Mātauranga Māori
In contemporary usages of the terms 'mātauranga Māori', there are two themes of meaning that are associated with these themes:
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‘Mātauranga Māori’ used to stand for the ‘totality’ of Māori knowledge, an encompassing term
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‘Mātauranga Māori’ used in a restrictive fashion to stand for knowledge derived from an atua Māori, possessed by a tohunga Māori.
These two themes and meanings can be heard at various times. On most occasions, however, mātauranga Māori is usually used to mean ‘Māori knowledge’ – distinctive knowledge created by Māori (usually) in history and arising from their living circumstances, their worldview and their experiences. From this perspective, one might think of a basket in which a wide range of knowledge items can be found (whakapapa, kōrero, waiata etc). The name of the basket itself is 'mātauranga Māori'. Hence, these terms are used to circumscribe the totality of the knowledge and knowing created by Māori of the past.
Occasionally, however, one can hear 'mātauranga Māori' used to refer to some kind of special knowledge, something distinctive, profound perhaps, something that was not the preserve of all people but rather something held by special people. From this perspective, the terms 'mātauranga Māori' are not used in a general way to refer to general Māori knowledge but ultimately knowledge that was the preserve of the 'tohunga Māori' and derived from an 'atua Māori'. Hence, from this perspective 'mātauranga Māori' refers to, usually, sacred and specialised knowledge that was not the preserve of the common population but rather it was known by initiated experts only.
Mātauranga
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the term 'mātauranga' (on its own) referred to Biblical knowledge. During those times, if one was to ask "Kei te ako koe i te mātauranga?", the meaning of this question was "Are you learning Biblical knowledge?". This is because during the 19th century the term 'mātauranga' became associated with 'God derived knowledge' through Māori translations of the Bible. As time passed, 'mātauranga' also became associated with literacy (because the Bible arrived in written form and was the primary text by which Māori initially became literate) and with education (because the Bible was taught in schools which were intiially created by missionaries). The intersecting association of mātauranga with the Bible and schooling meant that the question, "Kei te ako koe i te mātauranga?" could also mean "Are you attending school?" Finally, the arrival of literacy also encouraged in Māori minds the idea of knowledge as an explicit object for one's words could be recorded on paper. Hence, it was through the arrival of literacy, it is suggested, that the a concept of knowledge (as we commonly understand it today) first arose in Māori communities.