27 July - 2 August

The Oral Tradition

Like many native peoples, the culture of the Maori people was highly oratory. Much of their storytelling revolved around composing, memorizing, and performing all different kinds of poems, war chants, laments, and prayers. They were often thought to have a highly figurative and often rare poetic beauty. The oral production also had a definite religious element to it--seeing as it was believed that both language and knowledge had been acquired from the gods, religious ritual often played a large part in these productions. Within all of these poems, songs, chants, and prayers, they formed and cultivated their own mythology to record their past and tell the legends and stories of their gods and tribal heroes, like the story of Kupe discovering Aotearoa. 

The storytelling methods of the Maori were rarely direct. They did not rely on or use solid concepts and direct ideas. Rather, they would tend towards using all kinds of imagery and fantastical elements to both understand their history and convey it to others. Therefore, their songs, myths, and prayers endure as a living record of their collective tribal memory. 

In a culture that is completely oral such as the pre-European Maori, their stories and myths survived only if they were successfully transmitted from one generation to the next. It was a big deal and often a very complicated affair. The stories were all told orally, and involved a long and complicated string of speakers and receivers that extended for generations, all working together to keep the stories and myths alive. 

In Maori, traditional songs are called waiata. There were three different kinds of waiata: the waiata tangi, which were laments for the dead or lost; waiata aroha, which were songs about the nature of love, as well as familial love and kinship; and waiata whaiaaipo, which were songs for courtship and romantic love. 

As well as these, there are songs of lesser importance: pao, which were songs of gossip; poi, songs that accompanied traditional dances; oriori, songs composed for those children who would be heirs, in order for them to learn about their heritage; and karanga, a chant sung or performed by the women of the tribe in order to welcome or farewell visitors to their tribe. 

Apart from traditional songs, there were also various types of chants that were recited as opposed to performed. These were the karakia, which invoked the power of the gods to assist or protect the chanter; the paatere, which were chants by women in order to address or rebut against slander or gossip; kaioraora, chants directed at an enemy to express abuse, hatred, and promise of terrible revenge; and haka, a war chant accompanied by fierce gestures, expressions, rhythmic movement, and stamping. The haka sometimes included stylized violence, and the stunning and intimidating nature of these chants has made them some of the most famous among the Maori oral traditions. 

Success Criteria: I can/have...

• Recognise the historical significance of Pūrākau storytelling.

• Use abstract symbolism to enhance the meaning of a story.

Activities: