

Tukutuku panels by women (all panels tell stories of that marae), carvings by men (each

carving tells a story about an ancestor etc. – this is a way of how stories are told and passed

on to different generaons)



Women karanga/waiata; men speak

Utu is also evident in a pwhiri. At a pohiri, utu provides the manuhiri should reciprocate the number of speakers

and the number of waiata. The visual representaon of a marae also represents this principle in terms of how the

wharenui is designed – panels are usually by women whereas carvings are by men. Balance is also shown in the

parcipaon of men and women in the powhiri – women karanga and waiata while men speak. Utu can also be

relevant where a koha is given at the pohiri – this giſt should be reciprocated.

Tikanga and the Role of Women

One of the problems related to a pwhiri is the role of women – they do not speak and are required to sit at the back

therefore some people may think it is discriminatory –but need to actually understand Tikanga and the posion of

women in Maori society to be able to truly make an assessment on whether this is discriminatory

People complain about the separate roles for men and women in during the pohiri, including that women are not

allowed to speak (men usually do the speaking even though women usually karanga) and that women must sit at the

back, behind the men.

Posion of women in Maori society prior to Colonisaon



WHAKAPAPA NOT GENDER

– in the past it did not maer whether you were a woman or man, what

maered was who your parents were and whether you had mana atua and mana tangata. You needed to

have more mana to hold higher roles in society.

You would sll see women having key roles as long as they

had the mana (e.g. women signed the treaty back in 1840).

This is not something that Western society

allowed.



Retain property rights – women were able to retain property rights in Maori society. Woman in maori

society had their own land and were given their own land – it depended on mana not gender

Compare with

western society where women couldn’t own property, they WERE property.



Warriors – women warriors

Women in the Pohiri Process

In the marae is that

women sit at the back and men sit at the front,

and

women are not allowed to speak in the whaikorero.

Western society also sees this as a problem with the Powhiri process.



Actually, a reflecon of the

importance

of women – this is the main kanga reason for women sing at the back.

Women have the ability to have babies they must be protected in all situaons, and because

historically you didn’t

know whether someone was coming in peace, the women would stand at the back for protecon.

Chiefs don’t speak either – the chief of marae somemes won’t be able to speak if he doesn’t hold the mana (i.e. not

the oldest). The Maori king at the moment doesn’t always speak.

It is not just based on men and women, it is based on

mana



Balance in roles – while men get to speak, women get to do the Karanga.

So each side has their own role.



Iniate the process – women start the whole pwhiri process when they make the first call. No one can step onto the

marae and be a part of the pwhiri process unl a woman has done the first call



Many Māori women defend the process

– Most maori women wont have a problem with it – the only mes she has

seen it challenged is by western society

But it is important to note that different marae have different kawa for speaking a

nd a minority do allow women to

speak

, and that marae kawa and powhiri kawa are not set in stone. Like all kanga, they can evolve and adapt to

new mes and circumstances.