Whakapapa
The past is the path to the future.
One of the deepest convictions within the Maori world is the importance of Whakapapa. It is the genesis - the core, the nature, the history and the origins of a people.
For none can move forward not knowing where they come from. Without a starting point, there is no direction. Whakapapa is not only our past. It is the preciousness of who we are today and the promise of who we can become.
“I am a firm believer that Whakapapa sows the seeds of potential,” says environmental and assets manager, Grace Neilson. “If we looked into our Whakapapa we wouldn’t struggle to find a career because we would know what our strengths are. Look at your old people. What did they do? Their skills will pump through your blood naturally. They pass it on. It’s very simple.”
Often translated as genealogy, the true meaning of Whakapapa reaches far beyond. It is a family tree that branches out into every genus of creation - land, sea, flora and fauna, sky, stars, the twists and turns of history, mankind, ancestors, the unborn generations. Whakapapa connects everything. It is the atlas to all existence.
“Through Whakapapa you can go way, way back to the very beginning, to the land, to ancestors,” says head carver, James Rickard. “They, too, are connected to others and through them you become connected to everything. When that happens you begin to see how little you are and you learn humility.”
Just as one person descends from a tribe, a tribe descends from the land. The land is Papatuanuku, Mother Earth, and she has many children. “When we take trees for carving we give thanks because not only is that tree a child of this earth, it is also your cousin because we are all children here.
We are all part of existence,” says master carver, Clive Fugill. “So Whakapapa teaches respect for who you are, what you are and what is around you.”
Centuries of history and knowledge are held within Whakapapa and as an oral culture, systems were developed to ensure information was retained. Carving, for example, is grounded in preserving Whakapapa but there were other ways.
“The old women would sing lullabies to children which contained huge amounts of information,” says Clive. “It was very old knowledge and very long but they would sing every morning and every night. Sooner or later that child began humming, began singing, began learning and the knowledge was passed on.”
Like knowledge, Whakapapa can never be confined to a single definition. It is all things to many. It is the beginning, the middle and the end. “To me, Whakapapa is land. As a human being, the land gives you life and it was here before you,” says Grace Neilson. “When we die we go back to Papatuanuku. We return to the earth, to the land. We return to our very beginning.”
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