Nights of the Moon

The lunar month (marama) was divided into nights of the moon. Commencing with the new moon, each night received its own distinctive name, which came to denote the size or stage of the moon on a particular night. A night name could not be transferred to a night when the moon was not in the stage denoted by the name. The Rakahangan list of nights of the moon contains 30 names and is divided into two divisions. In the first division (Ohiro), consisting of 17 nights, are the nights when the moon is rising to its zenith (te au po e rewa ai te marama). In the second, consisting of 13 nights, are the nights when the moon is getting darker (te au po o te kau pouri).

The notes on the nights of the moon gathered in Rakahanga were obtained from the writings of an old man named Haumata-tua, who recorded them in a ledger now in the possession of Aporo of Rakahanga. The names as spelled in this manuscript are given in table 16. The actual night names without the introductory particle ko or the definite articles te, ti, or ta, with the pronounced h and wh inserted, are given in parentheses.

Table 16. Rakahangan Nights of the Moon, First List
Te au po o te Ohiro (The Nights of the Ohiro)

1.	Te atu (Atu)
2.	Te tutai (Tutahi)
3.	Te turoto (Turoto)
4.	Tamatea tutai (Tamatea tutahi)
5.	Tamatea turoto
6.	Tamatea akaoti (Tamatea whaka- oti)
7.	Ko Tiooata (Hoata)
8.	Ko Tiari (Ari)
9.	Kote korekore tai (Korekore tahi)
10.	Ko Uune (Hune)
11.	Ko Tioau (Ohau)
12.	Ko Tamaaru (Maharu)
13.	Ko Tiotua mua (Otua mua)
14.	Ko Tiotua muri (Otua muri)
15.	Ko Tiotu (Hotu)
16.	Ko marangi (Marangi)
17.	Te etau maro (Whetau-maro)

Te au po o te Kaupouri (The Nights of the Darkening Period)

18.	Rakau tai (Rakau tahi)
19.	Rakau roto
20.	Rakau akaoti (Rakau whakaoti)
21.	Korekore tutai (Korekore tutahi)
22.	Korekore roto
23.	Korekore akaoti (Korekore whaka-oti)
24.	Tangaroa tutai (Tangaroa tutahi)
25.	Tangaroa roto
26.	Tangaroa akaoti (Tangaroa whaka-oti)
27.	Ko Tirongonui (Rongonui)
28.	Ko Tane (Tane)
29.	Ko Te mauri (Mauri)
30.	Ko Te mutunga (Mutunga)

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The name Atu applied to the 1st night is peculiar to the list. The name Tutahi (first) given to the 2nd night is followed by Turoto, meaning “inner.” The 4th, 5th, and 6th nights form a group of Tamatea which are distinguished by the qualifying terms tutahi (1st). turoto (inner), and whakaoti (to finish, last). The triple grouping with the same qualifying terms is used three times in the second half of the month with the Rakau, Korekore, and Tangaroa nights. It is evident, therefore, that Tutahi and Turoto, as applied to the 2nd and 3rd nights, are qualifying terms applied to a triple group of which the last of the series is missing, for it is not logical to use the middle term turoto unless it is followed by a whakaoti. The group name has been dropped.

A widespread commencement consists of Tireo (1st), Hiro (2nd), and Hoata (3rd). With dialectical letter changes, this commencement is found in Tahiti, Tongareva, and Cook Islands. It is present in New Zealand, but in most lists from that area Tireo and Hiro (Whiro) change positions. Hawaii, like New Zealand, commences with Hiro (Hilo) but drops Tireo altogether and places Hoata (Hoaka) as the 2nd night. A list collected by K. P. Emory from Fagatau in the eastern Tuamotus gives Hiro as the 1st night and Hoata as the 2nd. From the distribution in the marginal areas of New Zealand, Hawaii, and the eastern Tuamotus, it would appear that the Hiro commencement is older and that Tireo has changed places with it in the central eastern area. Localities that do not now have the Hiro commencement are the Marquesas, Mangareva, and Rakahanga. It is evident, however, that Rakahanga once had knowledge of it but that Atu or Atua has displaced Hiro, which, in the form of Ohiro, came to be used as a term for the first 17 nights, and that Hoata has been displaced to the 7th night.

A widespread group that appears early in the first half of the month is the Hamiama trio. Stimson (24, pp. 327–328) in a Tahitian list gives a group of three Hamiama, qualified by tahi (1st), roto (inner), and fa'aoti (last), which follows the Tireo triple commencement and immediately precedes a group of three Tamatea. Rarotonga (32, p. 356), after the Tireo commencement, has two Amiama immediately preceding two Tamatea. Tongareva (29, p. 216) has the Tireo commencement followed by three Samia, which immediately precede three Tamatea. The Samia of Tongareva corresponds to Hamia or Hamiama with the final syllable dropped. In the Fagatau list Hiro and Hoata are followed by three Hamia, which in turn precede three Tamatea. It may, therefore, be inferred that in Rakahanga the Tamatea group, by being displaced to the 4th, 5th, and 6th nights, has also pushed up a triple Hamiama group ahead of it. The Hamiama group dislocated Hiro (1st) out of list, and Hoata (2nd) fell back immediately below the last Tamatea. Somehow or other, Atu took up the place of Hiro, which page 220 left only two nights (2nd, 3rd) for the Hamiama trio. This resulted in the dropping of the last member (Hamiama whakaoti). In the course of time the group name was forgotten or dropped, and Hamiama tutatahi and Hamiama turoto now appear as Tutahi and Turoto for the 2nd and 3rd nights.

The dislocation of an earlier commencement by the Hamiama group is shown in other areas. For the Marquesas, Handy (14, p. 348) gives a list of three Maheama which occupy the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th nights; the Marquesan 1st night is Tu. In Mangareva, according to Williams (32, p. 355), the 1st to the 4th nights form a group of four Maema. Maheama and Maema are dialectical forms of Hamiama.

Considerable confusion is apparent in the names of the first half of the month. The 7th night is the displaced Hoata of the Hiro commencement. The 8th night, Ari, has a wide distribution. The 9th night, Korekore tutahi, is a single representative of a Korekore group, which is present in the first half in both Tahiti and Rarotonga. The retention of the qualifying term tutahi (1st) shows that it was originally the first of a group. The 10th night, Hune, is the widespread Huna of other areas, which, in most, falls on the 10th. In the 11th night, Ohau, if what is evidently a prefixed “o” is removed and hau transposed, we have Hua, a widespread term which is usually about two nights later. The 12th, Maharu, is widespread and generally on the same night. Two Otua (Atua) follow on the 13th and 14th, but most other areas have only one Atua. The 15th, Hotu, coincides in name and date with other areas. The 16th, Marangi, has the same name and date in Tongareva, Tahiti, and Rarotonga, but Whetau-maro, 17th, is evidently a local name which has replaced Turu. It will be noted that the 16th and 17th are regarded as nights of the full moon and are added to the first half so that the second period of the kau pouri, consisting of 13 nights, covers the decrease in the size of the moon.

After the confusion of the first half, the stability of the second half is all the more marked. It coincides in every particular with the Rarotongan list and differs from Tongarevan and Tahitian lists only in transposing the positions of the Rongonui (27th) and Tane (28th) names.

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Table 17. Rakahangan Nights of the Moon, Second List

1.	Te Mutunga
2.	Tiatua
3.	Tuatahi
4.	Tuatahi-rua
5.	Tuatahi-toru
6.	Tamatea-tuatahi
7.	Tamatea-turua
8.	Tamatea-tuturo
9.	Tehari
10.	Korekore
11.	Tehune
12.	Tiohua
13.	Temahari
14.	Tihotuamua
15.	Tihotuamuri
16.	Tihowhotu
17.	Te marangi
18.	Whetau-maro
19.	Rakau-tahi
20.	Rakau-rua
21.	Rakau-toru
22.	Korekore-tahi
23.	Korekore-rua
24.	Korekore-toru
25.	Tangaroa-tahi
26.	Tangaroa-rua
27.	Tangaroa-toru
28.	Te Tane
29.	Te Rongonui
30.	Te Mauri

After naming Te marangi (17th), the reciter of the list remarks, “Kua tae ki te kau poiri.” (The dark period is reached.) After the Mauri (30th), an explanation is offered, “The mutuanga Tiatua ka vero no te Ohiro.” (The end of the Tiatua commences the Ohiro.) The first part (evidently to the Marangi) is headed, “te tatauanga po o te Ohiro” (the counting of the nights of the Ohiro).

This list has evidently been badly mutilated in the course of time. A significant item is the transference of Te mutunga (the end) from the 30th night to the 1st with the subsequent dislocation of the otherwise consistent second half. Thus the first of the Rakau group, which, over a very wide distribution, occurs on the 18th, is displaced to the 19th and all following names are displaced a night later so that the Mauri, which should be on the 29th, ends the list on the 30th. The transference of Te Mutunga to the first night of the moon has doubtless been due to the confusion which arose between the months which had 29 nights and 30 nights respectively. Savage considers from the remarks added to the list that the nights were divided into two periods termed Tiatua and Ohiro. The Manihikian dialect uses ti as an alternative to the definite article te, so that Tiatua is really the Atua. The Atua period corresponds to the Kau-poiri period of the second half. The statement that the end of the Atua commences the Ohiro points to a memory of Hiro commencing the month as in the Maori and Hawaiian tables. Unfortunately, both Mutunga and Tiatua have been confused as names for the 1st and 2nd nights and Hiro, or Ohiro, has been transferred to a name for the first half. The term Atua here takes the place of Atu in the first list and is probably more nearly correct. The utter confusion is indicated by the use of Tuatahi (1st) for the 3rd night and the terms Tuatahi-rua and Tuatahi-toru (2nd-1st and 3rd-1st) for the 4th and 5th nights, which is absurd. It page 222 is again evident that a group name has been forgotten. From the position preceding the Tamatea group, the group was again probably the Hamiama series.

Another variation in the second table is the use of the numbers rua (2) and toru (3) to designate the last 2 of a group of 3 instead of roto (inner) and whakaoti (last) as used in the first table. In the second table Tane (28th) and Rongonui (29th), if brought back to the 27th and 28th, occupy the order and dates which occur in New Zealand and Hawaii as well as Tahiti, which, with the mention of Ohiro, would indicate that the second table represents an older series than the first table. If so, it may also be assumed that tahi, rua, and toru as applied to triple groups are older than the use of the forms tahi, roto, and whakaoti.

Confusion is also evident in the 14th, 15th, and 16th nights, which, as Ti-hotu-mua, Ti-hotu-muri, and Ti-ho-whotu, are all forms of Hotu, which is found but once in lists from other areas.

In spite of the confusion in names and their sequence, the Rakahangan lists show a marked affinity with eastern Polynesian lists and they have not one name in common with Samoa and Tonga.