Indigenous Religious Musics

Karen Ralls-MacLeod, Graham Harvey, Karen Ralls-MacLeod

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781351562898
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

Celebrating the diversity of indigenous nations, cultures and religions, the essays which comprise this volume discuss the musics performed by a wide variety of peoples as an integral part of their cultural traditions. These include examinations of the various styles of Maori, Inuit and Australian Aboriginal musics, and the role of music in Korean Shaman rituals. Indeed, music forms a key component of many such rituals and belief systems and examples of these are explored amongst the peoples of Uganda, Amazonia and Africa. Through analysis of these rituals and the part music plays in them, the essays also open up further themes including social groupings and gender divisions, and engage with issues and debates on how we define and approach the study of indigeneity, religiosity and music. With downloadable resources featuring some of the music discussed in the book and further information on other available recordings, this is a book which gives readers the opportunity to gain a richer experience of the lived realities of indigenous religious musics.

Chapter OneTe Kaha o te Waiata — The Power of Music: Maori Oral Traditions illustrated by E Tipu e Rea

Peter Mataira

Te Kore i takea mai, ki te Po te kitea, te Po tangotango,
Po whawha, Po ramuramu ki te wheiao ki te aomarama
From the realm of Te Kore the root cause, through the night
unseeing, the night of hesitant exploration, night of bold groping,
night inclined towards the day and emergence into the broad light of day.

This lyrical statement is a common introduction to an orator’s speech (tauparapara) and tells of the vitality of Maori oral traditions as it contends that life is indeed transitional, a state of progression from darkness to light. It depicts in poetic form the birth sequence as the child makes its way through the birth canal towards the light of a new day.¹ Maori song and oration have a propensity to elucidate important life events in a way that transcends experience. This suggests a profound understanding that Maori musical expression contains much of what was, and what is; of daily activities and experiences that influence choices and actions. They were, and still are, fundamental and significant reminders to Maori of life’s journey: of trials, tribulations, victories and defeats. Profiling these as learning statements is best manifested and transferred through compositions, spoken and sung. To this end, Maori songs² have relevance in providing the kind of formalised version of values that help define expected behaviour.

Musical expression, in one sense, provides a framework within which complex emotional realities can be explored. In his book, A Commonsense View of All Music, John Blacking commented: ‘the development of the senses and the education of the emotions through the arts, are not merely desirable options, they are essential both for balanced action and the effective use of intellect’ (Blacking 1987, 118). As such, musical expression is useful and integral to healthy functioning. With lyrics and melody in unison one can literally eliminate from the mind the external world and willingly submit to being transformed³ for a brief moment and enter into the void where the subconscious can construct its own character and meaning. Music creates movement and leads to new ways of seeing things and, as Blacking suggests, gives a person a sense of empowerment and confidence. The following proverb (whakatauaki) illustrates the pervasive nature of Maori musical expressions and oral traditions. I discuss Apirana Ngata’s wellknown work in detail to show the universal tone and themes he presents.

Ngata's E Tipu e Rea: 'Grow up tender child'

E tipu e rea	Grow up tender child
mo nga ra o to Ao	in these days of your world
Ko to ringa ki nga rakau	your hands mastering the arts
a te Pakeha hei ara mo	of the western world as sustenance
to tinana	for your body
Ko to ngakau	Your heart always holding fast
ki nga taonga a o Tipuna Maori	to the treasures of your ancestors
Hei tikitiki mo to mahuna	as a plume for your head
A ko to wairua ki te Atua	your spirit is given to God
Nana nei nga mea katoa	the Creator of all things

This is an instructive proverb that provides a laudable description of Maori understanding of mental balance,⁴ wellness and physical health. It is both sung and recited in speech, in which its intent is to relay the importance of emotional, and spiritual poise and well-being.

It was written in the early 1920s⁵ for a young child as she prepared for her first day at school. It commences with the acknowledgement that growth and development cannot occur without nurturance and nourishment, nor can they be sustained without fresh challenge, opportunity and new experiences: E tipu e rea mo nga ra o to ao, ‘Grow up tender child in these days of your world’. It goes on to speak of the importance of developing sound emotional intelligence and making right choices which are all within the potential realms of the young girl. When Ngata penned this, he wrote with a concern about the loss of identity, about young people growing up in a world unfamiliar to them and foreign to their parents and grandparents. The resultant effect, he maintained, of not being grounded and balanced, would be emotional and psychological dysfunction. The social and technological transformations he imaged of the twentieth century were not aberrations but, rather, profound and prophetic. He was astutely aware of the assimilationist attempts of a colonial state to pervert and derail Maori selfdetermination.

Ngata set about identifying the vital nutrients required to effect optimal growth for the child. By this he meant attaining the skill, abilities and education needed to foster a better life that would in turn enrich her vitality and potential: Ko to ringa ki nga rakau a te pakeha hei ara mo to tinana, ‘your hands mastering the arts of the Western world as sustenance for your body’. He had no hesitation in embracing Western (pakeha) thinking, but saw technology and education as essential tools for Maori to develop, integrate and adapt as they participated in the modem world.

As did Maori leaders of his time, Ngata believed in taking advantage of the positive aspects of Western culture to further advance Maori aspirations and selfdetermination. Education was seen as the primary pathway to foster greater Maori participation in technological, scientific and professional careers. It provided the means by which Maori could rise above impending economic and social hardships. Education was ingrained into the Maori psyche and even today remains a strong testimony to Ngata’s vision and legacy.

Ngata advised the young girl that she should seek added strength from the wisdom and teachings of her ancestors: Ko to ngakau ki nga taonga a o tipuna Maori hei tikitiki mo to mahuna, ‘your heart always holding to the treasures of your ancestors as a plume for your head’. Such teachings would enhance her sense of pride and belonging. Embedded in this composition was not just ‘her-story’ paramount for optimal growth and balance, but the central premise upon which all Maori understanding was based. Reference to the head plume (tikitiki mo to mahuna) was significant as this represents the most sacred zone, the top of the head, to be protected and respected. Without understanding and access to knowledge all hope, reason and meaning, it was believed, would be lost forever.

Ngata emphasised the need for Maori to know their genealogy (whakapapa) especially given the advent of changing lifestyles, values and changes in family relationships. He affirmed his own faith in future generations by having a strong belief in his calling and love for God. His powerful legacy was his visionary ability to transcend boundaries and raise the profile of Maori under the colonial rule of Britain. But perhaps his greatest legacy was his determination to see that the hearts, minds and spirits of future generations of young Maori should never be beguiled by Western pressures that separated them from their true sense of self.

Ngata continued and emphasised the spiritual dimension, the importance of faith, testimony and love for all things created by God. The spiritual realm required a constant, daily nourishment and particularly so given the great challenges faced in a new world intent on its own advancement to reshape traditional paradigms: A ko to wairua ki te Atua nana nei nga mea katoa, ‘your spirit is given to God the Creator of all things’. The need to appreciate the limitations of the corporeal world whilst protecting the spirit was paramount. Ngata would have presumed the existence of ‘the fighting warrior spirit’ within the child, but understood this could be adequately transformed into something more positive and something more productive with faith, guidance and love.

Ngata’s faith in the young child revealed his desire to see Maori succeed at all levels in society. This, his great vision, was taken up with considerable urgency especially after his death in 1950. Maori have been central in some of New Zealand’s greatest achievements. Their vibrant spirit has been transformed into success on and off the sports field with the All Blacks and their performance of the traditional Maori haka before international test matches; the Team New Zealand’s acknowledgement of traditional Maori blessings before their defence of the America’s Cup 2000 campaign; and the singing of the New Zealand national anthem in both Maori and English. In the business world, as in trade and also in politics, Maori have led the way in innovation, resource management and workforce developments. Maori companies have also been instrumental in New Zealand’s domestic scene with substantial capital investments in fisheries, land development, property, health care services and, certainly, within the entertainment industry. Here, Ngata’s whakatauaki alludes to more than the young child’s plight, referring to the confidence of Maori to excel in all sectors of Aotearoa New Zealand society.

What he expressed was, in essence, a question of how these dimensions — education, identity and spirituality — could be effectively integrated and embedded into the authentic self of Maori given the difficulties and co...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Dedication Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures and Music Examples
• List of Contributors
• Introduction
• 1 Te Kaha o te Waiata — The Power of Music: Maori Oral Traditions illustrated by E Tipu e Rea
• 2 From Here into Eternity: Power and Transcendence in Australian Aboriginal Music
• 3 Sacred and Profane: Music in Korean Shaman Rituals
• 4 Maasai Musics, Rituals and Identities
• 5 Appeasing the Spirits: Music, Possession, Divination and Healing in Busoga, Eastern Uganda
• 6 Chasing Off God: Spirit Possession in a Sharing Society
• 7 Sounding the Sacred: Music as Sacred Site (the Search for a Universal Sacred Music)
• 8 Emerging Amazonian Peoples: Myth-chants
• 9 Structure into Practice: A Theory of Inuit Music
• 10 The Music of the Mescalero Apache Girls’ Puberty Ceremony
• Recordings
• CD Information
• Index