|
TRANSLATIONS
The sacred geography of Easter Island according to the system described in Manuscript E presumably was up to date - not the old system with Marotiri marking the end of the year (though we cannot as yet be certain about the prior existence of such an old system). Anakena (where the kena bird is hatched?) is the first month of the year and the landing site of Hotu Matua. It is preceded by Maro, which I think alludes to Marotiri. The sands of Anakena (Moria One, the 26th station of the kuhane) can be compared to the sands of One Tea (the 14th station): ...The king went into his house and laid down. The first child of King A Matua, Tuu Maheke, came and went into the house. He came and kissed his father on the cheek. King Hotu A Matua asked, 'Who are you?' The royal child replied, 'It is I, the royal child, Tuu Maheke'. King Hotu A Matua said, 'Ah, I wish you luck, oh King, for your sand, very fine sand, fleas [in the sand]!' The fine sand presumably refers to the beach of Anakena and the word 'royal' implies that Tuu Maheke will take over as the new king. Those 'fleas' probably imply that King Hotu Matu'a wishes him to have much people around him (because 'flies' represent unborn souls).
The sands of Moria One lies to the west (i.e. at the end of Anakena, when we move counterclockwise): ... Oromanga is the eastern part of the beach of Anakena; the bay of Moria One is the western part ... One Tea (observe the reversal with one here as the first word) on the other hand lies just before (and to the west of) the point of turning around:
The sands of Anakena (Moria One) arrive immediately after, while the sands of One Tea arrive immediately before. Though if the point Vai Poko is the turning point, then Moria One too arrives before. ... They came on again, they came to Te Manavai, to Canoe Bay, to Anavaero and all those places along the south coast. They came to Onetea where the white sand is, and said, 'This is the land for the ariki to live on.' But one said, 'No, this is poor land, our breadfruit and our coconuts will not grow here. Let us search, let us go ... ... They saw the fair sand of Taharoa. Said one, 'This is the king's land, here.' But the rest said, 'No, this land is not good.' Therefore they continued until they saw the good fair sand of Anakena: it was like the beaches of the homeland. Then all those young men said, 'Here the king will live in a handsome place.' They rested in the dry cave at that place and therefore called it Anakena. On the sand at Turtle Bay they saw a turtle sleeping. Those six young men came on, they arrived at the turtle, they seized it. The turtle struck with its flipper, one was wounded ...
... The dream soul stepped forth lightly and reached Papa O Pea. She carefully looked around for a place where the king could settle down after his arrival and gather his people around (? hakaheuru). Having assembled his people (?) and having come down, he would then go from Oromanga to Papa O Pea, so went the speech of the dream soul. She named the place 'Papa O Pea A Hau Maka O Hiva' [27 Papa O Pea]. She then hastened her steps toward Ahu Akapu. There she looked again for a residence of the king. Again the dream soul of Hau Maka spoke: 'May the king assemble his people (?) and may he come in the midst of his people from Oromanga to Papa O Pea. When the king of Papa O Pea has assembled his people (?) and has come to this place, he reaches Aha Akapu. To stay there, to remain (for the rest of his life) at Ahu Akapu, the king will abdicate (?) as soon as he has become an old man'. She named the place 'Ahu Akapu A Hau Maka O Hiva' [28 Ahu Akapu]. The (entire) land she named 'Te Pito O Te Kainga A Hau Maka O Hiva' ... To interpret the 'modern' view of the creators of Manuscript E: There are similar structures before Poike and before Vai Poko. Furthermore, at both points descent will begin: at Poike downslope the mountain and at Vai Poko into the sea. Notice how similar the names Poike and Poko are. 26 (Hanga Moria One) may mark the end of a year and 14 (One Tea) may mark the end of a fortnight. At Papa O Pea (27) there is a renewal and also at Hanga Takaure (15). ... King Tuu Ko Ihu dug a hole, made it very deep, and let the skull slide into it ... ...From a religious point of view, the high regard for flies [takaúre], whose increase or reduction causes a similar increase or reduction in the size of the human population, is interesting, even more so because swarms of flies are often a real nuisance on Easter Island, something most visitors have commented on in vivid language. The explanation seems to be that there is a parallel relationship between flies and human souls, in this case, the souls of the unborn. There is a widespread belief throughout Polynesia that insects are the embodiment of numinous beings, such as gods or the spirits of the dead, and this concept extends into Southeast Asia, where insects are seen as the embodiment of the soul ... The explorers saw two more sandy beaches: 'the fair sand of Taharoa' and 'the sand at Turtle Bay'. Taharoa (the 20th station of the kuhane) lies (see map above) on the opposite side of Poike, as if a mirror image of One Tea. Turtle Bay (Hanga Hoonu) is station 21 of the kuhane, i.e. follows Taharoa to the west. In a way, then, the same pattern occurs here, and we should expect Rangi Meamea (the 22 station) to precede a point of descent.
I think the way down is a reversal from the way up and therefore the colours should be reversed too, i.e. black for 20-21 and red for 22. I believe the sands which precede the points of turning around (tara) are connected with the swarms of flies hoped for. The sand consists of small particles, like dust (ehu) but bigger. At beginnings and at ends everything is like dust. The vai ehu (mist) at Ab2-3 is understandable because Ab2-1--2 presumably mark a new great beginning:
Possibly mama alludes to 'mama'. Metoro may have heard 'mama' when living close to Bishop Jaussen. At the end of the day (or at the beginning of the night) the fire has 'finished' and all that remains is dust (ehu):
From ashes new life will later emerge: ... Captain Cook recorded (the first record of Polynesian mythology ever made) this Tahitian account of the Creation: 'Ta'aroa tahi tumu, Ta'aroa origl. stock - most commonly Ta'aroa or Te Tumu - existed before everything except of a rock (Te Papa) which he compressed and begat a daughter (Ahuone) that is Vegetable Mole.* * Ahuone means 'earth heaped up' - a widespread name for the Polynesian first woman. It sounds as if Cook also heard the term applied to the banks of humus and rotting material on which taro is grown. In the English of his day this was known as 'vegetable mould' ... The stations of the kuhane describes a counterclockwise cycle around the island: ... The quarternary system, which divides the island into four quadrants, correlates the four royal sons with the path of the sun as it circles the island counterclockwise. The sequence of the sons is determined by their order of birth. To the first-born goes the region in which the noon sun reaches its zenith, a striking symbol for the highest ranking son; to the second-born goes the region of the setting sun. The name 'Miru' may have been connected to the central Polynesian concept of a region of the dead to the west and its guardian. The third son inherits the midnight region, and the last-born inherits the eastern section. Since the last-born, a 'good and strong child' (poki rivariva, poki hiohio), was closest to the father, the region of the rising sun is alotted to him, which gives this region special value. While the successor of the king is like 'the sun at its highest point', the youngest son is like 'the rising sun' ... ... The first and third sons rule over important points along the northern and southern shores. Their domains can be said to represent the noon and the midnight sides of the island and, as such, are in contrast with each other. On the other hand, the words of the king to his second and fourth sons refer to contrasting types of behavior. It is Miru's task to watch over his people, while Hotu Iti is compared to a dangerous shark. My informant explained niuhi tapaka'i as 'como diablo' and called it an attribute for an 'hombre valiente'. Englert was not familiar with the word, but I suspect that it is related to TON. tapakaki 'to run swiftly', and I suggest the translation 'swift (?) shark', which seems an appropriate metaphor for a brave man. The contrast between Miru and Hotu Iti could be summed up as (a) the contrast between the (north)western shore and the (south)eastern shore, (b) the contrast between the 'big tribe' (mata nui) and the 'small tribe' (mata iti), and (c) the contrast between the (peaceful) 'watching over the people' and the (warlike) 'behavior of the shark'. This contrast already foreshadows the later rivalries between the western and eastern tribal federations. No area is indicated for Miru, but it is well established that the traditional tribal territory of the Miru was on the (north and) western shore; so there can be no doubt that the area was given to Miru. The center of Hoti Iti's domain is inland from Hanga Nui - that is, the area between Ahu Tongariki and Rano Kau, which later became the center of the megalithic activities on Easter Island. His land is referred to as 'Motu Toremo Hiva'. Englert interpreted this as 'un islote en Hiva', but my informant rejected this interpretation categorically. Instead, he suggested that 'Motu Toremo Hiva' is a rock off the northeastern shore of Poike and that the area was notorious for its many sharks. Toremo may be the name of a large fish - Taremo [Polyprion oxigeneisos] (Knoche 1925:147). It is possible that the blessings addressed to the 'west-east pair' contain several wordplays (roou and rou 'small fishing hook'; compare TUA. rou 'to decline, sink as the sun', which may have been used to indicate the direction of the setting sun; RAP. toremo and PPN. *lemo 'to drown'; MAO. paremo 'to disappear, go down', which may have been used to indicate the direction of the setting moon?). The meaning of the wordplays may have been that the region of the setting sun belonged to Miru and the region of the setting moon to Hotu Iti ... ... The contrast between Miru and Hotu Iti could be summed up as (a) the contrast between the (north)western shore and the (south)eastern shore, (b) the contrast between the 'big tribe' (mata nui) and the 'small tribe' (mata iti), and (c) the contrast between the (peaceful) 'watching over the people' and the (warlike) 'behavior of the shark'. This contrast already foreshadows the later rivalries between the western and eastern tribal federations. No area is indicated for Miru, but it is well established that the traditional tribal territory of the Miru was on the (north and) western shore; so there can be no doubt that the area was given to Miru. The center of Hoti Iti's domain is inland from Hanga Nui - that is, the area between Ahu Tongariki and Rano Kau, which later became the center of the megalithic activities on Easter Island. His land is referred to as 'Motu Toremo Hiva'. Englert interpreted this as 'un islote en Hiva', but my informant rejected this interpretation categorically. Instead, he suggested that 'Motu Toremo Hiva' is a rock off the northeastern shore of Poike and that the area was notorious for its many sharks. Toremo may be the name of a large fish - Taremo [Polyprion oxigeneisos] (Knoche 1925:147). It is possible that the blessings addressed to the 'west-east pair' contain several wordplays (roou and rou 'small fishing hook'; compare TUA. rou 'to decline, sink as the sun', which may have been used to indicate the direction of the setting sun; RAP. toremo and PPN. *lemo 'to drown'; MAO. paremo 'to disappear, go down', which may have been used to indicate the direction of the setting moon?). The meaning of the wordplays may have been that the region of the setting sun belonged to Miru and the region of the setting moon to Hotu Iti ... The kuhane is the night soul of the sleeping Hau Maka and therefore a female being. She is moving counterclockwise, not clockwise as the sun does. Earlier I have thought (wrongly) that passing across the equator should change the observed pattern of movement for sun and moon. But all over the earth female is connected with left and male with right. The explanation is that moon is moving towards the eastern horizon while sun is moving towards the western horizon. Left and right depends upon which direction you face, while east and west remain stable points. Looking at the sky during the night I have seen that moon is swiftly moving towards east. When a planet is close by, for example Venus, the distance between them after just a couple of hours has already changed. Cyclic processes are fundametally different from the more or less straight travels across the sky, following the ecliptic. From the observed slightly curved line across the sky an oval must be imagined. Sun goes down in the west and emerges in the east, i.e. there must be a cycle. The cycle need not be a circle. Instead we should imagine points of reversal (tara) and at least 2 of them. Moon is waxing, reaches the point of reversal at full moon, then it is waning, to reach another point of reversal at new moon. Sun is likewise growing up to noon (or midsummer), then descending and reaching the point of reversal at midnight (or midwinter). In addition to these basic and most important tara there were at least two more, at the eastern and western horizons. The equinoxes define east and west and therefore also the equinoxes became points of reference. These 4 basic cardinal points describe the form of a diamond (a square standing on its corner). The geography of Easter Island has Poike as one of these 4 cardinal points. It lieas in the east and is the highest point of the land. From the perspective of the kuhane (the moon) Poike should mark full moon. With Poike at the top, the opposite direction (west) must be bottom. The coast between Vai Poko and the three islets is more or less straight and Easter Island is not formed like a diamond:
Instead we can see a triangular outline which is reminiscent of the Taranaki store house:
The apex with an egg is like Poike and the bottom like the west coast. Obviously the movement in the roof of the storehouse is clockwise - i.e. means the cycle of the sun. The bottom is like the sea (tai) into which sun (life) descends and then emerges again. The bottom is like the night, new moon time, winter. The first 3 brothers of Maui should be located at left (Maui muri), at the top (Maui roto) and at the right (Maui taha). The 4th brother, Maui pae, must be the bottom part. In front of a hare paega house (like an overturned canoe) we have paepae, the flat surface (as of the sea) in front of the entrance (the three islets):
The west coast of Easter Island is its protective wall, the base of the triangle:
Paega tooa (deprive) is an expression which makes me think about toa tauuru. The night is equivalent to the paega in the west (the 4th quadrant, Maui Pae) and maybe toa in toa tauuru means deprived (of light and life), i.e. that we should read tooa tauuru. In Vanaga tooa is not listed, but in Churchill I find:
The meaning of toa in toa tauuru therefore probably is 'staff' → numerical prefix. Notice also Raa too = noon (i.e. the staff which measures the shadow and defines noon?).
The first 10 stations of the kuhane cannot cover the paepae, because the first station is the three islets:
Possibly, instead, we see the first of the four sides of a diamond. The paepae is rather described by the 2 last stations in the travel of the kuhane:
26 * 14 = 364 is the year and stations 27-28 are therefore outside of the year, I guess. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
