I ngā wā o mua, he iwi rongonui te ao Māori mō tāna whakanui i te kanorau o te ai. Kei ngā whakairo, waiata me ngā karakia e takoto ana ngā kōrero mō te ai.
Kahungunu rāua ko Rongomaiwahine
Tērā ngā kōrero mō tēnei tipuna a Kahungunu e whakaari ana he tūwhera ngā whakaaro Māori, wāhine mai, tāne mai, ki te aitanga. He maha ngā hoa rangatira o Kahungunu. Ka uia hoki tētahi o ēnei wāhine ko Hinepuariari ki te āhua o tana tāne o Kahungunu, ka whakautua, ‘Kāore hoki tērā te hanga o taku tāne, kāore e rūpeke mai ana, takoto noa mai te nuinga i waho.’ Ka tae te rongo o tēnei kōrero ki a Rongomaiwahine o Te Māhia, ka whakatau ia, ‘Nā te mea anō rā he kōpua pāpaku, mehemea e taka mai ana ki te kōpua hōhonu a Rapa e tūhera atu nei, pokopoko ana ia ki roto.” Nō muri rawa i te rongotanga o tēnei wero e Kahungunu ka whakatika atu a ia, ka whakaipo, ā, ka moe i a Rongomaiwahine.
Tutānekai rāua ko Tiki
E rongonuitia ana a Tūtānekai i tōna mate kanehe ki a Hinemoa, tērā i kawea atu i runga i te au o te pūtōrino. Hāunga i mua hoki i tāna moe ki a Hinemoa, ko tōna hoa pūmau he tāne tonu ko Tiki. Kei ā ētahi titiro, ka noho tauira tēnei mō te moe a te tāne i te tāne anō. Kei ngā tuhinga a Te Rangikāheke, ka mea a Tūtānekai ki tōna matua:
Ka aroha atu a Tūtānekai ki a Tiki, ka mea atu ki a Whakaue.
Ka mate ahau i te aroha ki tōku hoa, ki a Tiki.
Nāwai ka kī ake a Tūtānekai mō Tiki, ko ‘taku hoa takatāpui’. Ko ngā whakamārama kei te papakupu o Wiremu (1844), ‘he hoa tata nō te ira kotahi’.
Ngā mōteatea
He mea whakanui te ai o te tāne me te wahine i roto i ētahi o ngā haka me ngā waiata. Ko ētahi e kōrero ana mō te aroha takatāpui. Ko te tauira ko te waiata tangi mō Pāpaka Te Naeroa i mate i te pakanga. Nō te whakaputanga o tēnei waiata ki Ngā mōteatea, ka hurihia te kupu ‘aitia’ ki te ‘awhitia’. Tērā tētahi atu waiata:
Ehara koe i te tāne, he puhi koe nāku,
Te ipō ki te moenga.
Ngā whakairo aitanga
Kei te toi whakairo Māori hoki te taha ai e whakaaria ana. Ka whakaaturia hoki ngā taonga ai a te tāne me te wahine, tae atu ki te mahi ai. Kei runga i te pātaka kai o Te Puawai o Te Arawa kei Whare Taonga o Peretania te whakairo o tētahi tokorua e ai onioni ana. Tērā anō tētahi waka huia kei te Whare Taonga o Peretania e whakaatu ana i te ai a te tāne me te wahine. Kei konā anō tētahi papahou e whakaatu ana i tētahi tāne e ai ana ki tētahi atu tāne. Kei runga i te maihi o te whare o Rangitihi hoki tētahi whakairo o ētahi tāne e tāwhiwhi tahi ana. I wāhia tēnei maihi, ko tētahi wāhanga i tonoa ki te whare taonga i Leipzig, ā, ko tētahi i tonoa ki St Petersburg.
