9. This type of 'dance paddle' was named ao. The word has many meanings, but I am pretty sure it here is to be understood as something like 'the world'. In my Polynesian word list item 8 (copied from William Churchill, Easter Island. The Rapanui Speech and the Peopling of Southeast Polynesia.) is significant: 8. Ta.: ao, day. Mq.: ao, day from dawn to dark. Sa.: ao, id. Ma.: ao, id. The 'face' of this ao dance paddle represents the 'world of Sun', the season when Sun is shining above. The face of the paddle stands for summer, the 'day' of the year. New Zealand, south of the tropical belt, was named Ao-tea-roa, usually translated as 'The Long White Cloud'. Here Sun does not rule, it is too far south. He cannoth be 'a head', a ruler. Instead must be a 'world of Moon'. Her colour is white (tea). Clouds are prone to come between us and Sun. They indicate the opposite of Sun. |