17.5 The Cosmogonic Tree in Moriori Ritual
295
first-created man, involve karakia that echo those used in the creation of man. The
rituals themselves are interesting, and one wonders if they preserve ancient Lapita
rites. The Tohinga ceremonies begin with the creation of a sacred place, which has
the same name, tuahu, as a burial place, but an alternative translation, the planting
place, is clearly relevant for the baptism involves not only sprinkling the child with
water but also planting a tree in celebration of its birth. Here we quote a small part:
Dipping his hand into the puwai [a funnel-shaped water vessel made from the inside tender
leaves of flax] presented by the tauira [acolyte], and with the water wetting the forehead and
face of the child, the tohunga used the words of the tchua [prayer] as follows:
“Oooi, this is the tchua, a tchua from above;
Behold the heaping up, behold the gathering together, behold the
growth of man
In the world of existence, in the world of light.
Let the tchua rise, let the tchua develop,
Let it ascend before, let it ascend within,
Proceed the world of existence, proceed the world of light, proceed
the intent.
Behold the tchua pervades, behold the oldest tchua coming hither,
‘Tis the tchua of the water.”
. . .These ceremonies being completed, the next one used was the tira, or tira-koko, which
was the name given to the incantation used upon the planting of a tree, symbolising the
growth of the child. . .The following is the incantation called tira-koko, the meaning of
which appears to be, a tree or sprig planted and . . . dedicated to Tane-Matahu.
“Let the growth increase of the tree on the shore (or land),
Let the growth increase of the household on shore,
Let the growth increase of the roots on shore„
Let the growth increase of the tree on the shore. It is shaken,
Shake it in the base and the dark stem, that it may shoot forth,
See the kawa springs and shoots forth,
Beat down, close over, let it spring up, shake (open) the soil ”
(pp. 169–171).
Other rituals follow, although Shand did not obtain their details. Implicit in those
above is the tohunga’s calling upon the power of the Tree of Life to ensure the
growth of the child and of the household into which it is born.
Shand’s descriptions and comments on the Tiki ceremonies are worth quoting here, especially given his suggestions of the preservation of the myth of the
Cosmogonic Tree by tribes in New Zealand:
In the ceremonies relating to Tiki (the first-created man), of which only a very fragmentary
account was given by the old men, there appears to be a close resemblance to that of the
tohinga [baptism ceremony], if it was not really a variation of the same ceremony. Neatly
carved figures of birds were made out of akeake wood, twenty or more in number, and these
were placed in parallel rows on the tuahu [sacred space], which was generally the place
where the same kind of ceremonies had been performed before. . ..
There evidently were some ancient stories and ceremonies relative to Tiki, common to
Maori and Moriori, the knowledge of which has been lost with the old men of the last
generation; traces of this are to be seen in the old karakias and waiatas preserved in
Sir G. Grey’s Moteatea and Hakirara, in the allusions to Tiki, as “Tiki heaped up,” “Tiki
295
first-created man, involve karakia that echo those used in the creation of man. The
rituals themselves are interesting, and one wonders if they preserve ancient Lapita
rites. The Tohinga ceremonies begin with the creation of a sacred place, which has
the same name, tuahu, as a burial place, but an alternative translation, the planting
place, is clearly relevant for the baptism involves not only sprinkling the child with
water but also planting a tree in celebration of its birth. Here we quote a small part:
Dipping his hand into the puwai [a funnel-shaped water vessel made from the inside tender
leaves of flax] presented by the tauira [acolyte], and with the water wetting the forehead and
face of the child, the tohunga used the words of the tchua [prayer] as follows:
“Oooi, this is the tchua, a tchua from above;
Behold the heaping up, behold the gathering together, behold the
growth of man
In the world of existence, in the world of light.
Let the tchua rise, let the tchua develop,
Let it ascend before, let it ascend within,
Proceed the world of existence, proceed the world of light, proceed
the intent.
Behold the tchua pervades, behold the oldest tchua coming hither,
‘Tis the tchua of the water.”
. . .These ceremonies being completed, the next one used was the tira, or tira-koko, which
was the name given to the incantation used upon the planting of a tree, symbolising the
growth of the child. . .The following is the incantation called tira-koko, the meaning of
which appears to be, a tree or sprig planted and . . . dedicated to Tane-Matahu.
“Let the growth increase of the tree on the shore (or land),
Let the growth increase of the household on shore,
Let the growth increase of the roots on shore„
Let the growth increase of the tree on the shore. It is shaken,
Shake it in the base and the dark stem, that it may shoot forth,
See the kawa springs and shoots forth,
Beat down, close over, let it spring up, shake (open) the soil ”
(pp. 169–171).
Other rituals follow, although Shand did not obtain their details. Implicit in those
above is the tohunga’s calling upon the power of the Tree of Life to ensure the
growth of the child and of the household into which it is born.
Shand’s descriptions and comments on the Tiki ceremonies are worth quoting here, especially given his suggestions of the preservation of the myth of the
Cosmogonic Tree by tribes in New Zealand:
In the ceremonies relating to Tiki (the first-created man), of which only a very fragmentary
account was given by the old men, there appears to be a close resemblance to that of the
tohinga [baptism ceremony], if it was not really a variation of the same ceremony. Neatly
carved figures of birds were made out of akeake wood, twenty or more in number, and these
were placed in parallel rows on the tuahu [sacred space], which was generally the place
where the same kind of ceremonies had been performed before. . ..
There evidently were some ancient stories and ceremonies relative to Tiki, common to
Maori and Moriori, the knowledge of which has been lost with the old men of the last
generation; traces of this are to be seen in the old karakias and waiatas preserved in
Sir G. Grey’s Moteatea and Hakirara, in the allusions to Tiki, as “Tiki heaped up,” “Tiki