He āhuatanga nui te toi whakaari Māori i roto i te ahumahi tāpoi Māori – he āhuatanga pupuri hoki te mahi tāpoi i te tikanga whakaaro me te reo Māori, tae rawa ake ki Rotorua.
Whakairo
He hiahia nō te rahi o ngā tūruhi ki ngā waiariki i te ‘tūturutanga’, nā whai anō ka whakatūhia ngā whare whakairo ki ērā wāhi kia rite ki te kāinga Māori tawhito. He iwi tautōhito a Te Arawa, tae rawa ake ki a Ngāti Tarāwhai ki te mahi whakairo. He nui ngā whare whakairo i hangaia mō ngā mahi tāpoi anake.
Atu i te tau 1902, ka whakamahi te Tari Tāpoi i ngā tohunga whakairo, pērā i a Tene Waitere rāua ko Anaha Te Rāhui ki te whakairo i tētahi pā hou ki Rotorua. I utua rātou ki te £5 i ia wiki.
I te tau 1927, ka whakatūhia te kura whakairo ki Rotorua. I whakatūhia tēnei i raro i te Māori Arts and Crafts Act i te tau 1926, i hautūngia e te mema paremata Āpirana Ngata.
Te Wānanga Toi Whakairo Māori
I hangaia Te Wānanga Toi Whakairo Māori ki tētahi pā hou. I whakatūhia i runga i te ture paremata o 1963. Nā tōna whakahaerehia e tētahi poari, kāpā ko te kāwanatanga, te hinonga tūmataiti rānei, kīhai i māeneene ngā whakahaerenga i waenganui i te kāinga o Whakarewarewa, e tū ana i tōna taha. Nō te tau 1967, ka whakatūhia te kura whakairo ki raro i te mana o Hōne Taiapa. Ka āhei ngā manuhiri te mātaki i ngā kaiwhakairo e mahi ana, me te hoki i ō rātou taonga. Ka whakangungu anō te kura i ngā kairaranga.
Te whakapaipai tikanga whakaaro
I mea te rangatira o Tainui, a Robert Mahuta mō te pānga o te mahi tāpoi: ‘Waihoki ki te noho motuhake o Tūhoe, me te Kīngitanga mō Tainui, i puta ko te mahi tāpoi ki a Te Arawa. Ka mutu ka poipoihia te reo me ngā tikanga i te hiahia o ngā tūruhi ki ērā āhuatanga.’1
Te mahi haka
Atu i ngā tau tōmua o te rau tau 1900, ka tīmata ngā kapa haka Māori te haere ki tāwāhi, tae rawa ake ki ērā i raro i te manu taki nei a Maggie Papakura.
I tū te whakataetae haka ā-motu tuatahi i te tau 1972 ki Rotorua. I ngā tau tōmua o te mano tau 2000, e rua ngā rōpū nō Te Arawa i eke ki te whiringa tokoono, arā, ko Ngāti Rangiwewehi me Te Matarae i Ōrehu. E haere tonu ana te whakangahau tūruhi ki te haka ki ngā wāhi pērā i a Te Puia ki Rotorua, Wairākei ki Taupō, me Ko Tāne ki Ōtautahi.
Tūturutanga
Ahakoa he āhuatanga whakaora te mahi tāpoi i te toi Māori, kua rere ngā whakapae mō tōna tūturutanga. He tauira katoa ngā tiki kirihou, ngā tāre Māori kua kākahutia, ngā uhi tēpū me ngā tauwera Māori ki ngā taonga ‘Maoriana’ e hokona ana ki te tūruhi. He tokomaha hoki ngā taonga whakairo, raranga hoki a te Māori kua hangaia mō te mākete tāpoi. I te tau 1994 ka hui te Aotearoa Maori Tourism Federation me te kōrero i ngā anipā e pā ana ki te whakanaonga o te tini o ngā tiki me ngā tekoteko – ko te nuinga i hē katoa te mahi. Kātahi ka hangaia te waitohu ‘toi iho’, kia mōhio te hunga tūruhi he taonga tūturu Māori tērā e hokona ana e rātou.
