Maori Religion and Mythology: Illustrated by Translations of Traditions, Karakia, &c., to Which Are Added Notes on Maori Tenure of LandShortland, Edward
Religion
Maori Religion and Mythology: Illustrated by Translations of Traditions, Karakia, &c., to Which Are Added Notes on Maori Tenure of Land
Shortland, Edward
Land tenure (Māori law); Mythology, Maori; Māori (New Zealand people) -- Religion
Tu thought it must be as Ihenga said, so he agreed to leave the land,
asking at the same time who lived on the island.
“The name of the island,” said Ihenga, “is Motu-tapu-a-Tinirau. I named
it.”
Then said Tu, “Will you not consent to my living there?”
“Yes,” said Ihenga, “you may go to the island.” Thus the main land came
to the possession of Ihenga.
Then Ihenga borrowed a small canoe belonging to Tu, and went on in
search of his flock of shags. He found them hanging in a _kahikatea_
tree near Waikuta. He called the stream by that name because of the
plant _kuta_, which grew abundantly there. He named the land Ra-roa,
because of the length of the day occupied in his canoe. He climbed the
tree and threw down the birds, and placed them in the canoe. Then he
went on and came to a river which he afterwards named Ngongotaha. There
was a hill hard by to which he gave the same name. The hill belonged to
the Patupaiarehe or Fairies. They had a _Pa_ on the hill named
Tuahu-o-te-atua. He heard them playing on the _putorino_,⁴⁹ the
_koauau_,⁴⁹ and the _putara_;⁴⁹ so he thought men must be living there.
He climbed the hill, and when he got near, he heard the sounds of the
_haka_ and _waiata_:—
⁴⁹ Different kinds of wind instruments resembling the flute, only
varying in their length.
A canoe, a canoe,
A canoe of flax, a canoe.
Grow _kawa_,
Blaze _kawa_.
Tie up carefully
With leaf of flax,
Blazing _kawa_.
Whakatauihi made this _haka_. His was also the proverb, “_ko te ure
tonu; ko te raho tonu_.” He it was who avenged the death of
Tuhuruhuru.⁵⁰
⁵⁰ Vide “Traditions and Superstitions,” p. 68.
When Ihenga got nearer he perceived that they were not men, but _Atua_.
There was a fire burning on a tree. So he stopt suddenly to look at
them, while they looked at him. “A _nanakia_,” shouted one of them,
running forward to catch him. But Ihenga fled, and, as he was running,
set fire to the dry fern with a lighted brand he had in his hand. The
whole fern was ablaze, and the tribe of Fairies fled to the forest and
the hills. Then Ihenga went back to look at their _Pa_ which had been
burnt by the fire. There he found the _kauae_ or jaw-bone of a _moa_, so
he named the place Kauae. He then returned to the shore of the lake, and
went on in his canoe. He named the hill Ngongotaha, because of the
flight of the Fairies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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