December 01, 2016
Marae on song for revival
A Ngati Maniapoto man is calling for a rethink of tikanga to meet modern needs.
Tiriana Anderson is heading into masters research at Waikato University on Maori tradition on the marae and how colonisation has affected tikanga,
His studies are informed by his efforts with his father to revitalise his own marae in Te Kuiti.
This has included monthly wananga to teach whaikorero, karanga, waiata and moteatea and the other knowledge that allows people to take an active part in marae life.
He says some people act as if tikanga was fixed in time.
"It should be a living thing on our marae, not stagnant. We should be developing our tikanga because if somethng isn't developing and changing it is dead, so if we don't continue to develop and adapt our tikanga to our way of life, it could well possibly die," Mr Anderson says.
He says a balance in merging the modern world with marae in ways pakeke and kaumatua are happy with, while ensuring younger people are capable of taking on the tasks when their time comes.
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