title: Upoko Tapu, Upoko Whakakapowai, Upoko Hokona

authors: Gabel, Robert Rutene Whakaangi

subjects: Ngāpuhi

abstract: Ngāpuhi, a confederation of Māori iwi (tribes) from Te Tai Tokerau, the northern region of Aotearoa, is the largest iwi of New Zealand. They were one of the first iwi to come into contact with Europeans in the early 19th century. During this period of contact, particularly between the years 1820 – 1831, Ngāpuhi had a devastating impact on the history of Māori, as they amassed a fighting force of some two thousand warriors and acquired the use of European firearms. Ngāpuhi then circumnavigated the North Island, waging war on coastal and inland tribes with the purpose of avenging past defeats and losses suffered at the hands of their traditional enemies. This objective was ultimately achieved, but this period of war also saw the emergence of another key event in Māori history, the beginning of the trade in what we now call toi moko, which were used to trade with Europeans for muskets. 

Given that Māori have always regarded the head as the most tapu part of the human anatomy, this thesis investigates and explores what effect or influence tikanga and tapu had on this trade. It further studies some of the rationales which allowed Ngāpuhi to override that sacred tradition and move into the trade of toi moko. This thesis argues that Ngāpuhi did not desecrate tapu in the selling and trading of toi moko but took advantage of another long-standing tradition that the tapu of the vanquished ceased to exist upon his death. Lastly, it argues that the trade in toi moko was necessary to ensure the safety and continuity of the Ngāpuhi iwi.

text: Upoko Tapu, Upoko Whakakapowai, Upoko Hokona Ngāpuhi, a confederation of Māori iwi (tribes) from Te Tai Tokerau, the northern region of Aotearoa, is the largest iwi of New Zealand. They were one of the first iwi to come into contact with Europeans in the early 19th century. During this period of contact, particularly between the years 1820 – 1831, Ngāpuhi had a devastating impact on the history of Māori, as they amassed a fighting force of some two thousand warriors and acquired the use of European firearms. Ngāpuhi then circumnavigated the North Island, waging war on coastal and inland tribes with the purpose of avenging past defeats and losses suffered at the hands of their traditional enemies. This objective was ultimately achieved, but this period of war also saw the emergence of another key event in Māori history, the beginning of the trade in what we now call toi moko, which were used to trade with Europeans for muskets. 

Given that Māori have always regarded the head as the most tapu part of the human anatomy, this thesis investigates and explores what effect or influence tikanga and tapu had on this trade. It further studies some of the rationales which allowed Ngāpuhi to override that sacred tradition and move into the trade of toi moko. This thesis argues that Ngāpuhi did not desecrate tapu in the selling and trading of toi moko but took advantage of another long-standing tradition that the tapu of the vanquished ceased to exist upon his death. Lastly, it argues that the trade in toi moko was necessary to ensure the safety and continuity of the Ngāpuhi iwi.

year: 2012

title: The relevance of discourse analysis to the teaching and learning of te reo Māori: A text-centred example

authors: Greensill, Hine-iti-moana

subjects: Māori language

abstract: In this paper, I analyse a single text written in te reo Māori in terms of two different approaches derived from discourse analysis (discourse macro-patterning and discourse relations and their signalling) in order to demonstrate the importance of deriving a discourse-centred methodology for teaching learners of Māori what is involved in interpreting and creating coherent discourses.

text: The relevance of discourse analysis to the teaching and learning of te reo Māori: A text-centred example In this paper, I analyse a single text written in te reo Māori in terms of two different approaches derived from discourse analysis (discourse macro-patterning and discourse relations and their signalling) in order to demonstrate the importance of deriving a discourse-centred methodology for teaching learners of Māori what is involved in interpreting and creating coherent discourses.

year: 2007

title: The Taupō eruption sequence of AD 232 +- 10 in Aotearoa New Zealand: a retrospection

authors: Lowe, David J.

subjects: Taupō eruption, Taupō supervolcano, eruption Y, non-welded ignimbrite, low-aspect ratio ignimbrite, inverse volcano, pyroclastic flow, density current, plinian, phreatoplinian, radiocarbon wiggle-matching, breakout flood, rhyolite, tephrochronology, tephra, Vitrands, Pumice Soils, volcanic hazard, Taupō Volcanic Zone, gullying, cobalt deficiency, plantation forestry

abstract: The Taupō eruption, also known as eruption Y, occurred in late summer to early autumn (typically late March to early April) in AD 232 +- 10 yr at Taupō volcano, an ‘inverse’ caldera volcano underlying Lake Taupō in the central Taupō Volcanic Zone, North Island, Aotearoa New Zealand. The complex rhyolitic eruption, the most powerful eruption globally in the last 5000 years, lasted between several days and several weeks and generated five markedly contrasting pyroclastic fall deposits (units Y1 to Y5) followed by the extremely violent emplacement of a low-aspect-ratio ignimbrite (unit Y6). The fall deposits include three phreatomagmatic units, Y1, Y3, and Y4, the latter two being the products of archetypal phreatoplinian events; and two magmatic units, Y2 and Y5, the latter being the product of an exceptionally powerful plinian (previously described as ‘ultraplinian’) event with an extreme magma discharge rate around 108 to 1010 kg s-1. The pyroclastic fall-generating eruptions were followed by the climactic emplacement of the entirely nonwelded Taupō ignimbrite (Y6). It was generated by the catastrophic collapse of the 35 to 40-km high plinian eruption column (Y5) that produced a very-fast-moving (600 to 900 km h-1), hot (up to 500 deg C) pyroclastic flow (density current) that covered about 20,000 km2 of central North Island over a near-circular area ~160 km in diameter, centred on Lake Taupō, in fewer than about ten to 15 minutes. This violent ground-hugging pyroclastic flow generated its own air lubrication, forming a near-frictionless basal region, and the resultant highly fluidised ignimbrite was spread as a near-continuous but thin sheet over the entire landscape, both infilling valleys and mantling ridges. Caldera collapse formed a new basin in the older Ōruanui caldera in Lake Taupo. The pressure-wave arising from the plinian-column collapse probably generated a global volcano-meteorological tsunami. Studied intensely by extraordinary volcanologists Colin Wilson and George Walker, and others, the exceptionally well-preserved and readily-accessible Taupō eruptives provide a one-in-a-hundred classic sequence that is arguably the most informative in the global world of volcanology with respect to explosive rhyolitic eruptions and their products. The total volume of the Taupō eruptives amounts to ~35 km3 as magma, equivalent to ~105 km3 of bulk (loose) pyroclastic material, of which the Taupō ignimbrite comprises ~30 km3. The impacts and landscape response of the eruption were profound, spatially extensive, and enduring, and the young glassy soils (Vitrands in Soil Taxonomy, Pumice Soils in the New Zealand Soil Classification) developed in the silica-rich pumiceous deposits, although well suited to plantation forestry (especially exotic Pinus radiata), pose unique problems for agriculture and other land uses, including a high susceptibility to gully erosion and an inherent deficiency in cobalt and other trace elements, and require special management.

text: The Taupō eruption sequence of AD 232 +- 10 in Aotearoa New Zealand: a retrospection The Taupō eruption, also known as eruption Y, occurred in late summer to early autumn (typically late March to early April) in AD 232 +- 10 yr at Taupō volcano, an ‘inverse’ caldera volcano underlying Lake Taupō in the central Taupō Volcanic Zone, North Island, Aotearoa New Zealand. The complex rhyolitic eruption, the most powerful eruption globally in the last 5000 years, lasted between several days and several weeks and generated five markedly contrasting pyroclastic fall deposits (units Y1 to Y5) followed by the extremely violent emplacement of a low-aspect-ratio ignimbrite (unit Y6). The fall deposits include three phreatomagmatic units, Y1, Y3, and Y4, the latter two being the products of archetypal phreatoplinian events; and two magmatic units, Y2 and Y5, the latter being the product of an exceptionally powerful plinian (previously described as ‘ultraplinian’) event with an extreme magma discharge rate around 108 to 1010 kg s-1. The pyroclastic fall-generating eruptions were followed by the climactic emplacement of the entirely nonwelded Taupō ignimbrite (Y6). It was generated by the catastrophic collapse of the 35 to 40-km high plinian eruption column (Y5) that produced a very-fast-moving (600 to 900 km h-1), hot (up to 500 deg C) pyroclastic flow (density current) that covered about 20,000 km2 of central North Island over a near-circular area ~160 km in diameter, centred on Lake Taupō, in fewer than about ten to 15 minutes. This violent ground-hugging pyroclastic flow generated its own air lubrication, forming a near-frictionless basal region, and the resultant highly fluidised ignimbrite was spread as a near-continuous but thin sheet over the entire landscape, both infilling valleys and mantling ridges. Caldera collapse formed a new basin in the older Ōruanui caldera in Lake Taupo. The pressure-wave arising from the plinian-column collapse probably generated a global volcano-meteorological tsunami. Studied intensely by extraordinary volcanologists Colin Wilson and George Walker, and others, the exceptionally well-preserved and readily-accessible Taupō eruptives provide a one-in-a-hundred classic sequence that is arguably the most informative in the global world of volcanology with respect to explosive rhyolitic eruptions and their products. The total volume of the Taupō eruptives amounts to ~35 km3 as magma, equivalent to ~105 km3 of bulk (loose) pyroclastic material, of which the Taupō ignimbrite comprises ~30 km3. The impacts and landscape response of the eruption were profound, spatially extensive, and enduring, and the young glassy soils (Vitrands in Soil Taxonomy, Pumice Soils in the New Zealand Soil Classification) developed in the silica-rich pumiceous deposits, although well suited to plantation forestry (especially exotic Pinus radiata), pose unique problems for agriculture and other land uses, including a high susceptibility to gully erosion and an inherent deficiency in cobalt and other trace elements, and require special management.

year: 2021-02-25