Tikanga Maori (Revised Edition) E-Book

Hirini Mead

• Herausgeber: Huia Publishers
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

Tikanga Māori is the authoritative and accessible introduction to understanding the correct Māori ways of doing things as they were done in the past, as they are done in the present – and as they may yet be. In this revised edition, Hirini Mead has added an extensive new chapter on mana whenua, mana moana, Māori authority over land and ocean, and the different interpretations and applications of mana whenua and mana moana historically and today. Hirini Mead has also updated the section on tangihanga to include contemporary issues about cremation choices and what happens to the deceased in Māori/non-Māori partnerships where there are disputes about following tangi tikanga or Pākehā traditions. The remainder of the book explores how tikanga Māori may influence contemporary life and society, and Hirini Mead proposes guidelines to help us test appropriate responses to challenges that may yet be laid down.

Leseprobe

Ki taku hoa rangatira ki a June Te Rina Walker-Mead

First published in 2003 by Huia Publishers

This edition published in 2016

39 Pipitea Street, PO Box 12280

Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand

www.huia.co.nz

ISBN 978-1-77550-222-7 (print)

ISBN 978-1-77550-320-0 (EPUB)

ISBN 978-1-77550-321-7 (Kindle)

Copyright ©Hirini Moko Mead 2003, 2016

A note on style

Macrons to indicate the long vowel have not been used for pronouns nor for place names, and quoted material remains unaltered.

This book is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without the prior permission of the publisher.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand.

Published with the assistance of

Ebook conversion 2016 by meBooks

Contents

Front CoverTitle PageCopyrightNote to the Revised EditionForeword by E. Taihakurei DurieAcknowledgements1He Tīmatanga Kōrero: Introduction to Tikanga Māori2Ngā Āhuatanga o te Tikanga Māori: The Nature of Tikanga Māori3Ngā Pūtake o te Tikanga: Underlying Principles and Values4Te Tapu o te Tangata: The Tapu of the Person5Wāhi Tapu, Taonga Tapu: The Tapu of Places and Things6Te Marae: The Ceremonial Courtyard7Te Pōhiri: Welcome Ceremonies8Tangihanga: Ceremonies of the Dead9Te Muru: The Concept of Ritual Compensation10Te Tatau Pounamu: Peace Agreements11Te Takoha: Gift Giving12Rāhui, Aukati: Ritual Prohibitions13Whakahuihui Tangata: Social Groupings14Te Āhua o te Tangata: The Behaviour of People15Ngā Mahi Auaha: Creativity and Performance16Te Tuakiri, Te Whenua: Identity and Land17Mana Whenua, Mana Moana: Authority over Land and the Ocean18Te Whakawhānau: New Life19Mātauranga Māori: Knowledge20Te Whānuitanga o te Tikanga Māori: Extensions of Tikanga Māori21Ngā Ahi E Ngiha Mai Nei: The Fires That Flare Up22Kua Ea: It Is DoneGlossaryBibliographyIndexBack Cover

Note to the Revised Edition

A decade has passed since the first edition of Tikanga Māori was published in 2003; thousands of copies of the book are spread across the country and many students at tertiary institutions have read it. Tikanga Māori is a subject area that is now monitored by the New Zealand Qualification Authority and taught in many educational institutions and, in particular, at wānanga, polytechnics and universities. More people in the country have an understanding of tikanga Māori than they did a decade ago.

I suggested in the first edition that tikanga Māori would become more important in the years ahead, and that has proved to be the case. Generally speaking a quiet revolution has been unfolding, especially in education and law. Every now and again though, something happens that excites the media and, it seems, most of the population. At the centre of the issue that aroused heightened interest in tikanga Māori was what is now known as the James Takamore case. The late Mr James Takamore lived in Christchurch and married Denise Clarke, a Pākehā woman. Theirs was a Māori-Pākehā marriage, one of many relationships where two different cultures come together. They lived together for twenty years and managed their relationship quietly. When Takamore died on 17 August 2007 a tangihanga (mourning ceremony) was held in Christchurch where his wife Denise had arranged to bury him because, apparently, that was what her husband had wanted. However, his immediate whānau from the Bay of Plenty did not agree with that arrangement. They insisted that tikanga Māori demanded that they take their relative home and bury him in their urupā (burial ground) at Kutarere. The newspapers reported that the body of Mr James Takamore was ‘snatched’ and taken to the Bay of Plenty and buried at Kutarere despite a court order preventing it. Here the common law rights of the wife as executor clashed head-on with the common law (tikanga) rights of the immediate Māori family. The clash of cultures played out over several years ending with a Supreme Court hearing in 2012.

During this time tikanga Māori was subjected to close scrutiny by many learned lawyers, academics, reporters and the public in general. The laws regarding burial and cremation in New Zealand were based on British common law ideas so it was not a surprise that the Pākehā spouse in a Māori-Pākehā relationship had the law behind them. The Māori side missed out because the laws as written disregarded Māori custom laws. What the Takamore case put into sharp focus is that it is time for New Zealand to establish its own common law that is relevant to our people and the realities we face in this country. In other words, Māori custom law has to be an essential part of our joint common law.

Over time items of tikanga can evolve and adapt in response to changing attitudes and the realities that people face. Such is the case with cremation. The right to be cremated has been available to New Zealand citizens since 1874 and today the popularity of the practice has grown to the point that ‘an estimated 70 per cent are cremated’ (Law Commission Review 2013:30). This is an estimated average of all ‘burials’ across the country and does not mean that 70 percent of tūpāpaku (corpse or body of a deceased person) of Māori descent are also cremated. What is evident is that Māori are influenced by what is happening around them. But there is another strong influence, especially with deaths in Australia and other countries; cremation is more affordable and more families are opting for it. The cost of bringing a tūpāpaku home from Australia is often beyond the means of the immediate family. Local marae are required to deal with the trend and alter the tangihanga processes they are accustomed to following. There is a significant difference in paying respects to a deceased person lying in a coffin, and accommodating the charred remains of what was once a human body in a small container.

Today, Māori are a part of the travelling public and fly to many countries for a variety of reasons, which can also have implications for tikanga. In the rare occurrence of death in flight, it is important to know whose airspace one was unfortunate to die in. These are legal issues for the family to consider in attaining a death certificate, but there are also unusual issues that Māori families have to contend with in order to begin the grieving process. These matters could delay the process as legal and constitutional issues are negotiated. This could also involve the family in extra costs. Again, cremation would be one of the options a family has to consider.

The literature on tikanga Māori is expanding as more minds investigate, probe, illuminate and increase our understanding of tikanga Māori as it affects our lives today. The James Takamore case triggered some important decisions that had to be made in the heat of the moment, but there have also been other triggers – often less dramatic. The unfolding process occurs at meetings around the country and at hearings of the Treaty of Waitangi Tribunals, in the Environment Courts, Family Courts, in educational institutions, at marae and in homes and work places. And just when we think we are beginning to grasp what it all means, landscapes change, governments change, policies change, and we change. Along the way tikanga Māori adapts and accommodates to the rhythm of change and the rhythm of life as generations pass on and new ones emerge.

Foreword

This book provides a scholarly background to practices and values that many Māori, a growing number, see as necessary for good relations with people and with the land on which they live. These practices and values make up tikanga Māori, or that which exemplifies proper or meritorious conduct according to ancestral law.

While detailing ancient practices, this book is fundamentally about the future. Professor Hirini Mead promotes the principled application of traditional practices in modern situations. He does so not merely to secure tikanga for coming generations of Māori. He also contributes a Māori perspective to the developing world order.

In this work Professor Mead follows a line of action that he started long ago. He is well known in the Māori world for his respected family lines and academic achievements, but equally he is known for his capacity to make pragmatic changes. He has challenged universities to promote Māori studies as a separate and dynamic discipline. He has challenged museums to call in aid the living culture behind ancient artefacts. Most of all, for many years he has challenged Māori to develop traditional protocols in new ways that keep pace with world changes.

Professor Mead is especially noted for his role in organising the highly successful and innovative Te Māori exhibition in New Zealand and the United States. The trust reposed in him by diverse Māori groups and museum authorities is a tribute to his standing in both communities. More recently he has transposed his many years of academic teaching to the demanding task of managing the social and economic advancement of his own Ngāti Awa hapū. There he has promoted land management, traditional education and redress for the historic confiscation of Ngāti Awa land before the Waitangi Tribunal and with the Government.

Accordingly this book is more than an academic work. It reflects the author’s personal experience, from his upbringing firmly rooted in the tikanga of his people to his role as a tribal leader. As an introduction to tikanga Māori it covers a wide range of the life experiences of a Māori, but its validity lies most especially in the fact that it reflects the life experience of its author.

The Honourable Justice E. Taihakurei DurieHigh CourtWellington

Acknowledgements

This book began as a workbook which was a collection of articles and quotes from various sources and became the major source book for a course on tikanga Māori at Victoria University of Wellington. Many years have passed since then and many students have looked to the workbook for some knowledge. The workbook has been reshaped, recast, extended and delivered in a new and hopefully more useful form.

Many people assisted me in various ways, big and small but necessary in the reshaping of this book. Phone calls, emails, discussions and seminars all helped, as did various groups who came to hear me talk about tikanga Māori and ask questions. The questions helped. I acknowledge my whānau who have witnessed my efforts to find sources, identify references, search the internet, write and write again. The Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi has been a testing ground for many parts of this book. I acknowledge the assistance of Awanuiārangi in making it possible to publish this book and agreeing to make this the beginning of a Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi series. I acknowledge also the help of my larger whānau of Ngāti Awa at various tikanga hui we held and especially of Te Hau Tutua, Hohepa Mason and Pouroto Ngaropo. Enlightenment comes at different times and with different discussion groups. Pouroto Ngaropo and I ran many hui at which the main topic was tikanga.

Grateful thanks are extended to the Māori Purposes Fund Board and Creative New Zealand for their financial support. I wish also to thank the Honourable Justice E. Taihakurei Durie for providing the foreword to this publication. Huia Publishers provided the technical support and offered a helping hand in typing drafts of chapters. I acknowledge especially the assistance of John Huria and appreciate his sharp editor’s eye for detail and for gaps that needed to be filled.

Finally I acknowledge my wife June Te Rina who has, in a sense, mothered another book, and this time on tikanga Māori.

Many minds have contributed to the unfolding story of tikanga Māori and many more are required to fully explore the complexities of this part of our culture. The story which is represented here is but an introduction to the topic. It might appear to be comprehensive in its coverage but in fact there is more to unfold and discover.

Sir Sidney (Hirini) Moko MeadKnight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit(KNZM)

1

He Tīmatanga Kōrero:

Introduction to Tikanga Māori

My interest in tikanga began unexpectedly in 1979 when I suggested that a rāhui be placed on playing rugby with South Africa as a way of preventing Māori from going to that country. The notion of rāhui comes out of tikanga Māori and to most people it was a strange word. It has to do with placing a ritual prohibition on a place, part of a river, part of the foreshore and on certain resources. The idea was either to place a rāhui on the playing fields of South Africa – and that was a preposterous idea – or to place it on the Māori players chosen to go on a rugby tour to that country – and that was a difficulty as well. This was at a time when South Africa followed a policy of apartheid that discriminated against its black population. Opposition to rugby relationships between South Africa and New Zealand was becoming more vocal. The very idea of applying a Māori concept to a highly political issue raised hackles around the country and caused some furious debate on marae and in the pubs of the land. I took part in several marae discussions and talked to my elders at several meetings. They were sympathetic about the cause, but saw difficulties in applying a tikanga such as the rāhui.

It was as a result of the debate, however, that the idea developed of introducing a course on customary concepts at Victoria University of Wellington. It was very obvious in 1979 that few people really understood our tikanga, and this included our own people. So was born in 1980 a third-year-level Māori studies course on Māori concepts and ethics, tikanga tuku iho, customs and modes of behaviour handed down because no university or polytechnic or high school in the country offered, as part of a Māori studies programme, a course on tikanga. Now tikanga Māori has seen the light of day and there are courses and discussions on this subject everywhere, and not before time.

Tikanga Māori is thus a relatively new subject for teaching institutions, a new field of study for researchers, but an old one for Māori who wish to recover knowledge that we had lost. In this book tikanga Māori is explored in some depth and its many faces are looked at. An attempt is made to understand a particular tikanga in its traditional setting and then examine how it is being put into practice today. It is a fascinating subject of study, but what is set out in this book is but a preliminary exploration of tikanga Māori, an introduction. It extends the work of other thinkers such as Cleve Barlow (2001), E. Taihakurei Durie (1994), Joseph Williams (1996) and Anne Salmond (1975, 1976, 1980). Salmond’s book Hui is all about tikanga. In addition there are numerous references to tikanga in her biographies of 1976 and 1980.

A great deal more research is required in order to expand our understanding of the different aspects of tikanga Māori. The content of the book is supported by several years of teaching the subject at university level, by the presentation of seminars to various groups, and by holding weekend seminars in te reo Māori with members of my iwi.

It is worth noting that one’s understanding of tikanga Māori is informed and mediated by the language of communication. One’s understanding through te reo Māori is different from one obtained through the English language. Reo Māori participants usually have the advantage of prior knowledge and prior experience. This is not necessarily the case for others. It is to be expected therefore that readers of this book begin with different degrees of preparation and readiness.

The suppression of knowledge

Tikanga Māori has become a common term in our world today, but understandings of what it means vary considerably. Though a few people are quite knowledgeable, the vast majority know little about the subject, and there are reasons why this is so. Active suppression by agencies of the Crown over the last century is one reason. Another is the conversion of Māori to Christianity and its accompanying repudiation of culture. Another more obvious one was the general belief among both politicians and educationists that progress and development meant turning away from Māori culture and accepting only ‘proper knowledge’ from the western world. Some of that sort of negative thinking is still present today.

Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and tikanga Māori remained very much out of sight and absent from school curricula for over a century. There have been some exceptions: in the 1930s, for example, Māori arts and crafts and some music and dance were allowed by the Government to be introduced into Māori schools. The rest of the country, however, remained aloof and blissfully unaware of tikanga Māori. What this indicated, of course, was that the Government, through its Department of Education, determined the curriculum and what knowledge could be made available to Māori in the education system. Suppression of tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori was thought to be necessary in order to speed the process of assimilation into western ways. A book entitled A Civilising Mission (Simon & Smith 2001) explores the role of schools in achieving Government policies.

Landmark events

From the 1960s onwards there has been a steady movement towards a greater acceptance of aspects of Māori culture in New Zealand. There were two very important cultural events which dramatically changed the attitudes of many Māori towards our culture and of the general public to our arts. The events were the international exhibition of Māori art, Te Māori (1984–1987), and the waka taua (war canoes) revival for New Zealand’s sesquicentennial celebrations at Waitangi in 1990.

Te Māori introduced into the museum world the idea of Māori presenting our own culture and knowledge to the general public rather than have someone else do it for us. It also reinforced the idea of training our guides so that they would know what to say. This involved research into the histories of valuable art objects which inevitably led to the investigation of Māori knowledge and Māori customs. Because iwi were directly involved in Te Māori by being asked to welcome groups to the exhibition, many people had to learn tikanga Māori – by direct research, by witnessing what their iwi did, and especially by being active participants in the activities of their own iwi. This event was instrumental in encouraging iwi to re-examine their tikanga and, in many cases, to rediscover much of it.

The 1990 waka taua revival aroused interest in waka building and the associated customs and practices of the ancestors – navigating, steering, paddling and learning the rituals. The revival also required a large number of youth to learn, research and practise so that they knew the tikanga of their iwi. It was an unforgettable sight to see the waka at Waitangi in 1990 and to witness the activities of their crews, leaders and supporters. Hundreds of people were involved and there were a variety of waka: some small, some high in the water, some low in the water and some very large; some made of fibreglass, some of laminated wood and a few made of solid logs of tōtara, the favoured wood for canoe-building.

These two well-publicised and very popular events helped focus attention upon Māori knowledge, Māori customs and ceremonials, and upon Māori control over our own knowledge, history, traditions and customs. This is not to deny other influences, however, such as the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal and the success of the reo Māori case (WAI 11) in 1986 (Waitangi Tribunal 1986). Nationwide movements such as the kōhanga reo (language nest) movement for pre-school education in the Māori language, the development of kura kaupapa Māori (Maori-medium primary and secondary schools) and wānanga (tertiary institutions) have also played a very important role in increasing the number of people playing active roles in the Māori world, ensuring that Māori knowledge and tikanga Māori will be pursued with some vigour and will be studied for years to come. There is no turning back.

Tikanga Māori in law

By the final two decades of the twentieth century tikanga Māori had become more widely known and accepted. The term now appears in legislation. The Education Act of 1989 is an example. Tikanga Māori is mentioned in describing the characteristics of a wānanga. Section 162(b) (iv) states that ‘a wananga is characterised by teaching and research that maintains, advances, and disseminates knowledge and develops intellectual independence, and assists the application of knowledge regarding ahuatanga Maori (Maori tradition) according to tikanga Maori (Maori custom)’.

The term also appears in the Resource Management Act 1991. In part 1, section 2 tikanga Māori is defined thus: ‘“Tikanga Maori” means Maori customary values and practices’.

This Act is also remarkable in the number of Māori terms used and defined in it. Examples are: kaitiakitanga (‘the exercise of guardianship’); maataitai (‘food resources from the sea’); mahinga maataitai (‘area from which these resources are gathered’); tangata whenua (‘iwi or hapū that holds mana whenua over that area’); taonga raranga (‘plants which produce material highly prized for weaving’); tauranga waka (‘canoe landing site’).

The term tikanga Māori also appears in the Te Ture Whenua Maori Land Act 1993. In this Act meanings are given for several Māori terms. The following are listed under section 3: ahi kā (‘fires of occupation’); kai tiaki (‘guardian’); tikanga Māori (‘Maori customary values and practices’); tipuna (‘ancestor’); whanaunga (‘person related by blood’); whāngai (‘person adopted in accordance with tikanga Maori’).

Section 62 of the Act deals with appointing additional members with knowledge and experience in tikanga Māori. In section 61 tikanga Māori is an issue as between the High Court and the Māori Appellate Court. An opinion of the Appellate Court on an issue of tikanga Māori ‘shall be binding on the High Court’. Thus there is clear evidence of increasing awareness of tikanga Māori and its importance in the laws of the land.

A quote in The Law Commission’s 2013 review of The Legal Framework for Burial and Cremation in New Zealand (Issues Paper 34:17) provides evidence of the growing importance and acceptance of tikanga Māori in the laws of the land.

As well as common law, Māori custom law or tikanga must also be taken into account. While there is ongoing debate and discussion as to the precise status of tikanga within the New Zealand legal system, there is no doubt that consideration of tikanga and its underlying values will be taken into account by the courts when adjudicating disputes involving a Māori deceased or Māori custom. Rules and customary practices based on tikanga have also evolved over hundreds of years and give expression to the fundamental principles, values, and beliefs which underpin Māori culture.

In this document tikanga is acknowledged as Māori custom law. Discussion continues and several issues are explored; legal, social and political. For example if tikanga is regarded as the common law of Māori society as a whole, contemporary Māori could well regard it as an essential societal asset and as theirs to have and to hold. On the other hand, New Zealand society at large is beginning to understand tikanga and to regard it also as theirs to have and to hold. As a result we are all learning more about tikanga and gradually embracing it as a point of difference that helps define us as a people, with our own New Zealand way of conducting ourselves. In terms of the Treaty of Waitangi we are moving towards defining citizenship as a distinctive New Zealand model that departs from the notion of a British ideal. In the process we develop our own profile of an ideal New Zealand citizen.

Approaches to tikanga Māori

There are several ways of looking at tikanga Māori. These ways are discussed in the following chapters, some briefly and others in more detail. An obvious way is to consider tikanga Māori as a means of social control. Looked at from this point of view, tikanga Māori controls interpersonal relationships, provides ways for groups to meet and interact, and even determines how individuals identify themselves. It is difficult to imagine any social situation where tikanga Māori has no place. Ceremonies relating to life itself – birth, marriage, sickness and death – are firmly embedded in tikanga Māori.

One may choose to look at tikanga Māori from the point of view of ethics. Tikanga Māori might be described as the Māori ethic, referring in particular to a ‘system or philosophy of conduct and principles practised by a person or group’ (Living Webster 1973, 337). The word ‘tikanga’ itself provides the clue that tikanga Māori deals with right and wrong. ‘Tika’ means ‘to be right’ and thus tikanga Māori focuses on the correct way of doing something. This involves moral judgements about appropriate ways of behaving and acting in everyday life.

From this standpoint it is but a short step to seeing tikanga Māori generally as a normative system. A normative system deals with the norms of society, with what is considered to be normal and right. Tikanga Māori was an essential part of the traditional Māori normative system since it dealt with moral behaviour, with correct ways of behaving and with processes for correcting and compensating for bad behaviour. When ceremonies are performed this is still the case today. It is interesting to note that the late Eruera Stirling of Te Whānau-a-Apanui, in discussing mātauranga Māori at an interview with the scholar Dame Anne Salmond in 1979, said, ‘Knowledge and matauranga is a blessing on your mind, it makes everything clear and guides you to do things in the right way … and not a word will be thrown at you by the people’ (Salmond 1980:247). He was in effect talking about the normative aspect of tikanga Māori and its knowledge base. Respect the general guidelines of acceptable behaviour as encapsulated in tikanga Māori is the general message.

By contrast, lawyers tend to view tikanga Māori as customary law or as the ‘body of rules or principles, prescribed by authority or established by custom, which a state, community, society, or the like recognises as binding on its members’ (Living Webster 1973:541).

There was a time when tikanga Māori was followed by a majority of the Māori population and was binding. That is plainly not the case today because there are choices for people to make about how they conduct their lives, and tikanga Māori is being revisited. Although it is better known than thirty years ago, there is still a long way to go to reach a time when tikanga Māori might be adopted as customary law, binding upon a majority of the Māori population.

There are discussions about whether tikanga Māori can be regarded as a system of rules which is produced by agents of the community and which could have courts where offenders could be formally tried. Obviously tikanga Māori has not worked this way in the past. But there is some force and power in tikanga Māori. Transgressions can hurt the offenders and result in some punishment. Tikanga Māori is supported by a social and ritual force which does not need to be monitored by a police force. People who are committed to being Māori generally regard themselves as being bound to uphold tikanga Māori. For them, tikanga Māori definitely has a bite to it.

Economists look at tikanga Māori as an element of economic activity. Firth’s 1959 book Economics of the New Zealand Maori is a good example of this approach. Another perspective is adopted by prison workers, who see tikanga Māori as a means of rehabilitation and re-education of those Māori prisoners who are willing to commit to acquiring Māori knowledge and live their lives according to Māori customs. Rehabilitation programmes based on tikanga Māori and Māori knowledge are seen to be useful and effective for prisoners who choose to join them.

A different approach is to look at tikanga Māori as an essential part of mātauranga Māori, or Māori knowledge. In point of fact tikanga Māori cannot be understood without making use of mātauranga Māori. All tikanga Māori are firmly embedded in mātauranga Māori, which might be seen as Māori philosophy as well as Māori knowledge. While mātauranga Māori might be carried in the minds, tikanga Māori puts that knowledge into practice and adds the aspects of correctness and ritual support. People then see tikanga in action, and they do it, feel it, understand it, accept it and feel empowered through experience. Tikanga Māori might be described as Māori philosophy in practice and as the practical face of Māori knowledge. In this book an attempt has been made to focus upon tikanga Māori and how it is applied in a variety of situations and expressed through many different ceremonies. Some concepts such as mana whenua and mana moana were not covered in the first edition. A chapter on mana whenua and mana moana (chapter 17) has been added in this edition. The aim here has been to limit the scope of the book because the author is not proposing to write an encyclopaedia. This is an introduction to tikanga Māori, a beginning of serious study of the subject in order to meet a need for information. There is far more to tikanga Māori than is covered in this book.

It is clear from the range of chapters offered in this book that tikanga Māori reaches out to many different aspects of life, that it pervades and informs whatever we do, and that its tentacles reach far and wide. After each chapter there is a perspectives section which provides other views and/or additional information either from early contact times or from the contemporary period. The aim here is to provide, as the heading suggests, other perspectives from those covered in the chapter or to provide examples that stimulate debate.

Regional variations

It is important to stress that ideas and practices relating to tikanga Māori differ from one tribal region to another. While there are some constants throughout the land, the details of performance are different and the explanations provided may differ as well. There is always a need to refer to the tikanga of the local people. The author’s tribal base is Mātaatua in the Bay of Plenty. My experiences in tikanga Māori are based largely upon the region from Lake Taupo, around the eastern seaboard and as far as Hawke’s Bay. Within this vast area differences are to be expected.

Kawa and tikanga

Discussions of tikanga Māori generate some debate among tribal groups. In this book a distinction is made within the term tikanga Māori between 1) mātauranga Māori (the knowledge base and ideas associated with a particular tikanga), and 2) the protocols associated with the correct practice of a tikanga. Broadly speaking, tikanga Māori includes both aspects. But in addition, some practices or protocols may be called kawa. When this occurs the knowledge base is the tikanga Māori aspect and the practice of it is the kawa. For example the kawa of the marae is all about protocols. Te Arawa scholars would not agree with this position. To them the kawa is the major term that deals with the knowledge base and tikanga Māori is the practice of that knowledge. Readers need to be aware of this difference of opinion and the position taken in this book.

Perspectives

Questions arose as to which Maori owned what and who could effect a sale. The problem is not only that the Government’s answers were wrong, but that the Government presumed to decide the questions at all, for it is the right of peoples to determine (for) themselves such matters as their own membership, leadership, and land entitlements.

Remarkably, it was presumed that the Government could determine matters of Maori custom and policy better than Maori and that it should have the exclusive right to rule on what Maori custom meant.

Waitangi Tribunal 1996:5

To assess events in contemporary context the Tribunal must consider custom and tradition in western, lineal terms, but this does not and should not be seen to invalidate modern custom, or require that custom should change to fit historical modes. It was custom that people lived by the laws and structure that suited them at the time, and modern preferences and ideologies adjusted to new needs are as much a part of custom as that which existed before.

Durie 1994:1–2

The Native School thus was intended as a structured interface between Māori culture and European culture – a site where the two cultures would be brought into an organised collision, as it were – with one culture being confronted by the other in a systematic way. Pākehā teachers appointed to these schools were expected to engage with Māori in specific ways designed to systematically undermine their culture and replace it with that of the Pākehā. While the overall goal of the state might be seen as the reinforcing of Pākehā dominance in the structural relations of Māori and Pākehā, the process itself involved Māori–Pākehā relations at a personal level. As agents of the state, the teachers were expected to carry out their professional tasks in ways that would assist the fulfilment of the state’s structural goals. However, the dynamics of personal as well as professional relations and the ways in which power operated within them could allow for numerous factors to intervene in and influence this process.

Simon & Smith 2001:3

Of course, in the beginning things were a little more complicated than that. A score of ocean-going waka followed Kupe from both his island and different islands and villages throughout eastern Polynesia. So the detailed systems of tikanga they brought with them varied between waka. And those variations remained with the descendants. As Buck said many years ago, iwi are, in heart and mind, a series of islands connected by land. But the underlying values of these old island cultures were, and remain, universal and simply stated. They melded, adapted and changed in important ways after arrival in response to the very different environments of these temperate islands located at the hinge of the southern hemisphere’s weather systems. In that sense Māori culture and Māori law is, in its distinctive aspects, entirely a product of the interaction between those old Hawaikians and this place.

Justice Joe Williams 2013: 2

2

Ngā Āhuatanga o te Tikanga Māori:

The Nature of Tikanga Māori

A number of issues relating to the suppression of tikanga Māori and the likely reasons for hiding it away were discussed in chapter 1. Then followed discussion relating to its emergence into the world of light. While these events were all part of the general movement identified as the cultural renaissance of Māoritanga through the decades leading up to the close of the twentieth century there were some key events which helped tikanga Māori in particular. Now tikanga Māori has found new favour, new legitimacy and new importance in the life of the nation.

In this chapter a number of questions are discussed, beginning with the most obvious ones: What is tikanga Māori? How are we to understand it? What underpins it? I turn now to definitions of tikanga Māori.

Definition of tikanga

As chapter 1 has noted tikanga Māori is defined in legislation as Māori customary values and practices. But this is hardly sufficient. It will be helpful, therefore, to develop a definition by beginning with meanings given by the dictionary.

Williams’ Dictionary of the Maori Language (1971:416–17) provides a range of meanings for tikanga. For example, tikanga can refer to a ‘rule, plan’ or ‘method’, and, more generally, to ‘custom’ and ‘habit’. Indeed, for many people tikanga Māori means ‘the Māori way’ or done ‘according to Māori custom’. Another set of meanings refers to reason, motive or purpose. And there is the obvious meaning of correctness, or tika, as the very name suggests.

Culture provides the general template of what Māori society was and is about. Through time the people developed systems that covered all aspects of life. Our ancestors developed ways of conducting themselves whatever the task, whatever the event and whatever the circumstance. They amended, added or changed those ways through the generations down to us today. Underpinning all activities that members of whānau, hapū and iwi engage in is an ethical system and a system of common law that we refer to as tikanga Māori. Judgements are made as to whether the people are mindful of the principle of tikanga and are following the rules that accord with tikanga. In simple terms, they are following the accepted rules of how certain actions should be done and what they are doing meets the standards of being tika (right) and pono (true to the culture and looking right). The common law aspect is emphasised by the fact that there were punishments for those individuals who did not follow the tikanga. A whole group could be subject to punishment, silently in some cases and physically in others, such as a death sentence, leading sometimes to warfare.

When a group of people prepare for a pōhiri/pōwhiri (welcome) ceremony, they have to satisfy themselves that they are doing it the right way. In other words, the setting is appropriate, the separation of manuhiri (visitors) from the tangata whenua (the home people) is about right, that all other details are in order and they have the necessary expertise to do it well. Today, we say the ceremony itself is a tikanga, and we give it a name, hence pōwhiri and tangihanga (the mourning ceremony). The tikanga is really about the issues of proper procedures, of rules and regulations that are an essential aspect of how ceremonies are conducted and of how individuals play out their roles in a particular ceremony or event.

When a ceremony or an event is running smoothly because all participants are following the rules of appropriate behaviour, tikanga is unobtrusive and is in the background. But if a tikanga issue becomes a matter of debate, the mood of the participants changes, and everyone becomes apprehensive and uncomfortable until the issue is resolved. During this time, the tikanga issue comes to the foreground, and everyone is reminded about it, and they begin to make personal judgements about the issue based on what they know. Once a solution is reached, the ceremony returns to a normal state, tikanga recedes into the background, and the people can relax and enjoy the event.