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Mangaian Society

The Tribe

The Tribe

Name

The usage of the term matakeinanga to indicate the mass of the people of the land is illustrated by the concluding verse of a prayer over a human sacrifice to Rongo (6, p. 296). The human sacrifice with the subsequent sounding of the peace drum denoted the end of war, when the fugitives came forth in safety from their hiding places.

Taua ra i te makatea, We were in the makatea,
I te punanga o te 'ao. In the refuge of the conquered.
Teniteni te matakeinanga, [But now] the people shout in glee,
Koakoa te matakeinanga. The people rejoice.

Though sometimes restricted to indicate a smaller family group, matakeinanga did not become a general term to indicate a tribal grouping as it did in Manihiki.

The term ivi (bone) is used to indicate a group of people classed together through some common cause, as ivi panga (fatherless group), which refers to the fugitives who have fled for safety to the makatea. The plural may be used, as nga ivi panga (the fatherless groups).

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A group is also referred to as a vaka (canoe), as in a song composed by Potiki of Ngati-Vara (12, p. 181): "Kua pau te vaka o Ruanae." (The tribe of Ruanae is finished.)

The definite groupings in Mangaia have been alluded to as "clans" by Gill (5, 11). American authorities, who regard the clan as a kindred group following matrilineal descent would regard the social groups of Mangaia as gens. The groups originally settled in definite areas, had their own governing chiefs, and united for war. Originally there were probably some dialectic differences between groups, owing to their origin from different islands. The term "tribe" is therefore referred to them in this work.

The Mangaian term for a tribe is kopu or kopu tangata. Kopu in general means the abdomen but in this particular, the womb, and conveys the idea that all members of the tribe are descended from the one ancestral womb. Though the female term is used, the recognition of the procreating power of the male places the female ancestor in a secondary position; descent and succession are traced to the husband of the first ancestral pair. The qualifying term tangata simply means "people," the group of people forming the particular tribe.

Another term used to denote the tribe is pare. Akunukunu, priest of Motoro and father of Mautara, was afraid that he would be slain by the Ngati-Tane; but his wife, Kura-peau of the Tongaiti, said, "Kare koe e mate, e ngao taku pare." (You will not be slain, my tribe is great.) The term pare is also used in poetry (12, p. 147):

Kapitipitia e i pau nga pare e! Again and again the tribes were slain!
E tangi atu ra i ki te pare.a Weep for the tribe.

Another rarer term used for tribe is e. It is used in the lament of Koroa concerning the expulsion of the Tongaiti, who are descendants of Te-tipi (12, p. 133): "Te e o Te-tipi, ka eva e —." (The tribe of Te-tipi now mourns.)

Wissler (29, p. 117) selects, as one of the outstanding characteristics of a tribe, the designation by a specific name. The Mangaian tribes possessed this characteristic and, in addition, the larger tribes underwent a process of division into subtribes, each with its specific name, as shown in the following list:

Tribes Subtribes Island of Origin
Ngariki Ngariki (Paparangi) Avaiki (?)
Akatauira Avaiki (?)
Vaeruarangi Avaiki (?)
Ngati-Vara (Amama) ------- Avaiki (?)
Tongaiti Teipe ?
Teaaki ?page 103
Ngati-Tane (Aitu) ------- Tahiti
Te Kama ------- Tahiti (Vaiiria)
Kanae ------- ?
Tangiia ------- ?
Tui-kura ------- ?
Ngati-Amai ------- Rarotonga
Ngati-Manaune ------- Mangaia

The method of naming the tribes varied. The name of the eponymous ancestor was used without any prefix, as in Paparangi, Akatauira, Vaeruarangi, Manaune, and perhaps Te Kama. In three names the tribal prefix, Ngati, which is formed of the plural definite article nga (the) combined with ti and means "the descendants of" is used. Thus Ngati-Vara means the descendants of Vara and includes those descended from Vara in the male line. Individuals in other tribes may claim descent from Vara through a Ngati-Vara woman but can not class themselves as Ngati-Vara.

The use of the prefix Ngati before the name of a family head was used on occasions to denote a family group. It was also used to denote the people descended from a remoter ancestor to stress the name of an ancestor who had not been selected as the eponymous ancestor of the tribe. The term 'anau (family) was also used in a similar way, as in Mautara's lament for his mother Kura-peau (12, p. 129):

Ko te 'anau a Tevaki The family of Tevaki,
Ko Ngati Vairanga. he descendants of Vairanga.

Both Tevaki and Vairanga were ancestors of the Ngati-Tane tribe, but as the tribe already had two specific names neither of their names could be used for the permanent tribal appellation. Doubtless the prefix Ngati was originally used as a convenient means of denoting distinctive family groups, and when the group grew the name became crystallized into a subtribal and eventually into a tribal name.

Williamson (28, vol. 2, p. 44) uses the term Ngati as if it were a synonym for tribe, but this is incorrect; it was a prefix which required the addition of the ancestor's personal name. The Mangaian tribal names with Ngati prefixed to an ancestor's name are Ngati-Vara and Ngati-Amai. In the Ngati-Tane, Tane is not a human ancestor but a god, and the various immigrant groups of Aitu people, who were all worshipers of the god Tane, were conveniently grouped together under the alternative name of Ngati-Tane. The tribes using an ancestral name without the prefix sometimes used the prefix; but its dropping was a question of usage. Koroa, however, did use the term ngati by itself as the equivalent of "tribe," but he was using poetic license which does not enter into current speech.

The plural definite article nga is used in the tribal name Ngariki, a shortened form of Nga-ariki. It is descriptive and refers to the three arikis page 104from Avaiki who were the ancestors of the tribe and stresses the high status claimed by the tribe. Another descriptive name is that of the Tui-kura (tu'i, "mark"; kura, "red"), which refers to some custom in the tribe of marking the face with red. The tribal name Kanae means "the mullet fish," but there is nothing on record to explain the origin of this extinct tribe.

The tribe of Tongaiti, with its two subtribes, Teipe and Teaaki, took the names of the gods. The Ngati-Tane took the name of Tane with a prefix. The Ngati-Tane had another name, Aitu (god), which referred to their worship of Tane. The Ngati-Vara had the older name of Te Amama (The Open-mouth), which was derived from the opening of the mouth of Papaaunuku when the god of Motoro entered into him. Te Amama stresses the priestly origin and hereditary function of the group, and Ngati-Vara denotes the usual form of human grouping.

The descriptive tribal names in Mangaia were probably first applied by outside tribes. The group name Aitu was applied to the invading worshipers of Tane from Tahiti by the people of Aitutaki, Atiu, Mauke, and Mitiaro. Perhaps all the invaders had totally (different names for themselves. In Mangaia the worshipers of Tane became established, accepted the name applied to them, and adopted it into their own current speech. The descriptive name of Tui-kura (Red-marked) is more likely to have been applied by outsiders. The action of the group itself should have been to name themselves after an ancestor.

Even some of the kinship names may have been first applied by outsiders. The Mangaians, like other Polynesians, have individual personal names but no current surname as understood in English. In English, a group of people descended from a Smith may be alluded to as "the Smiths" by using the plural with the surname. In Mangaian, the same result was achieved in current speech by using the plural prefix with the name of the individual. Thus Ngati-Poito literally means "the Poitos", whereas te 'anau a Poito means "the family of Poito." The family of Poito may not allude to themselves as Ngati-Poito, for they know each other's personal names and can use the personal pronouns "we" and "us" in alluding to themselves as a group. Outsiders may therefore be the first to use a collective term which denotes not only the group but its growing prestige. If the family develops into a subtribe or a tribe, it may use a tribal name that was first used in the current speech of outsiders. On the other hand, the selection of the ancestor with whose name the tribal name prefix should be used was sometimes made within the group itself. Table 3 shows that between Papaaunuku and Mautara inclusive there were six single male ancestors, any one of whom could have been appropriately chosen to supply the tribal name. Of these, Papaaunuku was the oldest, but Mautara, the most recent, was the most famous. The group is often referred page 105to as Ngati-Mautara in current speech, but as a specific name it is probably regarded as too recent and likely to forfeit the prestige of long settlement. Papaaunuku had already provided the alternative name of Te Amama, so the name of his son Vara was adopted as the tribal name.

Composition

Theoretically, the tribe was built up from natural increase within itself. All members, except wives from outside tribes, should show male descent from the original ancestral pair. In practice, however, many female breaks are found owing to adoptions, sharing of children, or matrilocal residence. The senior chiefly lines should show no female breaks, and some do not. In Table 3 Aiteina shows an unbroken tama tane line in Ngati-Vara, but Akaeakore is a tama va'ine to Ngata-Vara through his mother in the 13 th generation, and became a Ngati-Vara as part of the share of his mother's family.

The incessant wars that ravaged Mangaia led to the arbitrary taking up of sides by certain people. Married women were the only ones who could move freely between tribes, their own and their husband's, during a state of war. As the result of intertribal adoptions, members of the same biological family were forced to meet each other in battle. Sometimes blood overruled the law and sometimes it did not.

In a battle between the Ngati-Vari and Ngati-Tane, Poito's two sons, who had been shared to the Ngati-Tane, fought against their father's tribe. In the battle they approached an enemy who was fighting valiantly. The elder son cried out to his brother, "Let us engage elsewhere. It is our father Poito." The younger son took no notice. Poito, recognizing his opponent, made a mere pretence of striking at him and allowed, himself to be killed. The younger son, though literally obedient to custom, is not admired in Mangaia for his action.

The tribe was a closed corporation, as regards rank and status of its members, but there were certain accretions that added to its numerical strength:

1.The men of defeated tribes often sought out some powerful protector for whom they worked. A protector might be sought out by a man's wife in her own tribe, in which case the arrangement was instituted by the woman. So long as the tama va'ine tribe was not the one actively opposed to them, such an incorporation was easily arranged. The people so included usually occupied a menial position and were on probation until they proved their loyalty to the tribe by assisting it in war. After a successful battle, the outsider who had proved his valor was rewarded with a share of land and so became a free man in the tribe he served. His children became absorbed into the tribe in the course of events. It is extremely probable that some of the tribes which became extinct were not all killed off, but that the survivors, after the last disastrous defeat, sought refuge in other tribes or were enslaved by the victors and so absorbed.
2.People who were defeated and accepted a menial position forced upon them in order that they might live were also added to the tribe. The women of defeated tribes were spoils to the victors. They were often taken as supplementary wives by chiefs, and their children became tama tane in the conquering tribe. The pedigrees transmitted page 106orally are those of the leading families in the tribe and take no cognizance of the lower stratum of the tribe formed of additions from outside sources.

Patriotism

Although accretions from outside the tribes were of doubtful loyalty, there can be no question of the intense patriotism felt by the true tama tane members of the tribe. Tribes were distrustful of tama va'ine members, and it was considered by some a good preventive policy to kill such children before they grew up to become a menace. This policy was hinted at in the saying, " 'Angaingai a tama, te tama a te tua'ine." (Feed the first-born son, the first-born son of a sister.) The use of 'angaingai (to feed) is a euphemism to disguise the real import of the phrase, which advised that the child of a sister should be killed. Women of rank have sometimes stipulated that their children should not fight against their tribes in the event of war with their husbands' groups.

Motia, daughter of Te Uanuku, the first-born son of Mautara, married Rori, the fugtive craftsman who was restored by Manaune. She bore him many sons and made them promise never to fight against her tribe of Ngati-Vara. The tama tane claim, however, proved too strong, and they joined their father's group against the Ngati-Vara at the battle of Akaoro. Three were killed; their mother was so incensed against them that she did not weep, but cursed their memory.

A number of men have deliberately given themselves up to death as a propitiatory sacrifice to Rongo to ensure their tribe's success in battle. Tiroa, priest of Tane, did it to bring success to Panako. Kauate, a chief of the Ngariki, sought out a violent death to restore his tribe to power under Ngangati. Arokapiti of Ngati-Tane sacrificed himself in place of his younger brother to turn the tide of battle against Ngati-Vara.

Lands

In Mangaia the early tribes settled in definite localities and for a time kept together. Apart from historical narrative, their localities are indicated by the maraes they built to their tribal gods (p. 175).

The Ngariki evidently spread over the northern, western, and southwestern parts of the island. They built the Ivanui marae to Rongo in the Ivanui district but later abandoned it and built the marae of Orongo on the west coast in the Tavaenga district near the boundary with Keia. Their marae of Araata to their tribal god Motoro was built in Keia, and the Akaoro marae presided over by the Inland High Priest was close beside Araata. With the increase of other tribes, they evidently withdrew from the Ivirua and Karanga districts and concentrated in the Tavaenga, Keia, and Veitatei districts. It appears that the Akatauira were in Tavaenga, the Paparangi in Keia, and the Vaeruarangi in Veitatei.

The Tongaiti tribe landed in the south and occupied the Tamarua district. Their principal marae was Aumoana, situated close to the inner side of the makatea not far from the present church at Tamarua. The cave of Tautua, which formed the refuge of the tribe after defeat, is also situated in the Tamarua district.

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The Ngati-Tane landed on the east and occupied the Ivirua district. Their first two maraes, Taumatini and Maputu, are in the northern part of the district and close to the original Ngariki marae, Ivanui. The reason given for the abandoning of the Ivanui marae was that, as the sun was too hot on Rongo's back, the marae of. Orongo was made on the west. It is probable that the arrival of the Ngati-Tane in the Ivirua district caused the scattered outposts of the Ngariki to withdraw toward the west to avoid being picked off. The scattered family groups were killed later by the Ngati-Tane to furnish the filling for the Maputu marae. When the priest Ue landed on the east, he found all the land in the Ivirua district occupied and had to push on toward the south, where he built the marae of Maungaroa just across the boundary with Tamarua.

The Te Kama tribe also landed on the east, but they worked north beyond the part occupied by Ngati-Tane and pushed into the Karanga district on the northeast, forming a wedge between Ngati-Tane and the Ngariki living in the Tavaenga district. After their first unsuccessful bid for power and subsequent minor attempts, they ceased to exist as a distinct tribe.

The Ngati-Vara developed in the Veitatei district. Vara, the son of Papaaunuku, lived in Veitatei and his sons were attacked at Tangikura in that district. Koroa, in a song referring to the family of Mautara, speaks of the growth of a tribe in the valley of Raupo and of the men of Te Tuapoto who brought it to affluence. Te Tuapoto is a tapere (subdistrict) in Veitatei. The marae at which Potiki and Koroa worshiped Te-aio was Takti in the Veitatei subdistrict of Te Tukono, for which Te Tuaroa is another name. The two ancestral tapere of the Ngati-Vara are Te Tuapoto and Te Tekono in the Veitatei district, and the Ngati-Vara also had authority over the tapere of Te Noki. With their rise to power, the Ngati-Vara increased their land holdings. Mautara lived part of his time in the Keia district. The family meeting of the Ngati-Vara before the death of Rautoa took place on the marae of Are-una in the Ngaangarino subdistrict of Veitatei. When the Ngati-Vara practically exterminated the Tongaiti, they spread their boundaries into the Tamarua district. After their defeat by the combined Ngati-Tane and Manaune, they concentrated in the Tamarua district and fought their last battle at Putoa in that district.

The Manaune tribe developed in Karanga and the neighboring part of Ivirua. It is evident that Mautara must have given some subdistricts to Manaune in that area. Pangemiro, the Manaune leader who became the last Temporal Lord of Mangaia, had his two maraes, Te-ra-tui-vero and Are-vaka, in the Karanga district.

Of the other smaller tribes which became extinct, there is lack of detail as to their territory, except that the Tangiia or Kanae tribe lived near Lake Tiriara in the Veitatei district and that their marae was Rangitaua.

The tribes originally occupied definite continuous areas, but the subsequent wars led to a break in the continuity of the areas occupied. The conquerors, in annexing food lands from the conquered, took subdistricts which were remote from their original lands. The food lands and the rule over districts and subdistricts were the important spoils of victory. The redistribution of food lands led to the scattering of tribes; some families remained on the original land, but others settled on land awarded them in other districts. The tribe was nevertheless held together by the social mechanism which decided the grouping of individuals at birth and by the necessity for protection against other tribes.

Other territorial complications were brought about through the giving of presents of land by conquerors to friends of other tribes. Mautara gave land to Manaune in another district, and the Maunaune tribe grew up there. page 108Mautara gave presents of land to Te-vaki in a district other than Ivirua, with the result that the reborn Ngati-Tane grew up in districts other than their original home.

Subtribes

If the natural increase of a tribe is not dissipated by disastrous wars, subsidiary groupings tend to develop. In New Zealand, the larger tribes tracing descent from an eponymous ancestor divided as their numerical strength increased into secondary groups tracing descent from ancestors more recent than the common ancestor of the primary group. These secondary Maori groups of subtribes are termed hapu in distinction to the tribe, which is termed iwi. Most of the Mangaian tribes were too small or of too recent an origin to develop subtribes.

The smaller tribes, Te Kama, Kanae, and Tui-kura, had no chance of material increase, as they were constantly defeated in war. The Manaune were of too recent an origin to reach the stage of subdivision. Though the Ngati-Tane were one of the early tribes, the modern Ngati-Tane originated from a single male ancestor at the same recent time as the Manaune. The Ngati-Vara really commenced its growth with Mautara, who was a contemporary of the two single male ancestors of the Manaune and Ngati-Tane. Mautara, however, had a large male family, and the rate of increase of Ngati-Vara in the earlier generations succeeding Mautara was much greater than that of both Ngati-Tane and Manaune. The Ngati-Vara split into factions which did not actually reach the stage of subtribes and thus were not given specific names. They were alluded to merely as the descendants of the younger sons of Mautara who took up arms against the descendants of the older sons. The juniors (teina) fought the seniors (tuakana) through jealousy and wrecked the tribe.

The Tongaiti tribe, powerful in the early period of occupation, evidently budded off two subtribes called Teipe and Teaaki.

The mechanism of the subdivision is not known, but each selected a tribal god after whom the group was named. This involved dedication at the cutting of the navel cord, and the subsequent automatic grouping was assured. Though subtribes by origin, they were regarded as specific groupings to which the tribal term kopu was applied.

The Teipe subtribe seems to have become fairly strong during the early part of Ngauta's rule. Under the chief Maruataiti, they attempted to wrest the temporal supremacy from the parent tribe but were defeated by Ngauta at the battle of Auruia. After this lesson, they were allied with Ngauta and enjoyed prosperity. They again became somewhat arrogant, for after they had insulted Ngauta the Tongaiti crushed them in the battle of Ikuari. Later again they recovered, and their restless spirit caused them to join Ruanae in his struggle against Te Uanuku of the Ngati-Vara. After their defeat at Arira, they ceased to influence the politics of the country and the remnants furnished human sacrifices to Rongo.

The Teaaki subtribe shared the prosperity of the Tongaiti under the rule of Ngauta. After the final defeat of Ngauta by the Ngariki, they attempted to revive the fallen fortunes of the tribe by plotting to kill the leaders of Ngariki. The plot failed and the main families with the chiefs Iro, Tuavira, Akaina, and Pati were expelled from the island. Koroa (12, p. 134) in a lament thus referred to them.

Kua pau Te'a'aki! Teaaki [tribe] is gone,
Kua ta'una te matakeinanga o Te-tipi The people of Te-tipi have been consumed [by fire],
Poroara io ia Ngariki. Driven away by the Ngariki.
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The tribe thus vanished from Mangaia, but as the exiles safely landed on Rarotonga, the Mangaian element in Titikaveka should represent, in part, the expelled Tea-aki. They blended, however, with the local people, assumed a new grouping, and the name Teaaki disappeared.

The Ngariki claim that they were a tribe when Mangaian history opened. The important offices of that period were held by three brothers who formed the high chiefs (nga ariki) of the tribe. Enjoying a long period of early success in war, the tribe increased to the extent of subdivision.

Three divisions were formed, and the grouping followed the descent from the three brothers. The ancestral subdivision of the Ngariki is as follows:

The senior division was named after Paparangi, the son of Rangi. This division is often referred to as Ngariki. It had its own high chief (ariki), the last of whom was Maunganui (26, p. 244). In the distribution of authority, Rongo gave Rangi the drum of peace, and Rangi was the first Temporal Lord of Mangaia. It was probably intended that the temporal rule should descend in the senior line.

The Akatauira division took its name direct from one of the brothers. Rongo gave Te Akatauira the karakia (prayers and ritual). These formed the necessary equipment of the Inland and Shore High Priests of Rongo. As the last Inland High Priest was Te Ao of the Akatauira, it is probable that the more important of the two offices passed in succession in the Akatauira tribe. The tribe also had its own high chief, the last of whom happened to be also the holder of the office of high priest. The Akatauira held the mangaia under Panoko with the assistance of One of the Tongaiti.

The Vaeruarangi took its name from the son of Mokoiro. To Mokoiro, Rongo gave the authority over food. This developed into the office of the official Ruler of Food (te ariki i te tapora kai), which went by succession in the Vaeruarangi tribe. The office, at times, coincided with that of the high chief (ariki) of the tribe, for the names of Namu and Kaoa appear both as official Rulers of Food (12, p. 314) and as leaders of the Vaeruarangi tribe in battle (12, p. 310). The last High Chief and Ruler of Food was Mauri, who was visited by John Williams in 1829 (12, p. 314).

The three divisions of the Ngariki thus developed into distinct tribes which fought against each other for supremacy in spite of the fact that they worshiped the one god Motoro.

Social Grades

High chiefs, lesser chiefs, and commoners form the social grades within the tribes. The highest title (ariki) is vested in the kiko mua (first-born son of a first-born son) in each generation and cannot be held by a female. The fact that daughters may be born before a male child does not affect succession. A sister may be senior in birth to her ariki brother but, owing to the restric-page 100tion of the relationship term of tuakana to the same sex, her seniority is not recognized. When she marries, her children may be theoretically senior to those of her brother, but this is offset by the fact that they are tama va'ine and cannot supplant their cousins, who are tama tane. They have also passed out of the tribe and even their adoption can not obviate their tama va'ine descent. This rule has, however, been broken on occasion.

The ariki is senior to all other chiefs within the tribe. In the three Ngariki subtribes, each subtribe maintained its own ariki title, held in addition to other public offices. The other tribes of Mangaia did not establish ariki titles.

The junior members of a chiefly line were termed rangatira (chiefs). They came of good stock and, if they established strong families, they had to be considered in the politics of the tribe. An ariki, as the senior head of the tribe, had to consult his chiefs, who were termed the 'ui rangatira (the assembly of chiefs). The ariki was often a figurehead who enjoyed certain privileges by virtue of his rank, but the family groups within the tribe were directly represented by the 'ui rangatira.

The younger members of families, who in each generation were pushed farther and farther from any chance of succession to the higher ranks, became the commoners or mass of the people. They were free men, but the higher positions in the tribe were occupied by their seniors in birth. The power of a chief was influenced by the number of people who gave him allegiance. This depended on the male increase in his particular family group, and on the number of outside people he could support in his establishment. Seniority of blood, though revered, was somewhat theoretical as compared with the practical advantages of number.

In the course of history the prestige of the toa (successful warrior) began to overshadow that of the rangatira (chief). Successful leadership in war determined whether the tribe kept its own lands and acquired others. The warrior was given substantial shares of land. The war leader of the successful tribe became Temporal Lord of Mangaia, Which carried more power than any hereditary office. A hereditary chief could not rely on his seniority alone, but, to maintain his power in the tribe, he had to be a warrior as well. Te Uanuku of Ngati-Vara held the mangaia through his personal prowess as much as through his being the first-born son of Mautara. None of his descendants displayed military leadership, and though his family is recognized as the kiko mua, the leadership in the tribe passed to junior branches of the family. The Ngariki alone endeavored to keep the original pattern based on hereditary succession, as they had everything to gain by adhering to it. The other tribes evidently admitted the Ngariki as direct descendants of Rongo and were not able to interfere with titles derived from that source.

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Another class in the community were the priests of the tribal gods (pi'a atua). They fought in war in addition to following the duties of their profession. They were also 'are korero (repository of tribal lore.)

The lowest class in the community were those who had been defeated in war and had not had time to reorganize their tribes. These people ('ao or ivi panga, "fatherless people"), immediately after battle, were fugitives hiding in the makatea or the mountain. After the sounding of the drum of peace they came forth and sought sustenance with their wives' relations, or became menials in the households of powerful chiefs.

The refuge caves and forest shelters of the 'ao were termed punanga. Mention of one of these refuges is made in a song composed by Koroa (12, p. 121):

Tei Takimivera 'oki te punanga At Takimivera is the refuge,
Punanga i te 'ao e! The refuge of the conquered.

The fugitives lived on such fruits and berries as they could find in the vicinity of their shelters. In the night they descended to the taro lands, but the danger was great. They also moved about frequently when the enemy were hot on their trail. The difficulty of obtaining food drove some fugitives to cannibalism. Rats were trapped and occasionally fish were obtained secretly from the lagoon. Large bodies of fugitives hid in caves which could be easily defended from openings situated some distance up the side of the cliff.

One of the outstanding features in Mangaian history is the way in which the wives of fugitives stuck to their husbands. They arranged secret meeting places and brought food to them. Even when refuge caves were blockaded, wives were allowed to pass the guards and take what scanty food they could conceal about their persons. It was but rarely that the blockade was made so strict that the wives were searched and deprived of the food they were carrying. Sometimes wives obtained protection for their husbands under some powerful relation in their own tribe.

During the period of concealment, many of the refugees made nets and other objects to store up as wealth with which to buy protection.

When the peace drum sounded and the fugitives emerged from their refuges, the victors gave them a feast (taperu kai) in public recognition of their safety. The conquered, however, had lost their holdings in the rich taro lands of the puna districts. They were awarded shares in the upper narrow ends of the valleys where they could still grow a certain amount of taro. They were also given land in the makatea, where sweet potatoes and paper mulberry plants could be produced. The conquered were rather unjustly blamed for the shedding of blood that had occurred and therefore became servitors in the households of the victors. They grew the paper mulberry, caught fish, and grated the taro (poke) for their masters to pay for the blood which had been spilt (ei tutaki i te toto i ta'e). Their masters then allowed them some share in the taro land which is expressed by the phrase, "Ka 'angai i roto i te puna." (They fed them in the irrigated taro lands.) The lot of the serf depended on the character of the chief he served.

The serfs were naturally inclined to plot for a reversal of power. When a chief became dissatisfied with his servitor, he evicted him without com-page 112punction by sending him word to go or by indicating expulsion in some other form. One method was for the chief to sit down near the hut of the serf and make fire himself with the fire plough of two pieces of wood. This indicated that the serf's services were no longer needed in the household. When warned, the serf had to leave and seek another master. Gill (12, pp. 99-102) relates a pertinent story:

The serf Autea, when asked by his master for the loan of a nanue hook, replied that the one he was using was all that he had. The fact that the master asked for a loan and allowed the serf to continue using his hook shows that the master was considerate. The master subsequently found out that the serf had several other nanue hooks in his fishing basket and so dismissed him summarily. The incident passed into the disciplinary saying, "Remember Autea."

When the serfs bought protection with goods manufactured during exile, as hooks, nets, and lines, they gave the best to their new masters. The masters generally made a show of magnanimity by allowing them to keep considerable quantities for themselves.

a Gill in a note to this song states that pare stands for apare.