The Material Culture of the Cook Islands (Aitutaki)
5.—Fish Weirs, PA
5.—Fish Weirs, PA.
Fish weirs with stone walls were made inside the reef. The principle involved is the erection of an enclosure on the course of one of the channels leading out to the reef, and thus intercepting fish going out on a falling tide. The opening to the enclosure is then closed with a net and the fish caught by spearing or scooping up with a hand net.
Most of the pa are very old, having been laid down far back in pre-European times. The channels were studied and the course taken by fish observed. The lines of the walls were laid down with such skill and accuracy that any departure from them ends in failure. The walls are made of loose coral rock. The most important weirs are named, and are owned by particular familes. No outsider can use a weir without permission from the hereditary owners. Any infringement of their privileges led to blood-shed and war. There are various types of weirs, of which examples will be taken.
(a.) | Pa kiokio. An example of the pa kiokio is the well-known weir named Taketake, situated near Tautu. It was explained by Kavana, one of the hereditary owners.
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The plan of the weir is shown in Fig. 259. The walls are of heaped-up stones, and are about two feet thick. The real outline of the weir is shown by the letters Abcde. The names of the various parts are as follows:—
From the ends A and D, lines of cocoanut leaves and tree branches are run out in an oblique direction, RR. These rows are known by the general name of rau, leaves, and also by the particular term rangarangaia. The channel or ava is shown by the dotted lines. At full tide the rau, RR, are put out. The fish come down on a falling tide. Most come down the channel, but those that are to the side are directed to it by the long lines of rau. Coming down the channel they are forced by the walls AB and DE to enter the true enclosure at the opening beyond E. A look-out man, who has been stationed at X, follows a shoal down when it passes him. At E he remains on guard. Another man is stationed at Y. The fish go on up towards the rounded putaka end, at D. As they pass the point Y, the man stationed there puts a hopai net across to block the channel at F. On either side of F there is a projecting stone known as a tara kokiri, the spine of the trigger fish. The hopai net rests against these stones and remains firmly fixed. The fish are thus yarded in the enclosure DF. They are removed with hand nets, the small enclosure not being suitable for spearing. page 300This fishing takes place in the daytime. In the old days, the season lasted from June to March. The depth of water in the weir during the time of active use is up to the thighs. When the fish weir is not in use the kavihi wall AB is let down to allow fish to go up and down the channel. The part of the weir shown behind A is an extra. The enclosure is termed pahanga-tu-ki-tua, the part at the back. Here there is a putaka at A. At a putaka, the fish go round and round. Fish are caught here coming in from the reef on a rising tide. The fish caught in the daytime are usually kiokio, iroa, paoa, urua, vaia, nanue, mu, stingray, and even turtle. As the kiokio is the most common fish caught, the weir is called a pa kiokio. Night fishing with pa kiokio. At night the sentry stands at the entrance to the enclosure at E. He stands in the middle of the entrance and sees or feels the fish pass. He prevents their return by beating on the water with a canoe pole. They make their way up into the putaka end and are caught in the usual way. This method is also used on a falling tide. The best night is the mutu, or last night of the lunar month. Operations are continued until daylight, or the rising tide. Another fish weir near Taketake is Te Hape. Te Hape has been abandoned, and the rangarangaia leaf lines for Taketake now pass across it. |
(b.) | Pa tute. This type of weir is of a temporary nature. See Fig. 260a. The walls A and B are built to converge into a narrow channel, about a foot wide, in the reef channel. At the point C a hopai net is set. A sentry
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is stationed to the outer side of one of the walls, D. When a shoal enters the weir and passes him, he steps over the wall into the middle of the channel. He drives the fish on with a pole. The channel at the net has been narrowed to a foot wide to prevent the fish from turning round when they see the net.
The net is set on a slant, Fig. 260b, with a stone behind the cross-bar to raise the net, and another stone in front to keep the end down. The fish coming down rise over the stones and go down into the net. This temporary weir is a method devised for utilising the hopai net. The pa tute method goes on throughout the year. It generally follows in sequence round the island, commencing at Tautu in August and lasting to January. The operations take place at low tide, early in the morning, at about 7 or 8 o'clock. The fish caught are of the vaia type, such as marari haupo, mata kiwa, pahopaho, pakati, rahi, roro, rotea, uhu, mamaringa, aumauri, and others. A variation of the pa tute is made by bending the narrow part of the race into an angle at the end, Fig. 261. The hopai net is set in the same way, but the bend in the race prevents the fish from seeing the net until they are practically in it. |
(c.) | Pa tuakirua. The pa tuakirua is a V-shaped weir, with the opening towards the sea. The walls are built on the same principle as in the pa tute, in that at the opening the walls take in the reef channel. The point of the V is permanently closed. It is covered over with stones so as to make a stone house, hare pohatu.
The fish go up on a falling tide and stay in the stone house at X, Fig. 262. The sentry is stationed at a point about midway along one of the side walls. Y, and when the fish pass him he puts a hopai net across at Z. The fish are then driven out of the stone house with a pole and driven into the hopai net. page 302This method is used in the morning, at about 10 a.m., after the ordinary pa tute method. It may also be used in the afternoon. The fish caught is that kind of vaia known as tuakirua, hence the name of pa tuakirua. |
(d.) | Arani pa. The fish weir named Arani is the most famous in Aitutaki. It belongs to the descendants of Te Erui, who live at the village of Reureu. It was demonstrated to me by Tikaka and Te Tera. |
From the corners of the front wall stretched long lines of rau. That on the left stretched to the rock named Hai, page 303to another rock named Akaepa, and then on to a shallow known as Te-tua-o-te-Koro. On the right the line stretched away to the large submerged boundary rock named Raka. It was these long leading lines that materially increased the efficiency of the weir. My informants said that without them the weir would be of little value.
Closing the weir entrance. The method of closing the weir was entirely different to those already described. A net somewhat longer than the width of the entrance was used. It has a rope, karihi, above and below. Preparations were made at high tide. The lines of rau were laid out. All along the course of these there are large stones lying on the bottom. They are the black stones known as pohatumaori. It takes two men to move some of them under the water. Yet all these stones, of which there is a large number, have been brought from the mainland and placed in position. As the line of rau is run along, these stones are rolled on to it to keep it in position on the bottom. Though fish could easily swim over it, they are frightened by the leaves and are thus directed down towards the weir.
The net at the weir entrance is laid flat on the bottom, as shown in Fig. 264. The middle of the ends of the net correspond with the ends of the front wall opening. All the portion of the net in front of the opening is weighted down with large stones disposed along the edge. The part inside the weir is left free on the bottom.
A sentinel, mataika, stands in front of the wall near the entrance. It is his duty to watch for the entering fish, and give the signal to close the entrance. To the outer side of him, and in a similar position on the other side of the entrance, stand two men, tangata tutoko. They are armed with two forked stakes of iron-wood, like clothes props, and about seven to eight feet long. These props are called tutoko. When a shoal of fish has entered the weir on the page 304falling tide, it has passed over the submerged net lying on the bottom. The mataika gives the command, "Tutoko, tutoko." The two tangata tutoko immediately dash behind the free part of the net within the entrance of the weir. They thrust the fork of the tutoko under the karihi rope of the unweighted side of the net. They push the rope upwards and forwards, so that the net closes the entrance. The other part of the net is kept on the bottom by the stones. When the rope is above water and in the line of the front wall, the other ends of the tutoko props are stuck against the bottom in a direction slanting forwards, so as to keep the net up against the current of the falling tide, Fig. 265. It requires strength and skill to perform this quickly and correctly.
The fish are now imprisoned. Canoes dash in towards the walls, and men leap into the yard with spears and hand nets to secure the catch. The scene is one of great excitement. Large fish leap in all directions, and many leap over the walls of the weir. Large fish of various kinds are caught, but the fish for which Arani is famous is the ava.
The ava is due in September and August. Before this period the walls of the weir are repaired by building up the displaced stones. When Arani is being worked, spectators come from far and near. Few are sent fishless away. Sometimes people from other villages ask to be page 305allowed to use Arani for a day. No one could presume to use the weir without the permission of the hereditary owners. September roughly corresponds to the native division of the year named Hiringa-kerekere. The star of that period is Ngana-kau-kupenga. One of the events of Hiringa-kerekere is "Kua ngako te ava," "The ava is fat."
Other weirs. Close to Arani are four other weirs, named Rautaro, Mamamua, Pataoake, and Vai-rauhara. They are all situated on channels bearing the same names. Fig. 266, taken from a sketch by Joseph Vati, gives a comprehensive view of this relationship. It will be noted that the three on the right, Mamamua, Pataoake, and Vairauhara, are built on the same principle as the Taketake weir described under pa kiokio.
When the entrance to Arani was closed and more fish were in the race between the lines of leaves, a net was drawn across higher up to prevent their escape. This acted as a subsidiary weir, to take the overflow, and was known as Pa tiare.
The large stone on the left line of Arani, called Hakaepa, was where food was brought for those working at the weir.