Mataia Keepa: Stay faithful or end up tikanga Maori hypocrite

We may say a karakia to bless kai at the marae but how many pull over the side of the road to do the same while eating a cheeseburger? Photo / File

Tikanga instruct us to conduct ourselves in a particular way, to behave according to our agreed values and keep us grounded based on Maoritanga. Therefore its interpretation can impact significantly on our holistic way of living.

But, if I could invigorate things a little, these are great values to uphold, but when they're practised with rigour in the eyes of the public but forsaken elsewhere, then we are very much tikanga Maori hypocrites who have cultivated a false sense of living as Maori.

I know that this may sound a little harsh, but it's worth looking at what we do and how inadvertently or otherwise it may compromise tikanga just to suit our everyday lives.

For instance, Maori are quick to berate someone for resting their backside on a table top, yet are oblivious to resting their freshly bought produce on the backseat of their vehicles - tikanga Maori hypocrites, right there.

Additionally, some are quick to heed the call of a whakatau at their local marae, yet are fainthearted to be so elaborate when it comes to distinguished guests arriving to their own humble abodesanother case of tikanga Maori hypocrisy.

Or, when it comes to blessing kai, honestly, how many of us are there that literally pull over to the side of the road to chant a karakia before we devour into the perfectly wrapped cheeseburger from a McDonald's drive-through? Now that's a genuine tikanga Maori practitioner, hallelujah.

So, where does one draw the line?

Forget the line. If we fail to achieve these important tikanga, then this should call our own understanding of tikanga Maori into question. Because, not only do these examples undermine the purpose of why tikanga were established, they prove we are two-timing our own belief systems to suit us whenever we feel.

Where's the mana of those tikanga if we're to remodel them, over and over again based on the contexts of our lives?

This doesn't seem to be very accommodating of "the Maori holistic way of living" to me. Rather this screams hypocrisy and selfishness of a people towards their entrusted culture.

Now one could argue that practicality precedes and impacts on tikanga and certainly there is merit to that argument. However, one should also understand how they may be changing tikanga in the process of being practical.

Maori translation

Tohutohu ai aa taatou tikanga i a taatou kia peenei ai, kia peeraa ai raanei, kia whai ai hoki taatou i ngaa uara e aaminetia nei e taatou, ka mutu ko taana he whakawhenua i a taatou e ai ki ngaa ihomatua e whakaponotia ana e taatou, he Maaori. Noo reira, he nui ngaa paanga o aa taatou whakamaaoritanga i eeraa mea, araa i ngaa tikanga, ki te tirohanga whaanui o te ao e noho nei taatou.

Heoi anoo, kia paku whai waahi atu ahau ki te ahurea o ngaa koorero hei whakaihiihi noa iho i a taatou, aa-tangata nei he uara nui eenei hei pupuri maa taatou, engari mehemea e whakatinanatia maarikatia ana eenei i mua i te aroaro o te marea, ka mutu, e whakatahangia ana eenei i waahi kee atu, ee, me kore ake te kaiwhakataruna i a taatou ki aa taatou tikanga Maaori, taatou tonu e whakapono kaapoo nei koinei puu te ao o te noho hei Maaori. Tooku koeke maarika e moohio ana he taumaha rawa pea eenei koorero, heoi anoo he hua tonu o te titiro ki eenei kawenga aa taatou, ka matapaki ai mehemea e taahawahawa ana i a taatou aa taatou tikanga moo te painga noa iho o oo taatou ao.

Hei tauira, he tere te Maaori ki te koohete i te tangata moona i noho ai ki te teepu, engari e kaapoo ana ki taana ake whakanoho i aana kai noo te toa hokomaha ki te tuuru o tana waka, iraa, te tangata arero rua ki ngaa tikanga Maaori! Aapiti atu, he tere tonu eetahi ki te tautoko i ngaa whakatau aa-manuhiri nei ki ngaa marae o oo raatou hapori, heoi anoo e maangere ana ki te mahi peeraa ki aa raatou manuhiri rangatira kua tae ki oo raatou kaainga ake, ee, ruurua ana teenei tauira ki teeraa raa o te maaminga i ngaa tikanga Maaori! Tatuu atu raa, ki te karakia i te kai, kia pono tonu, tokohia nei taatou ka whakataha i te waka ki te takitaki karakia i mua i te apu i te peeka tiihi i aata uhia ai e Maketaanara, i te waahanga hoko-whaawhai o taua toa? Iraa, iraa, iraa, te tino tauira o te kaitautaawhi i ngaa tikanga Maaori, huroo! Noo reira, ki hea tuhia ai te pae kouka?

Hei aha te pae kouka! Ki te kore taatou e upoko pakaru kia tutuki ai i a taatou eenei tikanga, paikare, me matapaki e koe oo ake moohiotanga ki ngaa tikanga Maaori. Ehara noa iho i te mea e whakatakeetia ana eenei tauira i ngaa take i tuu ai eenei tikanga, engari e whakaatu mai ana eenei e puurahoruatia ana e taatou oo taatou puunaha whakapono ki taa taatou i pai ai, moo ngaa waa hoki e pai ana ki a taatou. Kei hea hoki te mana o aua tikanga mehemea taatou e whakarerekee nei i a ia, e whakarerekee nei i a ia, e whakarerekee nei i a ia, e pai noa iho ai mo te horopaki o oo taatou ao? Ki ahau nei, kaare teenei i tapatahi 'ki te tirohanga whaanui a te Maaori ki taana momo noho', engari kee ia e pararee mai ana teenei i te arero ruatanga, me te matapikotanga a te iwi ki te ahurea i tukuna iho ai ki a raatou.

Aae, e taea te tohe mai i te haangaitanga o teenei ki te ao tonu o te tangata me ngaa paanga o aua momo ao ki ngaa tikanga, ka mutu he tohe pai tonu teeraa, heoi anoo me mataara tonu te tangata, me whakaaro nui, me moohio hoki akene e whakarerekeetia ana e raatou eetahi tikanga i a raatou ka warea noa iho ai ki te horopaki o oo raatou ao. Heoi anoo taaku i konei he whakamaatautau i oo taatou moohiotanga ki eenei kaupapa, he whakaatu hoki i eetahi o aa taatou whakatahatanga tikanga moo eetahi take heahea noa iho nei.

Mataia Keepa runs the Normalising Te Reo in Social Media Facebook page and is a tutor at Te Wananga o Aotearoa in Manukau.