Mana and the human person
Huutia te rito o te harakeke, kei hea te koomako e ko? Kii mai ki ahau: He aha te mea nui o te ao? Maaku e kii atu: He tangata he tangata!
'If you pluck out the heart of the flax bush, how can the bell bird sing? You ask me: What is the greatest reality of the universe? I reply: The human person!'
These are strong words, placing the human person above every other being in the created universe and they are heard frequently as the opening words in speeches. Yet with their reference to the singing of the bell bird they also expresses our fragility, our dependence on the other parts of creation.
A Maori way of expressing this worth of the human person is to speak of a person's mana or power. We have already seen that mana and tapu are closely linked. Where tapu is the potentiality for power, mana is the actual power, the power itself.
The mana which is the actualization, the realization, of the tapu of the person, is threefold, mana tangata, power from people, mana whenua, power from the land and mana atua, power from our link with the spiritual powers. Each person has this threefold mana.
Mana tangata: power from people
To be a person is not to stand alone, but to be one with one's people, and the deeper the oneness the more we are truly persons and have that mana tangata. The persons we stand one with are not only the living, but even more so the ancestors, those members of the family who have already gone before us. So basic to being a person and to being Maori is to be whaanau, family, not just with the living, but also with the dead.
The importance of people is also seen in the Maori writing of history. This is centred on people rather than places, and on my people, rather than some other people. Time is also people centred.
In the story of Ngaati Whaatua, written down by Paora Tuhaere, the time is grandfather's time, or grandfather's grandfather's time, just as the stories are grandfather's stories, or grandfather's grandfather's stories. The stories are still grandfather's stories. We still see the grandparents travelling around and going to hui, meetings, with their mokopuna, grandchildren, and telling them the stories their grandparents told them.
Paora, in giving the history of his people, does not say "This is the history of my people", but simply au, Ngaati Whaatua "I, Ngaati Whaatua". In this way he identifies himself not just with the Ngaati Whaatua people who are living, but also, and especially, with the Ngaati Whaatua people of the past with all their history.
In Maori ritual the identifying with the ancestors goes right back to the beginning.
In the ritual chant, the karakia, following conception, the girl is identified with Hine, the first woman, and the ritual is carried out:
...i te ata o Hine, i te ata o Hine Angiangi, i te ata o Hine-korikori, i te ata o wahine. 'in the dawn of Hine, Hine-moving freely, Hine-beginning-to-stir, in the dawn of woman.'
Similary, during the ritual for a war canoe, the person building the canoe is identified with Rata, a great chief, who built his war canoe to redress the injustice done in the killing of his father and the desecration of his father's bones:
Kaore ko au, ko Rata, e kimi ana, e hahau ana. Behold, 'tis I, Rata, who is searching and seeking.'
A person who has died is sometimes identified with Tawhaki who is said to have climbed up into the heavens in search of his wife:
Piki ake Tawhaki 'Tawhaki, climb up I te rangi tuatahi, the first heaven, I te rangi tuarua. the second heaven.
The same identifying of onself with one s people and one s history is a major reason for the family marae and meeting house.
Some new urban meeting houses express a wide variety of ancestors from different tribes, and sometimes emphasize the old stories and the value system of the Maori as a whole.
For example, the University of Auckland meeting house is named after Taane-nui-a-Rangi who, according to some tribes, is the most important of the great spiritual powers. Right along the top ridgepole of the house, the 'backbone' of the house, are the carvings of the spiritual powers (these powers are described in chapter two). Along the length of the house, on each side, are the carvings of the great navigators and great priests of Maori history. The carvings at each end of the meeting house are carvings of the major stories, the myths, of the Maori, with special reference to Taane-nui-a-Rangi.
In contrast, the rural meeting houses are strongly kin based. These are houses of the whaanau, of the family. The carvings are of the ancestors of a particular family and usually have photos of several generations of members of the kin group who have died. Also the houses are usually named after the most important ancestor of the particular kin group. To enter the meeting house is, therefore, to be re-born into the kin group, into the family. For this reason people come from all over to spend Christmas and New Year on their marae with their family.
Mana Whenua: power from the land
A return to one's rural marae is also a return to the land, to one's roots in the soil. After the birth of a child the pito, 'umbilical cord', and the whenua, 'afterbirth', are buried in the ground or placed in a tree used for that purpose. The whenua, 'afterbirth', is also the word for land and the burial of the umbilical cord and the afterbirth ensures a strong link with one's own land. Papatuanuku the land is mother and the source of nourishment and shelter for the people.
The land is also linked to the spiritual powers, to the children of Rangi and Papatuanuku. Each New Year at one place on the upper Wanganui river, haangii, 'earth ovens', are set aside for Taane and Tangaroa and offerings are made to them. This recognizes that Taane is responsible for the forest and its food and Tangaroa is responsible for the sea and its food. At the concluding feast much of the food is laid out on and eaten off the ground, as a reminder that the source of all our nourishment is the earth, our mother Papatuanuku.
Therefore for many Maori their ancestral land cannot be bought or sold. We cannot buy or sell our own mother. Nor can we claim to own our mother. The land that is handed down to a particular people is gifted to that people in trust. They are responsible for it. They must care for it. This applies also to rivers, lakes, and harbours and areas of sea which are a source of life for the people.
To witness the present pollution and destruction of some of these areas can be a very deep hurt to the people who once had control of these areas and are still responsible for these areas handed down to them through their ancestors, but now are almost powerless to do anything about them.
Again a major factor in having mana as a people is the ability to express mana through the exercise of hospitality. So, in the 1850s when Tamehana Te Waharoa approached different chiefs around the country asking them to accept the title of King of Aotearoa, they refused, one after the other. In refusing they referred to the land over which they had control and to its food resources.
The reason they gave for refusing the title was that they did not have the resources to manaaki, to look after the people in a way fitting the position of King. "They felt that their tribal resources would not be equal to the strain of keeping up the position of King".
Ki te kore koe e manaaki i te tangata, me pehea te iwi e moohio e whai mana ai koe?
'If you do not show true hospitality, how shall people know you are a person of mana?'
Land is also our link with our ancestors. This is perhaps best expressed by the short statements that orators use to identify themselves when beginning a speech. Hong-Key Yoon, a Korean scholar and cultural geographer who has written on Maori place names, refers to the orators' statements as 'motto-maxims' and gives several examples. The statements name their mountain, their river and their tribe:
Ko Hikurangi te maunga, Hikurangi is the mountain, Ko Waiapu te wai, Waiapu the river, Ko Ngatiporou te iwi, Ngaati Porou the people.
Sometimes the name of a great chief is given and sometimes the name of the marae replaces the name of the people:
Ko Taupiri te Maunga Taupiri the Mountain Ko Waikato te awa Waikato the river Ko Tainui te waka Tainui te canoe Ko Potatau te tangata Potatau the person.
Ko Ongaro te maunga, Ongaro is the mountain, Ko Rotokakahi te awa, Rotokakahi is the river, Ko Potikari te marae. Potikari is the marae.
Often people speaking on the marae will speak directly to the mountains:
Nga maunga e, tena ra koutou, te rarangi e tu kau mai na,
The mountains, standing in line, bare, over there, I greet you.
The mountains can be greeted or farewelled any time. The following is a farewell said to Aorangi, 'Mount Cook', the highest mountain in New Zealand, by Karaka Roberts. Karaka is from the Northland Te Aopoouri tribe and it was his first visit to Mount Cook:
Tena koe Aorangi, Greetings to you Aorangi, E tu nei koe, You stand there Te tu roa, Eternal, Te tu nui, Almighty, Te tu matao. Cold, Te tu mokemoke, And alone. Nga korero mou, What can be said of you Kahore e taea te korero. Can never be completed. Kua takoto te kaupapa, The base has been laid down, Me hipoki koe ki te hukapapa Let the ice cover you, Te hipoki nui, A massive covering, Te hipoki roa. An eternal covering Kahore e taea te horoi. That cannot be washed off. E moe i raro i tenei Sleep beneath this kakahu matao cold cloak Mo ake tonu atu. For ever.
Kua mutu nga poroporoaki ki a koe inaianei, me waiho koe ki muri, ki te tiake i enei o aau tamariki, i a Pukaki, i a Ohau, i a Tekapo.
'My farewells to you are completed now. I leave you to watch over these your children, Pukaki, Ohau, Tekapo and your other children here.'
These greetings to the mountains express a person's oneness with the land, and especially with the mountains.
As shown above, some of the motto-maxims , name the marae, which also helps to define who we are. To walk onto a marae is to walk onto a place which is beyond space and beyond time, a place where we reach out to the ancestors and to the family wherever they are. Therefore, as one kaumaatua, 'elder', the Reverend Charlie Maitai, taught, when we come to a marae, even if nobody is around, we should stop and greet the ancestors of that place. This is one of the reasons why people going home speak of going to meet their bones.
The word whaanau, family , means to give birth. We are bound to our whaanau, our family, by birth. The word hapuu, extended family group , means to become pregnant. The hapuu is made up of family groups bound together by marriage. The word for tribe, the word iwi, also means 'bones'. The iwi, finds its bond in a common ancestor and as Maori Marsden put it, the ancestral bones are "the actual physical remains, the tangible links and associations with one's historic being, as derived through one's ancestors."
The living are also represented inside the meeting house. They are the tukutuku panels embraced by the founding ancestors represented by the carved poupou paetara, the carved wall posts. They "are the whatu, the existing stitches bound together by kinship ties; or whatu ora, the living seeing eyes of our sleeping ancestors."
Mana atua: Power from the spiritual powers
One with the people, one with the land, we also become one with the atua, the spiritual powers. They, the spiritual powers, are our immediate source of mana. They are the source of our tapu:
Ko te tapu te mana o nga atua.
Tapu is the mana of the spiritual powers.
As already mentioned, different spiritual powers are seen as responsible for different parts of the universe: Tangaroa for the sea, Taane for trees and the forests, Rongo for the kuumara, Taawhiri for the winds. When it comes to humans, different tribes have different views. Some see Taane as responsible for human beings. Others see Tuumatauenga as the one responsible.
According to the Arawa traditions as recorded by Te Rangikaheke, we are identified with Tuumatauenga and an undated manuscript, claimed by John White to be from a Ngaapuhi source, speaks of us humans as being made by Tuumatauenga:
A ko Tu te atua nana i hanga te tangata, a ko Tu te atua o te tangata.
Tuu is the spiritual power who made the human being.
Tuu is the spiritual power of the human being.
Also acccording to the Arawa tradition given by Te Rangikaheke it is through Tuu that we link with the other spiritual powers.
In the Rangi and Papa story given by Te Rangikaheke, Tuumatauenga conquers all his brothers, except Taawhiri, and is then given the different karakia by which he can control them. As we are one with Tuumatauenga, we share his mana, his power, and so we too have control through the karakia, the ritual chants, over all his brothers, except Taawhiri.
According to other traditions, including traditions of Ngaapuhi, Kahungunu and Kai Tahu, we owe our existence to the mana, 'power', of Taane. It was Taane who made the first woman from whom we are all descended, Taane who brought light into our world by separating Ranginui and Papatuanuku, Taane who climbed up into the highest heavens and brought back for us the three baskets of knowledge.
The meeting house is also referred to as Taane, Taane- whakapiripiri, 'the trees of Taane bound together', and the house itself has a Maori cosmic significance. On a cosmic level the roof signifies Rangi, the heavens, the floor signifies Papa-tuanuku, the earth and the poles which hold up the roof, represent the poles used by Taane, helped by his brothers, to separate Rangi and Papa and make it possible for us to move into the light.
Maori Marsden speaks of being bonded to particular powers through a ritual dedication and consecration. Some are dedicated and consecrated at birth and before battle to Tuumatauenga. Some are dedicated and consecrated to Rongo, for peace. The dedication binds us to particular spiritual powers, while the consecration calls on the spiritual powers to give us particular gifts for our work as human beings. Maori Marsden himself was dedicated and consecrated according to the rituals of the Io tradition when he was about eight years old.
A detailed picture of our relationship with the various spiritual powers and specific areas of creation can be built up from a consideration of the karakia, the ritual chants.
Both Tuu and Rongo are invoked in the rituals for the child:
Kia mama tauira o Tu, kia mama tauira o Rongo. Ka kai Tu, ka kai Rongo, ka kai te Whakaariki.
'May the disciples of Tuu be lightened, may the disciples of Rongo be lightened. Tuu eats, Rongo eats, the band of warriors eat.'
In the funeral rites, in the rituals for the disposal of the body and for the disposal of the bones again Tuu and Rongo are called upon:
E Tu, e Rongo, nau mai.
'O Tuu, O Rongo, come here.'
In the ritual for the war-party, Tuu is called upon for the battles, but, in establishing peace and in returning prisoners back to their own people, it is Rongo who is invoked.
In the taangaengae for the child, given by Te Rangikaheke, the child is commanded to go to the heavens, to Taawhirimaatea, for its strength, its expertise, and its mana,'power':
Whano koe ki te rangi ...ki a Taawhirimaatea ... kia kaha ai koe, kia toa ai koe ... kia whai mana ai koe.
'Go to the heavens ... to Taawhirimaatea ... so that you will be strong, so that you will be an expert, so that you will have mana'.
There is a long kuumara karakia, Ka noho te rangi nui , that the Reverend Richard Taylor received from Wiremu Katene. In this karakia the person reciting the karakia calls for the strength of Tau and Rongo:
Tena te kaha ka whiwhi, tena te kaha ka rawe, tena te kaha ka mou, te kaha o Tau, te kaha o Rongo, taku kaha, ko te kaha a tenei tauira.
'That is the strength which wraps round, that is the strength which binds, that is the strength which holds fast, the strength of Tau, the strength of Rongo, my strength, the strength of this disciple.'
In a Wanganui canoe ritual the lashings which bind the canoe are called upon to bind to the canoe the very strong tapu of Tangaroa:
Tena te kaha ka mau ... mau ki tapu kaha nui o Tangaroa, mau ki tenei waka.
'That is the lashing which holds fast...holds fast to the very powerful tapu of Tangaroa, holds fast to this canoe.
The strength of the canoe is the strength of both Taane and Tangaroa. He kaha Tane, he kaha Tangaroa. 'The strength of Taane, the strength of Tangaroa'
The following karakia from an Arawa source is a good example of our linking up with different spiritual powers. It was recited to give strength to the adze used for cutting down a tree to be carved for a canoe:
Toki nui te toki, toki roa te toki. Ko te toki na Tu tenei toki. Ko te toki na Rongo. Ueue te mana. Ka hinga a Tane, ka takoto kei raro, kei nga mano i runga, i raro. Tawhiwhi te toki nei. Ka pa te toki nei kei Hawaiki. Ka tapu, ka noa. Tena te hau, ko te hau o Tu-Tawhirimatea. Waerea ki runga, waerea ki raro. Takoto.
'The adze is big, the adze is broad. This adze belongs to Tuu. This adze belongs to Rongo. The power [of this adze] vibrates. Taane falls, lies on the ground, surrounded by the thousands above and below. Bind this adze. This adze strikes in Hawaiki. It is tapu, it is noa. There is the vital essence, the vital essence of Tuu and Taawhirimaatea combined. Clear above. Clear below. Lie down.'
The adze belongs to Tuu and Rongo for they are the powers linked with the humans who possess the adze. Taane is identified with the tree. The tree falls. Taane falls. The power of the winds is able to overcome the trees so we, one with Tuu, call on Taawhiri to combine with Tuu and give the adze the power to fell the tree.
The action takes place in Hawaiki for this is a ritual action, action which takes place in space and time, yet beyond space and time. Hawaiki is the place where all things have their beginning and their completion. We come from Hawaiki. We return to Hawaiki.
Our mana as human beings is a mana that is linked with the spiritual powers and that combines with the spiritual powers, that has its source in the spiritual powers, in our working to bring order out of chaos, light out of darkness.
Tiheia! Mauriora! Ki te Wheiao, ki te Ao-marama. Ka tu kei runga, ko wai koe? Ko Tu, ko Rongo koe, ko Taane koe. Ko te manuhiri i ahu mai i Hawaiki, nau mai.
'This sneeze is the sign of the new life, in this world. And when you mature, whose shall you be? You shall be dedicated to Tu, to Rongo, to Taane. You the visitor who comes from Hawaiki, We welcome your presence here.' Return to intro. What is Maori Theology Return to Maori theology home page