Whano koe ki te rangi... ki a Tawhirimatea, kia kaha ai
koe, kia toa ai koe... kia whai mana ai koe.
'Go to the heavens... to
Taawhirimatea... so that you will be strong, so that you
will be brave,... so that you will have mana'.
The Third Basket of Knowledge is called te kete tuātea. In
Maori Marsden's understanding this is the knowledge we
experience which is beyond time and beyond space. This is the
knowledge which can be experienced in ritual, the knowledge
which becomes part of our daily living as we use the karakia.
To chant the words of the karakia is to become one with the
ancestors and to use their words in invoking the atua, the
spiritual powers, and in loosing ourselves from what is
destructive, binding ourselves to what is life-giving. Then in
the 'eternal present' of ritual, one with the spiritual powers
and strengthened with their tapu and mana, we become one with
the whole movement of creation I te kore, ki te pō,
ki te ao mārama, 'from the
nothing, to the night, to the world of light'.
This, then, is the purpose of the karakia as can be seen from
the words of the karakia, especially the karakia of the major
rituals, and from the actions that accompany the rituals.
To become one with the ancestors and with the spiritual powers
1. The introductory rite, the setting up of the rods
First there is the invoking of the ancestors and the atua. As
we have seen the rods are set up as pathways for the ancestors
and atua.
The Arawa karakia Tenā te pukepuke recited after
conception for a male child calls on Rupe, the brother of Hine,
the first woman, to come and dwell in one of the rods set up by
the side of the water:
Nau mai ki roto o to whare, ki to tokotoko, e Rupe...
Tenei to ara, e Rupe.
'Come into your house, to your
rod, Rupe.... This is your pathway, Rupe.'
In the parallel karakia for a female child, Hine is asked to
come and dwell in one of the rods:
Nau mai koia ki roto o to whare, to turuturu.... Tenei to
ara, e Hine-angiangi.
'Therefore, come into your house,
your rod.... This is your pathway, Hine-angiangi'.
The linking up with the ancestors is also indicated by the
words of the karakia.
For example, in the same karakia recited after conception for
a girl, the child, growing in the womb of its mother, is linked
with Hine, the first woman:
[I] te ata o Hine, Hine-angiangi, Hine-korikori, i te ata
o wahine.
'[In] the dawn of Hine,
Hine-moving-freely, Hine-beginning-to-stir, in the dawn of
woman.'
Later the child is asked to move in the womb, to show signs of
life:
[K]ia tu ko Hine-angiangi, kia tu ko Hine-korikori... kia
tu ko Hine-rauwharangi, kia tu ko Hine-iwaiwa.
'So that Hine-moving freely may
stand, so that Hine-beginning to stir may stand, so that
Hine-unfolding may stand, so that Hine-reaching-her-term may
stand.'
In the karakia Teenaa tuuaa, recited when her umbilical cord
drops off, the girl is spoken of as one with Hine in her birth.
She is told that she has come forth, i pana ai koe, 'you have
come forth', with the pana, 'coming forth', of:
Hine-angiangi, Hine-rauwharangi, Hine-i-te-korikori,
Hine-i-te-iwaiwa,
'Hine in her moving in the
womb, in her unfolding, in her beginning to stir, in her
reaching her full term of nine months.
Then she is told, whano koe ki a Hine, 'you go to Hine', the
first woman, now in all her glory and, while she sleeps, to be
established and grow with Hine. In this concluding section of
the karakia, Hine, the first woman, is spoken of as:
Hine-te-rarama, Hine-te-korotua, Hine-te-hihiri,
Hine-i-te-whita, Hine-moetu, Hine-moerea,
'Hine-glistening,
Hine-the-desirable, Hine-eagerly-desired,
Hine-now-secure-in-all-her-being,
Hine-being-established-in-her-sleep,
Hine-growing-in-her-sleep.'
And this Hine is:
Hine-i-te-aio, Hine-i-te-marino, Hine-momohe,
Hine-i-te-rangi,
'Hine-of-peace,
Hine-of-calmness, gentle-Hine, Hine-from-the-heavens'.
In a Wanganui karakia for the opening rite for the canoe, the
rite performed for the felling of the tree, the rod or pathway
is the canoe itself, referred to as the pathway of Taane:
Tena te ara, te ara ka iri, te ara o Tane.
'That is the pathway, the pathway
which is suspended, the pathway of Taane'.
In the Wanganui ritual for the dead given by Taylor the
setting up of the rods takes place not at the beginning of the
ritual but at the end. A pole is placed in the water at the
conclusion of the ritual, and the karakia, Toko koi te pō,
Pole reaching into the night,
is recited for the deceased person.
Then a second pole is set up, for the living, and the karakia
Toko koi te ao 'Pole reaching
into the light,' is
recited for the living to return to te ao marama, 'the world of
light', the world of the living.
Shortland gives a description of a funeral ritual in which a
stalk of toetoe is set up as a pathway. This is the pathway by
which the wairua, or 'spirit', of the deceased person can both
ascend to his ancestors and return to his kaupapa, or 'medium',
the wairua of the deceased being considered as an atua.
Kua oti nei te tiri, te whakatakoto i te hemonga kia hoki
mai ai hei atua mo nga mea i ora.
'The tiri is set up by the place
where the person died, in order that he may return to be an
atua for those living.
2. The Loosing and Binding Rite.
The core of the ritual is the second part of the ritual, the
loosing and binding. The karakia command the loosing from the
subject of the ritual of all spiritual powers inimical to the
subject of the ritual, and the binding to the subject of the
ritual of all spiritual powers beneficial to the subject of the
ritual.
In the ritual for the child, the karakia which begins Tēnā
te pukepuke commands that the tapu of Ruanuku, of the
child, and of Tuutawhake, be let loose:
Takiritia ra te tapu o Ruanuku, he tapu ka kawea ki te
wai, ka turakina, ka whakawaituhitia. Takiritia ra te tapu o
te tama nei, he tapu ka kawea ki te wai, ka huhua, ka
whakanoatia, ka whakahekea, ka whakamaamaatia. Takiritia ra te
tapu o Tutawhake, ka kawea ki te wai, ka turakina, ka
whakawaituhitia, ka whakanoatia.
'Let loose the tapu of Ruanuku, a
tapu that is taken to the water, overthrown, conjured with the
water and made noa. Let loose the tapu of this child, a tapu
that is taken to the water, that is uncovered, made noa, put
down, and its restrictions removed. Let loose the tapu of
Tutawhake, [a tapu] that is taken to the water, overthrown,
conjured by the water and made noa.'
Ruanuku, I suspect, represents all the powers living under the
earth. Elsdon Best gives a list of Rua names, 'said to be the
names of the ailments that destroy man'. Tutawhake, according to
Tregear and White, is an atua, a spiritual power, of
destruction.
In another Wanganui canoe ritual, the atua inimical to the
canoe are not just let loose, but are ritually beaten out of the
canoe.
The first of two karakia, said for the canoe once it has been
towed down to the water, is the karakia, Hāpai ake au i taku rākau
nei. The rākau, 'stick'
or 'weapon', which is hāpai,
'lifted up', is spoken of as: na Tū, na Maru, na ngā
tupua, 'belonging to Tu, to Maru, to the great spirits' and the
weapon is: he rākau patu
atua, 'an atua-destroying stick'. The priest strikes the canoe
with his staff while he recites the karakia and calls on the
atua unfavourable to the future well-being of the canoe, to drop
off. The dropping off is called, he taka mate, 'a death
dropping'.
In the ritual for a war-party, part of the karakia for the
weapons is similar to the canoe karakia just referred to. The
weapon for war is spoken of, in its karakia, as belonging to the
ancestors and also to Tuu, the atua linked with us humans,
especially in our battles:
Ko te rakau na Hapai.... Ko te rakau na Toa.... Ko te
rakau na Tu, Tu-ka-riri, Tu-ka-nguha.
'It is the weapon belonging to
Hapai.... It is the weapon belonging to Toa.... It is the
weapon belonging to Tuu, angry Tuu, raging Tuu.'
As the weapon taken up by the priest during the canoe ritual
was to strike the canoe and to expel from it and send to their
death all atua that could be damaging to it, so the weapon taken
up by the warrior, in the ritual for war, was to destroy the
enemy, symbolically referred to as the 'fish' sending him to the
'night', to the world of the dead:
Tuku tonu, heke tonu, te ika ki te po, Tuku tonu, heke
tonu, te ika ki Te Reinga.
'Let the fish drop straight
down, descend directly, to the night [the world of the
dead], Let the fish drop straight down, descend directly, to
the leaping off place [the place where the spirits of the
dead leap off to their abode].'
I have not found any karakia expressing the destruction of
atua dangerous to the kūmara. But reference is made, in the
karakia Waere waerea and in some of the kūmara work
chants, to the weeds, grubs, and so on, the enemies of the
kūmara. These enemies are spoken of as coming from Hawaiki, and
have to be cut down, turned aside and gathered into a heap at
Kuratau, the place where all the weeds are put away in Hawaiki:
Ngaere te whakatupua. Ngaere te whakatawhito. Ko koe kei
whakangaerea mai e koe, te taru ki Hawaiki, Kutikuti,
pekapeka, ahua te papa i Kuratau.
'Bring forth the new growth.
Bring forth the old growth. But you, don't bring here the
weeds at Hawaiki, Cut them, sweep them aside, and heap them
up at Kuratau.
Following the karakia ordering the loosing, striking out, or
sending off, of all atua seen as dangerous and of the deceased
person regarded as an atua, there are those ordering a linking
up with, or a binding to, the subject of the ritual, of the atua
regarded as beneficial to it, as sources of its life and
strength.
In the tāngaengae for
the child, given by Te Rangikaheke, the child is commanded to go
to the heavens, to the atua Tāwhirimatea, for its strength, its
expertise, and its mana, or power:
Whano koe ki te rangi... ki a Tāwhirimatea... kia kaha ai
koe, kia toa ai koe... kia whai mana ai koe.
'Go to the heavens... to
Tāwhirimatea... so that you will be strong, so that you will
be an expert,. so that you will have mana.'
There is a long kūmara karakia, Ka noho te rangi nui,
that Taylor received from Wiremu Katene. The manuscript does not
indicate at what stage of the kūmara ritual this karakia was
used, but it is a call for strength, in this case the strength
of the atua Tau and Rongo:
Tena te kaha ka whiwhi, tena te kaha ka rawe, tena te
kaha ka mou, te kaha o Tau, te kaha o Rongo, taku kaha, ko te
kaha a tenei tauira.
'That is the strength which
wraps round, that is the strength which binds, that is the
strength which holds fast, the strength of Tau, the strength
of Rongo, my strength, the strength of this disciple.
In the Wanganui canoe ritual, after the karakia Hāpai
ake au, for removing from the canoe all atua that could be
damaging to the canoe, there is the karakia Tāpatua koe i uta.
One section is very similar to the section of the kūmara karakia
given above.
Tena te kaha ka whiwhi, Tena te kaha ka rawe, Tena te
kaha ka mau... mau ki tenei waka, mau ki tenei tauira.
'That is the strength which
wraps round, that is the strength which binds, that is the
strength which holds fast, holds fast to this canoe, holds
fast to this disciple.
The term kaha has also the meaning of 'lashing' and so the
'strength' of Tāne and
Tangaroa, which 'wraps around' and 'binds' the canoe, can also
be understood as the 'lashings' of Tāne and Tangaroa. The
karakia, recited at the time of the lashing of the canoe, can be
understood, therefore, as referring both to the strength of
Taane and Tangaroa and to the lashings which bind the canoe.
Corresponding to the karakia for the child, for the kūmara,
and for the canoe, are those said in the ritual for the
war-party, while putting on the war-belt and war-apron.
The child was commanded to go to Tāwhiri
for its strength. The kūmara was bound with the strength of Tau
and Rongo. The canoe was strengthened, made tight, with its
lashings, lashings giving it the strength of Taane and Tangaroa.
The warrior, girded with his war-belt and war-apron, was given
the strength of Tū-matauenga to destroy his enemies.
The warrior, reciting the karakia He tamariki rānei
koe, calls for the belt and war-apron to be girded on and
wrapped around tight:
Homai taku tu, homai taku maro, kia hurua, kia rawea, kia
harapaki.
'Give me my belt, give me my
war-apron, that it may be girded on, that it may be wrapped
round tight, that I may join in battle.'
This war-apron is the war-apron of Tū-matauenga, giving the
warrior the qualities of Tū, so that the warrior may 'eat' or
destroy the enemy's power:
Ko taku maro, ko te maro o Tū,
Tū kai taua, Tū
kai tangata.
'My war-apron is the
war-apron of Tu, Tu who eats war-parties, Tu who eats
people.'
In each of the major rituals, therefore, there is both a
loosing and a binding and the loosing and binding is focused on
the atua. The 'loosing' is a separating from, a knocking out, or
a sending off, of the atua considered inimical or dangerous to
the subject of the ritual. The 'binding' is a linking up with, a
gaining strength from, the atua regarded as beneficial, as
giving life and strength, to the subject of the ritual.
Pure
The term sometimes used to express both the loosing and the
binding is the term pure.
The Maori manuscripts refer to several karakia from the
different rituals as pure. There are two named karakia pure for
the hair cutting ritual, Oe he pikangi and Morimori
tākiki.
There are two karakia mākutu called pure, Korowhakapupu ake
and Teenaa te pukepuke, and the karakia Tēnā te
hau, called he pureinga, for success in battle.
The karakia Te whai anatuatua is for healing wounds
after battle, the karakia Ka mate Whiro, for overcoming
sickness and death, the karakia Ngā tokotoko, recited
after a death, and the karakia Hāpai ake au by which
the canoe has the prayer called pure said over it.
T. H. Whatahoro links the pure with the establishment of tapu
and mana and distinguishes it from the whakanoa rite:
Ko te pure he mahi na nga tohunga kia mau ai te mana tapu
me te mana atua, ehara i te whakanoa. Ka purea te tangata kia
toa e ka haere ki te riri. Ka purea te waka kia tapu, kia mau
tona mana, kia noho nga atua ki te tiaki i te waka.
'The pure rite is a rite carried
out by the priest in order to make fast [to the subject of the
ritual] the tapu power and the atua power; [it is] not [a
rite] to make noa. The pure ceremony is carried out for a man
to make him brave when he goes to battle. The pure ceremony is
carried out for a canoe so that it will be tapu, so that its
mana will be made fast to it, so that the atua will remain in
the canoe in order to protect it.'
The term pure, and sometimes the term purenga, is used to
name, not only the karakia, but also the ritual, especially the
hair-cutting ritual:
I muri iho i te kotikotinga o nga makawe me era karakia
nui ano o taua purenga.
'Just after the cutting of the
hair and those especially important karakia of that purenga.'
E noho tapu ana ratou ko to ratou matua i to ratou
purenga, ara kotikotinga makawe.
'They and their parent
remained tapu on account of their ritual purenga, that is,
ritual hair-cutting.'
And Buck, quoting Best, informs us that the place set aside
for hair-cutting was called a purepurenga. Te Rangikaheke also
associates pure with hair-cutting:
Ka matuatia, ka tahuri pea i roto i ona kakahu, ka tarere
ranei, i runga i tona matua hikihiki, ka pure nga makawe. He
karakia ano tera. Kaore au i ata pupuri i te ingoa o tera
karakia, otira, he Hauaitu tonu te tino ingoa o tera karakia.
'When [the child] begins to
get a little older and perhaps to turn about in its clothes,
to swing maybe on the parent who is holding it, its hair is
arranged in tufts. That has its own karakia. I didn't quite
catch the name of that karakia, however, Hauaitu is the
generic name of that karakia.'
Williams gives three meanings for the term pure: (i) a
ceremony for removing tapu and for other purposes; (ii) arrange
in tufts or patches; and (iii) bivalve molluscs. In translating
pure in the above quotation, I have used the second meaning: 'to
arrange in tufts or patches'. At the completion of the
hair-cutting, the hair was tied in a topknot, single hairs being
brought together to form one plait and the other hairs cut off.
I suggest, therefore, that the cutting off of loose hairs
and the arranging of the hair into a topknot, into one single,
tightly bound, isolated tuft of hair, symbolized the new
status of the young man, cut off from any links with atua not
helpful to him and linked with, bound tight to, the atua and
ancestors who were helpful to him, taking on their mana, their
tapu. The topknot itself, as the rods in other rituals, is the
pathway and the abiding place for the spiritual powers now
bound to the young man.
The quotation from Te Rangihakeke given above refers
explicitly to a hair-cutting rite that was part of the ritual
for the child. There was also a hair-cutting rite in the ritual
for the war-party, and as part of the funeral ritual. The
karakia, beginning Purea te pure, 'Complete
the pure', referred to above, was said at the
completion of the hair-cutting for Ihenga, a rite forming part
of the funeral ritual for Ihenga's father.
Purea te pure Whaiwhenua ika te pure E unga ai koe i nga
mana hauhau aitu mai o te Po, I nga kanakana mana mai o te Po.
Tatai mai te waka, e Rangi, Ko te waka o te hinga noa, e
Rangi, Ko te waka o te mate noa, e Rangi Po-ki-tupua Te Po
Po-ki-tahito Te Po Kei runga nei tetahi Ao Kei raro nei tetahi
Ao Ao ki tipua te Ao Ao ki tahito te Ao Ka hapainga te uwha He
kopi, he kopa Tainaki no Tū.
'Complete the pure, make
fast the pure, by which you cause the powers to go forth,
the weakening powers of the night that come towards you. Set
the canoe in order, e Rangi, the canoe of the chance fall, e
Rangi, the canoe of the chance death, e Rangi. The world of
darkness, darkness given over to the tipua (with their dark
powers), The world of darkness, darkness given over to the
long since dead. There is some light above, there is some
light below, Light for the tipua, the world of light, light
for the ones long since dead, the world of light. The
cutting comb is lifted up, a gathering up, an enclosing.
Protection from Tu.
The term for the cutting comb is uwha, 'a bivalve shell used
for cutting the hair; only so called when so used'. This would
suggest that bivalve molluscs were called pure because they were
used for the hair-cutting.
3. The concluding rite: the whakanoa rite.
The third element common to the karakia of the major rituals
is the whakanoa, making free, section of the ritual. This is the
ritual offering of food to the atua and the eating of this food
with these atua. Each atua has responsiblility for a particular
area of creation and the offerings are made to the relevant
atua, thus acknowledging that it is the source of life and
strength for the subject of the ritual. The karakia for this
section of the ritual include the whaangai and the taumaha
mentioned in chapter five. It concludes the rituals, and
expresses the taking off of all the tapu restrictions imposed
during the carrying out of the rituals.
A whakanoa rite can also occur during the ritual, to remove,
when required, restrictions placed on those taking part in the
ritual.
This making noa element, too, focuses on the atua. The ritual
feeding is a feeding of the atua or of particular ancestors
regarded as atua. The 'eating with' is an eating with the atua
and with the ancestors. As already mentioned, the food is
offered to the appropriate atua; to Tuu and Rongo for humans, to
Taane and Tangaroa for the canoe, and to Rongo for the kūmara.
In the funeral ritual a ritual offering of food is made to the
deceased person, the deceased person being regarded as an atua.
When the making noa rite has been completed, then one is free
from the tapu restrictions and fully confirmed in one's primary
tapu, in one's link with the spiritual powers. So the young man
at the conclusion of his hair-cutting ritual when he is freed
from every restriction, when he is made noa, is told to stride
forth with the great strides of Tu.
Ka aha te tama nei? Ka huhu te tama nei, ka tuku rawa te
tama nei, ki muri rawa te tama nei. Ka kokiro te tama nei, ki
muri rawa te tama nei. Ka kokiro te tama nei, ka tuku rawa te
tama nei, ka hopara te tama nei, ki muri rawa te tama nei.
Hopara, hopara, hopara ki te hopara nui a Tū.
'What does this child do? This
child strips off (the tapu restrictions), this child goes
where he pleases, this child [goes] even to the cooking area.
This child bathes himself in warm water, this child [goes]
even to the cooking area. This child bathes himself in warm
water. This child goes where he pleases, this child goes
forth, this child [goes] even to the cooking area. Go and
explore the world with the great strides of Tu.'
The immediate purpose of the rituals is to bind us to the
spiritual powers. Made one with them we share in their mana,
their power, we are given their kaha, their strength.
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