A map shows Tepeu
located on the western coast (close to the end of the kuhane
journey):
Tuu Ko Ihu
buried the head of the sun (god), i.e. he did exactly
the opposite of hanging the skull high in his house. If we accept a
view of the sacred geography where midsummer 'is equal to'
Poike in the east, then a hole (meaning the lowest point)
ought to be found in the west.
Tepeu
surely is
Te Peu
and among the meanings of this word we find 'persons stooping
with age', 'housebeams sagging under weight':
Peu
1. Axe, adze,
mattock; peu pakoa,
an axe poorly helved. 2. Energy.
Peupeu:
1. To groan. 2. To be affectionate, to grow tender;
peupeuhaga,
friendship. Mq.: pèèhu,
haápeéhu,
pekehu,
to make tender. 3. Pau.:
peu,
habit, custom, manners. Ta.:
peu,
custom, habit, usage. 4. Pau.:
hakapeu,
to strut. Ta.: haapeu,
id. Churchill.
Sa.:
mapelu,
to bend, to stoop, to bow down, persons stooping
with age, housebeams sagging under weight. To.:
pelu,
bebelu,
to fold, to crease. Fu.:
pelu,
peluki,
to fold. Uvea: pelu,
id., mapelu,
to bend, to bow. Ha.: pelu,
to double over, to bend, to fold. Rapanui:
peu,
axe, adze. Churchill 2. |
When sun
stands low in the sky his best time (midsummer) is past.
Another
meaning in peu is 'to fold, to crease' - and our thoughts
ought to go to the head of a ua club, where the
compressed face causes wrinkles at the top. Instead of the long
nose in the ao paddle (stretching the face so wrinkles
disappear) the short nose is not enough to keep the sky vault
high. Ihu means nose, and the creator of the story has
given us a sign in the name of Tuu Ko Ihu ('the nose is
standing').
Ihu
1. Nose; ihu more, snub nose,
snub-nosed person. 2. Ihuihu cape, reef;
ihuihu - many reefs, dangerous for boats. 3.
Ihu moko, to die out (a family of which remains
only one male without sons); koro hakamao te mate
o te mahigo, he-toe e-tahi tagata nó, ina aana
hakaara, koîa te me'e e-kî-nei: ku-moko-á te ihu o
te mahigo, when the members of family have died
and there remains only one man who has no offspring,
we say: ku-moko-á te ihu o te mahigo. To
disappear (of a tradition, a custom), me'e ihu
moko o te tagata o te kaiga nei, he êi, the
êi is a custom no longer in use among the people
of this island. 4. Eldest child; first-born; term
used alone or in conjunction with atariki.
Vanaga.
1. Nose, snout, cape T (iju
G). Po ihuihu, prow of a canoe. P Pau.:
ihu, nose. Mgv.: ihu, nose; mataihu,
cape, promontory. Mq., Ta.: ihu, nose, beak,
bowsprit. Ihupagaha, ihupiro, to rap
on the nose, to snuffle. 2. Mgv.: One who dives
deep. Ta.: ihu, to dive. Churchill.
Sa.: isu, nose, snout,
bill. Fu., Fakaafo, Aniwa, Manahiki: isu, the
nose. Nuguria; kaisu, id. Fotuna: eisu,
id. Moiki: ishu, id. To., Niuē,
Uvea, Ma., Ta., Ha., Mq., Mgv., Pau., Rapanui,
Tongareva, Nukuoro: ihu,
id. Rarotonga: putaiu,
id. Vaté: tus,
id. Viti: uthu,
nose. Rotumā: isu,
id. ... usu
and ngusu
... serve as transition forms, usu
pointing to
isu the nose in
Polynesia and ngusu
to ngutu
the mouth, which is very near, nearer yet when we
bear in mind that ngutu
the mouth is snout as well and that isu
the nose is snout too ...
Churchill 2. |
The meaning
'axe' etc probably is because the old 'tree' should be felled.
'They lifted the king off to the side and let him fall.' The
proper season for this event should be 'fall'. |