A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru: Using Whakapapa as a Pedagogical Tool in Education
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Whakapapa as Pedagogy: A Social–Psychological Imperative
2.1. Whakapapa Narratives and Māori Success in Education
Whilst governmental educational policies stipulate that Māori students ‘experience educational success as Māori’ (Durie 2001; Ministry of Education 2013), none has explained what ‘success’ might look like for Māori from specific iwi or regions. A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru, a Marsden-funded project, set out to address a component of this research gap by looking back through the oral, written, and televisual histories of hapū and iwi from Te Tai Tokerau and producing powerful narratives of Māori success, identity, and thriving. The researchers collected, analysed, cross-checked, and recrafted diverse narratives of success that put Te Tai Tokerau icons and whakapapa at the centre of that conceptualisation. The narratives prioritised Te Tai Tokerau retellings and were deliberately recrafted to accentuate achievement and success, thereby challenging the existing misrepresentations of Māori student academic potential. The study explored the question “How can the distinctive iwi attributes, deeds, and qualities of Te Tai Tokerau leaders throughout history be used to promote contemporary Māori student success, pride, and thriving?”Identity, language and culture are an asset and a foundation of knowledge on which to build and celebrate learning and success. Understanding how identity, language and culture impact on Māori students’ learning and responding to this requires all stakeholders to develop a greater understanding of their own identity, language and culture and the ways in which they shape their lives.(p. 17)
2.2. A Brief History of Te Tai Tokerau
We have kept quiet for too long about how we truly feel about what is written about us by people from another culture. For years we have provided academic ethnic fodder for research and researchers. Perhaps it is time we set things straight by getting down to the enormous task of writing about ourselves.
3. Discussion
Ngaru Nui, Ngaru Roa, Ngaru Paewhenua, Nukutawhiti’s Voyage to Aotearoa
Some of the people who travelled with Kupe but remained in Aotearoa gave Te Puna i te Ao Marama an additional name based on this event, which is Te Hokianga-nui-a-Kupe—the place of Kupe’s great return (Kawharu 2008). After Kupe returned to Hawaiki from Hokianga, he returned to a place of turbulence and conflict, as war had broken out between two rangatira Tama Te Kapua and Uenuku (Kaamira 1957; Kereama 1968). According to Kaamira (1957), the war between Tama Te Kapua and Uenuku raged for three years. This tumult prompted rangatira such as Nukutawhiti to seek new land for their people. While the motivations for each rangatira that left Hawaiki to come to Aotearoa were different, Taonui (1994) used the dichotomy of ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors to explain departure from Hawaiki. This theory argues that there were factors that pushed our tūpuna away from their islands of origin, and others that pulled our tūpuna towards other islands, including Aotearoa. Taonui (1994) adds that while overpopulation and conflict (as in the Nukutawhiti narrative) may have contributed to pushing our tūpuna away from Aotearoa, the pull of economic and political expansion was perhaps an even more important motivation. Taonui (1994) asserted that our tūpuna had more than sufficient resources and skill to construct durable sea-faring waka and send explorers into the Pacific in search of other islands. Islands throughout the Pacific teemed with aquatic life and many varieties of birds to the extent that it may have been the richest source of protein and fat in the world (Taonui 1994). Aotearoa was no exception, with an abundance of resources. It provided such a rich range of food that it took centuries of population growth for hapū to eventually settle in one geographical location and grow gardens and establish more permanent kāinga (homes) and pā (villages) (Walker 2004).Hei kōnei rā, e Te Puna i te Ao Mārama,Ka hoki nei tēnei, e kore e hoki anga nui maiGoodbye, Spring of the World of Light;This one is going home and will not return this way again
This wave was referred to in a song sung by children as the waka sped along on the crest of the wave, flanked by four taniwha (Kawharu 2008):Ngāpuhi te aewa—ka rere i runga i te ngaruNgāpuhi the wanderers—they sail over the waves
- Ngaru nui, ngaru roa, ngaru pae-whenua
- Te ngaru i mauria mai ai a Ngaa-toki-maataa-hou-rua
- Great wave, long wave, wave like a mountain range
- The wave that brought hither Ngaa-toki-maataa-hou-rua
As well as his proficiency with karakia, Nukutawhiti was a rangatira with immense navigational knowledge (Huygens et al. 2012). Nukutawhiti’s navigational knowledge is evident in multiple historical narratives. He used Kupe’s guidance regarding which stars to follow (Howearth 2003), and he also observed birds to estimate how close the waka was to land (Kaamira 1957). Stars and other celestial bodies were also used for navigation, particularly the sky, sun, moon, and planets, which were known as Te Whānau Mārama to Māori (Matamua 2017). According to Matamua (2017), special whare wānanga (houses of learning) called whare kōkōrangi were dedicated to teaching students about astronomy. Students of the whare kōkōrangi would learn “the names of hundreds of stars and constellations, their meanings, their signs and their connection to the activities of man on earth” (Matamua 2017, p. 2). As such, Matamua (2017) contended that when Māori and Europeans came together, it was widely recognised that Māori had a lot more astronomical knowledge than their European counterparts. The scientific understandings that Māori had relating to navigation—as used by Nukutawhiti—are just one example of scientific information and have been referred to as “the signposts of nature” (Walker 2004, p. 26). During his journey, Nukutawhiti recognised land-roosting seabirds and used this information to determine the proximity and direction of Aotearoa. This navigational technique was well established; navigators would use the presence of land-roosting seabirds to find land, observing them flying out into the ocean at around dawn to fish, and then returning to the islands at around dusk to roost (Taonui 1994). Thus, even the smallest islands just a few metres above sea-level could be detected and found by the presence of particular seabirds and a number of other ‘signposts of nature’, such as the swell, depth and colour of the ocean, seaweed and driftwood, and cloud patterns (Taonui 1994; Walker 2004). Walker (2004) stated that the experienced navigators could even smell the presence of land in a favourable wind. As well as watching the behaviour of wild birds, Taonui (1994) suggested that birds may have been trained by Māori and Oceanic explorers to find land.Ko te mauri he mea huna ki te moanaThe mauri [life principle or living source] is hidden in the sea.
Over the many years following the arrival Nukutawhiti—and of course, many more founding tūpuna who arrived both before and after him—waka hourua were replaced at different rates throughout the country by single-hulled waka. The reason for the change was that Aotearoa’s extensive land and resources meant that while the ocean was still used to source food and other resources, survival depended less on deep-sea voyages. Thus, the popular design became single-hulled waka that were better at navigating inland waterways and coastlines. Among these single-hulled waka were waka taua, which were adorned and carved waka with a large capacity that were often used for war, waka tētē, which were less intricately carved waka, often used to carry produce or people, and waka tīwai, which were smaller and narrower and carried small groups of people. These waka were crafted using much larger trees than those used in the Pacific, such as tōtara and kauri. The waka that were constructed were so stable that they did not require an outrigger (Barclay-Kerr 2006).Hokianga whakapau karakiaHokianga which exhausts prayers
4. Conclusions
Nō reira, tukuna ēnei kōrero kāmehameha, kia rangona whanuitia i Te Tai TokerauTherefore, distribute these precious stories, so that they are heard widely around Northland
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
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Webber, M.; O’Connor, K. A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru: Using Whakapapa as a Pedagogical Tool in Education. Genealogy 2019, 3, 41. https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3030041
Webber M, O’Connor K. A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru: Using Whakapapa as a Pedagogical Tool in Education. Genealogy. 2019; 3(3):41. https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3030041
Chicago/Turabian StyleWebber, Melinda, and Kapua O’Connor. 2019. "A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru: Using Whakapapa as a Pedagogical Tool in Education" Genealogy 3, no. 3: 41. https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3030041
APA StyleWebber, M., & O’Connor, K. (2019). A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru: Using Whakapapa as a Pedagogical Tool in Education. Genealogy, 3(3), 41. https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3030041