together, across generations, how they are patterned with language, songs and proverbs, and coloured by collective and individual narratives and experience. This is a thesis about me, about Ngāti Porou, our kōrero tuku iho and our relationship to history and historical scholarship.3 The perception of history that I grew up with was founded on stories, songs, haka, genealogies and proverbs.4 We called them many things; whakatauakī, mōteatea, whakapapa, and kōrero tuku iho. I was to discover later that others knew them as oral traditions and oral histories. These variations in naming and identifying meant little to me in my early years, but as a student of history I have come to understand the significance of that process, and how it is connected to control, ownership and power. This thesis engages with these issues from a Ngāti Porou perspective, and examines the form and nature of oral traditions and oral histories considering the similarities and differences that exist between them.