Me in My Environment Concept d) Kaitiakitanga – respecting all that is around us
The root of the word kaitiakitanga is tiaki: to look after.
A kaitiaki looks after something or someone and kaitiakitanga is the practice of looking after something or someone. Kaitiakitanga rests in the spiritual realm. Thus, atua like Tāne and Hinewao are the kaitiaki of the forest realms, Tangaroa and Hinemoana have this role in the oceans, and so on. A kaitiaki may also be a spiritual guardian who protects a sacred place, or looks out for people, and can bring warning of impending danger. This kaitiaki may appear as an animal, like a ruru (morepork), a pīwaiwaka (fantail) or a tuna (eel), or it might take the form of a taniwha.
People also have responsibilities to look after things. People can have an active role, as tangata tiaki, to support kaitiakitanga, while still honouring the spiritual kaitiaki of a place.
In many cases taking responsibility for a particular place or resource is a specific and special role which is handed down from one generation to another and carried by a particular person, whānau, hapū or iwi. This concept of kaitiakitanga is reflected in laws such as the Resource Management Act, indicating its significance within current resource management practice.
Māori have developed tikanga (reliable and appropriate ways of doing things) that uphold kaitiakitanga and ensure that limited resources are cared for and shared. We can all follow correct practices and act consciously and carefully to look after the environment and those around us, while respecting the mana of tangata whenua and the spiritual kaitiaki within their roles.
One practice which contributes to maintaining the balance between people and resources is toha kai. This is the sharing of an abundant harvest or large catch, so that all will be eaten and none wasted. For instance, if someone drags a net and then shares what they catch, those who receive fish will not have to go fishing themselves. This practice also ensures that older, younger and less mobile people in the community are looked after.
The practice of rāhui is a ban or restriction (temporary or permanent), placed on the harvest or use of a particular place or resource. Often it applies to shellfish or fish, or to forest resources, but it might also be used to leave certain gardening lands fallow. The purpose of the rāhui may be to allow the resource to recover, or to protect people. Another reason is to save resources for a special purpose (e.g. some rivers might only be harvested for eels to offer to special guests, trees from a certain place might not be logged, but left to provide for future generations’ needs, or the use of tōtara might be allowed for carving but not as firewood).
These practices of toha kai and rāhui reflect a desire to live within the limits of the resources around us and to maintain a sustainable harvest. Collectively, these kinds of practices were used to carry out customary management. While different laws have now been imposed on the management of resources, some wildlife are still managed entirely by Māori according to customary tikanga, such as the harvest of tītī (sooty shearwaters) from the islands adjacent to Rakiura (Stewart Island).
Kaitiaki look after the physical and spiritual aspects of the natural world.
This means that the mauri (the life force or essence) of everything which makes up the environment is respected and protected.
Cleve Barlow (Ngā Puhi) describes mauri as a special power which “makes it possible for everything to move and live in accordance with the conditions and limits of its existence. Everything has a mauri, including people, fish, animals, birds, forests, land, seas and rivers. The mauri is that power which permits these living things to exist within their own realm and sphere.” – Cleve Barlow 1991: Tikanga Whakaaro. Key Concepts in Māori Culture, Oxford University Press Auckland
In the forest, each bird within each species has its own mauri or life force. Each insect within each species has its own mauri. Each tree as an individual tree and then collectively as a species has mauri. The bush or forest as a whole has a mauri comprising the collective mauri of all that is living within it.
If the mauri of a forest is in good condition, birds will want to live there and the people around that area will benefit from the healthy, vibrant forest and be able to feed themselves from it. This also allows them to manaaki manuhiri, to care for their visitors in the correct and appropriate manner. However, if the mauri of a forest were weakened or in poor condition, so too would the people be weakened. They would not eat well or feed their guests well and the mana (esteem) of the tribe would diminish.
The spiritual kaitiaki as guardians of a bush area, take care of it, and ensure that it is healthy and its mauri is strong. Our actions can also help to enhance the wellbeing of the forest. We can commit to care for it physically (for example by fencing areas to protect them from grazing animals), and we can use practices such as karakia to combine and align our creative energies with those of other forces around us. A mauri stone may be implanted in an area of bush or garden, to hold the spiritual energies of karakia that enhance growth, health and replenishment.
Looking after the mauri involves observing the difference between tapu and noa. Tapu and noa are central concepts in Māori spirituality which are carried through into everyday life. Things which are tapu are set aside or sacred and should not be mixed with things which are noa and more freely accessed. There are many tikanga (correct practices), which aim to respect this difference between tapu and noa. For example, certain tapu water sources are used for ritual purposes and not mixed with water for everyday use which is noa. Things associated with the body are tapu and are kept separate from kai (food) which is noa.
For Māori, observing these practices to respect tapu and noa is part of maintaining harmonious relationships between people and the natural world and looking after the mauri. All of these aspects combined reflect our interconnectedness with our environment and our need to adopt and honour our responsibilities as kaitiaki of that environment.