Unit IV "OCEANIA"
LESSON
26 -
Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Rarotonga
Topic:
Music and dance from other islands of East Polynesia: Maori people of Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Rarotonga (Cook Islands)
Audio/Video Examples:
Objectives:
At the end of this lesson the student will be able to:
(1)
The geographic, archaeological, historical, and mythological foundations for
Maori music in Aotearoa (New Zealand):
The nations and cultures that make up East Polynesia are many, consisting of thousands of islands. While Hawai'i (state of Hawaii) embodies the northernmost part of the Polynesian triangle, Aotearoa (New Zealand) is at the southwesternmost corner. In between these points and Rapa Nui (Easter Island) at the southeasternmost corner lie the Society Islands, French Polynesia, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, and thousands more. This lesson will look at several music and dance genres in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Rarotonga (Cook Islands, named after Captain James Cook who "discovered" them), two areas within the southern part of East Polynesia.
The Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, meaning "Land of the Long White Cloud." Before Western contact, the Maori inhabited regions of both the North Island and South Island of New Zealand. Today, the major populations live in the North Island, especially in the region of Rotorua where there is major thermal activity. This was a land that was and is still sacred to the Maori, and today the Maori run several parks where the lands are preserved and their culture is taught to tourists. These sites include museums, guided tours, culture shows, typical dinners, and even lessons on how to learn traditional Maori arts and crafts. Maori music of Aotearoa has been studied in some depth by scholars at the Archive of Maori and Pacific Music in Auckland, New Zealand.
(2) the contexts of and cultural significance for Maori music in Aotearoa
The Polynesians who inhabit both Aotearoa and Rarotonga are known as Maori. Although they share some cultural characteristics, such as a linguistic similarity, there are vast musical and dance differences. The Maori of Aotearoa, for example, possess several flutes and trumpets, but no slit drums or skin drums; the Maori of Rarotonga, on the other hand, do not use flutes (except for a nose flute that is nearly identical to the nose flute from Hawai'i), but have a wide array of slit drums and skin drums. In addition, the group singing styles of Rarotonga feature more multipart textures than in Aotearoa. Moreover, group dancing styles in Rarotonga parallel Rarotongan group singing in that there is extravagant body movement, especially among the women; among the Maori of Aotearoa, however, dance body movement is less elaborate than among the Maori of Rarotonga.
(3) Several flute types (koauau, torino, and nguru) of the Maori people from Aotearoa:
A large number
of young Maori strive to learn about and thus continue their culture through
music and dance performances. Some of the musical instrument traditions have
been nearly lost, but are being revived through the work of Maori and non-Maori
academics, the latter including ethnomusicologist Mervyn McLean in Auckland.
Some of the most common musical instruments among the Maori in present-day New
Zealand
were various types of flutes, which you see pictured above-right (upper flute
is koauau; middle flute is torino; lower flute is nguru)
and in the two photographs to your right.
The koauau (also pu koauau) is unique among flute types in Polynesia because it is ductless and without a notch. As such, the flutist must make a lip embouchure as if playing the Middle Eastern nay. As seen in this photograph, this embouchure is like a pucker when you whistle through your lips. Koauau flutes have four finger holes (sometimes only three) and are usually beautifully carved. Because of their beauty, they are sold as expensive art objects rather than musical instruments. The koauau is usually played to accompany a single singer, as a sound reinforcement to either a male or female voice. PLAY IV-25.audio: Maori koauau flute from Aotearoa.
Like
the koauau, the torino (also pu torino) is also elaborately
carved and is ductless. Unlike the koauau, however, it is longer
and has four finger holes that are clustered in the middle of the flute
like a four-leaf clover. Very little is known about this flute, even among
the present Maori, because many of the traditions have been lost. Young
Maori scholars and performers, however, are attempting to recreate the music
of their past by playing reproductions based on museum pieces. Thus, while
the re-creations are beautiful works of visual art, only guesswork determines
how they were played. Because all the finger holes are clustered together,
very few variations of pitch are possible on this instrument, as you can
hear in the following audio example. PLAY
IV-26.audio: Maori torino flute from Aotearoa.
The traditional use of the nguru flute is unknown because the instrument has been extinct for a long time. Scholars believe it is a nose flute, although knowledge about its playing technique does not exist. Nguru flutes are found only as museum artifacts and as copies, and nobody seems to know how they were played. Mervyn McLean (1996:xx) calls the nguru a "warrior's whistle," and the beautifully carved modern nguru I photographed was not playable, neither by mouth nor nose. The instrument was made as a carving rather than a musical instrument.
(4) 
Several
trumpet types (putatara and pukaea) of the Maori people from Aotearoa:
Several trumpet type aerophones are also in use among the Maori, one in common use and the other revived; these are respectively the putatara conch shell trumpet and the pukaea, a wooden trumpet.
The putatara
is an end-blown conch shell trumpet, similar to others made of the triton
shell in Polynesia. The Maori instruments include a mouthpiece extension,
as seen in the right part of this picture (right). The putatara
is used for signaling and announcing. In the latter context, a musician
plays the putatara to announce the arrival of a visitor, as heard
in the following example. I recorded this at the beginning of a show at
the National Museum in Auckland, New Zealand, where several shows are performed
daily at the National Museum daily by Maori musicians. Between the second
and third blasts on the putatara you can hear one of the performers
stating the opening words of an announcement that visitors have arrived
(these visitors were those of us attending the show). PLAY
IV-27.audio: Maori putatara conch shell trumpet from Aotearoa.
The pukaea, a long end-blown trumpet made from wood, is also used for signaling and announcing. Although it is capable of several pitches like the European or American bugle, both the pukaea and putatara are usually played with single tones, like one blast of a fog horn. A good player of the pukaea, however, can produce several tones, much like the player of the Alpine horn in Europe. To do this the musician tightens his lips, uses more pressure, and obtains higher notes because of the overtone series (an acoustical principal that makes it possible to get many different pitches on an instrument without keys, fingerholes, or valve, like the bugle). This pukaea player demonstrated this instrument at the Maori cultural center and thermal park known as Whakarewarewa, after a staged presentation of music and dance. PLAY IV-28.audio: Maori pukaea long wooden trumpet from Aotearoa.
(5)
The welcoming song of the Maori people from Aotearoa:
The Maori welcoming dance is part of a required ceremony (powhiri) whenever a Maori village or a particular event has a visitor (or visitors). Among the Maori of Aotearoa, the welcoming ceremony originated as a means of inspecting the stranger, finding out his intentions, and deciding on whether or not he was friend or foe. It originally included a series of physical challenges (mock fights) meant to intimidate the visitor, followed by a welcoming war dance (peruperu) with weapons, also intended to intimidate.
The powhiri is still performed by the Maori of Aotearoa, except the context is usually tourism or celebrations of national identity. Several cities in New Zealand, namely Rotorua and Auckland, have museums, tourist centers, and hotels where Maori cultural shows are presented. The first part of these presentations is always a shortened form of a powhiri which features the welcoming war dance or peruperu. As you see in the video, many Maori men have facial tattoos, which add to their warrior-like character. The video example is a welcoming war song in which the men brandish their weapons and look fierce, while the women portray a more graceful demeanor. The musical form is a type of call and response. This was performed in Rotorua, New Zealand, at the Whakarewarewa center. PLAY IV-29.audio: Maori welcoming war song from Aotearoa.
(6) The
haka of the Maori people of Aotearoa: 
The
term "haka" originally
meant any kind of Maori dance, but today it refers to a "vigorous posture dance
performed by men to a shouted chorus" (Armstrong 1986:40). Women also participate
in haka dances, although their actions are not as extreme as those of
the men. The actions of the male dancers often include hissing sounds, attack
or defensive body postures, hand flutters, glaring eyes (pikari), grimaces
(whakapi), and occasional protrusions of the tongue (whatero).
While all of these actions are meant to intimidate the enemy, tongue protrusions are also found in the artwork depicting mythological creatures, and thus have a direct relevance to the past. Compare these two photographs that show protruding tongues from the past (artifact) and the present (dancer). All of the body and facial actions are in reality exaggerated gestures that interpret the poetry (text), which can be about many topics, from war, welcoming, farewell, to political commentary (Armstrong 1986:42).
The haka excerpt seen in the following video was performed in Rotorua, New Zealand, at Whakarewarewa. It is an example of a welcoming haka with a limited number of performers. Try to imagine over a hundred Maori men and women performing a haka; perhaps you would agree with the following account written in 1827 by Augustus Earle, an early visitor to Aotearoa: "I was astonished to find that their women mixed in the dance indiscriminately with the men and went through all those horrid gestures with seemingly as much pleasure as the warriors themselves" (Armstrong 1986:40—41). PLAY IV-30.audio: Maori welcoming haka.
(7)
The stick dance and the poi dance of the Maori people of Aotearoa:
The stick dance is performed by Maori men and women to the accompaniment of a lyrical song (waiata). It is unique to the Maori of Aotearoa, and its origins are shrouded in mystery and debate. Maori scholars agree that it is precolonial in its origin, although the waiata or songs which accompany the dances are very acculturated and Western sounding. This example is in 3/4 meter (like waltz time), and it features part singing similar to European church singing. Waiata songs are often accompanied by someone playing the guitar. PLAY IV-31.video: Maori stick dance from Aotearoa.
The poi dance is another activity that features waiata singing, usually accompanied by someone who plays the guitar as seen in this photograph. The poi dance includes several girls or women who, in each hand, twirl a ball (the poi) attached to a cord, bouncing them off their bodies. The movement techniques are unlike the arm movement or hand gesture techniques found among the dances in the rest of Polynesia, because the movements are simply used to swing the poi balls. In other words, the arm movements are not imitations of anything, and are not telling a story.
(8)
Percussion ensemble (pate, tokere, kahara, pa'u,
and pa'u mango) of the Maori of Rarotonga:
Rarotonga is the largest of the Cook Islands, and is the location of the capitol of that island nation. The word "Rarotonga" means "down south," referring to its geographic location as one of the southernmost of the Cook Islands. The Cook Islands as a nation is loosely administered by New Zealand, like a protectorate similar to the way Puerto Rico is administered by the United States. Its people are Maori, related to, but unique from, the Maori of Aotearoa.
Percussion ensembles are important forms of musical expression in the Cook Islands. They include two sizes of skin drums (pa'u and pa'u mango) and several sizes of slit drums (tokere, pate, and kahara). The major instruments of an ensemble are pictured here: two pa'u drums are in the lower left corner and one pa'u mango drum is above it; to the right are four pate slit drums. According to Cook Island and Tahitian mythology, the island of Rarotonga was favored by the gods as the place for exquisite dancing accompanied by slit drums. It is said that slit drums were invented there.
A slit drum (also called wooden drum and/or slit gong) is a struck idiophone which is usually fabricated from a hollowed log that is closed at both ends. As the photograph shows, slit drums come in several sizes and are characterized by a horizontal opening or slit nearly the entire length of the log. In Rarotonga the smallest of the slit drums is called tokere, the middle-sized instrument is the pate, and the largest is the kahara. Additional slit drums are pictured in the following photo essay: VIEW PHOTO ESSAY 26-1: Slit drums from the Cook Islands.
Now listen to and watch a Maori percussion ensemble perform during a floor show at the Club Raro in Rarotonga. PLAY IV-32.video: Maori percussion ensemble from Rarotonga.
(9) The
male and female dancing styles of the Maori people of Rarotonga:
The
Cook Islands' Maori, especially in Rarotonga, are known for their exuberant
and elaborate traditional dance styles. A very important characteristic, which
is generally found in East Polynesia (especially Hawai'i and Tahiti, but not
as much in Aotearoa), is the use of vigorous lower body movements, in addition
to the common arm and hand gestures of the women and the body slaps of the men.
These vigorous lower body movements are best understood when contrasted with
Tongan dancing, especially between the women dancers, whose lower torsos remain
somewhat rigid while dancing.
As in Tonga (especially with the lakalaka), women and men have their own ways of expressing themselves. This characteristic (i.e., that the women's and men's dancing styles are different), in fact, seems to be found throughout Polynesia. In Rarotonga, women rapidly sway their hips from one side to the other, an action that causes their grass skirts (see pictures of female dancers at immediate left and in upper left corner) to swish back and forth. The men, however, rapidly move their legs from bowed position to knock-kneed position, while keeping their feet on the ground. This causes their grass knee leggings (see right picture, and notice that each legging is like a little grass skirt) to rustle back and forth. In these photographs the male dancer is holding a coconut and is showing how it sprouts, while the female dancer is demonstrating typical dance costumes.
As you watch the following video excerpt (taken at the Club Raro floor show), try to make comparisons with dance styles in Aotearoa (see above), Hawai'i (see Lesson 24), and Tonga (see Lesson 21). PLAY IV-33.video: Maori dancing from Rarotonga.
(10) The antiphonal hymn singing style in the Cook Island Christian Church:
As in Tonga, many of the people of the Cook Islands are Christians who belong
to the Cook Islands Christian Church (begun by Methodist missionaries). They
are devout people who wear their most beautiful clothes when they attend church,
women often donning elaborate hats as seen in these photographs during and after
a Sunday morning church service. The church members also love to sing.
When I first
heard the congregational multipart hymn singing in the Cook Islands Christian
Church in Arorangi, Rarotonga, I was spellbound. I had heard Wesleyan Methodist
hymn singing in Tonga, and was equally amazed; but this was different. It was
freer, more spontaneous, and in six or eight parts. 
As
in Tonga, traditional multipart singing merged with Wesleyan hymn singing to
create something unique. What I heard was Rarotongan imeni (from the
word "hymn"), which is syncretized Christian hymn singing. How delighted I was
that the Maori of the Cook Islands (as elsewhere in parts of Polynesia) were
at least allowed by Christian missionaries to develop their own expressions
of Christian musical worship (so often traditional musical techniques are destroyed
by the missionization process).
As you listen to the following audio example of imeni singing, you will hear many parts (voice lines, like soprano, alto, tenor, bass, etc.) weaving in and out, sometimes imitating each other, other times droning or harmonizing. This music was vocally led by one or more of the singers in the congregation, who seemed to be perhaps self-designated song leaders––there was no conductor, no obvious eye contact, and no notated music. Listen for the particular individuals who dominated as song leaders; just as I thought the song was ending, someone with a strong voice would start again. PLAY IV-34.audio: Antiphonal hymn singing from the Cook Islands Christian Church in Arorangi, Rarotonga.
For learning and singing the traditional Methodist hymns, the Cook Islands Christian Church has developed an imeni notation based on solfeggio, or letters of the scale (see Lesson 2 for an explanation of solfeggio). This notation is obviously different than the cipher notation in Tonga (see Lesson 22), although both are a reaction against Western staff notation and are anattempt to use a notation that is more accessible to the common people of each culture. An example of imeni solfeggio notation for "The First Noel" can be seen in Photo Essay 26-2. VIEW PHOTO ESSAY 26-2: Imeni solfeggio notation from the Cook Islands Christian Church.