TRANSLATIONS
Orongo is the last station of king Hotu Matua, i.e. the last station on land. Then follows, presumably a voyage to Hiva. The cycle is closed - in the southwest corner of the island are also the first kuhane stations, it all begins again in the 4th quarter:
Peke Tau O Hiti and Mauga Hau Epa are the 23rd and 24th stations in the calendar - the following 4 are separate:
In the Mamari moon calendar, during waning moon (beyond 36 glyphs) sun seems to appear. Here, in the year calendar, moon seems to take care of the stations beyond 24. The hyperlink 'revise the model' leads to a series of pages, the first of which is:
The parallel positions between Ka2-1 and Ka2-7 implies a similarity in kind. The shape of a canoe (vaka) and the henua glyph type both are female in character. On the sea the 'land' is the ship - higher up, warmer and dry. Metoro, though, never said vaka but preferred tao at the canoe shaped glyph.
To cook in an earth oven (tao) probably alludes to a mother (earth) being pregnant (with a baby in her 'oven'). When the canoe beaches on the island after a nine month long journey, the baby will be born ('see the light'). When the ark of Noah stranded on Ararat all the animals inside could at last get out. When the canoe of king Hotu Matua landed the royal child was born: 'When Hotu's canoe had reached Taharoa [station 19 of the voyage of the kuhane of Hau Maka], the vaginal fluid (of Hotu's pregnant wife) appeared. They sailed toward Hanga Hoonu [station 20], where the mucus (kovare seems to refer to the amniotic sac in this case) appeared. They sailed on and came to Rangi Meamea [station 21], where the amniotic fluid ran out and the contractions began. They anchored the canoe in the front part of the bay, in Hanga Rau. The canoe of Ava Rei Pua also arrived and anchored. After Hotu's canoe had anchored, the child of Vakai and Hotu appeared. It was Tuu Maheke, son of Hotu, a boy. After the canoe of Ava Rei Pua had also arrived and anchored, the child of Ava Rei Pua was born. It was a girl named Ava Rei Pua Poki. Honga asked the people on board the canoe of Ava Rei Pua, 'What kind of child was born?' They replied, 'A girl was born.' This is how Honga replied to the news - he shouted in a loud voice, 'Let the queen land in the left side in the direction of Te Tahua! Leave the bay to the royal son, to Tuu Maheke!' The canoe sailed toward the beach and King Hotu, Vakai, and Tuu Maheke went on land. The assistant of the king acted as a midwife (?) for the pregnant woman (hanau tama is, in this case, more likely to mean mother of the child). The canoe of the royal boy arrived landed, and the assistant who acted as a midwife (?) took care of Queen Vakai. The child came down into the freshwater and was laid into a basin (taheta). The assistant who acted as a midwife (?) pressed out (of the body) the mucus (kovare, in this case amniotic membranes) and the coagulated blood (hatu kai), until the coagulated blood (i.e., the afterbirth) was all pressed out. They picked up the queen and the royal child and climbed up and moved on. They reached Oromanga (corrected for 'Oro Ngatu') and left the royal personages there.' Once again the time is the end of the 3rd quarter. Birth and death are mirror images in need of each other. Haga Rau is the location where the old one is 'broken' and the new one is born: ... Then the wind started blowing, the billow rose, the waves broke, the rain started falling, the flame (i.e., lightning) shone brightly, and the thunder rolled. As soon as the wind started blowing, the waves broke, the rain fell, and thunder rolled, King Hotu knew that Pure O had done harm to Oto Uta. Hotu spoke: 'These fellows have done a mean thing to King Oto Uta!' After the neck of Oto Uta had been broken, Kuihi and Kuaha arrived. They picked up the neck of King Oto Uta, took it, and brought it with them. They arrived out in the bay, in Hanga Rau. (There) Kuihi and Kuaha left (the fragment). After the neck of Oto Uta had been brought on land, out in the bay of Hanga Rau, the wind, the rain, the waves, and the thunder subsided. Kuihi and Kuaha arrived and told the king the following: 'King Oto Uta is out in the bay of Hanga Rau'. Hotu said to his servant (tuura) Moa Kehu, 'Go down to king Oto Uta and take him up out of the bay of Hanga Rau!' ... The last of the kuhane stations mentioned before landing in Haga Rau is Ragi Meamea (22). The location is equal to Ovahe: ... Everywhere the dream soul looked around for a residence for the king. The dream soul went to Maunga Teatea [18] and gave him the name 'Maunga Teatea A Hau Maka O Hiva'. The dream soul of Hau Maka looked around. From Maunga Teatea she looked to Rangi Meamea (i.e., Ovahe). The dream soul spoke the following: 'There it is - ho! - the place - ho! - for the king - ho! - to live (there in the future), for this is (indeed) Rangi Meamea.' There are 4 stations from Mauga Teatea (18) to Ragi Meamea (22). Ovahe is located east of Anakena and between these beaches there is a peninsula. Playing with names is evident: Ovahe has Ohae immediately before. Maunga Auhepa is quite like Maunga Hau Epa. ... Poike is the turning point of the journey. After heading west, the explorers [?] survey the northern shore as a residence for the king. Well-known places along this shore, such as Mahatua, Taharoa, and the 'bay of turtles' are rejected. Not until the dream soul reaches the 'reddish sky' (rangi meamea), which is today called Ovahe, does the land become suitable for settlement. The main requirement are level land and a safe place for the canoes to land (maara, HM:465). Protected by the heights of Peke Tau O Hiti, today called Cerro Puharoa, and Hau Epe (see NA I:277), the final goal of the dream voyage turns out to be the best landing site and the finest beach on Easter Island. Oromanga is the eastern part of the beach of Anakena; the bay of Moria One is the western part ... The names of the pair of mountains, 17 and 18, imply color substances ('yellow root' pua renga and 'chalk white' teatea), while their topographical features suggest the contrast of crater and cone-shaped hill. Pair 19 and 20 has directions contained in its names ('backside' tua and 'flank' taha). Pair 21 and 22 leads one to think of the contrast between 'depth' (wordplay on hohonu) and 'height' ('sky' rangi). Thus, both of the pairs of east-west direction have directional characteristics ... Pua Katiki is at left (female) in Ko Koró and Maunga Teatea at right. The left one of the pair has an odd number (17), while Maunga Teatea - the cone-shaped hill - is number 18 of the kuhane stations:
Likewise, Hanga Hoonu (21) is female (depth) in contrast to Rangi Meamea (22). Also Hanga Takaure (15) is female - an odd number and a bay. Poike (16) must be male. Mahatua (19) and Taharoa (20) - 'backside' and 'flank' - suggest female (the backside is in opposition to the 'face') respectively male (2nd half of the month). Taharoa may also indicate the 2nd side of the summer.
The arrival of a (pregnant) 'canoe' may be the story beginning at Ka2-1. In Ka2-2 the very prominent but ghostly henua may refer to the royal child. If so, then the left part of the glyph must be his mother. In Ka2-3 we can imagine the royal child himself, we can (in our imagination) see his face though he is still inside the 'fourfold womb'. In Ka2-9 he is out and (Ka2-10) initiating growth (rei). Ka2-7 is a henua which is bent (a bay?) and in Ka2-8 the emergence of the royal child possibly is illustrated. The parallels between Ka2-2 and Ka2-8 suggest that the left part is the mother and the right the child. The child is born when the mother is (on, in) the island, not when she is out at sea. The curious Ka2-4 is in parallel with Rei in Ka2-10. The 'fourfold womb' may be referred to by the ordinal number. The parallel with Rei suggest generation, i.e. the female response to the male Rei. The two 'flames' are forward and right in Ka2-4, while in the Rei type of glyph they are at left (the prior or 'causal' side). The left part of Ka2-4 must be the female mother ship. What is the meaning of Ka2-5 (viri)?
To pick up fallen fruit or leaves could be the meaning. The fruit (the baby) is of course taken care of. Hanga Rau is the bay of leaves. |