He mea huna ki te Māori ngā whakamārama mō te whitinga o te rā, tōna ara haere i te rangi, tatū ki tōna toremitanga i te uru. Nā te mea ka tū tēnei āhuatanga ia rā, ia rā, ka noho te rā hei tauira mō ngā mātāpono taketake o te ao. Ka noho te rā – tōna pūaotanga, whitinga, tae rawa ki tōna rehunga – te tauira nui mō te āhua o ngā mea ora katoa i te ao – me whai ngā mataora katoa o te ao i te tauira nei.
Ka tū ana he pūkōrero ki runga marae, ka tīmata ia ki ēnei kupu:
Tihē mauriora!
Ki te whaiao, ki Te Ao Mārama!
He kōrero tēnei mō te ao hurihuri, huri i te ao, huri i te pō.
Ka whai ngā kupu tīmatanga a te pūkōrero i te tauira a Tāne, nāna te māramatanga i huaki ki te ao. Ko Tāne te takenga o te ira tangata. I te wehenga a Tāne i ōna mātua a Papatūānuku rāua ko Ranginui, ka tīaho te rā ki te ao i huaki mai. Mēnā he kupu tohutohu, ārahi ā te kaikōrero ki te iwi, ka kīia pēnei, kei te whakaputa te iwi i te pō ki Te Ao Mārama. Ka pā mai tēnei āhuatanga i te kuhunga o te mana ki roto i te tangata, pērā tonu ki te tīaho ihotanga o te māramatanga i te rā.
I a tātou ka noho nei, ka titiro whakamuri tātou kia kite he pēhea te titiro a te tangata o neherā ki tōna ao. Kāore e kore ka titiro tātou ki te noho a te tangata i ngā rā o mua mai i tō tātou tirohanga i tō tātou ake ake, i ō tātou ake mōhiotanga.
Nō te taenga ki Aotearoa ka panoni te tirohanga a te Māori ki te ao. I te ūnga o te Pākehā ki Aotearoa ka huri anō te tirohanga. Tatū ki ēnei rā, e kore e taea te kī he tirohanga kotahi tā te iwi Māori ki tōna ao. He wāhi iti noa ēnei kōrero mō te tirohanga a te Māori ki tōna ao i mua i te taenga mai o te Pākehā.
He rite te Māori ki ētahi atu iwi, arā, ko te whanaungatanga te mea here i ngā mea katoa i te ao. He whānau kotahi te tangata, ngā manu, te tini o ngā ika, ngā rākau o te wao, tae rawa atu ki te āhuarangi.
Ka whakaaturia tēnei tirohanga i ngā tātai me ngā kōrero tuku; kīia ai ēnei he whakapapa. Ka takina e ngā tohunga ngā whakapapa o te tangata, o te manu, o te ika, o te rākau, o te rangi hei aha, hei whakamārama i te hononga o ngā mea katoa me te wāhi o tēnā me tēnā i roto i te ao. Mā konei ka ako te tangata i tōna ao, ka mōhio hoki ia me pēhea tana tū i roto i ēnei hononga.
Ka titiro te Māori ki tōna ao anō he whānau nui whakaharahara. I te orokohanga o te ao, ka piri a Rangi rāua ko Papa, ka whānau ā rāua tamariki e 70. Nā ngā tamariki ō rātou mātua i wehe e puta ai rātou ki te ao. Ka poua tēnā me tēnā o rātou ki te mana atua mō tēnā wāhi o te ao, mō tēnā wāhi o te ao. Whāia, ka noho ō rātou uri whakaheke hei tūpuna mō aua wāhi. Hei tauira, ko Tangaroa te atua o te moana, nāna ko Punga, nāna ko Ikatere rāua ko Tūtewehiwehi; ka noho a Ikatere hei tipuna o ngā ika o te wai tai, ka noho a Tūtewehiwehi hei tipuna o ngā ika me ngā ika oneone i ngā wai māori.
Ka whakaata e te whakapapa te kōingo o te tangata kia whai hononga ki te ao. Kōrero ai ngā whakapapa mō te whanaungatanga i waenganui i te ira tangata me te ao. Hei tauira, he kōrero ā ētahi iwi mō tō rātou whanaungatanga ki te tini a Tangaroa.
He māramatanga kei roto i ngā whakapapa mō te takenga mai o ngā kararehe, ngā tipu, tae atu ki te takoto o te whenua. Hei tauira, ki te kōrero koe mō te takenga mai o te manu, me kōrero koe mō tōna ake āhua.
He mātauranga i ngā pūrākau a te Māori hei whakamārama i te ao. Hei tauira, ngā wāhi me ngā wā pai mō te mahi i te kererū.
Ahakoa te pūtaiao me āna whakamārama mō te taiao, he mea nui tonu ki te Māori te whanaungatanga. Hei tauira ake, kei te whakapapa mō te tini a Tangaroa kitea ai te whanaungatanga o te ira tangata ki ētahi atu mea. Kei roto hoki i ngā pūrākau ngā akomanga me ngā tikanga hei tohutohu i te tangata kia pēhea tana whakapā ki tētahi atu kararehe, tipu, ika, aha atu.
Ka whiti te rā, ka tō te rā, inarā, ko Te Ao, ko Te Pō. Ki te Māori, koianei te ia o ngā pūrākau mō te orokohanga o te ao, arā, te putanga i te pō ki te whaiao, ki Te Ao Mārama. E kī ana te kōrero, ka whiti te rā i te ata, koirā te orokohanga o te ao, ia rā, ia rā.
Ki te whakaaro o ō tātou tīpuna, he ao anō kei tua i tō tātou nei ao kikokiko. Ki te nuinga o ngā kōrero-ā-iwi, kīia ai tēnei ao ko Te Kore (te ‘hemanga’).
E ai ki te pūkenga rā a Cleve Barlow, mai anō he ao kaumingomingo Te Kore, ‘kāore e tareka te tāmi i te pūmanawa nohopuku’. 1 He pērā anō ngā whakaaro o te kaumātua, minita rā a Maori Marsden o Te Tai Tokerau i tana kī, ko Te Korekore (he ingoa anō mō Te Kore) ‘te wāhi kei waenganui i te ora me te kore ora, kīia ai tēnei ko te ao o te pūmanawa tērā ka puāwai.’ 2
Ka whakapono ētahi ko Te Kore kē te ao tūturu. Ko ētahi ka kī koinei te nohoanga o Io Matua Kore. Ko te mana, te tapu, te mauri ka puea i Te Kore.
Tatū rawa ki te taenga o te Pākehā ki Aotearoa i ngā tau paunga o te rau tau 1700, i mau te Māori ki tērā te tirohanga ki te ao i mauria mai e ngā tīpuna i Hawaiki. Nāwai ā, ka whanake tēnei tirohanga i tēnei whenua hōu. Ahakoa tērā, kei te kaha tonu te awe o Poronīhia, hāunga ngā kōrero whakahē a ētahi.
Ka whakapae ētahi iwi nō Aotearoa rātou, kāore ō rātou tīpuna i haere mai i wāhi kē. Hei tā Ngāi Tūhoe, ko tō rātou tipuna a Hine-pūkohu-rangi tērā te kohu ka tāiri i ngā whārua o Te Urewera. He pērā anō ngā kōrero a Ngati Whātua, arā, i puea ake tō rātou tipuna taketake a Tuputupu-whenua i te kōpū o te whenua. Arā te kōrero a ngā iwi o Whanganui e mea ana, i whānau mai rātou i ngā maunga kei te puku o te ika a Māui.
He whānau nui whakaharahara te ao. Nā Rangi rāua ko Papa ngā mea katoa, tae rawa ki te ira tangata. Nā reira ko tōna ao te kaiako matua o te tangata.
Ka whakahekea te mātauranga a te Māori mā roto i ngā tātai whakapapa, ka mutu, he tuku ā-waha katoa. Ki te Māori, kāore he huringa i tua atu – mō te hī ika, mō te haerenga roa, me kī mō ngā mahi nui a te tangata, me whakapono ia ki ngā tohutohu a ōna tūpuna katoa i te taiao.
I whānau mai te tangata i te whenua. Ka taea e te tāngata whenua tūturu te kōrero mō tōna ake taiao – ngā kararehe, ngā tipu, te huarere, te ia o te ao. He uri ngā tangata whenua o ēnei rā nō ētahi atu tāngata whenua tahito ake, nā reira mārama ai rātou ki ngā wheako o ō rātou tūpuna.
I raro i tēnei tirohanga ki te ao, ki te uia te tangata ko wai ia, kāore te tangata rā e kōrero mōna ake; kōrero ai a ia mō ōna maunga, ōna awa, ōna tīpuna. Hei tauira, ka pēnei te whakautu a te uri o Ngāti Tūwharetoa ki te pātai ko wai ia:
Ko Tongariro te maunga
Ko Taupō te moana
Ko Te Heuheu te tangata.
Ka pā te mana te tapu me te mauri ki te tangata, ki te taiao hoki.
He hōrapa te awenga o tēnei mea te mana. He tino te mana. Ka pā tēnei ki ngā hihiri, ki ngā awenga i te ao tūroa. He rerekē, he kanorau ngā āhuatanga o te mana ka pā ki te tangata. Ka puāwai te tangata ki te kuhu te mana ki tōna ao.
Ko te mana nui rawa ka ahu mai i Te Kore, arā, te ao tē kitea; ki ētahi, koianei te tino ao.
Mā te ū ki ngā tohutohu, ngā here me ngā tikanga, ka whai tinana te mana – i te tangata, te kararehe, te manu, te ika, aha rānei. Ka hui katoa ēnei āhuatanga ki raro i te kupu nei te tapu. Hei tauira, he tapu ki tēnā iwi, ki tēnā iwi ō rātou maunga nui, ā, he tikanga kei runga i ngā mahi me ngā kaupapa tērā ka whakahaeretia i runga i aua maunga.
Ko te mauri te hiringa ka hono i ngā mea katoa i te ao. Ki te kore he mauri, e kore te mana e āhei te kuhu ki te tangata, ki te mea ranei.
I te ao Māori, ko te tapu me te mauri ngā waka e rere ai te mana ki te ao. Hei tauira, ka purua he kōhatu mauri ki roto i ngā kupenga hī hei kukume i ngā ika; he pērā anō mō te mahi manu, arā, ka waiho he kōhatu mauri ki ngā tāwhiti. Kāore te Māori i titiro ki te ika, ki te manu anō he mea noa iho; he hiringa kei roto. Ka mau he ika, ko Tangaroa tonu tērā, he mana ki roto.
Waihoki, ka whakamahia te kōhatu mauri hei mua i te whakatōnga o te mana ki roto i tētahi tangata. I te wā i ngā whare wānanga tūturu o mua, ka hoatu he whatu (kōhatu pakupaku) ki te tauira i tana kuhunga. Ka horomia e te tauira te whatu rā, kia noho ki tōna puku hei mana, hei takenga mātauranga mōna. Koianei te tikanga o te nohopuku, arā, te āta noho ki te wānanga i ngā mea rā kei roto i tō puku.
He tipua te taniwha, he kaitiaki i tētahi wāhi, he whakatinanatanga o tēnei mea te mauri. He rite te kitea o te taniwha i ngā awa me ngā wai, e tiaki haere ana i ngā kai me ngā rawa.
Ka taea e ngā tohunga te tango i te mauri ka whakakuhu ki roto i tētahi toka, rākau, ika rānei. Nā te nui rawa atu o te mana, ka tirohia taua toka, taua rākau, anō he mea ora. He maha ngā kōrero mō ngā poro rākau kua kitea e piki whakarunga ana i te ngā awa – he taniwha.
He kupu whakarite te taniwha mō te rangatira. He pānga tata tō te ora o te whenua i tētahi takiwā ki te mana o taua whenua me te mana o te rangatira o aua whenua. Kei te rangatira te mana ki runga i ngā taniwha kei ngā awa. He mea nui tēnei ki te kōrero koe mō te tangata whenua. Ko te tangata whenua anake ka āhei te pupuri ki te mauri me te ora o tōna rohe.
Barlow, Cleve. Tikanga whakaaro: key concepts in Māori culture. Tāmaki-makau-rau: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Marsden, Māori. ‘God, man and universe: a Maori view.’ Kei Te ao hurihuri: aspects of Maoritanga, ētita Michael King, 118–138. Tāmaki-makau-rau: Reed, 1992.
Marsden, Māori. The woven universe: selected writings of Rev. Māori Marsden, ētita Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal. Ōtaki: Estate of Rev. Māori Marsden, 2003.