Skip to main content

Ko tā te wāhine Māori mahi ki te pupuri me te tuku i ngā mātauranga, tae atu hoki ki te mātauranga e tapu ana

I whakamārama ngā kaikōrero i whakawhitia te mātauranga Māori mā te tukunga iho ā-waha, e kapi ai te waiata, te karakia, ngā pūrākau, te toi, me te puoro. He tūnga motuhake tō ngā wāhine Māori hei kaitiaki o tēnei mātauranga tapu, e whakawhiti ana mā ngā āhua ā-waha maha, tae atu ki te whakatupu tamariki. I whakatinanahia tēnei e ngā kaikōrero maha ina tāpae ana i ā rātou taunakitanga ki ngā nohoanga, me ngā rōpū mokopuna nui i reira i ngā wā maha. I roto i ā rātou whakaaturanga ki te Taraipiunara, i whakahōnore ētahi kaikorero i ngā taonga me te mātauranga i whakatinanahia, i whakakanohitia e rātou. Ka kōrero hoki ngā kaikōrero mō ngā tūnga wahine i roto i te raranga, hei tohunga, te karakia, me te waiata.

Ka miramira hoki ngā kaikōrero ko te whaitua o ngā wāhine ētahi mātauranga, tikanga whāiti hoki, ā, i whakakaha i ō rātou mana – otirā ērā e hāngai ana ki te whare tangata me te karanga. Ka aro atu ngā kaikōrero ki ngā tauira i ngā ao o ō rātou tīpuna (pānuitia ētahi kōrero mō ngā tīpuna wāhine), ā, i miramira i ngā tūnga o ngā whāea me ngā kuia i roto i ngā kōrero atua. I whakamārama hoki ngā kaikōrero i whakamarohi te puritanga mātauranga tapu i te mana o te wāhine.

Heoi anō, he rerekē ngā whakaaro o ngā kaikōrero mēnā ka taea e ngā wāhine te mātauranga i whiwhi rātou, i whakawhiti rānei, te whakamahi. Ka kī ētahi, mō ētahi mātauranga, kāhore e taea e te wahine te whakamahi, ki ngā āhuatanga tauwhāiti anake rānei (Patricia Tauroa, tuhinga A60; Materangatira Lily Porter, tuhinga A16(a); Robyn York, tuhinga A65). Heoi anō, he maha ētahi atu kaikōrero i kōrero mō ngā wāhine e whakamahi ana i te huhua o te mātauranga, ā, ka kī nā te mana me ngā āhuatanga, kaua ko te ira, i auaha i ngā whanaungatanga i waenga i ngā hapori me te mātauranga.

Waitangi Black pictured with mokopuna at Te Mānuka Tūtahi Marae, Whakatāne


Moe Milne pictured with mokopuna and Hirini Henare (left) at Terenga Parāoa Marae, Whangārei, July 2021


Ripeka Hudson and large rōpū supporting with waiata at Waiwhetū Marae, Lower Hutt, August 2022

Pānuitia ētahi atu kōrero mō ngā kōrero a ngā kaiwhakaatu mō ngā mātauranga wāhine i roto i ngā takiwā o te:

Ngā kaiwhakaatu matua i tuku i te taunakitanga

Ka kōrero a  Rereata Makiha (tuhinga A71) ki te Taraipiunara mō ngā tūnga o ngā wāhine Māori i te pāpori tuku iho hei kaiwhakatere, kaipupuri i te mātauranga taketake mā ngā whare wānanga, kaingaki māra hoki. I miramira ia ka whakakaha te tūnga wāhine hei kaingaki māra i ō rātou mana, nā te mea he hira ā-tinana, ā-wairua hoki te kai i te pāpori Māori i mua i te tāmitanga (hei tauira, 'ka whakahoki te kai i te tangata ki te āhuatanga haumaru o te noa e whakahaumanu ana i te hangarite ā-tinana, ā-wairua anō hoki'). Ka kī ia, e ai ki ngā kōrero ā-iwi, ā-hapū hoki o Hokianga, ehara a 'Kupe' i te ingoa o te tangata takitahi i tūhura i Aotearoa, engari he taitara i tukunga ki ngā kaiwhakatere mātanga. I roto i ngā kōrero tuku iho o Hokianga, e whā ngā Kupe – ko tētahi he wahine.

Rereata Makiha giving evidence at Terenga Parāoa Marae, Whangārei, July 2021

Ka kī a Patricia Tauroa (tuhinga A60) i whai ngā kuia me ngā koroua i te mātauranga i te pāpori Māori i mua i te tāmitanga, ā, e noho haepapa ana kia whakatau kō ēhea ngā mokopuna e tukua ihotia ana ētahi pūkenga, mātauranga motuhake ki a rātou – pērā i te mau rākau, te rongoā, te whakapapa rānei. Ko te mana o ngā wāhine ki te whakatau he pēhea e tuku iho ai ngā kōrero i tautuhi i ō rātou mana. Ka tuari hoki ia i te kōrero motuhake nā te kaiwhakairo tohunga Paki Harrison i ngā 1980, ka puritia pea e ngā wāhine te mātauranga o ngā tikanga pērā i te whakairo, engari kāhore e taea te mahi.

Patricia Tauroa giving evidence virtually, pictured with Judge Sarah Reeves, July 2021

Ngā kōrero a ngā kaiwhakaatu

  • “It is my duty, as one of my parents’ eighteen children, to stand in the truth of my tupuna and recall their histories in this Kōrerō Mana Wahine.” (Raiha Ruwhiu, doc A93, p 1)

  • “Traditionally, both wāhine and tāne were navigators of waka and shared some of the same roles on waka. They also held distinct roles. For example, it was only wāhine who could karanga to the moana to communicate with the atua. This role was essential as a waka could not travel anywhere without a passenger who could karanga to the moana.” (Rereata Makiha, doc A71, p 3)

  • “Whare wānanga were traditional places of higher learning. Both wāhine and tāne held traditional knowledge through whare wānanga. Certain mātauranga is connected with te ira wāhine and other mātauranga with te ira tāne. An example of mātauranga particularly associated with te ira wāhine is te taha wairua and connections with mate and the other side (matakite). Wāhine, and especially kuia, are experts at communicating with the other side. They can do this as if the spirits are living in the real world and as if they are having a conversation with them … Wāhine are experts at fare-welling the wairua (spirit) of the mate (dead). A lot of kōrero was passed down through whare wānanga that allowed wāhine to send the wairua of the mate back to the spiritual realm. This included knowledge that everyone has two ira – te ira wāhine and te ira tāne. Te ira wāhine – also known as mareikura – returns to the spiritual realm of Hinenuitepo and the house of Matangireia. Te ira tāne – also known as whatukura – returns to the spiritual realm of Tamanuitera and Ranginui and the house of Rauroha. The puna roimata or the māturuturu roimata – a deep tangi (cry) – was only implanted in te ira wāhine. This type of tangi was important for fare-welling the dead and as an act of healing for whānau.” (Rereata Makiha, doc A71, p 4)

  • “The role of wāhine Māori as gardeners for the production of kai involved significant leadership in managing and controlling the planting, growing and harvesting, sorting and distributing the harvest, and bringing people together to share kai and wānanga to plan for the year ahead.” (Rereata Makiha, doc A71, p 6)

  • “Our mother taught us ‘me tiaki i ngā kaumātua; ngā māra kai. Ko ngā tamariki ngā rangatira, whakarongo ki a rātou kōrero whakamanatia.’ This was like her catch cry that conceptually talks about kaumātua as the knowledge holders to feed the children to make them grow. It also acknowledges the honesty of children and that we need to listen to what they have to say.” (Moe Milne, doc A62, p 4)

  • “The mana accorded master carver Paki Harrison is known throughout Māoridom and by many Pākeha of his generation. In 1983, Paki was engaged with Hiwi in the carving of pou for the New Zealand Embassy building in Beijing. During one of our conversations, I raised the question of women being present while carving was being done. Paki’s response was that, traditionally in many areas of Māori life, a woman was always chosen to learn and carry mātauranga forward, including in the art of carving. He said that, even though she was not taught the physical activity, she would learn the knowledge of ‘how to carve’ – she would hold the knowledge of this and could convey the essential elements of carving to those who would eventually be designated to become carvers. This was done because of the reality, in those earlier generations, that women were less likely to be killed in battle than men, hence they were more likely to live longer and would pass on the knowledge. It was essential that the knowledge of activities, and the mātauranga of it, should be held by someone who would be able to understand, hold, and give it to future generations … Carving is not the only area where women were taught to understand the mātauranga due to the factor that they were less likely than men to be killed in battle. The practice is not unusual although it largely depended on the tikanga of the people themselves. In some areas, women were taught mau rakau – a skill essential for those going into battle. This practice is an indication that Māori pre-1840 believed and understood the need for ongoing teaching of their tikanga, their principles and practices, if their future generations were to survive. Therefore, women had an essential role in the ability to retain information, to hold mātauranga over several years before imparting it to those who were the right people to learn the skill.” (Patricia Tauroa, doc A60, pp 7-8)

  • “As some wāhine Māori have said during our Tribunal hearings presentations, ‘I tupu ake ahau i raro i ngā panekoti ō taku kuia (I was brought up under the skirts of my grandmother).’ This means that they were kept close to their grandmother or mother, in order that they learn those things that the grandmother wanted them to learn. It also indicated that she was kept away from the things that the grandmother may not have wanted her to learn. This was a method of teaching by hearing and seeing from which would come understanding … All kaumatua, male and female, are the keepers of knowledge. Some kaumatua and kuia even today, choose to take a young person beside them to teach them mātauranga in areas of life that they are familiar with.” (Patricia Tauroa, doc A60, pp 14-15)

  • “The women of our hapū have been central to the maintenance of our framework of matauranga, cultural practices, our ahi kaa, karakia and te reo on which our beliefs and identity are based.” (Tracy Hillier, doc A92, p 15)

  • “Traditionally, knowledge was passed down orally, by way of the utilisation of mōteatea, puurakau, whakapapa, and haka. Significant historical events were then passed down from generation to generation. Hapū knowledge was entrusted and intertwined into each generation, directly passing that knowledge onto the next generation. The tāne would go to the whare wānanga. Wāhine learnt from the natural environment and being around resources.” (Paihere Clarke, doc A141, p 6)

  • “Wāhine Māori were responsible in transmitting tribal knowledge through waiata (song), haka (ceremonial dance) weaving and artwork, ancient concepts and beliefs to ensure tribal survival and to ensure and protect tribal identity.” (Katarina Jean Te Huia, doc A115, p 12)

  • “Māori traditionally have always had a strong oral literary history. This is evident in whaikōrero, kaikaranga, kōrero paki, whakapapa, whakatauki, waiata, mōteatea, haka and kiwaha, all of which are rich in knowledge.” (Aroha Rickus, doc A140, p 14)

  • “Whāea or kuia are part of the narratives of acts by Māori atua, although their names are rarely stated in the general English documents. An example is the kōrero for Tāwhaki, and his receiving ngā kete mātauranga (‘baskets of knowledge’) from a kuia … It is my opinion that, in the recording of these kinds of kōrero by early researchers, the factor of a female having or carrying mātauranga was deliberately ignored. This would have been on the basis that only males held knowledge and the capacity to educate others. This, for Māori, is far from the reality.” (Patricia Tauroa, doc A60, p 7)

  • “[Wāhine] are the ones who hold the knowledge and pass it on to others. It is not that our men cannot hold that knowledge, it is more that our men have other things to remember or may die.” (Robyn York, doc A65, p 3)

  • “One can surmise from this varied discussion [by early Pākehā ethnographers] about tohunga and whare wānanga that they existed but that certain of them, from particular types or branches of sacred knowledge, may have been exclusively male. But that does not necessarily deny the existence of other types of learning institutions for female tohunga. Nor is there overwhelming evidence that male and female whare wānanga, if they existed, were hierarchically designated, with a superior male form.” (Dr Ella Henry, doc A63, p 9)

  • “Importantly, kuia would normally have passed their intrinsic and learned knowledge, experience and skills to her successors, thereby completing the cycle of life intrinsic to Māori.” (Aorangi Kawiti, doc A24(a), pp 9-10)

  • “Wāhine Māori and Māori males both served as the hapu and iwi repositories and protectors of sacred knowledge and tribal lore, but their functions were distinct.” (Hinemoa Ranginui-Mansell, doc A129, p 3)

  • “There are numerous examples of kōrero i tuku iho that convey the mana that our whāea tūpuna had across multiple contexts, as tohunga karakia, as scholars i te ira wāhine. They held mana over whenua and resources; mana whenua, mana wai, mana moana. They maintained their authority in strategic decision making in kōrero, waiata and through their actions. Their leadership in overseeing and directing te mahi o te pā occurred daily, oversight of kaimahi and mahinga kai, as kaitito of waiata, as holders of esoteric knowledge and maramataka and the practical application of this knowledge. As kai rāranga, as holders and conveyers of mātauranga and whakapapa. As kai karakia, kai karanga and holders and givers of names, as matakite, as rongoa practitioners and knowledge holders ō whakapapa i tuku iho and pūrākau. In their knowledge of places and in their understanding of mātauranga and whare wananga lore, in the retention and conveyancing of this knowledge through generations.” (Stephanie Turner, doc A109, p 3)