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The Pa Maori

The Opening Ceremony Lifting the Tapu from a New Pa

The Opening Ceremony Lifting the Tapu from a New Pa

The mauri of the pa having been located, probably buried at the base of the first post erected, the work of constructing the fort then proceeded. One house would also be built therein prior to the opening of the place to the public, that is to the people who were to page 148build huts and dwell in the fort. That first house would be a large one, to serve as the principal house of the village, and would receive a special name.

When the fort and its principal house were completed, a day was set apart for the opening ceremony, explained below. This account is given as it was translated from the original Maori. The tapu lifting ceremony was now performed, after which all persons, including women, were allowed to enter, and a feast was held. As the people entered the new pa they selected sites for their huts, but in such selection deference was paid to the chief of the pa, whose permission would be asked in such words as, "E ta! Ki konei pea he wahi mo toku nei?" And the chief would assent thereto with "Ae" (yes).

For the ceremony of taking the tapu off a new pa, a young unmarried woman was selected to takahi or tread the forbidden place, and who was the first woman to enter it, as also the first person to enter it on the day the ceremony was performed. The girl so selected was usually a daughter, or grand-daughter, of the principal chief of the place, or, lacking such, then the tohunga or priest selected a member of some other family for the purpose, but the person so appointed must be of good family; no plebeian would be selected to fill the position. Women were so employed because it was woman that brought man into the world (a reference to the myth of Tane and Hine-hau-one, the first woman), hence it is desirable that woman should have the mana of the act. It was considered an honour for a girl to be chosen for this task, and only a girl of good family would be so employed, whereupon it would be said, "Na te tamahine a Mea i takapau te pa."—The daughter of so-and-so took the tapu off the pa. As a participant in the ceremonial she would be termed a wahine rahiri, or ruahine.

There is apparently another reason why a woman should be employed to abolish or lift tapu; the female is, from a sacerdotal point of view, inferior to the male element; she is lacking in tapu and hence is more suitable for the above purpose. It was customary to so employ either an unmarried girl or a woman past childbearing. The inferiority of woman was a firm belief; woman sprang from the earth, but Tane, who represented the male element, was perhaps the most important of the seventy offspring of the Sky Father and Earth Mother. The belief is an old and widespread one.

Another statement is that the female element is peaceful, non-aggressive; woman is not connected with war and man slaying, hence woman is so employed in peaceful ritual. She represents the tamawahine, or female element.

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The tohunga or adept who has charge of the ceremonial performance instructs the girl as to her duties, and the first act on her part is to proceed to the main entrance of the pa and sit down on the paetaku, or sill, of the gateway. She seats herself astride of the middle of the beam, with a foot on each side of it, and is careful to keep looking at, or facing toward the sun; the officiating priest meanwhile reciting a certain ritual. He cries out, "Taku ohi, taku ohi" and then, laying his left hand on the girl's head, he repeats:—

  • "He ohi tipua, he ohi wahine tenei ka takahi
  • He takahi uru rangi, he takahi uru tau
  • Whakaputaia, whakaputaia he Orongonui
  • Ko Akaaka-nui, ko Akaaka-nui."

This announces that the female element has entered on the scene and is about to ensure freedom from restriction, and absence of troubles, a condition supported by the gods. Also it appeals for continual prosperity and strength. He then says to the young woman, "Arise." She then enters the pa, as also does the priest, and she stands at his left side. He then points with his hand to the post at the base of which the mauri is buried, saying, "Yonder is the whatu, go you directly to it." She then advances to the post, the priest following her, but he stops some little distance from it, while she advances to the base of the post. He then says to her, "Turn so as to face me, and place your back against the post," She sits down at the base of the post, with her back against it, and facing toward the priest. He then calls out:—

"Na wai taku pa?" (Whose is my pa?)

And then repeats the name of the atua of the pa, which atua (god, deity, supernatural being, or demon) may be Rongomai, or Kahu-kura, or Tunui-a-te-ika, or Tama-i-waho, for one of these is usually selected as an atua tiakipa, or pa protecting deity, for these are war gods. Gods of fishing, etc., would not be employed for such a purpose as the above. So the name of the atua is inserted here, as….

  • "Na Rongomai taku pa." (My fort is Rongomai's.)

He then proceeds:—

  • "Tenei to aro, he aro wahine
  • Tapuwae nuku, tapuwae rangi
  • Tapuwae ki tenei tama
  • He tama na wai?
  • He tama na Tu
  • Na Tu-rangi whakaheke ki raro
  • He piere tu, he piere tapage 150
  • Angiangi ki te ao
  • He ao tangata nau, E Rongomai
  • Hukia mai to aro ki tenei tama."

The girl represents the peaceful aspect of the female element. He refers to the fleeting presence of the gods and calls for enduring mana for the fort, alluding to himself as tama or son—'A son of whom?—A son of Tu.' Tu is the supreme war deity who produced certain beings. The brevity of human life is referred to, and Rongomai, the protecting deity of the pa is asked to impart power and effectiveness to the ritual.

The priest now advances and stands before the girl; he places his left hand on her head, and proceeds:—

  • "Kia nguha to aro, he aro nui, he aro tangata."

A request to the deity to be gentle and complacent; his power and presence are great; let the people and place enjoy the benefits of those powers.

This ends the ceremony, the girl rises to her feet. As she does so, the people acclaim her and utter cries of pleasure and satisfaction.

The reason why the priest used his left hand only in such ceremonial, as when he touched the girl's head, is that the right hand is the 'evil hand,' the hand that wields a weapon and takes human life, hence is the left hand used in ritual performances, that is in religious ceremonial, and hence a left handed man (with weapons) was not allowed to perform such rites. Should the priest employ his right hand to point with, or to touch the girl with, such would be an extremely unlucky act, and it would tend to nullify the effect of the ritual, and to weaken the mana of the pa.

The young woman officiating as above was always arrayed in fine garments, and adorned in the manner Maori. She took her stand above the mauri because that item represents the mana of the pa. She destroys or removes, the tapu, or restriction, from the pa and, after this, any person can enter it, and even pass near the place where the mauri lies.

After the acclamation above mentioned ceases, the people enter the pa and salute the girl with tears and the hongi salutation, and whakamanawa (welcome) her, as—"Haramai e hine;i haramai net koe i te oha o ou tipuna, o ou matua." ("Welcome, O maid! You who hail from the revered customs and prized remembrances of your ancestors and elders.") Of such a nature would be their greeting, as they wept and saluted her. The oha refers to tribal welfare bequeathed by ancestors of bygone generations, and benefits obtained for humanity from the gods.

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After this performance was over, the priest and girl would proceed to whakanoa or take the tapu off the new house that had been erected within the pa. She enters the porch of the house and opens the door thereof, then stands in the porch facing outwards. The man who is to recite the kawa ritual then comes forward. He is not necessarily a priest, but must be well acquainted with the ritual. Some of the kawa or invocations repeated at such functions are of considerable length, hence two adepts are often employed in rendering such effusions, so that, when one's breath gives out, the other at once takes up the chant, so as to cause no perceptible break in the recitation. This is repeated outside the house but there is another such to be repeated inside the building. The girl is told to cross the inner threshold, pass through the doorway into the house, and walk directly to the rear post (pou tuarongo), in fact she has been already taught the necessary movements. The reciter, or chanter, of the second kawa follows in her rear, reciting as he does so, but he halts at the pou tokcmanawa, or central post of the house. The girl kneels at the base of the rear post, with her back against it, and facing the door. As the chant closes with the words. "Haramai te toki, haumi e!" the girl rises to her feet, and the ceremony is over. The women and slaves then set about preparing the hakari, or ceremonial feast.

The first built house is the principal house of the pa, and would have a special name assigned to it, as all large houses had. The ordinary dwelling huts and cook sheds, etc., would be erected after the above ceremony was performed. We may often note such an expression as 'so-and-so was the pa, the house within it was…,' giving the name of the principal house only, and not meaning that there was but one house there. As I heard a native say the other day, 'There was a village at Te Korokoro (near Wellington), the house was Te Pu-tawaro-rangi," meaning that such was the name of the principal house of the hamlet.

The girl took her stand at the rear post of the house on account of the mauri of the house being buried at that spot, even as she stood over the mauri of the pa at the corner post. But the house mauri and its singular attributes represents another story that must wait for the days that lie before.

Here follow some notes on the removal of tapu from a new fort, as contributed by the late Tuta Nihoniho, of the East Coast district:—

A pa of importance was in a state of tapu while being built, just as a high class house was. While under construction, women were not allowed to enter the place, such an act would have the effect page 152of polluting or desecrating its tapu, and would also cause the workmen to become weary and listless. The tapu was lifted from the new pa at the performance of the kawa rite, when a high class woman, acting as a ruahine, was employed in the whakanoa, or tapu removing ceremony, to takahi or 'tread' the pa. While a certain invocation or charm was being recited by the priest officiating, she entered the gateway and walked over the different divisions of the fort. This took the tapu off the place, and the idea behind this singular act is this: that it is the inferior female element that destroys the tapu, the passing of the female organ over the tapu ground has the effect of banishing that tapu.

When a new pa was completed, the kawa rite was performed over it, and, when the invocation, or charm, termed the kawa, was recited by the tohunga, or priest, great stress was laid on the mode of its rendition. If the recital of the long ritual was faultless, uttered without omissions and in smoothly flowing tones grateful to the ears of listening and hypercritical adepts, such a circumstance was accepted as a good omen for the new pa; it would possess mana, luck, prestige, its inmates would share in such benefits, and not easily be cast down, simply because the gods were behind them. And the priestly adepts would remark—"Tiho mauri ova, tuniki ki tahito o te rangi."

When the tapu has been lifted from the new pa, the whole of the people are at liberty to enter it, to construct houses and reside therein; whereas, prior to that ceremony, the workmen only were allowed in it. The kawa rite was performed at the entrance. The priest performed this ceremony and was the first to enter the new pa after its completion, and the ruahine, or tapu removing woman, was the second person to do so. Tribal accounts of these functions ever differ somewhat in detail.

If, however, any omission, or other error, be made in the repetition of the sacred chants, such a thing is looked upon as being extremely unlucky, no good fortune could possibly come to the occupants of the fort, hence the priests would say—"Let us remove the pa to another site," "Nohonoho ka hiki; he atua, he taitahae!" Or, as we would put it—"We must get out of this; there's the devil to pay." Then that site would be utterly abandoned by the people. The new fort, albeit completed, would be dismantled, the timbers taken down or dug up, and carried away to a new site and there re-erected. The correct rendering of the invocations and performance of the ceremonies connected with the kawanga rite imparted mana (prestige, luck, etc.) to the pa; but, in order to preserve those desirable qualities, and endow the inmates of the fort with the confidence, etc., that such qualities inspire, it was essentially necessary that the fort should page 153possess a material mauri, endowed, by means of another religious rite, with the power of retaining and preserving the luck, prestige, and fear inspiring qualities of the place.

The strange custom described below was practised by the Takitumu peoples of the East Coast:—

Another remarkable ceremony that was sometimes performed at the opening function pertaining to a new fortified position was the ceremonial releasing of certain birds by the officiating priestly adepts engaged in performing the kawa rite by which the tapu is lifted from a new fort, house or canoe.

During the performance of the above ceremony the two tohunga or priestly adepts entered the fort and took up positions at the two angles of the front face thereof, one at each angle. Each of the men held in his hand a live bird, the little miromiro. The twain then recited a very old form of ritual that has not been collected in its entirety, in which this line occurs,

  • "Tenei to aro, he toi tu, he toi matua, he toi taketake,"

This being chanted, the name of the pa was then pronounced, and the recital continued:—

  • "Ko to aro, ko taku aro
  • Ko to toi matua, ko toku toi matua
  • Ko to toi taketake he tipua ki roto ki tenei pa
  • Tihe mauri ora."

As this recital ended the two birds were released by the holders and allowed to fly away free and unharmed. This singular act was simply an acted invocation to the gods, an emblematical ceremony symbolising a desire, and an entreaty to the gods, that they may so protect the pa and its inhabitants as to render them free from harm as the released birds. Those birds were unharmed and obtained absolute freedom and safety at a time when, to them, death seemed assured, out of the very jaws of death were they delivered. This extraordinary symbolical act was also performed at certain other functions of a religious nature, such as the highly curious baptismal ceremony performed over infants. It is one of the most interesting items connected with Maori ritual and reminds one of statements made by certain anthropologists that truly primitive man acted his desires and prayers more than he spoke them.

The above ceremonial was for the purpose of inducing the gods to protect the place, to endow fort and people with prosperity, health, safety and success in peace and war.

The miromiro (Petroica toitoi) and tatahore (Mohua albirapillus) are two small forest birds that were, in former times, used in certain ritual functions, hence they were looked upon as being tapu. They page 154are said to have been selected and set aside in ancient times as mediums to be employed in religious ceremonies performed at the tuahu, ahurewa and toma tupapaku, three very tapu places whereat many rites were enacted. They also entered into a very curious religious function performed when crops were planted.