Lecture 9 - Tangihanga/ Takiauē Flashcards
Matariki
- Rising of 500 stars, of which 9 can be seen from earth
- Visible for most of the year accept during May to July
- Prescence of Matariki in the middle of the year signals the start of the Maori new year
- It’s a time period of a couple of weeks where seen most prominently
Each of the 9 is a symbolises different things/ is responsible for different things
Pohutukawa
-The star of death in matariki
-If this star is not easy to see/ moving erratically signals a lot of death for the coming year
Te Waka o Rangi
-When a maori person dies there spirit (Wairau) leaves their body and undertakes a journey along the pathway of spirits
-Matariki is said to be the prowl of te waka o rangi (a boat) captained by Taramainuku
-The Wairau of those who have passed is gathered in a net by Taramainuku
-The net containing the spirits is suspended from canoe
-When matariki is set in may the spirits are taken to the abyss of darkness, in July when it rises again they are cast into the heavens
Tangi/Takiaue (funeral practise)
-Body prepared for burial
-Taken to a place and mourned
-Visitors ae welcome, speeches are made
-Body is buried
Whanua is brought back in to the world of the living
Importance of funerals for Maori culture
-Dead is the axis on which the living are centered around
-They are the heartbeat of Maori society
-Anyone and everyone is welcome –> no restrictions (makes them very large gathering)
-Fundamentals have changed very little
-Victorian fear of death permanented across Maori society (stopped hugging, kissing, sleeping beside dead body) –> since become more intuned with traditional cultural practises gain (fight against this)
-If practises not carried out gives Wairau the ability to wreak havoc.
Te Mqmae, He, Aroha: warimarie te tangata
Flip the way we think about death –> how fortunate we are to have had the people we have lost in our lives, to have had their aroha instead of focusing on the sadness that comes with grief.
Hine nui te po
-The guardian of death
-No death in the name just darkness
-Helps conceptualize death and darkness as not a scary thing as hine nui te po is there to look after us
Concept: Final resting place
- Image that love one is going back to another place (somewhere that is unattainable for us as the living)
-Belief of where this is depends on the tribe
Before death : ohaki
Someone is close to dying they summon people and gives them instructions e.g. who is going to avenge their death, who is going to take leadership role et.c
before death: Whare turoro
Person is placed before they die and rituals performed
–> temporary place that was resurrected for purpose
-One of the first names for hospital for Māori was whare turoro
before death: Tuku Wairua
-Said over a dead body to calm the spirit after death
-Sometimes it is not possible e.g. a sudden accident where Māori then do not have access to the body
-Starts process of spirits transition to the spiritual world: it is unsafe for them to remain in the living world.
After death: tapu
Lots of processes followed to ensure that other things are not contaminated by tapu
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After death: preparing the body
-Done by specialized people
-Tupapaku - to stand in a crouch (how the body was positioned)
-Kokowai - smear body with this historically, is a clay type consistency. Masks decomposition.
-Wrapped in cloaks
-Today: some changes due to standard western practices of funerals e.g. chemical blaming. But the basics remain the same. Some opting for more greener approaches to funeral –> flax woven coffin (a lot cheaper).
After death: Marae preparations
-Whatever is going on at a marae will automatically stop and finish
-A lot of things need to happen: bedding, linen, mattress, roles arranged, what photos are going to be put around (only photos of the dead placed around), tonga etc.)
Pōwhiri at Tangihanga/ Takiauē
-Karanga = Māori woman –> establishes connection
