Pietro Pomponazzi y el debate sobre la inmortalidad

MARAE ENGAGEM ENT

Introduction

Central to this research is the application of kawa to Maori in a range of situations in modem times. Kawa is a composite concept with an accompanying set of practices that are grounded in Maori knowledge and Maori world views. Although kawa change over time, there are underlying values and concepts that have endured; they continue to define kawa as the outward expression of tikanga Maori - customary

Maori world views. Written accounts generally discuss the practice of kawa as it

was in distant times or in the context of its application to marae encounters. In this thesis those accounts form a backdrop for further explorations of kawa in relationship to engagement and high achievement by rangatahi today.

In addition to the literature, interviews with key informants were vital to gaining a better understanding of the wider dimensions of kawa and their relationship to Maori knowledge and world views so that the concept can be more accurately applied for the purposes of this thesis. Those 'wider dimensions' have been used to examine the concept and practice of kawa in order to answer the research question: ' Can the concept and application of kawa be usefully applied to a range of situations in

modern times ?' The obj ective is to explore the philosophies that underpin kawa and to identify the key aspects that might be incorporated into programmes to enhance rangatahi engagement and performance.

There is general consensus in the literature, that kawa is primarily about ensuring that various processes, events, and activities are conducted in a way that ensures a measure of certainty, a shared understanding of actions and reactions and a good outcome. Kawa can be seen as a set of rules for engagement, a ritual for encounters, and as a mechanism for protecting participants within a behavioural code that is concerned with safety. At an operational level it may simply be regarded as a way of observing routines in a consistent and safe manner. At a conceptual level however, kawa incorporates a complex set of beliefs, values and actions that mediate relationships, foster commitment, and create spiritual, intellectual, and physical connections with place, persons, and purpose.

In order to better appreciate the fundamental goals of kawa, and its relationship to other aspects of Maori knowledge and world views, early and contemporary written and recorded accounts and their significance to Maori social, environmental and economic wellbeing were examined. The conclusions have been shaped by written sources, by information derived from interviews with experts in tikanga Maori and marae elders, and by direct observations made at four hui.

All sets of sources will have their limitations. In the case of written sources, two factors could be identified. First, because Maori was not a written language, early writers, often self-taught anthropologists were dependent on oral sources. It would appear that the information they were given was forthcoming yet selective; the reliability of the written word depended on the accuracy of the teller as well as the understanding of the listener. Meaning relies on more than the words used to describe events or phenomena; it also depends on historical context, the use of metaphor, and the circumstances present at the time. However, such subtleties often escaped authors who paid attention only to the words, at the expense of background and metaphorical explanations. S econd, most of the early writers who converted oral accounts into written form were European. ' Inevitably they interpreted what they had observed or heard from informants, according to their own western world views and frames. Moreover, in an attempt to appeal to others they added a measure of romanticism to satisfy European readers.2

Insofar as they may not be representative, interviews with contemporary experts in kawa, can also have their own limitations for research reliability. In this project not only were a relatively small number of experts interviewed, but there was a lack of representation from all tribal groups. The point of this thesis however, is not to generalise about kawa in a pan-Maori sense, but instead to gain some insights into ways in which kawa might be useful to igniting engagement by Maori.

Generally interviews provided information that represented the vtews of a few exponents and selected marae elders, chosen because they were acknowledged as experts within their own tribes and areas. There is no assumption that a universal Maori view is held about the concept of kawa, instead the working position for this thesis suggests that the notion that kawa can be understood as a pan-Maori

phenomenon underestimates tribal variation and uniqueness. 3 In addition, the

constraints of a formal interview likely shaped the responses of the experts. Information gathering centred around discussions rather than imposing less culturally appropriate methods such as the use o f a structured questionnaire. Yet, inevitably a discussion of kawa in isolation of actual practice, removed it from the everyday realities of kawa. This said, the interviews themselves followed kawa by respecting the voice, expertise and m ana of those who were contributing to the discussion. Kawa was at the same time the focus of discussions and the process that reflected one form of kawa in action.

To help compensate for that, the third source of information relied on direct observations of experts officiating at hui thereby o ffering a form of triangulation for the data collected for the thesis. However, while direct observation overcame some of the limits imposed by the interview process, it was also limited by the nature and location of the hui. As previously mentioned, the application of kawa will differ depending on time and context. Although two hui may be called for similar purposes, the kawa will not necessarily be identical at each, even when the same experts are

guiding proceedings, Much will depend on site (e.g. marae, hall, private home,

workplace), time, and the participants. The application of kawa on sites other than marae became popularised as Maori moved away from rural marae to urban

environments. Any apparent inconsistency does not necessarily imply random flexibility or a failure to adhere to underlying principles but it does suggest that kawa i s a product of both custom and challenge. Later in this chapter, the relationships that characterise kawa will be further explored, but for now it is sufficient to note that kawa has a practical organic function as well as the more esoteric interpretation closely attuned to Maori knowledge and world views.

There is also the inevitable bias that occurs when one particular aspect of kawa becomes the major reason for inquiry and this too must be accounted for. [n this thesis for example the focus is very much on kawa as a guide to encounters experienced in particular settings. Other inquiries have also focussed on kawa as it applies to marae encounters and especially as it applies to the reception of visitors onto a marae.4 They most often depict kawa as an approach geared to maintaining boundaries and discipline between people. B ut they run the risk of reducing kawa to a set of institutionalised rules to moderate social engagement. While there is evidence that kawa does serve to regulate interaction between groups and provides guidance as to acceptabl e norms of behaviour, there is also a wider underlying reason for kawa

that links people with the natural environment. [n that light, kawa can be

conceptualised as the outward expression of an ecological philosophy underpinning Maori world views.

An Analysis of Kawa

The researcher has thus far attempted to outline the wider parameters of kawa and how it was shaped by Maori world views and Maori knowledge. Kawa was not confined to one site, one set of encounters, or one activity. Instead, it had wide application and was open to innovation in order to address new situations.

[t should also be noted that the kawa usually practiced on a marae, is now often practiced in other settings. The Uepohatu hall in Ruatoria for example has some of the functional features of a marae, and has observed a kawa that is not dissimilar from kawa on the neighbouring marae. However, though located in a tribal area, Ruatoria, the hall was built to commemorate efforts of Maori in World War Two and has a kaupapa that is distinctive.5 Further, when the Te Maori Exhibition opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1 984 New York and in St. Louis in 1 985, the opening ceremonies were essentially built around the kawa of marae and were performed by marae elders. The international (USA) venue did not preclude the use of tikanga. 6

To assist in the examination of kawa a framework for kawa analysis will be used. Frameworks are useful since they provide a systematic way of examining a subj ect and can be shaped by the major themes that emerge from the literature, observations, or key informants. Frameworks been important in recent research by Maori and have assisted in understanding contemporary applications of Maori knowledge, health research, counselling, learning, and social development. 7 This section follows that

approach by exploring four dimensions of kawa that together constitute the analytical framework. Drawing on views of the key informants, and marae elders it is possible to analyse kawa according to the domains of kawa, the objectives of kawa, the key elements contained in kawa, and the ownership of kawa (Table 4. 1 ).

Table 4 A Framework for Discussing Kawa

Grou nding Creating Enforcing the Retaining

Kawa: Pathways: Message : Integrity:

Nga Momo Kawa Nga Pu tanga Nga Ritenga Rangatiratanga The domains of The objectives of The key The ownership of

kawa kawa elements of kawa

kawa

• Tangaroa • Whaka- • Kaitiakitanga

oceans and fish whanaungatanga • Karanga guardianship

establishing • Karakia • Tu kaha

• Tanemahuta relationships

Whaik6rero commitment

•

trees and birds • Whakatangata

• Waiata & • Pumautanga

• Haumietiketike Protecting

Haka consistency

ferns & foods _{human dignity} • MiHauranga

• Rongomatane skills _&

peace, • Whakapiri knowledge

creativity, tangata • Tu motuhake

cui ti vation promoting social distinctiveness

• Tumatauenga unity human • Whakamana rivalries asserting authority • Whakahihiwa concentration

Grounding Kawa: Nga Momo Kawa - The Domains of Kawa

An ecological perspective can be found in a range of practical tasks that have confronted tribes over the centuries. The literature suggests for example that there

were specific kawa for fishing, felling trees that were to be fashioned as canoes,

cultivating kumara, building houses, collecting shell fish, preparing for battle,

receiving guests, healing various ailments, and birthing children. For every kawa

there is endorsement from an Atua.8 Tangaroa was the authority for kawa linked to the sea and to fishing, Tanemahuta for kawa relevant to forests and birds,

to kawa associated with learning, healing, peaceful endeavours, and cultivated foods, Tiimatauenga for kawa around human warfare and battle.9 Kawa facilitates human engagement with these several domains and from that perspective has an ecological focus.

In the Muriwhenua Fishing Report the Waitangi Tribunal, described a set of

procedures that surrounded shark-fishing. 1 0 Tribal regulations restricted the season to two days only; once at night on Rakaunui (a date on the Maori lunar calendar around the full moon in January), and again two weeks later j ust after new moon (Whawha­ ata) and this time during the day. No-one was permitted to commence fishing before a signal was given usually the two days after the full moon in January.

Evidence to the Waitangi Tribunal also included commentary on religious ceremonies related to fishing expeditions. ' ' While nets were being made, for example, restrictions were placed on workers so that they would not be distracted from the task. There were also conventions that protected fish resources, forbidding harvesting when resources were low or threatened; a rahui over fishing grounds at certain times of the year ensured that the resource was sustainable. During fishing expeditions, the first fish taken, Te Ika Tuatahi, was returned to the sea with an appropriate request to the guardian of the sea - Tangaroa, to bring an abundance of fish.

When a tree was to be cut down as a hull for a canoe, a kawa was instigated to ensure that the process was carried out in an appropriate manner both to avoid danger to

workmen but also to guide the construction process. Karakia (incantations) were an essential part of the process and were offered to overcome motivational and psychological forces that might otherwise have delayed progress. In Nga !vvi o Tainui, there are detailed accounts of rituals and counter-rituals that accompanied the felling of a tree suitable for an ocean-going waka, subsequently named Tainui. As part of the kawa, three adzes were used, each named to indicate a certain function: Hahau-te-p6 ( for felling), Paopao-te-rangi (for splitting) and Manu-tawhio-rangi (for shaping). 1 2 Additional kawa were necessary to actually launch the canoe.

Kawa also provided a code for building tribal meeting houses. A mauri (often a stone

symbolising the soul or heart of the house) was buried under the first post erected. Men who were engaged in construction work did so under the safeguard of tapu - which imposed restrictions on them and on others with whom they might otherwise have had contact. When completed, a ceremony to remove the tapu was conducted. A young woman was selected to enter, under the guidance of a tohunga who recited karakia. 1 3

Kawa was used extensively in connection with the collection o f shellfish and other kaimoana. In submissions to the Waitangi Tribunal following concerns about the pollution of reefs at Motunui, off the Taranaki coast, witnesses recalled a number of customs including using only newly plaited and clean baskets to collect food from the reef, collecting seafood over a three day period at a time of the month when the tide was favourable, and not cooking or preparing the food until after the third day. Returning shellfish beds to their original state, especially where rock formations were

concerned, avoiding gutting fish or shelling shellfish below the high water mark, and avoiding despoliation to waterways were also noted as kawa that manifested · a Maori spiritual conception of life and life forces which compels them to insist on a much higher standard in the maintenance of clean water and the preservation of natural states . . . ' 1 4

Similarly in hearing the Manukau Harbour claim the Waitangi Tribunal heard submissions about a kawa that introduced ' mles that compelled quietness at sea and prohibited food on water, gutting fish at sea or opening shellfish, lighting fires or cooking on the shoreline . . . We were told how the people used kits not sacks, never dragged the kits over shellfish beds, dug only with their hands, replaced upturned rocks, and never took more than their needs. ' 1 5

Although the use of kawa as a guide to establishing relationships with the natural environment has been emphasised, kawa was evident in a wide range of social activities including learning, weaving garments 1 6 and tattooing. 1 7 I n modem times, kawa is most often associated with marae, and encounters between tangata whenua and manuhiri. They will be examined in greater detail later in this chapter. Importantly, however, whether in relationship to social encounters (such as marae occasions), environmental protection, personal safety, adornment, tribal integrity or sustainability, kawa provides a guiding influence that restrains and guides behaviour, attitudes, and codes of conduct. This was particularly evident in the kawa of the whare wananga.

Kawa was a necessary ingredient for learning in ancient tribal schools of learning. 1 8 The transference o f knowledge from teacher to student was conducted i n an environment that sustained concentration by eliminating possible diversions. Interruptions were avoided by declaring the teaching space off-limits to others; food was forbidden; the recitation of karakia during the teaching process shifted thinking to a spiritual plane; and the arbitrary promulgation of knowledge was discouraged b y distinguishing between knowledge that was safe with all individuals and knowledge which was the province of experts. 19 Unlike learning to cope with day to day functional needs, the acquisition of higher knowledge was a privilege that needed to be earned.

As a result, a significant component of kawa in relationship to whare wananga was the careful selection of students. Criteria for inclusion in whare wananga hinged around evidence of readiness to master complex information transfers, sufficient maturity to appreciate the wider implications of knowledge, endorsement from community elders, and assurances that the student would use knowledge wisely. The learning environment was deliberately austere, not only to avoid distractions but also to foster endurance under relative privation. Controlled admission to whare wananga reflected the importance placed on higher knowledge and the significance of knowledge for community survival. 20 In a world where contestability for resources, territory, and power determined survival, the misuse of knowledge or the misappropriation of knowledge left communities exposed to external threats.

Scholars held knowledge on behalf of the tribe, but the application of the knowledge was very much a public good.

Kawa was equally important in healing. Although in recent times healing has focused on rongoa (native plants, leaves, berries, shrubs, roots), rongoa are used as part of a wider intervention known internationally as traditional healing. The use of plants and leaves was associated with a kawa that included karakia, whanau participation, and rituals, or, more often, a combination of several methods. From this perspective, what mattered most as far as effectiveness was concerned was not simply the pharmacological action of a rongoa, but the impact of the whole healing process. I f incorrect karakia are used along with rongoa, o r i f the healer does not provide the correct i nstructions about how and when to use rongoa, then the outcome will be similarly unsatisfactory. 2 1 Atua healing has been described as a process entirely spiritual in nature and depended on a combination of atonement and the symbolic neutralisation of harmful omens through a series of rituals sometimes involving personal items as well as natural substances such as stones and birds. 22 In any event, the kawa for healing includes karakia, rongoa, ritenga, and a sound knowledge of the natural environment.

C reating Pathways : N ga Putanga - The Objectives of Kawa

I nterviews with key experts invariably led to discussions about the reasons for kawa