Marae

Ko te marae te tūrangawaewae o te iwi.

He kupu tino tawhito tēnei kupu 'marae'. Ki ngā iwi o Te Ao-o-Kiwa, he wāhi tapu te marae, he wāhi i mahia ai ngā mahi tapu, ngā huihuinga a te iwi. I ngā reo o Tahiti, o Rarotonga, he marae tēnei; ki ngā tāngata o Tonga, he mala'e; i ngā reo o Hāmoa, o Hawai'i, he malae. He wāhi ātea takawhā tēnei, he kōhatu, he pou rānei e tū ana ki ia taha, ki ia taha, hei wāhi mahi i ngā karakia tapu.

Nō te Rautau 19, ko te taenga mai o te whakapono karaitiana ki ngā moutere o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, ka whakarerea ngā marae o reira, ka whakangaromia te nuinga. Ko ētahi i waiho hei wāhi mā ngā turuhi, mā ngā kaimātai whaipara tangata. Otirā, mau tonu te tapu o ngā marae. Kei ngā Kuki Airani, ka mau tonu te iwi ki te whakapai o ētahi o ngā marae o reira (ko Ara-i-te-tonga, ko Vaerota, ko Taputapuatea) mō ngā karakia whakapai i ngā ariki hou.

I Aotearoa nei, i te wā i noho ai ngā tūpuna ki ngā pā tūwatawata, he wāhi te 'marae' kei mua i tētahi whare whakairo. He ingoa anō tō taua wāhi ko te 'marae ātea'. Ka mahia i konei ngā tikanga katoa e pā ana ki te iwi, he wāhi mā ngā tohunga e mahi ngā ritenga tapu. Kei muri i te marae, he whare maihi e tū ana. Ko tēnei whare he whare tapu, he whare whakapaipai, he mea whakairo, kia mōhio ai te iwi, ko te whare o te rangatira tērā. Kāore e taea te tomo noa ki roto ki taua whare, kia mātua tohia te tangata ki te wai tapu, kia purea ia ki ngā karakia, kātahi anō ka uru ki roto.

I ēnei rā, kua āhua rerekē haere te tikanga o te kupu 'marae'. Ko ngā whare katoa e tū ana ki te papakāinga e kīa ana he marae; arā ko te wharenui i mua i te marae ātea, ko te wharekai, ko ngā whare horoi. I mua atu i ngā mahi hanga i tētahi whare hou, ka huihui ngā kaumātua o te rohe whakawhitiwhiti whakaaro ai, whiriwhiri kaupapa ai mō te marae. Ka whakaae mai rātou ki te ingoa o te wharenui, ki ngā ingoa o ngā whare katoa o te marae.

Ko te wharenui he wāhi mō ngā huihuinga, mō ngā mahi toi, mō ērā mahi atu atu. I reira moe ai ngā manuhiri ki te taha o te tangata whenua. I roto i te wharekai, ka noho tahi rātou ki te kai, ki te mahi rānei i ngā mahi a te iwi. Kei te marae ātea, ka tū te iwi ki te pōwhiri ki ngā manuhiri, ki te whāikōrero.

Ka tū tētahi tangata ki te marae, ki te whakapuaki i ngā whakaaro i takea mai i te hōhonutanga o tōna hinengaro, ka whakarongo te iwi ki aua kōrero, ā, mā ēnei ka taea e rātou te tatau ōna karangatanga, te wāhi mōna i roto i te iwi. Ka rangatira te whakatakoto o āna kupu, ko ia anō hei rangatira whakatau mōna. Ko tēnei ko tōna mārama ki te reo, te taonga nāna i tā te rangatira ki tōna rae. Ka whakaritea ki te korimako, he manu tino reo reka o te wao nui a Tāne. I ngā wā o mua, e āhei ai te tauira hei pū kōrero, i whāngaia ia ki taua manu kia whiwhi ai ki ōna painga. Ko te tangata i mātau ki te kōrero i huaina he korimako, ā, ka whakarongo te iwi ki te rangi, ki ngā kupu i taka mai i ōna ngutu.

Kei ngā marae anake e rongona ēnei momo kōrero, ā, kei reira anake ka taea ai te hōhonu, ahakoa kei te ia i roto i te kaikōrero ngā toto rangatira, ahakoa i heke mai ia i te aho o te waru, kāore he mea hei aukati i a ia ki te tū tōna marae, notemea he oneone tuku iho tēnei ki te iwi katoa, ki ōna i kīa rā, ki ōna whakatupuranga, ki ōna whakatupuranga, he papakāinga tēnei, te taonga tūhonohono, nāna i whakatōpū ngā whakaminenga o ngā hapū i ngā karangatanga huhua o te takiwā. He papa huinga tāngata tēnei i ngā wā o te pai, e hui ai te iwi i ōna whakatapere, e tangi ai i ngā wā o te hēmanawa, o te pouri.

I ngā tau kua pahure ake nei, tahuri ai ngā kura, ngā kāreti, ngā whare wānanga o Aotearoa nei ki te whakatū marae mō rātou anō, hei wāhi whakaako i ngā mahi Māori, i te reo, i te whāikōrero. Kei Waipapa Marae, kei te marae o Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki-makau-rau, ka tū ko ngā whiwhinga tohu a te Tari Māori, ko ngā pōwhiri mō ngā kaimahi hou o te Whare Wānanga. Engari ka mātua whakamahia ki te whakaako i te reo, i ngā tikanga a te Māori, i te whāikōrero, me ngā pōwhiri ki ngā manuhiri tuarangi o te Whare Wānanga.

• Rārangi marae
• Waipapa Marae

• Kōrero o mua: te marae (reo Pākehā)

Kei te Wikimedia Commons he whakaahua atu anō e pā ana ki

Marae

• C. Barlow, Tikanga Whakaaro. Tāmaki-makau-rau, Oxford, 1991.
• W. Kaa, Te O. Kaa, Apirana Ngata: Āna Tuhinga i te Reo Māori. Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara: Te Whare Tā Pukapuka a Te Whare Wānanga o Te Upoko o Te Ika-a-Māui, 1996.

He maramara noa iho tēnei tuhipānui. Tirohia ngā tikanga whakapai mō tēnei paetukutuku reo Māori. Māu pea e tāpiri ētahi kōrero kia tāroa ake?