Maori Religion and Mythology Part 7

Meanwhile the Fairy husband awaited her return. He waited a long while, and at last went to look for her: at length he discovered footsteps of a man and woman, then he knew she had gone off with her husband. So the war-party of the Fairies a.s.sembled, and went to attack the _Maori Pa_.

But they found the posts of the _Pa_ daubed over with _kokowai_, and the leaves used in the ovens for cooking, thrown on the roofs of the houses: the _Pa_ too was full of the steam of cooked food. As for the woman, she was placed for concealment in an oven. So the Fairies feared to come near; for how could they enter the _Pa_ in their dread of the _kokowai_, and the steam of the ovens which filled the court-yard. So great is their dread of cooked food.

Then the _tohunga Maori_ all standing up sung a _karakia_ to put to sleep the Fairies.

Thrust aside, thrust afar, Thrust aside your sacredness, Thrust aside your _tohunga_: Let me, let me mark you, Let me mark your brow, Give me thereupon your sacredness, You _mana_, your _tohunga_, Your _karakia_ give me, To place beside the oven-stones, To place beside the cinders, To place beside the _kokowai_.

Now these rest on your head, On your sacred places, On your female _Ariki_.

Your sacredness is undone.

With _kokowai_, or red-ochre.

By the time this _karakia_ came to an end, all the Fairies were seated on the ground. Their chief then stood up, and sung thus:-

Alas! for this day Which now oppresses me.

I stretched out my hand To the mate of Tirini.

Followed were my footsteps, And charmed was returning love, At Pirongia there.

This the dreaded tribe is undone, Tiki4 and Nukupouri4 And Whanawhana4 And I Rangi-pouri:4 I carried off the woman, I the first aggressor: I went to enter the house of Ruarangi, To stretch out my hand, To touch the _Maori_ skin.

The boundary is oven-marked, To prevent its being moved aside, To guard the wife in safety.

4 Names of the Fairy chiefs.

He thought the power of his _karakia_ would appear; but it could not conquer the devices of the _Maori tohunga_; for how could it prevail against the cooked food, and the oven-stoves, and the _kokowai_, and the many other devices of the _tohunga_. Hence it was seen that the power of _karakia_ was not possessed by the Fairies. The only power given to them was to smother men.

CHAPTER V.

THE MAORI CHIEF OF OLDEN TIME.

Te?? d' ?? t?et? d??.-_Homer._

The Chiefs who came from Hawaiki to Aotea-roa in the canoe Arawa were the following:-Tia, Maka, Oro, Ngatoroirangi, Maru-punganui, Ika, Whaoa, Hei, and Tama-te-kapua. After their canoe was hauled ash.o.r.e at Maketu, these chiefs set out to explore the country, in order to take possession of land each for himself and his family.

Tia and Maka went to t.i.tiraupenga, at Taupo, and there remained.

Oro went to Taupo, and thence to w.a.n.ganui.

Ngatoroirangi went to Taupo, and died at Ruapehu.

Marupunga went to Rotorua, and died there.

Ika went to w.a.n.ganui, and died there.

Whaoa went to Paeroa.

Hei went to Whitianga (Mercury Bay). He was buried at O-a-Hei, on the extremity of the promontory.

Tama-te-kapua went to Moehau (Cape Colville).

Waitaha, son of Hei, and Tapuika, son of Tia, and Tangihia, son of Ngatoro-i-rangi, remained at Maketu. Tuhoro, and his younger brother, Kahumata-momoe, sons of Tama-te-kapua, also remained at Maketu. Their _Pa_ was named Te Koari, and is still a sacred place. Their house was named Whitingakongako. Kahu had a cultivation named Parawai, which his mother gave him.

While he was at work one day in his garden, Tuhoro struck him, and they strove together. The elder brother fell, and being beneath his younger brother was held down by him on the ground. Then their children and the whole tribe cried out, "Let your elder brother rise up." So he let him go; but their quarrel continued with angry words. "Some day I will be the death of you," said Kahu, "and no one shall save you." Tuhoro, enraged, again struck Kahu; but he was thrown to the ground a second time by Kahu. Then Tuhoro seized hold of Kahu's ear, and tore from it a green-stone; the name of this stone was _kaukaumatua_. Tuhoro kept it, and some time afterwards buried it in the ground, at the foot of the post by the window of their father's house.

After this Tuhoro resolved to follow his father, Tama-te-kapua. So he went, he and all his children. He left none behind. He went to Moehau, and there he and his father both died.

When Tama-te-kapua was on the point of dying, he said to his son, Tuhoro, "You must remain sacred for three years, and dwell apart from the tribe. Let there be three gardens by the sides of your house, set apart as sacred, in which you are to cultivate food for the _Atua_. On the fourth year awaken me from sleep; for my hands will be ever gathering up the earth, and my mouth will be ever eating worms, and grubs, and excrement, the only food below in the _Reinga_ (abode of spirits). When my _tuuta_5 drops down, and my head falls down on my body, and my hands drop down, and the fourth year arrives, turn my face to the light of day, and disinter my _papa-toiake_.6 When I arise you will be _noa_ (free from _tapu_.)

5 Point of junction of the spine and skull.

6 Lower extremity of the spine.

If clubs threaten to strike, You will see to it-Yes, yes.

If a war party is abroad, You shall strike-Yes, yes."

Having thus said, Tama-te-kapua died, and was buried by his son on the summit of Moehau.

The three years enjoined by Tama were not ended, when Tuhoro commenced cultivating food as formerly; so the sacred remains of his father turned against him, and he died.

A short time before his death, his sons, Taramainuku, Warenga, and Huarere, a.s.sembled in his presence. Whereupon Tuhoro said, "Your younger brother must bury me." So the younger son was called. Ihenga came and sat beside his father in his sacred house, who thus instructed him: "When I am dead, carry me out of the house, and lay me out naked to be your _Ika-hurihuri_7 (twisting fish). First bite with your teeth my forehead, next bite with your teeth my _tahito_8 (perineum). Then carry me to the grave of your grandfather. When I am buried, go to Maketu."

"Why must I go to Maketu?"

"That your uncle may perform the ceremonies to remove your sacredness."

7 Omens were gathered from the movement of the dead body. The word fish or canoe is often used symbolically for a man.

8 The perineum and head are considered the most sacred parts of the human body.

"But how shall I know him?"

Then the father said, "He will not be unknown to you."

"Ho! some one will kill me on the way."

"Not so. You will go in safety along the sea-sh.o.r.e."

"But I shall never find him."

"You cannot mistake him. Look at his right ear for a part hanging down.

He is a big, short man, with a sleepy eye. When you approach your uncle, in order that he may know you, go at once and seat yourself on his pillow. When you are both freed from sacredness, search for the ear-drop of your uncle under the window-post."

"But how shall I find it?"

"You will find it. Dig for it. It is buried there wrapt in a piece of cloth with _manuka_ bark outside it."

So, when the father died, his naked body was brought out of the house, and laid on the ground. The younger son bit with his teeth the forehead, and then bit with his teeth the _tahito_ of his father, saying at the same time, "Teach me when I sleep."