Module 4 - Cultures & Technology

Maori Culture
Maori people were the first human who living and conquered in New Zealand, they are the country's indigenous people. They first arrived around one thousand years ago as a result of migration being undertaken by Pacific island people. As we can see, in recent year Maori culture has experienced a significant renaissance. Traditional culture is being given a contemporary interpretation: Whether through music, the arts or the media.

The resurgence of Maori Culture can be easily seen in the New Zealand school, at home, on the "marae" and on the street. Maori culture has been recognize by New Zealand to others peoples and indigenous. From the study, we can know that during the earlier century Maori peoples utilize the hunting activity to survived. Maori people made their own hunting tools by using the wood, bamboo, stone, sea shell and etc. Maori people spread across New Zealand, forming many clans and achieved spectacular heights in woodcarving, tattoo, traditional dance and others art forms.

The photo above has shown the Maori famous war dance - Haka  [Image] Reference
Haka dance is the one of the traditional dance where represent the Maori culture.

On the Maori weapons or hunting tools, it has some very beautiful crave. Maori people produced works of art which were extremely beautiful and considered very advanced. [Image] Reference


Carving
Before the arrival of the Europeans Māori literature, stories and legends were handed down both orally and through weavings and carvings. Some carvings are over 500 years old.Te Toi Whakairo is the art of Māori carving, and Tohunga Whakairo were the great carvers - the master craftsmen. A master carver was highly considered. The Māori believed that the gods created and communicated through the master carvers.

Carving used to be a tapu art, subject to the rules and laws of tapu. The pieces of wood falling aside as the carver worked were never thrown away, neither were they used for the cooking of food. Women were not permitted near the carvings. The history, traditions, language and religion of the Māori make up an integral part of the carving art. To the Māori, all things possess a spirit (wairua), and a mauri (life force).Felling a tree was to cut down a descendant of Tane, the god of forests and of man. Before committing such an act, a karakia (ritual incantation) was recited by the Tohunga, in order to ensure that the act of felling an offspring of Tane could be carried out safely.

The Māori differed from other Polynesians in that they preferred curves to straight lines in much of their carvings. Many carvings take the distinctive koru spiral form, similar to that of a curving stalk, or a bulb. The koru form represents the basis of the red, white and black rafter patterns.

Picture of a carving pattern in koru form.

Often Manaia, a side-faced and sometimes birdlike figure, may be found in Māori carvings. The Manaia is usually depicted as having the head of a bird and the body of a man, though it is sometimes depicted as a bird, a serpent, or a human figure in profile while other interpretations include a seahorse and a lizard. The Manaia is traditionally believed to be the messenger between the earthly world of mortals and the domain of the spirits, and its symbol is used as a guardian against evil. In this form, it is usually represented in a figure-of-eight shape, the upper half culminating in a bird-like beak. This form was also widely used in designs of door and window lintels and other architectural features, as well as in ceremonial hafts of weapons.

Reference

A carving of the Manaia.

A Marakihau Carving.

Marakihau carving represents deep sea taniwha (monster) and ocean gods, particularly to be found in the Bay of Plenty area of New Zealand. In Māori legends Marakihau was often a mythical sea monster. Marakihau may decorate the porches of carved houses. A typical feature of Marakihau is its human form, but including a long tongue by which the Marakihau monsters were capable of swallowing up canoes or men. Quite often a type of crown form was situated on the top of the head.

Sometimes a one-eyed human face can be found in older carvings. It is thought that this particular figure may represent a demi-god who lived equally well on land or in the sea. Certain legends speak of one-eyed monsters, being part fish, part god and part man.

A lizard Carving 

The lizard is the only animal represented in Māori carving - possibly inspired from the native tuatara. Contrary to other depictions, the form of the lizard was never deformed or misshapen, possibly because the lizard was so revered. The small green lizard, found in the forests, was the most dreaded of all lizards. In carvings the green lizard embodies Rakaiora, seen as a god.

Referencing






Tattooing
The Maori are an indigenous Polynesian people found in New Zealand. They have a form of body art, known as moko, more commonly known as Maori tattooing. The art form was brought by the Maori from Polynesia. This art is considered highly sacred, and continues to be highly revered. Since the Maori consider the head to be the most sacred part of the body, the most popular kind of Maori tattoo was the facial tattoo, which was composed of curved shapes and spiral patterns. It often covered the whole of the face, and was a symbol of rank, social status power, and prestige.The Maori tattoo is one of a kind, and no two tattoos are alike. It is highly intricate and detailed, which displays the craftsmanship and artistry of the Maori culture.For the Maori, tattooing was a rite of passage, which meant it was highly ritualized. Maori tattooing would usually begin during adolescence, and would be continually performed to celebrate important events throughout a person’s life.

The Maori ‘tattoo artist’ is called the tohunga-ta-moko, which means moko specialist. These tattooists are highly respected, and considered tapu, inviolable and holy. Tattoo artist are mostly men, but there are also some women who take up the practice.

Maori Fishing

According to Māori creation traditions the god of the sea and progenitor of fish is Tangaroa, the son of Ranginui (the sky father) and Papatūānuku (the earth mother).In these traditions Tūmatauenga, the god of war, fought with Tangaroa. Their enmity explains why humans, the descendants of Tūmatauenga, go fishing: they are continuing the war against Tangaroa’s progeny, the fish.

Nets
The construction of nets was a tapu activity – certain rituals and restrictions had to be followed. Most nets were made of green flax, and they ranged in size from individual hand nets to very largeseine nets. The base was weighed down with stone sinkers, and gourds or light woods were sometimes used as floats.

The largest net documented was made in 1886 by Major Fox and 400 others of Ngāti Pikiao, at Maketū in the Bay of Plenty. About 1.6 kilometres long, it was used only once to procure tens of thousands of fish for a major tribal gathering. Handling such nets required community effort.

Maori Fish net

Lines, hooks and spears
Lines and hooks were very popular for catching hāpuku and kahawai. The lines were very strong, and made of dressed flax fibre that was twisted into cord.

Hooks varied in size and shape and were made from wood, bone, stone or shell. Sometimes a gorge was used. This was a sharp piece of bone on a line, which caught in a fish’s throat when pulled. To attract kahawai, iridescent pāua shell was used on lures.

Hooks for fishing

Maori Spear.

Culture Viewpoint

Currently Maori people live throughout New Zealand and many are keeping their afford to maintain the culture and language alive. Within any Maori community, the marae provides a focus for social, cultural and spiritual life. Maori people define themselves by their iwi (tribe), hapu (sub-tribe), maunga (mountain) and awa (river). Whanau is the name given to family - the term embraces immediate family, in-laws and all those connected by blood ties.

In recent years, the introduction of Maori language nests (kohanga reo) has revived the Maori language. At kohanga reo, preschool children are encouraged to speak in Maori. Primary and secondary schools build on this early immersion by including Maori in the curriculum. Traditional carvers also help to keep Maori culture alive by creating intricate works that pay respect to the past. Every piece carved tells a story, which can be read by those who know how. The shape of the heads, position of the body as well as the surface patterns work together to record and remember events.

Reference

Video shows the Maori Culture.

Social Viewpoint

As the development and the advancement of the technology increase, modern life style will gradually replace the traditional ways of any race or tribe. Modern technology definitely will assist people in their daily life but as these technology being rely on people, traditional ways will be slowly be eliminated. To uphold their own tradition and cultures, Maori and other Indigenous is strictly oppose to the advancement of the technology. There are several impacts that will affect the Maori people:-

Life Style

The life style of the maori people will surely improve and this will also upgraded their living standards. This would bring convenience for the Moari people and will modernise the Maori people as well. However, with the upgraded life style traditional way will slowly be forgotten and this is where some Maori people still uphold their own traditional ways and rejected the improvement of the technology. Moreover, this would also increase the living expenses of the Maori people.

Environment

Advancement of technology will have a direct effect onto the environment. Cell phones, computer, vehicles and other technology will polluted the environment and this would also cause the Maori people to forcefully give up their traditional ways. Example is that manufacture factory that produce waste will contaminate the river and using the tradition way to fish will left the Maori people finding difficulties in fishing.

Orang Asli (Malaysia)

Orang Asli or known as "the original people" or the "first people" in Malay. They numbered 105,000 in 1997 representing a mere 0.5 per cent of the Malaysia national population. Nowadays there about 60.000 Orang Asli people, of which 60% still live in the rain forest. About 40% Orang Asli live along or near the coast. The Orang Asli have their own religions and customs, as well as unique languages.Languages spoken are generally from the Austronesian and Austro-Asiatic language families. The languages of the peninsular can be divided between Negrito, Senoi, and Malayic, together divided into about 18 subgroups.Each tribe is divided into 6 smaller tribes and they speak different dialect, apart from the local Malay dialect. However the language is heading towards extinction as the children in the tribe are learning English and Malay instead of their own dialect and language. 

Orang Asli Reference

Hunting Tools

Orang Asli with his blow pipe.

Blow pipe is the traditional weapon of the Orang Asli. Usually, they are made of bamboo and wood while the suitable kind of bamboo for the body is the 'sewor' because of its structure and easily obtain in the Peninsular.The blow-pipe is actually made-up of two layers of bamboo where the inside layer had a diameter between 1 to 2 cm. The blowing point can be made of wood or the beak of a hornbill. Both the blowing point and the body of the blow-pipe are usually decorated with attractive designs. The 'traditional bullets' used together with the blow-pipe are soaked in poison extracted from either the 'Ipoh Tree' or a kind of plat called 'Streyehros Ganus'.

Fishing is also part of the hunting activities that orang Asli did to hunt for food. Fishing equipments includes 'bubu', 'lukah', 'tuai' and others. At present, these tools are still being used especially by the Orang Asli living in remote areas.

Fishing trap used by Orang Asli.

Reference

Video shows how Orang Asli live in the jungle.