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Ko te tāne me te wahine i te hapori Māori o mua: ō rāua tūranga, ō rāua whakapapa anō hoki

Ka kī ngā kaikōrero ko te tino āhua o te whanaungatanga i waenga i ngā tāne me ngā wāhine i te pāpori Māori tuku iho he mea hangarite, ōrite, whakahāngai anō hoki. Kāhore ngā tūnga i āta tautuhia; ka āhei ngā ira te whakawhiti ki ngā tūnga o ira kē, engari tērā ētahi mahi e hāngai ana ki te ira. Kei te iho te wahine ki te whakakotahi i ngā ao wairua me ngā ao ōkiko i roto i ngā āhuatanga tikanga rerekē. He kaituku oranga rātou, e poipoi ana i ngā tamariki, me te whakapūmau i te ahi kā, ā, i te nuinga o te wā ka mahi ngā tāne i ngā tūnga pērā i te hopu manu, te mahi taumaha, me te whakahaumaru i ngā rohenga ā-takiwā. Heoi anō, i whātoro atu te whakaaweawe wāhine i tua atu i ngā takiwā o te kāinga; i whai wāhi hoki rātou ki te whakahaumaru i te whenua me ngā tāngata. I miramira ngā kaikōrero i whakawhirinaki te oranga whānui o ngā hapū me ngā whānau ki te tāpaetanga o ngā ira e rua ki te oranga kiritōpū.

Tirohia ngā kōrero a ngā kaikōrero mō te whanaungatanga i waenga i ngā wāhine me ngā tāne i roto i ngā horopaki o:

Balance of whakairo (carving) and tukutuku (woven panels) inside Terenga Parāoa Marae


Ngā kaikōrero matua i tuku i te taunakitanga mō ngā tūnga o te wāhine me te tāne me ngā whanaungatanga

I tātari a Dr Ella Henry (tuhinga A63) he pēhea te tāpaetanga o wehenga ā-ira o te mahi i te ao Māori i roto i ngā mātāpuna mātai mātāwaka, e mea ana, 'e tūtohu ana ngā kaituhi katoa i te nui o te wehenga o te mahi ā-ira, engari ko te miramira, te whakanui rānei i ngā mahi rerekē te mea rerekē puta noa i ngā kaituhi katoa.'

Dr Ella Henry pictured with her lawyers Natalie Coates (left) and Tara Hauraki (right)

I tuhia e Violet Walker (tuhinga A66) te whānuitanga o ngā tūnga a ngā wāhine, otirā e pā ana ki te kai me te whakatupu tamariki. Heoi anō, i miramira ia i te hangarite, ka miramira ngā tūnga o ngā tāne i te mahi me te pūkenga o te wāhine. Ka āta kōrero hoki tana taunakitanga he pēhea e whakatutukihia ana ngā mahi pērā i te hopu tuna.

Violet Walker giving evidence at Terenga Parāoa Marae, Whangārei

Ka miramira a Paihere Clarke (tuhinga A141) i te kanorau o ngā tūnga i mahia e ngā wāhine, me te kī ko rātou 'ngā kaipupuri whenua, i whai tūnga tōrangapū, ā, he tūnga hei mahi i roto i tō mātou ahurea.' I whakamārama ia he pēhea ēnei tūnga rerekē i āwhina ki te whakatū me te whakapūmau i te hangarite i waenga i te wāhine me te tāne, ka kīia e ia he ‘tūnga ōrite’ ō rātou. Ka miramira hoki ia he pēhea e uru ai ngā wāhine ki ngā tūnga tāne, engari kāhore ia i mōhio mēnā ka pērā ngā tāne.

Paihere Clarke (in red) with lawyers Gretta Hansen and Janet Mason (left) and Jane Ruka (right)

Ka kī a Materangatira Lily Porter (tuhinga A16(a)) (i whānau i te tau 1936), he kuia nō Te Urewera, he tino rerekētanga i waenga i te tāne me te wāhine i roto i te mātauranga me te tikanga o Tūhoe. I whakamārama ia ko te take o tēnei wehenga nā te mea ko te tūnga tino hira o te wāhine, ko te 'waihangatanga me te whakawhānautanga o ngā tamariki Māori'. Ko te tikanga o tēnei i runga i te marae, kāhore e taea e ngā wāhine o Tūhoe te whaikōrero: 'Ka tū ana ngā tāne ki te paepae ka tū rātou ki te aroaro o te tangata, ā, ki te tū rātou i reira, tērā pea ka konihitia tuatahitia rātou. Nā reira, ka whakahaumaru ngā tāne o Tūhoe i ngā wāhine'. Engari, te mahi a te wāhine ko te karanga. Nā reira, ahakoa he tūnga rerekē tō te wāhine, tō te tāne, kāhore 'rātou e mahi motuhake ana. Me mahi tahi rātou'. Ka kī hoki a Porter ‘ko te tūmanako o te nuinga o ngā whānau ko te tāne hei rangatira' engari i hoatu i ngā tauira o ngā kuia e whakaaweawe ana i ngā whakataunga. Ka kī a Porter ka tuari ngā tāne me ngā wāhine i te mahi o te kaitiakitanga.

Materangatira Lily Porter giving evidence at Terenga Parāoa Marae, Whangārei, pictured with whānau

Ka miramira a Te Atawhai Te Rangi (tuhinga A120) e aro ana ngā tirohanga ao Māori ki te whanaungatanga o ngā mea katoa e ora ana, tētahi ki tētahi, me te taiao e whakakotahitia ana e te mātāpono o te hangarite. Ko tana whakapae, kei tēnei horopaki anake, e māramahia ana ngā tūngā wāhine me ngā tūnga tāne i te pāpori Māori tuku iho. He wāhanga waiwai ngā mea e rua o te kiritōpū katoa, e waihanga ana i te whakapapa e tūhono ana i ngā tāngata Māori ki te orokohanga mai o te ao, me te tūnga matua o ngā wāhine i konei mā te whare tangata. Ko te tikanga o te whakahaere pāpori kiritōpū he tāwariwaritanga kia tutuki te whānuitanga o ngā tūnga, tae atu ki ngā tūnga hautūtanga i roto i ngā whaitua ā-taua, ā-wairua, ā-tōrangapū, pērā i te whakaatahia i roto i ngā kōrero tuku iho.

Te Atawhai Te Rangi giving evidence at Waiwhetū Marae, Lower Hutt

I tāpae a Rukuwai Allen (tuhinga A74) i ngā whakaata hōhonu mō ngā hononga me te hangarite i waenga i ngā wāhine me ngā tāne, e tūhono ana i te takiwā wairua o ngā atua me te tinana ōkiko o ngā tāne me ngā wāhine.

Rukuwai Allen giving evidence at Terenga Parāoa Marae, Whangārei


Whakataukī

  • I ngā wā o mua, i whakarato te tikanga o Ngāi Tamahaua mō te huatau ‘he mana tō te tane, he mana anō tō te wāhine’. Ka whakatairanga tēnei i te hangarite i waenga i te tāne me ngā wāhine i roto i te ngā āhuatanga katoa o te hapori Māori kia whakatūturu i tuari ngā tūnga whakahāngai, tētahi ki tētahi, ā, i whakamana i te tōnuitanga me te oranga o te hapū, te tikanga, me te whakapapa.  (Kayreen Tapuke, tuhinga A94, p 2)

  • ‘He rerekē te mana o te wāhine, he rerekē te mana o te tāne’ – he whakataukī hei miramira i te rerekētanga o te mana o ngā wāhine ki te mana o ngā tāne.  (Paula Ormsby, tuhinga A55, p 17)

  • He nui te uara o te tūnga o ngā wāhine, pērā ki te tūnga o ngā tāne. Otirā, kei a mātou katoa ō mātou tūnga, ā, he mana tō ngā tūnga katoa. He aha ai? Nā te mea i mahia hei tāpaetanga ki te oranga o te hapori katoa. Koinā te tīmatanga o te whakataukī tino mōhiotia, Ki mua, ki muri, mai i te mahau o te whare ki muri e mihia ana te tāpaetanga o te katoa, nā te mea he mea nui kia whakatutuki i te kaupapa mā te marae katoa. Ahakoa tuakana mai, teina mai, wahine mai, tāne mai, he mana tō te katoa. Kei te pōtiki hoki te mana – te mana o te pōtiki.  (Sharryn Barton, tuhinga A49, p 4)

  • Kāore i te kōrero te whakataukī 'He kākano ahau i ruia mai i a Rangiātea' mō te 'kākano' tāne anake. Engari e tūtohu ana kei ngā mokopuna katoa te orokohanga kotahi, ā, he ōrite te uara mai i taua auahatanga.  (Dr Moana Jackson, tuhinga A85, p 13)

Dr Ani Mikaere reading the evidence of Dr Moana Jackson at Te Mānuka Tūtahi Marae, Whakatāne


Ngā kōrero a ngā kaiwhakaatu 

  • “The job of wāhine is to bring the spiritual and physical domain together. This is in every aspect of tikanga, whether that be bringing a baby into the world, or bringing people onto a marae at a powhiri. It has always been the wāhine.” (Paihere Clarke, tuhinga A141, p 7)

  • “In terms of the relationship between wāhine and tāne in traditional Māori society, I believe that it is a myth that there was a clearly defined line between the roles and responsibilities of each gender. This is because the place of each within their society was understood by each person whether they were male or female. Essential practices, such as food gathering, were carried out as a shared whānau activity.” (Patricia Tauroa, tuhinga A60, pp 9-10)

  • “In the old traditional practice of hāhunga (preparation of a tūpapaku before interment of the remains), women would wash the remnants of flesh from the kōiwi and prepare the whāriki (flax mats) in which the kōiwi were wrapped. Men would carry and lay the kōiwi into the ana (burial caves). This basic division of roles continued into recent generations where women would wash the tūpapaku prior to it being transferred to the undertaker. Once placed into a coffin, the tūpapaku was then carried by men onto the marae, and then to the graveside. Graves were also dug by men. … This division of roles is for the protection of the whānau – of women and men. A tūpapaku is tapu, in the sense that the wairua of the tūpapaku is still very much a part of that person who has died. Wairua are not controlled by humans; the wairua protects the essence of the one who has died; it is this wairua that continues to ‘be’ in the realm of Hine nui te pō.” (Patricia Tauroa, tuhinga A60, p 12)

  • “First and foremost, wāhine Māori bore children and looked after them. They performed activities that are incidental to these responsibilities. They fed the children by conducting activities such as gathering kai, hunting game, and cooking it. Within a traditional Māori view of the world there was a balance of the roles between men and women. The responsibilities of child rearing and homemaking were equally shared with the men. One does not exist without the other.” (Violet Walker, tuhinga A66, p 8)

  • “Tāne were the hunters, gatherers, protectors, mouthpiece, and kaitiaki of the seed Te Kākano o Rangiatea. Wāhine were the Ahi Kaa, meaning they kept the village fires burning. Nurturing tamariki, Kairaranga, Kai Karanga, Kai Whatu Korowai, Katiaki o te Whare Tangata. The man and the woman were of equal status. In Waikato, no man is ever bigger than me just because he is tāne. Wāhine and tāne had equal roles. Wāhine were landowners, had political roles, and had roles to do with our culture. Both tāne and wāhine knew what their roles and responsibilities were. This knowledge of positionality established balance, and there was no swaying of it.” (Paihere Clarke, tuhinga A141, p 3)

  • “There were gendered roles, and the women could cross into the men’s roles, in terms of protecting our land and people. For example, when the tāne went out hunting, the wāhine were left to protect the pā. But I do not know if the men could cross into the women’s roles.” (Paihere Clarke, tuhinga A141, pp 3-4)

  • “I recall clearly my grandmother telling me: ‘We are not the same as men, why would we want to be, we are not men, but the way that our people do things is that men and women are equal. We have very different roles, but we are equal in everything we do. Wahine and Tane do not walk-in front of each other they walk together, and any decisions made are made together and as one.” (Deirdre Nehua, tuhinga A25, p 5)

  • “Traditionally, men would be responsible for more labour-intensive chores such as hunting. While Māori women would be responsible for activities such as collecting berries and preparing the food. As always, there are exceptions to rules, and of course women who were born of high rank would be exempt from such menial jobs. It was matauranga and tikanga that ensured the roles of both remain in their respective domains.” (Lee Harris, tuhinga A23, p 3)

  • “What is clear in Te Ao Māori is that wahine not only hold multiple roles but we seek ways through which to bring these together in ways that will benefit those around us and which uphold and enhance the aspirations of our people – past, present and future. A clear example is seen within the saying of Te Whiti o Rongomai following his arrest at Parihaka – ‘Tū Tama Wahine i te wā o te kore’ which calls upon all wāhine within Taranaki to take over all aspects of tikanga and living within Parihaka after the tāne of the Pā were removed.” (Leonie Pihama, tuhinga A19, p 12)

  • “The healthy survival of a hapu and whanau was dependent on men and women contributing to the collective need and wellbeing. Just as men contributed to raising children, men, and women-led parties into war, planted and harvested food, healed and nurtured, were decision-makers, and owners of their own property and assets.” (Barbara Ann Moke, tuhinga A38, p 5)

  • “Wāhine knew their specific role which complemented our Tane. It was based on the traditions of the kinship group. All able people worked. The children were cared for by both the kuia and kaumatua.” (Paula Ormsby, tuhinga A55, p 17)

  • “Within the papakainga men and women were equal. Each had a different but equal role to play in the advancement of the hapū for everyone worked to the same end, and everyone knew what was expected of them. Issues of gender equality did not arise and were seen as a Pākehā issue.” (Waina Hoete Ahipene, tuhinga A37, p 1)

  • “It was also considered unwise for women to carry out heavy labour as it is a woman’s responsibility to ensure that no harm would come to her that would prevent her ability to bear children. The prohibition of such was because it could bring harm to the woman and her whanau – the restriction was, therefore, a safeguard for all, not just for an individual.” (Patricia Tauroa, tuhinga A60, pp 10-11)

  • “Tērā hoki tētahi o ngā kōrero e mau ai te iho matua o te tangata, e kitea iho te mana o te wahine; 'Ka Tū a Rongo, ka Rongo a Tū'. He kōrero tēnei i takea mai ngā Whare Wānanga ō mua. Ko te tikanga o teneki kōrero e pā ana ki te tangata me ōna taha e rua, me kī; te taha tapu, me te taha noa – ka kīia ai; ko te taha tāne me te taha wahine. Me te mōhio iho, e kawea ana tērā āhuatanga e te tangata – Tāne mai, Wahine mai. Ko teneki kōrero, he kōrero ka ūhia atu, ka utaina atu ki runga ki ngā ākonga, ngā tauira rānei o te whare wānanga. Kia mātau ai rātou ki tērā tuāhua, ki tērā momo a te tangata. Ko tā te Māori kōrero – ko te tāne, ko te wahine, ka haere ngātahi. Ko Tū, ko Rongo, ka pērā anō." (Timitepō Hohepa, tuhinga A90, pp 1-2)
    "There is another phrase that encapsulates the mind of a person and unveils the mana of women; 'When Rongo stands (Tū), Tū listens (Rongo)'. This saying is derived from traditional Schools of Higher Learning. It relates to the duality of people; that is, the sacred and the secular dimensions – and also in reference to the male and female elements. We know that both Men and Women take on those very human responsibilities. This message was conveyed to the students of the Schools of Higher Learning so that they will understand that human characteristic and trait. Māori say that men and women must live in harmony, like Tū and Rongo." (Timitepō Hohepa, tuhinga A90(a), p 1)