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TRANSLATIONS
The link 'Cordyline fruticosa' leads to this page:
Cordyline fruticosa (Ti
plant, also known as the good luck plant), is an
evergreen flowering plant in the family Liliaceae,
formerly treated in the families Agavaceae
and Laxmanniaceae. It is a woody plant growing up to
4 m tall, with leaves 30-60 cm (rarely 75 cm) long
and 5-10 cm wide at the top of a woody stem.
It produces 40-60 cm long panicles
of small scented yellowish to red flowers that
mature into red berries.
It is native to tropical
southeastern Asia, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia,
northeastern Australia, the Indian Ocean, and parts
of Polynesia. It is not native to Hawaii or New
Zealand but exists on those islands as a feral weed
introduced by Polynesian settlers. C. fruticosa is known by a
wide variety of common names including cabbage palm,
good luck plant, palm lily and Ti plant,
kī (Hawaiian), sī (Tongan), and 'autī.
The species was spread from its
native range throughout Polynesia by farmers. Its
starchy rhizomes, which are very sweet when the
plant is mature, were eaten as food or as medicine,
and its leaves were used to thatch the roofs of
houses, and to wrap and store food.
The plant or its roots are
referred to in most Polynesian languages as tī.
Leaves were also used to make items of clothing
including skirts worn in dance performances. The
Hawaiʻian
hula skirt is a dense skirt with an opaque
layer of at least 50 green leaves and the bottom
(top of the leaves) shaved flat. The Tongan dance
dress, the sisi, is an apron of about 20
leaves, worn over a tupenu, and decorated
with some yellow or red leaves ...
In ancient Hawaiʻi
the plant was thought to have great spiritual power;
only high priests and chiefs were able to wear
leaves around their necks during certain ritual
activities. Ti leaves were also used to make
lei, and to outline borders between
properties (for which its alternative name:
terminalis). To this day some Hawaiians plant
Ti near their houses to bring good luck. The
leaves are also used for lava sledding. A number of
leaves are lashed together and people ride down
hills on them ... The roots of the Ti bush
were used as a glossy covering on surfboards in
Hawaii in the early 1900s.
Ti is a popular ornamental
plant, with numerous cultivars available, many of
them selected for green or reddish or purple
foliage. In Hawaii, Ti rhizomes are fermented
and distilled to make okolehao, a liquor."
(Wikipedia)
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Good luck (instead of inoino) it brought to the Hawaiians who planted it near their houses. The hula skirts is another sign.
And, remarkably, people used to slide downhill on ti leaves lashed together:
| Pei
Grooves, still visible on the steep slopes of some hills, anciently used as toboggans. People used to slide down them seated on banana-tree barks. This pastime, very popular, was called pei-âmo. Vanaga.
Like, as; pei ra, thus, like that; such, the same as; pei na, thus, like that; pei ra ta matou, proverb; pei ra hoki, likeness, similitude; pei ra tau, system; pei ra hoki ta matou, usage. PS Sa.: pei, thus. This is particuarly interesting as preserving one of the primordial speech elements. It is a composite, pe as, and i as demonstrative expressive of that which is within sight; therefore the locution signifies clearly as-this. Churchill. |
Bananas are also sweet.
Considering the kuhane calendar again, Te Pei comes before Te Pou (Sirius). If sun is born at new year after the announcement of the event by Sirius, then Te Pei should describe the preceding situation. It is not a station of starvation.
The dark season of plenty, 'tattooed' on the earth (or moon) at midsummer, continues to the end of the year. Then comes a new light in the sky, and the light season with threatening starvation follows. At midwinter Te Pei could illustrate the downfall of the season of plenty, not only of the old and feeble sun but also in a way of the reign of moon. But that comes only later, at spring equinox. And between Te Pei and Te Pou should come Haga Te Pau. No, it comes earlier than Te Pei. The last sign of old sun has gone away at Te Pei. Te Pei is in the darkest of nights and there the new fire must be frictioned awake.
I notice how the Tahitian maaro resembles maro (in He Maro):
| Magaro
Calm, sweet, docile, tame, affable, gracious, indulgent, suave; to pacify, to reconcile; ariga magaro, amiable; tae magaro, ungracious; tagata magaro, popular; vai magaro, sweet water; magaro ki kokoma, undisturbed; hakamagaro, to soothe, to pacify, to quiet, to appease. P Pau.: magaro, salty, briny. Mgv.: magaro, courteous, pleasant, peaceful, quiet; ahamagaro, to soothe, to tame, to quiet. Mq.: manaonao, insipid, tasteless. Ta.: maaro, fresh, sweet, not salted. Churchill. |
Magaro could also be read as maga-ro:
| Maga Branch (of tree). Magahaiga, part of the arm near the armpit, armpit. Magamaga: 1. Finger (rima matu'a neanea, thumb; tuhi henua, index finger; roaroa tahaga, middle finger; tuhia háûa, ring finger; komaniri-komanara, little finger). 2. Seaweed (shaped like small fingers). Vanaga.
1. (mama 2) A mouthful; maga nuinui, to gobble. 2. Garbage. 3. Index finger. 4. A branch; magamiro, a branch, a limb; magamaga, fork, finger, claw, rod; magamaga miro, a branch, a limb; magamaga rima, finger; magamaga vae, toe; magamaga tumu, great toe; hakamaga, a roof; magaga, fork; magatuhi, index finger; hakamagaturu, slope of a roof. Churchill. |
| Roro Head, skull, brain. T Pau.: taka-roro, headache. Mgv.: roro, the head, the cranium, milk, coconut milk. Mq.: roro, óó, brains. Ta.: roro, id. There are three senses in this word ... 1. Coconut milk, as in Mangareva, a Proto-Samoan signification; note that coconut milk employed by writers who know the South Sea does not mean the natural water within the nut, which is limpid, but is a tincture obtained by maceration of the bruised kernel, which is white and heavy and thickens to a custardy consistency when cooked. 2. The Tongafiti sense is the brain, palpably the soft contents of the calvarium, sometimes very soft indeed; this sense is lacking to Mangareva but is found in Rapanui. 3. A designation of the hard part of the head, found only in Mangareva and Rapanui, so violently sundered from the germ sense underlying 1 and 2 as to indicate confusion with a stem of similar form but diverse meaning. Churchill.
Mgv.: Roroi, to milk, to squeeze or press with the hands. Mq.: oi, to milk, to knead, to dilute. Sa.: loloi, taro kneaded with coconut water. Ma.: roroi, to grate to a pulp. Churchill. |
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