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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol 35 no. 11. 31 May 1972

The Urban Migration

page 10

The Urban Migration.

The Marae as an Institution

In pre-European Maori society, the focal point of every permanently inhabited Maori village was the marae, the ground that served as a courtyard and a place of assembly for the members of the community. Associated with and complementary to the marae was the village meeting house known as the whare runonga or whare hui.

The meeting house as the pride and joy of the tribe was named after an eponymous ancestor represented by the carved figure on the gable of the roof. The tahuhu (ridgepole) represented the backbone and the heke (rafters) the ribs of the founding ancestor of the tribe or hapu (sub-tribe). Thus an assemblage of the hapu was referred to as "Meeting within the bosom of our ancestor." The poupou (posts) around the walls of the meeting house were carved figures representing famous ancestors, tribal gods and culture heroes. The prestige of a village was judged by the standard of its meeting house functioned as a whare puni (sleeping house) for guests, a whare hui (assembly house) and whare runanga (council house).

The marae was used for many social purposes by the inhabitants of a village. The marae [unclear: sered] as a rendezvous for parties leaving the village. Parties returning from hunting, fishing or war expeditions were met there. When the marae was not in use for formal meetings, children used it as their playground. Youths practised manly sports there (e.g. wrestling) while adults spent many leisure hours there talking and passing the time of day. Every day, the marae served as a dining place and seating accommodation for the community.

When the chief of a village was ill and sensed the approach of death, he was brought out on the marae before the assembled people to give his poroporoaki (farewell speech) The tangihanga (mourning ceremony) was held on the marae and was followed by the hakari (funery feast). Following the hahunga (ceremonial exhumation) a year or two later the bones of the chief together with those of other dead ancestors were welcomed back onto the marae, wept over and then reburied in a secret place. Raymond Firth summarises the importance of the marae in Maori society

The marae of a village was bound up with all the most vital happenings, with warm and kindly hospitality, with stately and dignified ceremonial, with the grouping of hosts and visitors in positions determined by etiquette and traditional proceedure. This helps to account for the fact that to the native it was more than a simple open space in the village or a convenient assembly ground, and bore a distinct social importance'1

The association of the marae with family and kinship through the hapu (sub-tribe) and iwi (tribal group), its connection with illustrious ancestors, its focus for citizenship where the individual had inalienable rights to free speech, all served to establish the social significance of the marae to the individual and his tribe

The third element in the marae complex was the pataka (storehouse). No marae according to Buck could maintain its prestige unless it was supported by well stocked storehouses. A welcome on the marae had to be followed by a welcome with food. In pre-European Maori society, food was the most important form of wealth. This cultural attitude to food stemmed from the conditions of life in those times. Although there were rich natural resources of food in New Zealand, their seasonal nature together with the low level of technology meant that the Maori had to work hard for his living. He had to ensure a surplus above his daily needs for the off-season of the long winter months and overcome problems of storage and spoilage. Consequently, social power could be expressed in terms of food by possessing it in large quantities, and using it lavishly in entertaining visitors. A reputation for generosity was sought after and a charge of meanness to be avoided at all costs, even to the extent of emptying the storehouses.

A basic feature of the marae is the disposition of the buildings and associated facilities in accordance with the dichotomy of tapu (sacred) and noa (profane). The meeting house as the symbol of the tribe and its ancestors was, highly tapu and stood apart on the marae. The cooking area where food was prepared was noa, the antithesis of tapu and consequently was well separated from the meeting house and other dwellings. The heketua (latrine) was also a tapu place in the sense of being unclean and was sited away from dwellings, the meeting house and the cooking area.

The umu (earth ovens) were prepared out in the open behind a screen to form a windbreak from the prevailing winds as well as to demarcate the cooking area from the rest of the village.

At all inter group functions that took place on the marae a fundamental distinction existed between the participants as tangata whenua (home people) who were the hosts and manuhiri(guests). Only the tangata whenua had tuurangawaewae (standing) on the marae. Tuurangawaewae was derived by descent from the founding ancestor of the group, and the possession of land rights within the tribe and sub-tribal area. The privilege of speaking on the marae was extended by the hosts as a courtesy to their guests

The Marae in Post European Times

Although the marae as an institution survived the effects of colonisation, it did not do so without the Maori having to make necessary changes. The Maori Councils Act of 1900 set up Maori tribal committees as health committees to being about necessary hygienic improvements in Maori villages. This Act enabled Sir Maui Pomare, the Maori health officer and later Sir Peter Buck to bring about sanitary reform. Uncontaminated "water supplies were established, local regulations on hygiene were set up, sanctioned by the authority of the chiefs and backed by the state".2, 3

Meeting houses built after this time had windows incorporated in the back wall to provide through ventilation New meeting houses also had wooden floors installed instead of the traditional earthen floor. By this time also, corrugated iron roofs and timber walls had completely displaced traditional building materials.

Sir Apirana Ngata promoted and revived interest in Maori carving that culminated in the building of many fine, modern meeting houses throughout the country. Ngata invited Princess Te Puea to tour the East Coast with a concert party to raise funds to build the meeting house Mahinarangi at Ngaruawahia. Ngata helped to foster building projects in many Maori communities, and his name is connected with the Treaty memorial house at Waitangi, Tama te Kapua at Rotorua, Wahiao at Whakarewarewa, Tukaki at Te Kaha and the memorial church at Tikitiki.

An important fundamental change in Maori life that was accelerated by the land reforms introduced after the turn of the century was the gradual dispersal of the Maori people from village communities to individual farm units or land incorporations. This meant that the pa was no longer permanently occupied by its owners. Small marae eventually became dominated by particular families and came to be thought of as family marae. Larger marae on the other hand were treated as community marae.

In Waima, studied by Pat Hohepa4 the two family marae were financed by members of two family units but they were given assistance by other members of the community The community marae on the other hand were built "voluntarily by community members who had also raised the money to purchase building materials by means of dances, basket socials, donations, household tithes and government subsidies".5

Photo of a marae

Similarly in Kotare, the Northland community studied by Joan Metge6 the two family marae were built on family land with funds collected from family members.

While family marae stand on private property, community marae stand on land that has usually been declared a Maori reserve by Order-in Council. All members of the hapu or tribe have rights in such a marae. "Each marae reserve is vested in trustees appointed from and by the 'owning' group"

The organisation of community marae in modern times has become formalised with the appointment of trustees and Komiti marae (marae committee) and Komiti wahine (women's committee) to set that the marae is well stocked with cutlery, crockery and bedding, and the buildings are kept in a state of good repair.

This period of marae rebuilding also saw the introduction of the general purpose dining and recreation hall as an important adjunct to the marae, and an extention in the range of activities that occur on the marae. In addition to the traditional uses of the marae for tangihanga and Huihanga, the modern marae is used for club activities, church meetings, card evenings, fund-raising activities, political meetings, cultural activities, welcomes and farewells. In short, the marae is the focal point for community life in rural Maori communities.

Maori design

The Urban Migration.

Contrary to popular belief, the urban migration of the Maori since the post-war years has not led to the assimilation of the Maori by the dominant Pakeha. The migration of the Maori over the last twenty-five years to the cities in search of what Joan Metge has called the "big three" factors or work; money and pleasure has proceeded at such a rate that 50% of the Maori people are now to be found living in towns and cities.

Because the urban migration was so massive, the Maori ensured social continuity in his life-style and indeed the successful transplantation of his culture into the urban milieu Social and cultural continuity was established by the build up in density of Maori people in particular areas of the city of Auckland, such as Freeman's Bay, Ponsonby and in more recent times Otara, Mangere and Te Atatu. Where the Pakeha feared the development of ghetto suburbs and tried to prevent them by the pepper-potting policy, the Maori quietly went about the business of rebuilding his sense of community.

Where adjustments had to be made to the demands of city, life, provision had also to be made for cultural and social needs. The same processes of birth, death and marriage go on in the city as in the country and the same solutions are offered with situational modifications to the city environment. In the case of a tangi the lack of marae in the city has not proved an obstacle to farewelling the dead in customary fashion. State houses have been turned into "little marae" for the occasion by clearing a room of furniture where the corpse is attended by the chief mourners and farewelled by visiting kin. Customary hospitality is usually provided by temporary outdoor cooking facilities In this way, city kinsmen have been able to wail for their dead before the body is returned to the home marae. There are however several difficulties in using a house in a suburban area for a tangi. Overcrowding from the point of view of the local authority raises the question of a health problem. From the Maori point of view some of the dignity of the tangi is lost by not holding it on the marae. The wailing has to be subdued out of deference to neighbours, and death is not adequately compensated for without a free flow of tears and mucus.

Some families with sufficient kin in the city form themselves into family clubs or bereavement societies. Officers are appointed and monthly levies are collected to provide a pool of capital to defray funerary expenses and to take the deceased back to the home marae. Some heads of family groups have erected on their properties double-sized fully-enclosed garages which they turn to use as a "little marae" for such functions as a tangi, a birthday party or a farewell.

page 11

Larger descent groups of tribal and sub-tribal affiliation have succeeded in providing community facilities on a larger scale than those of family groups. Two that come to mina in Auckland are the Mahurehure group and the Tuhoe Benevolent Society.

The Mahurehure community centre [unclear: corisists] of a general purpose hall with associated cooking and toilet facilities. Finance was raised by levying tribal members who with their spouses are the ones who have turangawaewae or rights in the centre. Although marae activities such asTangihanga, huihuianga fund-raising, church services and club activities have been held there, the Mahurehure centre is strictly speaking not a marae. The land on which the centre stands has not been declared a Maori reserve, nor is there a traditional meeting house and marae where generations of ancestors have stood to deliver their orations. Yet despite the absence of these traditional criteria, ideologically the centre is regarded and spoken of as a marae because it serves as a focal point for the community sentiment of the urban Maori. Above all, the centre meets the social and cultural needs of the Maori in a way that cannot be met by equivalent Pakeha institutions.

The Tuhoe Benevolent Society is an organisation similar to that of the Mahurehure. It rents office space, cooking facilities and a small communal area in the inner city of Auckland. However, because of the location of the Tuhoe centre it has not been used for tangihangi.

In the western districts of Henderson - Te Atatu the large number of Maoris living in this area has led to the desire to establish a marae. Since the inhabitants of the district come from different tribes the committee elected for the purpose of raising funds for their project known as the John Waititi Memorial Marae is multi-tribal. This group represents an important departure from tradition since a marae is traditionally owned and operated by a kin group.

To the south of Auckland, the people of Otara attempted to go one step further than the western districts by calling their project a multi-racial marae. Since a marae is a Maori institution a multi-racial marae is a contradiction in terms.

A marae can only be Maori and not multi-racial. All the planning with reference to the marae, the meeting house, the symbolism The disposition of the buildings in accordance with the basic dichtomy between the sacred and the profane have to be based in Maori culture. This does not mean to say that the marae is a separatist institution. The Pakeha has always been granted inclusion in the marae on Maori terms. Eventually the people of Otara abandoned the concept of a multi-racial community facility because of the lack of support from the Maori people. Instead a new committee formed to see the project through have gone back to the concept of a Maori marae. A start has been made by putting a prefabricated building on the marae site given to the Maori people by the Manukau City Council.

The only truly traditional marae in Auckland i.e. with a kinship group at its base in at Mangere. Here seven acres of Maori land was set aside from confiscation by the government and was held by a Waikato family. After the Surplus Land Commission had returned 4000 pounds to King Koroki, the King donated this money at the bequest of the Maori community of Auckland to start the building fund for the marae. The Maori committees from One hunga, Mangere, Ihumatao, together with the Waitemate Executive spearhead the fund-raising activities Carvings were donated by another group that was going to build a marae at Grey Lynn, in fact the meeting house had to be redesigned to fit the carvings commissioned to complete the job Although the Maori community of Auckland raised the money and all Maoris are fully entitled to use the marae it is tacitly regarded by all as a Waikato marae. The three trustees are the Maori Queen and two members of the family that held the land rights to the marae. The marae is named after Princess Te Puea and is built on Waikato ground. The tangata whakamahana (people who keep the marae warm) who are in permanent residence are the land owning family.

Photo of marae interior

Orakei, the other marae partly resembles the traditional model in that the dominant people who live adjacent to the site are Ngaati Whaatua, the tangata whenua of Auckland. The Maori community at Orakei has put on the site of the marae, two temporary prefabricated buildings which they use as a play centre, cultural centre and committee rooms. Eventually it is hoped to erect a full marae complex on the site for the use of all the Maori people of Auckland.

A functioning alternative to the traditional style of marae is the Maori Catholic Community Centre of Te Unga Waka. The Auckland Maori Catholic Society although sectarian in the sense that its members are derived from the Roman Catholic Church, is catholic in the sense that its members come from all tribes. The Auckland Maori Catholic Society supported by the Maori Mission and all sections of the Maori community in Auckland, began the project which was opened in 1965, the same year that the marae was opened Te Unga Waka, although spoken of as a marae is not so in the true sense of the word. It has no open space ground that serves as the marae proper, no meeting house and no particular kin group attached to it. Allhough the usual marae activities including tangi have been held there, Te Unga Waka strictly speaking is a community centre rather than a marae. Te Unga Waka does on the other hand serve as an alternative model to the traditional marae based on a kinship group. In place of the kinship principle there is religious affiliation that transcends tribal boundaries. The only drawback to this kind of organisation is that despite protestations to the contrary, outsiders regard it as sectarian. The success of Te Unga Waka as a solution to the social and cultural needs of urban Maoris is attested to by the fact that the Maori Catholic Societies of Otara and Otahuhu are ready to build their own centre in the spring.

Maori design

Conclusion

Urban marae are needed in cities and suburbs where there are sizeable concentrations of Maori people. Although the most urgent need for marae is to provide for the tangi, where people can come to wail for their dead in customary fashion, there are other social considerations of no less importance.

Firstly, the marae serves as a focal point for community sentiment. The marae as an institution is intimately bound up with the identity of the Maori as a people. The marae is one institution where any Maori has Tuurangawaewae (standing) in relation to the dominant Pakeha in our society. The marae removes the inequality of minority group status. It is the one place in New Zealand society where the Maori is exalted to the front rank and the Pakeha to second place. On the marae the Pakeha is the guest, the Maori is the host. As a focus for the communal emphasis of Maori society, the marae serves as an antidote to the individualism and anonymity of urban life.

Secondly, the marae is central to the concept of Maoritanga. Maori oratory, language, values and social etiquette are given their fullest expression in the marae setting at tangi and 'huihuinga. For this reason, urban marae are urgently needed, so that the second generation of city born Maoris can imbibe their culture and take pride in their identity. There are few things more pitiful than the deculturated Maoris of urban life who still have the physical characteristics of being Maori without a satisfactory underlying social identity.

Thirdly, the emergence of new Maori protest groups and radical movements emphasis the urgency of the need for urban marae. The elders, the leaders and the responsible members of the Maori community need to meet young people who are leading those movements to discuss and "thrash out" what are after all problems of mutual concern. The old need the injection of new ideas from their young people while the young need to have their ideas tested against the wisdom of their elders. The marae is the forum where new ideas can be put through the "kill or cure" test of the truly democratic processes of Maori society.

Fourthly, the creation of urban marae can help to breach the social separation of the Pakeha and integrate him into Maori society. The middle-class Pakeha insulates himself where possible from lower class people and ethnic minorities by living in select suburbs. Since Maori marae are inclusive rather than exclusive as some Pakehas think, the marae provides common ground where the Pakeha can gain some awareness and insight into Maori life, and the importance of bi-culturalism.

The experience of urbanisation in Auckland has illustrated the importance of the marae as an institution. Where in the initial stages of urban migration (here were no marae in Auckland various substitutes were introduced and developed to meet this fundamental Maori need. At the minimal level we have the "little marae" the state house serving the purpose of the tangi. An improvement in the state house is the extension of the little marae by the addition of an enclosed garage on the section of the head of the family group, The next stage is when a larger descent group, usually a tribe, club together buy and operate a community facility or ultimately a marae.

Two alternatives to the kinship principle have emerged in Auckland as a basis for organising a Maori community facility. The first of these is religious affiliation which has proved to be successful at Te Unga Waka and Otara. The second is based on a secular, non-tribal committee organisation. The group al Te Alatu is working together successfully to raise money for its project, when their marae is completed, the group will have to face up to the idea logical difficulty of running a multi-tribal marae.

At Otara, the spontaneous attempt to create a multi-racial marae met with little success, only a minority of the Maoris (30 out of 6000) supported the idea. The concept of multiracialism was abandoned, and the new marae committee, an off-shoot of the Maori committee reverted to the concept of the marae as a Maori institution. The lesson to be drawn from the Otara case is that the concept of multiracialism must not be foistea on the Maori people. A marae is essentially an institution run by Maoris with inclusion granted to other groups on their terms.

References

Buck P.H. 1950 The Coming of the Maori. Whitcombe & Tombs, Wellington.

Firth, R. 1959 Economies of the New Zealand Maori. R.E.Owen, Government Printer Wellington.

Hohepa, P.W. 1964 A Maori Community in Northland. University of Auckland.

Metge,J. 1964 A New Maori Migration. The Athlone Press, London.

Metge, J. 1967 Maoris of New Zealand. Routledge & Kegan, Paul, London.

Winiata, M. 1967 The Changing Role of the Leader in Maori Society.

by R.J. Walker (Auckland University Extension)

1 Firth p 96

2 Winiata p 154

3 Buck p 375

4 Hohepa p 71

5 Hohepa p 71

6 Metge p 174