Whakapapa is present all around us, within the birds, fish, animals, trees and people included (Barlow 1991:173). Whakapapa is the concept of ordering relationships and about connecting things together (Carter 2016). As whakapapa is present in everything, whakapapa within beings and objects will intertwine with each other and allow connection. This tells is, that not alone is whakapapa is seen in human relationships, but it also extends beyond that of human relationships (Carter 2016). Whakapapa is an important concept of knowledge, and great efforts are done to preserve this because knowing about the identity of your past is important within Māori society as it helps to connect you to past ancestors (Barlow 1991:174). Whakapapa is passed on through generations as one should know who their ancestors were. By knowing this, the children from the next generation will develop pride and a sense of belonging (Barlow 1991:174). Whakapapa is important in understanding Māori society as it is through whakapapa that one knows who they are and where they stand (Walker 2014). An example of whakapapa, in showing why it is important in understanding Māori society is seen through the moving of Māori off their land by governments to build other facilities for other uses (Walker 2014). The moving of Māori has led to many being confused as the culture concept of whakapapa has been taken …show more content…
Rāhui is a form of a tapu (sacred) restricting which is imposed on many things such as rivers, oceans, gardens and many more and it is placed by a person with mana (Barlow 1991:105). Rāhui is imposed for many different purposes and it restricts the use for unauthorised people (Barlow 1991:105). If an unauthorised person enters or uses the place that the rāhui is imposed under, is to trample on the mana of the chief that has placed the rāhui. Whereupon, he would use every force to punish the offender for doing this (Ka’ai 2004:85). There are many different sizes of rāhui that are imposed on particular places. A rāhui may embrace an extensive area or it might even be applied to a more confined space, for example a particular part of a coast where a drowning occurred (Mead 2003:193). There are many reasons on why a rāhui is placed. One of the main reasons that a rāhui is instituted on land is mainly to do with a death of a person that is close within the whanau (family), hapu (sub-tribe) or iwi (tribe). The rāhui is placed down until it is lifted. By putting protection on the area that the death occurred, is to show respect to the person that has died. This is important in understanding Māori society, as by putting rāhui on the place that the death occurred, helps us to understand that death is an important aspect in Māori society and restriction is put down to admire the death of the person (Barlow