|
TRANSLATIONS
I need to shake
the net of
Sharp as a Knife
before I must
return the book
to the library.
What riches are
hidden inside
the net?
The Northwest
Coast Indians
are known mainly
for two reasons:
their 'totem
poles' and their
potlatch
feasts. On
Easter Island
feasts were due
first of all at
the solstices.
At winter
solstice, we may
assume, 'a net
was shaken' to
see what riches
the new 'year'
would bring
(similar to the
Babylonian
Ubšugina
station, the
chamber of
hazard). A
genetic lottery
can bring
anything to
birth.
... Beachte
aber, dass der
erste Monat des
Jahres nach dem
Schicksalsgemach
(= Ubšugina)
bezeichnet wird
... , der
siebente aber
d.i. der erste
der zweiten
Jahreshälfte
nach dem im
Ubšugina
befindlichen
Duazaga ...
Two 'years', the
1st year named
Ubšugina
and the 2nd
named
Duazaga,
it seems.
December
(immediately
beyond summer
solstice) was
the 'Duazaga'
of Easter
Island, and
Anakena
its 'Ubšugina':
|
new
'year'
beyond: |
|
winter
solstice |
summer
solstice |
|
Anakena |
Ko
Koro |
|
Ubšugina |
Duazaga |
The kingdom of
the 1st 'year'
was ruled by
Hercules, the
kingdom of the
2nd 'year' by
his tanist or
gnomon.
Sharp as a
Knife:
|
"Then
he
[the
Raven]
tucked
his
sister
under
his
arm |
|
and
headed
off
with
her. |
|
Siwaas
planted
(her
tobacco
seeds)
at
Xhiina. |
| |
|
When
they
matured, |
|
he
stood
on
the
leeward
side
of
Xhiina |
|
and
called
a
lot
of
other
birds
to
join
him |
| |
|
They
went
to
get
wood
for
the
potlach,
they
say. |
|
They
came
back
with
it
quickly. |
|
When
they
had
brought
only
a
little, |
|
he
asked
them
to
stop. |
|
After
that
they
began
to
get
hungry. |
| |
|
Then
he
called
certain
other
beings
to
come. |
|
When
they
gathered
on
the
water
there
in
front
of
him, |
|
he
dressed
himself
in
something
frayed
and
dirty. |
|
Then
he
spoke
across
the
water. |
|
They
couldn't
make
him
out. |
| |
|
They
sent
for
Porpoise
Woman
then. |
|
She
said,
'However
would
you
get
along
without
me? |
|
He
wants
you
to
pelt
him
with
abalone
and
sea
urchin.' |
|
They
bombarded
him
with
these, |
|
and
then
he
ate
them. |
| |
|
Now,
since
the
house
was
too
small, |
|
he
held
the
potlatch
out-of-doors,
they
say. |
|
All
the
great
spirit-beings
he
invited |
|
came
in
their
canoes. |
| |
|
He
pierced
the
noses
of
many
different
birds. |
|
The
Eagle
asked
to
have
his
pierced
as
well. |
|
The
Eagle
pestered
him
and
pestered
him
about
it, |
|
so
he
pierced
his
carelessly,
they
say. |
|
That
is
why
the
Eagle
has
his
nostrils
pointing
up,
they
say. |
| |
|
Then
the
one
whom
we
are
speaking
of
went
out
in
his
canoe. |
|
He
came
to
where
the
sea
was
boiling. |
|
He
loaded
herring
into
his
canoe. |
|
Then
he
dipped
them
with
the
bailer |
|
and
tossed
them
toward
the
shore. |
|
'Not
even
the
last
people
in
the
world |
|
will
find
where
you
are
hiding.' |
The text reads
like a piece
from Alice in
Wonderland. It
is the final
episode in
Raven Travelling
according to the
mythteller
Skaay.
"The final
episode of
Skaay's Raven
Travelling has
puzzled many
readers who
perceive the
architectural
power and beauty
of earlier parts
of the poem.
What do planting
tobacco,
throwing food,
and piercing the
Eagle's nostrils
have to do with
one another?
That is a
question any
nineteenth-century
Haida - young
Henry Moody, for
example - could
have answered in
a flash. The
potlach - a
ceremonial and
invitational
feast and
property
exchange - is a
central
institution in
all the
indigenous
cultures of the
Northwest Coast
...
The kind of
potlach
mentioned here
is known as
waahlghal in
Haida ...
Swanton wrote to
Boas from
Vancouver on New
Year's Eve,
1903,
summarizing all
he had learned
at his final
meeting with
Henry Moody:
At the
waahlghal
potlatch, ...
when a man built
a house, adopted
another chief's
son, etc., the
secret society
novices belonged
to his wife's
clan and so did
those who were
tattooed or
whose ears, nose
and lips were
pierced. The
novice's
companions, on
the other hand,
and those who
did the
tattoing,
piercing, etc.,
were of the same
clan as the man
potlatching.
At a
waahlghal
potlatch the
property was
given by a man
to the people of
his own clan,
but a certain
amount of this
property was
obtained by him
from members of
the opposite
clan through his
wife. So the
invitation of
persons in his
wife's clan, the
tattooing of
them, etc., were
by way of
payment for the
property so
received."
Although the
Polynesians were
not matrilineal,
I imagine they
could have
borrowed (or
taken onboard
their canoes if
they originated
at Haida Gwaii
or thereabouts)
the main ideas
about transfer
of property at
feasts. As I
remember it
Métraux has
described
complex
exchanges of
poultry on
Easter Island. I
continue to cite
from Sharp as a
Knife:
"Planting a new
tobacco patch
all but
presupposes
building a new
house, and
completion of
the house is the
occasion for a
waahlghal
potlatch.
Such a potlatch
has particular
significance for
those on the
other side
(Eagle side in
this case). It
serves as an
occasion for
public
alterations to
the person: the
assumption of
new names,
receiving of
tattoos, or
piercing of the
septum, lip or
ears.
All such quantum
leaps in
personal
identity require
publication and
acceptance. The
venue for this
public
confirmation is
the waahlghal
... One who
celebrates a
major change
himself (a new
house, for
example) serves
as an agent of
change for many
others, and his
services are
paid for in the
currencies he
spends: chiefly
courtesy and
food ..."
Ko Koro,
the Feast, when
the Herculean
sun (Eagle)
transforms into
his own gnomon,
surely must have
been reflected
in a season of
feasts on Easter
Island:
|
...
There
was
a
young
man
living
in
Riu-o-hatu.
He
planned
to
make
a
feast
(koro)
for
his
father.
For
that
purpose
he
raised
chickens
and
had
a
house
built.
All
his
people
worked
on
it.
When
his
koro
house
was
finished,
he
left
his
people
and
went
to
Ahu-te-peu
to
call
on
Tuu-ko-ihu
and
ask
him
for
a
statue.
He
arrived
at
Tuu-ko-ihu's
place
and
asked:
'Give
me a
statue,
o
king,
in
loan
for
the
feast
in
honor
of
my
father.'
The
ariki
said:
'It
is
all
right.'
Tuu-ko-ihu
gave
him
an
image.
The
young
man
took
it
and
returned
to
his
koro.
He
broke
sugar-cane
stalks,
dug
out
yams
and
sweet
potatoes
and
put
bananas
in a
ditch.
He
lit
the
oven
and
put
in
it
fowls,
yams,
and
sweet
potatoes.
Some
people
sang
riu
chants,
others,
ei
chants
and
others
a
te
atua.
They
took
all
the
foods
-
bananas,
sugar
cane,
fowls
- to
the
koro
house.
They
set
up
the
image
at
the
door
of
the
koro
house,
and
the
people
went
to
admire
this
image.
They
spent
three
days
in
the
koro
house.
This
koro
house
was
nice,
and
the
people
ate
plenty
of
sugar
cane
and
bananas.
When
the
koro
was
finished,
the
young
man
stayed
there.
The
third
day,
the
koro
caught
fire.
Men,
women,
and
children
shouted:
'The
koro
is
burning,
the
koro
is
burning.'
This
cry
sounded
at
Hanga-roa,
at
Motu-tautara,
at
Ahu-te-peu.
Tuu-ko-ihu
heard
it
and
said:
'O
my
brother
'The
jumping-little-bird'
(piu-hekerere)
jump!'
A
servant
of
Tuu-ko-ihu
was
sent
to
Riu-o-hatu.
When
the
young
man
saw
him,
he
said:
'Your
image
is
burnt
up.'
The
servant
said:
'No,
it
did
not
burn.'
He
looked
for
it
and
found
it
lying
far
away.
The
servant
called
the
owner
of
the
koro
and
said.
'Here
is
your
image.'
He
returned
it
to
Tuu-ko-ihu
... |
Some of the
guests
(belonging to
the other 'clan'
I suppose)
repaid the
hospitality by
singing
different sorts
of songs.
Then (after 3
days) came the
finish of the
feast, followed
by fire. And the
little bird (piu-hekerere)
quantum jumped
(and was found far
way).
Only birds
(spirits, gods)
can manage
quantum jumps (Ω)
unaffected.
The little bird
is named
piu-hekerere,
which name has
three parts:
piu, heke
and rere,
I think. The
last component
seems to be
clear - rere
is what birds
do, viz. fly:
|
Rere
To
jump;
to
run;
to
fly.
Rere-taúra,
to
carry
a
child
astride
on
one's
shoulder:
ku
rere-taúra-á
i te
poki
e te
matu'a
ki
te
gao,
the
mother
carries
her
child
astride
her
neck.
Vanaga.
1.
To
fly,
to
run,
to
leap,
to
scale,
to
be
carried
away
by
the
wind;
ika
rere,
flying
fish;
rere
aruga,
to
rebound;
hetuu
rere,
meteor,
flying
star.
Hakarere,
to
leap.
P
Pau.:
rere,
to
soar,
to
fly;
fakarere,
to
precede.
Mgv.,
Ta.:
rere,
to
fly,
to
leap.
2.
To
come,
to
reach
to.
Mq.:
éé
mai,
to
come.
3.
To
swerve,
to
deviate.
(4.
Hakarere,
to
cease,
desist,
postpone,
quit,
vacation;
tae
hakarere,
perseverance.
Mq.:
rere,
to
disappear.
5.
Hakarere,
to
save,
preserve,
put,
place,
reserve,
burden,
destine.
6.
Hakarere,
to
abandon,
forsake,
give
up,
depose,
expose,
leave,
omit,
abjure,
repudiate;
hakarere
ki
te
hau,
uncover
the
head;
hakarere
ki
te
vie,
to
divorce,
hakarere
ki
raro,
to
put
down,
tooa
te
kiko
e
ivi
i
hakarere,
to
strip
off
the
flesh.
Mq.:
éé,
to
run
away,
to
escape.
7.
Hakarere?
Ikapotu
hakarere,
to
abut,
to
adjoin;
e
tahi
hakarere,
synonym.)
Churchill.
Vi.:
Lele,
the
end
of a
branch
farthest
from
the
body
of a
tree;
leletha,
to
bend
a
branch
in
order
to
gather
the
fruit
on
it.
Churchill
2.
In
the
present
phase
of
Polynesian
lele
so
much
means
to
fly
that
the
plainest
way
of
particularizing
birds
is
to
describe
them
as
the
flying
animals,
manulele.
But
to
manifest
that
flight,
an
exercise
or
balancing
of
wings,
was
by
no
means
the
primordial
sense,
for
how
could
that
give
rise
to a
description
of
water
in
the
water-courses?
It
will
be
no
end
to
mass
the
several
significations
which
lele
exhibits
...
Flight
of
birds
...
Wind
drive
...
Meteors
...
To
leap
...
To
run
...
Flow
of
water
...
To
swim
...
To
sail
...
These
several
activities
are
exercised
in
earth,
air,
and
water.
The
common
factor
is
the
swift
motion.
The
means
of
motion
cut
no
figure.
It
is
an
invisible
means
in
the
driving
of
the
wind,
the
flash
of
the
meteor
silent
athwart
the
sky
on
its
lethal
errand,
the
slip
and
slide
of
the
stream
in
its
deep
course,
the
set
of
the
sea,
the
gliding
of
the
canoe
upon
its
surface.
Churchill
2. |
The key factor,
according to
Churchill 2, is
the quick
(lively) motion.
In the middle of
the 'treacle' of
solstice there
is one 'bird'
who escapes,
gets away and is
saved (rere).
The main word
comes first and
rere is
just a suffix to
be more precise.
Heke is
full with
mythical
associations:
| Heke
(Heke), hakaheke, to pull down, to
overthrow. Mgv.: akaeke, to overthrow, to vanquish; heke,
to fall down, to fall to pieces: akaheke; akahekeheke, to
demolish. Mq.: heke, to crumble, to fall down; hakaheke,
to demolish, to pull down. Churchill.
Kai heke, hakaheke, to deflower.
Kahukahu o heke, an octopus hiding in his ink.
Mq.: ve'eve'e
'tentacules du heke'. Barthel 2.
Pau.: Heke, to purge. Mgv.: heke-toto,
hemorrhage. Ta.: hee, to purge. Mq.: heke, to drip. Ma.:
heke, id. Pau.: Hekeheke, elephantiasis. Ta.: feefee,
id. Mq.: fefe, id. Sa.: fe'efe'e, id. Mgv.: Heke, eke, octopus. Ta.: fee,
id. Mq.: heke, feke, fee, id. Sa.: fe'e, id.
Ma.: wheke, id. Ta.: Hee, to slide, to swim. Sa.: se'e, to
slide, to shoot the breakers. Ha.: hee, id. Mq.: Hee oto, to cut. Sa.: sele, id. Ha.:
helehele, id. Churchill.
Ma.: 1.
Migrate. Islands of History. 2. Rafter. Starzecka. |
I
imagine Tuu
Maheke is a
key element
alluded to in
piu-hekerere
- he is,
according to
some, a king
who 'got away':
...
Ure Honu
names 'Miru
Te Mata Nui'
(TP:63) as the
legitimate owner
(hoa puoko)
of the skull.
The
justification
for this is
obvious.
According to the
traditions,
Tuu Maheke
returned to
Hiva
...
He left the
skull on Easter
Island, though:
|
...
Night
came,
midnight
came,
and
Tuu
Maheke
said
to
his
brother,
the
last-born:
'You
go
and
sleep.
It
is
up
to
me
to
watch
over
the
father.'
(He
said)
the
same
to
the
second,
the
third,
and
the
last.
When
all
had
left,
when
all
the
brothers
were
asleep,
Tuu
Maheke
came
and
cut
off
the
head
of
Hotu
A
Matua.
Then
he
covered
everything
with
soil.
He
hid
(the
head),
took
it,
and
went
up.
When
he
was
inland,
he
put
(the
head)
down
at
Te
Avaava
Maea.
Another
day
dawned,
and
the
men
saw
a
dense
swarm
of
flies
pour
forth
and
spread
out
like
a
whirlwind
(ure
tiatia
moana)
until
it
disappeared
into
the
sky.
Tuu
Maheke
understood.
He
went
up
and
took
the
head,
which
was
already
stinking
in
the
hole
in
which
it
had
been
hidden.
He
took
it
and
washed
it
with
fresh
water.
When
it
was
clean,
he
took
it
and
hid
it
anew.
Another
day
came,
and
again
Tuu
Maheke
came
and
saw
that
it
was
completely
dried
out
(pakapaka).
He
took
it,
went
away,
and
washed
it
with
fresh
water
until
(the
head)
was
completely
clean.
Then
he
took
it
and
painted
it
yellow
(he
pua
hai
pua
renga)
and
wound
a
strip
of
barkcloth
(nua)
around
it.
He
took
it
and
hid
it
in
the
hole
of a
stone
that
was
exactly
the
size
of
the
head.
He
put
it
there,
closed
up
the
stone
(from
the
outside),
and
left
it
there.
There
it
stayed
... |
I cannot find
much information
about piu,
yet the little
there is seems
to be relevant:
| Piu
Ta.: piu, to pull in a fishing-line. Ha.: piu,
to skip with a rope. Churchill. |
skip1
... leap lightly
off the ground
... pass from
one thing to
another omitting
what intervenes
... (English
Etymology)
There may be
some connection
with the last
glyphs of the
overview in the
6th period of
the Keiti
calendar for the
year:
 |
 |
 |
|
Eb3-7 |
Eb3-8 |
Eb3-9 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Eb3-10 |
Eb3-11 |
Eb3-12 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Eb3-13 |
Eb3-14 |
Eb3-15 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Eb3-16 |
Eb3-17 |
Eb3-18 |
Eb3-19 |
|