Story by Basil Keane

Main image: Child feeding a tohunga under tapu

Ngā atua

In Māori tradition, creation began with theatua (gods). First came Te Kore (the void), then Te Pō (the night) and then Te Ao Mārama (the world of light).

The children of Papatūānuku (earth mother) and Ranginui (sky father) included Tāne, god of forests, Tangaroa, god of the sea, Rongo, god of cultivated food, and Tūmatauenga, god of war.

Tāne made the first woman, Hineahuone, and married her. Human beings are descended from this union.

Tohunga

Tohunga were either priests or experts in a certain field, for exampletohungawhakairo were expert carvers.

Atua and spirits could communicate through atohunga, who would speak in a different voice.

Tohunga ensured people carried out the correct rituals when they gathered food or went to war.

Matakite were people who could see into the future, or could see events happening elsewhere. Manytohunga were also matakite.

Spiritual ideas

People had power calledmana which came from the ancestors. First-born children andtohunga had greatermana than others.

Living things and objects could be affected bytapu. There were ceremonies to removetapu so they were noa (ordinary, free from restrictions).

A person’s spirit was known as wairua. Wairua could leave the body and go wandering.

Karakia

Tohunga communicated with theatua usingkarakia. There were many different types ofkarakia, including simple children’skarakia.

Rituals

When babies were born they were dedicated to a god at a ceremony called tohi. It was one of several rituals performed after childbirth.

Sometimes atohunga or chief would make a place or thingtapu, so people’s behaviour was restricted. This was called arāhui.

When people went fishing, they threw their first catch back to Tangaroa. The first bird caught was offered to Tāne, and the first kūmara to Rongo.

Tūāhu and wāhi tapu

Shrines made of stones were built away from villages. These tūāhu weretapu. Other places, for example burial grounds, were alsowāhi tapu (tapu places). The latrine (toilet) was alsotapu.