The Maori
“Māori”
originally mean local people or the original people. Back at the time Māori was
a word which used to identified local or original. Until the arrival of white
European immigrant in 1815 (known as pakeha in Maori language), the word Maori
became an identifier for the Maori people.
Basically Maori ancestors were the Polynesian
people from south-East Asia. But in the other hand some analyst discover that
early Polynesian immigrants of New Zealand were migrating from China, making a
long traveling journey via Taiwan, pass through South Pacific and arrived at
Aotearoa (known as New Zealand today). As learning to live in New Zealand they
shaped their thinking and their beliefs until became Te Maori, which clearly
different from other Polynesian cultures (New Zealand in History, 2008, Para 1).
Religions
Maori have a lot
of mythology stories from across the Pacific Ocean. The traditional Maori
beliefs have their origins in Polynesian culture with the Polynesian concepts.
With their belief in their daily living such as tapu (sacred), noa (nonsacred),
mana (authority) and wairua. In the beginning of time Maori people have their
beliefs every living thing in the earth are from God and it in form of
mountain, river and lakes. Maori people also beliefs that all things have on
type of soul (wairua). As Whitmore (2012) state “Certain geographical features
of New Zealand are important anchors for Māori identity. For example, the
Wanganui River has a particular cultural and spiritual significance for the
Māori. Mount Ngaruahoe and Mount Ruapehu, both situated in the North Island,
are sacred (tapu) to the Māori” (para.7).
These beliefs
remain until Europeans come to New Zealand and it supplants Maori religion and
mythology by Christianity. As the result today Maori people are becoming the
followers of Presbyterianism, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(Mormons), or Maori Christian groups and also Catholic, Anglican and Methodist.
Somehow there still a very small community of Muslims Maori.
Maori Technology
Gardening
The plants that
survive when brought to New Zealand kumara, gourd (hue), taro and yam (uwhi).
Kumara is a sweet potato it can be grown through the northern and coastal North
Island and in northern South Island; Kumara was a main crop back then. The other plant was Aute (paper mulberry), it
can produce fiber that used to made tapa cloth, but it only can grown in warm
northern locations.
Picture above show the gardening system of Maori people
Source: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/gardens/1/1
Gardening Tools
Ko
In maori gardening
tools Ko is used to loosened the ground by scattering the sand and small stone.
Source: http://www.new-guinea-tribal-art.com/wp/index.php/2011/11/06/native-weapons-maori/
Timo and Ketu
This kind of tools uses to weed the crops. They
usually were made of hard woods such as matai and manuka. For timo it was
fashioned from a forked branch with the blade being flattened.
Source:http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/site_resources/library/Education/Teachers_Guide/Teacher_Resources_Library/Maori_Education_Kits/Maori_09MaoriTechnology_1_.pdf
Fishing
Before arrive at New Zealand Maori people already have the knowledge of
fishing method. Maori are very skilled fishers. With their fishing nets, hooks,
lures, spears, and traps they can have a lot food from the ocean.
Fishing hook
Maori fishing lines were made of twisted flax fibers and sinkers from
stones. With the different sizes and shapes of shell, bone, wood and stones.
Bone hooks can be made by drilling the central part of the hood and fiiling it
with sandstone. Sometimes fishermen used a gorge, it is a sharp bit of bone
that can fish in a mouth. For the lures fishermen usually use colourful abalone
or paua shells to attract certain kind of fish. Such as sea trout or kahawai.
Source: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/Whi04Anci-fig-Whi04AnciP002a.html
Fishing nets
In developing fishing nets
maori people also make it vary at size, with the small one called tutoko to the
very big one call kaharoa. Kahoroa is really a big fishing nets, it trequire
several people to handle it and usually to catch a lot of fish at one time. The
fishermen attach stone to the bottom of
the nets as the sinkers and use gourds, coconuts, or woods at the top
for the net to float. According to Watchmen (2010), “The
largest documented Maori seine net, documented in 1886 at Maketu, was roughly a
mile long. It was made for a huge tribal gathering, and it took the entire
community to haul in the catch. Green flax was the most commonly used
net-making material” (para.2).
Source: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bes02Maor-t1-body-d9.html
Food Storages
Food storages are the
most useful place to storages the food stock when it comes to winter. After the
food being preserved it was being stored inside the food storages. For examples
cooked birds are place in gourds and seals with the fat, because by cooking it
killed the bacteria and sealed with fat prevent the contamination. The gourd
can be decorate with some feathers or any decorations to label down what it
contain inside.
Picture above known as calabash is enclosed in a closely woven flax
container, and has been mounted on three elaborately carved legs adorned with split
kereru feathers. A carved mouthpiece has been attached to the gourd.
Source: http://tekakano.aucklandmuseum.com/objectdetail.asp?database=maori&objectid=916
Stone Tools
The most well use
tools at that time are toki (adzes) and chisels. It commonly used for chopping
and carving wood. The blades were made from fine grained rock such as
argillite, basalt, greywacke and pounamu (jade, greenstone). Flax cord was used
to tie up the blades to the wood handle.
This early example is one of the toki photographed at
Auckland Museum. It was found near Hamilton and is made from greywacke stone.
Regional construction styles
Source: http://maorilifestyles.blogspot.co.nz/2010_01_01_archive.html
Drill were used to make holes in both wood and
stone also for making one piece bone fish hook. They were made from various
materials, particularly chert, but also obsidian and some of the same rock
types used for adzes.
Source:http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_39_1930/Volume_39,_No._154/Experiments_in_Kaitahu_%28Ngai-tahu%29_methods_of_drilling,_by_R._H._Steele,_p_181-188/p1
Carving
The Maori are
famous for their beautiful and unique carvings. These type of carving can be
found on their houses, boats, statues, and jewelry they are made. The material
of their carving is varying from using jade, bone, silver and wood. Furthermore
each shape in their carving has a special meaning.
Tattooing
Maori people
used tattoo to identify the status and rank. This practice is being brought
from their Polynesian homelands to the New Zealand when they immigrate. Maori
society most people were tattooed, the type and amount of tattoos reflected
their status which changed and increased along with the change and increase of
their performance. Slaves were also marked with tattoos. Many slaves advanced
their position within the society to the point where they actually became the
master. Maori tattoos were also used to attract the opposite sex. Maori women
usually had their lips and chins tattooed.
Tattooing usually
call as Ta Moko in Maori language. It uses a bone chisel with an extremely
sharp edge for tattooing. The first stage of the tattoo commenced with the
graving of deep cuts into the skin. Next, a chisel was dipped into a sooty type
pigment such as burnt Kauri gum or burnt vegetable caterpillars, and then
tapped into the skin. It was really a long and painful process and for the
healing process they use leaves from karaka tree and place it at the swollen
tattoo cut.
Bone Chisel used for tattooing.
Source: http://www.poriruatattoo.com/ta-moko/
Maori language
The Maori
language also known as te reo Maori. It has status as official language in New
Zealand. But now Maori languages are not really well used in the community.
According to Wikipedia (2010) “since 1890 Maori MPs realized the importance of
English literacy to Maori and insisted that all Maori children are taught in
English. Therefore many of Maori school exclusively teaching in Maori language
were being enforced to teach by using English”.
In many areas of New
Zealand, Maori lost it important as a community language that has been used by
notable people at the war time. Therefore with call sovereignty and for the
righting of social injustices from 1970s onwards, New Zealand schools now teach
Māori culture and language as an option, and pre-school have started, which
teach young children exclusively in Māori. These now extend right through
secondary schools. Most preschool centres teach basics such as colors, numerals
and greetings in Maori songs and chants (Wikipedia. 2010).
Batak Tribe in
Indonesia
The term Batak
is used to refer the original resident of North Sumatra, Indonesia. The areas
referred to as their country is stretching from Medan up to the areas around
Lake Toba and further South in Mandailing regency, the border of West and North
Sumatra.
There are 4
sub-group to identify the Batak tribe such as Batak Karo, Batak Toba, Batak
Mandailing, and Batak Simalungun. They just have different of tribe; there is
no physical or social different among them. Just slightly different on speaking
dialect and behavior, which are not really visible. By referring their names we
can identify from where they come.
Cultivating
Batak people
also have tools for growing crops for their live, by using simple tools such as
hue, plough, poles and knife to harvest the crops. Plough is known in Batak
language as tenggala used to plow the soils usually drown by buffalo.
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanberlin/5374306698/
Religion and Beliefs
Picture above is Karo Batak Christian
Church
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat
Language
Batak language
also has the variation which are spoken by sub ethnics such Karo dialect,
Pakpak dialect, Simalungun dialect, and Toba dialect spoken by the Toba,
angkola and Mandailing. There are two major branches such as northern branch
with Pakpak Dairi, Alas-Kluet and Karo language, which are same with each and
the other is southern branch, with the same dialect Toba, Angkola and
Mandailing.
Batak language is
still being used until now. As reid (2008) state “Batak language has the
axistance of a linguistic continuum that often blurs the lines between Batak
dialect, but Batak dialect still influences the dialect in Medan city until
now”. It is likely that the Batak people originally received their writing
system from southern Sumatra.
Art
Batak people
have the traditional dance called Tor Tor dance (magical factor) and serampang
dua belas dance (nature of entertainment). Traditional Musical instrument such
as Gong and Saga saga.
Batak tribe has a
weaving craft call ulos cloth. This is one of the tradition that really still
being reliant until now. This cloth always been used in wedding ceremony,
funeral ceremony, celebrating after establishing house, transfer of estate,
welcomed honored guests and ceremony for Tor Tor dance. The clothes are always
being used as the tradition that Batak ancestors inheritance generation by
generation.
Video above show one of the Batak traditional dance
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIOKX-6sUIQ&feature=related
Reference List
Maori info. (2005). Maori of New Zealand. Retrieved from
http://www.maori.info/index.htm
New Zealand Tourism Guide. (2012). Maori Stories and Legend. Retrieved from
http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/about-new-zealand/maori-stories-and-legends.html
Wikipedia. (2010). Maori People. Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%81ori_people#Language
Whitmore.
(2012). The Maori. Retrieved from
http://history-nz.org/maori.html#top
Mader. (2008). Maori Source-The Bone Art Place. Retrieved
from http://www.maorisource.com/
Bistur. (2001). The
Batak People. Retrieved from http://www.balitouring.com/culture/batak.htm
Hidayah. (2011). The Culture of Batak Tribe. Retrieved from http://www.history-ofculture.com/2011/10/tribe-batak-culture.html
Wikipedia. (2012). Batak. Retrieved fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batak#Ritual_cannibalism
No comments:
Post a Comment