Pūwānanga
‘Pū’ is an old term for an expert. ‘E ngā pū, e ngā weu…’ is an expression addressing experts in various fields. A pūkōrero is a master orator, someone who is truly skilful and adept as a public speaker. Kēpa Ehau of Te Arawa is an example of recent times. Although I did not see Kēpa myself, I have heard tapes of him and havestudied some of his whaikōrero. A pūkōrero is not merely a person who knows a lot of stuff, or who even speaks a lot. In my view, a master orator is one who is skilful in capturing the minds and hearts of the people in front of him/her. They are adept at articulating their points skillfully, clearly and also at reading the mood of the people, holding their attention, drawing their support… etc. (An example of a pūkōrero in another culture is Dr Martin Luther King. See ‘Ihave been to the mountain’ speech) A pūwānanga is a term for an expert in the activity called wānanga. In my view, wānanga is about trying to understand a question, problem, issue before us. To wāna...