Activity C: Learning from our elders
Connect with the knowledges of those who lived before you.
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He pitopito kōrero Ngā kōrero tuku iho are the oral traditions that are passed down across time. Through the rich practices of whakapapa, whakataukī, kōrero, pūrākau, and waiata, the ancient, historical and contemporary worlds were described and known. Oral traditions inform and explain tikanga, philosophy, as well as kawa, practice. Te ao Māori embraces intergenerational time. These connections mean that those that have gone before us, and those that will come next are with us, in a spiral across time. We draw on ancestors, allow for the present context and plan for knowledge to be passed on to descendants in the future. Understanding ourselves comes through connecting with our world. Listening to oral storytelling and valuing the lived experiences of those around us is an important part of life. |
When we listen to elders, understanding of ourselves and our world changes and expands. Discuss with friends and family any elders in your family or wider community that you might be able to engage with.
Consider ways that you can honour your elders’ time and their comfort. Your school may already have practices of honouring guests for you to follow. It might be appropriate to visit them, or they may be able to come to you and talk with the whole class.
Make sure you allow for connection first without any predetermined sense of what you want. By taking your time you will realise many new opportunities.
You might be able to interview an elder in your own whānau, perhaps videoing or recording their voice, with permission. You might be able to present their story with layers of photos from your family.
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What do they have to tell you about your family? What stories do they tell about their childhood and the ways that they connected with te taiao? What songs do they sing, what guiding whakataukī or mantras do they live by? What was their relationship to te taiao and how is this different to yours? What characteristics of your ancestors do they carry forward? What do you think your children’s children will know and carry forward from you? |
Henry and Ken Matuku splitting eels, Owae Marae. From: Te iwi o te wahi kore, 1980, by Fiona Clark.Te Papa (O.043102)
You might be able to present their story as a voiceover, and add layers of photos from your family. Alternatively, you might like to take photos that capture some of the ways your elders interact with te taiao. The photo above was taken by Fiona Clark and captures Henry and Ken Matuku splitting eels at Owae Marae. In this one frame, we can tell so much about how connected they are to te taiao.
Ko wai au?, 1979, by Robyn Kahukiwa (Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Konohi, and Whanau-a-Ruataupare). Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa (1997-0020-1)
Ko Wai Au? Who Am I? is the question pondered in this painting by Robyn Kahukiwa. Understanding who she is, has been an important thread across a great deal of her work, as she said:
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“My identity in things Māori is made possible because of my ancestors. It exists because of whakapapa, tribal culture and tradition. My links with the past are as important to me as the fact of my being, my future and the future of my children.” |
Like a film still, this painting feels like a freeze-frame of a moment in time. You may have videoed the interview with an elder. Take a freeze frame, and using a digital creation tool like Procreate, trace the main outlines of this moment in time. Add in imagined or simplified items to represent more about the stories that you heard during your listening. From here, you may want to transfer it to a canvas to paint, or continue with it as a digital art piece.
After sitting down with an elder, in the community, or in your family, reflect on not just what you learnt, but how you felt. Listening to other people and being curious about our past can sometimes be emotional. Notice the emotions or physical sensations that run inside you. What do they represent? Why do you think you feel this way?
Brainstorm a word cloud of all the feelings and sensations that you have experienced in this process. Share your word cloud with a friend and discuss what you have learnt about yourself.