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TRANSLATIONS
The sky supporting pillars of Tahiti has as its 10th and last pillar the North Star (Polaris), Ana-nia (pillar-to-fish-by). In spite of my efforts to see the connections between nia, nika, niu, nikau etc I have not met with any suggestion that the words have anything to do with fishing. I have accepted the translation of Ana-nia as 'pillar-to-fish-by' only by the authority of Makemson and from a perspective where winter is a time when 'earth' is indundated (the time of the fishes, the water-carriers etc). A tall pillar at midwinter must stand in the water and where there is so much water there must be fishes. The possibility that the word nia in Ana-nia literally means 'fishing', however, will never be nil even if I search through hundreds of dictionaries without finding any support. Not finding evidence is no proof, but I will never stop searching for positive evidence. This investigation cannot be successful if proof in the strict sense of the meaning is demanded. What may be successful is finding persuasive patterns. In Hawaii the word niao is defined like this in one of the dictionaries: "[a.] the sharp edge or corner of a board; the middle of a cocoanut leaf; (b.) an edge; a projection; (c.) a groove; (d.) a standing with the head and ears erect; (e.) the brim of a container, as a box, &c.; (f.) any substance with prominent corners. Cf. niau, the stem of a cocoanut leaf; to sail easily; niu, the coconut tree, and its fruit." (Text Centre) At the edge (brim) of the year there stands (projects) a tall tree, maybe a coconut palm. At first I thought that Polaris - located so close to the celestial north pole - would be below the horizon as seen from Easter Island. But then I became uncertain: We do not see the same stars during winter as in summer. Maybe even south of the equator Polaris will be above the horizon at some times? I needed a clear picture:
The field of vision is not 90° but (theoretically) 180°. In the illustration above (from Klepešta) a man is standing at latitude (φ) 50° N and if straight above his head (zenith, Z) there is seen a star, that star must therefore have declination (δ) of 50° N. What stars he may see is not dependent on the equator of the earth ('AEQUATOR'). His horizon cuts across the equator and therefore he may (theoretically) see stars with a declination as far south as 40°. The sum of his latitude, 50° N, and the declination of the stars at the limit of his field of vision, 40° S, must be 90°. On Easter Island (φ ca 27° S) will be seen stars as far north as 90 - 27 = 63°. The reason we see different stars during winter and summer is due to the effect of sun occupying a different part of the sky during summer and winter, i.e. the night sky (in the opposite direction to the sun) will show different stars depending on season. But not even on Tahiti, at φ ca 17° S, will Polaris be seen, because Polaris is located farther north than 73°. Therefore, if the Tahitians could use (the invisible) Polaris as a sky pillar, then also the Easter Islanders could have used Polaris in the same way, i.e. we could profit from studying the 10 pillars of Tahiti. Let us once more list the pillars, but this time also include information about declination (δ):
The information is from Klepešta. Negative declination numbers mean south of the equator. With red I have marked the astonishing fact that Polaris is a sky pillar in spite of not being possible to see from Tahiti. From the above I am now ready to propose the following translation:
Aa1-15 is a glyph depicting that the old year is ending (koti) and the new year is beginning. At left we can see a leg and at right a young chicken. Though in a way the new year is also beginning at Anakena (Aa1-1 -- 2); the part of the new year at right in Aa1-15 does not amount to more than Ľ of a day - and you cannot see Polaris anyhow (except in your inner mind of course). The Tahitian Ana-iva I guess means the 9th pillar, therefore we possibly also in Rapanui should say Ana-iva.
The Tahitian Ana-nia is more problematic. Text Centre: "... Nia, above, is a curious word. It has probably been runga, nunga, nua, nia ..." Churchill also indicates that Tahitian nia is equivalent to ruga:
Ruga does not sound quite right for Polaris, so I have kept nia (after the pattern in Matarii i nia - though there nia means visible above, which does not apply to Polaris). As to the name Phaed I must first confess that I have not been able to find the name Phaet (which according to my manual notes is the name Makemson gives - I have to check that note). But I am fairly sure that the star Ana-iva is γ Ursae Majoris: "Phacd and Phachd, Phad, Phaed, Phecda, Phekda, and Phegda, are all from Al Falidh, the Thigh, where this star is located in the figure. Al Bīrunī said that it was Pulastya, one of the Hindu Seven Sages. The Chinese knew it as Ke Seuen Ke, and as Tien Ke, another Armillary Sphere." (Allen) These three Ke makes me think of Anakena and why kena (the booby bird) has been chosen as a representative of the beginning of the year. Is there a causal connection between the Armillary Sphere (Ke) and the first part of kena? My imagination is playing tricks on me, but 'Hindu Seven Sages' and 'Ke seuen Ke' are similar: three words and 'seven' respectively 'seuen' in the middle. The Rapanui ké is a more reasonable point to start from:
Maybe they (on Easter Island) began by establishing that Polaris was 'another pole' (than the more familiar one in the south - at 'noon'). Then they saw the possibility to use the kena - which name begins with ke - as a suitable indicator for the beginning. Of course that would not have been enough, the characteristics of the booby bird must also be suitable.
'... This is the largest booby, at 81-91 cm length, 152 cm wingspan and 1500 g weight. Adults are white with pointed black wings, a pointed black tail, and a dark grey facemask. The sexes are similar, but the male has a yellow bill, and the female's is greenish yellow; during the breeding season they have a patch of bare, bluish skin at the base of the bill. Juveniles are brownish on the head and upperparts, with a whitish rump and neck collar. The underparts are white. Adult plumage is acquired over two years. The Masked Booby is silent at sea, but has a reedy whistling greeting call at the nesting colonies. While on the breeding grounds, these birds display a wide range of hissing and quacking notes. It nests in small colonies, laying two chalky white eggs on sandy beaches in shallow depressions, which are incubated by both adults for 45 days. Normally only one chick fledges. Masked Boobies are spectacular divers, plunging diagonally into the ocean at high speed. They mainly eat small fish, including flying fish. This is a is fairly sedentary bird, wintering at sea, but rarely seen far away from the breeding colonies ...' I think the description has good points: the largest of the boobies, black and white, adult plumage after 2 years, whistling greeting call, 2 chalky white eggs on sandy beaches, incubation time 45 days, spectacular divers, wintering at sea. |
