Paikea Chant (transcribed 1870s)

Hawaiki, or Hawaiiki = Maori for "Land of the Ancients," in Maori oral tradition the homeland of Maori ancestors [may refer to Tahiti and/or other islands of French Polynesia in the eastern Pacific].

Aotearoa (Maori: "Land of the Long White Cloud") = New Zealand
"Believed to be one of the first of the world's peoples to explore the planet’s greatest oceans, the Maori settled on the shores of Aotearoa ("Land of the Long White Cloud" – New Zealand) some 2000+ years ago.  What is now termed "The Great Migration" is a period of time during which seven great waka (canoes) landed at various locations on the New Zealand coastline. The travelers which arrived with these waka are the ancestors of every modern tribe in New Zealand. As the Maori did not have a written language, history was passed on orally, through the telling of legends, and carvings. Carvings, representing the ancestors of the tribe, were used to help stimulate the memory of the speaker when the histories were re-told. Each carving would contain certain clues as to the deeds and events of that ancestor’s life.  Today, carvings are still used for traditional purposes, such as those found in modern Wharenui (Big House). However, more and more Maori artists use the various tribal styles in art and craft which is purely decorative" [Emphasis added - CA].  Source: Rakau Ora – Living Wood.  [No date.] [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://www.wai.quik.co.nz/rakauora/history.html>.

". . . from Hawaiki to Aotearoa: Our ancestors gradually settled this land of Aotearoa/New Zealand in many sea-going canoes called waka."  Maori "history and legends tell us many stories of the journey to Aotearoa, for each waka and each tribe has its own history.
----Early non-Maori recorders of these many histories wrongly tried to meld them all into a single story. Thus the myth of the great migration of a fleet of waka to these shores was born." "The travelers which arrived with these waka are the ancestors of every modern tribe in New Zealand."
----"Some non-Maori chroniclers also postulated the theory that our migration was entirely by chance, by island wanderers blown off course. They also claimed that these journeys were one-way only, and that there were no return journeys back into the Pacific. This denies the reality of the scientific basis of sea journeying by all Pacific peoples, and the sophisticated ancient knowledge of the stars and ocean currents. The knowledge of the stars is passed down to us to this day in the tukutuku weaving which adorns the walls of our carved and embellished whare (houses). Many of these tukutuku panels descend from the star charts carried by ancient navigators."
Source:  The Journey of the Maori to Aotearoa.  The Maori People of Aotearoa New Zealand. [No date.] [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://maaori.com/people/maoriara.htm>.

Recommended Links - Unfortunately broken as of 18 Sept. 2006 - CA
The Maori People of Aotearoa New Zealand. [No date: Original web site by R.N.Himona, 2001.] [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://maaori.com/people/>
--Creation: http://maaori.com/whakapapa/creation.htm
--Journey to New Zealand: http://maaori.com/people/maoriara.htm
--Whakapapa Maori (Maori Genealogy): http://maaori.com/whakapapa/
How to Read Carving - [Maori] kowhaiwhai patterns. 
URL: http://maori.org.nz/whakairo/panui/kowhai.htm

Paikea = important mythic Maori ancestor of the East Coast tribes, especially the Ngati Porou tribe, of New Zealand's North Island. Various legends say he came from Hawaiki to Aotearoa [New Zealand], riding on the back of a taniwha [whale]. His legend inspired Witi Ihimeara's novel, Whale Rider, and the subsequent film. The young female protagonist of the film is the direct descendant of Paikea and named for this revered male ancestor of her people  - see Paikea Chant below.  
--"While this [story] may seem too fabulous to be believed, it should be remembered that this legendary journey replicates exactly the annual migration of the whale from out in the Pacific Ocean to the breeding and feeding grounds of Aotearoa/New Zealand."
Source: The Journey of the Maori to Aotearoa.  The Maori People of Aotearoa New Zealand. [No date.] [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://maaori.com/people/maoriara.htm>.

Paikea is originally the god of sea monsters of many old Polynesian societies: in many  Polynesian myths, Paikea, the son of Rangi and Papa, personifies the awesome endurance of creatures that challenged and survived the stormy seas - crabs surviving hurricanes in the tropics by clinging to drifting logs, and humpback whales heading down into the roaring forties every summer. (Crabs are called paikea in the Cook Islands and pai'ea in Hawaii, and humpback whales are called paikea in New Zealand Maori dictionaries.)
See "Story of Rangi and Papa."  Maori Theology, by Michael Shirres. [No date.]  5 Jan. 2004
<http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~dominic/randp.html>.

The inspiration for both [novel & film] comes from the story of Kahutia Te Rangi, also known as Paikea, who came to Aotearoa / New Zealand from the islands that are now French Polynesia, many centuries ago.
See Kupe: Te Matorohanga, recorded by H.T. Whatahoro, and translated by S. Percy Smith.  Polynesian Voyaging Society. 1999. 5 Jan. 2004 <http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/pvs/Kupe.html>.

Kahutia-te-Rangi = ancestor of the people of Te Tai Rawhiti (Maori: "the place washed by the eastern tide"), who travelled from Hawaiiki (land of the Ancients) to Aotearoa (New Zealand), according to Maori oral traditions.  When his waka (canoe) capsized, Kahutia-te-Rangi escaped certain death by mounting the back of a whale, who took him to shore at Whangara, just north of Gisborne, on the East Coast of the North Island of what is known today as New Zealand.  To commemorate his voyage Kahutia-te-Rangi was given a new name - Paikea - and today, hundreds of years later, the marae at Whangara still bears Kahutia/Paikea riding on the back of a whale as its tekoteko (figurehead) on its Ridgepole" [Emphasis added - CA]. 
Source: Kahutia/Paikea - The Whale Rider.  22 April 2003. Relative Gems [no author given]. [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://www.geocities.com/ratesjul/whalerider.html>.

Different local variations of the Kahutia-te-rangi story include:
(a) after a hurricane, he makes a raft out of debris,
(b) or he chants a karakia which enables him to swim a long distance to shore,
(c) or he rides in a waka named after a whale,
(d) or he becomes one with the spirit of the whales,
(e) or he rides on a whale,
(f) or he is a whale . . . .
And in each variant of endurance at sea Kahutia-te-rangi becomes known henceforth as "Paikea" = "Mr. Endurance."

Tinirau:  Polynesians have had whales as voyaging companions for thousands of years. There were perhaps 200,000 whales in the Pacific, before European whalers arrived. The oldest whale stories involve Tinirau, (Tini Rau, Kinilau, Sinilau, Tinilau) the god of the whales, who could appear as a terrifying fish with its mouth wide open and ready to devour its prey, or as a handsome young man. Tinirau had a wife called Hina who was a goddess of the Moon. In later stories, Tinirau was a chief whose had a baby son, Tutunui. He threw the child in the sea and it became a whale. The wicked Kae asked Tinirau for a ride back to his village on Tutunui, and when he got there, he killed and ate Tutunui. And today this has been sanitized as a children's story. Tinirau is chief with a pet whale which takes him on adventures to other lands and safely home again. Notice how these stories have been transformed from great myths (expressing the deepest fears, conflicts, and ideals of the Polynesian people), to a soothing story about a "real" person.
Source: The Maori People of Aotearoa New Zealand. [No date: Original web site by R.N.Himona, 2001.] [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://maaori.com/people/>
--Creation: http://maaori.com/whakapapa/creation.htm
--Journey to New Zealand: http://maaori.com/people/maoriara.htm
--Whakapapa Maori (Maori Genealogy): http://maaori.com/whakapapa/

First-hand observers describe "how a pod of migratory whales was seen journeying through rough seas. The lead was taken by the two biggest whales forging ahead side by side, crashing through the rough waters; and close behind them in the safety of the much smoother seas created by the lead pair, travelled the rest of the pod including the young.
       "Is this example by our cousin whale the origin of the design of the great sea-going double-hull waka used by our ancestors to reach these shores?
      "Skeptics have asserted, and continue to assert, that our human ancestors could not have had foreknowledge of the existence and location of Aotearoa/New Zealand before they set out. Perhaps so, but who can deny that our fellow creatures did not have that knowledge, and that it is from them that we learned of Aotearoa.
      "Consider also, the close affinity of our ancestors with the whole of the Creation; their relationship with the Earth and the skies, the lands and the seas, as well as with all the creatures of the Earth. A people living in and with Nature, rather than against Nature, as we do in these modern times. Who is to say that they did not also learn of far-away Aotearoa from the whispering of the winds, and the murmuring of the tides; from the voices of the Earth herself."
Source:  The Journey of the Maori to Aotearoa.  The Maori People of Aotearoa New Zealand. [No date.] [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://maaori.com/people/maoriara.htm>.

Whakapapa = Maori Genealogy. Papa is anything broad, flat and hard such as a flat rock, a slab or a board. Whakapapa is to place in layers, lay one upon another. Hence the term Whakapapa is used to describe both the recitation in proper order of genealogies, and also to name the genealogies. The visualisation is of building layer by layer upon the past towards the present, and on into the future. The whakapapa include not just the genealogies but the many spiritual, mythological and human stories that flesh out the genealogical backbone. Due to the modern practice of writing whakapapa from the top of the page to the bottom the visualisation seems to be slowly changing to that of European genealogy, of "descending" from our ancestors. The Maori term for descendant is uri, but its more precise meaning in terms of Maori mental processes is offspring or issue." 
Source:  Whakapapa Maori: Structure, Terminology, and Usage.  The Maori People of Aotearoa New Zealand. [No date.] [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://maaori.com/whakapapa/whakpap2.htm>.

Te Here Tangata = The Rope of Mankind, is also used to describe Maori genealogy.  This eternal "rope" can be visualized as stretching into the past for generations back to the Creation, as well as extending forward through all  future generations for at least as long.  "In this modern world of short term political, social, economic and business perspectives, and instant consumer gratification, Te Here Tangata is a humbling concept." Source:  Whakapapa Maori: Structure, Terminology, and Usage.  The Maori People of Aotearoa New Zealand. [No date.] [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://maaori.com/whakapapa/whakpap2.htm>.

"The recitation of whakapapa is a high art form as well as being a prodigious feat of memory. The art is still practised but the genealogies and the histories that flesh out the genealogies are nowadays also committed to paper, and to computer. Since the early colonial contact period Maori have committed their literature to paper and a large body of literature survives in manuscript form. Most of them remain with Maori families but there are large unpublished collections in three of the largest libraries in New Zealand, in Auckland Public Library, in the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, and in the Hocken Library in Dunedin. These collections are said to comprise the largest body of indigenous literature in Polynesia. They contain much tribal genealogy."
Source:  What is Whakapapa? The Maori People of Aotearoa New Zealand. [No date.] [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://maaori.com/whakapapa/whakpap2.htm>.

"Mäori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa - New Zealand. The word to describe this relationship is Tangata Whenua, meaning people of the land.  Although described by many as 'Mäori' in fact Mäori are a composition of many Iwi (Tribes) Hapü (Sub tribes) and Whänau units. So in trying to describe who Mäori are, I would say Maori are a cosmopolitan of many groups with many different ways of doing things, with a variety of dialects.  It must be noted too that much of the activity and control of the Maori world is carried out on the whänau and hapü level. Local hapü had control of the daily goings on or an area as well as the assets of these respective hapü. The issue of Ta Moko (Maori styled tattoo) was controlled at the whänau and hapü levels. "
Source: Brief History of Maori. Aotearoa Live. 2003. 5 Jan. 2004 <http://www.aotearoalive.com/tomokanga/about_us.htm>.

Te Here Tangata = The Rope of Mankind, is also used to describe Maori genealogy.  This eternal "rope" can be visualized as stretching into the past for generations back to the Creation, as well as extending forward through all  future generations for at least as long.  "In this modern world of short term political, social, economic and business perspectives, and instant consumer gratification, Te Here Tangata is a humbling concept."
Source:  Whakapapa Maori: Structure, Terminology, and Usage.  The Maori People of Aotearoa New Zealand. [No date.] [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://maaori.com/whakapapa/whakpap2.htm>.

Maoritanga = Maori culture
Te Reo = Maori language
Tikanga = Maori customs

Marae  = Meeting place
Wharenui = Big House, Meeting house

Waka = Canoe. "Many Maori genealogies [see whakapapa] trace tribal descent from ancestral canoes [or waka], each of which is associated with a particular area of the country."  Source: New Zealand. Bartleby.com. 2003. 
5 Jan. 2004 <http://www.bartleby.com/67/1500.html>.

Kaumatua = Maori Elder
Rangatira = Maori Chief
reiputa = Koro's whale tooth pendant, the symbol of his chieftainship.

"Chiefs, variously known throughout Polynesia as ariki or ali'i, were thought to possess mana—moral power and authority—and had well-defined rights and obligations in relation to their people. They commanded respect and deference, exercised control over the production and distribution of the primary resources, and often received the first fruits of the land as symbolic tribute."  The Pacific Islands in Pre-European Times. <http://www.bartleby.com/67/864.html#c4p02714>.
"Concepts of prestige (mana) and the rules of sacred propriety (tapu) have always been fundamental to Maori religious and political life, reflected in sophisticated carving and oral literature. Land and ancestors were and still remain vital elements in Maori culture. Intertribal relations were intensely competitive and, in response to warfare, defensive engineering was highly developed."  New Zealand. <http://www.bartleby.com/67/1500.html>.
Sources: The Pacific Islands in Pre-European Times. <http://www.bartleby.com/67/864.html#c4p02714>.
New Zealand. <http://www.bartleby.com/67/1500.html>. The Encyclopedia of World History.  6th ed. Ed. Peter N. Stearns and others.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.  Rpt. Bartleby.com. 2003.  5 Jan. 2004 <http://www.bartleby.com/>.

tapu = Sacred, sacredness, the rules of sacred propriety.  "Tapu is often held to be just a restriction [synonymous with taboo]. And knowledge and learning, we are often told in our culture, is tapu, sacred; not to be disseminated widely. But in its wider sense tapu is the mana or energy of the spiritual powers. . . . Knowledge and learning . . . is not necessarily something to be closely guarded, but is to be respected, even revered. It is one's approach to the learning that is important, one's mental and spiritual attitude, one's respect and reverence for both the knowledge and for its myriad sources . . . "
Source: Tribal Whakapapa. The Maori People of Aotearoa New Zealand. [No date.] [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://maaori.com/whakapapa/examples.htm>.
See also Tapu.  Maori Theology, by Michael Shirre.  No date.]  5 Jan. 2004 <http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~dominic/tapu.html>.

mana = energy of the spiritual powers, and prestige derived from commanding these spiritual powers; prestige or honor of a social group or individual, moral power and authority
mauri = life force
ihi = power
wehi = fear
utu = revenge, consequences
makutu = sorcery
karakia = Prayer
See also KARAKIA - THE WORDS OF THE ANCESTORS. Maori Theology, by Michael Shirre.  No date.]  5 Jan. 2004  <http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~dominic/karakia1.html>.

The Maori believed in a number of gods, including Tane-mahuta, lord of the forest, and Tangaroa, a Polynesian ocean god. Tribal dignitaries, such as the higher priests and the chief, also believed in a supreme god, Io, whose existence was not revealed to the community. All Maori believed in a great number of atua, or spirits, who responded to magical spells and punished people for breaking taboos."
Source: "Maori."  Microsoft Encarta 2000 ed. CD-ROM.

taiaha = Fighting stick or spear
Mau rakau = Stick fighting
kura  = school to instruct (i.e. male) youngsters of a Maori tribe in the way of the ancient ones.

Muriwai = ? [In the film, Nancy Flowers reminds her granddaughter Pai that she is descended from Muriwai, referred to as "she" and thus perhaps a revered female ancestor?] Muriwai Beach is located on North Island, New Zealand.  See also: http://www.interlink.org.nz/projects/myth/mythlytt.html

moko, mokopuna = Grandchild

Pakeha = non-Maori, white European settlers of New Zealand and their descendants
See also ‘PAKEHA’, ITS ORIGIN AND MEANING by Jodie Ranford (Auckland College of Education). [no date.] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ&sdn=tattoo&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fmaorinews.com%2Fwritings%2Fpapers%2Fother%2Fpakeha.htm>.

Maori Oral Traditions: "Before the coming of the Pakeha [European settlers] to New Zealand with his superior technology, all literature in Maori was oral. Its transmission to succeeding generations was also oral and a great body of literature, which includes haka [dance], waiata [song], tauparapara [chant], karanga [chant], poroporoaki [farewell], paki waitara [stories], whakapapa [genealogy], whakatauki [proverbs] and pepeha [tribal sayings], was retained and learnt by each new generation."
Timoti Karetu, "Language and Protocol of the Marae [meeting place], in Te Ao Hurihuri, ed Michael King, 1975, Longman Paul, Auckland.  Rpt. What is Whakapapa? The Maori People of Aotearoa New Zealand. [No date.] [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://maaori.com/whakapapa/whakpap2.htm>.

Ta Moko is the tapu (sacred) form of family and personal identification among those of Maori whakapapa (genealogy). Genealogy is so important to the Maori people that they know their family history back 2000 years. Moko is the process of carving (cutting deep grooves) and coloring a family history story-telling pattern into the skin of a Maori descendant. It is not limited to facial tattoos, as many mistakenly assume, although it certainly can include partial or full facial patterns. It is not surprising that members of other civilizations have come to admire the beauty of Ta Moko. Some have even gone to the extent of copying tattoo patterns[/link] and language phraseology  taken from the Maoritanga (Maori culture). This is a very serious mistake, and one that has members of the Maori culture very upset. . . . . Copying a Maori's Ta Moko is nothing less than identity theft. It's disgraceful and it's immoral. The only difference is that the Maori really don't have any recourse against anyone who is thoughtless enough to rape them of their individuality. Ta Moko is as unique to the wearer as your own fingerprints - how would you feel if someone stole those from you? "
"Pakeha (whites) are distinctly known for not asking, [and] for assuming that how they see the world is [how] others do so also...[They] bastardize our spirituality and culture and claim it as theirs...Non-Maori wearing it as a form of body art are generally considered wannabees, fakes and frauds that show not only a disrespect for our culture, but lie about their own. (How can you respect your own family when you wear the family signature of strangers?) Even if non-Maori do it in a 'respectful' fashion (according to what their non-Maori values dictate is respectful), this is still rude. There is not, in other words, any sense of it being 'okay' for non-Maori to wear Maori Ta Moko."  Source: Ta Moko Maori Tattoo. <http://tattoo.about.com/cs/articles/a/maori_tamoko.htm>.

Additional Sources: 

Glossary. Whale Rider. South Pacific Pictures/ApolloMedia GmbH & Co. 5/Filmproduktion KG, 2002. [Last accessed:] 5 January 2004 <http://www.whaleriderthemovie.com/>.

Kahutia/Paikea - The Whale Rider.  22 April 2003. Relative Gems [no author given]. [Last accessed:] 5 Jan. 2004 <http://www.geocities.com/ratesjul/whalerider.html>.

Stearns, Peter N., and others, ed.  The Encyclopedia of World History.  6th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.  Rpt. Bartleby.com. 2003.  5 Jan. 2004 <http://www.bartleby.com/>.

New Zealand. <http://www.bartleby.com/67/1500.html>.
The Pacific Islands in Pre-European Times. <http://www.bartleby.com/67/864.html#c4p02714>.