I ahu mai ngā kurī māori i Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. Nāwai ā, ka kore haere, ka mate katoa ki Aotearoa. Nā ngā tīpuna o te iwi Māori te kurī i mau ki Aotearoa i te rau tau atu i te tau 1200. Ka nui atu, ka pakari atu ngā kurī i Aotearoa tērā i ngā kurī kei ērā o ngā moutere i Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. Kei waenganui i te 13 me te 15 koma-mano te taumaha.
He pakupaku noa te kurī, he roa ngā makawe. He rite te nui o te kurī ki te border collie. He pakupaku te māhunga, he koi ngā taringa, ā he rahi te kauae. He nui ngā pokohiwi me te kakī, he poto ngā waewae, he huruhuru katoa te whiore.
He pango ētahi kurī, ko ētahi he mā rānei, he kōingoingoi rānei, he kōwhai rānei.
Ko te ‘gurī’ te ingoa a ngā iwi o Te Wai Pounamu mō te kurī. Tērā anō te kupu ‘pero’; ko te whakapae i ahu mai i ngā tāngata Pāniora, i te mea ko ‘perro’ te kupu Pāniora mō te kurī. Nō muri ka whakahuatia te kupu kararehe mō ngā mea ora katoa e whā ngā waewae.
Kāore i kore i ahu mai te ‘Māori dog’ i te ‘kurī maori’. Heoi, ko te tikanga ake o te ‘kurī maori’, ko te kurī noa.
Kāore ngā kurī o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa e pahupahu, ka auau kē. He rite ki te pōkiha te auau, ‘he roa, he mokemoke’. Ko te tangi a te kurī he auau, ko te tangi a te kurī Pākehā he pahupahu.
Ahakoa haere te tangata māori o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa ki hea, ka haere āna kurī, poaka, heihei, kiore ki tana taha. I tua atu i te kiore, he mea whakarata ngā kararehe nei, kainga katoatia. Heoi, ko te kurī me te kiore anake ka tae ki Aotearoa. Nā te kore poaka, ka tīkina ko te kurī hei kai nui.
Kāore i kore ka nui ngā kai pērā i te moa me te kekeno mā te kurī i ngā kāinga Māori tōmua. I maha atu ngā kurī i ngā rā tōmua, koira te take i kainga te maha rawa atu o ngā kurī āhua tamariki ake. He reka ake, he maha atu ngā kurī o aua wā, hei aha te āta whakatipu. Nō muri rawa, ko te ika kē te kai nui a te kurī, inarā, e ai ki ngā taunakitanga, he pakeke te nuinga o ngā kurī i patua hei kai.
Kāore i te mārama nōnahea mate atu ai te kurī. I mātaki ngā tohunga pūtaiao a Kāpene Kuki i te kurī i ngā moka katoa o Aotearoa i nga haerenga i ngā tau 1770 ki te 1779. Tērā pea nō te kuhu mai o ngā kurī kē ka ngaro te kurī mō ake tonu.
Ko Irawaru te kaitiaki o te kurī. Koia te taokete a te tipua a Māui. Nāwai ā, ka whakatakariri a Māui mō te māngere o Irawaru. E moe ana a Irawaru, e ngongoro ana tōna ihu, ka haere mai a Māui ka kumekume ōna taringa, tōna ihu, tōna tuarā kia rite ki te kuri. Nō muri ka haere mai ngā wāhine a Māui ka pātai kei hea tō rāua tungāne. Ka kī atu a Māui kia tīwaha rāua ‘Moi!’ – te reo o te kurī. Kātahi ka karanga atu ngā wāhine rā. Ehara! Ka oma mai a Irawaru.
He nui ngā kōrero mō te kurī i Hawaiki me te taenga ki Aotearoa. He tohu te taenga o te kurī ki Aotearoa ki te rahi o te kai i runga i ngā waka, inarā mēnā kīhai he kai, kua kainga kē ngā kurī i te hekenga i Hawaiki.
Tērā te kōrero mō Houmaitawhiti me tana kurī mōkai a Pōtaka Tawhiti. Nā ngā rīriri i waenganui i a Houmaitawhiti me Uenuku, ka kainga e Uenuku a Pōtaka Tawhiti. Whāia, ka rongo a te tama a Hou, a Tamatekapua, i te wairua o te kurī rā e auau ana mai i te puku o Uenuku. Me kī, koia nei te takenga mai o ngā rīriri i heke ai a Tamatekapua me tōna iwi ki Aotearoa mā runga i a Te Arawa.
Nā Kupe te whenua o Aotearoa i tūhura. He kurī āna i ngā haerenga i te waka a Matawhaorua. E ai ki te kōrero, nana i whakarere he kurī ki Te Hokianga; nā te takaroa o Kupe, ka huri te kurī rā ki te kōhatu.
Ko Turi te rangatira i a Aotea. Nāna i koha he kahu kurī ki tana wahine. Hei utu ka homai e tōna hunaonga te waka. I te heke i Hawaiki ki Aotearoa, ka tū te waka ki Rangitāhua (Kermadecs) ka patu a Turi i ngā kurī e rua hei whakanui i te atua a Maru.
Ko Manaia te rangatira i a Tokomaru i heke i Hawaiki. Ka tata a Tokomaru ki Aotearoa ka peke te kurī ki roto wai. Otirā, nā te auau o te kurī rā te waka i ārahi ki uta i te pō.
Ko Pāoa te rangatira i a Horouta. Nāna i tapa te mātārae a Te Kurī-a-Pāoa mō tana kurī ngaro.
Ka kitea te wāhi nui o te kurī ki te Māori i ngā pūrākau mō ngā tipua kurī.
He uwha kurī, he atua a Moekahu. He rite ki te tangata, ina mate ana he kurī ka haere te wairua ki Te Rēinga i te hiku o te ika a Māui, heoi, he ara ki te tangata, he ara ki te kurī.
Tērā tētahi kurī ko Mohorangi, he kurī ka noho ki Whanga-o-keno i Te Tai Rāwhiti. Ka kite tētahi wahine – ko Pōnuiawahine – i a ia, ka hurihia hei toka, e tū tonu nei i waho atu o Whanga-o-keno.
E rua ngā kurī kēhua kei te moana o Taupō. Ki te haere mai he waka nō te rāwaho ka tīwaha ki aua kurī, ‘Moi! Moi!’ ka ara ake te āwhā ki te whakangaro i a rātou.
Ko te nuinga o ngā kupu whakarite mō te kurī, he kupu tāunu. Kīia ai te tangata māngere i te taha o te ahi ‘he whiore tahutahu’. Ko tētahi kupu mō te tautauā ‘he whiore hume’. Ko te kōrero ‘he kurī e pōtete ana’, mō te tangata kei raro i te awe o tangata kē. Ka whakahuatia te kōrero ‘he ihu kurī, he tangata haere’ mō te tangata haereere i te mata o te whenua. He wā ka whiua tēnei kōrero hei whakaiti tangata, arā, he kurī hongihongi kai; he wā anō ka whakahuatia te kōrero nei e te tangata haere ki te tangata whenua ka tūtaki a ia, me kore ake ka whakamanuhirita.
He tipua kaitā a Kōpūwai i Te Wai Pounamu. He rite te māhunga ki tō te kurī. Tekau ngā kurī iti ka whai i a Kōpūwai, e rua ngā māhunga o tēnā kurī, o tēnā kurī. Kei Waikaremoana tētahi kurī whakawehi, a Te Kurī-nui-a-Meko, ka patupatu i ngā tāngata ka haere ki te ngahere ki te mahi manu. Ka hopukina a Kōpūwai, ka mauherea, ka werohia, mate rawa.
He tino kai ki te Māori te kiko o te kurī. Ka hau te rongo mō ngā hākari nui o te kiko kurī. Ko Hikawera te rangatira o Waiōhiki i Te Matau-ā-Māui. I whakahau a ia kia patua ngā kurī e 70 hei whāngai manuhiri. Whāia, ka whiua tūtae ki roto wai, whai anō kiia ai taua awa, ko Tūtaekurī. Tapaina ai te wāhi tunua ai ngā kurī rā, ko Te Umukurī.
Tērā te kōrero mō ngā iwi o Te Wai Pounamu, ka poka i ngā raho o ngā kurī kia mōmona atu ai i te kainga.
I tana haerenga ki Aotearoa i te tau 1769, ka kai a Kāpene Kuki i te kiko o te kurī, me tana rite i te reka ki te kiko o te reme. He tohunga toi a Sydney Parkinson i haere mai me Kāpene Kuki, ki tāna, he rite te kiko o te kurī ki te kiko kau. Hei tā Thomas Brunner, tētahi o ngā kaihōpara Pākehā tōmua, i tētahi o ana haerenga, nā te kore kai ka kai i tana mōkai, a Rover. Ka reka kē ki a ia, hei ko tāna, he rite te reka ki te hipi, te poaka rānei. Whāia, ka karangatia a ia e ngā Māori, ko Kai Kurī.
Mahia ai he kākahu i te huru kurī, tae atu ki tētahi pūeru hei arai i ngā rākau a Tū. Kīia ai tēnei momo kākahu ‘he tāpahu o Irawaru’. Ka heua te huruhuru i te whiore hei tīpare mō te hunga kei raro i te kapua pōuri, hei huruhuru rānei ki ngā rākau whawhai. Mahia mai ai he hei, he mau kakī, aha atu i ngā kōiwi, ko te kauae me ngā niho hei matau hī ika, hei whakakai hoki.
Kei Te Tai Tokerau tētahi iwi i tapaina ki te kurī. Heoi, i awhitia e te iwi nei tētahi pā o te hoariri, tē taea. Kātahi ka whakataruna te iwi rā kia rite ki te tohorā kua pae ki uta, ko ō rātou kahu kurī ka horaina. Nāwai, ka puta te iwi kei roto i te pā ki waho kia kite i te tohorā. Auē! Ka matika mai te iwi whakataruna rā ki te patu i te iwi o te pā, hinga atu ai. Koira te ahunga mai o te iwi o Ngāti Kurī e ora nei i tēnei rā.
Te whakangau manu
Whakamahia ai te kurī hei whakangau manu. I te wehenga o Tūrongo kia hoki ki tōna kāinga i te riu ki Waikato, ka whakarere i tana kurī ki tana wahine a Māhinaarangi, hei ārahi i a ia mai i Te Tai Rāwhiti, hei hopu manu hoki māna i te huarahi. Ko Tara te tama a Whātonga; he kurī tāna, he kino ki te whakangau.
I te rau tau atu i 1800 whakamahia ai te kurī hei hopu i te kākāpō, te weka, te pūkeko, tae atu ki ngā pārera whakamāunu. Ka poapoa te tangata i te kiwi mā te pakoire i te tangi o taua manu, ko tana kurī kei te herea ki te taura. Kia tata mai, ka tukua te kurī kia hopu i te manu rā. I kōrero a Teone (Hōne) Taare Tīkao o Ngāi Tahu mō te mahi a te kurī ki te hopu pūkeko. Heoi, hei ngā wā ka kaha te pupuhi o te hau ā uru, ka haere ngā tāngata ka patupatu i te repo, kia rere ake ngā manu rā ki te ihu tonu o te hau. Nāwai ā, ka pau te kaha o ngā manu rā, ka tau ki te whenua. Hei reira ka hopukina e ngā kurī.
Tērā ngā kōrero mō ngā kurī mohoao. He ana kei Waitomo, ko te ana Ruakurī. Ka whāia ētahi tāngata hopu manu e ngā kurī mohoao. Waihoki, ka mahia he tāwhiti nui ka whakatū kia tata ki te ana. Ehara! Mau ana ngā kurī mohoao rā.
Ka hopukina ngā kurī mohoao ki te tāwhiti, inarā he maha ngā wāhi o te motu kua tapaina ko Tāwhitikurī. Ko tētahi tikanga ki Te Wai Pounamu, ko te here i te uha ki tētahi wāhi hei poapoa i ngā kurī mohoao kia whakatata mai.
I te wā o te Pākehā, pūhia noatia ai ngā kurī mohoao kua puta i ngā aitanga ki ngā kurī a te Pākehā. Taihoa ā, ka ngaro atu aua momo kurī.
Patua ai he kurī e ngā tohunga hiki kawanga, hei whakamāuru i a Tūmatauenga te atua o te riri, tētahi atu atua rānei. I tua atu, ko te kiko o te kurī hei kai mā te tohunga. I Mangakāhia i te tekau tau atu i 1830, ka patua tētahi o ngā kurī mutunga hei kai mā te tohunga nāna i tā te moko o tētahi wahine tapairu.
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Buck, Peter. The coming of the Maori. Wellington: Maori Purposes Fund Board/Whitcombe & Tombs, 1949.
Clark, G. ‘Kuri.’ In The handbook of New Zealand mammals, edited by Carolyn M. King, 256–260. Auckland: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Reed, A. W. Reed book of Maori mythology. Revised by Ross Calman. Auckland: Reed, 2004.
Tīkao, Teone Taare. Tikao talks: ka taoka o te ao kohatu. Auckland: Penguin, 1990 (originally published 1939).