He manako te kōura i kore ai
I aha i noho taonga ai te kōura?
Ko Aotearoa anake te kāinga tūturu o te kōura wai māori (ko te kēwai anō tētahi o ōna ingoa). E rua ngā momo:
- Ko Paranephrops planifrons – kei Te Ika-a-Māui me Te Tai Poutini (arā, te tai hau-ā-uru o Te Waipounamu)
- Ko Paranephrops zealandicus – kei te taha rāwhiti me te taha tonga o Te Waipounamu.
Ko te kōura tētahi o ngā ika tuatahi, ngā ika taketake o Aotearoa. Nō tua whakarere ōna kāwai whakapapa. Nō te takiwā o te 109-60 miriona tau ki muri, ka wehe te kāwai whakaheke ki te kōura, me te kāwai whakaheke ki ōna whanaunga o Ahitereiria. I te mea he noho te kōura ki te wai māori anake, e tohu ana te kōura he wai māori e rere mutukore ana i Zealandia mai i te wā tonu i wehe mai ai tēnei whenua i Te Uri Māroa i te 60–80 miriona tau ki muri. Mō te whakatūturu i ngā kōrero mō te kunenga mai o Aotearoa, e rite ana te mana o te kōura ki te mana o te tuatara (ngāi Sphenodon), te wētā (ngāi Stenopelmatidae me ngāi Rhaphidophoridae) me te kiwi (ngāi Apteryx).
He tino kai te kōura ki ō tātou tūpuna, mātua rā ērā e noho tata ana ki ngā roto i te takiwā o Taupō me Rotorua i Te Ika-a-Māui. Inā te nui o te kōura ka hopukina e rātou, ka kainga, ka noho hoki hei rawa hokohoko. I ēnei rā, e kīia ana he taonga tēnei hanga, te kōura. Kei te rahi tonu te kōura i Rotoiti, i Rotomā, i Tarawera (i Te Moana-a-Toi) me Taupō (i te rohe o Waikato).
He kawenga nui tā te kōura i te pūnaha hauropi wai māori. He kai pai mā ētahi atu ika māori pēnei i te tuna (ngā momo Anguilla), i te kōkopu (Galaxias argenteus), i te īnanga (Galaxias maculatus), i te pōrohe (Retropinna retropinna), mā ētahi manu māori hoki pērā i te kawau (ngāi Phalacrocorax) ā, mā te tangata anō. He kai ota, he kai kiko te kōura, he kai toenga whakapopo anō. He tūranga nui tōna i tana kāinga noho, nā ana mahi konihi, tana wāwāhi i ngā tipu me tana ‘horoi’ haere i te parakiwai hungahunga kei te takere o te kōawa. Ā, he nui hoki te pānga o ēnei mahi ki ētahi atu hanga tuaiwi-kore pērā i te pepeke, i te mawhiti, i te kaiwhao me te noke. Waihoki, kei te kaha haere te tū o te kōura hei ‘momo tūtohu’, nā ana mahi nui i ngā māwhaiwhai kai o ngā pūnaha hauropi wai, tae atu ki tana noho mai hei waitohu, hei taonga tuku iho anō.
Noho ai te kōura ki hea? / He pēhea rawa tō tātou mōhio ki a ia?
He nui ngā kōrero kua tuhia i Aotearoa mō ngā āhuatanga hauropi o te kōura noho kōawa. Engari he iti ngā mahi rangahau i ngā kōura noho ki ngā wai rerekore pērā i te roto, i te hāpua me te repo. Nā te iti o ngā kōrero kua puta mō ērā o ngā kōura, uaua ana te tiaki me te whakataki a ngā iwi me ngā pūtahi pūtaiao kāwanatanga i ngā taupori kōura.
Ko tētahi take i iti ai ngā kōrero mō ngā kōura noho roto, ko te korenga o tētahi tikanga pai hei tīpako i a rātou. Heoi anō, kua tīmata ināianei te whakamahi i tētahi taputapu Māori tūturu mō te hopu kōura e kīia nei ko te tau kōura (tirohia te whakaahua 1), ā, kua kitea te whaihua o tērā hei tikanga tīpako. E taea ana hoki ngā whakaweku (arā, ngā pūpū rarauhe) te whakamahi i te kōawa, i te hāpua, tērā pea ka taea hoki te whakamahi i te repo.
He kōrero kōputahi
E tūhono ana tēnei kōrero ki Te tau kōura – he tikanga tūturu mō te hopu, me Te whakaora ake i te kōura.
He whakamihi
I pūtakea mai tēnei mātaitanga i tētahi kōrero i titoa e Ian Kusabs (Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) mō te pukapuka Te Reo o Te Repo – The Voice of the Wetland.
