Muka, manu, and mana

Reflections from a Māori postgrad on style and politics

by Tanith Wirihana Te Waitohioterangi (Rongowhakaata, Te Whānau a Kai, Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Ngāi Tamanuhiri, Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Ngāti Ruapani, Rongomaiwahine.)

In Te Wairoa – we say “he ao te rangi ka uhia, me he huruhuru te manu ka rere ai” (or ka tau). The great ancestor Tama-te-rangi was called upon to lead an ope taua. However, he hesitated to perform the tohi ceremony over the ope as he lacked the proper kākahu and mana to lead. In response, his younger brother gave him his kākahu, the appropriate rituals were performed, and Tama-te-rangi proceeded to lead his people to victory.

Sir Apirana Ngata once said: 

“I whiua e aua rangatira ki te tahuaroa te kahu-kiwi, te mahiti, te paepaeroa, te koroai: kei ngā whare whakakite-kite e iri ana, hei mātakitaki mā te pakeha, hei whakatauki mā rātau “koia ēnei ko ngā taonga a te Māori i te wā e whai-mana ana ratau”; hei titiro atu mā te Māori, ka mapu ai, ka tātaku ai i tana tataku. “Haere rā e Waro ki Ingarangi ki Rēhia ra.”

“The chiefs gave away to the common weal the kiwi cloak, the dog skin cloak, ornamental cloaks to hang in Museums for Europeans to view, and to expound the virtues of the Maori. “These were the treasures of the Maori while they had authority”: now the Maori looked on, sighed, recited and uttered "Farewell to the abode of death, to England the abode of pleasure”

The waiata oriori of the Te Whanau a kai tohunga Tūpai Whakarongo Tarāwhare:

Ka noho Wainui, ka noho i a Rangi, Puta mai ki waho rā Moananui a Kiwa; Ka maringi kai raro ko Parawhenuamea, Nā Moananui, e, nā Moanaroa, e. Nā tuiterepo, nā Tuitewao, Nā Tutehemorere, nāna Rangitahuri; Nāna te whitau, ka rōia hei kaka, Ka mahana i ahau

Wainui, dwelled with Rangi,From them emerged Moananui-a-Kiwa;Down below was poured forth Parawhenuamea,By Moananui and by Moanaroa.By Tuiterepo and Tuitewao,By Tūtehemorere, who brought forth Rangitahuri;This drew out the fibre, softened it into garments,To give warmth to me.

I once wore a British red coat to a pōwhiri for the British High Commissioner, Her Excellency Laura Clarke. I conducted wānanga in that coat as well, and once, I wore it to rage-quit a contract, where I told a government department they were colonised.

One comment I once received was: “I should slap you for wearing that.”

My reply was: “Its name is Te Kooti Toto—the blood coat. It is named in deference to the blood of the victims who were slaughtered at Ngātapa in 1869. It is also a reference to the red serge coat given by Cook to the children he kidnapped—known to Rongowhakaata as Te Mākura and Te Hinu a Tūhura, respectively.”

All of these kōrero prove one point – that it is not just the ability to wear traditional clothing that is a sign of tino rangatiratanga, but also the ability to produce it and say – “Pēnei ana i ōku tīpuna i mua i au, kua kākahuria ahau i ngā puāwai o ngā maunga tiketike, o te ngāhere, o te repo, o te taiao, nareira me kī au – he tangata whenua.”Muka, manu, and mana - reflections from a Māori postgrad on style and politics

by Tanith Wirihana Te Waitohioterangi (Rongowhakaata, Te Whānau a Kai, Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Ngāi Tamanuhiri, Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Ngāti Ruapani, Rongomaiwahine.)

In Te Wairoa – we say “he ao te rangi ka uhia, me he huruhuru te manu ka rere ai” (or ka tau). The great ancestor Tama-te-rangi was called upon to lead an ope taua. However, he hesitated to perform the tohi ceremony over the ope as he lacked the proper kākahu and mana to lead. In response, his younger brother gave him his kākahu, the appropriate rituals were performed, and Tama-te-rangi proceeded to lead his people to victory.

Sir Apirana Ngata once said: 

“I whiua e aua rangatira ki te tahuaroa te kahu-kiwi, te mahiti, te paepaeroa, te koroai: kei ngā whare whakakite-kite e iri ana, hei mātakitaki mā te pakeha, hei whakatauki mā rātau “koia ēnei ko ngā taonga a te Māori i te wā e whai-mana ana ratau”; hei titiro atu mā te Māori, ka mapu ai, ka tātaku ai i tana tataku. “Haere rā e Waro ki Ingarangi ki Rēhia ra.”

“The chiefs gave away to the common weal the kiwi cloak, the dog skin cloak, ornamental cloaks to hang in Museums for Europeans to view, and to expound the virtues of the Maori. “These were the treasures of the Maori while they had authority”: now the Maori looked on, sighed, recited and uttered "Farewell to the abode of death, to England the abode of pleasure”

The waiata oriori of the Te Whanau a kai tohunga Tūpai Whakarongo Tarāwhare:

Ka noho Wainui, ka noho i a Rangi, Puta mai ki waho rā Moananui a Kiwa; Ka maringi kai raro ko Parawhenuamea, Nā Moananui, e, nā Moanaroa, e. Nā tuiterepo, nā Tuitewao, Nā Tutehemorere, nāna Rangitahuri; Nāna te whitau, ka rōia hei kaka, Ka mahana i ahau

Wainui, dwelled with Rangi,From them emerged Moananui-a-Kiwa;Down below was poured forth Parawhenuamea,By Moananui and by Moanaroa.By Tuiterepo and Tuitewao,By Tūtehemorere, who brought forth Rangitahuri;This drew out the fibre, softened it into garments,To give warmth to me.

I once wore a British red coat to a pōwhiri for the British High Commissioner, Her Excellency Laura Clarke. I conducted wānanga in that coat as well, and once, I wore it to rage-quit a contract, where I told a government department they were colonised.

One comment I once received was: “I should slap you for wearing that.”

My reply was: “Its name is Te Kooti Toto—the blood coat. It is named in deference to the blood of the victims who were slaughtered at Ngātapa in 1869. It is also a reference to the red serge coat given by Cook to the children he kidnapped—known to Rongowhakaata as Te Mākura and Te Hinu a Tūhura, respectively.”

All of these kōrero prove one point – that it is not just the ability to wear traditional clothing that is a sign of tino rangatiratanga, but also the ability to produce it and say – “Pēnei ana i ōku tīpuna i mua i au, kua kākahuria ahau i ngā puāwai o ngā maunga tiketike, o te ngāhere, o te repo, o te taiao, nareira me kī au – he tangata whenua.”