Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa: The Great Connector
Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa, “The Great Connector” of all Polynesia, linking the Pacific to Aotearoa. Our Pacific ancestors were unrivalled navigators who explored and extended the known bounds of the Pacific. Te Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa, the Pacific Moana, was one of the last areas of the earth to be explored and settled by humans. The early Pacific expansion took with it a meld of cultures and evolving languages.
Around the end of the first millennium Polynesian navigators, adventurers and explorers ventured east to what is now French Polynesia, before migrating to the Marquesas, Hawai’i, Rapa Nui/Easter Island and Tahiti, the far corners of the 'Polynesian triangle' before heading south to become the Māori population of Aotearoa. During this migrational period the Polynesian culture diversified, new Pacific dialects and cultural traditions began to emerge. In New Zealand, the Tangata Whenua of Aotearoa developed Te Reo Māori which bears many linguistic and traditional similarities to other oceanic cultures throughout Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa.
Around the end of the first millennium Polynesian navigators, adventurers and explorers ventured east to what is now French Polynesia, before migrating to the Marquesas, Hawai’i, Rapa Nui/Easter Island and Tahiti, the far corners of the 'Polynesian triangle' before heading south to become the Māori population of Aotearoa. During this migrational period the Polynesian culture diversified, new Pacific dialects and cultural traditions began to emerge. In New Zealand, the Tangata Whenua of Aotearoa developed Te Reo Māori which bears many linguistic and traditional similarities to other oceanic cultures throughout Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa.
One aspect of shared cultural similarity is the notion of the original homeland. In Te Reo Māori the famed ancestral homeland of Hawaiki is an oral tradition that has been handed down to generations of Māori.
“We came from Hawaiki-the-Great
From Hawaiki-the-Long, from Hawaiki-the-Distant.”
In ancient Tahiti the island of Raiatea was originally named Havai‘i in the ancient dialect. Below is an ancient chant from the Tahitian locality. It is obvious to see the linguistic similarity to Te Reo Māori with Havai‘i the homeland or birthplace of lands being similar to Hawaiki the ancestral homeland of all Māori. Also Fenua is phonetically identical to Whenua the Māori word for Land.
Havai‘i, fanaura'a fenua.
Havai‘i, the birthplace of lands.
Contemporary Hawai’ian also shows distinct similarity which is logical, given the migratory routes throughout the Polynesian triangle and Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa. The Hawaiian dialect has a glottal stop which represents the dropped k so that Hawaii should be written as Hawai'i, and when the k is restored for comparison with Te Reo Māori, Hawai'i becomes Hawaiki.
Gagana Sāmoa can also be linked to Hawaiki and Te Reo Māori. For example Gagana Sāmoa uses a glottal stop, which represents a dropped k; and s represents the h of other Polynesian dialects. Using this course of linguistic conversion to Te Reo Māori, Savaii in Western Samoa progressively becomes Savai'i, Savaiki, Havaiki, and finally Hawaiki.
In the Cook Islands we see further connections with Reo Māori Kuki ‘Āirani being the most similar Polynesian dialect to Te Reo Māori. In Cook Island traditions the ancestral homeland is referred to as Avaiki. In, Reo Māori Kuki ‘Āirani a glottal stop represents the dropped h, and v takes the place of the Maori w. With that said, the Cook Islands ancestors also came from a Hawaiki, which the local genealogies and traditional history locate as the Society Islands.
In conclusion, one thing is clear. That being, the connective role the Pacific Moana has played in the progression of Polynesian culture and its beautiful array of languages. From the ancestral homelands of the Pasifika peoples, the Pacific Moana has carried our culture, shared theology and of course languages.
So, Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori is not only a celebration of the Māori language but a shared celebration of all Polynesian dialects. The connections are too great, to deny our shared Polynesian heritage and uniqueness.
Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori.
