He kai pūtaiao, he kai mā te hinengaro:
Phoebe Sullivan (she/her)
Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara, Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei, Tainui-Waikato
Mātauranga Māori is the understanding of knowledge originating from our tīpuna (ancestors). It is the Māori world view and perspectives, defined by pūrakau (stories) like the separation of Papatuānuku and Ranginui, Māui fishing up the sun, or the fight between Tāne-Māhuta and Tangaroa. These stories have been translated into te reo me ona tikanga, moulding our understanding of who we are as Māori.
Our mātauranga is then practised by our people, as they look to the natural environment—the turning of the tides, change of the wind, warmth of the air, and phase of the moon (it’s like a scene out of Moana) to inform us of our time to dive, time to chuck our nets out, plant our māra (gardens), and, to get a little deep here, a time for us to rest, rejuvenate, and to replenish (listen to your māramataka app folks).
Our knowledge isn’t just practical and beautiful like our wāhine (women) on the marae (whuuu) it’s also relevant to inform our understanding of the world
For instance, if we take the name Rāhui Pōkeka (commonly known as Huntly) there are a lot of important indigenous practices behind it. It is said that the lakes of the area were populated with tuna (eels). The lakes were so overfished that a tohunga put a rāhui pōkeka on the area (rāhui being ritual restriction and pōkeka being a chant). The name Rāhui Pōkeka is a recognition of tikanga, namely tapu and mana, through the practice of kaitiakitanga. It speaks to the importance of ensuring that we should only ever take enough of what we need to balance the needs of the environment.
Or for some poetic vibes, we can recognise our knowledge through the prominent Taranaki whakatauki, “he manawa piharau.” The whakatauki refers to the determination of the piharau (eel-like fish) to swim upstream and ultimately defy all odds. However, the whakatauki also holds a more practical meaning to the fish swimming upstream. To the people of Taranaki, this was a sign of migration of the piharau, which usually happened during the night, but was also a representation of waters turning—the piharau would swim upstream to migrate where the waters were warmer.
Anyways, that’s enough lecture vibes. But, just an FYI, if you didn’t know now you know, and it isn’t your fault you didn’t know either. Colonisation has played a massive part in our understanding of the world. It has suppressed, stigmatised, and disconnected us from understanding our own knowledge, and knowledge that we might not have been aware of its existence in the first place. Even today, we still hear comments like it “falls far short of what can be defined as science itself.” Like, bro, you fall short, indigenous knowledge is cool, it’s in, and it’s here to stay, decolonise, and reclaim!