Whakapapa and phylogeny #18 Flashcards
What is whakapapa?
Whakapapa is a mental construct that encodes and records Māori knowledge. It means “to place in layers” and is used to describe the relationships between living and non-living entities, including humans.
What can whakapapa record?
Whakapapa can record human descent lines and relationships, which are also known as genealogies. These typically take an allegorical form and include explanatory theories as well as moral principles.
What is the whakapapa of the kūmara moth?
In Māori tradition, all parts of the natural world are descended from Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatūānuku, the earth mother. The whakapapa of the kūmara moth shows the ancestry of Hīhue.
What is the connection between Haumia and the natural world in Māori tradition?
Haumia, the god of uncultivated food, produced Te Mōnehu (fern spores), from which came Namu (sandflies), Waeroa (mosquitoes), and Rō (stick insects), as well as Aruhe (fern root).
What is the significance of the kākāpō in Māori culture?
The kākāpō was regarded as a taonga (treasure) and was sometimes kept as a pet. It was also hunted by Ngāi Tahu for food, as well as for its feathers and skins for cloaks.
Why are there so few kākāpō alive today?
There are fewer than 200 kākāpō alive today due to the bird’s vulnerability to mammalian ground predators, such as feral cats, ferrets, possums, rodents, and stoats.
What are some of the natural predators of the kākāpō?
The kākāpō’s natural predators include small birds, lizards, mice, and nocturnal birds of prey, such as the Kārearea (New Zealand falcon), Kāhu (harrier hawk), Pouākai (Haast’s eagle), Moa, Ruru (morepork), and Whēkau (laughing owl).
What is the whakapapa of the kūmara?
According to Māori tradition, Rongo, the atua (god) of cultivated foods, is the origin of the kūmara. There are many variations of the kūmara whakapapa, but one composite version comes from several tribal areas on the East Coast of the North Island (Whanau a Apanui, Ngati Awa, and Tūhoe).
