L2: Purakau

• Atua


  Ancestors of ongoing influence with power over particular domain
• Tohunga


  Experts within their practice, endowed by the atua with an ability to perform particular activities taught to humanity by the atua themselves
• Karakia


  Formulaic chants accompanying ritual acts addressed to the atua
• Michael Shirres: 'The world of atua is not separated absolutely from the world of everyday activities, from the secular world. Rather, the two worlds are closely linked, all activities in the everyday world being seen as coming under the influence of the spiritual powers.'
• Io


  A supreme being who exists eternally in Te Korekore (the Void)
• Creation described by Io

  Io recites a whakapapa (genealogy) of karakia, bringing different realms/stages of creation into existence by speaking their names

  
• Many consider Io a later tribal addition developed by tohunga after they became familiar with Christianity. They argue such a tradition is inauthentic and may have been developed in response to foreign ideas.
• Separation of Ranginui/Rakinui and Papatūānuku


  • Actioned by their children in concert
  • Involves the physical separation of the primordial parents
• Te Arawa version of separation

  1. Rangi and Papa embrace tightly in total darkness, with their sons existing in the cramped space between them

  2. The brothers seek to create space and light between them and debate the appropriate way forward (tikanga)

  3. Tūmatauenga suggests to kill them, while Tānemahuta proposes only to separate them. Tāwhirimātea does not agree with either

  4. Each brother who is in agreement to separate the parents tries without success, until Tāne inverts his body and pushes the parents apart with his legs

  5. The parents complain at this ill-treatment, likening it to kōhuru
• Te Arawa version continued

  1. Tāwhirimātea allies with his father Rangi out of great aroha (love, compassion) for his parents and attacks his brothers. Each brother is defeated except Tūmatauenga

  2. Tūmatauenga is left to fight alone and seeks utu (revenge) against his brothers for their lack of support

  3. Those who failed to fight are eaten, and then come under Tūmatauenga's authority as tēina (junior in rank)
• Ngāi Tahu version of separation

  1. Papatūānuku is initially married to Takaroa, who goes away to bury their child's placenta

  2. While Takaroa is away, Papatūānuku takes on Raki as a new husband, and have numerous children, including Rehua and Tāne

  3. Takaroa returns to find Papa and Raki together and challenges Raki to a fight

  4. Raki is defeated, with Raki's subsequent children being born sickly and weak

  5. Raki, who still embraced Papa instructs his son Tāne and his brothers to separate the parents so that light will grow. Raki insists that all brothers assist in the separation
• Ngāi Tahu version continued

  1. Tāne instructs his brothers to prop Raki up in the sky while Paia performs karakia to give them strength

  2. Tāne is successful in separating the parents. Raki is killed as a result, but his wish is for his children to live in a world of light

  3. Tāne adorns his naked father with stars
• What the pūrākau of humanity tells us

  • Tāne
  • Tiki-auaha
  • Io-wahine
  • Hine-hau-one
  • Hine-tītama
  • Hine-nui-te-pō
• Ngāi Tahu version of humanity's origins

  1. Tāne creates a human, Tiki-auaha, from Hawaiki's earth. He breathes life into him

  2. Tāne also creates a female partner, Io-wahine, by mixing water and Hawaiki's earth

  3. Tāne breathes life into her (similar to Tiki) and proceeds to experimentally copulate with her, establishing appropriate activities and excretions. The aim is to establish from where reproduction will spring from

  4. Io-wahine is said to have 'ran forth' before marrying Tiki-auaha
• Ngāti Kahungunu version of humanity's origins

  1. Tāne and his brothers seek to raise descendants in the world of light and try to find the female element (uha/uwha)

  2. Tāne is instructed on how to create the female form from the earth at Kurawaka, the puke (mons pubis) of Papatūānuku

  3. Tāne sculpts the female form from the earth, creating Hineahuone/Hinehauone. He breathes life into her and she sneezes (hence the saying "Tihei mauri ora")

  4. Tāne has intercourse with Hine to produce various bodily discharges and functions. The aim is to establish from where reproduction will spring from

  5. Karakia are recited during intercourse to excite Tāne, to ensure offspring and to strengthen the implantation of te ira tangata (the spark of life). Tāne then experiences detumescence

  6. Tāne and Hineahuone marry and have four daughters

  7. Tāne later marries their first-born, Hine-tītama, who is unaware that Tāne is her father

  8. When she discovers who her husband is, she flees to Rarohenga (the Underworld) and becomes Hine-nui-te-pō (the maiden of the night/dark)
• Themes and ideas from pūrākau

  • Provide precedents to live by
  • Understanding of right from wrong
  • Understanding of the emergence of the natural world
  • Understanding that men and women are equal
• Importance of pūrākau to Māori society

  • Provides a set of rules to live by
  • Understanding of the negative affect of a transgression
  • Rituals for spiritual and material wellbeing
• Relevance of pūrākau today

  • Provide reflection of current social practices
  • Understanding of the importance of whakapapa
  • Continuation of rituals for spiritual and material wellbeing
• Ranginui Walker: 'Māori myths and traditions are logically arranged and related systems that fulfilled explanatory, integrating, validating, historic and socialisation functions for the people who owned them. … Myth messages are so close to the existing reality of human behaviour that it is [sometimes] difficult to resolve whether myth is the prototype or the mirror image of reality.'