Ka rere anō te pī

You can also read this blog in English — The bee takes flight again

E whakanui ana i te reo Māori me ngā pī

I tēnei marama kei te whakanui tātou i te tua ngahurutanga rima tekau mō te Petihana Reo Māori, ko Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori me te marama aroā hoki tēnei ki ngā pī!

Hui katoa ana ēnei kaupapa, he wā pai anō hoki tēnei hei whakamarama i te pukapuka ko Ngā Pī nā William Cotton. Ko ngā Pī koia te pukapuka tuatahi i taia ki te reo Māori e pā ana ki ngā pī me ngā mahi tiaki pī ki Aotearoa.

Ngā pī ki Aotearoa

E rua tekau mā waru nga tūmomo ngaro huruhuru taketake i Aotearoa. Ko tā ngā ngaro huruhuru he whakahae i ngā otaota, ā, ka inumia te waihonga, heoi anō tā rātou kāhore nei i mahi i te honi kia maha tonu , ka noho ā whānau ki roto i nga rua i te whenua, i te noho kē ki nga whare pī. Ki tā Te Pēhi kōrero kīhai te ngaro huruhuru e taea te whakaputa honi, ka kohikohia e te Māori te waihonga mai i ngā putiputi tonu o te kōrari, rātā, pōhutukawa, me te rewarewa, ā, ka ruru ki roto i te hue. I tuhia e ia he nui te mahi takeo, i te nuinga o te wā ka mahia e ngā taitamariki , ā, he uaua kia mōhio atu pēhea te nui o te waihonga i kohikohia e rātou. 1

Ko te tau 1839 te wā tuatahi i mauria mai ai ngā pī ki Aotearoa. Nā Mary Bumby, he tuahine ki a John Hewgill Bumby he minita mihingare Weteriana , nāna ngā pouaka pī e rua i mau mai i Ingarangi. Ka noho ngā Bumby ki Māngungu ki Hokianga, ahakoa ka toremi a John i te tau whai muri iho, noho tonu atu a Mary me ngā pī. Whai muri mai i ōna pouaka pī ka puta mai anō ētahi, tae atu ki ngā pouaka pī e toru i mauria mai e James Busby i te tau 1843 i Poihākena.

E taunga ana ngā pī ki ngā ngaherehere o Aotearoa, ā, ka rongo tonu i te ahurei reka o te honi mai i ngā rākau Māori, pērā i te mānuka, i te pōhutukawa, i te rewarewa me te rātā.

Ko William Charles Cotton — Te tangata tino matatau ki ngā pī

Ko te Minita William Charles Cotton (1813-1879), te tiaparani ki a Pīhopa Selwyn ki te kāreti o St Johns, he tangata kaikā ki te mahi tiaki pī, anō rā ka mihia nuitia ia mō te whakaurutanga i ngā pūkenga tiaki pī ki Aotearoa.

I a ia i Ingarangi i tuhia ai ia My Bee Book (1842), kei te wāhanga whakamutunga i whakahuatia ai ōna mahere ki te mau mai he pī ki Aotearoa. I mua tonu i tāna haerenga mai ki Aotearoa i whakarite māhere ki te whakaako pūkenga tiaki pī ki ngā Māori, ka mea atu ‘I hope a Bee will never be killed in New Zealand, for I shall start the native Bee keeper on the no killing way…….’ 2 I taua wā tonu ko nga ritenga he whakamate i ngā pī katoa, kia taea ai te kohi i te honi mai i ngā pouaka pī; ko Cotton tētahi o ngā kai taunaki o mua, i whakamahi i te auahi hei whakamoe i ngā pī, kei tūpono ka whakamate kē i a rātou.

Ko te mea pōuri, te haerenga mai kīhai ōna pōkai pī i toiora, otirā i Maehe 1844 ka hoatuhia kia rua o ngā pōkai pī mai i ngā whare pī a Busby ki Waitangi, ā ka ora te mea tuarua. I whakamahia ōna pōkai pī hei tauira whakaako i te Pākehā me te Māori mō ngā pī me te mahi tiaki pī.

Te whaipānga o ngā Māori ki ngā pī me te honi

Mārakerake te kitea ka whai whakaaro te Māori ki ēnei kīrehe hou me ō rātou honi. I roto i ngā tuhinga i te wātaka a Cotton 1844 ka whakaatūhia te mahi tiaki pī ki a ‘Renata’, ki a William King me ētahi atu tāngata Māori, ā, ka hoatu he honi ki a rātou hei kai. Ko tā rātou ‘He mea reka wakakarakara’ ko tā Cotton whakamāoritanga anō tēnei ‘a very exceeding sweet taste’. 3

Hei tāpiri atu ko te tohatoha i ōna mōhiotanga tiaki pī, ka tāngia e Cotton ētahi atikara e kiia ana Hints of the Management of Bees, ka puta whānui atu ēnei kōrero i roto i te New Zealander i waenganui i te takiwā o Maehe 1847 me Pēpuere 1848. I te wāhanga timatanga kōrero o ēnei atikara, ko tā te pepa e mea ana ko te hunga Māori ki Ōtaki i tangohia he pōkai pī mai i ngā pouaka pī a Cotton ā i tēnei wā he maha tonu o rātou ake pouaka pī. 4 Ka kōrerotia e Cotton i te tere rawa o te Māori ki Ōtaki ki te waihanga whare pī witi, ka whai whakaaro ia ki tā rātou mātauranga me ngā wheakotanga o te mahi raranga kete. 5

Ko te reta kua whakaahuatia ki raro iho nei, i roto i tētahi o ngā wātaka a Cotton, ko tētahi o ngā reta e rua mai i a Wiremu Hoete (Ngāti Pāoa). I noho a Hoete ki Te Huruhi, kei te motu o Waiheke. He rangatira ia, he tangata whai mātauranga, ā ko ia tētahi o te hunga i tāmokohia te Tiriti o Waitangi ki te ākau o Karaka i te marama o Maehe 1840.

I roto i tēnei reta ka tuhi atu a Hoete “E hoa kua oti te kainga mo nga Pii, kua pai rawa te hanga me homai pea kei a koe ano te tikanga kia homai”

Ko Ngā Pī

Nā runga tonu i te whaipāinga o ngā Māori ki ngā pī me te honi, ka tāia e William Cotton Ko Ngā Pī. I tāngia i te tau 1849, 21 ngā wharangi o tēnei pukapuka e toro atu ana ki ngā kawenga tikanga me ngā tukanga tiaki honi me te wākihi, i tuhia ki roto i te reo Māori. Ki roto i te pukapuka nei, ka whaiwhakaaro a Cotton ki te āhua o ngā pī ka tuhituhia e ia:

“He iwi mahio te pi, he iwi kaha ki te mahi. No roto i nga puawai o nga rakau, o nga otaota, ta ratou honi. Ko ta ratou e tino pai ai ko te hanga honi. E kore ratou e pai ki te tikanga a etahi tangata, ki te oho mangere i te awatea. Na te Atua i homai te ngakau mohio, te ngakau mahi ki a ratou.”

Ka whakauru atu a Cotton i ngā tikanga whakaaro, hei tauira, i te upoko tuarua ka hoatuhia e ia ōna mōhiotanga e pā ana ki te whakanekehanga o ngā pī, ā, ka kii ake rā ia ‘Ko nga marama mataati o te raumati te wā pai mo te timata o te whakanoho i nga pi’(p.7). Ki tā te wāhanga nei e hoatu ana i ngā taipitopito kōrero me pēhea te whakatūtuki.

Ka tuari tikanga whakaaro anō a Cotton mō te wāhi whakatūnga o ngā pouaka pī ‘Kia aro nui ki te ra, kia mahana ai i te ata: otiia me uhi, kei ngaua kinotia e te ra, kei kino i te ua. Turn to the sun, to be warm in the morning: However cover, in case of sunburn or will be spoilt by the rain’. (p.6)

Te whakamāoritanga Ko Ngā Pī

Inā tata nei i tonoa a Joy Ngaropo-Hau he kai whakamāori, e Te Pouhere Taonga ki te kawe i te whakamāoritanga o Ko Ngā Pī. I roto i tētahi atikara e pā ana ki tēnei mahi whakamāori, e mea ana a Joy ”Kahore he wero nui kē atu i tō tēnei i āku mahi whakamāori, he akoranga nui tēnei mōku”. Hei tāpiri atu ko te kaupapa ako me ngā tini aronga ki ngā tuhinga, waihoki ko te reo Māori a William Cotton.

Ki tā Joy mōhiotanga i tīmata a Cotton ki te ako i te reo Māori i tāna whakawhitinga mai ki Aotearoa, nā tētahi kaimahi kāraho Māori. Heoi anō, i muri mai i tāna kawenga i te mahi whakamāori o Ko Ngā Pī, i whakaaro ake ia kahore tōna akotanga i te reo i taurangi noa, ka mea ‘I hē ētahi o ngā kupu i whakamahia; kiihai hoki ētahi o ngā kupu i whai maramatanga, nō kōnā ka hōhā au ki tēnei āhua, heoi anō ka pakeke te haere , e kore au e hemo’. 6

Honi, mīere rānei?

I roto i te pukapuka ka whakamahia e Cotton ngā kupu pōriro mō te kupu honi, i ēnei rā ka taea hoki te whakamahi i te kupu mīere. Kei roto i te putanga tuatoru o te papa kupu a Wiliiam Williams A Dictionary of the New Zealand Language, he mea tā i 1871, ka puta tuatahi mai te kupu mīere mō te kupu honi me ēra atu mea reka.

I 1892 i roto i tētahi reta ka mea atu te mihingare me te kaitā a William Colenso, ko te kupu mīere te kupu i whakamahia e te hunga Māori nō Tāmaki-nui-a-Rua, heoi anō he kupu anō tēnei kāhore i rangona i wāhi kē atu. Ka tuhia e tōna kai tuku reta a W.F (William Francis) Gordan, ki raro iho o te reta, ko te pōhehe a ētahi i ahu mai te kupu i ngā mihingare Wīwī. 7

Hei whai whakaarotanga, Ko tā Edward Treagar pātai i roto i te Māori -Polynesian Comparative Dictionary 1891 e kii atu ana ko ngā kupu Poronihia mō te kupu mīere (meli, mele, melie, hone, huamelie, mere) tērā anō ōna hononga ki ngā kupu o ngā wāhi noho kore here ki ngā hunga o Wīwī. 8

Taihoa ake nei kua tuhituhia a honi me te mēre hei kupu pōriro i roto i ngā whakaputanga papakupu o Williams. 9

Māori me ngā mahi kaitiaki pī o ēnei rā

Kua whakawhanaketia e Niu Tireni tōna rongo puta noa i te ao mō āna honi mānuka me ōna hua kitakita kore. I mōhio ai ngā Māori ki ngā oranga hauora o te mānuka, whakamahia ai ki roto i ngā tini auahatanga hei whakaora i ngā mate ā kiri, i te tahunga kiri, te kirikā, te rewharewha, ā hei rongoā whakamoe anō hoki. 10

I ēnei rā, ko te hunga taitamariki Māori, pēnei i a Mere Vaka, i whakaatūhia runga i a Country Calendar 2019, kei te hoki atu ki ngā whenua ā whānau ki te whakatū pākihi mahi pī. Ko ngā Iwi pēnei i a Ngāti Kuia, i a Te Rarawa rānei, kei te hono atu ki ngā kamupene whakaako mahi pī ki ngā rangatahi, e whakangao pūtea ana ki roto i ngā kamupene honi pēnei i a Ngāi Tahu, e whakatū ohu ana pēnei i te ohu o Ngāti Porou Tairāwhiti Mīere, kia whakahokia mai ngā rawa o te mahi tiaki pī ki ngā tāngata o te kainga.

Whakamamatititanga o Ko Ngā Pi

Ko Ngā Pī he wāhanga anō tēnei o Ngā Tānga Reo Māori, he kaupapa whakamamati o Te Puna Mātauranga o Atearoa, ko tōna aronga ki te whakawhānui i ngā hononga ki ngā tuhinga reo Māori, mātauranga Māori anō hoki. Ko ngā tuhinga kua oti nei te whakamamati, inā ka tau te whakaaetanga, ka whakairia ki runga i te pae tukutuku o Papers Past i raro i te wāhanga o Ngā Pukapuka. Te āhua nei ka puta Ko Ngā Pī ki te ipurangi hei te wāhanga tuarua o 2023.

E hiahia ana kia pānui tonu i ngā kōrero mō ngā pī?

Neke atu i te 400 o ngā pukapuka e pā ana ki ngā pī me ngā mahi tiaki pī Kei te whare pukapuka o Alexander Turnbull kei roto i te kohinga pukapuka a Earp.
Ko Edgar Allan Earp (1874-1963) tētahi o ngā kai whakaako pūkenga matua o ngā mahi pī o te kāwanatanga, ā i tuku ia i tōna kohinga pukapuka ki te whare pukapuka hei tohu whakamaumaharatanga ki tōna hoa wahine.
Tērā anō ētahi atikara nā Earp tonu i tuhi kei te New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, e wātea ana kei runga i a Papers Past.

Footnotes

1. Elsdon Best, Forest Lore of the Māori. Wellington: E. C. Keating, 1977, p.100.

2. William Cotton, My Bee Book. London: J. G. F. & J. Rivington, 1842, p.356.

3. Entry for Saturday 16 March 1844, Volume 7: William Charles Cotton: Journal of a Residence at St. John’s College, The Waimate, 2 March 1844-25 August 1844. Ref 997468. State Library New South Wales.

4. New Zealander: 13 March 1847, p. 3

5. Peter Barrett, William Charles Cotton: Grand Bee Master of New Zealand, 1842 to 1847. Springwood, N.S.W: Peter Barrett, 1997, pp100-101;104.

6. Caitlin Sykes, “Joy of Bees”, in Heritage New Zealand Kōanga Spring 2022, pp.12-14.

7. Letter to W.F. Gordon re Maori word for honey (CA000162/001/0008/0002)

8. Herbert W. Williams, A Dictionary of the Māori Language, 6th ed. Wellington: Government Printer, 1957, Appendix.

9. Edward Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Wellington, Lyon and Blair, 1891, p.241.

10. Māori medicine | Rongoā Māori — Te Papa Tongarewa.