Kōrero: Te mana o te wāhine

Whārangi 2. Te tapu me te rongomau

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Tapu me te noa

He tapu te wahine i te wā o tōna mate marama, i ngā āhuatanga tapu hoki o te rere o te toto. Nō te āhua ki tōna tapu ka rāhuitia te wahine i ngā wāhi noa – he takahi atua tērā mēnā ka pā te wahine ki ngā wāhi noa. Kore rawa te wahine toto e kuhu i ngā whare matā (mō ngā tawhiti), ki ngā māra, ki te takutai, ki ngā wāhi kai, ā, kāore e pā ki te tangata. Ka whakaarotia he mate kino ka haere ki te takahia ēnei tikanga.

Whakanoa

He mana nui tō te aroaro o te wahine ki te whakanoa. Ko ngā wāhine mātāmua ka mutu ki a rātou te mate o te wahine ka kīia he ruahine. He tūnga nui hoki tō rātou i ngā pure whakanoa.

Nā tōna mana whakanoa ka kore rawa te wahine e takahi i te ūpoko o te tangata kei tānoatia te mana me te tapu o taua tangata. Heoi kia hoki mai ngā toa i te pakanga me ngōki ratou mā raro i ngā kūhā o te ruahine hei whakawātea i a ratou i ngā tapu nui o te patu tangata me te maringi toto. I ngā tānga kawa whare, ko te puhi ka tomo tuatahi hei whakanoa i te whare.

Tapu, noa rānei?

E pōhēhē ana ētahi kaituhi nā te mana whakanoa o te wahine ka noho noa ia mō ake tonu atu. Ka wareware rātou ki te āhei o te wahine ki te whakatapu. Nā tēnei ka pōhēhētia anō kāore he mana tō te wahine i roto i te ao Māori. Ahakoa rā kāore e ārikarika ngā kōrero mō ngā wāhine whai mana nui i roto i te ao Māori.

Te tatau pounamu

He mahinga nui te hohou i te rongo ki te hoariri, ā, mā te wahine anō tēnei mahi i ētahi wā. Ko te rongo ka whakatauhia e te wahine ka kīia he rongo ā-whare. I tētahi reta ki te niupepa Māori o Te Puke ki Hikurangi i te tau 1905, ka kī a Te Waaka Tamaira, ‘i ngā wā o mua ... ki te haere te wahine ki te hohou i te Pakanga kia mutu, kore rawa e taea te takahi e tētahi taha, e tētahi taha, tōna whakatauākī he rongo taketake e kore e taea te whakahē, ki te takahia kua hē’.1

Whare whawhao

E pā ana tēnei kōrero e whai nei, ‘Anō ko te whare whawhao a Te Ao Kapurangi’ ki te puhi o Ngāti Rangiwewehi nāna i whakaora tōna iwi i tōna kake i te whatitoka o te whare. I tutuki tēnei tono i waenganui i a ia me Hongi Hika o Ngāpuhi, arā, ko rātou ka tomo mā ōna kūhā ka tukuna oratia.

Taumau

I tua atu i ō rātou tūnga hei kaitakawaenga, ka tukuna anō ngā wāhine rangatira ki te hoariri ki te whakatau i te riri. Inā koa ko Te Rangiita ki te taha rāwhiti o Taupō. Ka mutu hei rongomau ka taumautia te puhi o Ngāti Raukawa a Waitapu ki a Te Rangiita hei tatau pounamu.

Ka puta ki waho rā, Waitapu.

I haere rā ia i te maungā-rongo

O te ture a Whiro …2
Kupu tāpiri
  1. Te Puke ki Hikurangi 6, no. 10 (29 Āperira 1905), wh. 5 Back
  2. I takoto ki Apirana Ngata, Ngā mōteatea: he maramara rere nō ngā waka maha/he mea kohikohi Sir Apirana Ngata: The songs: scattered pieces from many canoe areas. Vol 2. Tāmaki-makau-rau: Auckland University Press, 2005, wh. 390–391. Back
Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Rawinia Higgins rāua ko Paul Meredith, 'Te mana o te wāhine - Te tapu me te rongomau', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/te-mana-o-te-wahine/page-2 (accessed 29 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Rawinia Higgins rāua ko Paul Meredith, i tāngia i te 5 May 2011, updated 1 Jun 2017