Arowhenua, Aoraki & Mountaineers: A Research Project - Mātauranga Arowhenua
This series of articles first appeared in New Zealand Alpine Journal #79 (autumn, 2024). The other articles in this series can be found here.
Mātauranga Arowhenua
by Toni Torepe
Māori have strong connections to their tribal lands. Our cosmology, cultural practices, and history are intertwined with the concept of land. Whenua itself provides clues as to the relationship between Māori and our land. Understanding Māori perspectives of land necessitates acknowledging the historical foundations upon which these perspectives were developed. The rituals and ceremonies associated with land enable Māori to maintain cultural practices, reinforce connections to ancestors, and preserve their unique cultural heritage. Māori have a deep ancestral connection to the land, which is ingrained in their traditions, customs, and identity. Māori oral traditions trace their whakapapa (genealogical) links back to the land, acting as a foundation for their sense of belonging and identity. Moreover, every maunga (mountain) possesses its own wairua (essence) that bestows a sense of tapu (sacredness/ state of restriction). According to Durie (1998), tapu creates boundaries and restrictions, safeguarding the spiritual significance of mountains in Māori culture. Tapu dictates that maunga are to be approached with respect and be held in reverence. The pūrākau of Aoraki and his brothers is an example of why the tapu of maunga needs to be respected. Such understandings, values, and beliefs are also shared by other Indigenous cultures.
This research sought to gain insight into the ways that Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua whānau perceive mountaineering activities on Aoraki. Understanding what Aoraki means to Arowhenua whānau and what potential sources of conflict are there in the context of mountaineers on Aoraki was also explored. The research sought to address the following questions:
-In what ways do Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua whānau perceive mountaineering activities on Aoraki?
-What does Aoraki mean to Arowhenua whānau?
-What potential sources of conflict are there in the context of mountaineers on Aoraki? (Tapu, para (toilet waste)
Using a kaupapa Māori methodology that privileges voice and the mana of research participants, ten narratives were collected from Arowhenua whānau members. These interviews were led by a respected rūnanga member. Interviews were conducted, transcribed and analysed to identify dominant themes. Thematic analysis identified four major themes; Whakapapa/Pūrakau, Tikanga/Tapu, Desecration/Utu, and hope for a better future. Below are some key points
Whakapapa/Pūrakau
-There are two oral traditions (pūrakau) relevant to the creation of Aoraki, and both reference a waka (canoe) journey.
-The links between whakapapa and pūrakau are deeply entwined so that genealogy and oral traditions cannot be separated meaningfully.
-The kōrero surrounding the various pūrākau and the creation of Aoraki establish a profound whakapapa connection to this mountain.
-The combination of Aoraki as an ancestor and the focus of oral traditions generates a high level of respect that was apparent throughout the interviews.
-The strong connections of oral traditions and ancestry to Aoraki help to explain the reverence for the mountain and the use of personal pronouns. This personification of Aoraki requires the same signs of respect as would be bestowed upon a person of high status. The rules of respect can best be framed through the ideas of tikanga (protocols) and tapu (restricted or sacred).
Tikanga/ Tapu
-A system of tapu and tikanga structured most aspects of traditional Māori life, however in contemporary life for the Arowhenua participants, the adherence to tikanga and tapu vary widely.
-Arowhenua whānau recognised that some people from other cultures who consider Aoraki to be ‘just a mountain’ will not necessarily understand the feelings that many of the Arowhenua whānau have towards Aoraki.
-As the conversation turns to Aoraki and mountaineers, we see the links between tapu, tikanga and the personification of Aoraki.
-The most tapu part of a person is their head, and Ngai Tahu has asked climbers to avoid climbing onto the summit:
Desecration/Utu
-Building on the ideas of Aoraki as an esteemed ancestor, there are activities that are particularly tapu and could potentially be used deliberately to desecrate the tapu areas of a hapū or iwi.
-There are some aspects of the activities that mountaineers undertake that are major sources of concern. These are largely to do with the tapu nature of Aoraki, and potential breaches of these tapu. For some in the study, there was no place for any people to be up climbing on Aoraki, for others, mountaineering was considered a valid and acceptable activity, even on Aoraki (but not to the absolute summit).
-Human waste (faeces, urine, menstrual waste) are of particular tapu and can be used to place a mākutu (curse) on the person who deposited them. Traditionally, people also used human waste to deliberately undermine the mana of a person or place.
-Because of these traditions, participants indicated worries about human waste (para) and the dead bodies of climbers (koiwi) on Aoraki.
-The ideas that mountaineers were leaving waste up on the mountain, even when the waste was contained and regularly flown out from huts, was disturbing to many participants. Far worse was the thought that while climbing, some mountaineers were leaving waste high on the slopes of Aoraki.
-Utu is ‘an important concept concerned with the maintenance of balance and harmony in relationships between individuals and groups and order within Māori society, whether through gift exchange or as a result of hostilities between groups … and includes reciprocation of kind deeds as well as revenge’ (Te Aka Māori Dictionary, n.d.). Utu is a natural consequence of insults or also gifts, and utu requires some form of reciprocity.
-Ideas of desecration and utu are interlinked and from the voices of Arowhenua whānau we can see that for some, the insult of climbing and defecating on Aoraki is connected to the deaths of climbers; it seems natural for Aoraki to avenge itself on those who are breaching his tapu.
Hopes for a Better Future:
-This project has significant ability to enlighten and educate our wider community around the way in which Arowhenua view Aoraki. It also has the ability to create opportunities to do positive things for Arowhenua whānau and the wider community.
-Arowhenua whānau also felt that having this conversation was an important way to address ignorance and the sometimes unconscious insults caused by mountaineers and others on Aoraki. Enlightenment through education was a potential approach.
-There was a widely felt sense that if mountaineers knew more about the cultural values associated with Aoraki, they would change their behaviours and be more respectful.
Discussion
This research reveals myriad ways in which Arowhenua whānau see their connections to their ancestor Aoraki. The connections are reinforced through pūrākau (oral traditions) and whakapapa (ancestral lines) and create a sense of awe for Aoraki. Māori life was, and still is, governed by tikanga (protocols) which are designed to align with tapu and noa. While colonisation has eroded many cultural practices, ideas of tapu and noa, and of tikanga are still strong in the values of the Arowhenua whānau in this study. When mountaineers climb on Aoraki, they are entering a cultural landscape and some of their behaviours (ascending to the summit and leaving human waste in the area) are creating a sense of desecration of the tapu and sacred nature of Aoraki.
From an Arowhenua perspective, the utu (consequences) from such desecration can sometimes result in the deaths of climbers. Mountaineers climbing in this highly sacred area makes this a contentious context. It is therefore not surprising that Arowhenua whānau expressed strong opinions about mountaineers, including wanting to exclude them from the area. It is somewhat surprising, that there were also signs of respect for mountaineers, in that education was seen as a way to improve the situation.
Glossary
kāika - settlement
koiwi - corpse, human bone
para - human waste
pūrākau - oral tradition
tapu - a person, place or thing that has a restriction upon it
tikanga - protocols
tupuna - ancestor
utu - reciprocity
whakapapa - genealogy
Suggested reading:
Low, N. (2021). Uprising: walking the Southern Alps of New Zealand. The Text Publishing Company.