|| The Oral Tradition
Like many native peoples, the culture of the Maori people was highly oratory. Much of their storytelling revolved around composing, memorizing, and performing all different kinds of poems, war chants, laments, and prayers. They were often thought to have a highly figurative and often rare poetic beauty. The oral production also had a definite religious element to it--seeing as it was believed that both language and knowledge had been acquired from the gods, religious ritual often played a large part in these productions. Within all of these poems, songs, chants, and prayers, they formed and cultivated their own mythology to record their past and tell the legends and stories of their gods and tribal heroes, like the story of Kupe discovering Aotearoa.
The storytelling methods of the Maori were rarely direct. They did not rely on or use solid concepts and direct ideas. Rather, they would tend towards using all kinds of imagery and fantastical elements to both understand their history and convey it to others. Therefore, their songs, myths, and prayers endure as a living record of their collective tribal memory.
In a culture that is completely oral such as the pre-European Maori, their stories and myths survived only if they were successfully transmitted from one generation to the next. It was a big deal and often a very complicated affair. The stories were all told orally, and involved a long and complicated string of speakers and receivers that extended for generations, all working together to keep the stories and myths alive.
In Maori, traditional songs are called waiata. There were three different kinds of waiata: the waiata tangi, which were laments for the dead or lost; waiata aroha, which were songs about the nature of love, as well as familial love and kinship; and waiata whaiaaipo, which were songs for courtship and romantic love.
As well as these, there are songs of lesser importance: pao, which were songs of gossip; poi, songs that accompanied traditional dances; oriori, songs composed for those children who would be heirs, in order for them to learn about their heritage; and karanga, a chant sung or performed by the women of the tribe in order to welcome or farewell visitors to their tribe.
Apart from traditional songs, there were also various types of chants that were recited as opposed to performed. These were the karakia, which invoked the power of the gods to assist or protect the chanter; the paatere, which were chants by women in order to address or rebut against slander or gossip; kaioraora, chants directed at an enemy to express abuse, hatred, and promise of terrible revenge; and haka, a war chant accompanied by fierce gestures, expressions, rhythmic movement, and stamping. The haka sometimes included stylized violence, and the stunning and intimidating nature of these chants has made them some of the most famous among the Maori oral traditions. The video below is of Maori men performing a haka:
The storytelling methods of the Maori were rarely direct. They did not rely on or use solid concepts and direct ideas. Rather, they would tend towards using all kinds of imagery and fantastical elements to both understand their history and convey it to others. Therefore, their songs, myths, and prayers endure as a living record of their collective tribal memory.
In a culture that is completely oral such as the pre-European Maori, their stories and myths survived only if they were successfully transmitted from one generation to the next. It was a big deal and often a very complicated affair. The stories were all told orally, and involved a long and complicated string of speakers and receivers that extended for generations, all working together to keep the stories and myths alive.
In Maori, traditional songs are called waiata. There were three different kinds of waiata: the waiata tangi, which were laments for the dead or lost; waiata aroha, which were songs about the nature of love, as well as familial love and kinship; and waiata whaiaaipo, which were songs for courtship and romantic love.
As well as these, there are songs of lesser importance: pao, which were songs of gossip; poi, songs that accompanied traditional dances; oriori, songs composed for those children who would be heirs, in order for them to learn about their heritage; and karanga, a chant sung or performed by the women of the tribe in order to welcome or farewell visitors to their tribe.
Apart from traditional songs, there were also various types of chants that were recited as opposed to performed. These were the karakia, which invoked the power of the gods to assist or protect the chanter; the paatere, which were chants by women in order to address or rebut against slander or gossip; kaioraora, chants directed at an enemy to express abuse, hatred, and promise of terrible revenge; and haka, a war chant accompanied by fierce gestures, expressions, rhythmic movement, and stamping. The haka sometimes included stylized violence, and the stunning and intimidating nature of these chants has made them some of the most famous among the Maori oral traditions. The video below is of Maori men performing a haka:
The performance of these stories, chants, rituals, and prayers was often held in a marae--a tribal meeting place, often a building or set of buildings surrounding a large open area where many could gather. The marae was an important place, and often the karanga would be sung to welcome newcomers to the marae.
In the performances, often voice, facial expression, and gesture were the most important elements. As can be evidenced by the haka, the intonation of the voice and the gestures and movements performed often told the story better than the words themselves. When white settlers first witnessed a performance of Maori poetry, they were impressed at its beauty, but claimed that the music and delivery accompanying it sounded "tuneless and monotonous" to non-Maori peoples.
When telling stories, the tellers were not limited to a fixed form of the story. In large part, they did draw from a pool of conventional imagery and dramatic devices, but took liberties with how they used and arranged them. Different tales would often highlight different characters or events, and each story would have the own individual touches of the storyteller.
However, there was a certain amount of expectation for the storyteller from the audience. For those who would come watch the performance, if the storyteller did not engage them or hold their attention, they would talk to one another or fall asleep. If the storyteller made a mistake in the story, any experts on the matter in the audience would rise to their feet to correct them, and if they were particularly outraged, demand that the storyteller sit down. This acted as a system of checks and balances, preventing the storytellers from being careless with such important and treasured stories. This also ensured that, as stories past from one generation to the next, they remained generally the same.
Much like many Native American tribes, the Maori sense of time was not strictly linear. In the act of telling a story, the storyteller would not take the listener back to the past, but rather bring the past forward into the present, making the events and ideas of the story contemporary. The myths of the Maori are at once located in the past, but also eternally in the present with the tellers and audience--they are being continually retold and reinterpreted in a contemporary context. As a result, though the people are very concerned with preserving the myths unchanged for centuries, modification and change is an inevitable consequence of the process of transmission.
In the performances, often voice, facial expression, and gesture were the most important elements. As can be evidenced by the haka, the intonation of the voice and the gestures and movements performed often told the story better than the words themselves. When white settlers first witnessed a performance of Maori poetry, they were impressed at its beauty, but claimed that the music and delivery accompanying it sounded "tuneless and monotonous" to non-Maori peoples.
When telling stories, the tellers were not limited to a fixed form of the story. In large part, they did draw from a pool of conventional imagery and dramatic devices, but took liberties with how they used and arranged them. Different tales would often highlight different characters or events, and each story would have the own individual touches of the storyteller.
However, there was a certain amount of expectation for the storyteller from the audience. For those who would come watch the performance, if the storyteller did not engage them or hold their attention, they would talk to one another or fall asleep. If the storyteller made a mistake in the story, any experts on the matter in the audience would rise to their feet to correct them, and if they were particularly outraged, demand that the storyteller sit down. This acted as a system of checks and balances, preventing the storytellers from being careless with such important and treasured stories. This also ensured that, as stories past from one generation to the next, they remained generally the same.
Much like many Native American tribes, the Maori sense of time was not strictly linear. In the act of telling a story, the storyteller would not take the listener back to the past, but rather bring the past forward into the present, making the events and ideas of the story contemporary. The myths of the Maori are at once located in the past, but also eternally in the present with the tellers and audience--they are being continually retold and reinterpreted in a contemporary context. As a result, though the people are very concerned with preserving the myths unchanged for centuries, modification and change is an inevitable consequence of the process of transmission.