Tuupuna Times -
Preserving the narratives of Ruuruhi and Koroheke®
Have you captured your parents or grandparents life story? Unsure how to do this and where to start? Preserving the narratives of Ruuruhi and Koroheke is important and this short questionnaire helps you start the conversation - contact us now for a free copy.
An outcome of my PhD research completed in 2018 conducted on inter-generational knowledge transmission noted the participants desire to have their life stories recorded before their lives ended or they succumbed to dementia, the most common form suffered being alzheimers. Seven questions serve as conversation starters to compiling a narrative about ones life story - please make sure you take your loved one through these questions so there is a record of their life to share for the coming generations.
Tuupuna Times Tohu -
He whakamaarama
Naa Heramaahina Eketone (Ngaati Maniapoto, Waikato)
The design acknowledges the male and female energies and their koorero (narrative), their story telling through poutama (stairways design) which talks of their achievements and aronui (focus), which includes their knowledge.
The puuhoro (tattoo design usually on the thigh or arm) and its movement shows the fruits of the old people’s labour with the koru (fern fronds type of pattern). Both Mangopare (large symbols represented at left and right) recognise the trials and tribulations of our tupuna (ancestors), with the mangopae (at right) representing our Ruuruhi and the mangotuu (at left) representing our Koroheke. The design as a whole encompasses Tuupuna Times – preserving the narratives of Ruuruhi and Koroheke and is a registered trademark.
My Research
Intergenerational Knowledge Transmission
My PhD project investigated the way knowledge is transmitted inter-generationally, and the teaching and learning methods (or pedagogies) used to do this. The transmission referred to knowledge about practices associated with celebrations of the Kiingitanga ‘kingship movement’ of which the Waikato iwi ‘tribe’ have long been the kaitiaki ‘guardians’.
I set out to analyse whether there is any correlation between the traditional Maaori knowledge frameworks of old being utilised in the way we learn the roles associated with three domains on the marae ‘communal gathering place’: te whakarite, whakapai marae/wharenui, te wharekai/ kaauta and te paepae during three key Kiingitanga events. My thesis explored how learning was undertaken in ngaa whare waananga tawhito ‘traditional houses of learning’ before documenting my participants’ narratives about how they learned their roles on the marae.
The information from the project showed us that overall, there was not one single, definitive pedagogy amongst the participants when it came to primary learning preferences. Role modelling was most prominent in the te whakarite, whakapai marae/wharenui workspace.
Likewise learning by exposure was most prominent in the te wharekai/kaauta workspace. There was no clear preference in te paepae – karanga workspace with those responding there primarily referring to a different pedagogy in their narratives. Titiro, whakarongo was most prominent in the te paepae – whaikoorero workspace and with those speaking about te paepae – waiata kiinaki.
However, the combined data from across the three parts of the te paepae divisions, showed titiro, whakarongo easily represents the most influential pedagogy across all the workspaces on the marae.
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