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Te Tāhū o Ranginui: Whakatūria te Whare Kōkōrangi

Abstract
I ngā rā o tuawhakarere he matatau te Māori ki ngā nekeneke o te Whānau Mārama. Ko ngā mātauranga katoa e whai take ana ki te Whānau Mārama i pupuritia e ngā iwi. I whai take tēnei mātauranga i roto i ngā mahi katoa. Ko te onoono me te hauhake huawhenua, ko te hī ika, ko te takahi haere i te whenua, ko te pakanga, ko ngā tikanga ōkawa. Ka tohu hoki i ngā peka o te tau, me ngā mahi o ia rā. Ko ngā nekeneke o te Whānau Mārama ngā kaitohu, ngā kaiārahi i ngā waka o tāukiuki. Mā te āta mātai i ngā whetū, ka whakatere i te mata whānui o Tangaroa. Otirā, ka nōhia ngā moutere o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. I whakaakoria motuhaketia tēnei mātauranga i roto i ngā whare wānanga e kīa rā, ko te whare kōkōrangi. He whare kōkōrangi, ā, he tohunga kōkōrangi ō ngā iwi katoa, kāore he mātauranga i tua atu i taua whare me ōna tohunga. Engari, nō te taenga mai o te Pākehā i ngā tau whakamutunga o te rau tau tekau mā waru ka raupatuhia te whenua, ka motu ai te here ki ngā tūrangawaewae. Ka mimiti haere tēnei mātauranga. Tae rawa ake ki ngā tau o te 1900, i noho mū ngā whare kōkōrangi o te Māori me te mea nei i kapia te tatau e kore e huaki anō. Heoi, tērā ētahi kairangahau Māori e nanao atu ana kia kumea taua tatau nā e huaki anō ai te whare kōkōrangi, e hahūtia anō ai ōna mātauranga katoa, kei noho mōteatea haere ake nei. E koke ana ētahi rangahau o mohoa nei kia kohikohi i ngā mātauranga Whānau Mārama o te Māori kia whakahaumanutia, kia whakaorangia tēnei āhuatanga o te Māori. He tuhinga tēnei ka tākoha atu ki taua kohikohinga, ā, ko tōna matū he wetewete i ngā kura huna kei ngā mātauranga Māori ā-waha. Mā te tātari whakataukī, waiata me te karakia, ka kitea mēnā kei ēnei taonga o te Māori te oranga tonutanga o te Whānau Mārama. Otirā, ka kitea mēnā e taea tēnei whare te whakatū ki te ao hurihuri nei kia huaki anō ai te tatau hei kuhutanga ake mā te Māori. Traditionally Māori maintained extensive knowledge of the night sky, and made detailed observations of the sun, the moon, the planets, the stars and the movements of the various celestial bodies. This knowledge influenced all aspects of traditional Māori life including planting and harvesting, fishing, travel, warfare, ceremony and seasonal and daily activity. It was their understanding of the night sky that enabled the ancestors of the Māori to traverse the largest expanse of ocean in the world to settle the islands of the Pacific. Māori astronomical knowledge was taught within the whare kōkōrangi, institutions specifically established for the purpose of astronomy and its related fields. All tribal groups had their own whare kōkōrangi under the instruction of astronomical experts, and these institutions were seen as the pinnacle of Māori learning. However with the arrival of European settlers in the late eighteenth century and the negative impacts of colonisation, Māori astronomical knowledge began to erode. By the 1900s the whare kōkōrangi were no longer in use and this crucial part of Māori society seemed to have been lost to time. Yet, rather than lamenting the loss of this knowledge base, a number of Māori researchers are beginning to explore the field with the long-term vision of re-establishing the whare kōkōrangi. Currently there is significant research being undertaken that is searching for the remaining fragments of Māori astronomical knowledge in an attempt to re- discover and revitalise this field. This thesis is part of this new movement and in particular seeks to understand how Māori knowledge is imbedded and encoded within the Māori language. By analysing a number of traditional Māori proverbs, songs and incantations, this thesis argues that much of the record of Māori astronomy can be reconfigured and re-established. Furthermore, the whare kōkōrangi can once again be central in the knowledge base and in the lives of all Māori.
Type
Thesis
Type of thesis
Series
Citation
Tuahine, H. (2015). Te Tāhū o Ranginui: Whakatūria te Whare Kōkōrangi (Thesis, Master of Arts (MA)). University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/10024
Date
2015
Publisher
University of Waikato
Rights
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