Ngati Kahu Histories- Graduate Paper

 This term I have been participating in the Ngati Kahu Histories Paper offered by Ngati Kahu.

This involves a weekly 1 hour lecture with Margaret Mutu followed by a 1 hour tutorial with Te Ikanui Kingi Waiaua. We follow reading from the book produced from the iwi Ngati Kahu: History of a Soverign Nation.

I am thoroughly enjoying this paper and learning so much about the history of this area where a lot of our tamariki are living.

Reflections from Lecture 1:

In this lecture we learnt about the origins of Ngati Kahu tupuna. This was fascinating because we learnt about the Pepeha for Ngati Kahu and what it meant. We also learnt some great stories about how the tupuna arrived in this area. It would be great for tamariki to know the pepeha for Ngati Kahu and preferably their iwi (if they know it). I now have the resources to explain to my students the meanings and stories behind these pepeha.

Reflections from Lecture 2:

We learnt about key Maori concepts; rangatiratanga, utu, mana, tapu, whenua, tikanga, kaitiaki

Key learning for me:

mana: is authority and power. Delegated by gods into human agent. It cannot be given to someone but earnt.

rangatiratanga: Rangatira is a person of mana, a leader who has earnt this respect. It is something that is bestowed on someone from a spiritual rhelm. Rangatiratanga is to exercise authority and power. Mana and rangatiratanga are interrelated.

tikanga: is the correct way of doing things. Like local law. It can be adapted to suit certain situations and can change between iwi. It can also be established/decided upon in different contexts.

whenua: learning about the Maori creation story I now understand that according to this, Maori believe to be direct descendants of Papatuanuku and Ranginui and therefore have a blood link to the land. This creates the strong tie to the land and how they respect and utilise it. This is a concept very different to the western view of land ownership.

kaitiaki: mana whenua protect mauri/tapu of their land and seas.

utu: is maintaining the balance and harmony.

This was a very important lecture for me. I am familiar with these concepts but it was great to hear the true meanings of these concepts as they are not able to translated into English. These concepts are integral when understanding how there was so much confusion and conflict around te tiriti.

Reflections from Lecture 3:

Te tiriti o Waitangi and Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni

This was another important lecture, and the basis for our first assignment. We learnt how the arrival of pakeha impacted the life Maori were living in Aotearoa. We also learnt how the two parties went about to solve these issues, which lead to whakaputanga and then te triti. A big takeaway for me is how different the Maori world view was/is in terms of land ownership and use and therefore how there was so much confusion over this between Maori and Pakeha.

Here is our lesson plan/first assignment.

Reflections from Lecture 4:

Stories from Whanau Moana.

In this lecutre we heard some local stories from the hapu Te Whanau Moana (Karikari area). There were some great korero around how tupuna lived and legends about local places. These would be of great interest to tamariki, especially if we were able to visit this area with the school. We also learnt about the conflict this area has had with land ownership since the singing of te tiriti. These stories are also imporant for tamariki to know so that they can understand how the battle continues in the present time.