#makereti papakura

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makereti papakura, maori, josiah martin

[javariscrittenton-blog]

From the age of six to that of fifteen or sixteen, the father undertook the boy's training, and the grandfather took a great part as well. They taught him to be hospitable and generous, and to share any delicacy he might be eating. A parent would ask for a portion so as to teach the boy unselfishness, though if there were only a little kinaki, or relish, parents liked to give it to their children, who ate with them. Parents did many things and devised many methods to teach children good habits and a generous nature. The boy was taught to see that everyone had kinaki before eating his. As he grew up, he was taught all the things that his father did. He accompanied him to the cultivations, and learned to use the ko in planting the kumara, and the songs which accompanied the movements of the workers. He learned the planting of kumara and taro, and how to build the whata, the open store-house on posts, and the making of the pataka (closed store-house), and how to dig the rua, the pit in the ground for storing kumara. He learned how to hunt and snare birds, of which there were more than two hundred species, and how to make hinaki, traps for eels, nets for sea fishing, and nets for catching inanga and pahore, the small fish in the lakes, and how to dive for koura and kakahi, the crayfish and fresh-water mussels. By the time he was eight or nine, he had learned a good deal about these and other methods of procuring food. He accompanied his father and relatives to the forest, and watched them cutting down trees and preparing logs for the houses, or hewing them out for canoes, all laborious work which took a long time with their primitive implements, and learned how to choose trees for a canoe or house, and to cut them down and take them long distances to the kainga, or to the river or lake. He learned how to cut timber for the whare (houses) and for building the pa, fortified villages. He was taught the customs and arts of his people, whaka tu waewae, a war dance, with the taiha or tewhatewha or pouwhenua, and koikoi. He learned how to hold himself up as a rangatira ought, and the use of the long two-handed weapon, each with his own way of tripping and killing the enemy. He was taught to use a patu pounamu or short-handled stone weapon for close combat, which was most important for a warrior, as all their fighting was hand to hand. Beside this, he learned the haka, or war dances which occurred when they approached the enemy, with distorted faces, eyes pukana (rolling), and arero whetero, tongue out to show defiance. He was trained in the use of all war weapons when quite young by the old men, and his training went on all through his life, at first with harmless sticks, and then with weapons. At night when he lay down to sleep, his father, or often his grandfather, would tell him the thrilling deeds of his ancestors, the lore of his people, and the various waiata (chants) suitable for war, peace, and welcoming visitors for deaths or marriages, many of them composed by his own forebears. This would go on night after night until the lad fell asleep. He would be taught the names of the various stars and comets, and the different signs appearing in the sky or mountain, showing them when not to go to war, when not to go to sea, or when not to go to a certain place, for the Maori is full of superstition from his infancy and all his life. He learned the seasons for various work in the summer when a good deal of hard work is done from daylight to sunset, when the season was open, and when it was closed for bird snaring and fishing. All these things the Maori observed and was taught from childhood. He was taught not to desecrate tapu, and especially the tapu of burial places, a most important thing not to do.

makereti papakura, the old-time maori (chapter iii: children, p. 143-8)

[javariscrittenton-blog]

The following karakia was one which a Tohunga would repeat during the tua or tohi, a cleansing and dedication ceremony, while standing in the water. All these karakia are very archaic, and it is beyond one's power to translate them into English, as so many of the words are obsolete, and the meaning not now known. It would be wrong to attempt a word for word translation, but I will give some idea of what this karakia meant. It was said so that the child might be endowed with health, courage, and strength, so that he would catch the enemy, be able to climb mountains, to fight and to hold the enemy, to kill the enemy, to storm a fortified pa, to rise and kill the enemy, to fight in a field of battle where many men are killed, to be brave and to be able to hold and use a stone patu (short weapon), to be able to use and wield the taiaha (long-handled weapon), to be able to go up great mountains, to climb proud trees, the great proud trees of the forest, to brave the great high waves of the ocean, and overcome the dangers of the sea. Then, as though addressing the infant, To work and get yourself food, to make a large house for yourself, to make a war canoe, to be hospitable and call visitors to your marae, to make fishing nets for yourself, to trawl for fish, to surround yourself with plenty of work. Such is the general meaning of the following karakia, KO TE TUA, MO TE TANE, tua or tohi repeated over a male child. Tohi ki te wai no Tu; Whano koe. Tangaengae. Ki te hopu tangata Tangaengae. Ki te piki maunga, Tangaengae. Me homai, tangaengae, Mo te tama nei. Whano koe. Tangaengae. Kia riri, ai, Tangaengae. Kia niwha ai, Tangaengae. Ki te patu tangata, Tangaengae. Ki te tomo pa, Tangaengae. Ki te patu whakaara, Tangaengae. Ki te tu parekura. Tangaengae. Kia riri ai Tangaengae. Kia toa ai, Tangaengae. Ki te mau patu Kowhatu, Tangaengae. Ki te mau taiaha Tangaengae Me ho mai, Tangaengae. Hei whakatupu Tangaengae, Mo te tama nei. Whano koe. Tangaengae. Ki nga maunga nunui, Tangaengae. Ki nga rakau whakahihi, Tangaengae. Ki nga rakau whakahihi o te wao. Tangaengae. Me ho mai Tangaengae. Hei whakatupu tangaengae, Mo te tama nei. Whano koe, Tangaengae. Ki nga ngaru teitei, o te moana, Tangaengae. Kia turakina i tai, Tangaengae. Me ho mai tangaengae, Hei whakatupu tangaengae, Mo te Tama nei. Whano koe, Tangaengae. Ki te mahi kai, mau. Tangaengae. Ki te hanga whare nui, mou Tangaengae. Ki te hanga waka taua, Tangaengae. Ki te Karanga pahi, Tangaengae. Ki te whakatupu kupenga, mau, Tangaengae. Ki te hi ika mau, Tangaengae. Ki te hao mahi, mau, Tangaengae. Me homai tangaengae Hei whakatupu tangaengae Mo te tama nei. E ahua mai ra Te toro, i a kiharoa, Hei kawe rawa, i a au, Ki te one, i Rangaunu, Kei te rerenga, ki te Po; Ko wai au ka kite, Karakia kia ora ai, kia toa ai, kia kaha ai.

makereti papakura, the old-time maori (chapter iii: children, p. 128-32)

[javariscrittenton-blog]

In combat, the taiaha is generally held with the tongue or arero downward, as in Plate XXIII. The left hand gripped the shaft just above the carved head, and the right held the shaft at a comfortable distance further up. The fighter might give his opponent the point of the tongue in the pit of the stomach, or pretend to do so, thus causing him to drop his guard, and bend forward or duck. The fighter then swung the heavy blade end over and hit his enemy's head with the edge of it.

The three pictures in Plate XXIII will show some of the uses of the taiaha, as shown by Te Rangi, who was a past master in the art of whakatu (war dancing), as in many other things.

Popotahi, before engagement, or at the beginning of a dance. In this guard, the taiaha is held almost vertically, the tongue downward, and a little below the waist, the shaft a little to the front of the point where the right shoulder joins the arm, and sloping a little to the right. The left foot is forward. The left hand, back outward, grasps the weapon just above the carved head, the arm being bent at a right angle across the body, and the elbow being close to the body. The right hand, back outward holds the shaft at about the level of the cheek.

Whakarehu, the point from the guard just described. The arero or tongue is swiftly raised and thrust at the opponent, the shaft sliding quickly through the left hand of the wielder. If the thrust gets home, or destroys the guard of the opponent, the fighter can swing the blade end over and hit his opponent's head a crack with its edge.

Huanui, a guard. In this guard, the taiaha is held diagonally across the body, the arero on the left at about the level of the knee, the left leg being forward. Point and blow may be delivered from this guard, as the reader will see if he experiments with a wooden rod. These guards, points, and blows, are not unlike those described by Mr. T. A. McCarthy in his book on “The Quarterstaff”, published in London in 1883.

—  makereti papakura, the old-time maori (chapter vii: weapons, p. 317-8, plate xxiii)