A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru: Using Whakapapa as a Pedagogical Tool in Education

Abstract

The numerous iwi (tribes) and hapū (subtribes) of Te Tai Tokerau (Northland) have a long whakapapa (genealogy) of influential leaders that have made a significant impact on the Māori world and beyond. However, ruinous media narratives that focus without relent on poverty, low employment, inadequate housing, and lagging educational outcomes—particularly among Māori—continue to negatively impact the ways students from this region define their identity. This paper presents a number of strengths-based narratives—focusing on tūpuna (ancestors) from Te Tai Tokerau whakapapa—that act as counter-narratives to this rhetoric. The paper discusses how these narratives can be used as powerful pedagogical tools that enhance Te Tai Tokerau Māori students’ self-efficacy, aspiration, optimism, and cultural pride, presenting them as powerful agents of their own destiny. This paper draws on data produced from a Marsden-funded study—led by Te Tai Tokerau descendents—that has collected and re-presented multifaceted hapū/iwi-based narratives that celebrate Te Tai Tokerau distinctiveness, success, history, and identity. This wider study has examined, contextualised, and celebrated diverse characteristics recurring in Te Tai Tokerau pūrākau (genealogical stories), pepeha (tribal sayings), waiata (songs), karakia (incantations), televisual materials, and written histories.

1. Introduction

Hineāmaru was a Ngāti Hine rangatira (leader) of great mana (power, status, reputation) who was famed for her fearless leadership of her tribe, her agricultural skills, her sharp intellect, and the fire in her belly regarding the sovereignty of Ngāti Hine. Hineāmaru’s mother was Hauhaua, who was the daughter of Uenuku and the granddaughter of the famous Ngāpuhi ancestor, Rāhiri. Her father was Torongare, of Ngāti Kahu. After Torongare fell out with his wife’s people, they left Waimamaku in search of fertile land (Shortland 2012). Some sources report that when her mother Hauhaua died after a long journey from Waimamaku to Waiōmio and her father Torongare became old and no longer possessed the strength to lead the hapū, Hineāmaru—as the eldest child—immediately became the rangatira (Rerekura 2006). Without delay, she led expeditions into the Waiōmio Valley, to the fishing grounds and pipi (an edible shellfish) gathering areas, and she had the dead rātā trees burned and the land cleared for the planting of their crops (Shortland 2012). Kūmara was planted in three ways—‘rapiki’ (with the stem facing east), ‘retu’ (facing north), and ‘ratou’ (facing west)—and the resultant crops were so abundant that Ngāti Hine decided to settle in Waiōmio permanently (Rerekura 2006). This location, as well as much of the land surrounding it, is still Ngāti Hine land today. Hineāmaru is still revered in contemporary Māori narratives as an ancestor who demonstrated great industry, fortitude, and proficiency. This important narrative, among innumerable others, should be something that Māori students from Te Tai Tokerau learn at school. The fact that many children educated in Te Tai Tokerau descend from this ancestor means that it would be a source of immense cultural pride, aspiration, and inspiration. Learning about inspirational figures from their own whakapapa could both motivate Māori students and foster a greater interest in education. In essence, these stories would come together to teach and remind Māori students that they descend from greatness.

Educating students about Māori knowledge, whakapapa, and ways of knowing the world can be considered a decolonising project. It is a project that encourages Māori students to challenge the persistent rhetoric relating to Māori underachievement and deficit and instead consider the many ways Māori have not only survived but thrived despite the systematic devaluing, minimisation, and misrepresentation of Māori identity, culture, and knowledge systems throughout history. Thiong’o (1986) described this “destruction or deliberate undervaluing of a people’s culture, their art, dances, religions, history, geography, education, orature, and literature, and the conscious elevation of the language and culture of the coloniser” (p. 16) as a ‘cultural bomb’. He further stated that “the effect of a cultural bomb is to annihilate a people’s belief in their names, in their languages, in their environment, in their heritage of struggle, in their unity, in their capacities and ultimately in themselves” (p. 3). Decolonisation starts to occur when children understand that even though centuries of colonial education have methodically disparaged and interrupted Māori ways of seeing, being, and interacting in the world, we can still live and learn ‘as Māori’. The recovery of Māori knowledge through schooling can be a conscious and systematic effort to revalue that which has been denigrated and revive that which has been dismantled. Vizenor (1999) used the term ‘survivance’ to refer to the ways Indigenous people seek out strengths-based stories. Vizenor (1999) argued that strengths accounts tell us about the competencies of individuals and groups under imposed, trying circumstances, and that when Indigenous students hear stories about themselves, or find themselves positively portrayed in stories, they learn about the ‘truth’ of who they are and can be. Whakapapa narratives are inherently stories of survivance; they are about regaining ways of being that allow Māori students to be culturally proud and secure in their knowledge that their whakapapa (genealogy, history, and connectedness to all things in the universe) comprises narratives filled with persistence, aspiration, and accomplishment.

Māori communities throughout Aotearoa (New Zealand) have experienced a resurgence of interest in traditional knowledge and practices that are associated with educational success, health, and well-being. Despite this, education remains one of those areas that has been difficult to reconcile. While most Māori would agree that some formalised education in the mainstream system is necessary for us to survive in the modern world, there still exists immense distrust in the schooling system that has historically treated Māori identities, culture, and language so brutally (Pihama and Lee-Morgan 2018). Even in contemporary times, Māori scientific knowledge and wisdom has little uptake in schools responsible for teaching our children, despite persistent calls by Māori for comprehensive change (Manning and Harrison 2018). Thus, rather than facilitating a liberating and empowering educational experience, Māori ways of knowing continue to be ignored and erased in most schools, and many Māori students leave school rather than subject themselves to an experience that implicitly or explicitly denigrates who they are (Webber and Macfarlane 2018).

Some researchers have argued that school failure is connected to the process of students doing ‘identity work’ in response to experiences of racism (Smyth et al. 2004; Webber 2011). Whether Indigenous students stay engaged at school or not depends on (a) “the sense they make of themselves, their community and their future” (Smyth et al. 2004, p. 131) and (b) “the adaptive strategies they use to accept, modify, or resist the institutional identities made available to them” (Fraser et al. 1997, p. 222). Many Māori students must undertake extra identity work to cope with racism at school, and succeeding is certainly much more difficult if the context seems like a foreign country in which they are outsiders. This incongruity means that the choice to ‘disengage’ is easy if they are, as Smyth et al. (2004, p. 131) put it, “living in one reality at home, in another reality with peers and then negotiating another reality at school”. In this situation, academic demotivation, school disengagement, and underachievement seem inevitable.

One component of racism within an educational context is the ways Western pedagogies, knowledge, and curriculum are prioritised (Webber et al. 2018). In privileging whakapapa as Māori knowledge revitalisation in the education space, we can challenge the powerful institutions of colonisation that have routinely demoralised Māori students and dismissed Māori knowledge and ways of being as irrelevant to a modern education (Pihama and Lee-Morgan 2018). Because Māori have traditionally been denied access to the educational power structures that legitimise such knowledge, this article has offered us a rare scholarly opportunity to demonstrate the numerous ways integrating whakapapa in the education of Māori students can be validating and motivating. It is important to note that this project has been much more than an academic endeavour undertaken to broaden curriculum and enrich culturally responsive pedagogy. Rather, our goal has been to promote Māori whakapapa and knowledge in the broader context of Māori student empowerment and flourishing.

2. Whakapapa as Pedagogy: A Social–Psychological Imperative

In the Māori world, whakapapa is one of the most esteemed forms of knowledge, and great efforts have been made to retain it. According to Barlow (1991), “whakapapa is the genealogical descent of all living things from the gods to the present time; whakapapa is a basis for the organisation of knowledge in respect of the creation and development of all things” (p. 173). Whakapapa informs relationships and provides the foundation for connectedness to our past through ancestors, to the present through family, and to the future through children and grandchildren (Cheung 2008). However, whakapapa is not only about personal identity: It also connects an individual to multiple whānau (family), hapū (subtribes), and iwi (tribes), who share a common whakapapa. Through these linkages, whakapapa determines personal, collective, and whānau identities, positioning, and connectedness (Berryman 2008). Moreover, according to Moko Mead (2003), whakapapa knowledge is intrinsic to belonging in a social and political collective. In this way, whakapapa is essential to almost every aspect of a Māori world view. Smith (2000a) asserted that “whakapapa is a way of thinking, a way of learning, a way of storing knowledge, and a way of debating knowledge. It is inscribed in virtually every aspect of our worldview” and acts as a “fundamental form of knowing: it functions as an epistemological template” (p. 234). Knowledge of whakapapa is therefore a critical component of Māori identity development.

There is a strong relationship between the affirmation of Māori identity, social connectedness, and the educational outcomes of Māori students (Durie 2001; Webber 2008). The assertion is that a positive sense of Māori identity, experienced as cultural competence, cultural efficacy, and ethnic group pride, can improve the educational, health, and well-being outcomes of Māori, in part by triggering a resilient response to any negative experiences at school (Jetten et al. 2014; Ministry of Education 2013; Stuart and Jose 2014). Generally, positive Māori identity has been defined in terms of whakapapa and a close attachment to other Māori familial kinship groups, such as whānau, hapū, and iwi, as well as positive self-identification as Māori, an understanding of Māori language and culture, and involvement in Māori social and cultural activities (Houkamau and Sibley 2010, 2011; Stevenson 2004). It has been contended that the fundamental building block in relation to Māori identity is whakapapa and genealogical linkages (Smith 2000b; Te Rangi Hīroa 1949). It is also evident that Māori identity is a dynamic phenomenon predicated on social belonging and connectedness, and many of these factors necessarily manifest differently in different social contexts (Webber and Macfarlane 2018). The need for social belonging, for seeing oneself as socially connected, is a basic human motivation (MacDonald and Leary 2005), and a sense of social connectedness predicts favourable outcomes (Stuart and Jose 2014). A positive sense of Māori identity plays an important role in healthy adjustment and school functioning and can have a significant influence on how Māori students deal with adverse circumstances (Webber 2012).

In this paper, we are interested in using whakapapa—and the recovery of Māori story-telling and knowledge—as a pedagogical tool to mitigate some of the contemporary social–psychological issues facing Māori students in educational settings. According to Smith (2005), decolonisation must be initiated by the colonised themselves. The revitalisation of Māori traditional knowledge has to begin in Māori communities and among Māori people, not only because in most instances, we are the holders of the knowledge, but also so that we can prevent that knowledge from being misrepresented and misused by others. Fortunately, there are already people and initiatives that incorporate Māori knowledge into educational environments where Māori identities, language, and cultures are reinforced and celebrated through the explicit inclusion and teaching of whakapapa narratives (Webber and Macfarlane 2018).

2.1. Whakapapa Narratives and Māori Success in Education

In Aotearoa, as around the world, large numbers of Māori students still encounter culturally dissonant learning environments in schools. Many of these students experience serious challenges, in part because of a striking mismatch between their learning experiences in family and community contexts, and the expectations, perceptions, and teaching styles of many of those who are working in education. In Aotearoa, research has moved from focusing on Māori deficit and difference in relation to education—which Biggs (1961) argued was one of the considerable flaws to the 1961 ‘Hunn Report’—to research which has focussed on the psychological effect of Maori students’ self-concept on their motivation to engage and achieve in education (Rubie-Davies 2015; Webber 2012). The most recent positioning, that ‘Māori learners enjoy education success as Māori’, has its foundation in the theoretical underpinnings of the New Zealand Government’s Māori Education Strategy—Ka Hikitia: Managing for Success 2008–2012 (Ministry of Education 2008). This document included strengths-based propositions about notions of Māori potential, cultural advantage, and inherent capability (Ministry of Education 2008). In 2013, the strategy was refreshed to become Ka Hikitia: Accelerating Success 2013–2017 (Ministry of Education 2013). This iteration asserted that:

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)

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?”

2.2. A Brief History of Te Tai Tokerau

Te Tai Tokerau has an epic history of powerful leaders who have had a positive impact in the Māori world and beyond. Yet, inaccurate historical materials and continuous media misrepresentation would have Māori students believe that our region can only be defined by a lack of jobs, inadequate housing, and lagging educational outcomes (Te Rūnanga-ā-iwi o Ngāpuhi 2014). This historical erasure threatens the prosperity of Tai Tokerau. A new narrative is needed, one that counters the deficit stories of poverty, hopelessness, and underachievement that Te Tai Tokerau students have internalised for generations. Moana Jackson (1999) insisted that “we have to reclaim the right to define ourselves, who we are, and what our rights are. We have to challenge definitions that are not our own especially those which confine us to a subordinate place” (p. 75).

Our project has illustrated that the story of Te Tai Tokerau is about their incredible deeds in navigating and exploring the vast Pacific region before their arrival in Aotearoa. It is about the ways that thriving communities were established on the various islands en route to Aotearoa (Taonui 1994; Salmond 2017). It is a narrative of settlement, resettlement, and iwi relationships (Mutu et al. 2017; Sadler 2014; Sissons et al. 2001). The narrative demonstrates the ways various leaders in Te Tai Tokerau purposefully negotiated with the first wave of European settlers in the late eighteenth century both here in Aotearoa and through diplomatic trips further afield to places like Australia and Britain (Jones and Jenkins 2011). Our tupuna both adapted to and vehemently resisted colonisation and its consequent impacts on iwi, challenging the unjust dispossession of Te Tai Tokerau land, traditions, and language (Huygens et al. 2012). It is important that Māori students learn about the story of how Te Tai Tokerau adapted, took advantage of opportunities, and thrived in the face of change.

Prior to 1840, the hapū of Te Tai Tokerau were integral players in the Pacific region’s economy. Their approach then, as now, was driven by a culturally distinct world view and a hunger for economic development and hapū and iwi enterprise (Salmond 1991). Tai Tokerau’s pursuit of knowledge and self-determination was purposed by an obligation to maintain the intergenerational wellbeing of people whilst upholding the capacity of collective tribal advancement (Petrie 2006). The degree to which these values inspire iwi endeavours has not diminished. Indeed, adherence to these values has enabled the cultural distinctiveness of Te Tai Tokerau to endure.

In addition, some of the most significant law changes in Aotearoa have come about because of contemporary Te Tai Tokerau leadership and/or initiation. Te Tai Tokerau leaders have been at the forefront of significant progress in Aotearoa’s political system, including: Dame Whina Cooper, who in 1975 led the Māori Land March to stop the further alienation of Māori land (King 1983); Minister of Māori Affairs Matiu Rata, who spearheaded the formation of the Waitangi Tribunal (McDowell 2015); and Sir Graham Latimer who, as Chair of the Māori Council, took issues including Māori language, fisheries, and broadcasting before the Waitangi Tribunal and into the High Court (Harrison 2002). Many other Te Tai Tokerau leaders have also been at the forefront of making changes and winning gains for the whole of Māoridom notably Dame Mira Szaszy, Sir James Henare, and the Reverend Māori Marsden.

However, the educational data regarding Māori student achievement in Te Tai Tokerau is disheartening. Recent statistics show that in 2015 only 72.9% of Māori students in the Te Tai Tokerau region left school with NCEA level 2 or equivalent, compared to 76.1% of Pasifika students, 88.6% of Pākehā (New Zealand European) students, and 96.8% of Asian students, which translates into lower-paid and lower-quality jobs (Ministry of Education 2017). Statistics expose the continuous emigration of the young Te Tai Tokerau workforce to Australia in pursuit of economic prosperity and wellbeing (Te Rūnanga-ā-iwi o Ngāpuhi 2014). Those who remain behind feature at the highest levels of socioeconomic deprivation in the country, with few achieving retirement before being afflicted by health conditions directly associated with financial poverty as well as loss of hope. Life expectancy for Māori from the Te Tai Tokerau region is 7–10 years less than for non-Māori (Te Tai Tokerau Iwi Chief Executives’ Consortium 2015).

Persistent poor educational outcomes for Māori suggest that programmes of learning need to be redesigned to raise the cultural efficacy and the academic expectations Māori students have of themselves, with a view to improving their motivation and educational outcomes. Despite the educational success of a number of Māori individuals, the statistics show that the western schooling system has often been problematic and usually not worked for Māori as a collective (Pihama and Lee-Morgan 2018). The statistics bear this out. The current models of education need to be revolutionised to inspire a love for learning, a sense of cultural pride, and the realisation of Māori success and potential. This project consequently identified two priority areas: (1) to produce repositories of Te Tai Tokerau knowledge that will enable Māori students to learn about their rich history, whakapapa, and culture, and (2) to reinforce the importance of Te Tai Tokerau history to instil cultural pride and aspiration in students. In the words of Keri Kaa (cited in King 1999, p. 184):

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

How can narratives embedded in our whakapapa be used as a pedagogical tool to inspire and reinforce the identity of Māori students from Te Tai Tokerau? Narratives collected throughout ‘A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru’ showed that our tūpuna were tenacious, determined, entrepreneurial, competitive, peacemakers, political, navigators, explorers, forward-thinking, tactical, and innovative. In this section, we introduce readers to three tūpuna that exemplify some of these qualities. The examples are intentionally short and succinct, because further detail is well beyond the scope of this article. Instead, the purpose is to reach into the bank of stories about tūpuna from Te Tai Tokerau and illustrate the depth and breadth of narratives that we are recrafting in this project.

Firstly, Rāwiri Taiwhanga from Ngāti Tautahi and Ngāpuhi was one of the many rangatira from Te Tai Tokerau who flourished economically during the early to mid-19th century. This time period was known as the ‘golden age’ for Māori economically, because hapū and rangatira (Māori chiefs) featured heavily in both domestic and international business and enterprise and were wealthy in both property and money (Waitangi Tribunal 2014). Like many rangatira of the time, Taiwhanga held multiple positions in the early 1800s. He was one of Hongi Hika’s toa (warriors) and participated in many war expeditions. Known as an exceptionally brave rangatira, he saved another Ngāpuhi rangatira Moka during battle. Alongside participating in battle, Taiwhanga was also honing his horticultural and agricultural knowledge, both on the Kerikeri Mission Station and then in Sydney with Samuel Marsden. Once back in Aotearoa, Taiwhanga worked at another mission station and grew a flourishing garden, while his wife Mata Rawa of Te Arawa operated a laundry business. Five years later, Taiwhanga was simultaneously running a school and went into business himself, establishing a farm in east Kaikohe. Before long, Taiwhanga had successfully established a thriving farm and was selling produce—mostly butter—to a merchant in the Bay of Islands. This made Taiwhanga Aotearoa’s first commercial dairy farmer (Petrie 2006).

Secondly, Pōroa (from Te Rarawa) and Whangatauatia (from Te Aupōuri) were two rangatira who orchestrated peace between their respective iwi. Hohou rongo (peacemaking) was an important concept in the Māori political system—a key part of restoring equilibrium (Mead 2003). In the Māori world, there are many different types of peace. For example, rongo is peace directly after war, rongomau is peace that had been firmly established, long-enduring peace is called rongo taketake, and everlasting peace is called tatau pounamu (Mead 2003). In the early 1800s, conflict had erupted between the two iwi after a number of important people had been killed on each side. A series of battles had led to a battle at Waimīmiha. In this battle, Whangatauatia’s uncle, Te Kākā was killed. Whangatauatia, known as a woman of immense capability in battle, stood between her uncle’s body and Te Rarawa, holding her greenstone mere (hand weapon). Pōroa noticed her bravery, but another battle between the two iwi went ahead at Honuhonu. Part way through the battle, Pōroa asserted his mana and withdrew his war party. He then drew a land in the sand, saying the land to the south would be his, and the land to the north Te Aupōuri’s (Cloher 2002; Metge 2002). This is why Te Oneroa a Tōhē (Ninety Mile Beach) is also known as Te Oneroa i haea a Pōroa, or ‘The long beach divided by Pōroa’. In the peace negotiations that ensued, Pōroa and Whangatauatia were married, a common method for firmly entrenching peace, as the subsequent children would have whakapapa connections to both iwi (Mead 2003). Pōroa also called one of the Te Rarawa mountains Whangatauatia, often referred to in Te Rarawa pepeha (Kawharu 2008).

Thirdly, Te Ruki Kāwiti of Ngāti Hine and Ngāpuhi fought alongside Hone Heke Pōkai against the British Crown and their Māori allies. While Heke was known as the political mastermind, Kāwiti is known for building and redesigning a series of pā (a fortified village) that were almost impenetrable. What was so impressive about these pā was that Kāwiti showed great innovation in terms of accounting for new technology, muskets, and canons that were brought by the British. A fortified pā built by Kāwiti in Ohaeawai was considered the perfect pā in many respects (Belich 2013). The outer palisade was called the pekerangi, and the second palisade was called kiri tangata. Behind these two palisades was a third one. Tied onto the front side of the pekerangi were freshly cut bundles of harakeke (flax), which Kāwiti used to soften the impact of cannonballs and musket fire. Kāwiti also used angles of the pekerangi to create flanks, so that when the British attacked, they were under fire from the front and both sides. Mounted on these angles were four cannons. The kiri tangata was the strongest palisade, using pūriri trees that were the least prone to splintering. The kiri tangata was constructed using whole trees, so large that it took 30 people to move them. The trees were secured no less than two metres deep into the ground. Cut into the adjacent pūriri of the kiri tangata were V-shaped cut-outs, and on the inner side of the kiri tangata, Kāwiti dug trenches. The trenches allowed his people to crouch on elevated platforms and fire through the V-shaped cut-outs in the kiri tangata, under the pekerangi which was raised at regular intervals by 30 cm. Thus, the warriors inside Ohaeawai could fire their guns behind two palisades, with a nearly impossible chance of being hit by the British musketeers. Behind the third palisade was an underground living quarters, where a contingent of the pā defenders (including women and children) were busy preparing food and water and melting down lead for bullets. There was also an observation platform inside the third palisade, where people could view the entire battlefield and the enemy camp (Cowan 1957). In total, Kāwiti’s pā withstood six days of cannon bombardment from the ‘Redcoats’ (the Pākehā soldiers). Over the six days, only the British suffered casualties. Colonel Despard finally ordered a direct attack on Ohaeawai, which was disastrous for the British. Given the ingenious design of the pekerangi, kiri tangata, and the cushioning bundles of harakeke, the British attackers had no chance of getting into Kawiti’s pā. The British were soundly defeated at Ohaeawai. It was resounding victory for Heke and Kāwiti, elevating the latter to be considered a pā architect and war strategist of immense ability (Cowan 1957). After the war was over, the British sent military engineers to Ruapekapeka (the third pā designed by Kāwiti), and a scale model was built. The plans were discussed in the House of Commons and the strategy used in the Battle of Crimea in 1853 and by the Allies in World War One (Butler 2007).

These three brief stories exemplify some of the diverse narratives of success, achievement, and ingenuity embedded in Te Tai Tokerau whakapapa.

Ngaru Nui, Ngaru Roa, Ngaru Paewhenua, Nukutawhiti’s Voyage to Aotearoa

While the preceding section provided brief summaries about three Te Tai Tokerau tūpuna, this section goes into depth about the story of Nukutawhiti, the captain of the Ngātokimatawhaorua waka. This section also couches the narrative in mātauranga Māori and research related to Polynesian and Māori navigation and exploration. This whakapapa narrative could be used in schools as a pedagogical tool designed to: (1) convey important educative lessons, (2) help Māori students to understand how a complex task was undertaken in traditional times, and (3) evoke a sense of deep cultural pride. We invite readers to contemplate how the following narrative about Nukutawhiti might be used in schools and educational institutions to ignite Māori student motivation.

Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa is the largest ocean on Earth, equating to approximately one-third of the Earth’s surface area (Taonui 1994). Despite its expanse, it was traversed and populated by our tūpuna, who engineered waka hourua (double-hulled deep-sea voyaging vessels). While the approximate date that the first voyagers landed in Aotearoa has been the cause of much debate, it is believed that Aotearoa was the third and final destination for Polynesian navigators (Evans 1997; Taonui 1994). Despite some attempts to argue that Aotearoa was settled in a single voyage, overwhelming evidence suggests that multiple and successive voyages to Aotearoa took place (Taonui 1994). A key source of evidence are oral narratives, which document the many waka that landed in Aotearoa, the captains, and other significant figures on board. The discovery and subsequent population of Aotearoa elevated the captains, the navigators, the tohunga, and other important members of the crew to people of great significance and mana (Barlow 1991; Walker 2004).

One of the names that was passed down was Nukutawhiti, who has important whakapapa links throughout Te Tai Tokerau, with particularly close links to Ngāpuhi and Te Rarawa (Evans 1997; Kawharu 2008). Nukutawhiti’s narrative starts with Kupe, who is referred to as Nukutawhiti’s grandfather, his father-in-law, and his uncle in various retellings. Kupe was the captain of the Matawhaorua waka, which travelled from Hawaiki to Aotearoa. Kupe travelled extensively around Aotearoa, naming many geographical locations. One of these places was Te Puna i te Ao Marama, most commonly known today as the Hokianga Harbour. According to Rereata Mākiha, who was interviewed on Waka Huia in 2018, Te Puna i te Ao Marama was named because of the different light conditions observed by Kupe and his people (Wright 2018). According to Mākiha, Kupe observed that the sun set earlier in this new place, but the light would still linger after sunset. Light would also precede sunrise in the morning. These conditions were different from what was familiar back in the islands of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa and as such, Kupe called the harbour Te Puna i te Ao Marama, or ‘The Pool of Light’ (Wright 2018). When Kupe departed Te Puna i te Ao Marama to return to Hawaiki, he said the following words, now a Te Tai Tokerau pepeha (tribal saying):

Hei kōnei rā, e Te Puna i te Ao Mārama,

Ka hoki nei tēnei, e kore e hoki anga nui mai

Goodbye, Spring of the World of Light;

This one is going home and will not return this way again

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).

When Nukutawhiti decided to leave Hawaiki for Hokianga, he knew he needed a waka hourua to traverse Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. While Kupe’s navigational skills are well-known, what is less known about him is that he was also a master of waka craftsmanship and whakairo (carving). Indeed, after completing his return voyage to Aotearoa, Kupe and Tokaakuaku re-adzed the Matawhaorua with their toki (adzes) called Ngāpakitua and Tauaira. The re-adzed waka was renamed Ngātokimatawhourua (the additional ‘ngātoki’, meaning ‘the adzes’) and was captained by Nukutawhiti. Taonui (1994) argued that the main difficulties associated with long voyages were the time and resources required to build waka, as well as assembling a crew and a sufficient food and water to sustain them. Despite some claims that single-hulled waka with an outrigger were used, it is generally agreed upon that longer journeys required the stability and the extra capacity of double-hulled waka (Taonui 1994; Walker 2004). These waka were immense, and each keel was crafted from whole tree trunks that were chopped down and hollowed out for added buoyancy. Younger tree trunks were heated over a fire until they split, and waka builders would then cut them into planks using mallets and wedges. These planks were used to build up the sides of the hull and the deck that spanned the two hulls. There were many different methods to ensure that waka were watertight. For example, Hawai’ian techniques (along with Tahitian, Cook Island, and Tuamotuan techniques used by Polynesians) saw waka builders cut rebates into the hulls and the planks, so that they could be slotted together. They then caulked (sealed) the joins with breadfruit sap and drilled holes at regular intervals along the planks and the hulls so that they could be tied together with sennit (plainted cordage) (Taonui 1994). Waka hourua were expansive, indeed; when Captain Cook travelled through the Pacific, he noted some waka hourua that were used for inter-island travel and carrying products that were bigger, both in terms of width and length, than his own boat, the HMS Endeavour (Taonui 1994).

Nukutawhiti’s many karakia that he issued throughout Ngātokimatawhaorua’s crossing are an important part of this narrative. Walker (2004) has argued that the role of tohunga and those proficient with karakia was as essential as the skills and knowledge of the navigators. Most tohunga would use karakia to calm the ocean for the impending voyage, but Nukutawhiti is said to have performed a karakia that whipped up wild weather. This weather created the famous wave that carried Ngātokimatawhaorua across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, some claim in just three days and three nights (Kaamira 1957). This mode of transport is indicated in the following pepeha:

Ngāpuhi te aewa—ka rere i runga i te ngaru

Ngāpuhi the wanderers—they sail over the waves

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):

• 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

‘Ngaru paewhenua’ has also been translated as ‘shoreward wave’, as it was the wave that guided Ngātokimatawhaorua into the Hokianga Harbour (Kereama 1968). Kereama (1968) and Sadler (2014) also point out that the significance of this wave is embedded in whakapapa, as Nukutawhiti begat Ngarunui, Ngarunui begat Ngaruroa, and Ngaruroa begat Ngarupaewhenua. As well as the taniwha who accompanied Ngātokimatawhaorua, Walker (2004) says that while out in the ocean, ocean mammals such as whales and dolphins as well as some types of sharks were the embodiment of ancestors’ spirits, accompanying the waka in the role of guardians. Some way through the voyage, the taniwha become trapped in Kahukura’s net, which Sadler (2014) says is a metaphor for reefs. Nukutawhiti and the tohunga Pātara (sometimes referred to as Papatara) issued karakia to free the taniwha. Finally, when Ngātokimatawhaorua arrived at Hokianga, the rough ocean forced the waka towards rocks, so Nukutawhiti recited another karakia that calmed the ocean and then cast his amokura (highly prized red feather) into the ocean as a gift to Tāne and Tangaroa. Because of this, some Ngāpuhi believe that their mauri can be found in the ocean (Kawharu 2008):

Ko te mauri he mea huna ki te moana

The mauri [life principle or living source] is hidden in the sea.

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.

After the Ngātokimatawhaorua came into the Hokianga Harbour, the people set up on the northern side of the harbour. Ruanui, the captain of the waka Māmari, also arrived in the Hokianga Harbour and set up on the southern side. One of the first major undertakings by both rangatira was to build whare wānanga to preserve and disseminate the knowledge that they had brought with them. Ruanui’s whare wānanga was called either Te Whatu-pungapuna or Te Āraiteuru, and Nukutawhiti’s was called Te Pouahi. Nukutawhiti wanted to complete his whare wānanga at the same time as Ruanui so that they could undertake the opening ceremonies together; however, Ruanui completed his first. To celebrate completing his whare, Ruanui performed a karakia that lured a whale onto his side of the harbour. Nukutawhiti, seeing the whale beach on the shore, went to the ocean on his side of the harbour and performed a karakia to the atua (god) Marutawhiti. This karakia began to wash the whale back out to sea. Ruanui then performed his own karakia to pull it back towards the beach. A battle of karakia ensued, with each rangatira reciting multiple karakia, refusing to let the other win. Finally, both rangatira exhausted their entire repertoire of karakia, and the battle came to an end (Kaamira 1957). This story is why the Hokianga has yet another name, marked in the following pepeha (Kawharu 2008):

Hokianga whakapau karakia

Hokianga which exhausts prayers

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).

The construction of waka hourua almost disappeared in Aotearoa. However, in contemporary times, a number of people have been involved in the revitalization of both crafting waka hourua as well as rediscovering (and using) traditional navigational techniques. One of these people was Sir Hekenukumaingaiwi (Hek) Busby, who had whakapapa connections to Te Rarawa and Ngāti Kahu, as well as other Hiku o te Ika (tail of the fish) iwi and hapū. Hek was a bridge builder for much of his working life, but after seeing the recrafted waka taua Ngātokimatawhaorua (named after Nukutawhiti’s waka hourua) in 1974, he crafted two of his own waka taua. Given the success of his waka taua and inspired by contemporary waka hourua such as the Hokule’a and the Hawaikinui, Hek decided to craft his own waka hourua. This he did, crafting the waka hourua Te Aurere, which sailed from Aotearoa to Rarotonga for the 1992 Festival of Pacific Arts, recreating a journey similar to that taken by Hek’s tupuna Tūmoana many hundreds of years before him (Evans 2015). Hek gained a reputation as a tohunga tārai waka, or a master waka builder, and constructed many waka taua, waka tīwai, waka tētē, and a number of waka hourua (Evans 2015). Alongside Hek’s natural talent was an ability to learn from those more with more experience than him. For example, Taupuhi Eruera, who was probably in his late 70s at the time, shared a lot of wisdom with Hek about waka building, especially relating to selecting the right trees to build waka. Eruera told him to select trees that stood in a southwestern direction on a ridge, facing the harsh weather. The side exposed to the rough weather was said to grow more slowly and would be denser and, thus, more suitable for the hull of waka, in that the density of the wood at the bottom of the boat would add stability. After chopping the tree down, the heavier side could also be determined by either floating it in water, whereby the heavier side would be at the bottom, or studying a cross-section of the tree, the heavier side being closer to the heart of the tree (Evans 2015). Another example of Hek’s committment to learning was how he learnt the names and locations of the stars and other celestial bodies. Hek said that before starting, he did not even know how to locate the Southern Cross, but he spent many evenings sitting in his Aurere home studying the skies over Doubtless Bay, and soon, the previously unknown stars and constellations began to have names, which he learnt in Māori and Hawai’ian, as well as by their Western scientific names (Evans 2015). It is important to note that Sir Hekenukumaingaiwi Busby died at the time this paper was being written, so we would like to acknowledge his immense contribution to te ao Māori (the Māori world) and his status as a tohunga tārai waka. E te rangatira—e pūkatokato ana te puna o te ao marama mōu. Hoki tau ai koe kua wheturangihia, oki oki atu rā.

This narrative has presented Nukutawhiti as an illustrious and inspiring ancestor. He was a rangatira possessing immense scientific knowledge and navigational skill. He was adept with karakia and was a fearless trailblazer, using karakia to stir up the wild weather to propel his people towards Aotearoa. He was a rangatira who thought that the transmission of knowledge was so vital that his first act in Aotearoa was to build a whare wānanga. He was fiercely competitive, engaging in a battle of karakia with Ruanui until both had exhausted their entire repertoire. As well as being a leader himself, he was also influenced by others, following in the footsteps of his own tupuna Kupe, whose navigational advice guided Nukutawhiti to the Hokianga. He was prepared to seek help when he needed it, calling on the tohunga Pātara to help him to free the taniwha.

This comprehensive narrative about Nukutawhiti has been retold to help Māori students to rediscover and understand the underpinning motivations, skills, and capability of their ancestors, with regard to ocean voyaging, the construction of waka hourua, navigational techniques, and the important role of tohunga. We have also sought to ground the narratives in relevant mātauranga Māori and research. For example, Nukutawhiti’s proficiency as a navigator was used as a springboard to discuss in more detail a range of navigational techniques used by our tūpuna when navigating Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. This has helped to emphasise that Nukutawhiti was never operating in isolation, but instead, he was drawing from a pre-existing and continually developing pool of collective knowledge and techniques created by those who explored the Pacific before him.

4. Conclusions

In the discussion section above, the story of Nukutawhiti was used as an example of how a whakapapa narrative can be a pedagogical tool for enhancing the motivation and interest in learning for Māori students. This approach has been referred to as “culturally revitalising pedagogy” in that it “serves the needs of Indigenous communities, as defined by those communities” (McCarty and Lee 2014, p. 103). Narratives like this one can be evidence of the ways Māori knowledge systems hold powerful learnings about the past, present, and future—promoting worldviews, teachings, and technologies developed and sustained by generations of Māori ancestors. Whakapapa narratives like this can serve as a solid foundation for transformational learning, positive identity development, academic motivation, innovation, and intellectual and social development (Webber and Macfarlane 2018). Gay (2010) has long suggested that teachers use “the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make encounters more relevant to and effective for them” (p. 31). Penetito (2009) described this as place-based education and argued that this pedagogical approach focuses on the question: What is this place and what is our relationship to it? Place-based education essentially draws on the significant features, characteristics, history, and personalities of the land or place where students are born, raised, and educated, thereby creating a synergy between what is being learnt and the unique context of the surrounding ecology. It teaches ‘through’ rather than ‘about’ culture and encompasses ecological studies, biodiversity, community education, and community relations, local history, and sustainable development (Barnhardt 2005).

It is also evident that we need to increase Māori participation and achievement in education by actively countering the persistent negative stereotypes and media misrepresentations that suppress their achievement. We must retell whakapapa narratives that accurately incorporate historical context; narratives that highlight Māori strengths including their connectedness to the land, the centrality of family and community, and a holistic approach towards well-being, as well as the diversity present within approaches to Māori scientific practices. We must encourage Māori students to acknowledge and see their ancestors in the physical environment because this is akin to acknowledging and seeing oneself in the environment (Patterson 1992). Patterson (1992) explained that, as ancestors are present in the everyday world, it is just a matter of viewing the world as the world of ancestors. This relates to acknowledging and taking pride in ancestral heritage and recognising the contributions ancestors have made to tribal culture, etiquette and values.

Nukutawhiti’s narrative is only one of many narratives that have been crafted in ‘A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru’. Furthermore, the narratives collected in the broader project are only a small fraction of all the narratives that could be written about Te Tai Tokerau success and thriving. Given the vast array of qualities discussed in our research, focussing as much on our rangatira wāhine (female leaders) as our rangatira tāne (male leaders), we hope that Māori students with whakapapa connections to Te Tai Tokerau will find a number of narratives that resonate with them. For some students, it may be that their tūpuna act as role models for them. Māori students from Te Tai Tokerau have already indicated that role models, living or dead, are key for their educational success (Webber et al. 2018). Indeed, Hek Busby talked about the significance of his tupuna, Tūmoana as an inspirational figure for him, before he became a renowned waka builder and ocean navigator himself.

To address the disengagement of Māori students from schooling, we must help them to develop a sense of embedded achievement (Altschul et al. 2006). Embedded achievement refers to believing that ‘being Māori’ involves valuing and achieving in academics (Webber and Macfarlane 2018). A Māori student with a sense of embedded achievement understands that success and thriving is a key part of being Māori and a way to enact their Māori identity. They also understand that their success helps other Māori to succeed. In essence, Māori students must believe they can be successful and flourish educationally because they are Māori, not despite being Māori. Additionally, research has shown that a positive sense of Māori identity is correlated to educational success (Ministry of Education 2013; Webber et al. 2018). There is no one pathway to developing a positive sense of Māori identity, however, one pathway that may be efficacious is to use narratives like Nukutawhiti’s as a fundamental part of learning for students with whakapapa connections to Tai Tokerau. Using stories like Nukutawhiti’s may play a role in transforming learning so that mātauranga Māori, Māori history, Māori tikanga, and our illustrious whakapapa is valued. Māori students and their whānau from Te Tai Tokerau have made it clear that this type of cultural affirmation is as a key enabler of educational success (Webber et al. 2018). Māori students must come to believe that their knowledge systems and culture have as much value in modern times as they did in the past. We must continue to develop pedagogical tools, like these narratives, that enable us to teach our children that they descend from greatness.

Nō reira, tukuna ēnei kōrero kāmehameha, kia rangona whanuitia i Te Tai Tokerau

Therefore, distribute these precious stories, so that they are heard widely around Northland