Ao


Ko te ingoa Māori o New Zealand ko Aotearoa - he take nui tō tēnei ingoa. E ai ki te Māori, i te hekenga tuatahi mai ki Aotearoa, nā te wahine a Kupe te Kaiwhakatere te karanga, ‘He ao, he ao-tea, he ao-tea roa!’

He maha ngā tohu o ngā ao mō ngā whenua kei tua o te pae PAPAKUPU pae - te tūtakitanga o te moana, te papa rānei ki te rangi . Ka roa te āta rangahau a ngā kaiwhakatere i ngā hanganga, ngā āhua me ngā tae.

Hanganga me te nekehanga
Ko ngā ao e whaihanga ana ki te wāhi kotahi he tohu whenua.
• Hei ngā rangi kapua, huarere marino, he mātotoru ngā ao o runga whenua.
• Hei ngā rangi kapua, he hauhau, kotahi anake pea te ao ki runga whenua, ko te toenga ka tere rere atu.
• He rere māmā noa te ao e ahu atu ana ki uta. Mō te pātatanga atu ka āta haere, kātahi ka pakaru, ka rere tītaha atu.

Āhua
Ko ngā ao hanga-V ka hangaia ki runga whenua, i ngā wā marino ka torutoru noa ngā ao o te rangi. Ko te pokapū o te ao ka noho tonu ki runga whenua, kāore e nekeneke.

Tae
Ko ngā ao o runga whenua he whakaata i te tae o te whenua – he mā mō te ākau wheo me te oneone; he māwhero mō te ākau wheo e whitia ana e te rā; he pōuri mō te otaota.

Ahakoa kāore he kapua, kei taua rangi tonu he tohu whenua. Mai i te oneone mā me ngā pūroto ha whakaatatanga i te rā hei hihi kōmā, mārama hoki ki runga whenua. Ko te whakaata a te pūroto i ngā whetū he kaha ake i te whakaata a te moana.