“I belong therefore I am”
Te ao hurihuri,
Is a world revolving
A world that moves forward,
To the place it comes from;
A wheel that turns on an axle
Of strength’
The New Zealand Maori does not accept the concept of a closed universe. Mouri society is a functional whole binding the sacred and secular worlds. In contrast, Westterners see the mind body and soul as functioning independently.
The axle of strength is is found in the Maori use of whakapapa (geneology). This is a means of affirming identity, linking the speaker with his hearers and with the past, so that it also becomes a statement of the meaning of history. The whakapapa tells the story of the speaker by saying whom he comes from, and at the same time enables his listeners to identify common ancestorsand tribal affiliations. Identity is found in belonging, whereas to a westerner may see identity in the persons individual thought.
When speaking of the past, the Mouri speaker may refer to nga wa o mua loosely but innacurately translated in days gone by’. But the word mua means in front for history is not behind, but in front, as if at his feet . ‘He sess his parents, grandparenta and forebers spread out before him and he participates in this ongoing process by his participation. This is cyclical process but only in terms of Te ao hurihuri . For it gathers the past and moves it forward in the growing community of the past present and future.
Metaphorically the future is behind him , it cannot be seen for it has not yet happened, perhaps why Maori relucant to plan ahead. . However the use of the tohunga matakite (the seer) indicates a future interest. “The universe is not static but is a stream of processes and events. The universe is a contuinuous process of continual creation.
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