He aha te koha, te takoha rānei?
Nā Joe Malcolm nō Te Arawa
He nui ngā momo koha kei a tātau te iwi Māori. Ko te koha e tino mōhio nuitia ana e tātau i te rā nei, ko te whakaaro moni ka whiua, ka kōkuhutia rānei ki te marae i nga wā e hui ai te tangata ki reira. Ka kohikohia he hereni e te hunga whakaeke ki te papa marae, kātahi ka tukuna ki te tangata whakahaere o te marae, ki tētahi rānei o te wharemate pēnā he tangihanga. Ko ngā kohi nei nā, ka kīia he koha. Kāti, kei a au kei a Te Arawa, he kohi anō te kohi, he koha anō te koha.
Ko ēnei ka whiua ki te marae he kohi kē; ka kore, he whakaaro, he maungaringa rānei. I runga i te tikanga, ka whiua he moni ki te marae, me whakahokia anō a tōna wā. Nā reira, e toru ngā kōrero mō te moni whiu ki te marae: ko te kohi ka tahi, ko te whakaaro ka rua, ko te maungaringa ka toru; ehara kau i te koha, ki a Te Arawa rā tēnei.
Ko te kaupapatanga mai o te kohi, he aroha nā te manuhiri ki ngā raruraru o te marae. I mua hoki, he tōtō kai kē te maunga atu: he rīwai, he ika, he kūmara, he tuna, he pipi, he kiore, he mātaitai, he manu huahua, he aha ake, he aha ake. Ka mauria atu ki runga i te marae, ki mua tonu i te aroaro o te tangata, ka waiho.
Nō te rā nei, kua kore ērā āhuatanga. Ka tuku kē ko te moni a te Pākehā hei patu i ngā taumahatanga o te marae. Koira, ka kohikohia he moni hei whakarite atu, ka kīia he kohi.
Waiho ko te pūtake ake o te koha, he aroha. He aroha ki te tangata. Kāre he tikanga o te take e whakahuatia ai te koha. Nā reira, ka hua ake i roto i ngā āhuatanga huhua noa atu. Kei pēnei tātau ko tātau anake ko te iwi Māori kei te whai i tēnei tikanga i te koha. Ahakoa Māori, ahakoa Pākehā, Hainamana atu, aha ake rānei, he pā katoa ki tēnei tikanga.
Kāti, me tīmata tonu rā ki te iwi Māori me āna koha ki te motu. E takoto mai rā ngā whenua i tukuna ai ki te Kāwanatanga hei taonga mo katoa, kāore mo te iwi kotahi. Kei a Ngāti Tūwharetoa tāna kōrero mō te tukunga o ōna whenua me ngā maunga o Tongariro, o Ruapehu, o Ngauruhoe. I tukuna ai aua taonga rā, he koha mō ngā iwi katoa o te motu o Aotearoa, kāore he kōwaetanga. Nā te aha koia i tukuna ai? Nā te aroha o Te Heuheu Horonuku ki te motu. Kua tukuna, kāore he hokinga mai. Ko te koha tēnei.
He nui ngā kōrero a ō tatau tūpuna mō ngā hunga kua tata ki te mate, nā te māuiui, he mea āki rānei ki te parāoa, he aha rānei. Kua mōhio kua tata ki te hemo kua hanga waiata taua hunga hei takoha māna ki te iwi, e waiatangia tonutia i te rā nei. Nō te rau tau mahue ake nei, ka mōhio a Te Manihera, he mihingare nō Ngāti Ruanui, kua tata ia ki te mate, he mea ākina ki te patu, ka hangaia e ia tana waiata.
Kei a koe anō te tinana i mau ai
Ka tae te wairua, ka hoki au ki te iwi e -i.
He koha anō rā tēnei. Arā noa atu, arā noa atu ngā momo koha a tātau a te Māori. Tikina ki hea, ki hea, ka kitea.
Kātahi ka rewa te ope a Tūmatauenga i Te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao i te 1939 ki 1945 i pakanga ai ki ngā iwi o Tiamani i tāwāhi; hāunga ērā o nga pakanga o te ao. Te haerenga atu, kore tonu i mōhio ae rānei ka hoki mai ki te hau kāinga, ka pēhea rānei. Engari me te kaha mahara anō kua taka atu ki raro i ngā mana o Tūmatauenga mō te oti tonu atu tērā. Heoi, ka whakamomori ō tātau karanga maha ki te mau i ngā rākau riri a te Pākehā me kore e waimarie te puta; te mutunga iho, ko ngā mea i ora ake, ko ngā mea i mate i te mura o te ahi. Koirā anō rā te whakarite mō rātau i aituā atu ki reira: i tukuna rātau i ō rātau tinana i runga i te aroha, hei takoha ki te ao, ā, ki a ngāi tātau te hunga ora, e ora nei tātau.
Kia whakarāpopotongia ēnei kōrero, kei a au kei a Te Arawa, ko te tikanga o te kohi, he whakaaro ki ngā taumahatanga o te hui; engari, he wā tōna kua hoki mai aua whakaaro rā. Arā, he moni ka tukuna mō te wā noa iho. Ka āhua rite ki te tiki moni i te pēke, heoi anō te rerekētanga, kāre he utu o te itareti.
Waiho rā ko te koha, he taonga ka tukuna mō ake tonu atu; kāre he hokinga mai o te mea i tukuna atu rā. Ka mutu, e whai ana tēnei tikanga i tā te Māori, mai iho, me tana kaupapa mō te aroha. Tāpirihia atu ki tā Te Paipera i tohutohungia ai, mō ngā taonga e toru rā - ko te whakapono, ko te tūmanako, me te aroha; engari ko te mea nui o rātau ko te aroha. Mā konei rā e pupū ake ai te koha, mā te aroha.