Ngā wāhine kaitito o mua
Arā atu ngā wāhine toa ki te tito mōteatea. I roto i ōna kohikohinga waiata o Ngā mōteatea ka kī ake a Āpirana Ngata ko te nuinga o ngā kaitito he wahine. Ko tāna meatanga tērā ki ngā tauira reo Māori kia ruku rātou ki ngā waiata nei kātahi ka kitea te wairua ake o te mana wahine.
Kei ngā waiata hoki ngā kōrero ā-iwi, ngā kōrero tuku iho, ngā tohu whenua, ngā kōrero tōrangapū ā-iwi. He tohu tēnei ki te tohunga o te wahine Māori ki te whakaheke kōrero. Ko tētahi kaitito rongonui o te rautau 1800 ko Puhiwāhine o Ngāti Tūwharetoa me Ngāti Maniapoto. E ai ki a Pei Te Hurinui ka rongo i ōna waiata he wahine mātau ia ki ngā kōrero, ngā whakapapa me ngā tohu whenua o tōna iwi; i āta whai whakaaro ia ki ngā tāpaetanga whenua o tōna iwi, me tana whakaōhiti ki tōna iwi kia tūpato ki ngā āhua o te Kāwana me te whakawai o te reti.
Ngā kaitito o muri mai nei
Ka haere tonu ngā mahi a ngā kaitito wahine toa i te momo tangata pērā i a Tuini Ngāwai me Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi. I te tekau tau 1980 ka tuhi a Pēwhairangi i ngā waiata rongonui pērā i a ‘E ipo’ me ‘Poi e’ i waiatatia e Tui Teka me te Karapu Māori o Pātea.
I ngā tau tīmatanga o te rautau 2000 ko Whirimako Black, rātou ko Moana Maniapoto, ko Maisey Rika mā ērā i whakatairanga ake i te pūoro Māori me te mana wahine.
Karanga
Ko te reo karanga tuatahi o runga marae tētahi tikanga nui o te mana wahine e rāngona nuitia ai e te marea. I roto i tōna poroporoaki ki tōna hoa rangatira ka kōrero a Tākuta Wi Repa mō te mana whakaheke o te wahine: ‘[N]o mua iho ano te mana o te reo o te wahine ... ma te wahine e powhiri te manuwhiri, ka maru’.1
Ka haere ngātahi te āhei o te wahine ki te whakatapu i te marae ātea mā tōna reo karanga me te tūranga o te tāne ki te whaikōrero. Inā rā ko te tikanga o te karanga he whakatau i te āhua o te haere mai a te manuhiri hei taketake tūāpapa hoki mō ngā whaikōrero. He wā hoki tēnei mō ngā kaikaranga matatau ki te whakapuaki i ō rātou whakaaro ki tētahi kaupapa.
Whaikōrero
Kei ētahi o ngā iwi pērā ki a Ngāti Porou me Ngāti Kahungunu, ka whakaaetia te wahine ki te whaikōrero. Heoi arā anō ētahi katoa ka whakahē hei taumaru i te toiora me te tapu o te whare tangata. Ko ētahi wāhine tū ki te whaikōrero ko Whaia McClutchie rātou ko Mihi Kōtukutuku o Ngāti Porou ko Niniwa-i-te-rangi o Ngāti Kahungunu.
He maha ngā taupatupatu ki runga marae. I te tau 1998 ka whakanōhia te Pirimia a Helen Clark e Titewhai Harawira ki Waitangi, he whakapae nā Harawira mēnā ka whakaaetia te wahine Pākehā kia tū me whakaae anō hoki te wahine Māori.
Te ūkaipō i ngā kōrero
Ka rangona tonutia te wahine e whakahau ana, e ārahi ana rānei i te haere o ngā whaikōrero. I te tau 1874 ka tuhi te kaiwhakawā matua o Whāingaroa a R. S. Bush mō te taenga atu o te tuahine, te hoa rangatira me te tamāhine a te kīngi Māori a Tāwhiao ki te whakatūwhera i te whare whakairo o Tokanga-nui-a-noho ki Aotea. I te wā hoki o ngā whaikōrero ka kite a Bush e whai tohutohu ana ngā kaikōrero i te tuahine o Tāwhiao i a Tiria i mua i te whakahoki atu i ngā kōrero.
