Tekau mā whitu - Rātū 17 Hakihea - Whakapapa

Day 17 - Tuesday 17 December - Whakapapa

He kaupapa mō te rā

Whakapapa

Whakapapa is our ancestry and understanding our genealogy. The quest to discover our ancestry and build our family trees has had a recent renaissance due to the interconnectivity of the internet. The search to discover where we’ve come from speaks not just to our past, but helps us make sense of our present and our future. For Māori, whakapapa links people to all other living things from the beginning of creation to the present. Whakapapa includes connection to the land, the sky and the sea as well as to a long line of ancestors. It creates connection and belonging to people and to place including Māori identity.

Whakapapa sits firmly alongside pepeha which includes ancestral sayings and all the values we have covered thus far and to come. “Kia whakamuri te haere whakamua - I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past”. This whakataukī speaks to Māori perspectives of time, where the past, the present and the future are viewed as intertwined, and life as a continuous process. Whakapapa/pepeha are at the heart of our life’s hīkoi (journey).

He Karaipiture (Bible Reading)

Ruka/Luke 2:1-4

I aua rā ka whakatakotoria he tikanga e Hīhā Ākuhata kia tuhituhia te ao katoa. Ko te tuhituhinga tuatahi tēnei i meatia i te wā ko Kuirinia te kāwana o Hīria. Ā, ka haere ngā tāngata katoa kia tuhituhia, ia tangata, ia tangata, ki tōna ake pā.

I haere atu anō a Hōhepa i Karirī, i te pā, i Nahareta, ki Hūria, ki te pā o Rāwiri, ko Pēterehema te ingoa; nō te mea nō te whare ia, nō te kāwei o Rāwiri.

At that time Emperor Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Roman Empire. When this first census took place, Quirinius was the governor of Syria. Everyone, then, went to register himself, each to his own hometown.

Joseph went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to the town of Bethlehem in Judea, the birthplace of King David. Joseph went there because he was a descendant of David.

Whakarongo/Titiro Mai (Listen/Watch)

Ngā mihi mahana ki a Patricia (Patsy) Heperi mō tōu manaaki me aroha ki te kaupapa nei, ōu whakapapa. Warm thanks to Patsy for overcoming her nerves and contributing this lovely taonga of whakapapa at this time of Christ-mas.

Ngā mea waihanga (Create)

This tukutuku poutama panel represents the stairway to attaining knowledge, spiritual & physical growth, and one’s best achievements. Christians might say ‘Stairway to Heaven”.

He Whakaaroaro (Reflect)

Our God, creator of all living things is at the heart of our Christ-mas celebrations. In the Bible story both genealogy of the line of descendants, and a census connecting people to the land of their ancestors are important. The Māori way to whakapapa invites belonging and connection to the beginning of time, to the land, sea and sky, to all living creatures and to the importance of cultural identity. Such a broad and strong connection requires an equally strong response and this plays out in the care of the tāngata (people) and the whenua (land) and all of God’s creation. When we know where we belong, we do everything we can to care and support the present and plan and protect the future. Knowing where we’ve come from shapes how we want to live our faith-filled lives into the future.

Whakahokia mai (Respond)

Find out a new fact about an ancestor or descendant.

Karakia (Pray)

Kia tau ngā manaakitanga a te mea ngaro
ki runga ki tēnā, ki tēnā o tātou
Kia mahea te hua mākihikihi
kia toi te kupu, toi te mana, toi te aroha, toi te Reo Māori
kia tūturu, ka whakamaua kia tīna! Tīna!
Hui e, Tāiki e!

Let the strength and life force of our ancestors
Be with each and every one of us
Freeing our path from obstruction
So that our words, spiritual power, love, and language are upheld;
Permanently fixed, established and understood!
Forward together!

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