Journal article

Nō te tau 2001 i whakatūria ai e Ako Aotearoa (National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence) tētahi tohu hei whakanui i ngā mahi a te tangata e whakaako ana i te taumata takiura. Me whakaatu te kaiwhiwhi tohu i tana ū roa ki ngā taumata tiketike rawa i tana mahi whakaako. Tekau mā rua ngā kaiwhiwhi toa i ia tau, kātahi ka whiriwhirihia ai e tētahi kōmiti kaiwhakawā kia kotahi te tangata e whiwhi nei i te Tohu Tiketike o te Pirimia. Mō ngā tau e whā kua hipa ake nei i riro i ngā kaiako Māori te tohu tiketike nei.

He rangahau e pā ana ki tētahi rïpoata tawhito i tukuna e Te Whānau-a-Te Ēhutu hai kēreme i te 1994 ki te Karauna. He kēreme tēnei mō te moutere, mō te puia o Whakaari. Ko te take mō tēnei rangahau, he āta tïtiro ki tēnei kēreme me ētahi atu kēreme whakawhiti e pā ana ki Whakaari kia mārama ai ngā take o roto. Mai i ngā tau kua pahure atu ki tēnei tau, ka tïmatahia e ngā hapū o Te Whānau-a-Apanui te whakarite i ngā kēreme kia utua e te Karauna mō ngā hara I mahia e rātou i ngā wā o mua.

Pōwhiri has a long history and generates deeper meanings beyond the formal enactment of welcome. What happens when this ritual is transferred into contemporary environments, especially those beyond the traditional marae? In particular, how might the performance of this ritual as adapted to suit objectives beyond its ritual origins be seen, even so, to reconstruct and reinforce the sense of identity, communality and belonging—who we are and how we come together—that pōwhiri was evolved to engender?

This paper considers the use of contemporary popular waiata in promulgating a Māori worldview by expressing cultural identity and belonging. Waiata are a traditional medium, a practice through which Māori knowledge, histories, culture and language continue to be passed down from one generation to another (Ka‘ai-Mahuta, 2010; McLean, 1996; Orbell, 1991; Smith, 2003). Similarities can be observed between traditional and contemporary waiata, in that messages are delivered through musical, melodic, rhythmic and harmonic motifs that are distinctively Māori.