Whakapapa

Whakapapa is the genealogy of the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, or Aotearoa in the Māori language. The word papa means broad, flat, and hard, such as a flat rock. Whakapapa means to place in layers. Māori also use the term Te Here Tangata, which translates as “The Rope of Mankind,” to describe genealogy. Although a whakapapa includes an individual’s ancestors, it also encompasses all living things as well as the earth, the sky, and the universe. The Māori believe it is a lineage, a creation story, and is constantly evolving. One’s whakapapa is recited orally and includes ancestry as well as myths and spiritual elements. These mythological and spiritual elements vary from tribe to tribe. Whakapapa are important for a number of reasons, including making connections with other tribes. Through a family’s extended lineage, members trace relationships between tribes. A person could also prove a connection to a piece of land he or she wanted through the whakapapa.

Background

The Māori are descended from Polynesian peoples who arrived by boat more than one thousand years ago. They are believed to have traveled from an island in the South Pacific Ocean, although experts do not know which island is the exact homeland they call Hawaiki. The first person to reach New Zealand, according to legend, was an explorer named Kupe, who navigated his waka hourua, or voyaging canoe, by the stars and ocean currents. Seven waka hourua followed Kupe, and often made multiple trips, which leads researchers to believe the migration was planned. Modern tribes, or iwi, trace their whakapapa back to one of the seven waka that arrived in New Zealand. These waka are the Tainui, Te Arawa, Mātaatua, Kurahaupō, Tokomaru, Aotea, and Tākitimu.

The Māori were hunters and fishermen. They used flax to weave fishing nets and carved bone and stone into fishhooks. They used traps and snares to catch native birds. They also brought vegetables from Polynesia. These included the kumara or sweet potato, which they cultivated. Their diet included native berries, roots, and vegetables.

Tribes lived in fortified villages, or marae, which were surrounded by fences and moats. Defensive structures were necessary because tribes were frequently at war with one another. Villages included structures on stilt legs where food was stored. Villages also had meeting houses, which were typically ornately carved. These wharenui bear a village’s whakapapa, with the oldest ancestors near the top, and more recent lines of the family close to the bottom. Carvings on the wharenui show how the family lines are connected.

Overview

While tribes had unique versions of the creation story, they share several themes. Creation stories usually describe moving from nothingness to something and from darkness to light. They all describe the separation of earth and sky and the actions of gods that resulted in elements of the world.

A basic earth and sky tale says that Ranginui the Sky and Papatūānuku the Earth were joined together. In the darkness between them, their children were born. The children wanted to let light into the world and decided to separate their parents. These children became gods of the natural world. For example, Tāne became god of the forests, Tangaroa was god of the sea, Rūaumoko was god of earthquakes, and Tāwhirimatea was god of the winds and weather. Many people viewed the gods as role models.

Some variations include a supreme being named Io, or describe Tāne’s role in separating his parents. Some tribes’ mythologies say the moon or sun urges the children to part the parents. Some tales credit Tāne with separating them with a post, or standing on his head and using his feet to push them apart.

Whakapapa may be extremely detailed in relating creation stories, often using natural world growth lists in the telling. For example, a seed’s germination may be described in a list that covers all stages of growth: Te Pū (shoot), Te Weu (taproot), Te More (laterals), Te Aka (rhizome), Te Rea (hair root). These genealogies focus on continuous examples of creation. Some whakapapa describe the processes of life, such as the increase of energy, the growth of wisdom and knowledge, and the development of space and time.

The most common form of whakapapa is the tararere. This is a family history of a single line of descent from an ancestor. It does not include marriage partners or other extended family. Whakamoe includes marriages. Tāhū lists the main lines of a family’s descent, or the tribe’s common ancestors. Whakapiri establishes connections and determines seniority. Individuals trace their lineage from a common ancestor, counting the generations to each person. If they are of the same generation, the person from a senior branch is called tuakana; the person from the younger branch or junior line is called taina. Another form is the tātai hikohiko or āhua hikohiko, a short whakapapa that only includes the names of the most important ancestors.

Nineteenth-century chief Hūkiki Te Ahukaramū included the progression from darkness to light in his whakapapa: Te Pō (night or darkness), Te Ata (dawn), Te Ao (light or the world), Te Ao-tū-roa (longstanding world), Te Ao Mārama (world of light). A whakapapa adapted from his transitions from nothing to something: Aituā (misfortune), Ke Kore (nothingness), Te Mangu (darkness), Rangipōtiki (the sky).

Whakapapa are so deeply rooted in the oral tradition that many Māori resisted writing them down. When some people began to record the whakapapa on paper, others were horrified. After the death of the author, a whakapapa book might have been burned or buried.

Some written whakapapa have survived. Āperahama Taonui wrote a tribal whakapapa manuscript in 1843. It contains about 350 names and includes more than forty generations. This family tree, as it were, resembles a meeting house when mapped out from past to present. Though extensive, the whakapapa represents a small portion of the genealogical knowledge Taonui had memorized. While many whakapapa are impressively detailed, older generations include fewer names, probably because less important relatives in the distant past were forgotten.

People use a number of methods to remember and recite the whakapapa. Some use songs, or waiata, such as lullabies called oriori that are sung to young children. Many people use elements of the landscape to recall hundreds of names. Experts may use notched sticks called rākau whakapapa. They move their hands along the notches as they recite names.

Bibliography

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Mahuika, Nēpia. “A Brief History of Whakapapa: Māori Approaches to Genealogy.” Genealogy, vol. 3 (2), pp 32, 14 June 2019, doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3020032. Accessed 18 Dec. 2019.

“Maori Genealogy—Whakapapa.” New Zealand Society of Genealogists, 25 June 2019, www.genealogy.org.nz/Maori-Whakapapa‗1634.aspx. Accessed 18 Dec. 2019.

“Māoritanga—Māori Culture Explained.” 100% Pure New Zealand, media.newzealand.com/en/story-ideas/maoritanga-maori-culture-explained/. Accessed 18 Dec. 2019.

Royal, Te Ahukaramū Charles. “Story: Māori Creation Traditions.” Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 8 Feb. 2005, teara.govt.nz/en/maori-creation-traditions. Accessed 18 Dec. 2019.

Taonui, Rāwiri. “Story: Whakapapa—Genealogy.” Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 1 July 2015, teara.govt.nz/en/whakapapa-genealogy. Accessed 18 Dec. 2019.

“Whakapapa.” National Library of New Zealand, 2018, natlib.govt.nz/researchers/guides/whakapapa. Accessed 18 Dec. 2019.

“Whakapapa Maori.” Maaori, maaori.com/whakapapa/whakpap2.htm. Accessed 18 Dec. 2019.