This article was first published by RNZ
A Tararua iwi has launched a set of bilingual books retelling the journey of their ancestor from Hawaiki to Aotearoa, as part of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.
Copies of Whātonga: In Search of Man - were gifted by Te Whare Taiao o Rangitāne to local schools, where they would be a local addition to the New Zealand History Curriculum.
Mākirikiri Marae in Dannevirke was full of students and teachers on Wednesday there to listen to the story of Whātonga and his journey to New Zealand in search of Toi - his grandfather.
Author and Rangitāne iwi historian Dr Manahi Paewai said in the generations following his arrival in New Zealand, the descendants of Whātonga spread across the country and now lived across Manawatū, Wairarapa, the top of the South Island and beyond.
“Tō mātau o te kainga hiahia te whakanui nei i tērā kōrero nei mā te tuhi i te pukapuka... te kōrero nei a Toi mō Whātonga nei me tōna rapu nei i tōna tūpuna te take o tōna haerenga maitanga ki Aotearoa (We wanted to celebrate that story by launching this book retelling the story of Whātonga and Toi and how they arrived in Aotearoa).”
Paewai said during a waka race in Hawaiki, Whātonga was blown off course and lost in a storm. When he managed to return home he found that his grandfather Toi had left in search of him so Whātonga prepared his waka Kurahaupō to follow him to Aotearoa.
“Ko tēnei mātau e hiahia ana te tuku te whakakoha i tēnei kōrero nei ki ā mātau o te kainga nei ngā uri o Whātonga, heoi anō ka tika he mea mō te motu nei kia mohiotia, kia pānuitia (We wanted to gift this story to our own people the descendants of Whātonga, but it’s for everyone to learn about, to read about).”
The books also came with a teachers’ guide to help intergrate it into the classroom under the new history curriculum.
Project lead Shannon Story said they worked with two mainstream teachers to create the resources.
“The teachers’ guide was created to help support teachers with the implementation of the stories into schools, it includes mātauranga Māori around navigation voyaging and waka, as well as lesson plans, values, whakatauki.”
Dannevirke South School teacher Destiny Greatbatch said it was amazing to be welcomed in to the marae for the book launch.
“We have so many of our children who just come alive when they learn about who they are and the history of our local iwi and things like that, but one of the problems that we’ve had is with the Aotearoa/New Zealand histories we don’t always know the information and things that have happened in our area so to have people that know and that are gifting this to us, this knowledge that we can pass on to our children is really, really exciting.
“[It] makes such a difference to their schooling when they can learn about something they really care about and that’s going to help us to reach so many of our children and to get them excited about who we are and where we’re from.”
Greatbatch said the school had been working closely with Rangitāne to build up its knowledge and use of tikanga.
It had made such a difference to student’s sense of belonging and it was amazing to visit the marae and be welcomed in, she said.
Kobe and Cresha, two students from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Tamaki Nui a Rua, were excited to start reading and learning more about Whātonga.
“He harikoa, he hīkaka kia whai wā ki te pānui i te pukapuka hou (I’m excited to find time to read the new book),” Kobe said.
“He ataahua te pikitia (The pictures are beautiful),” Cresha added.
Translator Te Riaki Tamasese said many iwi members were in mainstream schools so it was important they had resources to learn about their ancestors as well.
“Tēnei mātau o te Whare Taiao o Rangitāne e whakaaro ki ō tātau uri e kuraina ana ki ngā kura auraki, ehara i te mea kei te kura kaupapa Māori anake ō mātau uri (Te Whare Taiao o Rangitāne were thinking about our descendants learning in mainstream schools [when we wrote this book], the descendants of Whātonga are not just in Kura Kaupapa Māori).”
Tamasese said there were plans for future books in the works focussing on other iwi stories with the Whātonga books acting as a pilot program.
The books would be available to buy online from Te Whare Taiao o Rangitāne in the weeks to come, he said.
By Pokere Paewai of RNZ
