Poupou Karanga definition:
- Karanga - 2.(noun) formal call, ceremonial call - a ceremonial call of welcome to visitors onto a marae, or equivalent venue, at the start of a pōwhiri. The term is also used for the responses from the visiting group to the tangata whenua ceremonial call. Karanga follow a format which includes addressing and greeting each other and the people they are representing and paying tribute to the dead, especially those who have died recently. The purpose of the occasion is also addressed. Skilled kaikaranga are able to use eloquent language and metaphor and to encapsulate important information about the group and the purpose of the visit.
Poupou definition:
- Poupou - 2.(noun) post, pole, upright slabs forming the framework of the walls of a house, carved wall figures, peg, stake.
Ka titiro a Wairangi, ko ngā poupou o te whare he kōhurihuri kahikatea (JPS 1910:198). / Wairangi looked and noticed that the side posts of the house were of sapling white pine.
We can now safely say that Poupou Karanga is: the framework or structure/building of a formal call that is exercised when welcoming visitors during a Pōwhiri or Māori welcoming process. This is, in essence, what I am learning about as a Tauira (Student) of Poupou Karanga. It is Marae* based learning (*physical location of my affiliation) with my iwi (tribe affliation).
I feel that in order to understand the context of my kōrero (talk) it is important to understand what I am undertaking. My previous blog Karnaga vs Karakia can be viewed here to get more insight into this blog post as a continuation of my learning journey: http://karangavskarakia.blogspot.co.nz/
Rua Tekau ma Tahi o Pipiri i te tau Rua Mano ma Tekau ma Wha. 21st June 2014.
We started our second Wananga (workshop) on a crisp winters day in Hāhuru marae located along Onepu Springs Road in the Bay of Plenty. I eagerly arrived 20minutes early so I could greet my cousin in the Wharekai (eating house) who has the responsibility of getting all our kai ready during our wānanga - she has an army of helpers who work almost silently in knowing what their roles are. Her warmth of a welcome come in the shape of a hug, followed by some shared words between us before I am wisked away into the Whare tipuna (ancesteral house).
I am keen to see who has returned from our first meeting 5 weeks earlier, and immediately I can see that our class has shrunk, this has saddened me and I have questions bouncing around in my head - why did they not return? where are they now? are they ok? I am soon called back to the present with a grand mihi from our kaumatua who have supportive words that they blanket the group with. I am reminded of the priveledge we have with being participants in this wānanga.
We are seperated into our respective groups and the learning process begins - I am really pleased to see "Milly" and "Louise" who are going to faciliate and lead our day. From my previous wānanga I realised my learning style was fulfilled more with these two wahine (women).
Once again the learning process began, and with more surprises - this time no structure was delivered on a whiteboard, but in the form of a an eloquent kōrero from our kuia Milly. One of the things she asked us was what our reflections were from the previous wānanga? We sat shyly on top of our matresses to gauge who would be brave enough to start the kōrero from us tauira, I knew I wasnt quiet warm to the situation and wasn't going to gift my relfections so quickly. Soon enough a brave lady who distracted me with her hair covering half her face - spoke up, instead to ask a question about the Māori atua. I think this confused some of us as we thought the kōrero was about your reflections not question time. Milly gloriously answered the patai (question) as she is so good at doing and we were soon waiting patiently to hear from other taiura. In order for us not to get distracted by more questions (and the prompting glare from Louise) I decided to share my reflections, I delivered them in 3 titles - but I am only going to share the first title in this post:
1. Wahinetanga - Feminism
From leaving the first wānanga I realised how balanced Te Ao Māori (the world of Māori) is with Tikanga (customary practises in how things are done) appreciating wahine. We are built up at the Wānanga as wahine with stories of Wahine atua, the role of women in maoridom and how Wahine hold the authority on the Marae that starts from the Karanga. Wahine welcome the manuhiri (guests) onto the marae and then the tane (men) are encouraged to hear what the kaikaranga says in her call to help develop their whaikorero (Speech). The Wahine can also cut off a tane in the whaikorero if the korero isnt following the kaupapa. So the authority and mana (respect) of a women in Te Ao Maori is massive.
There was also kōrero about nga Atua (Māori gods) and one facinating thing for me was this: there is a lot of literature about nga Tane Atua (Male Māori gods) like - Tane Mahuta, Tawhirimatea, Tangaroa etc. Some insights from our kaiako were that this literature was largely written by non Māori who had a culture of Women being submissive to Male authority in and around the home and work place. I was completely facinated by this and it bugged me. The kōrero we have been presented at our wānanga in terms of Māori Atua is that of equality across both genders, the balance that both genders bring to each other. With Tane Mahuta there is Hineahuone who birthed the creatures of the forrest, Tangaroa there is Honemoana and they birthed the sea creatures etc...so the balance in Te Ao Maori has always been there.
However, the extension of this learning goes beyond the safety of the Marae and into the everyday western life that I operate in on a daily basis. Here I am reminded of my gender being lesser then that of a man, the common digs - one particular occasion that springs to mind is when I co-facilitated a workshop with an older pakeha man who was presenting an activity that invovled props, one of the props was a basket of pegs, his remark - to a largely women represented group - was that he purchased the rope from Mitre 10 for $4 and he had to borrow the pegs from his wife of which he had no idea how much they cost because that was "not his domain". This infuriated me, and to no surprise no one laughed at his lame attempt to make us laugh.
Although this western gender inequality crept into the Marae with a comment from our kaumatua when we had a final mihi (as combined groups male and female) the kōrero took place in the Whare Tipuna - which is the space of the Women atua, and we had just been breifed on how that space belonged to women and they dominated what happened in these spaces. When we came together as a combined group the kaumatua came into the whare and invited us wahine to talk for 2minutes - so I jestfully took that as a challenge to practise my learning. I got up to mihi back to the group and said " well I will take those two minutes and double them' - this was for me to test of how real that statement was. Is it really the space of women? I can report back that, yes, it is! We all laughed and I think we all realised the weight women have in Māoridom. I want to point out that this was not done in disrespect of my kaumatua, it is quiet the opposite. It was also an atmosphere of lightheartedness so the welcoming of laughter to lighten the learning was welcomed. My respect for my elders is one value my parents have drummed into me and I would never disrespect my elders.
I want to bring this Kōrero back to the Kaupapa (topic) Karanga - whenever I leave the marae wānanga I am empowered and built up as a wahine and as a Māori. I want to revisit the mention of the women who distracted me with her face burried in her hair. I mean this with no judgement, but merely an observation. If we as kaikaranga are to face the responsibility that is gifted to us us, then I feel that we must be prepared as wahine to handle such an honour. I think that we hold the messages from Nga Wahine Atua - who were deliberate in everything that they did, they had a defined purpose and celebrated their gender greatness. I ask this as a question that I am pondering - are we aware of our gender greatness? Now - back to the wahine with the face half covered with hair - what is her messege physically to other wahine? I veiwed it as one of a facade. How many other women "hide" behind a facade? When did we lose ourselves as women?
Karanga and wahinetanga are synonomous - in order to deliver the Karanga we must have an awareness of our gender greatness, these are presented through Atua such as: Hinenuitepo, Hineahuone, Hinemoana, Mahuika and the greatness of Papatuānuku to name a few. Here is an image that really spoke to me and my own journey of unpacking the depths of kaikaranga - it is one completed by Robyn Kahukiwa titled 'Supa Hero' 1999.
This image depicts a wahine as a supa hero - she is juggling a baby and a patu. I can identify with this artwork. I feel that the baby speaks of women-ness or Wahninetanga and the gift of our whare tangata to brith future generations, and the patu represents to me the knowledge of my culture and my place in the culture, but also the patu as an instrument or weapon, therefore having to fight with westernised views of society outside of Te Ao Māori represented by the Mana Motuhake flag. Here is a Wahine who is ready for anything, she is armed for any situation. I hope I can be like her one day!
