Towards an understanding of the Māori (cultural) wellbeing and survival aspirations that Ngā Hapū o Heretaunga have for Te Mata, Te Matā, Te Mata o Rongokako, Te Karanemanema Te Mata o Rongokako (Herein referred to as Te Matā … Te Mata te Tipuna) 2018 Prepared for the Hastings District Council By Te Manaaki Taiao, Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga In association with Te Toi Ōhanga 1 | P a g e HE KARAKIA MŌ WĀNANGA1 Te Umu tīrama nuku Te Umu tīrama rangi Ko ahau kei te wetekia noa tia ahau Whiwhia te ngākau te mahara Kia puta ki te whai Ao ki te Ao marama Tēnā te Umu ka eke te Umu kei a koe Nā te Umu o ēnei kōrero Ka mā ngā Koromatua Ka mahoki ko ahau I heke iho mai nā E Rongo tūturu whakamaua kia tina … hui e! tai iki e! He aha te hau e pupuhi mai He hau he raki he hau he tonga E tikina atu e au he pou whakairo Ka tū ki te Mata o Rongokako I aka moemoe e What is the wind that blows softly? It is the winds of the north and south And I place the carved post on Te Mata o Rongokako Our dreams will be fulfilled Ko Heretaunga Haukunui – Heretaunga of life-giving dews Ko Heretaunga Ararau – Heretaunga of Arcadian pathways Ko Heretaunga Haaro Te Kaahu – Beauty that can only be seen through the eye the hawk Ko Heretaunga takoto noa – left to us the humble servants Mauri ora e! 1 (Transl.) - karakia of beginnings that brings together the celestial and terrestrial elements. 2 | P a g e WAIATA TANGI2 Ko au anake rā e tū kotahi nei e, taihoa au e mate Kia kite atu au, i Te Matau-a-Māui Kia titiro atu au, i Te Matā o te Tangata Kia eke au ki runga rā, kia titiro iho au ki Heretaunga Rongonui Ka huri au ki te maunga tapu rā Kahurānaki, kei reira a Te Hāpuku e kōmingotia nei, e te tau o taku ate Ka huri au whakawaho e ki te toka rā Motu o Kura Ka huri au whakauta rā kia inu atu au i te puna Waimārama Ka huri au ki te oneroa, ki te kōkoru rā Rangaiika Kei reira nei ōku mātua e aroha nei au Here I stand alone, don’t kill me just yet That I may look upon Te Matau-a-Māui (Cape Kidnappers) That I may look upon my tipuna Te Mata Peak That I may climb to the summit and look down on the Heretaunga plains of great renown I turn to the sacred mountain Kahurānaki, where Te Hāpuku resides and stirs my emotions I look out to Motu o Kura (Bare Island) I turn inland that I might drink from the freshwater springs, Waimārama I turn to the bay, to the cove Rangaiika (between Ocean Beach and Cape Kidnappers) That is where my parents are whom I love dearly After the battle of Te Pakake (ca. 1820), some of the captives of Ngā hapū o Ngāti Kahungunu asked to be allowed to climb to the top of the peak of Te Matā … Te Mata te Tipuna so they could see their homeland, some for the last time. Winipere Rotohenga was one of this roopu (transl. company or group). This waiata tangi (transl. lament) was said to have been sung at the Peak. The name of the composer is unknown but the lament has been passed down the generations to our time as a taonga tuku iho (inherited treasure). This lament encapsulates many of the key ideas and concerns articulated in this study, which focuses on understanding the urgent wellbeing and survival needs of our beloved maunga tapu (transl. sacred mountain), Te Matā … Te Mata te Tipuna. First, this waiata tangi (transl. lament) draws our attention towards the sacred status of Te Matā … Te Mata te Tipuna as a Tipuna (transl. ancestor) of ngā hapū o Heretaunga and Te Whanganui-a-Orotu Ahuriri. Second, this waiata tangi (transl. lament) anticipates an experience of pending captivity in which the survivors of the battle of Te Pakake express their grief and sadness at the prospect of being separated from their beloved tūrangawaewae, their whenua and the security of Te Iho Matua, Te Aho Matua whānau o Rangi rāua ko Papatūānuku (transl. the family of Ranginui and Papatūānuku). This same sadness and grief are shared by Ngā hapū o Heretaunga today as they cast their gaze from the heights of Te Matā … Te Mata te Tipuna upon the state of their homeland and its many whānau tīpuna (i.e. sacred mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, coves, estuaries, and coastal fisheries) following 178 years of colonisation. As recited in this waiata tangi (transl. lament), we remember the ‘Heretaunga plains of great renown’ the ‘freshwater springs’ from which our tīpuna once freely drank and our parents – Papatūānuku and Ranginui – whom we dearly love. Finally, this waiata tangi (transl. lament) fills us with hope in anticipation of the return of the exiles - a future time in which the mana, wairua and mauri of our beloved maunga tapu (sacred mountain) Te Matā … Te Mata te Tipuna will have been reclaimed and reinstated. It is towards the realisation of this moemoea (vision) that this report is dedicated. 2 (Transl.) – lament. 3 | P a g e WHAKATAUKĪ3 Whatungarongaro te tangata toitū te whenua. As man disappears from sight, the land remains. This whakataukī draws our attention to an important understanding on which this report is based – namely the enduring nature of our relationship with the whānau (transl. family) of Papatūānuku and Ranginui. A Māori cultural conception of whānau (transl. extended family) embraces much more that a nuclear family. Through whakapapa, Tangata Whenua (transl. people of the land) trace their genealogy back to Papatūānuku - our Earth mother, Ranginui - our sky father and Atua Māori – the children of Papatūānuku and Ranginui who are the kaitiaki of the various domains or ecosystems of the natural world. This understanding of the Māori family (i.e. whānau Māori) is central to the ideas outlined in this report and the emphasis it places on the urgent need that exists to focus attention on the wellbeing and survival of this entire family entity. The narratives, myths and legends describing the origins of Te Iho Matua, Te Aho Matua whānau o Rangi rāua ko Papatūānuku (transl. the family of Papatūānuku and Ranginui) form part of the central corpus of Māori knowledge that make it possible to understand what it means to ‘see the world’ (i.e. a worldview) through Māori eyes. As a contribution towards exploring this unique perception of reality, the following narrative from ‘The Lore of the Whare Wānanga or teachings of the Māori college on religion, cosmology, and history’ by H. T Whatahoro. This narrative draws our attention to the loving regard with which Ranginui embraced and treated Papatūānuku - clothing her with plants and various creatures and this understanding forms the basis of kawa (transl. protocols, ceremonies for the appropriate treatment of tapu) that guides Māori behaviour towards our primal parents - Papatūānuku and Ranginui - to this very day. Kawa is the highest authority (Royal, 1996) that is used in guiding Māori behaviour and as such it cannot be disregarded without incurring consequences. The existence of this kawa provides Tangata Whenua with an enduring responsibility and obligation to ensure that the tapu of the members of whānau Māori (transl. the Māori family) - Papatūānuku, Ranginui, Atua Māori and Tangata Whenua is treated with appropriate respect and regard. This report may be considered as an expression of this kawa and many other related kaupapa and tikanga that have been elaborated by kaumātua who have contributed their oral kōrero to this study. The Rangi-nui [great sky], which stands above, felt a desire towards Papa-tua-nuku [the earth], whose belly was turned up [towards him]; he desired her as a wife. So Rangi came down to Papa. In that period the amount of light was nil; absolute and complete darkness [pō-kutikuti kākarauri] prevailed; there was no sun, no moon, no stars, no clouds, no light, no mist—no ripples stirred the surface of ocean; no breath of air, a complete and absolute stillness. And so Rangi-nui dwelt with Papa-tua-nuku as his wife; and then he set [hikaia = whakatō, to set, plant] plants to cover the nakedness of Papa; for her armpits, her head, and the body; and after that the smaller trees to clothe them both, for the body of the earth was naked. Subsequently he placed the upstanding trees of the forest, and now Papa felt a great warmth, which was all-embracing. After this were placed the insects of all kinds, the aitanga-pekepeketua [the ancestors of the tuatara, great lizard], appropriate to the recesses of the smaller vegetation, the clumps of smaller trees, and the wao-tū-rangi, the great forests [whose heads reach the skies], (Whatahoro, 2011, p. 117). 3 (Transl.) - Proverb, significant saying, aphorism. 4 | P a g e CONTENTS He Karakia mō Wānanga ......................................................................................................................... 2 Waiata Tangi ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Whakataukī ............................................................................................................................................. 4 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 7 Copyright ................................................................................................................................................. 8 Endorsements ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................... 10 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................