Ka tautuhi ngā kaikōrero i te marae hei wāhi e rerekē ana ngā tūnga a ngā wāhine me ngā tāne, engari he whakahāngai, ā, nā reira ka pūmau te hangarite. Heoi anō, ka tāpae ngā kaikōrero i te huhua o ngā tirohanga mēnā kei ngā wāhine ngā matatika whaikōrero i runga i te paepae, mēnā rānei he pāpātanga o te tāmitanga tō rātou aukatinga i tēnei tūnga. I miramira ngā kaikōrero maha i te mana me te hiranga o te karanga, ā, ka kī rātou mā te wāhine anake tēnei mahi. Ka whakamārama rātou ko te take o te karanga he whakatau, he whakahaumaru, he maungārongo, ā, kia māhukihuki ki ngā takunetanga o te manuhiri.
Ngā kaiwhakaatu matua i tuku i te taunakitanga
I tautuhi Aorangi Kawiti (doc A24(a)) i te hangarite i waenga i ngā tūnga 'rerekē me te whiria ngātahitia' o te wāhine me te tāne, otirā e whakaatuahia ana ki te tūnga o te wahine hei kaikaranga. Ka kī a Kawiti ko te tūnga o te kaikaranga 'kia mōhio, kia whakahaumaru, kia whakatau me te taiari i ngā takunetanga, ngā mahi me te ahunga a te manuhiri me ngā whānau ki roto o ō tātou rohe tuku iho, onāianei hoki. He tohu waikawa, he kaiwhiwhi, he kaitātari, he kaiwhakapūmau hoki ngā wāhine o te maungārongo, te māpua me te ora. Ki te kore te wahine Māori, kāhore e taea ngā hui me ngā takunetanga, ahakoa nui, ahakoa iti, te tīmata ki te hangarite ao e auahatia tikahia ana'. Ka kī ia ko te 'karanga, pērā i ngā kōrero / whakakakau auaha katoa, he mea whakatau, whakawehi, whakaaraara i te whānau, te hapū, te iwi hoki o te whakamōrea tata o te aurara, te huaki, te whakamōrearea, tētahi āhua rānei ahakoa he aha te aha. I ētahi wā he mea taiari te karanga i te āhuatanga, te kahaoro, te whakaaturanga me te whakatinanatanga. He āhua ōrite te mahi a te kaikaranga ki ngā tūtei, e pā ana ki te āheinga me te raukaha o ngā wāhine Māori kia rongo i ngā rongo katoa – taha wairua, taha tinana, taha hinengaro me te taha whānau te ahunga me te koronga o ētahi atu ki tō rātou kāinga’. Ka kī a Kawiti i te nuinga o te wā ka ārahi ngā kuia i ngā kaikaranga, nā te mea 'kua whakakoihia ō rātou rongo e ngā tau o te wheako, te mahi, te māramatanga me te mātauranga. I te nuinga o te wā, ehara i ngā wā katoa, kua whakawhiti ngā kuia i te wā hapūtanga o tō rātou ao, nā reira, tērā pea he nui ake te wāteatanga mō tēnei tūnga matua, ā, tērā pea he nui ake te āheitanga ina whakakī ana i tēnei tūnga ki te raukaha. Kāhore i te pērā i ngā wā katoa, nā reira me whaiwhakaaro ki te kaiaka o te tangata me te tūāhua'.
Aorangi Kawiti giving evidence at Terenga Parāoa Marae, Whangārei
He uri wahine a Ipu Tito-Absolum (tuhinga A70) nō Te Mahurehure ki Hokianga i hoatu i te taunakitanga mō ngā tūnga wāhine i runga i te marae i te wā o te tangihanga. Ka kī ia i mahi ngā kuia i te mahi o te tūpoupou, 'e pupuri ana i te haepapa me te mana ki te whakarato i te whakahaumaru mō te Takiwā Tuarangi kia pā ngā ritenga haere ki ō mātou mate ina haere ana ki Te Au o Te Reinga me Ngā Rangi Tūhāhā (p 6). Ka pērā ia mā te noho mataara i te taha o te tūpāpaku, kāhore i te kai, i te inu hoki, me te mātakitaki, ā, ka karanga kia 'whakaohooho i ngā aurongo o ngā rōpū manuhiri, ā, ka whakahiki i te rangi whakatautau kia āwhina i te wairua ki te Ara Wairua'. Ka tautuhi hoki ia i 'Te Ururangi' te whakatautau motuhake a ngā wāhine i te wā o te tangihanga kia whakawātea ā-wairua i te takiwā mā te manuhiri.
Ipu Tito-Absolum giving evidence at Terenga Parāoa Marae, Whangārei
Whakataukī
- “‘Mā te tangi o te wahine ka uru mai koe ki Te Ao Mārama, mā te tangi o te wahine ka wehe atu ki te pō.’ Ka tangi ana te wahine ka uru mai koe ki tēnei ao, ā, i runga i te tangi a te wahine e wehe ai koe. E tino hāngai ana te tangi a te wahine i roto i ngā tikanga o te mate, nā te mea ka āwhina i te wairua kia wehe i te tinana me te tīmata i tana haerenga ki Rarohenga." (Tina Ngata, tuhinga A88, p 9)
Tina Ngata giving evidence at Te Mānuka Tūtahi Marae, Whakatāne, pictured with Mereana Pitman (left)
Ngā kōrero a ngā kaiwhakaatu
- “[T]hough oratory is thought of as the domain of men in many tribes, across all the tribes the first voice heard at the hui is that of a woman, through the kāranga, the call of welcome, from the tangata whenua to the manuhiri.” (Ella Henry, tuhinga A63, pp 13-14)
- “On a marae, it is the men who whaikōrero on the paepae; whereas the wāhine karanga. The tane and wāhine do not act independently. They must work together.” (Materangatira Porter, tuhinga A16(a), p 5)
- “Another area where males and females had designated ‘roles’ is in the matter of pōwhiri. Women will perform the karanga, while men carried out the mihi. I note here that for those women who are experienced at karanga, their call is as much a ‘speech’ as is the mihi of the men. While some rohe will expect the women to lead a waiata following the mihi, in other rohe, the male kai kōrero prefers to begin his own waiata. Here, again, it is worth noting that the waiata is in essence an extension of the kōrero delivered in the mihi by the kaikōrero, irrespective of whether they are male or female.” (Patricia Tauroa, tuhinga A60, pp 11-12)
- “Wāhine Māori in Ngāti Pakahi spoke on the paepae. They were fluent, but blunt. They got down to business. Wāhine were more efficient as they did not exhibit the flamboyance and powerplays of the men. Wāhine did not partake in the men’s nonsense of bollocks swinging, especially in Ngāti Uru. The men shuddered when wāhine spoke on the paepae. The wāhine speakers got to the point.” (Violet Walker, tuhinga A66, pp 8-9)
- “The women of Waitaha did the whaikōrero. They speak, not their men – the women did. Generations later, when nKāti Māmoe came to Aotearoa, the kawa started to change. The women got the whakapapa, and the men got the korero, the men took on the speaking. Then when nKaitahu came, the men took the whakapapa and the korero.” (Ema Roriana Weepu, tuhinga A136, p 7)
- “Our wāhine were matriarchs, and they had an equivalent role to tāne. This only changed on the marae. On the marae, the tāne had their roles to get up and korero, and the wāhine waiata.” (Paihere Clarke, tuhinga A141, p 3)
- “Māori women are the first voice (the Kaikaranga) to be heard on the marae. It is a role exclusive to Māori women. As a Kaikaranga, it is essential that there be a connection between the spiritual and physical realms. The kairanga is about our existence and our ties to past, current, and our future generations. It concerns how we relate to the environment and whenua.” (Hinemoa Ranginui-Mansell, tuhinga A129, p 3)
- “I believe the karanga is one of the most potent expressions of mana wāhine. Through the karanga, the marae ātea is made tapu through the woman’s voice and words … The karanga is just as important, and is complimentary to, the role of men with whaikōrero. The karanga is an exchange between tangata whenua and manuhiri to ascertain the nature of the visit and the visitors, thus providing the basis for the whaikōrero. In some cases, women can express their opinions or refer to topical matters through the karanga.” (Kayreen Tapuke, tuhinga A94, pp 5-6)
- “Before the influences of pakeha, through their missionaries and settlers, our wahine had equal roles on the marae. Wahine could speak on the marae. The relationship between men and women was one of balance.” (Titewhai Harawira, tuhinga A68, p 3)
- “In pre-colonial Māori society there was no sense of male superiority. Rather, the roles of tāne and wāhine were seen as complementary. A tāne speaking on the marae expresses the tihei mauri ora homai te wai ora ki ahau ‘give me the life-giving life force,’ referencing the sperm which enables the capacity for wāhine to ensure the survival of the people. Having tāne sit at the front on the marae was not to demonstrate superiority, but for protection of te whare tangata. In our Mataatua area, it is the duty of the tāne to protect the wāhine from the darts of verbal cursing which could eradicate the whakapapa of that whānau / hapū.” (Maanu Paul, tuhinga A51, p 3)
- “The question of whether women should speak on the marae today. There is no question. I speak everywhere I go. No one ever challenges my right to speak. In Ngāti Hine, men do the whakatau at the marae, but other than that, women speak. The reinstatement of women is now taking a lot of unbundling, and we are having to have a conversation about our relationship with Māori men.” (Moe Milne, tuhinga A62, p 27)
- “There is not and never has been a gendered approach to how we approach speaking at hui. The mana to speak comes not from gender, but from whakapapa, and ahi kaa combined with knowledge and ability on a given kaupapa. If your whakapapa line gives you mana and you have maintained your ahi kaa to our whenua and to our rohe, you have the mana to speak and to make decisions at our hui. An important component of this tikanga though, is you as a person must be engaged participating and contributing to upholding the mauri of the hapū.” (Tracy Hillier, tuhinga A92, p 16)
- “The mahi o te tane is to protect wahine … When the men spoke on the paepae they stood out in front of the people, and in standing there, there is a potential for them to be attacked first. In this way, Tūhoe men protected the wahine and this is another reason Tūhoe wahine do not whaikōrero.” (Materangatira Lily Porter, tuhinga A16(a), p 3)
- “Ko te pae o waho ka tū te tane ki te whai kōrero. Ka tū te wahine, te reo tuatahi ki te karanga. Nā mena kei te titiro atu ko wai te tuatahi? Ko te wahine. Ka titiro tātou kei a wai ngā kōrero i te marae? Kei a rāua tahi i te mea me mahi tahi rāua i tēnei wā ki a kitea mai kei te tau te hapū, kei te ora te hapū me te marae.” (Hera Black-Te Rangi me Mareta Taute, tuhinga A116, pp 14-15)
- “Mai rāno e āhei ana ngā wāhine ki te kōrero i runga i ngā marae. E āhei ana ngā wahine o Te Whakatōhea ki te kōrero i runga i ngā Marae o Te Whakatōhea. Ko ngā tauira ko Mihi Kotukutuku, ko Whaia McClutchie hoki te tokorua i tū kaha, i tū māia ki runga i ngā marae maha ki te whaikōrero.” (Sharon Campbell and Dr Mania Campbell, tuhinga A39, p 11)
- “Since the beginning of time women possess the mana to stand and speak on marae. In particular the women of Te Whakatōhea have speaking rights on the marae of Te Whakatōhea. Some examples of this important tradition are Mihi Kotukutuku and Whaia McClutchie, these women stood well and without fear on different marae to deliver speeches.” (Sharon Campbell me Dr Mania Campbell, tuhinga A39(a), p 11)
- “He aha ngā tauira e kitea te mana wahine i ngā whakapapa a Māori nei? ... He wahine mohio ki te mihi maioha ki te tangatan karanga, waiata tautoko, whakahaere nga Kaupapa a mua a, muri me te rahi whāngai te tangata me nga mokopuna. He wāhine tikanga.” (Hera Black-Te Rangi me Mareta Taute, tuhinga A116, p 16)