Mātauranga Māori

Mātauranga Māori

‘Ko te Mātauranga Māori, i roto i tōna horopaki tuku iho, ko te mātauranga, ko te mōhiotanga, ko te māramatanga rānei ki ngā mea katoa e kitea ana, ki ngā mea katoa e huna ana, i te ao tukupū. Kei te hāngai tēnei whakamāramatanga ki tō nāianei horopaki hei tikanga, hei kaupapa mahi hoki mō ngā rangahau Māori, mō ngā pūtaiao Māori, mō ngā hangarau Māori anō hoki.’

Charles Mohi, Mātauranga Māori – He Rauemi ā-Motu, he pānui mā Te Manatu Rangahau, Pūtaiao, Hangarau hoki, wh 1-3, 1993

Ko te whakamāoritanga a Te Ahukaramu Charles Royal mō te mātauranga Māori, he kaupapa mātauranga i takea mai i Poronīhia, i whakatipuria mai i Aotearoa me Te Wai Pounamu. Nō te taki taenga mai o te Pākehā, mai i ngā tau 1800, ka tino pāngia te pūnaha mātauranga tuku iho nei. Heoi, hei tā Te Ahukaramu, nā ēnei pānga ka puta mai he mātauranga hou. Kua noho ngā maramara o te mātauranga Māori e ora tonu nei i ēnei rā, pēnei i te reo Māori, hei whakakōkī mō te wairua auaha, mō te toronga haere anō hoki ki ngā huarahi e whaiwāhi ai tēnei pūnaha mātauranga ki te ao hou nei me ōna tini āhuatanga.

He nui anō ngā āhuatanga o te Mātauranga Māori, pēnei i te reo, i ngā tāonga tuku iho me ngā matauranga o te taiao, i ngā mātauranga mō ngā tikanga tuku iho pēnei i te rongoā, i te mahi kai moana, i te mahinga kai hoki. I ngā wā o mua, ka tukuna iho ngā mātauranga nei i roto i ngā wānanga, i ngā mahi hoki a ngā tohunga. I whakamahia ngā mātauranga nei hei painga mō te iwi nui tonu, mō roto anō hoki i ngā āhuatanga o ia rā. Tērā anō ngā kōrero tuku iho i te Mātauranga Māori nei. Heoi ehara hoki tēnei i te mea noho hū, engari ia ka tipu haere i roto i ngā kōkiri a te tangata ki ngā wero hou o te wā. Tērā tonu ētahi āhuatanga o te Mātauranga Māori e hāngai pū ana ki te iwi, ki te hapū rānei, engari tērā anō hoki ētahi āhuatanga e whai pānga ana ki ngā iwi katoa.

Ko te whakapapa, he huarahi e honoa ai ngā whanaungatanga o te tangata ki ōna tīpuna, ki te ao tūroa anō hoki. He maha noa atu ngā whakapapa mō ngā otaota katoa me ngā momo kararehe katoa, e whakaraupapa ana i te ao tūroa ki tētahi ritenga e āhua rite ana ki te pūnaha tapatapa koiora. Hei tā ētahi kairangahau, ko te whakapapa tangata tētahi tauira o ngā honohononga whānui nei. Tērā tonu ngā tauritenga i ngā tātai hono o te ao pūtaiao me te whakapapa, engari ka riro mā te whakapapa e whakanoho ngā mea koiora me ngā āhuatanga o te ao ki ō rātau wāhi i te taupuhi kaiao. Ko ngā tauira e tino kitea ana, koia ērā e pā ana ki ngā momo mahinga kai, pēnei i te tuna. Nō roto i ngā tau, ka mōhio haere ngā iwi ki ngā āhuatanga o te ora o te tuna, pēnei i te heke a ngā tuna toene. Nāwhai anō, he rau tonu ngā kupu a te Māori mō te tuna, e whakaatu ana i ōna tini āhuatanga ā-rohe, ā-tau, ā-pakeke, ā-tai, a-reka, ā, aha noa atu nei.

He nui tonu ngā momo otaota i whakataongatia mō ō rātau āhuatanga rongoā. Ko tētahi o ngā tino rongoā ā-ngahere, ko te whakamahi i te koromiko (Hebe salicifolia, Hebe stricta me ētahi atu) hei rongoā mō te kōea. Hei tā Murdoch Riley i Māori Healing and Herbal, i whakamahia te koromiko whakamaroke i te Pakanga Tuarua e ngā hōia o Aotearoa hei rongoā mō te ngau puku me te mate tikotiko.

Nō roto i ngā rau tau i noho ai a Ngāi Māori ki tēnei whenua, ka tipu tētahi tino mātauranga mō ngā āhuatanga o Tāwhirimātea, me te mōhio anō ki ngā tohu o tea o tūroa e tohu ana i aua āhuatanga. Hei tauira, ko te kuaka te tohu a Ngāi Tūhoe mō te koanga, ā, ko te puāwaitanga mai o te tī kouka te tohu a Ngāi Tahu, tērā ka tino wera te raumati.

Nā Veronika Meduna i tuhi

Nā Steven Chrisp i whakamāori  

Hei pānui anō

Murdoch Riley, Māori Healing and Herbal: New Zealand ethnobotanical sourcebook, Viking Sevenseas NZ, 1994

Aroha Te Pareake Mead, Emerging Issues in Māori Traditional Knowledge, can these be addressed by UN agencies, International workshop on traditional knowledge, Panama, September 2005

Mātauranga Māori, chapter 2 of Wai262 claim, Waitangi Tribunal

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa must be obtained before any reuse of this image

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