with the author's love.
May 24, 1904.
Hawaiki: The Original Home of the Maori; with a Sketch of Polynesian History.
Hon. Cor. Member Sociétà Italiana d'Anthropologia, a Governor of the
New Zealand Institute, Hon. Secretary of the Polynesian
Society, &c., &c., &c.
Second Edition. Enlarged and Mostly Re-written.
Whitcombe and Tombs Limited.
Christchurch, Wellington and Dunedin, N.Z.;
Melbourne and London:
Melbourne and London
He ahunga mai, he aponga mai, i Hawaiki;
Ka tupu, ha rito, ka toto, ka tahe, ha whakaikura
Dedicated
To the Memory of
Abraham Fornander,
District Judge of Hawaii,
the first Polynesian scholar to apply the
Polynesian traditions to
this solution of
the origin of the Race
Preface to the Second Edition.
This work was first published in the "
S. Percy Smith
Matai-moana,
New Plymouth, N.Z.
New Plymouth, N.Z.
Contents.
- I.
The Polynesian Race and its Traditions... 9 - II.
Genealogical Connections and Chronology... 21 -
III.
Names of the Traditional Fatherland— - IV.
The Polynesians Originated in India... ... 64 - V.
The Gangetic Race... ... ... ... ... 66- Dates in Indian History ... ... ... ... 74
- VI.
The "Log Books" of the Migrations... ... 77 - VII.
Sketch of the History of the Race... ... 89- Atia-te-varinga-nui, or Hawaiki-nui ... ... 90
- Avaiki-te-varinga, or Avaiki ... ... ... 95
- The White Race ... ... ... ... ... 95
- Sojourn in Indonesia ... ... ... ... 98
- The Papuan Race of Indonesia ... ... ... 102
- Maui, the Ancient Hero ... ... ... ... 105
- Arrival in Fiji ... ... ... ... ... 11l
- The Polynesians as Navigators ... ... ... 123
- Occurrences in Fiji, Samoa, Haapai, &c. ... 140
- Sojourn in Eastern Polynesia ... ... ... 165
- The Settlement of Rarotonga ... ... ... 172
- Tahitian Origin of the Maoris ... ... ... 193
- Rarotongan Account of the Migrations to N.Z.204
- Table of Dates in Polynesian History ... ... 222
Hawaiki.
ChapterI.
The Polynesian Race and its Traditions.
The question of the origin of the Maori people of New Zealand necessarily involves that of the whole Polynesian Race, for the Maoris are but one of a number of branches of that race, although the most important in point of numbers and in a few other respects, which we shall have occasion to refer to in the course of this narrative. The homogeneity of this race is a remarkable feature, scattered as it is over an extent of the earth's surface that equals in actual area—if it does not exceed that occupied—by any other race of like homogeneity. The area occupied by the race in the Pacific may be stated as about two million square miles; but the land area within this space is small, and varies from that of New Zealand with its one hundred thousand square miles, down to little atolls of barely a square mile in area. The number of the inhabitants of this vast space is by no means proportionate to its size. The following table will illustrate this, the figures being approximate:—
The figures above exclude the population of all islands where the people are more or less strongly mixed with neighbouring races, such as the Micronesian, Melanesian and Papuan, and the half-caste Fijians.
At the end of the eighteenth century, estimates were made by Aua hoki!
From Nukuoro island in the far N.W. to Rapa-nui is the most common name of Easter Island, but it is also known as Te Pito-te-henua, which means either "The navel of the land," or "The end of the land." To those who favour the idea of a sunken continent, the tops of whose mountains are now represented by the islands scattered over the Pacific, and especially in the Pau-motu group, of which extremity, this name—Te Pito-te-henua —"The end of the land," may suggest a confirmation of the theory. But, whilst the "sunken continent" idea has no doubt much to support it, it seems to the writer that everything proves the Polynesians to have arrived in the Pacific long after the existence of such a land.
Whilst the Polynesian race is thus homogeneous, there can be traced amongst them differences which are not due entirely to environment, though the latter has served to
It is probable that nowhere is the true Polynesian type still in existence. When we come to consider their history, we shall see that the race has been acted on by ethnic
It is unfortunate that up to the present time, no comprehensive study of the craniology of the Polynesian race as a whole has been made. What has been done in this respect—a mere nibbling at the edges, as it were —bears out the mixed Papuan and Melanesian character of the Polynesians. But to satisfy science as to the origin of the people, something much more systematic is required. When in Eastern Polynesia in 1897, I met a German Doctor (whose name has escaped me) who had been for ten years in various islands collecting skulls and other anthropological specimens, but I have never seen the result of his labours.
Failing the more exact craniological data, we have to fall back on philology, manners and customs, physical appearances and traditions of the race, to determine their origin. In what follows we shall touch on these various aspects from time to time, but this account is mainly derived from the reasonable interpretation that may be placed on the traditions of the race—others more competent can deal with the question from the other aspects. And here, I would like to say, that in my humble opinion the European Ethnologist is frequently
The men who really know the traditions of their race, look upon them as treasures which are not to be communicated to everybody. They will not impart their knowledge except to those whom they know and respect, and then very frequently only under the condition that no use is to be made of them until the reciter has passed away. Much of the old history of the Polynesians was looked on as tapu (sacred) and its communication to those who could not share this feeling, or who would make improper use of it, would inevitably—in the belief of the old tohungas (priests)—bring down disaster on the heads of the reciters. It is never safe to question any statement made by the narrator, though of course any point not clear can be elucidated by questions. But never show any doubt of what is being told; worse than all never ridicule the most extravagant statements—(these can always be sifted afterward, and the residue of truth retained)—to do so, at once causes the narrator to draw in, and the opportunity is lost for ever.
It has always been the special function of the priesthood, from the very earliest dates in Polynesian history, to keep the verbal record of the history and literature of the race, and as the office of priest ( From Miss tohunga, tahuna, tahua, kahuna, etc.) was, in most branches of the race, hereditary, it was the duty of the father, and very often the grandfather, to educate their offspring in the tribal lore. This teaching was accompanied with many ceremonies, and karakias, or incantations, invocations, etc., in order to impress the pupil with the importance of the matter taught, and as was thought, to impress it indelibly upon his mind. There was a special sanctity attached to many things taught; deviation from the accepted doctrines, or history, was supposed to bring on the offender the wrath of the gods who were ever present, watching to catch the people tripping. It is obvious from this, that traditions acquire a value they would otherwise not possess. The fear of the consequences arising out of false teaching acted as an ever present check on the imagination. There are many known instances where serious troubles have arisen through deviation from accepted teaching—due generally to separation of the people in islands or places without frequent communication. As an illustration of this may be mentioned the series of deaths, wars, migrations, etc., that took place in the time of a noted ancestor of Maoris, Rarotongans, and Tahitians, named Whiro, who flourished about the eleventh century, which incident is known as the schemes of Te Aotea and Te Aouri in Tahitian history,
Notwithstanding the care with which traditions were kept, it is only natural that innovations gradually crept
It is difficult for a civilized people which habitually uses writing in recording events, to conceive of the powers of memory possessed by people who have nothing but the memory to trust to. Some few instances of this may be mentioned: A Maori and his wife dictated to I may note as one of the latest efforts of the "higher Criticism!" that poor old songs, etc.—and these were so impressed on his memory, that the quotation of one line was sufficient to recall the whole of the song at once. Another Maori wrote for the E Tama! Katahi te poauau!
I have thought it necessary to say this much on the subject of traditions, for it will be mainly on them, and the inferences that may be drawn from them, that the principal reliance is placed in seeking the origin of the Maoris in the following narrative.
ChapterII.
Genealogical Connections and Chronology.
And moreover, unless we can fix some approximate date to the various legends, they are of little value in this particular connection—they serve to show the ideology and beliefs of the race, but without dates they cannot form history. We are met at the outset with this difficulty: that the Polynesian has no idea of time in our sense of the word. All he can say with respect to any event is, that Karakius or invocations. The old songs often contain genealogies, as did the Karakias. A good example of a very lengthy genealogy embodied in a formal song or recitation is to be found in the "Song of Kualii" of Hawaii.
It is upon the genealogies we must rely for dates in the history of the race; and the first thing to determine in connection with them is the number of years to be assumed as the average length of a generation. Wherever Fornander's dates are quoted herein, they have been converted to the 25 year scale.
As a rule the Polynesian genealogies are reliable within certain limits and go very far back. I cannot at all agree with See Journal Anthropological Institute, vol. xxxii., p. 83.i.e., Tongans, and the half-caste Polynesians of
First may be mentioned, that the great migration to New Zealand took place at 21—22 generations back from the year 1900, or in the year 1350. This date is arrived at by taking the mean number contained in over 50 genealogical tables going back to those who came here in the fleet, all of which will agree to within 4 or 5 generations in number. Where many women come into the lines, they are naturally longer.
But the severest proofs that can be applied to these tables, is to compare those from different branches of the race showing descent from the same ancestor. The first Journal of the Polynesian Society," where the question is fully dealt with. Here it will be only necessary to quote results. Maoris, Rarotongans, Tahitians, and Hawaiians had many ancestors in common. Amongst them were persons named Whiro, Hiro, Iro (according to the dialect) and Hua. The descent from these two persons is preserved by each branch of the race named, who moreover have had no communication with one another from a few years after the period of these two men until last century. Now the results of comparing the genealogical tables from each branch down to 1850, are as follow:—
This conformity of record from four different sources shows that a considerable amount of agreement is to be found in the genealogical tables as preserved by different branches of the race, and clearly demonstrates their common ancestry. From the above figures we may—by allowing twenty-five years to a generation—arrive at an approximate date in Polynesian History, which can be utilized as a basis for others. We may therefore say that Whiro and his brother Hua flourished a.d. 1250 to 1275, and as will be seen later on, this is a very important date in the history of the race—it is during this period that Tangiia, the great ancestor of the Raro-tongans, flourished, and about 100 years afterwards the fleet left those parts to settle in New Zealand.
It must now be shown how the principal lines of ancestry of the Polynesians join, and the agreement, or otherwise, must be pointed out.
Amongst the notable Hawaiian chiefs who, about the years 1100 to 1200, were constantly passing from the Northern Group to Tahiti and the neighbouring islands, was one named 'Olopana, whose wife was Lu'ukia. Fornander, vol. ii., p. 49. Annual Report Hawaiian Historical Society, 1897. I do not feel sure that Moa and Mou'a are identical names, but the rest of the words clearly indicate the same locality.
With respect to the above table, 'Olopana and his wife Lu'ukia, lived either twenty-four or twenty-six generations ago, according to which of the Hawaiian lines is taken. That these people are identical with pau, which the Hawaiians 'make to this day, for no other reason than because the pau of Lu'ukia was of five thicknesses." In Maori history her name occurs in an ancient karakia danseuse, the long story of the troubles between her and her first husband, Tama, will show.
According to my Maori informants, Journal Polynesian Society, vol. ii., p. 26.matua to Whiro, which may mean an aunt as well as a mother. The other Maori accounts state that Whiro was the son of Moe-tarauri, as do the Rarotongan histories, which latter give his mother's name as Akimano, and this is confirmed by Tahitian history, where Hiro's mother is shown to be a Fa'imano,
Whether Tu-te-Koropanga is identical with Tu-'Oropa-'a-maeha'a (in Maori letters, Tu-Koropanga-mahanga) of the Tahitian line, there is more uncertainty; but they are shown to have flourished within the same, or the next, generation, and they both lived in
We may possibly see another connection between Hawaiian and Maori ancestors of about this period in the name Pau-matua (Paumakua in Hawaiian). According to the genealogies published by
A constant difficulty met with in the names of Polynesian people is, that they had several, or often changed them trom the occurrence of a death or other circumstance. Hence the same ancestor is often known under different names by separate branches of the race, or even by different tribes of the same branch. It was an ancient custom amongst the Polynesians that chiefs visiting strange islands should take a wife from the people of such islands. It was often the case, also, that these wives and their children remained with their own tribe. So that we have lines of people in different islands, descending from one ancestor,
Taken altogether, we see that these genealogical lines, from New Zealand, Tahiti, Rarotonga, Hawaii, all tend to prove one another, and that we may deduce from them a fairly accurate date for the period of Tangiia, viz.: the year 1250, which will agree with the period of Whiro; and these two men were contemporaries, as we shall see later on.
In order to show the data relied on for dates, a reference must now be made to the large general table of Rarotonga ancestors at the end of this book, for on it depends the dates of events in Rarotongan and Polynesian history as herein deduced. That table, starting from the earliest traditionary period when the people lived in Atia-te-varinga-nui, comes down to the time of the occupation of Rarotonga in 1250. We are now getting into the "misty past" and cannot expect such agreement in the lines as has been shown in those of later epochs, and of which other examples might be adduced.
We must first consider the agreement or otherwise of the two long lines shown in the table with one another and with a third to be found in vol. iv. of the "Journal of the Polynesian Society," page 129. The latter was communicated to the late
If we count the generations between Te Nga-taito-ariki and Tangiia by these three lines we get the following result:—
Giving double weight to the first Tangiia line above, we may take the mean as 68 generations back from Tangiia, or 92 from the present time to that of Te Nga-taito-ariki. By converting this into years, we arrive at a date very far back in. history, or to the year 450 B.C.
The only other line of This history has not yet been published, but it will appear Later on in the "Journal of the Polynesian Society."
There is not much chance of checking these lines from outside sources, but it may be well to see if any correspondence exists. Fornander quotes the line from the first man named in Hawaiian genealogies, Kumuhonua very close agreement to be accidental —it might well have differed 7 or 8 generations, and yet the individuals might be the same. From Kumuhonua to Wakea, whose wife was Papa, there are 37 generations, and Wakea is possibly the Atea shown on Rarotonga lines as the brother of Te Nga-taito-ariki; if so, there is a discrepancy of 37 generations.
If the Marquesan Atea is the same as the Rarotongan, then we get greater discrepancies still. Mr. Lawson gives the number from Atea to the present day as 74 generations; Mr. Christian as 123, and 140; and Commodore Porter as 88. Commodore Porter spent several months in the Marquesas in 1813, in command of an American squadron, and learnt a good deal about the natives. It will not be too much to add two generations to his number, which will make the period of Aotea 90 generations back from 1850 as against the 92 of Rarotongan, a difference not too great to allow of their being the same person. But the Marquesan genealogies in their earlier parts contain the names of islands, It is of course possible that names of islands might have been borne by their ancestors, of which other illustrations might be given; but the order in which they come, causes me to be doubtful of them. Since the above was in type, information has come to hand in reference to Atea, the ancestor of the Aitutaki islanders, who flourished 64 generations ago; and this Atea I take to be identical with the Marquesan ancestor, of 74 generations ago, who did not live in the ancient
There is one argument against the Marquesan Atea being the same individual as the Rarotongan Atea, which has some weight attached to it. It is said, as we shall see later on, when we come to consider the "logs" of the migrations, that the Marquesan Atea did not live in the ancestral fatherland, but at Papa-nui, which was the fourth stage in their travels; and as his place on the Marquesan genealogies is 74 generations back from the present day, this would bring us to the year a.d. 50, or about 100 years after the period which is deduced from the Rarotonga tables as that at which the migrations arrived at i.e. a.d. 50, is that in which all evidence agrees in showing the Polynesians to have been living in those parts. Atea, is not nearly the first name shown on the Marquesan tables. So the balance of evidence is that he is not identical with Rarotongan Atea, nor with Hawaiian Wakea.
The Moriori genealogies go back further apparently than any others. We find on them the name of Tu-te-rangi-marama, the great Rarotongan ancestor, and he lived, according to the Morioris, 103 generations ago, as against Rarotongan 91. Again, it is not certain if this is the same man, but he is one of the few of whom anything is said in Moriori genealogy; he is accredited with inventing a new kind of mat or garment, which is remarkable, when nothing is noted of many born before and after him. We shall see later on that the Rarotongan ancestor of the same name introduced many innovations.
The Maori tables are not reliable beyond say 40 or 50 generations, and therefore admit of only partial comparison with the old Rarotongan ones.
The Samoan tables, earlier than about 40 generations, are cosmogonies rather than genealogies; the longest I have seen is 55 generations or ages.
The Tongan tables appear to go back only 35 generations, or to just before the island of Tonga was colonized from Samoa or Fiji. This, however, was not the first occupation of that island.
No Tahitian tables are at present available for a greater length than 40 generations. So far as they go, they compare fairly well with Hawaiian and Maori.
The
Easter Island lines go back for twenty-three generations by one line, twenty-seven by another (i.e., have lived on that island. Thompson gives the number as fifty-seven from Hotu-matua, who came there "from the east" with his large canoes—from Marae-toehau, and named Easter Island, Te Pito-te-henua. This "coming from the east" is another mystery of this celebrated island, which, together With its enormous statues and incised inscriptions on wooden tablets, renders it one of the most interesting places occupied by the Poly-nesian race.
The
There is thus not much help to be derived from these various genealogies; our main dependance must be placed
The next period on the Rarotonga lines after Tu-te-rangi-marama, and one of very great importance, that requires fixing, is that of the noted ancestor Tu-tarangi, Tu-tarangi (or Tu-talangi) is known to the régime, and therefore may be considered as the authority on such a subject. We have also a possible means of checking this line thus: If reference be made to the line which comes through Tangiia's a.d. 450.
Passing downwards on the line from Tu-tarangi, at the forty-eighth generation from now, we come to the name of Ui-te-rangiora. Unfortunately we have no means of checking the period of this man, but he was perhaps the most distinguished and daring navigator of the Polynesian race, as will be seen when we come to deal with him. According to the table, he lived about the year 650.
Another check on this long line may be shown as follows: according to the table at the end hereof, we shall find the Rarotongan ancestors Taaki and Karii (in Maori: Tawhaki and Karihi) to be brothers who flourished forty-six generations ago. Turning to the table published in the "Journal of the Polynesian Society" vol. vii., p. 40, we there find these two brothers, according to Maori account, to have lived forty-nine generations ago. With respect to this Maori table, the compiler
Continuing down this same line from Tu-tarangi, at thirty-eight generations ago, will be found the name of Kati-ongia, which is one of the very few that can be placed in Samoan genealogies. According to
Again continuing our downward scrutiny of the Tu-tarangi line, at thirty six generations ago, we find the name of Atonga, who lived in Kuporu (Upolu), and in his time was built the celebrated canoe named Manu-ka-tere, which I shall have to refer to as being known to the Tahitians. In the times of Atonga also lived some of the Rata family known to Maori history. Here we have an independent check on the period of Atonga, for a reference to the "Journal of the Polynesian Society" (vol. iv., p. 129) will show that Rata-vare (known also by that name to the Maoris), who "owned the forest in which the canoe was made," lived eleven generations before Tangiia, or thirty-five generations ago, which differs only one generation from the period assigned to his contemporary Atonga, on the line we are considering. The best Maori genealogy I have from Rata makes him to have flourished thirty-one generations ago, but I feel sure there have been several people of the
Taken altogether, we thus see that there is a fair amount of agreement amongst these tables, sufficient I think to justify us in assigning approximate dates to a number of important epochs in Polynesian history, which are given at the end of this volume. As we proceed, it will be seen how the dates fit into the traditions derived from various sources.
Having shown the data relied on to fix the dates in Polynesian history, the geographical evidence as to their whence, deduced from the traditions, will now be adduced.
ChapterIII.
Names of the Traditional Fatherland
Hawaiki.
With all branches of the race are to be found names of places, retained in the traditions, that refer to ancient dwelling places which were occupied by the people in the remote past—indeed the number of such names is very great, but only a few, comparatively speaking, can now be identified with certainty. Of these names Hawaiki—the Maori form of the word—is the principal, and is known to nearly every branch of the race, though it varies in form island to island according to the changes that have taken place in the language since the dispersion. The raro, lalo, 'a'o which means below, but also means the west with all Central Polynesians. The very nature of the beliefs of the race as to the path of the spirit to its final home, encourages this confusion between the two meanings of the word. In all cases the spirit, whilst always passing to the westward, is said to go downwards, i.e., to dive into the sea, and then pass along to the sunset. It is in this manner that
The universal belief in the passing of the spirits of the dead to the west, is to my mind a complete answer to those who hold that the Polynesian migrations were from the east. It is an essential part of Polynesian belief that the spirits rejoin those of the ancient dead and there dwell in a land of beauty and plenty, where the gods supply every want, and with whom communication is constant. The Polynesians would not locate this Paradise in the west, if their ancestral home was in the east. Whilst this appears to me unquestionable, it is undeniable that apparent traces of Polynesian influences are to be found on the coasts of The latest reference to this subject that I have seen is in a note to be found in Vol. xi., p. 49 Journal of the Polynesian Society.
In the present state of our knowledge of the ability of the Polynesians as navigators—about which we shall learn something further on—it is useless for some writers to insist that the prevalence of the S.E. trade winds would form a bar to voyages made from Central Polynesia to the American coast. The number of easterly voyages on record from various parts and under all sorts of weather conditions is so large, that we must conclude these able navigators paid little attention to the trade wind if a sufficient object required them to face it.
Naturalists do not seem to have finally decided as to the original home of the kumara, or sweet potato (Batatas), but the evidence gathered by De Candolle seems to show that Central America is the part where it grows spontaneously, and therefore must be its native habitat. It is possible we may see in the following quotation from an ancient Maori chant, a reference to America in the land where the kumara grows wild:—
- "Ko Hawaiki te whenua, e tupu noa mai te Kumara."
- "Hawaiki is the land where the
kumaragrows spontaneously."
It is said in the above that "Hawaiki is the land;" but we need not be mislead by this; for, there is no doubt this kumara grows wild, it would with more probability be the Hawaii referred to in the chant.
The Maori account of the origin of the kumara is briefly this: It is the offspring of Pani-tinaku, a woman, who is said to have been the wife of Rongo-maui, also called Rongo-marae-roa, Rongo-ma-tane, and Rongo-a-tau. Pani is said to have been the person who gave the food to Hawaiki; the food was the kumara; hence the name of Hawaiki, meaning plentiful food.kumara appears to have been in charge of Whanui, which is a name for the star Vega, but quite possibly is also a territorial designation. It is also said that the root was stolen by Rongo-maui from Whanui. Another story is to the effect that Pani and her husband Tiki visited an island where the people had no kumara, and finding that food was scarce, he sent back his wife to another country called Tawai to fetch some for the people with whom he was staying. Tawai, here, may be the N.W. island of the Hawaiian group, now called Kauai, which until the last 100 years was called Tauai; but from the archaic nature of the tradition, I am inclined to think it is more ancient than the settlement of Kauai island. Rongo-māui combines the names of one of the great quartette of Polynesian gods—Rongo, with that of i.e. Rongo-māui) that is probably meant when he is said to be the god, or patron kumara is said to grow wild in Central America, and the Quichua name of the root is umar. kumara to the knowledge of the Polynesians.
But to return to the westward flight of the spirit after death. At first sight it might be said that the Maori belief is contrary to that of other branches of the race, inasmuch as the spirits do not go to the west. But they go to the north-west—to Cape Reinga near the North Cape of N.Z. The explanation of this is simple. Starting from Central Eastern Polynesia, as the ancestors of the Maoris did when they colonised New Zealand, and having as they A very striking illustration of the powers of the Polynesians in respect to direction, is furnished by
In Samoa we find the same ideas: the spirits travelled from the east by the mountain backbone (tuasivi) of the islands to the extreme western point of the group, where, at Fale-lupo, they dived into the sea on their way to spirit-land—in their case named Pulotu.
It was the same at
At the Hawaiian Group the spirits passed to the N.N. West, finally "jumping off" at the Leina-Kauhane at the west end of Oahu Island near the point called Ka Lae-o-Kaena. Journal Polynesian Society, Vol. xi., p. 192:—Leina-Kauhane is identical in meaning with the Maori Reinga-Wairua, and both mean the "Jumping off place of the Spirits"—Kauhane being equivalent to Wairua, or spirit.
The Morioris of the Chatham Islands held a similar belief. In their case, the spirits left the N.W. point of the island at Te Raki Point on their way to the general gathering place with their ancestors at Hawaiki.
At the west end of Vanua-lava, the largest of the Fiji Islands, is a balawa tree (Pandanus) where the spirits depart for the ancestral home by passing into the sea. It will be shown later, how much the Fiji group has been connected with the Polynesian race, though the present inhabitants are a cross between that race and the Melanesian.
The natives of
Although the present inhabitants of South East New Guinea are not pure Polynesians, there has no doubt in ancient times been an infusion of that blood into the people, together with some of their beliefs. Hence we find that the spirits after death went to the west, to Lavau, a name which I hope to show is as ancient as Hawaiki.
The above examples are taken from the principal homes of the race, and they all illustrate the one common idea
At this date, and after so many people have studied the traditions of the Polynesian people, it would seem superfluous to adduce any argument in favour of the western origin of the race. But I notice that an Australian gentleman of scientific acquirements, has lately resuscitated the idea of an eastern origin. To those, like myself, who have studied the race, its language, manners and customs, and above all, its traditions, for over forty years, this idea cannot be admitted as valid.
With laudable pride and affection, with a strong belief in the sacredness, the beauty, the prolificness of the Father-land, the Polynesians have carried this great name Hawaiki in their wanderings, and applied it to many of their later homes. We thus have the following islands and places, etc., named in memory of it, or where a knowledge of it exists:—
- Jawa, the Bugis name of the Moluccas (
J. R. Logan ). - Java, (Hawa)—see later on in reference to this.
- Sava-i, a place in the Island of Seran, Ceran, Celam, or Ceram, Indonesia.
- Hawaiki and Kowaiki, at the west end of New Guinea (Dr. Carroll).
- Savai'i, the principal island of the Samoan group.
- Havai'i, an ancient name of Ra'iatea, Society group.
- Havai'i, the original home or Father-land of the Tahitians.
- Havaiki, an ancient name of one of the Paumotu group (? Fakalava).
- Avaiki-raro, the whole of the Fiji, Samoan, and Tonga groups, according to Rarotongan traditions.
- Avaiki-runga, the Society, Tahiti and neighbouring groups, according to Rarotongan traditions.
- Avaiki, mentioned in Mangareva traditions.
- Savaiki, a place known to the Tongareva Islanders.
- Avaiki, a place known to the Aitutaki Islanders, Avaiki-tautau, the ancient Rarotongan name (besides others) for New Zealand.
- Havaiki, a place known to Marquesan traditions.
- Havaiki, a place known to Easter Island traditions.
- Hawaiki, a place known to Moriori traditions, and a place so named on their island (Chatham Island).
- Hawai'i, the name of the largest of the Sandwich Islands.
- Havaiki, a place on Niuē Island.
Besides the above there are several places in New Zealand called Hawaiki: amongst others those where the altars were set up by the crew of the Tainui, at Kawhia, The first kumaras, brought in Tainui canoes, were also planted at Hawaiki.
In Maori legends, it is clear that even this most ancient name of Hawaiki was applied to more than one place, or home of the people, and that their first home had several qualifying epithets applied to it; for we have Hawaiki-nui (the great Hawaiki), Hawaiki-atea, the meaning of which I apprehend to be Hawaiki-the-happy (atea enters as a descriptive word into several of the ancient names, as Wawau-atea, etc.), Hawaiki-roa is another variant of the name, meaning "the long, or extensive Hawaiki."
In some of these epithets of the ancient Father-land, it is clear to me that a continent rather than an island is referred to, and this is the description given to me of Hawaiki-nui, by Journal Polynesian Society, Vol. 9, p. 218.tua-whenua) with vast plains on the side towards the sea and a high range of snowy mountains on the inland side; through this country ran the river Tohinga." The Deluge stories of the Maoris are connected with the river Tohinga, showing how ancient Hawaiki is. The following names of mountains are also given by the Maoris as being situated in Hawaiki:— Apaapa-te-rangi, Tipua-o-te-rangi, Tawhito-o-te-rangi, Tawhiti-nui, and Hikurangi. These mountains are mentioned in another legende.g., Tahiti, Rarotonga, New Zealand, etc. Hawaiki-atua is another name for the Father-land—Hawaiki-of-the-gods—where the gods originated from Rangi and Papa—the Sky father and Earth mother, and where is "the meeting place of gods and men," as we shall see later on—where spirits foregathered with their deified ancestors.
vide "Journal of the Indian Archipelago," Vol. iv., p. 338. "The great island of Halmahera (or Gilolo) was in the oldest historical and traditional times, the seat of the predominant tribe which included Ceram in its dominions and had its chief colony there in the fine bay of Sawai. From Sawai, it is probable the principal of those migrations Avent forth, which spreading along the northern coasts of the Melanesian chain, at last reached and colonised the Samoan islands, and thence diffused the S.W. Indonesian races throughout Polynesia. The name of Sawai or Sawaiki, is literally Sawa-the-little, and Sawa is identical with
"The name Java, Jaba, Saba, Zaba, Jawa, Hawa, is the same word, which is used for rice-fields which are irrigated. The word is primarily connected with the flowing of water. "(In a note he adds)" Sawa, Jawa, Saba, Jaba, etc., has eviddntly in all times been the capital local name in Indonesia … The Bugis apply the name Jawa, Jawaka, to the Molukas."
The above quotation from Mr. Logan shows what an accomplished linguist and philologist considers to be the origin of the name Hawaiki (or Savaiki, for "h" and "s" are convertible letters, as are "w" and "v" in the Polynesian language) and his further remarks bear on one or more of the secondary Hawaikis, as we shall have to refer to later on. But the quotation is given here in order to assist in arriving at a meaning for the name. This change—as to the Hawaiian Islands—is known to have taken place in the last few years of the eighteenth century—and, indeed, it is not quite complete yet, for the Kauai people of the N.E. end of the Archipelago still use the "t."iki in Hawaiki, means little, otherwise it would be—in Maori—iti, for the Maoris have not, like the Hawaiians, and some others, changed the "t" into ariki, eiki, aka-iki, etc., a high chief, king, firstborn, etc.
However this may be, it seems clear, from the fact of finding this name widely spread in Indonesia, and from the other fact that it is connected with the origin of the race, we must seek some country further to the west than Indonesia for the original location of the name. Taken with the other evidence to be adduced, it apparently points to India as the Father-land of the race.
Tawhiti.
This name, under various forms according to the dialect in which it is found, is also a very ancient one, and like Hawaiki, has been applied to various lands occupied by the race. We have seen (page 47) that under the form Tawhiti-nui (or great Tawhiti) it was given to a mountain in the Paparoa-i-Hawaiki. This is probably the most distant locality in which it is found, so far as Maori history is concerned. I do not know if the name occurs in i.e., from Fiji to the Marquesas, and some far more ancient place of that name, as in Kahiki-tu and Kahiki-moe (East and West Kahiki) which
The Maoris of the East Coast have a saying which embodies in a brief form, the stages of their migrations, Identical with Tumuaki-o-Whiti—the difference is merely dialectical. Sometimes called Whiwhi-te-rangiora, with practically the samemeaninge.g., they came from Tawhiti-nui, to Tawhiti-roa to Tawhiti-pa-mamao, to Hono-i-wairua, thence to New Zealand. It is difficult to locate these places, but they probably include Fiji and Tahiti, in both of which groups the ancestors of the Maori once dwelt. We next come to the name Tumuaki-o-Whiti (or Hiti) which is an expression used in the sacred chants of the Maoris and Morioris Meaning the "Crown, or summit of Whiti"—Whiti being the same word as Tawhiti, for the ta is but a prefix. This expression is found in the karakias for the dead, where the spirits of the departed are sent off to Timmaki-o-Whiti. It is a kupu nui, or word of great significance, having connection with their most sacred ceremonies; therefore, if Tawhiti-nui is a mountain in Hawaiki as has been said on a previous page, it would seem that this expression has reference to the summit of that mountain, to which the spirits of the dead went, and consequently would refer to some sacred mountain in the karakia, speeding the parting spirit on its way, we find it directed to the Tupuaki-o-Hiti,
Altogether then, it seems reasonable to suppose that Tawhiti-nui, was a name for some part of the ancient Father-land; and that like Hawaiki it has been applied frequently to stages in the migrations of the race.
To those who have the means of following out the course of reasoning herein adopted in the identification of these ancient homes of the Polynesians, I would make the following suggestion as a possible confirmation regarding Tawhiti-nui as a sacred mountain in India. It is well-known to all Polynesian scholars that Miru is the goddess of Hades, or the "Po," the place where departed spirits, all go before arriving at Hui-te-rangiora, or Paradise. Now it may be that Miru = Meru, In Polynesian, it is rare that "i" changes to "e," but instances are known Forman's" Short Studies, etc., p. 118.
Wawau.
The Polynesian Race, Vol. 1, p. 10.We next come to Wawau, the Maori form of this old name, which has evidently been a very ancient one referring to some distant land in which the ancestors of the Maoris once dwelt. It is to be found in some of the ancient chants, often with an adjectival termination, as Wawau-atea a qualifying term which is also applied to other old names, and the meaning of which I think is best rendered by "happy," "free from cave," though it has also the meaning of "open," "spacious." The name often occurs in the karakia whakato kumara, or incantations said at the time of planting the kumara (Batatas). In another old chant descriptive of the original formation "of various lands, it is coupled with Whiwhi-te-rangiora, a term synonymous with Hui-te-rangiova already alluded to as Paradise, thus showing it to be very ancient. Like other ancient names it has been applied as a place name to various stages in the migrations of the Polynesians. Fornander considers it to be identical with "Babao, an ancient name of Coupang, Isle of Timor; also a village and district there, and probably the name of the whole island before the Malays conquered and settled it, and named it Timor."
The Tahitian traditions mention a Vavau in connection with Samoa (besides the old name of Porapora) which is probably the Tongan island of that name—it is shown on
A Maori variant of this name is Ta-wau, and Ta-Avawau, which is said in tradition to be an island near Tawhiti (or Tahiti) and is probably Vavau, or Porapora.
Mataora.
This name is found in Maori traditions, but is, I think, known only to the east coast tribes,—probably to the descendants of the old tangata-whenua alone. It is said to have been a very ancient dwelling-place of the Maori ancestors. It was this place they removed to after leaving Au-roroa where Tane and the other gods lived, and from Mataora they removed to Hawaiki-nui. The meaning of this name, is "living, lively, fresh-looking, pleasant, safety." I am in doubt as to whether this ever was anything more than an emblematical name for the father-land, expressive of the prevalent ideas as to the happiness and plenty prevailing there. It is not known to any other branch of the race, so far as I am aware.
Raro or Roro.
The above word enters into so many names of ancient places, that it probably had at one time the meaning of "land, region, country, etc.,;" of course Raro and Roro are identical—the change from "a" to "o" being very common in Polynesia—and is possibly connected with oro, which clearly meant at one time, a mountain, of which many illustrations might be given. The following names are given in Maori tradition:—Raro-whara, Raro-henga or Rorohenga, Raro-hana, Raro-whana, Raro-pouri, Raro-waia, and Rarotonga, which last is undoubtedly the island of that name, chief island of the Cook group. But it is questionable if this latter can be classed with the others, for we have the distinct statement in the traditions that its name was given by Tangiia (circa 1250) on securing directions where to find it, by going west (raro) and south tonga) — the previous name was Tumu-te-varovaro. Raro-hana may probably be looked for in the far west, for it is connected with the story of the Deluge; but the others cannot be identified, unless we are justified in thinking Gi-lolo or Ji-lolo of Indonesia to represent One of them. But we do not know to what language Gi-lolo belongs—it may have been the original Polynesian name of that island, corrupted into its present form by the later occupants. lolo being the stem word of the name.
Other Ancient Names.
One of the oldest names for the Father-land is Nuku-roa, a name which in later ages, but still very long ago, was applied to New Zealand. The Maori traditions in which this name is found relates to the age of the gods, and, therefore, it is very ancient. Now, under the forms of Nusa, Nuha, Nuhu, Nuka, Nuku, Nu'a, Nu'u, we find, this word extending from the coasts of Asia to the Marquesas group, in all cases with the meaning of 'land, or island, or earth." In combination with "roa," it means the great land. long-land, evidently referring to a continent. The lesser of the two larger of the Ke group of islands, west of New Guinea is called Nuhu-roa, probably a name given by the Polynesians; and the furthest east in which we find it is Nuka-hiva of the Marquesas Group.
Herangi, a name to be found in old Maori traditions, is probably identical with Hawaiian Holani and Helani, and Rarotonga Erangi-maunga. This, I agree with Fornander, is probably Selan or Ceram Island of Indonesia.
Taranga:—From the fact of this name occurring in the Creation legends it is evidently very old, and is no doubt synonymous with the Hawaiian Kalana, or Kalana-i-hauola, one of the most ancient lands known to that people, wherein was the "Fountain of Youth"—the Maori "Wai-ora-a-Tane."
The above are the principal names to be. found in Maori traditions which relate to places where the people dwelt in remote antiquity. There are many others which refer to their later homes in the Pacific, some of which will be noted as we follow the course of the migrations. Before doing so it is necessary to note a few geographical names retained in the traditions of Rarotonga. The Hawaiians have many ancient names for various dwelling places of their ancestors, besides those mentioned herein, but they are not-recognisable in the histories of other branches.
Atia-te-varinga-nui.
The above is the most ancient land known to the Rarotongans, and under the variation Atia, is the first name that is meutioned in their karakias—reciting the course of their migrations. It can be shown that one meaning of the word vari, which is the descriptive word in the above name, is mud, slime, earth, and the deduction; might be drawn that it meant the origin of the race from the primitive earth. There is, another and very interesting meaning of the word vari, which will be. new to Polynesian scholars, and as it bears intimately on the origin, of the people, it may be here stated. In one of the Rarotongan traditions it is stated that, when living in Atia, the common food of the people was vari, and this continued to be so until the discovery of the bread-fruit and the ui-ara-kakano, the latter of which was discovered by one Tangaroa. The writer of the traditions from which this is taken evidently thought this word vari, referred to mud, as he calls it e kai viivii or disgusting food, evidently not knowing what the other meaning of the word is. Thinking there was a history in this word, and that it might be connected with pari, rice, I asked vari or vare; in Sunda (Java), Macassar, Kolo, Ende, rice is pare: in the Bima tongue it is fare; in Malay it is padi and pari. It is stated that the Arabs changed the original Malay "f" into "p," so that originally the name was fari. It is sufficiently clear from the above that vari means rice, and the Rarotongan tradition is correct, though not now understood by the people themselves. It would seem from this that Atia was a country in which the rice grew, and the name Atia-te-varinga may be translated Atia-the-be-riced, or where plenty of it grew.
vrihi, arunya, etc. It was used in India, according to Theophrastus, who lived about the fourth century B.C., and it was grown in the Euphrates valley in the time of Alexander (B.C. 400). "When I said that the cultivation of rice in India was probably more recent than in China I did not mean that the plant was not wild there." The wild rice of India is called by the Telingas newaree (in which we recognise the word wari of vari; the Telingas are not Aryans). "Historical evidence
All this leads to the legitimate conclusion that rice is a very ancient food plant in India, dating certainly from before the time of Tu-te-rangi-marama, which we shall' see was possibly about B.C. 450. I am inclined, therefore" to think that Atia-te-varinga-nui (Great Atia-covered-with-rice) supports the idea that the name refers to India.
As vari has then the double meaning of both rice and mud, it will be interesting to try and ascertain which is the older meaning of the two. As mud must have existed before rice was used, the second meaning is probably the more modern, and the Polynesians, on their first discovery of the rice, applied to it the name of the mud in which it grew. If this is true, it follows that the Polynesians were the originators of this widespread name of vari and its variants, and further, that they gave it this name when living in India, for it has never been attempted to be shown that the name was carried from Indonesia or China to India.
It will not be inferred from what has been stated above, that the Polynesians were the first to occupy Indonesia. It is clear, upon several grounds, that they were preceded there by the Papuans or Melanesians—branches of a Negritto race. It seems probable, from what is known of these people, that they also came originally from India, and it is possible that they may have introduced the rice with them, but until it is shown that they did so, and that they use the word vari for rice, it seems more reasonable to suppose it was the Polynesians—a race of a much higher standard of civilization. Judging from Earle's "Papuans "—a term he applies to all the Negritto people of Indonesia, wherever founds—this people, although fond of rice, do not grow it, or only to a very limited extent; they obtain it now-a-days by trade with the Malays. The inference is that they were not a rice-growing race originally; had they been so, we should find them still cultivating it in parts of Indonesia where they have not been disturbed, such as in New Guinea, or even further afield, in the Solomon and New Hebrides islands. The Polynesians—a superior race—would find little difficulty in expelling the Negritto race, wherever they came in contact with them. No doubt they would often enslave them, and hence, probably, their references to the Manahune people, to be referred to later on. I assume that the Manahune were of the lighter-coloured Melanesians—or Papuans—not the almost black people.
In connection with Atia, as being a name for India, I would say that, in the very old Maori traditions, is mentioned a name Otia, and Otia-iti, which I take to be variants of Atia. But we can gather nothing from Maori tradition as to the locality of these places.
Although this ancient Atia was probably There are notices in other legends of a man of this name living at the period of Tangiia, as well as in the ancient days.evas, or ceremonial dances, which he subsequently introduced into Barotonga, besides the mana or supernatural powers specially given to him by the gods. Judging from analogy, the mana would be in the form of potent karakias or incantations. It seems to me that India is too far off for Tangiia to have returned to. There is no doubt he introduced some innovations on previous customs from this Avaiki, wherever it may have been. Possibly the old keepers of legends used Avaiki here in a very general sense, as referring to the remote lands where the ancestors sojourned on their migrations.
In the name of Atia itself, there is a strong temptation to make use of the Tongan, Niuē, and Moriori pronunciation of the t (ch or j), and connect Atia with Atchin (which is pronounced and spelt by the Dutch, Atjeh). But Atchin is at the north-west end of Sumatra, and I think too far to the west for voyages to be made there from Eastern Polynesia. The second Atia is more likely to be the ancient name of some place in the Celebes, or perhaps Ceram. I am not aware if any ruins exist in those islands which might be identified with the Koro-tuatini, the temple built by Tu-te-rangi-marama, as referred to later on. We must not allow ourselves to think that this ancient temple is one of those in Java (also one of the Hawa-ikis), because it is known that they were built by the
Wherever this Avaiki-te-varinga may be, it is clearly not Avaiki-raro in the Western Pacific, one piece of evidence of which is, that in returning to Samoa thence, Tangiia the Rarotongan voyager, first made the land (or the land first noticed on his return) at Uea or Wallis Island, directly west of the Fiji group. I have no doubt the country he visited was Java, Celam, or some of the other islands of the Archipelago.
So much for the geographical evidence of the ancient father-land of the Polynesians. We will now proceed to show what some of the best informed have thought on this subject, and amongst them a learned and scientific observer who paid much attention to the question of the origin of the people; and in doing so, I make no apology for a lengthy quotation because the works in which Mr. Logan's papers appear, are extremely rare and indeed appear to have been quite unknown to many writers on this subject, amongst them most of those who are, referred to below.
ChapterIV.
The Polynesians Originated in India.
Whilst I would include Mr. In considering the traditions of the various branches of the Polynesian race, as to their origin, it is undoubtedly the case, that these all point to the west as the direction by which they entered the Pacific. Those authors who have had a sufficient knowlege of the race and their traditions to be able to form an opinion on the subject, have all agreed in this particular.
Whether the race can be traced further back than Indonesia with any degree of certainty, is a moot point; but the writer is of opinion that it is a fair deduction from the traditions, that they can be traced as far back as India..
In order to support the theory of an Indian origin, I will first quote what
ChapterV.
The Gangetic Race.
In various places in his voluminous papers
Ethnology of the Indo-Pacific Islands, by I infer that Logan here refers to the Polynesians still remaining in Malaysia (or Indonesia), not that he considers the Malay to be connected with the Polynesians,—his subsequent remarks contradict the latter idea.
Page 29.—"But the adoption of the structure of a foreign tongue does not necessarily imply an abandonment of the native vocabulary. It is probable that intruding grammars have been more often and more fully adopted than intruding glossaries. The barbarous or inferior native tribes acquire the idiom of a civilized or dominant race of intruders, and
Page 51.—"The Western Burmans more often resemble the handsomer Asianesian (Indonesian) tribes found in Borneo, some parts of East Indonesia, and Polynesia.Similar tribes appear to have preceded the Malayan race in Sumatra, As I write I have before me a picture of a woman of Mantawai, an island off the coast of Sumatra. If the name of her abode had not been given, she would certainly be set down as a Polynesian, even to the dress and mode of carrying a basket.
Journal Indian Archipelago, 1852-3, p. 34.—" Whatever may be the genealogy of the Indo-Germanic formation (Aryans, etc.) it must undoubtedly have been very ancient at the period it began to spread eastward and westward.Sanskrit itself is not the parent, but the sister of the other ancient members of the family (of languages) and the great distance between Sanskrit and all other non-Iranianlanguages of Western Asia, makes it evident that the formation must have existed as a distinct one from the Semitic, Scythic, and Tibetan, long before the Aryan
Page 37.—"The Aryan race appears to have begun to spread from the western side of the Jumna into the basin of the Ganges probably less than 4000 years ago. * * It is probable that the native races ( This word Maurya, has been used by some writers as asynonym for Maori. But those who think so have first to show that Maori was a racial name for the whole of the Polynesians. As a matter of fact it is only New Zealanders and Rarotongans who use the word as descriptive of themselves.i.e., Gangetic) were here—at an early period of the Aryan era—reduced to i.e. one of the native non-Aryan races) became King of Magadha, and no purely Aryan dynasty was ever re-established. Chandragupta and his successors were surnamed Mauryai.e. Gangetic) are evidently in part, and in some of them in a great degree, indebted for the improvement in their physical type, when compared with the Tibetan and Chinese to the fact of their having been for more than 3000 years in contact with Aryans and Aryanised Indians although it is probable they had assumed their distinctive character at a much i.e. N.E. and E. of India) because there are no natural barriers, like the Himalayas between them."
"A survey of the character and distribution of the Gangetic, Ultraindian, and Asianesian (Indonesian, as we now call it) peoples, renders it certain that the same Himalayo-Polynesian race was at one time spread over the Gangetic basin and Ultraindia. As this race is allied to the Chinese and Tibetan, it is probable that it originally spread from Ultraindia into N.E. India, I will afterwards show reasons for believing that the race itself is a modified one."
"From its position and character India must have been peopled from the earliest Asiatic era. As soon as any of the adjacent countries were first occupied it could not fail to receive a population from the north. While navigation remained in its infancy, many accidental immigrants by sea would be absorbed into the mass of the native population and produce no perceptible effect on its physical character. But from the time when the adjacent shores of the Indian Ocean began to be the seats of commercial and maritime nations, the Peninsula must have been exposed to the regular influx of foreign traders and adventurers. From the antiquity of the Egyptian civilization, it is probable that the earliest commercial visitors were Africans (? not necessarily negros) from Eastern Africa and Southern Arabia. It is certain that the subsequent Semitic navigators of the latter country, at an early date established that intercourse with India which they have maintained to the
"The influence of African and Arabic blood must have preceded that of Aryan in the Peninsula. In the times of Menu, perhaps 1000 years B.C., the Aryans had not spread as conquerors into the Peninsula. But they had begun to pass into it as settlers and propagandists at an earlier period."
Page 42.—"I conclude that the basis of the present population of the Dekhan was of an African character and that it was partially improved by Turanians or Irano-Turanians and Semitico-Turanians from the N.W., and afterwards by the more advanced N.E. African and Semitic settlers (i.e. Coasts of the Red Sea, etc.). * * The E. African tribes of the Red Sea and for some distance to the southwards as well as the S. Arabian, must, at a very archaic period, have been intimately connected with the southern and original seat of Egyptian development. It may, therefore, be considered as in a high degree probable that the pre-Aryan civilization of Southern India had a partially Egyptian character and that the Himyarites and their maritime precursors on the coasts of the Indian Ocean, whether Semitic or African, carried the influence of this Civilization to India."
Page 54.—"The Ultraindian races in their fundamental" characters, physical and mental, and in all their social and national developments, from the lowest or most barbarous stages in which any of their tribes are now extant, to the
Such in brief are A possible connection between the Egyptian God Horus may be suggested in the Polynesian (Maori) name As a suggestion to Philologists I offer the following: Tāne, was probably at one time the principal god of the Polynesians, superseded, with some branches, at a later date by Tangaroa, There is a strong accent on the letter "a" of Tāne, denoting that a consonant has been dropped, or that it is a compound word with a prefix Horu, for clay coloured by, and impregnated by iron. "L'Anthropologie," August 1891, says, "There is no doubt that in certain myths of Egypt, there is a connection between Horus and iron.Ta. The word would then become Ta-ane. Now "n" and "1" are transposable letters in many languages, of which numerous illustrations from the Polynesian language might be adduced. Therefore, the root word may be "Ale," the Hebrew for the oak, and "Ta" is god, in more than one language. With the Maoris Tane is essentially the god of trees and all matters connected with wood work. Hence it may be, that the very ancient tree worship—of which there are evident signs in Maori mythology—finds a lingering home in the word Tāne. Compare also the Ninē belief of the origin of mankind from a tree—"Journal Polynesian Society;" Vol. xi., p. 203. If this is so, it shows a Semitic connection.
Of the other ethnic element mentioned by Logan, the Sanskrit speaking Aryan, it seems now quite clear from the researches of For the first, see his numerous papers published in the "Trans: and Proc: New Zealand Institute," and "Journal Polynesian Society." Dr. Fraser's papers are also to be found in the latter publication, whilst Fornander's third volume of his "Polynesian Race," is devoted entirely to this subject.
Logan seems to fix the date of the incursion of the Sanskrit speaking race into India as between 4000-2000 B.C.
If the hypothesis is right to the effect that the Polynesians are a branch of the ancient Gangetic race, it is obvious from the above table that they must have had several centuries of communication with the Sanskrit
It is highly probable that some remains of the Polynesian Race may still be traced in parts of India that have not been so much influenced by the later Aryan and other ethnic waves. Indeed a long correspondence between the late Journal, "Anthropological Institute," Vol. xxxii.moko-kuri, whilst the description of the ceremonies connected with tatooing, and the tools used, might be taken as descriptive of those of the Polynesians to-day. In plate No. xl. of the same volume is shown an old Siamese man, who is to all intents and purposes an old Maori.
ChapterVI.
The Log-Books of the Migrations.
Several branches of the race have preserved in their traditions, a record of their migrations; but of all these that of the Marquesans is most full. In trying to locate the many places mentioned in these accounts, we shall succeed only with some of them, for this reason principally the tribal organisation amongst the Polynesians appears to be of very ancient date, and this was much emphasized when the people occupied Indonesia, from the fact of different branches having been separated from the others for generations in the numerous islands of that Archipelago. Even supposing the race to have been one in speech, customs, beliefs, etc., at the time it left the Father-land, progress through, and settlement on, the islands of the Archipelago in places separated by many miles of ocean, must have tended through local environment and lapse of time, to have caused a more or less tribal arrangement of the people. It thus came about that when the time arrived for them to move on into the Pacific, each tribe under its own chiefs and priests formed separate hekes, or migrations, carrying with them the ideas, modified customs, beliefs and speech, which they had acquired in their temporary homes. As these expeditions passed onwards towards the sunrise and discovered fresh lands —dwelling there for more or less lengthy periods—they would give names to these new lands which are retained in the their records—to the exclusion of those given by the first discoverers. Hence we find such differences in the "logs" of the migrations. It is not until we approach Fiji, the general gathering ground of the race, that the names begin to accord more closely, and that because the later migrations found people of their own race in occupation of settled homes.
There is another cause of difficulty in reconciling these names, but it may be, and often is, overcome as further knowledge is gained. This is due to the change that takes place from time to time in the names of islands and places, which of course would only be known to the people who remained there, whilst those who have migrated would retain only the earlier name. The causes of these changes are not always apparent, but in some cases are probably due to the well-known Polynesian custom of altering the name of any thing or object when such name enters into that of one of their tapued chiefs; or, on the other hand it may be due to the occurrence of some notable event in the history of the people. The names of New Zealand illustrate these changes, though the origin of them is unknown: Nukuroa and Ukurangi (or Hukurangi) were
Some of these "Log-books" may now be quoted. That of the Maoris is extremely meagre; it is stated by the east coast tribes that they came from Tawhiti-nui, to Tawhiti-roa, to Tawhiti-pa-mamao, to Te Hono-i-wairua, and thence to New Zealand. Of course there are innumerable other names of places mentioned in Maori tradition, many of which have been noted, but this is the only statement I remember that gives the course of the migrations in regular sequence. The identification of these names is very difficult. It has been shown that the first of these names is that of a mountain in the fist of these names is that of a mountain in the original Hawaiki-nui, and Tawhiti-nui may here be used as a synonym for that name. Tawhiti-roa (Long Tawhiti) may be intended for Sumatra, Java, or the whole of Indonesia. Tawhiti-pa-mamao (the nearer Tawhiti) may be either Fiji or Tahiti, and Te Hono-i-wairua cannot be identified.Tawhiti, in Maori, means distant, but in no other dialect of the Polynesian language is anything like it to be found. I therefore think it is a modern word in this sense, coined since the arrival of the people in New Zealand, and derived from the island whence they came—Tahiti—and really meant when first used, "as far off as Tahiti." Ta is a prefix of a causative nature, whiti, or hiti, is to rise up, as the sun.
There are indications in their traditions, but not precisely stated in sequence, that the later course of the migrations was viâ Mata-te-ra, Waerota, Waeroti, to Whiti, (Fiji). All of these islands can be shown by the traditions of other branches to lie to the north and west of Fiji though not now known by those names.
The Rarotonga account is more full; it is embodied in a karakia, or recitation called a kauraura, to be found in Mss. brought by myself from Rarotonga in 1897, and another version of which, but not so full, has been published in the Rev. Dr.
(Intoned by the Priest).
(By the People).
(Intoned by the Priest).
As to Atia-te-varinga-nui, or Atia, as it is called in other chants, I have already shown the probability that this is In the Marquesas it means "a garden."circa 1250.
The Samoans have no "official log-book" of their migrations so far as I am aware, and the names of ancient dwelling-places of their ancestors are very few. The name of their "spirit land," as of the Tongans, is Pulotu, which is not known to other branches of the race—except indeed in Fiji, where it is found under the variant "Mbulotu." If this is the name for the "spirit land," it is obviously also the name for their ancestral home in the far west, for we have already seen that the Samoan belief is identical with that of the other branches as to the flight of the Journal Polynesian Society, Vol. iv., p. 153.tu means sacred. But it should first be shown that Bouru is an ancient name dating from before the Malay occupation, and that tu really means sacred—I know of no such meaning in Polynesian. Dr. Carroll
Of Tongan traditions we really know very little, beyond what Mariner has written, and a few scattered notices in other publications.
The Tahitians, though having an extensive knowledge of the Pacific, before European intercourse, have no "log" of their migrations, so far as I am aware. Tupaea's chart, "Observations made during a Voyage round the World," by Ll.D., F.R.S., &c, 1778. In "The Reports of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science" for 1898, I republished this chart, and identified most of Tupaea's names.
We, therefore, pass on to the "log" of the Marquesan migrations, which, as has been said, is more complete than any other. It is taken from the documents of the late
In the table below, the Atea migration does not enumerate those marked with an asterisk, and the Tani "log "omits Havaii. As these people do not sound the letter "r "and omit the "g "when it precedes "n,"(as do Hawaiians) and often the "k,"I have given in a second column the probable equivalents in Maori, so as to admit of comparison. The "log "is in the form of a recitation like that of the Rarotongans, with a somewhat similar chorus; the words, "the Take wandered, or spread" following each name. It is headed "Te tau henua o Te Take" or "the lands of the Take."
Of the names mentioned, Take-heehee was no doubt the original land known to them, but it cannot now be identified; it would seem from the absence of the name
According to the genealogical tables, Atea and his wife Ata-nua who ruled in Papanui, lived 74 generations ago, or circa the commencement of the Christian era. The people apparently dwelt in the land of Papa-nui and Taka-hee for a lengthened period, for there is more about them in the chants than any other lands. It is to be hoped these Marquesan chants may be translated in full some day.
The next "log-book" we have is that of the Pau-motu islanders, which was obtained by me in Eastern Polynesia in 1897. It seems to go back to the Hawaiki and Vavau of Indonesia, mentioned in the Marquesan chants. It is as follows:—
Meketika, now called by Tahitians Ma?ite?a or Osnaburg Island, is one of those mentioned by the West Coast Maoris as a former dwelling-place of their ancestors—it lies to the east of Tahiti, about 150 miles.
In this long chant, all the islands mentioned subsequently to Tahiti, are in the Pau-motu group, with which ancestors of the Maori, in the long ago, have very evidently had much, to do; even the names of the chiefs here given, are all pure Maori, as is the wording of the chants. In the name of the chief who ruled this branch of the race in Hiti-nui (Great Fiji)—Tangaroa-manahune, we may probably recognise the chief of the same name, who is shown on the Tahitian genealogies as living 40 generations ago, or about the year 950, which is the period of the circa 1350—a fact of some significance.
The above exhausts the lists of "logs" I am acquainted with, and taken altogether they give a good deal of information as to the stages of the different migrations, more especially of those branches of the race with which the Maoris were in the past most closely connected, "i.e., Rarotongans, Tahitians, Paumotuans, and Marquesans. I cannot here adduce the evidence on which this connection rests, but will merely point out that the above four branches are the Cannibal division of the race.
ChapterVII.
Sketch of the History of the Race.
We may now proceed to glean from the Rarotongan traditions, supplemented where possible by those of other branches, the history of the race, from the time it left Atia-te-varinga-nui (or, as I hold, India) to the settlement of the Maoris in New Zealand, basing the dates on the genealogical tables given at the end hereof.
Atia-te-varinga-nui (or Hawaiki).
Over this land of Atia-te-varinga-nui, there ruled in very ancient days (B.C. 450 according to the genealogies) a king or ruling chief named Tu-te-rangi-marama, who is accredited with building a temple twelve fathoms high, which he enclosed with a stone wall, and named it a "Koro-tuatini," or place of many enclosures. It was built as a meeting place for gods and men; and here the spirits of the ancients after death foregathered with the gods. It was a ngai tapu kakā, "a sacred glorious place," of great space within, and filled with many beautiful and wonderful things. Here were originated the different kinds of takuruas, feasts and games, by Tu-te-rangi-marama, to dignify the land. From Atia came the "trumpets, the drums, of two kinds, and the numerous evas, or dances. Here also originated the karioiKarioi is the Rarotongan form of the Tahitian 'arioi, the term applied to a class of roving actors and players, who were also the custodians of much of the historic traditions. In the Marquesas the name is kaioi. We have the name Karioi as a place-name in New Zealand, but enquiries always fail in obtaining the meaning of the name. As a verb it means, to idle, loiter.takurua-tapu, or sacred feasts to the gods Rongo, Tane, Rua-nuku, Tu, Tangaroa, and Tongaiti, and here also were the meeting places of the great chiefs of that period—of Tu-te-rangi-marama, of Te Nga-taito-ariki, of Atea, of Kau-kura, of Te Pupu, of Rua-te-atonga and others, and of the great priests of old when they assembled to elect the kings, to meet in council to devise wise measures for men, slaves, and children. These were the orders of men who dwelt in that land, and these were the people who spread over
In this last statement, which refers to the great wars which caused the people to migrate from their Father-land, we may probably recognise the common origin of statements in most Maori traditions, that it was great wars that originated the migration, and it of course follows therefrom as a consequence that the Polynesian race were the defeated people, and had to depart. If we turn to
What the great temple built by Tu-te-rangi-marama was, I am quite unable to indicate, but that it was something quite out of the common is obvious, for it is the only instance in Polynesian traditions that I am aware of, in which any such building is mentioned. That it was one of the celebrated temples of Java, is quite out of the question, for they were built by the Hindoo Buddhists somewhere about A.D. 600, and we cannot allow that the Polynesians as a body were in Indonesia so late as that, though doubtless some few branches remained Mahai-atea is of quite modern date, having been built in the seventeenth century. It is related that the blocks of stone of which the internal part is made, were handed from one to another by Te Teva clan, all the way from wherever the stones were found. The larger facing blocks of course could not be carried in this manner. The same story is told of Kohala heiau (or marae) in Hawaii.marae was solid
If we take the period of Tu-te-rangi-marama as that at which the wars above referred to commenced, and suppose —which is not at all unreasonable—that it would take a long series of years for the invading people to drive the Polynesians seaward down the course of the Ganges; if we allow 100 years for this strife to have continued, it will be about the time (B.C. 315) when, as stated by Logan (see page 69), Chandragupta, the Maurya, established the kingdom of Magadha.—Herein we may possibly see a reason for the wars referred to in the tradition, and a further reason for the migration of the people.
Forlong states (page 75 hereof) that it was about the year B.C. 300, that according to Javan tradition Arishtan Shar led to the Archipelago from N.W. India 20,000 families most of whom dispersed en route, probably in Malabar, Maladiva, and Malagassa. Is it not possible —nay probable—that these people were the forerunners of the Polynesian migration? To be followed 10 years after (B.C. 290) by the "Second Indian invasion of Java from the Kling coast, of 20,000 families who established Vishnuism." Or, on the other hand, the movement of this body of people may have been the active cause of the Polynesians moving on to the east, to the islands of Indonesia. We have again in Forlong's statement—"A large body of Desa-Sagala from Panjab went to Java B.C. 200-150," another probable cause of the Polynesian movement to the east, to Ceram, Celebes, etc. Tu-te-rangi-marama, and others of those mentioned as flourishing during his times appear to have been subsequently deified into gods, which is in accord with Polynesian customs,
Avaiki-te-varinga, or Avaiki.
From the times of Tu-te-rangi-marama downwards for fifteen generations, or 375 years, the history of the people is a blank; but at the end of that time, or about the year B.C. 65, we come to the first traces of any migration.
The history says of Te Kura-a-moo," He went to the east, to the sun-rising, and remained there, in consequence of troubles that arose between him and his sisters through a basket of matau which one sister had trodden into the mud." This appears a slight cause to have given rise to what was evidently a separation off of one branch of the race. But it is a very trifling matter that will give rise to a great war with the Polynesians. The tradition goes on: "He remained there, and there was born to him," &c., &c., the genealogy following. From the next incident in the history, I come to the conclusion that the place Te Kura-a-moo migrated to was Avaiki-te-varinga, which I take to be Java.
If we take the above date of B.C. 65 as that of Kura-a-moo, it will allow of some 300 years probably during which the people had moved from India, passing along the coasts and down the Straits of Malacca, and becoming more and more a race of navigators as their excursions extended No doubt many would be left behind along the coasts, and probably some traces of them are to be found there still notwithstanding the ethnic waves that have passed that way.—(See ante what Logan has said on this subject).
The White Race.
In the large genealogical table given at the end hereof, this name Kahu-kura under its Rarotongan form—Kau-kura—will be found. Apparently he lived in Hawaiki-nui, or India. There may be nothing in this more than a coincidence.There is a singular tradition existing amongst the Maoris to the effect that they learnt the art of making fishing nets
But the Maori is not the only branch of the race that retains this tradition of contact with a white race, for the Hawaiian history relates that Hawaii-loa, one of their great navigators, on one of his voyages apparently in Indonesia, brought back to his home two white men, Fornander loc. cit., Vol. I., p. 135.poe keokeo kane,
The Mangaian people, according to Dr. Wyatt Grill, call the keu, or light-coloured people, Te anau keu a Tangaroa, the light-coloured offspring of Tangaroa, the latter being their principal god, whilst he is the Neptune of the Maoris.
We thus see that there is evidently a dim recollection of a white, or light-coloured, people retained in Polynesian traditions. When we come to enquire into the origin of this story, it is most natural to ascribe it to contact with a light-coloured race in very ancient times. It is difficult to conceive of a brown race inventing such a distinguishing racial characteristic had they not actually seen it. Prior to that time all experience would go to prove that mankind was of the. same brown tint as themselves, or of the darker
If we allow that there is sufficient warrant for believing this contact with a white race, it is most likely to have occurred on the shores of India or the westernmost parts of Indonesia. Therefore, the two entries supplied by Forlong (see page 75 hereof) as follows:—"Probable date of the Phoenician inscription, South Sumatra, B.C. 450," and "Nearchus supposed to have sailed to Sumatra B.C. 323,"— may be a possible indication of the sources of the Polynesian traditions, and either the Phoenicians or the Greeks may have given them the fishing net. It was during this very period, if we trust the Rarotongan genealogies, that the Polynesians were migrating along the coast of Burma, the Straits of Malacca, Sumatra, and Java.
Sojourn in Indonesia.
It is impossible to tell from the information given in the traditions how long the Polynesians remained in Indonesia before pressure urged them onward to the Pacific, nor what the cause of the movement was beyond the mention of wars and other troubles, which may be inferred from other things rather than from any definite statement, except in the Marquesan Chants, which expressly refer to the wars, murders, famine, &c., and also show that some of them were taken into captivity. These events occurred in Papa-nui and Ahee-tai, several of them in the time of
Whatever powers of navigation the people may have possessed prior to their arrival at Java (Hawaiki), the vast number of islands in the Archipelago would induce a great extension of their voyages, and generate a seafaring life, through which alone were they able at later periods to traverse the great Pacific from end to end in the remarkable manner that will be indicated. In the Archipelago, where most of the islands are forest-clad to the water's edge to this day, the water was the principal highway, and this necessitated constant use of canoes; whilst the location of the various branches of the people on different islands with considerable spaces of sea between, would induce the building of a larger class of vessels. It certainly seems from the very nature of the surroundings that Indonesia was the school in which the Polynesians learnt to become expert navigators.
If, then, the people lived in Indonesia some three or perhaps four centuries as the traditions seem to indicate, it is to be expected that some of its peculiar features, as contrasted with the later homes of the people, ought to be preserved in tradition: such, for instance, as some of the animals there found,—animals that often test the powers of man to overcome, and of which there is nothing similar in Polynesia. I think in the following notes abstracted
First, with respect to the snake. There is a harmless, reddish snake in Samoa, which the natives do not fear in the least, and also in Fiji, I am told. It is called in Samoa a ngata, a name the Maoris apply to the snail. Whether this is connected with the Indian word naga for a snake I am not prepared to say. In the Maori ear-ornament, called a koropepe, the snake is clearly shown with long curling body, tail, head, eyes, &c. Some people fancy they see in this a representation of the eagle-headed snake of the old world mythologies. The snake also occurs in the, carvings. This is particularly noticeable in the large, boards of a carved house inland of Opotiki, where two snakes, each about 15 feet long, are faithfully depicted. The name moko to be found in the dialects of several islands, appears originally to have represented a snake-like animal, though now it is applied generally to a lizard. It is probable that some of the Maori stories referring to a large animal that was able to hold on to the branches of trees by its tail, and there defend itself against its pursuers, was a snake.
All these monsters have left a deep impression on the Maori mind, and it is quite possible that we may see in those of a snake-like character, the dim remembrance of Indian snake worship, which was so common amongst the Dravidian tribes, who were their nearest neighbours on the west. Fornander (loc. cit., p. 43) says: "Traces of serpent worship, another peculiarly Cushite outgrowth of religious ideas, occur in Polynesian traditions, when reference is frequently made to the moko or moo, enormous powerful reptiles or serpents, evil beings generally, to be propitiated by sacrifices and offerings. In the Fiji group, where so much of ancient Polynesian lore, now forgotten elsewhere,
Of some one of the feline animals they have retained a recollection; whether referring to the tiger of India or the Malayan Peninsula, or to some other animal of that family, is doubtful. In the story of the snaring and killing of Matuku, a man-destroying monster, it is stated that the urine of the animal is very hurtful. This is characteristic of feline animals, but applies to none that the Polynesians could have met in the Pacific.
The alligator has given rise to innumerable stories. The Maoris have probably some hundreds of them, all relating to adventures connected with and the slaying of them; but, as so often happens, the tales have become localized. The name given them is taniwha, or ngarara, or moko-roa, and the description of them is exactly that of the alligator, with fierce jaws, spiny backs, and powerful tails.
It is natural to suppose that if the Polynesians once dwelt in Indonesia, they would retain some recollection of the orang-utan, or other monkeys of those parts. In the story of the voyager Tura (in which occurs the name Wawau, which has been shown to be somewhere in Indonesia), he is said to have married a woman of the Aitanga-a-nuku-mai-tore people, who knew not the art of fire-making, and "lived in trees on the "Ancient History of the Maori," wharawhara (Astelia, plant) and kiekie (Freycinetia plant). In form their chests and waists were large, and their heads were small. They were not human beings."wharawhara here is no doubt the pandanus, the ordinary name for which is fara, fala, hara, ara, according to the dialect. The people whom
In one of the Nga-Puhi (Maori) traditions collected in 1839, we find this statement: "The island from which the ancestors of Hehi came, was rich in productions; the kumara grew wild in the open places of the island of Waerota and the people lived on the fat of the land.
The ancestors said that the animals of some of the large islands near where they dwelt were very large, that is, the island of Waerota from which they migrated. * * The islands were exceedingly hot, so that men went naked all the year round, wearing nothing but the maro or waist cloth."
The Papuan Race of Indonesia.
Again, there ought to be traces of some recollection of the black or very dark brown Negritto races of Indonesia, called Papuans, which name is said to be derived from the Malay word Puapua, frizzled hair. Students of New Zealand history are aware that in the Maori traditions there are incidental notices of an ancient people called Manahune or Manahua, who are by some supposed to be a diminutive race, and somewhat like the elves of old-world stories. But they are not said to have lived in New Zealand. This people is also known in Hawaii under the same name, where they are described as somewhat like those of the Maori traditions. They appear to have been heiaus and some of the loko-i'a, or fish-ponds, of Hawaii are said to have been built by the Manahune. Again, in Tahiti we find mention of the same people, Manahune, who in Ari'i o te tau Manahune refers to the time when kings were born to the plebeians of Tahiti, begotten of the gods, and not wearing the chiefly maro-ura, or scarlet girdle, the insignia of the ruling chiefs of Tahiti. In a Paumotu genealogy in my possession, I find one of their chiefs named Tangaroa-Manahune, who lived many generations ago; and it is known that there was a tribe in old times in Mangaia named Manaune. We shall find later on a reference to them in Rarotonga history, where they are again referred to as little people. The word manahune, both in Maori and Rarotonga, means a scab, or mark on the body. None of the accounts I have seen infer that these people ever differed in colour from the brown Polynesian. The Patu-pai-arehe or Turehu of the Maori, on the contrary, are distinctly stated to be white or light-coloured, and had the Manahune been of that colour, or black, the fact would probably have been mentioned. It may be that the origin of the name is due to the people who bore it being marked with cicatrices (manahune). Fornander seemed to be of the opinion that this was a racial name applied by the Polynesians to themselves in ancient times, and derived from one of their remote ancestors named Kalani-Menehune; but from
There seems to be two possible or probable theories to account for the Manahune. Either they were the first migration into the Pacific, or they were one of the races the Polynesians came into contact with in Indonesia, or further to the west, and some of whom they brought with them in their migrations as slaves. In this latter case, the stories of their having inhabited Hawaii and Hawaiki are Indonesian events localised in process of time in the Pacific homes of the Polynesians. The latter theory is probably the more consonant with what is known of the Manahune. It would be quite in keeping with what we know of Polynesian customs, that on conquering the Papuans they came in contact with, they would enslave them, and carry them with them in their voyages to form part of their crews. Large numbers of the women would be enslaved and taken as wives, and hence the Papuan element in so many Polynesians of the present day. But this element was doubtless much increased during the lengthy sojourn of the Polynesians in the Fiji group. All history, tradition, and observation go to prove that Indonesia was occupied by this Negritto race from the very earliest times, and the Polynesians must have had
The same Nga-Puhi tradition which was quoted a few paragraphs back, goes on to state, "Some of the people of those parts were very black, a people who smelt very strongly when near, * * their hair was bunched out to be stiff I can only make a guess at the meaning of this word. The change from During the period that the people were dwelling in Avaiki-te-varinga, which is certainly in Indonesia, we meet with the story of Maui, the great Polynesian hero or demigod. He is said by Rarotonga history to have been the son of Tangaroa, by the wife of Ataranga (Maori, Taranga), named Vaine-uenga. It seems that this Tangaroa was really a man, and not the god of that name, though in the process of time the attributes of the latter have been in some cases ascribed to the man Tangaroa. It is scarcely necessary to say that Tangaroa has been used as a man's name from remote times down to the present day, as a reference to the genealogical table at the end hereof will show. I suppose this particular Tangaroa to have been one of the adventurers and voyagers of the Indonesia sojourn; and he is accredited with having discovered a new kind of food, or fruit, the name of which, however, does not throw much light on what it was. It is called in Rarotongan history ui-ara-kakano,Ui is the Rarotongan name for the yam. Ara has no sense in this connection. Kakano is a seed, such as that of the pumpkin, &c. I am not aware if any species of yam bears seeds. white thing in the sand, and brought it back. His wife was pulverising the vari (rice); he threw the white fruit (ua, a fruit; also means egg) into the vari, and it thereafter became a principal food of that household."vari, or rice. Tangaroa met with some notable adventures with a monster fish called a Moko-roa-i-ata,ka to nga being common to the language, we may probably see in this name the Maori Mango-roi-ata.
We find the names of several countries or islands mentioned that Tangaroa visited (besides the skies), such as Rangi-ura, Vai-ono, Avaiki, Vairau-te-ngangana, In the Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol. III., p. 105, it will be seen that the Maoris have retained in their traditions the name Wairua-ngangana as the place from which they originally obtained the This is the island which I suppose to be represented by the name Ao-nuku in Marquesan traditions. (See a former page.)taro, and introduced it into Hawaiki. The two names are not exactly the same, the u and the a being inter-changed. No assistance in identifying the island can be derived from the native habitat of the taro, which seems to have been common to India and Indonesia.
Vai-takere, Tangaroa's father-in-law, is accredited with the introduction of the bread fruit to the knowledge of his ii, which is, I think, ifi, ihi, or chestnut,Inocarpus edulis, which grows in Indonesia, but is thought to be a native of America. It is probable that the Polynesians brought the seeds of this tree with them into the Pacific, where it is believed to be a cultivated plant.mape. The story says that two new foods having been discovered in Avaiki, the use of vari, or rice, was abandoned.
Notwithstanding the fanciful dress in which we find these stories in the original, they point strongly to the first arrival of the people in a strange land, where new kinds of food were discovered.
The bread fruit is stated by
At this time the people were apparently divided into tribes, for we find the names mentioned of Ati-Apai and Ngati-Ataranga, both Ati and Ngati being tribal pre-nominals.
The hero Journal Polynesian Society, Vol. IV., p. 256. This is an instance of a more modern story incorporated in a very ancient one. Iva is retained still in the present name of Hiva-oa and Nukuhiva of the Marquesas.
There are some things worthy of note in this expedition. I would particularly call the attention of Hawaiians to the fact that It is well known that Captain Cook gives the name of Owyhee to the Sandwich Islands, or Hawaii as they are now called. This name has always been supposed to be a corruption of the proper name of the largest island of the group—Hawaii. If we separate this name of Owyhee into its component parts, it is "O," the demonstrative which precedes all proper nouns, as "The dry or hard front of Pipi," or perhaps "The dry chasm of pipi."ko in Maori; and "wyhee" is in Polynesian letters waihi. As Captain Cook had with him a native of Tahiti when he discovered the Sandwich Islands, and as the islands were known to his people as Vaihi, it seems that we have here the true origin of the name Owyhee, rather than that it is a corruption of Hawaii.r and l to n is common in Polynesian, we may see the origin of the name of Lanai Island, off Māui, Hawaiian group. It is stated that Māui named this last island on account of the ui-tatauanga, or "tattooing with the ui," or tattooing comb. It was in Avaiki-runga (which by one account is made to include the Hawaiian Islands) that he visited Mauike, te pu o te āi the lord of fire, whose daughter—amongst others—was Pere (the Hawaiian fire goddess Pele). Now this is a remarkable deviation from the Maori and other stories relating Māui's visit to Mahuika, the god or goddess of fire, whose residence is always said to be in the nether world: here it is said to be in Hawaii; evidently a reference to the volcanoes of that group. I am not aware whether any of the ancient names of the Hawaiian Islands bears any resemblance to Te Aro-marovo-pipi,
I would suggest that Māui's "lifting up of the heavens" is a metaphor used to describe his onward course from horizon to horizon "where the sky hangs down," and his penetration into new seas beyond the limit of the knowledge of his compeers. The lifting—in fact—of the clouds of ignorance by the discovery of fresh island worlds. This
Whether the theory hinted at above as to Māui being a real historical person or not is correct, must be left to the decision of some one who will study the whole body of legends relating to him as derived from all branches of the race; but the Rarotongan account in a measure supports Fornander, Vol. I., p. 200.
Arrival in Fiji.
Amama is generally mentioned in connection with the Fiji Group, sometimes with Wallis and Horn Island. This is supported by Tahitian tradition, where Ra'i-hamama is shown to be near Fiji, but Miss Henry says Ra'i-hamama is also an ancient name of Ra'i-roa of Paumotu. Fornander, vol. i, p. 162.From the period of Vai-takere, when, as appears un doubted the people were living in Indonesia, down to that of Tu-tarangi, whose epoch has been shown to be about a.d. 450, there is again complete silence as to the doings of the people, and nothing whatever is related of the sixteen ancestors who separate the two people mentioned. In Tu-tarangi's time the people were living in a.d. 76 as corresponding with the commencement of the Malay Empire in the Indian Archipelago, and "then commenced those wars against the Rakshasas, the Polynesio-Cushite pre-Malay inhabitants, which ended in their subjugation, isolation or expulsion throughout the archipelago. Eighty years from that time bring us to the period of Wakea, and the same time possibly brought the Malays from Java and Sumatra, where they first set foot, to Timor, Gilolo and the Philippines."a.d. 390, and this is probably more reasonable. This intrusive Malay race—if they were Malays, no doubt they were the Malas, &c, referred to by Forlong who began to spread over the Archipelago about b.c. 125—would not probably in eighty years have spread all over the Archipelago in sufficient numbers to have expelled the Polynesians. No doubt there was a time when the two races were in contact, and the Malays learnt from the Polynesians some words of their language, together with some of their customs. On the other hand, it is very probable that part of the Polynesian race never left the Archipelago, and that the Polynesian influences on the Malay language and customs may have been derived from those who remained.
The people called by
We cannot, however, at the present time settle when the Polynesians left Indonesia. All that can be said is that, so far as the Hawaiian and Rarotongan branches (including the Maoris) are concerned, they left between the first and fifth centuries. From the want of any direct traditions amongst the Samoans and Tongans, it is probable that they had preceded the others and were the first to enter the Pacific. They have been so long in their present homes that all tradition of their arrival is lost, and hence they have come to look on themselves as autochthones. The very vague references in Samoan history to arrivals from without the group have little value for historical purposes.
Starting from Avaiki-te-varinga, which is probably Java, the route followed by the migrations would be viâ the Celebes, Ceram and Gilolo where, no doubt, there were colonies of their own people, to the north shores of New Guinea. Finding this country already occupied by the Papuans, they would coast along to the south-east end, where, it would seem, a very early migration settled, which is now represented by the Motu and cognate tribes. This same route was probably followed by the ancestors of the Rarotongans, until they branched off past New Britain and the Solomon Islands on their way to Fiji, probably leaving a colony at Hikiana, or Steward's Island, off the coast of the Solomons, where the people speak a dialect of Maori or Rarotongan, and are Polynesians. Whether Howe's
In the time of Tu-tarangi It is singular that we have in New Zealand two mountain peaks standing close together named Aroha-uta and Aroha-tai, identical with the names of these birds.a. d. 450, one tradition states that the people had arrived in Iti, or Fiji, but I think this may be interpreted to mean the eastern part of Fiji, not that they first then arrived in the group. The story says, "Tu-tarangi was the chief who made war in that country. He conquered Iti-nui, Iti-rai, Iti-takai-kere, Iti-a-naunau, Tonga, Nuku, Anga-ura, Kuru-pongi, Ara-matietie, Mata-te-ra, Uea, Vai-rota, Katua-pai (? Atu-apai), Vavau, Enua-kura, Eremanga, and all other islands in that neighbourhood. He also conquered part of Manuka, but on proceeding to the other side he lost his chief warrior Kurueke." The
From a study of the various traditions relating to this period, it would seem, that prior to, or about the time of Tu-tarangi There is only one genealogy of the Maoris, that I know of, in which Tu-tarangi is shown, but he is there placed in much too modern times. That it is the same man is, I think, proved by the fact that a.d. 450), the people had already reached the Tonga Group, and communicated with Samoa, possibly establishing colonies there, but in no great numbers, and the people whom they came in contact with would be the original migration of Samoans—Polynesians like themselves. There is nothing but probability to indicate the presence of the true Fijians (or Melanesians) in Fiji at that time, and the wars referred to seem to have been with their own race—that is, with some of the other tribal organisations who probably arrived in the group from Indonesia at nearly the same period or may have been with the Melanesians. As yet, there had been no mention of any of the groups of Eastern Polynesia, in connection with their migrations—we only now meet with their names for the first time.
We know so little of Tongan history that nothing of great importance can be adduced in support of the supposition that at this time (a. d. 450) the group was first peopled. And yet, the few notices there are on the subject, outside the Rarotonga history, seem to indicate that this must have been about the time of the colonization of Tonga-tapu, and that it was this Maori-Rarotongan people who were found in possession when a later migration from Samoa took place. It is certain, however, that in the time of Tu-tarangi's grandson, or great-grandson, that the Maori-Rarotongan branch of the race was living in Tonga-tapu, Vavau, and Haapai.
The migration from circa 1275 (according to my method of deducing dates—Mr.
The late Judge circa 1250, and that the latter had had a hand in the work.
These various statements are too conflicting to be reconciled, and the probability is that we shall never know the origin of this structure, any more than that at Stonehenge.
The Rarotonga histories say that, in consequence of the wars originated by Kuru, Taa-kura and Ari, the people spread out (from Fiji) to all the islands—to Avaiki-runga (Eastern Polynesia), Iti-nui (Great Fiji) Iti-rai (Large Fiji), Iti-anaunau, Iti-takai-kere, Tonga-nui (or Tonga-tapu), Tonga-ake (probably East Tonga), Tonga-piritia, Tonga-manga, Tonga-raro (Leeward Tonga, perhaps Eua Island), Tonga-anue, Avaiki-raro (Savāi'i), Kuporu (Upolu), Manuka (Manu'a), Vavau, Niua-pou, (Niua-fou), Niua-taputapu (Keppel's Island), &c. Many of these Tonga islands cannot be recognised under the names here given, but they are most likely Rarotongan names for the several islands around Haapai and between there and Tonga-tapu.
It was during this period, when the people occupied the Fiji Group, and were spreading gradually to Samoa and Tonga, that flourished the Polynesian hero Tinirau, about whom there are quite a number of legends. The Native History of Rarotonga contains one version of this series, and from it we learn that Tinirau lived in Iti-takai-kere, one of the Fiji Islands, but which cannot now be determined. Here he married Tu-kai-tamanu's daughter Te Mūmū-ikurangi. After a time, Tinirau removed to Upolu, circa a. d. 450), and here he is accredited with being the builder of what I believe to be Le Fale-o-le-Fe'e, situated in the mountains behind Apīa, Upolu, the origin of which is not known to the Samoans. It is possibly through Tinirau's connection with this famous fish-pond, called" "Nga-tama-ika-a-Tinirau," that he subsequently came to be considered the king of all fish in Mangaian traditions, as related by Dr. Wyatt Gill in his "Myths and Songs from the Pacific." In Maori story, Tinirau is connected with an abundant harvest of fish, which at his order filled all the village in which the scene is laid; but he is not alluded to as the "King of Fish," as in Mangaia.
The next historical note we have is about Renga-ariki, who lived in Fiji. He flourished fifty-one generations ago, or in the time of Tu-tarangi's great-great-grandson, in other words about the year 575. There is a long story about him and his doings, together with those of his wife Kau-oia-ki-te-matangi, but none of historical interest. Renga-ariki's son was Tu-tonga-kai-a-Iti, and he was expelled from Fiji to tangata araara atua, a worshipper of gods, which gods befriended him in the trouble he got into with his brother Tu-tonga.
In the times of Tu-tonga-kai-a-Iti, who lived in Tonga-nui, intercourse was frequent with Upolu; we find him sending there a present of kura (red feathers) to induce a seer named Tara-mata-kikite to disclose to him the name of the person who had stolen a valued pig, about which there is a long story in the Rarotongan Native History.
The people—the Tonga-Fijians of Samoan story—at this time had evidently spread all over the groups around Fiji, and had occupied Samoa; but, I apprehend, only the coasts of the latter group. From this period onwards for some twenty-five generations, the intercourse between the Rarotongan ancestors and those of Samoa was close and frequent, for even after the former moved onwards to the east, voyages were constantly made backwards to Samoa as we shall see. The Samoan traditions very frequently mention the intercourse between Samoa and Fiji, and it seems to me that the Rarotonga traditions explain why this is so, the fact being that the Samoans in visiting Fiji, met with people of their own race, and not the Melanesian Fijians who now occupy that group, otherwise the frequent inter-marriages of Samoans with Fijians noted in the traditions of the former would shew in the Samoans of to-day, which they do not; there is little or no sign of a Melanesian intermixture.
I take this epoch to be the commencement of that at which, according to Samoan story, the so-called Tongans and Fijians commenced to occupy the coasts of Savāi'i and Upolu, but who were in reality the Maori-Rarotonga branch of the race—who, in alliance with their Tonga relatives, The incidents connected with this expulsion of the Tonga-Fijians, and the origin of the name Malie-toa, will be seen in the Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol. viii, p. 238.
It was probably at the time of this spreading of the people from
It is due to this intercourse with New Caledonia no doubt, that the Polynesians became acquainted with the jade which is found there, and also in New Guinea, besides New Zealand. Several writers have referred to the fact of the jade having been found amongst the Polynesians, but my reading has failed to show any positive statement on the subject. At the same time the Rarotongans were acquainted with it, as we shall learn later on, but this came from New Zealand; and quite recently—in 1902—an old jade axe has been dug up on Niue Island. This shows the connection with New Caledonia, as probably does the statement in one of the Maori traditions, to the effect that on the migrations leaving Fiji for the east, some of the canoes "went to the west and they were lost" i.e., no further communication ever took place again with those who went to the east.
During this time of the occupation of the Fiji group, or on the way thither from Indonesia, it is probable that colonies were established in some of the New Hebrides islands, where their descendants, very much crossed with the Melanesian people, are still to be found. Again it is
It is very probable that these islands are some of those mentioned in the "logs" of the migrations under different names, but which names cannot now be identified, such as Waerota, Waeroti, Mata-te-ra &c., for it is clear they were to the north west of Fiji.
In the time of Tu-tonga-kai-a-iti mentioned above, Mataru was ariki of Upolu, who was succeeded by his youngest son
From about the period of Emā (Maori Hema) commences Maori history. From his sons descend lines of ancestors to people now living in New Zealand, whilst other lines come down to people living both in Rarotonga and Hawaii and probably in Samoa also. But we have now arrived at a very important epoch in Polynesian history, and it will be necessary to go back for a couple of generations and show in what this importance consists, and consider
The Polynesians as Navigators.
If reference be made to the genealogical table at the end of this book, it will be seen that at forty-eight generations ago, or about the year 650, there flourished a man named Ui-te-rangiora, who was a contemporary of Ema's father. It was in Ui-te-rangiora's time that the voyages of discovery emanating from Fiji first began, and many islands were
Ui-te-rangiora decided on building "Drums used at the installation of the chiefs at Avarua,"a pāi, or great canoe, and e ivi tangata te rakau i taua pāi ("men's bones were the wood of that canoe,") the keel of which was named Te ivi o Atea ("Atea's bones")—a name which the canoe appears also to have borne. I am inclined to think that the interpretation of this curious statement is that bones of their enemies were used in part of the construction or ornamentation of the vessel, in the same manner as men's bones (enemies) are used in making spears, fishhooks, &c. This was done by way of insult, and for fear of this occurring the bones of great chiefs were always hidden away most carefully by persons specially selected, and who could be relied on to keep the secret. To complete this celebrated vessel, a sacred tree called Te Tamoko-o-te-Rangi was felled, and part of it made into drums,tapa-beating logs, and boards. This sacrilege led to a war between Ui-te-rangiora and the owners of the tree, the descendants of Taakura and Ari mentioned before, and a determination on the part of many
This was the commencement of the great voyages of the Rarotongans and Maoris, during the continuance of which they—in the words of the history—"visited every place on earth," and they became "a people accomplished in navigating vessels." Of course we must read "every place on earth" as the world known to the Polynesians of that age, which from the names of places given below, embraced a very large portion of the Pacific. I do not suppose that Ui-te-rangiora visited or discovered all the islands named, but it is clear from references in other accounts that he discovered a large number of them. The statement is made that when a canoe rotted, others were built, so it would seem that the voyages extended over very many years.
The following is the list of lands discovered or visited at this period:—
This long list of islands winds up with the statement, "others remain, the greater part is not written." A large number of the islands cannot be recognised, as the names are old ones, not now in use, but others are easily identified. We see that these voyages extended, according to the list, from New Zealand to the
The period at which the Hawaiian Islands were first settled as deduced from Fornander's data is the year 650. According to Rarotonga history, this is the exact date at Avhich the voyages under Ui-te-rangiora commenced. The traditions of the two branches of the race therefore confirm one another in a remarkable manner, for it is shown above that Hawaii was one of the group visited or discovered at this time. It follows from this that the original Hawaiians are a branch of these Maori-Rarotongans.
New Zealand is mentioned in the list of places visited, and the question arises, did any of the visitors remain there? It is now well known that this country had a considerable population before the arrival of the fleet in 1350, who were divided into tribes, the names alone of which are retained, the people having been absorbed to a large extent by the newcomers. But the genealogical tables of these New Zealand tangata whenua (or aborigines) are not all satisfactory, from want of the means of checking them. Toi-kai-rakau can be shown to have lived, by the mean of a large number of tables, at twenty-eight genera-tions ago, or about 1150. From him, back to the earliest known ancestor of the tangata whenua who lived in this country, the most reliable table gives twelve generations, or forty in all from the year 1850. In other words, they carry us back to the year 850 about, at which time Ti-wakawaka was visited by a voyager named Maku, who came to New Zealand from Mata-ora. This is 200 years after the period of Ui-te-rangiora, when the epoch of long
Of the other islands of the Pacific which were first settled at this time, we have so little information as to their histories that nothing can be stated with certainty. It is probable that Easter Island was colonised about this period, and that the
All of the voyages indicated above, and others to be referred to later on, may cause surprise at their extent, but they were made in the tropical regions of the world, with numerous islands on the way, at which the voyagers could rest and replenish their stores. But I now come to one made by this daring navigator, Ui-te-rangiora, in his celebrated canoe Te Ivi-o-Atea, which outshines all the others, and shows him to have been a man worthy of taking his place amongst many of our own most fearless navigators of ages long subsequent to the seventh century. In the history of Te Aru-tanga-nuku, who in his time was also a great voyager, we find the following: "The desire of the The word "space" here is in Rarotongan Rapa, or Oparo, an island in latitude 28° south, about 1100 miles S.E. of Rarotonga, and which was formerly thickly inhabited by Polynesians, who had ariki Te Aru-tanga-nuku and all his people on the completion of the canoe, was to behold all the wonderful things seen by those of the vessel Te Ivi-o-Atea in former times., These were those wonderful things:—the rocks that grow out of the sea, in the spacearea, almost exactly our own word for space.pas like the Maoris, the only place in the Pacific where they exist outside New Zealand.pia, with the deceitful animal of that sea who dives to great depths—a foggy, misty, and dark place not seen by the sun. Other things are like rocks, whose summits pierce the skies, they are completely bare and without any vegetation on them." The above is as literal a translation as I can make, and the meaning is quite clear; that the bare rocks that grow out of the frozen sea are the icebergs of the Antarctic; the tresses that float on the monstrous waves are the long leaves of the bull-kelp—over 50 feet long—quite a new feature to a people who dwelt in the tropics, where there is nothing of the kind; the deceitful animal that dives so deep, is the walrus or the sea-lion or sea-elephant. The frozen ocean is expressed by the term Te tai-uka-a-pia, in which tai is the sea, uka, (Maori huka) is ice, a pia means— a, as, like, after the manner of; pia, the arrowroot, which when scraped is exactly like snow, to which this simple people compared it as the only or best simile known to them. Now, the Antarctic ice is to be found south of Rapa, in about latitude 50° in the summer time, and consequently both Ui-te-rangiora and Te Arutanga-nuku at different times (250 years apart) must have gone to those high latitudes, as the story says, "to see the wonders of the ocean."
Since the above account of these Antarctic voyages was written in 1897—I have come across a further confirmation of the story. When relating my visit to Eastern Polynesia to the Maoris of the Nga-Rauru tribe, west coast, New Zealand, I was asked if I had also visited that part of the ocean where their traditions state that the seas run ngongo, (or tubes); these are as long as from the mouth to the waist of the figure. To my mind this is the Maori representation of the walrus, or sea-elephant, which they could see only in high latitudes. The old man who questioned me on the subject, clearly had it in his mind that the Maraki-hau dwelt in that mysterious part of the world from whence their ancestors came to New Zealand. It would seem that this confirms the Rarotongan story.
The Tongans have also some tradition of the ice-covered ocean, which they call Tai-fatu, which means the thick, fat-like or congealed ocean, and to which some of their ancestors had been in long ages ago. This I learn from the
Who, after this, will deny to the Polynesians the honour that is their due as skilful and daring navigators? Here we find them boldly pushing out into the great unknown ocean in their frail canoes, actuated by the same love of adventure and discovery that characterises our own race. Long before our ancestors had learnt to venture out of sight; of land, these bold sailors had explored the Antarctic seas, and traversed the Pacific Ocean from end to end. Considering the means at their command—their lightly-built canoes (sewn together with sinnet), the difficulty of provisioning the crew, the absence of any instruments to guide them—I feel justified in claiming for these bold
Many people have doubted the ability of the Polynesians to make the lengthy voyages implied in finding the race in places so widely separated as Hawaii, Easter Island, New Zealand, and the N.W. Pacific south of the line. But we cannot doubt the very definite statements made in their traditions. The love of adventure, of moving about from place to place, which is so characteristic of the race even in these days has always been a feature in their lives. More often than not they made these adventurous voyages with the definite object of establishing new colonies in which to settle, taking with them their Lares and Penates, their domestic animals, seeds, plants, and families, It has already been pointed out the effect the vast number of islands in Indonesia must have had on the people, in increasing their powers of navigation. In passing onward by way of New Guinea, the Solomans, and New Hebrides to the Fiji group, the idea must have forced itself into the minds of the people, that the whole Eastern world was covered with islands, and that they had only to move onward into the unknown to find more lands on which to settle. Actuated by this ruling idea, they undertook long voyages in the assured belief of finding land. Many of their expeditions, no doubt, failed in the end they sought, and disappeared forever. We don't hear of them; it is the successful voyages of which a record has been preserved.
Much of the doubt that has been expressed as to the ability of the Polynesians to make lengthy voyages, is due to the fact that the canoes they now use are supposed to be the same in which these long voyages were undertaken. But this is not the case. It is quite clear that much larger and better sea-going vessels were formerly employed. The pahi, pora, taurūa, purua, &c., were large canoes, generally
The Called in Rarotonga an alia is a double canoe and is described by Mr. Kennison, a boat-builder in Savāi'i. "The bigger canoe of the two is sometimes as much as one hundred and fifty feet in length; each end tapers out to nothing; the second canoe is not nearly so long as the first. They sail fast, and like the Malay proas, do not go about in beating, but the sheet of the sail is shifted from bow to stern instead. There is a platform built between the two canoes, and both ends are decked over for some distance—on the platform a
orau, which is also the name of the shed in which the big canoes were kept on the heach. Cf: with orau, the Samoan folau, a ship; to go on a voyage; and Maori wharau, a shed; originally a canoe-shed; also Hawaiian halau a canoe-shed.pāi (Maori pahi) of the Rarotongans in
Other accounts obtained in Samoa say that the Journal Polynesian Society, vol. iv, p. 99.alia was. a Tongan design originally, and that the Samoans copied it from them. Again, it is said that the Tongans derived their model of the canoe from Fiji, which brings us back to this: that it probably originated with the ancestors of Maori and Rarotongan, The ancient canoe of the Samoans was called a soatau, and was made out of the large trunk of a tree; it was connected with the ama or outrigger by five 'iato or arms. The ama-tele or va'a-tele was also a large canoe of ancient times. Descriptions of these canoes are not now to be obtained; but, in connection with the extensive voyages of the Polynesians in former times, it is something to know the names of them, and that there were such craft, though it seems probable that the Samoans were not such great voyagers as other branches of the race. In the Rev. J. B. Stair's most interesting paper on "Samoan Voyages,"
There is still in existence at Atiu Island, Cook group, one of the large Polynesian Researches, vol. p. 164 pai (Maori pahi) used in the voyages made by the people to neighbouring groups. And two were in existence in Samoa in 1897. et seq. First edition 1829.va'a-motu, or island canoe, a large strong single vessel, with outrigger used in distant voyages. They carried two masts, the sails being made—as is usual—of matting and of the common triangular shape, the apex being below. He says, "In long voyages the single canoes are considered safer than the double ones, as the latter are sometimes broken asunder and then become unmanageable."At page 181 (loc. cit.) he says, "The natives of the Eastern islands (Pau-motu group) frequently come down to the Society Islands in large double canoes which the Tahitians dignify with the name of pahi the (modern) name for a ship. They are built with much smaller pieces of wood than those employed in the structure of the Tahitian canoes, as the low coralline islands produce but very small kinds of timber, yet they are much superior both for strength, convenience, and for sustaining a tempest at sea. They are always double, and one canoe has a permanent covered residence for the crew. The two masts are also stationary, and a kind of ladder or wooden shroud extends from the sides to the head of the mast… One canoe that brought over a chief from Rurutu (Austral group, south of Tahiti) upwards of 300 miles, was very large. It was somewhat in the shape of a crescent the stem and stern high and pointed, and the sides deep; the depth from the upper edge of the middle to the keel, was not less than 12 feet. It was built of thick planks of the Barringtonia, some of which were four feet wide; they were sewn together with coconut sinnet, and although they brought the chief safely probably more than 600 miles, they must have been ungovernable and unsafe in a storm or heavy sea." The high stem and stern pahi in which the ancestors of Maori and Rarotongan made their voyages, were not, I believe, ornamented in the same manner, or at least not to so large an extent.
In the matter of sea provisions, the Polynesians had plenty. The bread fruit, when in the form of Jou: Poly: Soc: vol. iv, p. 109.masi, which was a kind of cooked paste, would keep, under favorable conditions for more than a year. Coconuts again contained both food and drink, whilst water was carried in bamboos. The Rev.
The preserved Kumara (Maori name Kao) would also furnish provisions for a voyage, that will keep well; and in the voyages made from New Zealand to the Central Pacific, the fern root made into cakes, or in the state of root, would also furnish a food capable of lasting a long time without perishing. No doubt, in some of their lengthy voyages, sea-stores sometimes ran short; this is clear from the account of the voyage of the Taki-tumu canoe to New Zealand circa 1350, where the sufferings of the crews and
It is well known to all acquainted with the Polynesians, that they had a very complete knowledge of the heavens, and the movements of the stars, &c., to all the prominent ones of which they gave names. In the accounts of the coming of the six canoes to New Zealand in the fourteenth century, we have references to the stars by which they steered. That they were acquainted with the fact of the appearance of the Heavens changing as the observer moved either north or south is proved by the following: In a paper written by "Hawaiian Annual" for 1891.whare-kura or "house of learning."
Some branches of the Polynesians actually had charts showing the positions of the various islands. These were formed of strings stretched on a frame, with little pieces of wood on them, to indicate islands, and on which were shown also, the direction of currents and the regular roll of the waves before the Trade-wind. See an illustration of one of these, Jour: Poly: Soc: vol. iv, p. 236 from which ours is taken.
Those who deny the powers of the Polynesians as navigators, quite neglect to explain how it is that certain plants and animals, found in the possession of the Polynesians when the first intercourse with Europeans took place within the last two or three hundred years, came to be naturalised in, the places they were, and are, found. It is quite clear they are not native; and the instrumentality of man is the only scientific way of accounting for their presence.
When making voyages to a high island, or a large one, the difficulty of a land fall is not great. But it is different in the case of the atolls, of which there are so many in the Central Pacific. The system which was adopted in such cases was this: The people generally voyaged in fleets for mutual help and company, and when they expected to make the land at some of these tiny and low islands the fleet spread out in the form of a crescent, the chief's canoe in the centre, to distances of about five miles apart on each side, so as to extend their view—whichever crew saw the land first, signalled their neighbours, who passed the signal on, and so on, till the whole fleet were enabled to steer for the expected land. A fleet of 10 canoes would thus have a view of over 50 miles on their front.
We have in the record of one of the Rarotongan Tangiia's voyages, the fact stated that he missed his destination (Barotonga) and passed much too far to the south, and that he discovered this fact by the great coldness of the sea. He then about-ship, and sailing north, found the island he was in search of.
From the times of Ui-te-rangiora (circa 650) to those of the last settlement on Rarotonga in 1250, the history is full of references to voyages to all parts of the Central Pacific and Hawaii. There was constant movement to and fro, showing the truth of the native historian when he says, "they became able navigators." But it would
circa 700).
Occurrences in the Fiji, Samoa, and Haapai Groups.
We have now followed the Rarotongan histories down to a point when Maori and Moriori traditions begin to shed their light on the course of events, for the occupation of the Fiji and Samoan groups is their "Heroic Period," when flourished so many of their heroes whose deeds are embodied in tradition and song, and which form the classics of their branch of the race. Full as the accounts of this period are of the marvellous, the historical parts may easily be sifted out. Such as they are, they are probably not more full of the supernatural or wonderful than the old world classics of the Greeks and others. They carry us back to much the same culture-level depicted in the Iliad, and other works of that and succeeding ages, where the gods took part in the affairs of man.
By both Maori and Rarotonga histories Emā (Hema) was the father of the two brothers Karii (Karihi) and Taaki (Tawhaki). It will be seen by the general table at the end of this work that Rarotonga lines of ancestors come down through Karii, whilst the Maori lines as a rule descend from Tawhaki. In accordance with this, the Rarotonga traditions make Karii the eldest son, and most important ariki of the two; it is just the contrary with the ariki, a piece of national pride on the part of both branches of the race. Apparently the Rarotogans trace no descent from Tawhaki, though many Maoris do. I have already pointed out that Rarotonga history makes Taaki to have flourished forty-six generations ago, whilst the Maori table published in the Journal Poly: Soc: vol. vii, p. 40 makes him to have lived forty-eight generations ago, by taking the date of Turi as twenty generations ago. We may therefore fix the date of Tawhaki as about the year 700.
The Rarotonga stories of these two heroes are similar in most respects to those of the Maoris, whilst they differ in detail. Their mother, (according to the first) was Ua-uri-raka-moana. On one occasion she commanded Karii to perform an operation on her head, which Karii refused to do. She then said, "My son, thou shall not remain an So the Native history seems to read; but it is an extraordinary statement, and contrary, I think, to Polynesian custom for parents ever to be offered in sacrifice. The Maori name of Tawhaki's wife is Hapai, or Hapai-maunga, clearly the same as the above. This story of Kui-the-blind, in Rarotonga tradition, forms part of that relating to Tane, a hero who flourished in the Fiji group, not to that of Taaki, (or Tawhaki).ariki. Thou shalt serve!" Taaki was then directed to do the same thing. He did so; and after retiring to his own district of Murei-tangaroa, it was not long before great power (mana) entered suddenly into him, and soon the news spread that the country was illuminated by him, the lightning flashing from his body (The Maori story is the same here). Karii now became jealous and angry at the power of his younger brother, especially because their father Emā had turned his affections on Taaki, which caused Karii to offer his parent at the marae as a sacrifice vaine taae, wild or fierce women, called "Nga-tikoma." Taaki now proceeds to the Nu-roa-i-Iti, where the vaine-taae are anxious to secure him as a husband, but he is directed on his course to Tangaroa-akaputu-ara—-who has his father's body—by another woman, Apai-ma-mouka.atua or gods, besides bringing back with him several valuables, the names of which do not help us to ascertain what they were. The story of Taaki ends here. It is much like that of the Maoris, except that the latter mentions in song and story the ascent of Tawhaki to heaven by the toi-mau—a special kind of connection between heaven and earth—where he meets Whaitiri or Kui the blind woman,
In considering the many versions of this story of Tawhaki as preserved by the Maoris, and more especially in one collected by the late atuas and the vaine taae here, are merely the Melanesians, who at this period occupied parts of the group. Taaki, by both Rarotonga and Maori story, was a very handsome man; hence the vaine taae (Melanesian women?) desired him.
In connection with this mountain—if it were such— where the gods lived, reference should be made to Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol. i, p. 143
"The Samoans sprang from two girls, Langi and Langi, These two women were swept away by a great wave of the aitu or god named Sa-le-vao. The girls said to him, Ta fia ola,Ta is an old form of the first person singular "I."(itu mātū); our land is altogether scattered.' Sa-le-vao then spat at the girls, at which they said, 'Spit towards the heavens' (anu i langi). (This is an expression still used. If anyone treats another disrespectfully, it is the usual and proper thing to say).
"Tangaloa-a-langi saw what was going on from his place in the eighth heaven, and he said to his son, 'Alu ifo, go down and bring the girls up here.' Tafa'i was the son of Tangaloa-a-langi. He went down and brought the girls up. As he was doing so, Sa-le-vao pursued them, and on reaching the eighth heaven he found the girls staying in Tangaloa's house. The latter said to Sa-le-vao, 'Hurry up and go down; wait down there until morning and then we will fight it out.' So Sa-le-vao returned below, and the next day Tangaloa went down and fought with Sa-le-vao and killed him. One of the girls Langi married Tangaloa-a-langi, the other Tafa'i. They all came down from heaven and lived on earth at Manu'a. The girls gave birth to sons—the wife of Tangaloa had Tutu, Tafa'i's wife Ila. Then were born U, and Polu and Saa, and Uii. Then Tangaloa-a-langi made his tqfinga, or appointment of occupations. One of the sons was to live in Manu'a and be called Tui-Manu'a; Tutu and Ila were to live in Tutuila; U and Polu in Upolu; Sa and Uii, the youngest sons, in
Another story says that Tafa'i lived at Le Itu-o-Tane, or the north coast of Savai'i. Possibly this may have been the man, not the god named above.
The group of people of whom Tawhaki is the most distinguished, is also well-known to Hawaiian tradition as the following will show: but in considering their place in history we must not lose sight of what Fornander has said on this subject, for he has probably studied Hawaiian history more closely than others. His belief was that the group of people—Kai-tangata, Hema, Tawhaki, Wahieroa, and Rata (all Maori ancestors)—has been engrafted on the Hawaiian genealogies after the arrival of the Southern Polynesians in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In this I think he is right; for the position assigned them on Hawaiian genealogies is contradicted both by Maori and Rarotonga history, but at the same time the Hawaiian account of them is very precise, as the following notes given to me by
"Puna (Maori Punga) and Hema were both sons of Ai-kanaka (Maori, Kai-tangata), and were born in Hawaii-ku-uli, at Kau-iki, Maui island. Hema died in Kahiki (Tahiti). The following old chant has reference to him, (in the translation the names are spelt as in Maori):—
It is perhaps presumption to differ from so good a Hawaiian scholar as Dr. Emerson, but I would suggest that apo-ula is better translated "the red girdle," such as was in use in the Central Pacific.
Cf. Rarotongan kakaia, the white tern.
"Hema's descendants reigned over Hawaii and Maui; Puna's over Oahu and Maui.
"Kaha'i (Maori Tawhaki), the son of Hema, was born at Ka-halulu-kahi (Te-haruru-tahi in Maori), Wailuku, Maui, and died at Kaili-ki'i, in Ka'u. His bones were deposited at Iao, Maui. He voyaged in search of his father's bones, to which the following chant has reference:—
Tuturu-o-Whiti is the common rendering of this name, and it refers to the "true, original, determined" Fiji.
Hawaiian story does not mention Karihi as a brother of Tawhaki, but both Maori and Karotonga history does.
In Maori story, this is the name of the hook let down from heaven, by which Tawhaki's wife was drawn up.
"Wahie-loa, son of Kaha'i, was born at Ka'u, and died at Koloa Puna-lu'u, and was buri ed at 'Alae in Kipa-hulu Maui.
"Laka (Maori Rătă), was born at Haili, Hawaii, and died at Kua-loa, Oahu, He was buried at Iao. A legend exists about the building of a canoe to search for his father," (as in Maori and Rarotongan story).
The Maori stories relating to Tawhaki, from whatever part of New Zealand they are collected, are extremely persistent in stating that his son was Wahie-roa, and his grandson Rătă. The first of these names does not appear in the Rarotongan Native History; indeed, no descendants of Tawhaki are given, and the incidents connected with Rătă's miraculous canoe are assigned to 250 years after the former flourished, when the name of Rătă is first tula-fale who gave me the name.
Several places in Samoa are also connected with the name of Rata. Dr. Turner says, "Near the place where Fa'ataoafe lived (on the south side of Savāi'i) there are two hills, which are said to be the petrified double canoe of Lata. Lata came of old from Fiji, was wrecked there, went on shore, and lived on the land still called by his name in the neighbourhood of the settlement of Salai-lua. He visited Upōlu and built two large canoes at Fangaloa, but died before the deck to unite them had been completed. To Lata is traced the "Samoa, a Hundred Years Ago," by Geo. Turner, ll.d. 1844.Seu-i-le-va'a-o-Lata (or 'steersman in the canoe of Lata') is a name not yet extinct in Samoa."
The names of Wahie-roa and Rata Whiti-marama is also mentioned in Maori traditions as an island visited by Turi—no doubt one of the Fiji group. Whiti-te-kawa, is another Maori name of some part of the Fiji group, from whence certain are, however, known to the Earotongans, as Queen Makea told me, although not given in the history, from which most of this is taken. karakias were learnt.
In Maori story the tribes defeated by Tawhaki on his ascent of the mountain are called Te Tini-o-te-Makahua and Te Papaka-wheoro; with reference to the last name, Papaka means a crab, and in Earotonga and Niuē, the words for crab (unga and tufa) are always applied to slaves, meaning Melanesian slaves.
According to Maori history, it was in the times of Tawhaki that cannibalism was first practised by their ancestors; and no doubt it was through their connection with the Melanesian people of Fiji, that they learnt the custom.
After Taaki's adventures above we hear no more of him in Earotonga story, and then the genealogical table gives the name of Karii's son Karii-kaa, and his grandson Turi, who married Varavara-ura, the sister of Papa-neke. There is an inconsequential story about Turi, but not worthy of note, and then the history is silent as to the descendants
The period of Apakura is distinguished in Maori history by the burning of the house or temple named Te Tihi-or Uru-o-Manōno, and in Raro-tonga tradition by the first occupation of Rarotonga. According to the genealogical table appended hereto, we find that Apakura lived circa 875, or thirty-nine generations ago. Unfortunately the Maori traditions are contradictory as to the date of Apakura; that given at page 40, vol. vii, of the Journal Polynesian Society only makes four generations between her and Tawhaki, whilst the Rarotongan gives seven. For reasons which have been stated, we are safe in taking the latter as being the more correct. In Maori history the story of Apakura is probably the most noted of all their ancient traditions. There are numerous old songs about her, and many references in the ancient laments; indeed, she may be said to be the "champion mourner" of the race, so much so, that one species of lament or dirge is called an apakura after her. Judging from the length and detail of the Rarotongan story of her doings, she occupies an equally prominent place in their regards; but, strange to say, while the incidents of the story are nearly the same in both dialects, the name of Te Uru-o-Manōno is not mentioned in Rarotongan. The burning of this temple in the traditions of the latter people is apparently represented by Apakura's destruction of the unnamed marae by fire.
The scene of our story has now shifted from Fiji to the Atu-Apai, or Haapai group, some 380 miles east-south-east i for u, and that the name was originally in Maori, Atu-Hapai, which would mean in most dialects, the Haapai group.
We will now follow out in brief the Rarotonga account of this period, for the final result was an important one. Apakura was the one sister of a family of ten brothers, whose names were Papa-neke, Papa-tu, Papa-noo, In all these names beginning in Papa, we shall recognise those of the Moriori story, beginning in Pepe. The Poporo-kewa of Maori story.ariki or ruling chief of Atu-Apai, Vaea-te-ati-nuku being Apakura's husband. Her son was Tu-ranga-taua, known to Maori history as Tu-whaka-raro.
In their low tree-shaded home of Apai (Haabai, the Tongan form of the name) an island that is nowhere elevated more than twenty-feet above sea level, fierce jealousy sprung up in the heart of the ariki against Apakura's son Tu-ranga-taua, on account of his beauty and skill. The people engaged in the game of teka, or dart throwing, and Tu-ranga-taua's dart far exceeded the flight of the ariki's; and so hate grew up in his heart, and the handsome Tu-ranga-taua was demanded of his mother as a sacrifice to the cannibal lusts of the chief. But she, having in mind the near relationship of her son to the ariki, refused her consent. Then follows, as so often occurs in the Native history, a song, very pretty ti-leaf falls across our threshold, thou wilt know that I am dead. And when thou seest this sign, upraise the cover of our drinking spring, and behold, if the waters thereof are red, then surely am I gone for ever." Thus saying, he kissed (rubbed noses with) his mother, and, taking his spear, departed.
Coming to the crowd around the ready-prepared oven, the ariki said, "Take and smite him! Let not his feet tread the paving of the marae, lest it be defiled." And then Tu-ranga-taua, with the words of a brave warrior uttered his challenge: "Tis Tu-ranga-taua of the Atu-apai! The son born of the gods! Stand off, ye oven-builders; and ye of the long spears; ye off-spring of the oven's smoke! Ye all shall flee before my spear, and all your heads, be they five hundred, shall lie in the dust!" He had advanced to the steps of the marae, where the ariki and his five hundred men were standing. "Seize him! smite him to his death!" cried the chief; and again Tu-ranga-taua uttered his challenge, at the same time attacking the crowd, he put them to flight. Again he attacked the bands under Apopo-te-akatinatina and Apopo-te-ivi-roa, which surrounded him on all sides, but he defeated them all, and reached the central part of the marae. Then, being much exhausted with his efforts, the other uncles attacked him, and Tu-ranga-taua fell under their blows.
When the morning came, the mother went forth lamenting her son, and to burn her house and gardens, as a token of desolation. And so she came in front of the sacred place, where the people were assembled, who cried out to the ariki, "Alas! she has even reached our sacred spot." The chief, in answer, said, "Why do ye cry out? Is not the son of Apakura within your coconut food baskets?" After a time others said, "O! she is in the very marae itself. Alas! she has burnt it with fire!" Again the ariki spoke, "Why speaks the mouth? Is he not within your baskets?" Not one answered to that; all mouths were closed. After a time said one, "We are all partakers of the same sin." The ariki speaking, reproved them, "Ye are like green coconuts, and foolish withal—the high chiefs, the priests, the orators, the leaders, the lesser chiefs; indeed, even the very warriors. Not one has a word of wisdom; the whole land is in fear. Not one of us shall remain alive—not a single one—because amongst ye there is not one that can speak a word to save us. We shall serve—we shall be slaves." And their hearts all sank at those words.
And how Apakura returned to her home and took her clothes and rent them, tearing off a fragment, and dying it in tumeric, and blackened it with tuitui (candle nut). Then she passed through the length of the land, seeking aid to revenge the death of her son; but no one would receive her. Again she returned, and taking another fragment of her clothing, again dyed and blackened it, this time passing over the breadth of the land, from end to end, but no one would receive or listen to her mission.
Disappointed in obtaining the succour she sought, Apakura now crossed to Avaiki (Savāi'i) to the brave descendants of Tangaroa-maro-uka: to Te Ariki-taania, to Tama-te-uru-mongamonga and to Rae-noo-upoko, the first Here we recognise a well-known Maori custom, often alluded to also in the Native history of Rarotonga.Ariki placed his guests in convenient order in his own canoe, where, having arranged his weapons, he threw a rope round their necks, and arising, "was soon cutting off their heads." Te Ariki-taania now returned, and reaching shore, gave the three heads to Apakura, saying, "Here are Tangiia-ua-roro, Te Mata-uri-o-papa, and Iriau-te-marama. But first let us swallow their eyeballs, as a token of what will be the fate of Orokeva-uru; so may he be crushed in my mouth."tuaine, a cousin probably. Then brave and warlike words were spoken as the expedition mustered and was reviewed on the beach, where
On the morrow, the shore was lined with the warriors of Haapai, and Orokeva-uru was heard giving his orders and directions to his people. It was now that Vaka-tau sent ashore his challenge to Orokeva-uru to fight in single combat, both being chiefs of equal rank. And so they commenced their long combat. At the same time Papatu of the Haapai people swam off to attack the canoes, but as soon as his head appeared above water it was cut off. Then followed Papa-neke, and Papa-noo, who shared the same fate. Now came Tāuu and Tapa-kati, thinking they would succeed, but their severed heads soon sank to the bottom, amidst the cheers of the invaders, whilst the hearts of those on shore sank within them. Vaka-tau and his opponent were all this time bravely fighting on the shore, whilst the former's people remained on board; and so it went on— "for seven nights" says the story, a little instance of Polynesian imagination—until Vaka-tau was wounded in the little finger by Orokeva's club, on which he returned on board to recruit before renewing the contest. Rae-noo-upoko, taking advantage of the night, went ashore, where he devised a cunning snare in the place where Orokeva was to stand next morning when the fight again began, and carried the end of the rope attached to the snare on board his vessel.
When the two warriors met again on the beach in the morning, a fiercer struggle than ever set in. "They strove from early dawn till the sun was high in the sky," says the narrative," and then came the pulling of the rope from the vessel; Orokeva was caught; he fell; Vakatau sprang on him, and soon Orokeva's head was on board Vakatau's vessel." And now it was arranged that Vakatau should remain aboard with 100 men, whilst Rae-noo-upoko proceeded ashore with 400 followers to destroy the people of Atu-Apai, root and branch. A great destruction followed—the houses were burnt, much booty was obtained, and many were killed. Apopo-te-akatinatina and Apopo-te-ivi-roa fled before Vakatau's brother, Tama-te-ura-mongamonga, until they reached the far side of the island, where, hastily lading a canoe, with a few of their people they took to the sea, and eventually made their way to Rarotonga, where they were the. first inhabitants, or tangata-uenua, whose descendants were found there 375 years after by Tangiia in the year 1250.
And now, the warriors having done their work, they set up Apakura's youngest son, Vaea-ma-kapua, as ariki over the Haapai group.
A reference to page 161 of vol. iv. of the Journal of the Polynesian Society, will show the Moriori account of this incident, which differs merely in detail from the above brief abstract of the long Rarotongan story. In "Polynesian Mythology," p. 61, is one of the Maori versions of the same event; but there are many others, and, but for the account of the burning of the temple or house—Te Uru-o-Manono—they are remarkably like that just given, derived from Rarotonga.
Through Apakura, the connection between the Raro-tongan tangata-uenua, or first settlers there, and the Maoris can be shown. Thus, Apakura's two brothers, both named
In the times above mentioned, some of the people were still living in Fiji, whilst—as has been shown—others were living in Tonga, Haapai, Savai'i, Upōlu, and no doubt also in Vavau, though there is little mention of this island about this period. One of the contemporaries of Apakura was Tuna-ariki, and he lived in Fiji, where a war broke out at this time about Ava-rua, a place which appears to have been one of the principal settlements there, and after which, it is probable, several other places of the same name in Eastern Polynesia were named. This war was between Tuna-ariki and Tu-ei-puku, the latter being beaten in the struggle, and the au, or government, seized by Tuna-ariki, Tu-ei-puku being finally killed by a puaka-uru-kivi, which means a boar striped like a tiger.
Tu-ei-puku's son was Kati-ongia, about whom is the saying Kua ariki Kati-ongia; kua au Kuporu ("Kati-ongia became the ruling chief; Upōlu secured peace," or Upōlu ruled), showing that—probably after his father's defeat— he had removed to and become chief of Upōlu. Kati-ongia is one of the few names that can be recognised on Samoan genealogies; its Samoan form is 'Ati-ongie, identically the same name, but, as has been shown, the difference in the genealogical period precludes their being the same individual.
Kati-ongia's grandson was the famous Atonga, who also was a great chief in Upōlu, and in whose time was built the celebrated canoe, which made the many voyages over so large an extent of the Pacific Ocean as related in the Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol. iv., p. 99. Amoa is the name of a place on the north-east coast of Savãi'i.
It is clear that from about this epoch Fiji ceased to play the important part it had done since the times of Tu-tarangi (a.d. 450), or for 500 years, and that the people had spread out from there to most parts of the Pacific. Since the times of Ui-te-rangiora in 650, if we may judge from the silence of the Native History as to any notable voyages, or the mention of any lands other than those in the Western Pacific, it would appear that there had been a partial cessation of expeditions undertaken for the purpose of colonization, though, no doubt, com-munication was kept up with Eastern Polynesia. It is also clear that just about the times of Te Ara-tanga-nuku, or in 950, a fresh impulse was given to navigation, and from this time forward for many years these Rarotonga-Maoris were frequently passing from east to west, and to the south, but communication does not appear to have been re-opened yet with Hawaii for nearly two hundred years from the period of Te Ara-tanga-nuku.
We can only surmise the cause of this apparent increase of nautical adventure at this time, for the Native History is silent about it. I would suggest that it was due to the increase of the Melanesian half-caste element in Fiji, which must have been growing for some time past, and that
It seems to me probable that Polynesian cannibalism is traceable to this period of their history, and that they learnt it from their Melanesian neighbours in Fiji. The branches of the race that have been most addicted to this practice are the Maoris, the Rarotongans, the Paumotuans and the Marquesans. In Samoa it was unknown, and was very little practised in Hawaii Professor Alexander says, not at all.
With respect to the Tahitians; if, as seems likely, their genealogies show only from forty to fifty generations of residence in that group, then they spread there somewhere about the period of the great Rarotongan navigator, Ui-te-rangiora, and therefore before the closer connection of Polynesians and Melanesians took place in
It is the same with Hawaii. It has been shown that it was about A.D. 650 that this group was first settled, and the strong inference is, from Fiji. I judge from Fornander that the Hawaiians have no tradition of any Hawaiki (Savāi'i) in the Pacific, but in their word Ka-hiki we may probably trace the name Fiji as well as Ta-hiti. Dr. Turner quotes Tafiti as a Samoan name for Fiji. Again, it is probable that the Hawaiian expression, Kukulu-o-Kahiki, is meant for the Fiji group. In Maori this is Tuturu-o-Whiti, a name, I feel convinced, they applied to Fiji, meaning the original or true Whiti (Fiji) in contradistinction to Tawhiti (Tahiti), the second place of their sojourn in the Central Pacific. The Hawaiian word has since become generalised, as with the Maori Hawaiki.
In the Marquesas, if we take the period of Nuku of their genealogies—about 50 generations ago—as that at which the islands were first settled, this would be before Melanesian customs affected Fiji. Therefore we may accredit the later and frequent visitors from Fiji
With regard to cannibalism amongst the Maoris, there are several clear allusions in their traditions to one of their female ancestors named Whaitiri, the wife of Kai-tangata, having been the first cannibal. Maori and Hawaiian genealogies are concordant as to the position
a.d. 700. This date is about from 200 to 250 years after the first occupation of the Fiji group by the Polynesians, and it therefore seems a fair inference that the tradition as to Whaitiri being the first cannibal, is true, and that it was in Fiji that she and her husband lived. It is probable that she was a Melanesian, and that she induced her husband to become a cannibal and thus receive the distinguishing name of Kai-tangata, or man-eater.
It is a somewhat remarkable thing that, in the numerous Polynesian traditions with which we are now acquainted, so few positive statements can be found in reference to the black Melanesian race, with which the Polynesians must so Already quoted, see ante.tupua, "odd, out-landish, demon, weird-one," found so often in their chants and traditions, seem to me to be names for these people. It is just such a name as they would give them at the present day. It is similar in meaning to the Rarotonga taae, which has been already suggested as a descriptive name for the Melanesians.
In this connection, another question arises: Why did not the Polynesians use the bow and arrows? For they must have seen the effect of them with the Melanesians. Of course, they did use them as an amusement, and for shooting birds &c, but I believe never in war. It is due to the conservatism of the race that they did not use the bow and arrow. Their system of fighting—with few exceptions, was always hand to hand; and this was so much ingrained in the race, like other customs, that they never used the maka, the Maori word
According to Langi, or stone graves with steps. From that place they subsequently removed to Mua. This would be about the year 1050. But if these migrants were Samoans—properly so called—why do we see no trace of the Langi in Samoa at the present time? It is more likely that these fresh settlers on Tonga were some of the Maori-Rarotongans, who had a knowledge of this step-form of structure, as is shown in the Tahitian marae.
Sojourn in Eastern Polynesia.
In the time of Atonga (who lived in Upōlu) or circa 950, the Rarotonga history first mentions a permanent residence of any of these Maori-Rarotongans in Tahiti, not that this was the first occupation of the island, but rather of that particular branch of the race shown on the genealogies. Apakura's great great grandson was Tu-nui, and he lived on the western side of Tahiti. The saying about him is "Tahiti was the land; the mountains above were Ti-kura-maramaru, and Oroanga-a-tuna, the koutu (marae) on the shore was Puna-ruku and Peke-tau." Puna-ruku is the well known Puna-ru'u river in the Paea district of Tahiti. This is a very common form of saying in Tahiti as applied to a high chief, and amongst the Maoris we find a similar one which is illustrated by the following: "Ko Tongariro te inaunga, ko Te Heuheu te tangata." Tongariro is the mountain, Te Heuheu is the man. Similar sayings are applied to many high chiefs.
From Tu-nui the history is again silent as to any doings of his successors for six generations, when we find flourishing in Tahiti, Kaua and his wife Te Putai-ariki and Kaua's brother Rua-tea with his wife Vairoa, who were parents of Ono-kura, one of the most famous of Rarotongan and Tahitian ancestors, about whom are some very lengthy legends. The son of Kaua and Te Putai-ariki was Tangiia-ariki, whose brother was Tutapu (not Tutapu-aru-roa, as the Rarotonga native history is careful to tell us). The fact of there being a Tangiia-ariki and a Tutapu. flourishing at this period (circa 1100), and a Tangiia-nui with a cousin named Tu-tapu-aru-roa (circa 1250) is likely to mislead people into confusing the two, especially in comparing the Tahitian version of Hono-'ura with the Rarotongan account of Onokura. Indeed, there is confusion in the Tahitian version, where people who lived in 1250 are introduced in connection with Hono-'ura. In view of the completeness of the Rarotongan genealogies we must accept their version as being correct, especially when we consider the details of the family connections given.
The history of Onokura is a very remarkable one, whether the Tahitian or Rarotongan account is considered. In the latter, the narrative is interspersed all through with songs and recitative, which would take many hours in delivery. It is, in fact, a complete "South Sea Opera," the full translation of which, I fear, will never be obtained, for the songs are full of obsolete words and phrases, the mean ings of which are probably unknown to the Rarotongans of these days. It is a remarkable thing that this celebrated ancestor is unknown to the Maoris, and, I think, to the Hawaiians also. I can only suggest that this poet, warrior, and navigator is known to Hawaiians and Maoris by some other name, but even then his deeds are not recorded. Possibly the great fame he has acquired is due to Tahitians circa 1100, and as the Maoris left those parts in 1350, they ought to have some record of him. Again, as he lived in the middle of the second era of navigation, and during the period, or just before, communication was re-established with Hawaii, he ought to be known to the latter people, but he is not.
Divested of the marvellous—which is to be found very fully in the original—the history of Onokura in brief, according to Rarotongan tradition, is this: the chiefs of Tahiti had for some few generations back been desirous of proceeding to Iva for the purpose of conquering that group. Iva, from what follows, is clearly the Marquesas, and not the country of the Hiva clan of Raiatea. Onokura appears to have been born at Tautira, Tahiti, which is corroborated by the many place names in the story that are situated near there. On a visit made to this place in 1897, Ori-a-ori the chief of Tautira pointed out to me the places connected with him, and he claimed, moreover, that both Onokura and Tangiia-ariki were his ancestors. The history mentions that at this period the inhabitants of Tahiti had increased to great numbers, and yet amongst them were no brave warriors to be found who would attempt to over come the monsters of the deep, and other difficulties that lay between them and Iva. At last Onokura was fetched from his mountain home of Ti-kura-marumaru, where he lived on wild fruits (amongst them the Mamaku and wheki, well known Maori names for species of the tree-fern, the heart of the first named being still eaten by them), the kokopu (trout), and koura (cray-fish). Under his direction a pāi, or canoe, was built, and finally launched with much song and ceremony. Then the chief—Tangiia-ariki —prepared for his voyage to overcome the chief of Iva. They now launched forth on Te Moana-o-Kiva, which is the Rarotonga form of the Maori name for the Pacific Ocean (Te Moana-nui-o-Kiwa). In one of the songs here introduced is found the name of Tamatoa-ariki, of Poa, (Opoa), at Ra'iatea, which seems to show that this name, borne in this century by the ruling chief of Ra'iatea, was in existence so long ago as the year 1100. The expedition was overtaken by a dreadful storm off Akaau Island (Fakaau, one of the Paumotus) where Onokura, by his strength and skill repairs the vessel, the name of which was Te Ivi-o-kaua. Then follow visits to the people of Akaau, whose chief was Te Ika-moe-ava, who was related to the visitors; and here Onokura marries his first wife, Atanua, the chief's daughter. In connection with this island is mentioned the name Te Raii, which is probably the Maori Te Raihi, some island or place beyond Tawhiti-nui (or Tahiti), according to Maori traditions.
After a lengthened stay at Akaau, the expedition next proceeds to In both of these names we shall recognise two of the smaller islands of the Marquesas, if we remember that the Marquesans do not sound the "r" and that they change "ng" into "k" very frequently.ariki, Tangiia, ariki, who was killed by the enemy. Next they arrive at Iva, where more fighting occurs, and they apparently settle down for some years, for the next event is the arrival of Nga-upoko-turua, Onokura's son, by his wife Atanua, from Akaau. After this there are further wars with the Marquesans, at Rua-unga (Uauka Island) and Rua-pou
The above is an extremely abbreviated account of the doings of Onokura which in the original covers 50 pages of closely written foolscap. No doubt it relates a nautical warlike expedition from Tahiti to the Marquesas, undertaken by these Rarotongan and Tahitian ancestors. It is interesting as showing the intercourse that took place in those times between distant groups, and the extent to which the ever-warlike Polynesian carried his arms. We must remember that this is about the middle of the period of
The following is a confirmation of the communication with Hawaii above referred to from Rarotonga History. In the times of Tamarua-paipai, who was a contemporary of Onokura (circa 1100), and who lived in Avaiki-raro (either Fiji or Samoa), great disputes arose over the distribution of certain food, part of which was the ariki's tribute. Naea was the ariki, but his younger brothers
This is clearly not the same Naea who lived in Tangiia's time ( There is some confusion in the Native history about these two men named Naea—one account states that the names mentioned above were the names of the brothers of that Naea who arrived in Rarotonga in Tangiia's time.circa 1250), for three lines of genealogies show this one to have lived about 1100—a period which is only fifty years from the date assigaed by Fornander as the opening of communication afresh between central Polynesia and Hawaii, and it is the first mention of the latter group in Rarotongan story since circa 650. The name of Naea is not to be found in Fornander, but it is quite possible he is known to the Hawaiians by some other appellation. The first of these southerners to arrive in Hawaii, according to Fornander, was a priest named Paao (probably Pakao in the southern dialects), who afterwards brought over one Pili-Kaaiea, who became King of Hawaii Island.
It has been shown by Fornander that voyages from the central Pacific to Hawaii ceased in the time of Laa-mai-kahiki, or about 1325, and from that time down to the
The expedition of Onokura to Iva, (Marquesas) described above, is not the only one we hear of at this period. In the times of Onokura (circa 1100) according to the genealogies, there lived in Rangi-ura—one of the islands to the north of Fiji—a chief named Anga-takurua, whose ancestor Rua-taunga, seven generations before him, or say about the year 925, was still living in Avaiki-atia, or Indonesia. Whilst living at Rangi-ura, there came on a visit to Anga-takurua, a chief named Makea, which is the first of that celebrated family we hear of, under that name, in the Native History. Makea's visit was to obtain men
These long expeditions, undertaken for purposes of war, show to what a pitch the Polynesians, at that time, had carried their powers of navigation. The love of the sea, and its accompanying adventures, must have been very strong in them.
From Onokura for two generations there are no events to record, but in the third, or in the year 1200, flourished Kaukura, who lived in Upōlu, but removed from there and settled in Tahiti. We have now arrived at an interesting period in the history of Eastern Polynesia, where, as is shown in the Rarotongan Native History, communication was frequent throughout Central Polynesia. These are the times of Tangiia-nui, or circa 1250.
The Settlement of Rarotonga.
It has been shown that Rarotonga was first settled about 875, by the two men named Apopo, and their people. Here they and their descendants seem to have lived for 375 years, until the settlement there of Tangiia-nui, with
It appears from the Native History, that just before Apopo and his people arrived at Rarotonga, another party under Ata-i-te-kura had migrated from Iva There is a long genealogy of Ata-i-te-kura's ancestors in the Native History, but ib does not connect on to other lines, so is no use as a check on the date, nor does this line come down beyond his two sons.Opukia io te puku-o-mata, apaina na Tangaroa ki te rangi, na Bongo ma Tane, e eiva kino te tamaki e." "Catch the eye-balls, offer them to Tangaroa in the skies, to Rongo and Tane; an evil pastime is war." After staying some time, the Iva people returned to their own country.
After them came Te Ika-tau-rangi This name is shown on Maori genealogies as a son of Kupe, the navigator who visited New Zealand sometime before the fleet, but it is impossible to say if the names refer to the same person. By another line he is shown to be a great grandson of Moe-tara-uri, Whiro's father.
Here ends the brief history of Rarotonga down to the times of Tangiia-nui. If my readers remember that the two men named Apopo were Apakura's brothers, they will see that these early settlers were of the same branch of the Polynesians as many a Maori now living in New Zealand. When Tangiia-nui arrived in Rarotonga in 1250 he found Tane-kovea and others, descendants of Apopo, then living there. Dr. Wyatt Gill says the men were all killed and the women saved, but our Native History relates nothing of this.
The immediate ancestors of Tangiia-nui seemed all to have lived in Tahiti. It can be shown, I think, how Tangiia is connected with the Maori lines of ancestors. One of his names was Uenga, afterwards changed to Rangi Colonel Gudgeon C. M. G., Govt. Resident at Rarotonga, informs me that he was also known to the Mangaia people as Toi. If so, it is just possible, but not probable, that this may be Toi-te-hua-tahi known to Maori history, as living in Hawaiki.
Tangiia is shown above as a son of Pou-vananga-roa; in reality he was the son of the latter's brother Kau-ngaki, and therefore Pou-vananga-roa's nephew. The connection of the lines depends on the fact of there being a Maru, who had a son Uenga, by both Maori and Rarotonga history. The date of Tamatea-moa is one generation, or twenty-five years, before the mean period of the heke to New Zealand, kumara to their knowledge.
With respect to Kupe, mentioned in the table above, there is some doubt as to the exact period of his visit to New Zealand, but the Taranaki tribes say that it was in the same generation that Turi came here from Ra'iatea,
As has been said, Tangiia's father was Kau-ngaki, but he was adopted by Pou-vananga-roa-ki-Iva, as was his cousin Tu-tapu—afterwards called Tu-tapu-aru-roa, or "Tu-tapu, ariki of Tahiti, as was Tu-tapu of Iva, whilst Tangiia was made a tavana or subordinate chief. In consequence of this distribution, great trouble arose; in the end Tangiia drove out his foster-brother Maono, and seized the government, in which he appears to have given great offence to his relatives, and which led to further-trouble. Next arose a serious quarrel between Tangiia and Tu-tapu as to the ownership of Vai-iria, a stream in Tahiti (Mataiea District, south coast), which led to a war between Te Tua-ki-taa-roa and Te Tua-ki-taa-poto—"the first meaning Avaiki, the second Tahiti and Iva" —no doubt names for the two elements of the population, i.e., the first referring to the later migration there, the other to the previous one. Other troubles arose about the tribute to these several chiefs, such as the turtle, the shark, and other things which were sacred to the arikis in former times—indeed down to the introduction of Christianity.
Tu-tapu after this returns to his own country, Iva, whilst Tangiia proceeds on a voyage to Mauke Island of the Cook Group, where he marries two girls named Pua-tara and Moe-tuma. His love song to these ladies is preserved. After a time Tangiia returns to Tahiti, where he quarrels with his sister Rakanui about some insignia pertaining to the rank of ariki, and she leaves in disgust and settles in Uaine (Huahine Island) with her husband Maa. Tangiia now seeks diversion from the troubles of government by a long voyage to Avaiki (Savāii), and visits many other islands on the voyage, and he remained away some years. On his return to Tahiti he sends Tino-rere to fetch his children from Mauke. Shortly after rara-roroa, and the rara-kuru (man and breadfruit tribute), both tributes of an ariki. But Tangiia refuses, though after some time he concedes the rara-kuru, thinking to appease his cousin, but to no avail. It is clear from the fact of Tangiiai's sons having attained to manhood at this time, that he had been absent in the Western Pacific for many years.
Great preparations were now made for war. Tangiia collects his people, the clans of Te Kaki-poto, Te Atu-taka-poto, Te Kopa, Te Tavake-moe-rangi, Te Tavake-oraurau, Te Neke, Te Ataata-a-pua, Te Tata-vere-moe-papa and the Manaune, some of whom are mentioned as small people; they were probably Melanesian slaves. The two parties now separate, Tu-tapu retiring to Tau-tira, at the east end of Tahiti-iti, whilst Tangiia and his army occupied Puna auia (a stream and district, west side of Tahiti). War now commences; as the history says, "Tahiti is filled with the Ivans" (Tu-tapu's people), and they press Tangiia so sorely that he orders his vessel to be launched and all his valuables placed on board, including his gods Tonga-iti, Rongo, Tane, Rua-nuku, Tu and Tangaroa, besides his seat named "Kai-auunga," in case of defeat in the coming strife. Two other gods were taken by Tu-tapu— Mangaian legends relate that this Motoro, son of Tangiia was one of their ancestors.viz., Rongo-ma-Uenga and Maru-mamao. When this had been done, Tangiia again fought Tu-tapu in the mountains, where the former's two sons, Pou-te-anua-nua and Motoro are killed, the former by the woods (or grass?) being set on fire. And now Tangiia was driven into the sea by his enemies, whilst the country-side was a mass of smoke and flame. Then comes in a little bit of the marvellous: "The goddess Taakura looking down upon the fire fiercely burning, descries Motoro in the midst of it. She spoke to ariki; he will be burnt by the fire!' Said Tangaroa to her, 'What is to be done? Thou art a god, he is a man!' 'Never mind. I shall go down and fetch my husband.' Then Tangaroa uttered his command, saying, 'Haste thee to Retu. Let him give thee a tempest to extinguish the fire!' Then was given to her a fierce wind that extinguished the fire, and in this storm she descended and carried away Motoro to Auau (Mangaia) with the aid of Te Muu and Te Pepe."
When Tangiia, in parting, looked back upon the land, his heart was full of grief for his home about to be abandoned for ever, and thus he sang his farewell lament.
Here we recognise the same name as that of Mount Cook, in New Zealand. It is a very high mountain in Tahiti.
Before finally departing from his home, Tangiia despatched Tuiti and Te Nukua-ki-roto to fetch certain things from the marae, used by them in connection with their gods; but instead of doing this they stole Tu-tapu's god Rongo-ma-Uenga, and took it on board the vessel. This was the cause that induced Tu-tapu to continue his long pursuit of Tangiia, and which gave him his name, "The relentless pursuer."
The vessel's course was now directed to the west from Tahiti, to many islands, until she arrived even at Avaiki-te-varinga, Tangiia all the while, with excessive grief, lamenting his sons. Tamarua-pai Tamarua-pai (or as he is often called, Pai), was a chief from Pape-uriri and Ati-maono, who also lived at Pape-ete, places in Tahiti. There is an "opening" at Moorea Island named Utu-kura, made by Pai. This "opening" (puta) is probably the hole in Mou'a-puta, said by the Tahitians to have been made by Pai's spear, who cast it from Tautira, some 35 miles away!mana, equal to that of the gods, so that in the future he should always conquer; and they delivered to him numerous gods (idols) and their accessories, which he now possessed for the first time, together with directions as to a number of ceremonies, dances and songs, and new customs, which were afterwards introduced into Rarotonga.
Apparently also some people joined Tangiia here, on purpose to carry out the directions that had been given in connection with these new matters. Taote and Mata-iri-o-puna were appointed to the charge of the trumpets and drums, Tavake-orau to the direction of the ceremonial dances, whilst Te Avaro from Rangi-raro, was charged
maraes of Rarotonga.
This Avaiki, and the story connected with it is somewhat difficult to understand, but it is clearly some I have already shown the probability of Avaiki-te-varinga being Java, or, it may be that the name is here used for some of the neighbouring islands, Ceram, or the Celebes.
From Kupolu (Upōlu) Tangiia, sailed back to Iti (Fiji), where they fell in with Iro, a very noted ancestor of Rarotongans and Maoris, called by the latter Whiro. After some time, Tangiia asks Iro "Where is thy son? want him as an ariki for my people, my sons being dead." "He is away at Rapa, where I have settled him."Said Tangiia, "I will go after him and fetch him as an ariki for my people," to which Iro consented. This son of Iro's was Tai-te-ariki, whose name is still borne by Maoris now living in New Zealand, and who are descended from him. It was from Tai-te-ariki also, that the long line of arikis who have ruled over the Ngati-Tangiia tribe of Rarotonga down to my friend Pa-ariki, the present worthy chief of Nga-Tangiia, are descended. Maori and Rarotongan history and chants are full of the adventures of this ancestor of theirs—Iro, or Whiro —who is also known as an ancestor of the Tahitians.
Tangiia now started from Fiji on his long voyage to Rapa-nui or Easter Island to fetch Tai-te-ariki, a voyage dead against the trade wind, and 4,200 miles in length. No doubt he called at many islands on the way, but they are not mentioned. There he found Tai-te-ariki, who, at that time, was called Taputapu-atea, and after explaining ariki over my people." He then names the clans over which Tai-te-ariki is to rule, including the Manaune and others already referred to and the sister then gives Tai-te-ariki a new name, Te-ariki-upoko-tini (the many-headed ariki), referring doubtless to the many clans he was to govern.
Rakanui now presented Tangiia with another canoe "Kaioi," which his navigator, Pai, makes use of to convert their own vessel into a vaka-purua or double canoe, thus seeming to indicate that Tangiia's long voyage had been made in a single canoe, or perhaps a canoe with outrigger only. The sister now agrees to join her forces to those of her brother, and they sing a species of song together to ascertain whether salvation or death shall be their fate.
Whilst these transactions are proceeding, there suddenly arrives on the scene the dreaded Tu-tapu, and Tangiia flees to Porapora, an island about 50 miles to the west. Here he proceeds to perform the ceremonies connected with the appointment of Tai-te-ariki as an ariki. But, as the story goes, "they had not girded him with the scarlet belt" (maro-ura) when Tu-tapu overtakes them, and Tangiia flees to Rangi-atea (Ra'i-atea) which island is some 20 miles south of Porapora. Here the two war-like canoes come close together, and Tu-tapu shouts out, "Deliver up my gods! return my gods you took from Tahiti!" Whilst they sail along together, bandying words, the dark tropical night sets in with its usual suddenness, and Tangiia sheering off, parts company in the dark.
Tangiia—presumably fearing that his proposed project of settling on Rarotonga is known to Tu-tapu—steers before the trade wind and quickly makes the Fiji group again. Here a different disposition of his forces is made and the double canoe fitted up, the lesser canoe for the women and children, the katea or larger canoe for the men. His people are numbered and found to be e rua rau, four hundred. All this is illustrated by song as usual. Apparently this careful disposition of force was in anticipation of meeting the redoubtable Tu-tapu.
The preparations completed, the expedition left Fiji again, going From vol. iv. p. 107, of the Journal of the Polynesian Society, this appears to be Karika's second name.ki runga, or to windward to visit the many islands there, and increase the reputation of their vessel towards the sun rising. As they drew near to Maketu (now called Mauke, one of the Cook Group) they beheld a sail. On Tuiti and Nukua-ki-roto climbing up the mast, they discovered that it was the canoe of Karika, from Samoa, of which they informed Tangiia, saying: rangi-ei, the plume of rank upon thy head" (give up the supremacy to Karika). The vessels now draw together and Karika comes on board that of Tangiia, who has been careful to send his warriors below, keeping only the slaves, children and the decrepit on deck, so that Karika might not know his strength. Then follows a scene in which Tangiia attempts to present Karika with the emblems of chieftain-ship, in which he is prevented by the faithful Pai, the navigator of the vessel. A struggle ensues in which Tangiia, in urging on his people, used the word takitunu, which thenceforth becomes the name of his vessel. Karika seems to have got the worst of it, and his canoe is towed away to Maiao, and to Taanga (Taha'a, near Ra'iatea) where Mokoroa-ki-aitu, Karika's daughter, becomes Tangiia's wife, to cement the peace then made.
Tangiia now learns from Karika the directions for finding Rarotonga, after which the two vessels separate—Karika going his way, whilst Tangiia sails south; but misses his mark and reaches a part of the ocean where great currents meet, and Tangiia concludes he has reached the "mountainous waves" of the south referred to in tradition, in which he is supported by finding the sea quite cold. Putting about ship he sails north, and finally sights the east coast of Rarotonga, and lands at Nga-tangiia, where like a good and true Polynesian, he at once proceeds to build a marae for his gods at Te Miromiro, close to the present church there.
Next follows a long history of the building of various maraes and kouiu, in honour of various gods, to each of which he appointed guardians, whose names are given, many of which are borne by the mataiapos, or chiefs of the islands at this day. Most of these maraes are said to have been named after others in Avaiki (probably the eastern group) and other places, whilst others were named after incidents in Tangiia's eventful life. The maraes are so numerous that it must have taken a very long time to build them all. Considering that they had also to build houses, plant food, etc., it seems probable that some few years were thus occupied.
Whilst building the It might have been thought perhaps, that Atea-roa, is a corruption of the name, Aotea, or Aotea-roa, one of the celebrated canoes of the Maori migration. But I think not, for reasons which will be given when we deal with that subject.marae named Angiangi, and before a guardian had been appointed, there arrived another expedition under Naea, in his canoe "Atea-roa."tere of Naea, but in this I think there is a mistake. Had they done so, the writer of the Rarotongan Native History would not fail to have mentioned the fact. Only one canoe is named above, and that is not known to New Zealand tradition. This Naea and his party are said to have come from a place called Arava, in the Paumotu Group; they belonged to the Tonga-iti clan.
It was with this expedition also that
Just before the arrival of Naea, another party of emigrants arrived from Upōlu, under Tui-kava, who settled at Paparangi and Turangi.
After these events, Tangiia met with Tane-korea, his wife, and his two daughters, both of whom he added to the considerable number of wives he already had. These people, as has been shown, were some of the tangata-uenua, and descendants of the migration to Rarotonga in 875.
Some time after, how long is not known, came Karika, with whom Tangiia had the interview as related some pages back, and who told him the direction in which to find Rarotonga, in fulfilment of his promise. He landed at a place called E, and built there a koro or fort, which he named Are-au. The story then quotes an old song to show that Karika was a cannibal. Karika found his own daughter, Mokoroa-ki-aitu, and her husband, Tangiia, living at Avarua, the present principal village of Rarotonga.
They had not been settled very long in Rarotonga before a fleet was seen in the offing, which turned out to be the "relentless pursuer "Tu-tapu, still following up his old enemy Tangiia. Fighting commenced in which both Tangiia and Karika joined with their people; but there was a cessation after a time, and—evidently thinking that he would be worsted in the end, notwithstanding the great powers that had been given to him during his visit to Avaiki-te-varinga—Tangiia despatched his sister Rakanui and his foster-brother Keu right away to Tahiti,
But I do not propose to detail this lengthy war; it belongs to the history of Rarotonga alone. It resulted in the death of Tu-tapu, and a great number of his warriors from Iva. During the progress of it, the supremacy was delivered over by Tangiia to Karika, and it has descended to his living representative, Queen Makēa-Takau, the chief of the Government of the Cook Islands, at the present day.
Tangiia's counsel to his people at the end of this war is worthy of record. "His words to the body of Priests and to all Ngati-Tangiia (his tribe) were: 'Let man be sacred; let man-slaying cease; the land must be divided out amongst the chiefs, from end to end; let the people increase and fill the land.' Another law he laid down: 'Any expedition that arrives here in peace, let them land, Any that comes with uplifted weapon strike off their heads with the clubs.' These were the words spoken in those days." I am afraid the subsequent history of the people proves that Tangiiai's words of wisdom were often disregarded.
The part of the history that follows on these events is very interesting, as showing how Tangiia instituted the various ceremonies and customs he had learnt on his long voyage to Avaiki-te-varinga,
In Tangiia's old age, Karika urged him to join in a voyage to Iva to help obtain a celebrated canoe named "Pata"; but he declined, though some of his people went with Karika, who left his son Puta-i-te-tai in Tangiia's care. The Iva people laid a plot to kill Ngati-Tangiia, but they being warned in time escaped back to Rarotonga, whilst Karika was killed.
The history of Karika, mentioned above, has been given in the Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol. i, p. 70. The events therein related regarding the settlement of Rarotonga will not be found to agree exactly with those which are given in the Native History from which this is compiled, but after all, the differences are not great; it is known that Karika came from Samoa, and in the records of the Manu'a island of that group, his name is preserved, under the form of 'Ali'a, who, acccording to traditions collected by the
The Rarotonga accounts however, make Karika's father and mother to have been named Eaa and Ueuenuku; the Manu'a (Samoan) accounts give them as Le Lolonga and Auia-luma. The ancestors preceding Le Lolonga are also quite different to those in the Rarotonga account (Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol. 1, p. 70). This leads me to infer the probability of 'Ali'a having been interpolated
It has been shown on a former page that the period of Karika and Tangiia (circa 1250) is that also of the first Malietoa in Samoa, in whose time the Samoans appear to have first got the upper hand of the so-called Tonga-Fijians, or in other words, the Maori-Rarotongans. It seems to me that this is the probable reason of Karika's leaving Samoa, his relationship to the Rarotonga people who were then living in Samoa and Fiji, made it advisable for him to leave, together with others. It is stated that he made eight different voyages between Rarotonga and Avaiki, which would here include both Samoa and Fiji, and for part of this time he was engaged in wars in Avaiki and other islands in the neighbourhood. The name of his double-canoe was Te-au-ki-Iti and Te-au-ki-Tonga.
From this period (1250) the Rarotonga history does not mention a single voyage back to Samoa or Fiji, though some are noted to the nearer group of Tahiti, etc. So far as we can judge, communication with Western Polynesia ceased, and the reason I suggest is, that the Samoans had expelled the Rarotongan-Maori branch of the race from their group. As for Fiji, it is probable that some of the latter people still remained there, and that they, in the course of the 600 years that have since elapsed, have played an important part in modifying the original Melanesian Fijians, so that they are now a cross between the two races.
In the times of Tangiia, as has been mentioned, there lived in Avaiki, which is one of the places of that name in Indonesia, a man of the same name as the great ancestor of the Rarotongans, Tu-te-rangi-marama. His home was on a sacred mountain that had four names,
marae called Kura-akaangi in Rarotonga, he and Tamarua appointed Moo-kura as guardian. The son of the latter
Tangiias son was Motoro, his son was Uenuku rakeiora, his son was Uenuku-ki-aitu, his son was Ruatapu, renowned in Maori history. This brings us to the year 1350, when the fleet on its way to New Zealand called in at Rarotonga.
In reference to Uenuku-rakeiora mentioned above, who is known to Maori history, it is noted that Tangiia's son Motoro married two wives—Pua-ara-nui and Te Vaa-rangi—by each of whom he had son. Pua-ara-nui's son was concealed by the priest Etu-roa, so Vaa-rangi's son (the younger) Uenuku-rakeiora came to be an ariki. When this was discovered afterwards, the elder son Uenuku-tapu was made a mataiapu, or lesser chief, and his descendants are also living in Rarotonga now, as I gather from the Native History. It can be shown that some of the descendants of Uenuku-rakeiora came to New Zealand, his grandson Paikea, Ruatapu's brother amongst others. It was Uenuku-rakeiora's son Uenuku (by the Rarotongan history called Uenuku-te-aitu) who was the great chief and priest in Hawaiki according to Maori story, just before the heke to New Zealand. From this we may gather that, if born in Rarotonga, he did not live all his life there, for we have—from Maori
Uenuku-rakeiora's wife and his mother both came from Iva (Marquesas) so says the story; but it is a question if Iva here, does not mean the part of Rai'atea occupied by Te Hiva clan.
Tahitian Origin of the Maoris.
Having sketched out the History of the Polynesian race down to about the year 1350, and traced their various migrations, from far Hawaiki-nui to Eastern Polynesia—Tahiti and Rarotonga—it remains to be shown where was the immediate "Whence of the Maoris."
In the circular issued by the writer in 1891, asking those interested in Polynesian matters to join in forming a Society—having for its objects the preservation of records of the Polynesian race—a hope was expressed that such a Society would tend to draw the members together, and that, by their means, many obscure points in connection with the history of the race would be cleared up and valuable matter placed on record. A glance through the first six volumes of Transactions published up to 1897, will show that a considerable meed of success had attended the operations of the
It seemed, therefore, to the writer that the attempt to clear up this and other questions once for all, was worth making. Time was pressing—the old men of the Polynesian race from whom their history could be obtained were fast passing away—civilization was fast extinguishing what little remained of ancient lore—the people themselves were dying out before the incoming white man—and, to all appearances, there would soon be nothing left but regrets over lost opportunities.
Feelings of this nature were borne in strongly on the writer, and, it was felt the attempt to clear up some of the outstanding questions must be made. It was with this object then that I undertook a six months' voyage in the Pacific in 1897; the results, in brief form, are shown in what precedes this, and in what follows.
It is doubtless due to the prominence of two names (in the Samoan, Savaii, and Hawaiian, Hawaii) that so many The terms "Sketches of Ancient Maori Life and History," by raro, below, and runga, above, are always applied by Eastern Polynesians to the direction to which, and from which, the trade wind blows, i.e. raro is the west, runga the east.Tautau is the Maori word tahutahu, to burn, or burning, and the name was probably given to New Zealand on account of its active volcanoes. It is over twenty-five years since I came to the conclusion that Eastern Polynesia must be searched for this particular Hawaiki; but, with the exception of Judge J. A. Wilson, no one appears to have followed in the same lines as myself. Mr. Wilson truly indicates in his interesting little book
Amongst other names of ancient places mentioned in the Maori traditions as one of those from which they came hither, is Tawhiti-nui. It is frequently mentioned in the Maori traditions; sometimes it is Tawhiti-nui-a-Rua, the latter word clearly being a man's name. In one of the accounts of Nga-toro-i-rangi's return from New Zealand to
Now, I was told in Tahiti that Te Tua is the name of a high chief, and has been so from time immemorial. The name Nga-toro-i-rangi, the celebrated priest of A name given to one of the very ancient ancestors of Hawaii-Nakolo-wai-lani, may possibly also be identified with this.ng), but it is there the name of a god, and of a place. Possibly this celebrated priest was deified there. At the same time the two names may have nothing to do with one another.
In one of the Maori "Uenuku" legends is mentioned the name of a mountain (Arowhena) which was somewhere in Hawaiki. Now, Oro-fena or Orohena is the highest mountain in Tahiti. I have shown that this same Uenuku lived (part of his life at any rate) in Rarotonga, and that voyages between there and Tahiti were frequent, and that, he made voyages from Rarotonga to the country where this mountain was, though the name of the island is not given—Hawaiki being understood.
Pari-nui-te-ra is the name of the place to which some of the Maori traditions say their ancestors returned from New Zealand to fetch the kumara. I gathered from an old man on Moorea Island that there is such a place, near Pape-ete, on the north shore of Tahiti.
In Mr. Best's "In Ancient Maori Land," p. 41, will be found the Ngati-Awa of the Bay of Plenty account of the coming of the Mata-atua canoe, with the name of a tribe of Tahiti named Te Tini-o-te-Oropaa. The tribe of Te tuahu or altar, which they set up at Maketu, Bay of Plenty, Ahu-rei, in remembrance of their ancient home in Tahiti.
I was told by Mr. Tati Salmon, of Tahiti, that expeditions were known to have left the west coast of Tahiti in former days, to find homes for themselves elsewhere, but the particulars have not been preserved. The name of only one canoe as having arrived there from distant parts was remembered; this was Manu'a-tere, which was that of Te Atonga previously mentioned,
The only two places where the native name of New Zealand (Aotea-roa) is known, so far as I can learn, are Tahiti—where it is mentioned in an old chant—and at Rarotonga, as will be shown. Taken altogether, the evidence which has now been adduced (besides other that might be quoted) seems conclusive that Tawhiti of the Maori is Tahiti, and that their Hawaiki is Hawaiki-runga, which includes all the groups around Tahiti.
We next come to another island of the Society Group, the name of which has been retained in Maori traditions, but only I think in those of the Maoris of the West Coast of the North Island. This is Ra'i-atea (in Maori Rangiatea), one of the poetical names of which is Havai'i-mata-pee-e-moe-te-Hiva. It is also called 'Ioretea'-Uri-e-tea and Havai'i. About four miles to the north is another lovely island, with indented coast line, down to which the mountains fall in abrupt and wooded
This group of islands is separated from Tahiti by the Sea of Marama, named after one of the Tahitian ancestors, and which name I believe is referred to in the following lines from an ancient Maori lament which is full of old Hawaiki names, and was composed by one of Turi's descendants eleven generations ago:—
in which the Sea of Marama is mentioned.
Of the islands mentioned above, I think Ra'iatea is clearly the Rangiatea of the Maori traditions preserved by the Taranaki and West Coast people, which they say was the name of Turi's home, and where also tradition says was the great marae "at Hawaiki, belonging to the warrior chiefs—to the great chiefs of the sacred cult, used for their invocations in time of war. That marae was a temple, and the name included both temple and marae. It was where the deliberations of the people were held, and was a place of great mana. Hence is our saying—He kakano i ruiruia mai i Rangiatea—('We are) seed scattered hither from Rangiatea.' The Church at Otaki, West Coast,
At Ra'iatea was the most sacred and important marae in the Central Pacific. It was situated at Opoa (called Poa in Rarotonga), at Taputapu-atea, and from which place stones were taken to use in the foundation of many other maraes in Tahiti, etc.; as, for instance, the stone pillar called Tura'a-marafea at Papetoai, Moorea, and that taken by Fanunū to found the marae of To'oarai, Papara, Tahiti, near which was afterwards built that of Mahai-atea, which has already been described.
There are other things which seem to connect Ra'iatea with Turi's ancient home, and one of which I think will be seen from the following quotation from an old Maori song:—
Now, Avarua is the opening in the reef a little to the north of Opoa, and by which the steamers now enter the lagoon of Ra'iatea from the east, and the "sin at Avarua," as described in the Aotea legends was the cause of the crew of that vessel migrating to New Zealand. Rongorongo was Turi's wife, and Aotea his canoe.
In Maori story, only one of the other islands referred to above is mentioned, viz., Vavau or Porapora, which I take to be Wawau-atea connected with the stories of Whiro, of whom Tahitian, Maori, and Rarotongan traditions are full, especially in connection with Ra'iatea and Taha'a. His
Of Turi, the great ancestor of Taranaki, Ngati-Ruanui, Nga-Rauru and the Whanganui tribes of the West Coast, North Island, New Zealand, and commander of the Aotea canoe, it is well known that he arrived here about twenty generations ago at the same epoch as the fleet, of which, however, the Aotea did not form a part. This would be about 1350. Turi—I believe the same as the Maori ancestor—is well known in Tahiti, but up to the present, a promised genealogical table from him to people living, has not arrived. Therefore the evidence is incomplete. The following is what I learnt about him; and though the stories are much mixed up with the marvellous, as so often occurs with distinguished Polynesian heroes, the historical part is easily sifted: Turi was a great chief of Tahiti, and born at Mahaena, on the north-east coast of that island, where he grew up to manhood. He there married his first wife, Hina-rau-re'a, of whom he was very fond, but very jealous. On one occasion, before going inland to procure feis (wild bananas) he enclosed his wife's house in a hedge of prickly thorns so that no one might go near her. Presently Turi's two sisters appeared and declared it was a shame so pretty a woman should thus be shut out from all enjoyment, and finally persuaded Hina to go with them to the beach to indulge in the favourite pastime of fa'ahe'e-'aru (whakaheke-ngaru in Maori) or surf-riding. Hina was a novice at this amusement, but Turis sisters were adepts. On coming ashore, Hina trod on a he (Maori whe) or caterpillar, "which had been endowed with supernatural powers by Turi, for feia (people), and leaving Hina-rau-re'a, sailed away to Ra'iatea where many adventures befel him. After a time he left Ra'iatea with his people and sailed away no one knows whither.
Another account is, that he left Tahiti for Ra'iatea, where, being a man of a very amorous nature he got into frequent trouble. Finally a great quarrel arose between him and the Ra'iatea people, when Turi departed with his people and never came back, nor does any one know where he went.
The most complete account I got of Turi, however, was at Moorea, from a native woman, who is the granddaughter of one of the old Ra'iatea Tahuas, (or Tohungas, in Maori) and moreover a woman of great intelligence and considerable knowledge. According to her, Turi was born at Fa'aroa (Maori, Whangaroa) in Ra'iatea; he was the eldest of his father's family; after him came Puī, then a girl, and lastly another girl named Nona-i-mata'i. Fa'aroa is a deep inlet on the shores of which is the ancient Can this be the origin of the name of Manawa-pou, the stream not far from Turi's New Zealand home? The Taranaki people are much given to using "o" instead of "a."marae of Opoa. Turi owned a celebrated trumpet named Ro'o-puna, and also two canoes the names of which are not remembered. Manava-pau was the name of his spring of water.marae of his own, near Te-umu-ape, at Fa'aroa; it was cut out of the solid earth in the shape of a canoe. Near the marae was a taro patch, in which some of the women had been on one occasion washing taro. Turi was angry at (huti i'a)" and the people were ordered to fill his house with ruru (rolls) of mats, and cloth made of anu-ora'a (bark of the banyan tree). Turi's wife set to work and filled four houses instead of one. The wife's name is forgotten, but she came from 'Otipūa at Ra'iatea. Her grandfather's name was Toto (or Hoto, it is not certain which—according to Maori story Toto was Turi's father-in-law) who was a great warrior, and through his conquests had acquired a great deal of land. There are four of Turi's direct descendants still living at Ra'iatea. Like all great chiefs Turi had a mou'a or mountain, it is called Fane-ufi. His tahua (floor), place for meetings, was named Te-umu-'ape (ape is the giant taro). Some say he died at Te-umu-'ape, but most people say he sailed away from Ra'iatea with his wife, children, and feia (people). Ti'etau was the name of a woman in Turi's time, and Toi is an ancestor of the Ra'iatea people. The name is still common at Huahine Island. Toi-aito was a contemporary of Turi's. His mata'eina'a (Rarotonga matakeinanga), or tribe, or clan, was named Vaitoa. His pu (trumpet), his patapata (flute, played with the mouth), his vivo (flute, played with the nose), and his pahu (drum) "may still be heard, but one man only has heard the accompanying upaupa (dance and song) distinctly, and it demented him The song is only heard in cold weather when the people stay in their houses."When Turi left Ra'iatea he went across the moana-uriuri (the deep sea) and never returned in the flesh, neither does anyone know where he went, but his spirit returned in former times to trouble the people
Other accounts I heard agreed in the main with the above. It is a very remarkable thing—explain it as you
The above notes, taken altogether, seem to identify Turi, of the Aotea migration with Turi, of Ra'iatea; the fact of Toto, his father-in-law, being mentioned, and that of one of the name of Toi, being his contemporary, both by Ra'iatea and Maori story, also point in the same direction.
It is needless to point out how frequently the name Rarotonga occurs in Maori History, especially in the old chants, but there is nothing in them that indicates any lengthened sojourn in that island. Many places in New Zealand have been named after the old Rarotonga, as also after the old Hawaiki, but none of the first, so far as I am aware, have been given to the landing places of the canoes of the fleet; as has been done in the case of Hawaiki; such, for instance, as the final resting place of the Tainui canoe at Kawhia, and the ancient tuahu where
Of the other islands in the Cook group, only that of Mangaia appears to be remembered in Maori History, for I take Ma-mangaia-tua to be the same name. It is also, I Te huri pure i ata," when Uenuku's son Ruatapu drowned the younger chieftians of his father's clan on account of the insult offered to him. In this story Paikea is said to have been the only one who, by swimming, reached the shore, and he landed on Ahuahu Island, which, in process of time came to be identified with Ahuahu or Great Mercury Island in the Bay of Plenty. As will be shown later on, both Uenuku and Euatapu lived, for part of their lives at any rate, in Rarotonga, and the descendants of the latter are there still. The above incident occurred, according to Maori History, either in the same generation as the migration to New Zealand, or in that preceding it. Another ancient name of Mangaia was Manitia; this has not been preserved by the Maoris, but it is known both to Tahitians and the Morioris of the Chatham Islands.
As there is no other island in the Pacific named Raro-tonga, we must assume that this is the island known to Maori tradition. It is true there is a marae at Manu'a Island, Samoa, called Rarotonga, that formerly belonged to the Karika family of Rarotonga, but it certainly is not the one known to Maori History. The name Rarotonga is said to have been given to the island by Karika as he first sighted it on coming from the north-east, because it was to leeward (raro) and towards the south (tonga). The former names were Tumu-te-varovaro and Nuku-tere, the first of which has now become its poetical name.
The Rarotongan Account of the Maori Migration.
But any doubt as to whether this island is that known in Maori History will be set at rest by what follows. It is now several years ago since Mr. J. T. Large, who had been
But the visit of Kurunaki was not the first occasion on which the Rarotongans became acquainted with the white man. Pa-ariki told me that many years before Kurunaki appeared, a large ship was seen in the offing, and one man was daring enough to go on board amongst the atua, or gods, as they supposed the crew to be. On his return he described the many wonders he had seen, and amongst other things he said they had groves of breadfruit trees growing there, and streams of running water. The captain's name was Makore. There can be little doubt as to what ship this was. It will be remembered that the Bounty" had been sent to Tahiti to convey the breadfruit tree to the West Indies, and no doubt it was the "Bounty" that first discovered Rarotonga. The name of the captain, Makore, which no doubt is intended for McCoy, one of the ringleaders in the mutiny, points to the fact that the vessel sighted Rarotonga after the mutiny itself, or in May, 1788.
To return to the New Zealand canoes. Mr. Large states that "the migration of Naea came from Avaiki to Iva (supposed to be Nukahiva, in the Marquesas) and from Iva to Tahiti, and thence to Rarotonga. This was before the time of Tangiia and Karika." This latter statement is however, I think, a mistake, for the migration of Naea arrived in Rarotonga late in the life of Tangiia—it confuses the two men of the name of Naea, the first of whom did visit— perhaps live for a time, in Iva. Mr. Large adds: "The following are the names of the canoes of Naea and his tere:— Tainui, Turoa was captain; Tokomaru, Te Arava, Kura-aupo, Mata-tua, Takitumu, Okotura, Muri-enua, Arorangi, Rangiatea, Ngaio, Tumu-enua, and Mata-o-te-toa; Tamarua being captain of Tumu-enua, and
"The two last named were called the fighting canoes, and the first eight went on to New Zealand, the remainder staying at Rarotonga."
Naturally I made it my business to enquire into this story whilst at Rarotonga, and soon found that According to Maori tradition, Hotu-roa was captain of the Tainui, his brother Hotu-nui, was the priest.nganga, or profession, was the karakia (meaning he was a priest), but I do not remember the names of any of the other people. Taki-tumu was the first canoe to sail to New Zealand. It afterwards came back to Rarotonga. The other canoes did not return, only one came back, viz., Taki-tumu. This island had been settled, at the time the fleet left, by Tangiia and his descendants. Taki-tumu was the first canoe of Tangiia's tere that came to this island. It came to Vai-kokopu, near Nga-tangiia. I do not know the name of Horo-uta, nor of Ngatoro-i-rangi, nor of Tama-te-kapua. I know the name of Mata-atua, but I do not know the names of Toroa, nor of Muriwai, but there is a clan called Mata-atua living at Arorangi. I do not know the name of Muri-enua canoe, but that is a name given to this district of Nga-tangiia. A ataroroi (coco-nuts cooked in a certain fashion), hence he left for Tuanaki.
"A man named Ava formerly came to this country; he landed at Poko-inu (west of Avarua). He came from Iva. It was he who brought the There is a Maori tradition that Awa-morehurehu went from New Zealand to Hawaiki. He lived two generations before the fleet arrived here in 1350. Little is known of the story of this Awa, however. It was in answer to my question as to this Awa that the old man replied as above. The date agrees well with that of Awa-morehurehu.kokopu (a fresh-water fish) here first, hence the name Vai-kokopu near" here, of which the old name was Avana-nui, a name given to it by Ată. The migrations to this land occurred in this order: Tangaroa, Aio, Tangiia—Ava came after Tangiia.
"The fleet of canoes I have mentioned left here to go in search of another country for their crews, as Rarotonga was fully occupied when they came, and they also went to look for the The New Zealand greenstone is always said to be a fish.toka-matie. There were two kinds of stone used in making tokis (adzes) in ancient times, the toka-matie and the karā. The toka-matie was taken to New Zealand and the karā left here. The toka-matie belonged to Ina. It was Ngaue who hid the toka-matie so that Ina should not find it. Ngaue went to New Zealand to hide the toka-matie. When he was at New Zealand, he saw some great birds there as high as the wall-plate of this house (about ten feet), they are called the Moa. Ngaue brought back part of those birds preserved in an ipu (calabash) as well as the toka-matie. These were the two things he brought back. It was after Ngaue returned that the fleet of canoes sailed for New Zealand, but I don't know how long after. It was because toha-matie, "e ika no te moana"
"I do not know the name of Kupe, nor of Aotea canoe, nor of Turi, as forming part of the fleet. Aotea-roa is the name, I know, for New Zealand. I heard of the doings of some of the people who went to New Zealand.
"There was a canoe named Papaka-tere that came here in ancient times from Mata-kura; she went away no one knows where.
"Yes, I know the name Mamari as that of a canoe which left these shores long, long ago. She went to some place in the direction of Tuanaki, and did not come back, so far as I ever heard. I know nothing more about her.
"I learnt what I have told you from my father and grandfather, and they learnt it from their tupunas (ancestors). Everybody knew about these canoes when I was young. It takuruas (annual feasts at the presenting of the first fruits to the ariki) when Viliamu (Williams) sent the teachers here (Pepehia of Tahiti); the feasts were held at Arai-te-tonga. I was about this high (showing the height of a boy of 12 or 14) when I first went to the tukuruas. (In this Pa-ariki agreed; no boy younger than 12 to 15 would be allowed to attend.)"
Such is the substance of what I learned from old takurua, and that he was at ten of them before 1823, he would be about ninety-six when we visited him, and therefore a full-grown man, hearing and learning the ancient lore of his ancestors, before the disturbing influences of the Gospel obliterated them. He is a scion of one of the most ancient families of Polynesia, as may be seen in the history of the Tamarua family, a name they have borne continuously for some thirty generations—one of his ancestors was captain of the Tumu-enua canoe, referred to in Mr. Large's account a few pages back.
With reference to the island called Tuanaki, I learnt that this was supposed to be due south of Rarotonga, and in Judge Wilson told me that a trading vessel from Auckland used, at one time in the early forties, to visit an island, the exact position of which was kept secret. But on a subsequent visit the island had disappeared. Col. Gudgeon, in answer to my request that he would make enquiries as to any further information the Rarotongans might have about Mr. Wilson's story, says, "Certainly there is a remembrance of the Tuanaki people and island, and old John Mana-a-rangi had seen some of the people. I do not think the island disappeared more than 70 years ago."toka-matie puzzled us all at first, for the translation is "grass-stone," but it soon dawned on me, and was confirmed by Tamarua, that they used the word matie to describe the green colour of the stone brought back by Ngaue. The expression is therefore an exact translation of our word "greenstone," or the pounamuNamu is an old Tahitian word meaning "green."toka-matie—there is such a stone." He was very pleased at this but his pleasure scarcely equalled mine in finding that the Rarotongans had a traditional knowledge of the greenstone, and the fact of their giving it a different name showed that they did not derive their knowledge from the Maoris.
To Maori scholars versed in the traditional history of the people, it is unnecessary to say that this Rarotongan story is almost the exact counterpart of New Zealand history. To others, not familiar with Maori traditions, it may be I have the evidence of this, but it is too long to quote.tuhua, or volcanic glass; that Ngahue found the Moa (dinornis) in this country, and that he took some of the preserved flesh of the bird back with him, together with a block of greenstone, out of which were made the axes, used in building the canoes of the fleet, the exact names of which, according to Maori tradition, were given by Tamarua. That the fleet arrived here (about the year 1350); that there was a dispute between the crews of Tainui and kumara tuber, and that she came back to New Zealand with her valuable freight. This last is the only point on which the two stories differ; Tamarua holds that this vessel never returned to New Zealand, but remained at Rarotonga. The Mamari canoe was that of the northern tribes of New Zealand, and though she arrived here at no great distance in time from the fleet, she did not form part of it. The want of knowledge on Tamarua's part of the Aotea canoe is easily explained, for she did not come with the fleet, but arrived a little time before it,
As to where the New Zealand fleet came from prior to its stay in Rarotonga, I much regret that the excitement caused by finding such a complete knowledge of New Zealand history in Rarotonga, caused me to forget to ask Tamarua's opinion on the matter; but from the information obtained by Mr. Large, and what was told me by the late Te Pou-o-te-rangi, of Rarotonga, they came from Tahiti, though perhaps not from the Marquesas, as Mr. Large learnt. Whilst there can be no reasonable doubt that in those days, the Maoris and Earotongans were perfectly familiar with the Marquesas (Iva, or in Maori Hiwa), we cannot neglect the important statement of the Maoris themselves that they came from Tawhiti, or Tahiti, especially when taken in conjunction with the Tahitian names of the west coast of that island, preserved by the Ngati-Awa people of the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. That Tahiti and the neighbouring islands was the home of the Maoris some generations before their migration has been proved by the identity of ancestors.
As to the time of departure of the fleet from Rarotonga to New Zealand, the information obtained by Mr. Large shows that the canoes arrived in Rarotonga with those of Naea. If this is so, then the Maoris must have stayed in Earotonga for at least three generations, for Naea arrived there in the latter days of Tangiia, This is unlikely, however, because there is nothing in Maori history to confirm it, and, moreover, had there been such a prolonged stay, the names of Maori ancestors immediately preceding the heke, or migration, would certainly be shown on some of the numerous genealogical tables obtained by me in Rarotonga.
But there are no such names. The only Maori ancestors in those tables (of this period) are the four last shown in the margin.
According to Maori History, Uenuku and Ruatapu lived in the generation that the fleet left Hawaiki; and it was not long before the departure that the incident known as " Col. Gudgeon is strongly of opinion that Paikea was an aboriginal of New Zealand, not one of this family. But he admits that Kahutia-te-rangi, which was, according to most accounts, another name for Paikea, did migrate here.Te huri-pure-i-ata" occurred, when a number of young chiefs were drowned through the action of Ruatapu, his brother Paikea alone escaping, to become afterwards a famous ancestor of the Maoris.
That the above Uenuku is identical with the Maori Uenuku is proved by his father and his son having identical names in both Maori and Earotonga history. Moreover, the Rarotonga native history says, "la Uenuku-te-aitu, i tona tuatau kua tupu te ngaru." "In the time of Uenuku-te-aitu, rose up the waves," which seems to refer to the predicted inundation.
We will now see how the genealogical accounts of Maori and Rarotongan agree as to the period of Ruatapu. On the particular line from which the fragment in the margin has been taken, Ruatapu is the eighteenth back from Queen Makea now living. But, if we take the mean of a considerable number of lines to fix the date of Tangiia we shall find he lived twenty-four generations ago. Counting down from him, we shall find that Ruatapu flourished twenty generations ago. The mean of a large number of Maori genealogies back from 1850 to the date of migration to New Zealand is twenty generations, and it is known that Uenuku and Ruatapu lived in the generation that the heke left Hawaiki. Hence we see the records of the two people agree remarkably well. They are in fact history not myth.
Motoro, mentioned in the marginal genealogy, was sent by his father Tangiia to become high priest of the god Rongo at Mangaia, as mentioned by Dr. Wyatt Gill in "Myths and Songs," and he is mentioned as a Maori ancestor also.
It was about this period of Rarotongan history, that flourished two priests named Paoa-uri and Paoa-tea who voyaged to Ra'iatea to present a big drum called Tangi-moana to the god Oro, at Opoa, where they were both killed, the full story of which is known to Tahitians.
The above is perhaps as accordant an account of events in Polynesian History as will ever be obtained. As this book will be read by many who are not familiar with Maori History, it is necessary to say that the migration to New Zealand herein described is by no means the earliest one of which we have records, on the contrary, it was the
It seems probable, that between the date of Tangiia's settlement on Rarotonga in 1250, and the arrival of the fleet in New Zealand in 1350, occurred a number of solitary voyages to New Zealand under Tu-moana, Paoa, Kupe, Ngahue, and several others, the exact dates of which are very difficult to fix. Many of these people returned to Eastern Polynesia, leaving some portion of their crews in New Zealand. After 1350 we have the record of only one voyage back to Hawaiki, and that was in the same generation that the fleet arrived. Since that time down to the arrival of Capt. Cook in 1769, the Maoris, like the Hawaiians, remained isolated from the rest of the world.
It seems then from what has been said above, and from other evidence that might be adduced, that the Maori migration which came to New Zealand, circa 1350, in the canoes Tainui, Te Arawa, Mata-atua, Toko-maru, Taki-tumu, and Kura-haupo, came from the west side of Tahiti, and that they called in at Rarotonga on the way. On their further course to the S.W. they met with bad weather, the remembrance of which is retained in the Arawa Traditions, where the descent of the canoe to Te Waha-o-te-Parata is no doubt the description of a tempest given in the allegorical form so common to all Polynesian legends. The Taki-tumu account of the starvation they experienced, shows what straits they were put to. Their canoes all make the land in the neighbourhood of the East Cape, and from there coasted along to the places their crews finally settled in—Mata-atua, at Whakatane,
The Aotea canoe, sailing from Ra'iatea, did not call at Rarotonga, but came on to Rangi-tahua (or Sunday Island), and had apparently fallen in with the Kura-haupo on the way, or—as some evidence seems to indicate—this island may have been appointed a rendezvous for the whole fleet. Here Kura-haupo was wrecked and many of her crew came on in the Mata-atua to New Zealand but the probability is, that the canoe itself was subsequently repaired, and finally reached New Zealand, as has just been stated above.
The above is the only instance recorded of a fleet arriving in New Zealand, but there are numerous references to other canoes which came previously—such as Mamari, the canoe of the northern tribe of Nga-Puhi; the Mahuhu, the canoe of the Ngati-Whatua tribe of Kaipara, which probably arrived in the times of Toi, or about the year 1150; the Horouta, Paoa's canoe, which came to the east coast, somewhere about 1200, besides many others.
Many of the Maori genealogies go back to long before the date of any of the above canoes, and some of them appear to refer to ancestors who have never lived outside New Zealand, but there are now no means of checking them, and therefore it is impossible to say when New Zealand was first peopled. From these tables, it may be inferred that one Ti-wakawaka was living in the Bay of Plenty, when he received a visit from a Polynesian navigator named Maku, who however, did not remain in the country, not a.d. 850. It is quite likely it was first colonised in the times of Ui-te-rangi-ora, who flourished in Fiji, circa a.d. 650, and in whose time the Pacific was nearly all explored by him, his contemporaries, and immediate descendants.
It is from the chiefs of the canoes that formed the fleet of 1350 that Maori aristocracy loves to trace descent; the descent from the old tangata-whenua, or previous migrations, is with many tribes ignored or made little of. There is plenty of evidence that this last migration was composed of people more advanced in ideas and of far greater warlike powers than the original inhabitants; and it is clear that within a few generations they had practically conquered and absorbed the others, often enslaving them; for it is stated in Mss. that the tangata-whenua were a peaceful people, not like the ferocious cannibals of the fleet. Indeed, it is probable that these latter people brought cannibalism with them. In the mountainous country of the Urewera, tribes are to be seen the purest descendants of the older inhabitants, who, although very much mixed with the later migration, still show some difference in appearance that approximates them more to the Morioris of the Chatham Islands, who are no doubt the same people.
These ancient people were, however, the same Polynesian. race; there is no sign of any previous Papuan or Melanesian people ever having inhabited New Zealand, or indeed any part of the Pacific now occupied by the Polynesians. The few slight indications that some writers have fancied indicated a previous race are all referable to contact of the Polynesians with Papuans or Melanesians in their migrations to the Fiji and other Melanesian Islands.
If what has been said about the connection between Maori and Rarotongan ancestors is true, it follows that the Moriori people of the Chatham Islands formed part of the same branch of the race, together with the Hawaiians. The Morioris have a good many words in common with the Rarotongans, which the Maoris have not retained in their dialect. The Hawaiians and Morioris are the only two branches of the race—so far as I am aware—that use the causitive form of the verb in hoko (Hawaiian ho'o). Of the principal dialects of Polynesia, the following are the most alike, in the order given:—Maori (and Moriori), Rarotongan, Tahitian, and Hawaiian.
The Moriori traditions are very precise in many respects. They say that they arrived at the Chatham Islands (Re-kohu) from Hawaiki; but as they have retained the common name of New Zealand, Aotea-roa, in their traditions, besides another old name of the North Island, Huku-rangi, and moreover knew the old name of the north end of the South Island, Aropaoa, there seems little doubt that they went to the Chathams from New Zealand, the more so, as we now know that this country was also called Hawaiki, I have added one generation to Mr. Shand's tables (Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol. iv., p. 42, 44) to bring them up to 1850.i.e., Hawaiki-tautau. They are acquainted also traditionally with the names of several New Zealand trees not known elsewhere. The two lines of genealogies we have of this people, show that the migration to the Chatham Islands took place, by one line twenty-seven, by the other twenty-nine, or a mean of twenty-eight generations ago.
On these Moriori tables are shown three well-known ancestors of the tangata whenua of New Zealand: Toi, Rauru, and Whatonga, as father, son, and grandson, just in
The Moriori traditions mention more than one incident in Polynesian History before this date, but only one, I think, that is supposed to have occurred since, and this is very doubtful. I refer to the story of Manaia, who, by one Maori account was captain of the Tokomaru canoe that came here in 1350. Many old Maoris whose ancestors, are supposed to have come in the Tokomaru canoe, do not know this ancestor at all, and will not allow that he came in that canoe. This seems to indicate that it is an old Polynesian story, that has in process of time been accredited to the voyage of the Tokomaru canoe, but in reality the incident took place long before. I would add, that if the period of Toi be taken from the table published in the Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol. vii., p. 40, then if the time of Rauru be taken as that at which the Morioris left New Zealand, the number of generations will be twenty-nine back from 1850, or one more than I have shown above.
For the use of Polynesian scholars, I add a table of events and dates, derived from these Rarotongan and other sources. They are of course only approximate, but will serve the purpose of a summary of the history of the people, on which others may build.
Approximate Dates in Polynesian History derived from Rarotongan Records, etc.
Otira ua.
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