296
17 The Mythological Context
gathered together,” “Tiki with hands formed,” “Tiki with feet formed,” and “Tiki the ancient
lord” (ariki), or more possibly in its primal sense, first-born, man-created. These references
appear to show that they were part of an old Creation legend (p. 173).
There are clear echoes in the Moriori ceremonies for Tiki, celebrating the birth
of the first man, of the myth of Creation through the gathering and heaping up of
earth in the Cosmogonic Tree and of the Tree’s role in the creation of man. Both
the tohinga, or baptismal ceremony, and the Tiki ceremonies are re-enactments of
Creation and celebrations of the role and power of the tree.
The genealogy for the Urewera tribe that appears in Tregear’s Maori-Polynesian
Comparative Dictionary [13] begins with a list of stages in the creation of man.
We quote the relevant names in sequence, with a translation in brackets based on
Tregear’s dictionary:
Te Ahunga – the heaping together of earth (to form the body of man)
Tiki-Matou – literally “to know man” (symbolizing the creation of man)
I-te pue – (heaping of the earth) in the root (of the tree)
I-te more – (heaping of the earth) in the tap-root
Te weu – (heaping of the earth) in the fibrous roots
Te Aka – (heaping of the earth) in the long thin roots
I-tamatua – in the quickening
I-takitaki – in the bringing onward
Tanumanga – the planting
Tipuranga – the growth
Pukaiahu – the heap gathered together (man’s body formed)
The similarity of this account of the stages in the creation of man with those
described in the Moriori Creation myth involving the Cosmogonic Tree is obvious. That both the Urewera genealogy and the Moriori rituals have Lapita-age roots
is suggested by the evidence for the diffusion of tree worship associated with the
totemic myth of the Cosmogonic Tree to New Zealand as well as to Lapita colonies
in Island Melanesia and Western Polynesia. The Spice Island myth and tree worship
seem to have survived in an archaic form in the Chatham Islands and in a vestigial
form amongst at least one indigenous tribe in New Zealand. We suggest that the
archaic form may be close to that held by the Lapita-age migrants to New Zealand.
17.6 The Te Arawa Myth of the Cosmogonic Vine
The later form of the cosmogonic myth, that of the Cosmogonic Vine as described
by Samuel Timoti Robinson in his book Tohunga, The Revival. Ancient Knowledge
for the Modern Era [6], is far more complex. It is deeply bound into the esoteric Io
religion.
There is a long practice worldwide of using myth and story to encode and preserve vital information. A recent study has shown, for example, how navigational
17 The Mythological Context
gathered together,” “Tiki with hands formed,” “Tiki with feet formed,” and “Tiki the ancient
lord” (ariki), or more possibly in its primal sense, first-born, man-created. These references
appear to show that they were part of an old Creation legend (p. 173).
There are clear echoes in the Moriori ceremonies for Tiki, celebrating the birth
of the first man, of the myth of Creation through the gathering and heaping up of
earth in the Cosmogonic Tree and of the Tree’s role in the creation of man. Both
the tohinga, or baptismal ceremony, and the Tiki ceremonies are re-enactments of
Creation and celebrations of the role and power of the tree.
The genealogy for the Urewera tribe that appears in Tregear’s Maori-Polynesian
Comparative Dictionary [13] begins with a list of stages in the creation of man.
We quote the relevant names in sequence, with a translation in brackets based on
Tregear’s dictionary:
Te Ahunga – the heaping together of earth (to form the body of man)
Tiki-Matou – literally “to know man” (symbolizing the creation of man)
I-te pue – (heaping of the earth) in the root (of the tree)
I-te more – (heaping of the earth) in the tap-root
Te weu – (heaping of the earth) in the fibrous roots
Te Aka – (heaping of the earth) in the long thin roots
I-tamatua – in the quickening
I-takitaki – in the bringing onward
Tanumanga – the planting
Tipuranga – the growth
Pukaiahu – the heap gathered together (man’s body formed)
The similarity of this account of the stages in the creation of man with those
described in the Moriori Creation myth involving the Cosmogonic Tree is obvious. That both the Urewera genealogy and the Moriori rituals have Lapita-age roots
is suggested by the evidence for the diffusion of tree worship associated with the
totemic myth of the Cosmogonic Tree to New Zealand as well as to Lapita colonies
in Island Melanesia and Western Polynesia. The Spice Island myth and tree worship
seem to have survived in an archaic form in the Chatham Islands and in a vestigial
form amongst at least one indigenous tribe in New Zealand. We suggest that the
archaic form may be close to that held by the Lapita-age migrants to New Zealand.
17.6 The Te Arawa Myth of the Cosmogonic Vine
The later form of the cosmogonic myth, that of the Cosmogonic Vine as described
by Samuel Timoti Robinson in his book Tohunga, The Revival. Ancient Knowledge
for the Modern Era [6], is far more complex. It is deeply bound into the esoteric Io
religion.
There is a long practice worldwide of using myth and story to encode and preserve vital information. A recent study has shown, for example, how navigational