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17 The Mythological Context
the tree; heap it, it grows; heap it, it lives; the heaven lives, e! Stem heaped
up, stem heaped up; let the heaven stand which lives.
2. Heap it in the flower of the tree, heap it in the leaf of the tree, heap it in
the swaying of the tree, heap it in the waving [Or, extending branches] of
the tree, heap it in the pattern of the tree, heap it in the finishing of the tree;
heap it, it grows; heap it, it lives; the heaven lives, e! Stem heaped up, stem
heaped up, let the heaven stand which lives. [This appears to represent man
formed.]
This was the forming of the body of Tu; then the spirit was gathered in.
“THE GATHERING IN.”
1. “The spirit of man was gathered into the world of existence (or possession)
to the world of light – see, placed in the body the flying bird (the spirit) –
whirl (or breathe)!” [Bubbling of the breath like a whirling current]
2. “Sneeze living spirit to the world of existence, to the world of light. See
placed in the body the flying bird (or spirit). Live! live! Spirit of Tu; live!”
[This is the Tihe, or sneezing, recited by a mother on the birth of her child
when it first sneezes, to gather in the spirit. In the case of sick persons,
prostrate or apparently dying, when they sneeze, this Tihe is recited.]
Then man lived and the progeny of Tu grew.
The incantation for forming the body of Tu, man, calls on power from every part
and aspect of the Cosmogonic Tree. Instead of forming an image of man from red
clay, red from the bloody separation of Rangi and Papa, Colleen Urlich tells us [12],
the Sky-Propper heaps up soil in every part of the tree. In place of the sacrificial
power of the blood of Rangi and Papa empowering creation, it is through the power
of invocation that the tree is called on to form the body of Tu (man) directly. Instead
of the divine potter breathing life into a clay image, in the Moriori version, again
through the power of the tree, man’s spirit is commanded to sneeze and in doing so
is “gathered into the world of existence”.
There is remarkable sophistication and integrity in this fusion of very ancient
myths. As we have suggested, the persistence of the Creation myth of the
Cosmogonic people-creating tree in the Chatham Islands is probably due to the isolation of the islands, to their very simple migration history, to a Spice Island origin
for its people and to a very long history in the Chathams. The survival there of
two very long genealogies stretching back to Lapita times was made more likely by
the isolation of the Moriori. These genealogies and the chronological information
implicit in them will be studied in detail in Chapter 20.
17.5 The Cosmogonic Tree in Moriori Ritual
The pervasive power of the mythical framework embodied in the concept of the
Cosmogonic Tree can be seen in its place in Moriori ritual. Two ceremonies in
particular, the Tohinga or baptism of a child and ceremonies relating to Tiki, the
17 The Mythological Context
the tree; heap it, it grows; heap it, it lives; the heaven lives, e! Stem heaped
up, stem heaped up; let the heaven stand which lives.
2. Heap it in the flower of the tree, heap it in the leaf of the tree, heap it in
the swaying of the tree, heap it in the waving [Or, extending branches] of
the tree, heap it in the pattern of the tree, heap it in the finishing of the tree;
heap it, it grows; heap it, it lives; the heaven lives, e! Stem heaped up, stem
heaped up, let the heaven stand which lives. [This appears to represent man
formed.]
This was the forming of the body of Tu; then the spirit was gathered in.
“THE GATHERING IN.”
1. “The spirit of man was gathered into the world of existence (or possession)
to the world of light – see, placed in the body the flying bird (the spirit) –
whirl (or breathe)!” [Bubbling of the breath like a whirling current]
2. “Sneeze living spirit to the world of existence, to the world of light. See
placed in the body the flying bird (or spirit). Live! live! Spirit of Tu; live!”
[This is the Tihe, or sneezing, recited by a mother on the birth of her child
when it first sneezes, to gather in the spirit. In the case of sick persons,
prostrate or apparently dying, when they sneeze, this Tihe is recited.]
Then man lived and the progeny of Tu grew.
The incantation for forming the body of Tu, man, calls on power from every part
and aspect of the Cosmogonic Tree. Instead of forming an image of man from red
clay, red from the bloody separation of Rangi and Papa, Colleen Urlich tells us [12],
the Sky-Propper heaps up soil in every part of the tree. In place of the sacrificial
power of the blood of Rangi and Papa empowering creation, it is through the power
of invocation that the tree is called on to form the body of Tu (man) directly. Instead
of the divine potter breathing life into a clay image, in the Moriori version, again
through the power of the tree, man’s spirit is commanded to sneeze and in doing so
is “gathered into the world of existence”.
There is remarkable sophistication and integrity in this fusion of very ancient
myths. As we have suggested, the persistence of the Creation myth of the
Cosmogonic people-creating tree in the Chatham Islands is probably due to the isolation of the islands, to their very simple migration history, to a Spice Island origin
for its people and to a very long history in the Chathams. The survival there of
two very long genealogies stretching back to Lapita times was made more likely by
the isolation of the Moriori. These genealogies and the chronological information
implicit in them will be studied in detail in Chapter 20.
17.5 The Cosmogonic Tree in Moriori Ritual
The pervasive power of the mythical framework embodied in the concept of the
Cosmogonic Tree can be seen in its place in Moriori ritual. Two ceremonies in
particular, the Tohinga or baptism of a child and ceremonies relating to Tiki, the