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TRANSLATIONS
Two 'staffs' (or
'poles') on top
of each other
closely
resembles our
own idea about a
north and a
south pole.
We should here
remember how the
Maori and
Moriori
fishermen (which
are close
together
geographically),
shared the Haida
Gwaii concept of
staffs on top of
each other:
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Ana
1.
Cave.
2.
If.
3.
Verbal
prefix:
he-ra'e
ana-unu
au i
te
raau,
first
I
drank
the
medicine.
Vanaga.
1.
Cave,
grotto,
hole
in
the
rock.
2.
In
order
that,
if.
3.
Particle
(na
5);
garo
atu
ana,
formerly;
mee
koe
ana
te
ariki,
the
Lord
be
with
thee.
Churchill.
Splendor;
a
name
applied
in
the
Society
Islands
to
ten
conspicious
stars
which
served
as
pillars
of
the
sky.
Ana
appears
to
be
related
to
the
Tuamotuan
ngana-ia,
'the
heavens'.
Henry
translates
ana
as
aster,
star.
The
Tahitian
conception
of
the
sky
as
resting
on
ten
star
pillars
is
unique
and
is
doubtless
connected
with
their
cosmos
of
ten
heavens.
The
Hawaiians
placed
a
pillar
(kukulu)
at
the
four
corners
of
the
earth
after
Egyptian
fashion;
while
the
Maori
and
Moriori
considered
a
single
great
central
pillar
as
sufficient
to
hold
up
the
heavens.
It
may
be
recalled
that
the
Moriori
Sky-propper
built
up a
single
pillar
by
placing
ten
posts
one
on
top
of
the
other.
Makemson. |
It is not
impossible to
imagine how the
horizontal poles
(as in Tahiti
and Hawaii) -
which are
space-oriented
(at corners
around the
horizon) - must
be placed on top
of each other:
Visualizing the
progress of
cyclical solar
time, beginning
at new year with
the first pole
(Sirius), then
advancing to
next station
when sun has
moved up a bit
and another
'staff' is
needed on top of
the first one to
hold the sun
up, then
continuing all
the way up to
midsummer when
all sections are
needed.
In winter the
staffs are
needed on the
other side of
earth. After
midsummer they
are therefore
gradually
disassembled
here.
Now to moa:
I have not
earlier in the
glyph dictionary
used the first
page to present
different types
of glyphs like
this. In the
glyph catalogue
the table above
is presented
already at
manu rere.
Another similar
table is
presented at
tagata.
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A
few
preliminary
remarks
and
imaginations:
1.
The
picture
in
moa
glyphs
appear
to
show
a
cock
-
not
a
hen
(moa
uha)
and
not
a
youngster
(moa
taga)
but
a
fully
grown
and
potent
rooster
(moa
to'a):
"While
the
dog
and
the
pig
existed
only
in
the
traditions
as
the
shadows
of
the
past,
the
domestic
fowl
(moa)
that
were
brought
along
achieved
a
position
of
supreme
importance.
As a
matter
of
fact,
they
dominated
the
island's
economy
to
the
point
that
one
is
tempted
to
speak
of a
prevailing
'economy
of
fowl'!
Their
influence,
in
its
many
ramifications,
touched
every
aspect
of
life
of
the
Easter
Islanders,
including
the
socioeconomic
and
the
ideologic.
As
the
only
permanent
livestock,
they
were
an
essential
part
of
the
islanders'
subsistence.
All
sources
count
moa
(Gallus
sp.)
among
the
animals
imported
by
Hotu
Matua,
and
the
terminology,
including
figurative
terms,
is
solidly
rooted
in
the
Polynesian
language.
Moa
means
'fowl'
in
general
as a
generic
term,
but
it
also
means
'rooster'.
On
the
other
hand,
the
name
for
'hen'
is
formed
by
adding
uha,
the
general
Polynesian
addition
for
female
animals.
Specific
names
are
formed
by
adding
attributes
to
moa
-
such
as
moa
maanga
and
moa
rikiriki
for
'chicken',
moa
tanga
for
'young
hen
or
rooster',
and
moa
toa
for
an
especially
splendid
'rooster'.
There
is
an
extensive
terminology
dealing
with
characteristics
of
the
anatomy
and
the
different
types
of
plumage.
It
is
also
truly
amazing
to
what
extent
types
and
scenes
from
the
world
of
fowl
were
projected
upon
people
and
situations.
Some
examples
of
'zoomorphic
patterns
of
speech'
will
serve
to
illustrate
the
point.
An
adopted
child
is a
'chick
that
is
being
nourished'
(maanga
hangai).
Formerly,
a
marriageable
daughter,
as
well
as a
beloved
wife,
was
called
a
'hen'
(uha).
It
was
a
mark
of
distinction
for
a
grown
son
or a
brave
young
man
to
be
referred
to
as a
'rooster'
(moa)
..."
(Barthel
2)
The
virility
of a
cock
was
intertwined
with
that
of a
chief:
"Up
to
the
present
time,
fertility
spells
for
fowls
have
played
an
important
role.
Especially
effective
were
the
so-called
'chicken
skulls'
(puoko
moa)
-
that
is,
the
skulls
of
dead
chiefs,
often
marked
by
incisions,
that
were
considered
a
source
of
mana.
Their
task
is
explained
as
follows:
'The
skulls
of
the
chiefs
are
for
the
chicken,
so
that
thousands
may
be
born'
(te
puoko
ariki
mo
te
moa,
mo
topa
o te
piere)
...
As
long
as
the
source
of
mana
is
kept
in
the
house,
the
hens
are
impregnated
(he
rei
te
moa
i te
uha),
they
lay
eggs
(he
ne'ine'i
te
uha
i te
mamari),
and
the
chicks
are
hatched
(he
topa
te
maanga).
After
a
period
of
time,
the
beneficial
skull
has
to
be
removed,
because
otherwise
the
hens
become
exhausted
from
laying
eggs."
(Barthel
2)
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The 'wood' from
the old 'snag'
is used to light
the new fire:
|
...
The
world
of
rottenness
is
the
world
of
the
mortals.
The
Raw
and
the
Cooked:
'...
With
reference
to
the
contrast
between
rock
and
decay,
and
its
symbolic
relation
with
the
duration
of
human
life,
it
may
be
noted
that
the
Caingang
of
southern
Brazil,
at
the
end
of
the
funeral
of
one
of
their
people,
rub
their
bodies
with
sand
and
stones,
because
these
things
do
not
rot.
'I
am
going
to
be
like
stones
that
never
die',
they
say'.
'I
am
going
to
grow
old
like
stones
...'
Stone
is
tau
in
Rapanui,
as
eg
in
Tautoru
(The
Belt
of
Orion)
and
Tauono
(The
Pleiades).
Stars
are
reliable
and
permanently
there
(immortal).
But
tau
is
also
'season'
(or
rather
the
'produce
of
the
season').
The
seasons
are
also
reassuringly
reliable.
Cooking
implies
mortality,
The
Raw
and
the
Cooked:
'...
comparison
between
the
Apinaye
and
Caraja
versions,
which
tell
the
story
of
how
men
lost
immortality,
provides
an
additional
interest,
in
that
it
establishes
a
clear
link
between
this
theme
and
that
of
the
origin
of
cooking.
In
order
to
light
the
fire,
dead
wood
has
to
be
collected,
so a
positive
virtue
has
to
be
attributed
to
it,
although
it
represents
absence
of
life.
In
this
sense,
to
cook
is
to
'hear
the
call
of
rotten
wood'.
But
the
matter
is
more
complicated
than
that:
civilized
existence
requires
not
only
fire
but
also
cultivated
plants
that
can
be
cooked
on
the
fire.
Now
the
natives
of
central
Brazil
practice
the
'slash
and
burn'
technique
of
clearing
the
ground.
When
they
cannot
fell
the
forest
trees
with
their
stone
axes,
they
have
recourse
to
fire,
which
they
keep
burning
for
several
days
at
the
base
of
the
trunks
until
the
living
wood
is
slowly
burned
away
and
yields
to
their
primitive
tools.
This
preculinary
'cooking'
of
the
living
tree
poses
a
logical
and
philosophical
problem,
as
is
shown
by
the
permanent
taboo
agains
felling
'living'
trees
for
firewood.
In
the
beginning,
so
the
Mundurucu
tell
us,
there
was
no
wood
that
could
be
used
for
fires,
neither
dry
wood
nor
rotten
wood:
there
was
only
living
wood
...
Therefore
only
dead
wood
was
legitimate
fuel.
To
violate
this
regulation
was
tantamount
to
an
act
of
cannibalism
against
the
vegetable
kingdom.' |
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...
'When
I
discussed
the
theme
of
man's
mortality
in
the
South
American
myths,
I
showed
that
they
developed
it
either
in
the
form
of
the
impossibility
of
rejuvenation
or
resurrection,
or
in
the
complementary
form
of
premature
aging
...
The
North
American
myths
belonging
to
the
lewd
grandmother
cycle
retain
this
distinction,
since,
in
the
first
type
(the
provocative
neighbour),
a
very
young
hero
suddenly
loses
all
his
teeth
and
so
becomes
a
prematurely
old
man,
whereas
in
the
third
(the
incestous
grandmother),
a
very
old
heroine
succeeds
in
getting
rid
of
her
wrinkles;
but
even
the
most
famous
shamans
fail
to
give
her
back
her
teeth:
the
absence
of
teeth
is
responsible
for
a
second
death,
and
this
time
resuscitation
is
no
longer
possible
...
It
can
be
noted
in
passing
that
the
Coast
Salish
believed
in a
similar
opposition
between
death
from
sickness
and
death
by
decapitation:
only
the
second
was
irrevocable
...' |
Headhunters
want to kill
their
enemies for
good. The
enemy will
thereby be
robbed of
his
vitality,
which will
be
transferred
to the
headhunter.
The
possessor is
the owner.
What is
possessed is
an attribute
of the
possessor.
| 2. The function of cocks and chiefs to ascertain the arrival of 'fruits' (hua) of all kinds on the island has made me conclude there is a wordplay involved between moa and moai (the statues). I read moai as moa-î, where the meaning of -î is 'full', 'abound', 'be plentiful'. For example: ki î te îka i uta, 'as there are lots of fish on the beach'. Makemson has suggested the statues, standing high and erect, to have been raised to guarantee a fertile land:
... the embodiment of sunlight thus becomes, in the form of a carved human male figure, the probable inspiration for the moai as sacred prop between Sky and Earth. The moai as Sky Propper would have elevated Sky and held it separate from Earth, balancing it only upon his sacred head. This action allowed the light to enter the world and made the land fertile ...
The statues are made from stone: mae'a Matariki, Pleiades-stones, according to Churchill. When the Pleiades rose in the east before the sun the male part of the year, the time of rising sun was announced:
... I think it is probable that the Rapa Nui ritual calendar, as that of the Maori, Mangarevans, Samoans, Tongans and other Polynesians began in July following the rising of the Pleiades. On Rapa Nui and many other islands, the Pleiades were called Matariki...
According to Heyerdahl, when the islanders were asked why there were no ure (penis) on the stone giants an old man calmly replied: 'A moai cannot have two ure, he is one himself.' As to the form of the moai statues a famous myth confirms:
"Métraux quotes a Rapa Nui legend in which carvers from Hotu Iti (eastern sector) journeyed to the western sector to seek the advice of a master carver. They were perplexed about how to resolve the difficult problem of carving the statue neck. He advised them to seek the answer by viewing their own bodies. They did so, and discovered that the model for the statue neck was the penis (ure)." (Van Tilburg)
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The circuit
is hua -
moa - hua -
moa etc.
The 'chicken
skulls'
(heads of
dead chiefs)
are used for
generating a
new
generation
and the new
generation
will in turn
generate new
chiefs. I
think the
1st half of
the year,
counted from
winter
solstice, is
the season
of hua -
moa and
the 2nd half
the season
moa - hua.
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