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"The Mangaian creation myth of Vatea, Bright Sky (Wakea, Atea), is unique in Polynesian mythology. In the tapering root of the spherical world, which departs from the world-egg form by being a kind of cosmic turnip, in the narrow land of Te Aiti-te-apiapi, 'where little could be done', dwelt the essence of human growth, a spirit called Vari-ma-te-takere, the Mud-and-the-bottom-of-everything ..." (Makemson)

This cosmic 'turnip' made me think about GD18 (niu):

Maybe the creators of the rongorongo signs thought about a turnip (instead of a coconut palm)?

"The turnip ... is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, bulbous taproot. Small, tender varieties are grown for human consumption, while larger varieties are grown as feed for livestock. Turnips are notably popular in Europe, particularly in its colder parts, because they grow well in cold climates and can be stored for several months after harvest."

"Although the turnip is a well-established crop in Hellenistic and Roman times, which leads to the assumption that it was brought into cultivation at an earlier time, Zohary and Hopf note that 'there are almost no archeological records available' to help determine its earlier history and domestication. Wild forms of the turnip and its relatives the mustards and radish can be found over west Asia and Europe, suggesting that their domestication took place somewhere in that area. However Zohary and Hopf conclude, 'Suggestions as to the origins of these plants are necessarily based on linguistic considerations.'

Evidence from around 1500 BC show farmers of India growing forms of wild turnip for the oil from its seeds. Neolithic evidence show it grown independently in northern climes and from B. campestris roots. These farmers cultivated the round 'roots' we know today."

"Pliny the Elder writes that he considered the turnip one of the most important vegetables of his day, rating it 'directly after cereals or at all events after the bean, since its utility surpasses that of any other plant.' Pliny praises it as a source of fodder for farm animals, and this vegetable is not particular about the type of soil it grows in and it can be left in the ground until the next harvest, it 'prevents the effects of famine' for humans ..."

"Turnip lanterns are an old tradition ..." (Wikipedia)

They (Zohary and Hopf) think that the origin of the turnip could be determined by 'linguistic considerations'. Remarkably the scientific (latin) name of the turnip is Brassica rapa.

turnip ... (root of) Brassica Rapa, var. depressa ... the first element is indeterminable; the second is neep, OE. næp - L. nāpus turnip, prob. of Mediterranean origin. (English Etymology)

Bad soil and famine - sounds like Easter Island (Rapa Nui).

Second (I am still trying to take down the 'balls' to earth before starting to discuss why there are two cut marks across the throat in Aa1-11): Metoro associated Aa1-11 with kuukuu (ihe kuukuu ma te maro) and I have guessed that he thought about Kuukuu the planter:

... Ira spoke these words: 'This is the digging stick (? ko koko), Kuukuu. You shall work the land for me and plant the yam roots!'... (Barthel 2)

At first I could not find the word kuukuu in my word lists, but I found kuku:

Kuku

To swathe, to swaddle: he-kuku i te tôa, to swathe the sugarcanes (with their large leaves, so they grow better and taller). Vanaga.

1. To tie up sugar canes. 2. To coo, a pigeon. P Mgv.: kuku, name of a land bird. Mq.: kuku, kukupa, uururu, a large pigeon. Ta.: uupa, uurairao, pigeon. Churchill.

Later I also have found ku'uku'u:

Ku'uku'u

To call one's young (of hens). Kókokóko, to crow, to cackle (of rooster or hen). Vanaga.

Barthel's question mark ko koko (digging stick) lead me to search for koko, but I couldn't find that word isolated, only as part of kokohu and kokoma (and of kókokóko, 'to cackle', of course):

Kokohu

1. Container, vessel. 2. To put one's hands together, forming a scoop to hold something: ka-kokohu hai rima mo avai-atu te kai, put your hands like this, so I can give you some food; ka-kokohu rivariva o marere, hold your hands together well, so that (the food) does not spill. 3. Figuratively: mother (matu'a poreko) because she is the vessel in which the baby's body is formed. Vanaga.

Kokoma

Intestines, guts. Vanaga.

Bowels, entrails, intestines, rectum, garbage, rage, angry; kokoma hanohano, spite, to despise, to hate, to storm, to bear a grudge, vexation; kokoma hanohano ke, to be in a rage; kokoma hakahanohano, to excite anger; kokoma hanohano manava pohi, to abhor; kokoma ritarita, to abhor; kokoma eete, to abhor, to detest, to be in a rage, angry, ungovernable; tagata kokoma eete, adversary; kokoma hurihuri, animosity, spite, wrath, fury, hate, enmity, to pester, to resent, irritable, offended, hot tempered; kokoma hurihuri ke, to be in a rage. Churchill.

I checked in Manuscript E (in Barthel 2) and found:

".ka ki era.kokoro e Nguukuu (sic!) e. maau e keukeu e oka te uhi."

Keu

Communal enterprise, work done in common: mo te keu, for the work done in common (for instance: collecting food mo te keu, to give to the helpers). Keukeu: 1. To work; to work long and steadily: he-keukeu te aga; tagata keukeu henua, farmer. 2. To get ready, e.g. for a trip: ka-keukeu koe, ki oho tâtou. get ready, we are going; ka-keukeu ki turu ki tai, ki hî, get ready for going down to the sea, to fish. 3. To approach (of rain): he-keukeu te ûa. Vanaga.

Oka

1. Lever, pole; to dig holes in the ground with a sharpened stick, as was done in ancient times to plant vegetables; used generally in the meaning of making plantations. 2. The four sideways poles supporting a hare paega. Okaoka, to jab, to pierce, to prick repeatedly. Vanaga.

Digging stick, stake, joist; to prick, to pierce, to stick a thing into, to drive into, to slaughter, to assassinate; kona oka kai, plantation; pahu oka, a drawer. Okaoka, a fork, to prick, to dig. Okahia, to prick. Churchill

Kokoro

Width, expanse; wide, spacious. Te kokoro o te hare. the expanse of a wide house. Vanaga.

The word Guukuu I did not find. So uncertainty has crept in - maybe the planter actually was called Guukuu (and not Kuukuu)? Kokoro may be split, I guess, into ko-koro (not ko-koko!):

Koro

1. Father (seems to be an older word than matu'a tamâroa). 2. Feast, festival; this is the generic term for feasts featuring songs and banquetting; koro hakaopo, feast where men and women danced. 3. When (also: ana koro); ana koro oho au ki Anakena, when I go to Anakena; in case, koro haga e îa, in case he wants it. Vanaga.

If. Korokoro, To clack the tongue (kurukuru). Churchill.

Anyhow, Metoro said kuukuu at Aa1-11 according to Barthel (and Bishop Jaussen) and according to my correlations between his words and the glyphs. Hawaiian ala-kuukuu, the Road of the Spider (meaning the path of the sun), is one point of reference from which we may find an explanation of Metoro's word kuukuu.

Another Hawaiian word is 'u'uku, tiny:

H.: Ku'u ku'u 1. Redup. of ku'u 1; to let down gradually, slack off a little at a time. See ala ku'uku'u. Ho'o ku'uku'u lenient, permissive; to pay out, as a fishline. Kī ho'oku'uku'u, slack key, as on a guitar (kī hō'alu is more common). Ua ho'oku'uku'u loa na mākua i keiki, parents are too lenient with children. (PPN tukutuku.) 2. Small, short-legged spider, so called because it lowers itself (ku'u) on a single string fiber. Ke alanui a ke ku'uku'u, the path of the spider (a name for the Equator). Ho'o ku'u ku'u, same as above. 3. Boomerang. 'U'uku, tiny, small; few. 'U'uku iho, undersized, smaller. Ho'o 'u'uku, to make small, reduce, lessen. Wehewehe

Once again the two different words may have a common origin (or have intertwined).

Hawaiian ku'u is the equivalent of tuku in Rapanui:

Maori: tuku, to subside, to settle down. Tahiti: tuutuu, to slacken or ease a rope. Hawaii: kuu, to let down, to slacken. Tonga: tuku, to slacken, to let go as a rope; tukutuku, to sink in the sea. Futuna: tuku, to put down. Niuē: tuku, to bury. Rarotonga: tuku, to let down, to let out, to drop down. Mangareva: tuku, to throw the fishing net of fillet. Paumotu: tuku, to lay down. Sikayana: tuku, to put down. Nukuoro: tuku, to permit, to allow. Manahiki, Fakaafo: tuku, to place. Nuguria: tuku, to set. Rapanui: tuku, to give, to accord. Churchill 2.

The sun is no longer growing in autumn, he is shrinking - becoming 'u'uku iho (smaller). In autumn sun is setting (sitting down) on his heels, tukuturi:

Tuku 1. To leave something lying spread on the ground; to spread, unfurl, unroll something on the ground; tukuga, mat spread on the ground; tukuga tagata, mat on which have been put pieces of cooked human flesh. 2. Tuku kupega, a fishing technique: two men drag along the top of a fishing net doubled up, spread out on the bottom of a small cove, trapping the fish into the net; tukutuku, to fish while swimming, holding a basket-shaped net. 3. Tuku huri, to sit with one's buttocks resting on one's heels, soles flat on the ground. Figuratively: ka tuku! pay attention! (literally: sit still!). 4. Tuku rîu, to sit in the posture typical of choir singers in rîu festivals or singing festivals in general, which was sitting on one's heels. Tukuturi, to sit with one's buttocks resting on one's heels, soles flat on the ground. Vanaga.

Yet another word, kutu, shows how the syllables by an interchange can create a new word of similar meaning:

Kutu

1. Louse. 2. Kutu ivi heheu, remora, attached to the swordfish. Vanaga.

H.: 'uku, 1. Louse, flea. (PPN kutu.) 2. Small, tiny (less used than 'u'uku). Wehewehe.

Hawaiian ku'uku'u should be equal to tukutuku ('to sink in the sea' according to the Tongans). But Metoro said kuukuu. Maybe he referred to the story about the Kuukuu the planter:

'... Now you spoke, Kuukuu: 'You don't have the necessary ability, but I shall move this turtle. Get out of my way!' Kuukuu stepped up, picked up the turtle, using all his strength. After he had lifted the turtle a little bit, he pushed her up farther. No sooner had he pushed her up and lifted her completely off the ground when she struck Kuukuu with one fin. She struck downward and broke Kuukuu's spine. The turtle got up, went back into the (sea) water, and swam away. All the kinsmen spoke to you (i.e. Kuukuu): 'Even you did not prevail against the turtle!' ...'

The turtle probably means winter solstice, where sun moves slow like a turtle. The 'proof' of this has been presented earlier (when explaining the meaning of GD17, hônu). The turtle is a 'she', which indicates the darkest time of the year.

'When Kuukuu leaves it may be a sacrifice, because at crucial times there should be a sacrifice and he leaves at a crucial time. We follow the lead of the government in the sky, the ruling events there we translate into the ruling events here. When a celestial person leaves that is a sign for us to make a similar move. In the celestial situation when one being (re)leaves another (re)appears at the other horizon. The human situation is similar: When an old person is relieved from his duties another (younger) must appear and take over. Is this the reason why the storyteller says 'you'?'

Nga Tavake reappears and takes the place of Kuukuu. The new year takes the place of the old year. Not only does Tezcatlipoca takes over from Quetzalcoatl, but Quetzalcoatl (the first half of the year) superseds ('sits on top of') Tezcatlipoca (the second half of the year, the Smoking Mirror) at the darkest time of the year.

In the bird list Tavake is no. 9 and Kukuru toua (a name suspiciously similar to Kuukuu) is no. 6.

		Strong sun				Weak sun
sun	male	6	*Kukuru toua*	yellow	east	9	*Tavake*	pink	west
moon	female	7	*Makohe*	red	south	15	*Tuao*	brown	north
		Weak moon				Strong moon

But kukuru means not only the yellow-beaked albatross (?), but also points to the similar Hawaiian word kukulu:

'The word kukulu (pillar) probably means 'star pillar of the sun' (I think): '... The Hawaiians placed a pillar (kukulu) at the four corners of the earth after Egyptian fashion; while the Maori and Moriori considered a single great central pillar as sufficient to hold up the heavens ...' Pillars, stars and pits (rua) are the same. I guess that Makemson's kukulu is derived from ku'u-lua.'

However, the Hawaiian kukulu should be equal to tuturu:

Turu

To come down, to go down, to descend; ka-turu-age koe ki tai, go down to the sea now; turuga, coming down, descent. Vanaga.

1. To fall in drops, to flow, to leak, to descend, a drop; turu ki tai, to take refuge at sea; hakaturu, to cause to descend, to lower, to take soundings; hakaturuturu, to heave and pitch. 2. To stay, to prop. 3. To come, to arrive, to overcome; tehe e turu, through and through; hakarava hakaturu, quadrangular. Churchill.

Now we are ready for a final conclusion (regarding the 2nd 'ball in the air'):

Oka

Kuukuu the planter relates to the first half of the year and he is succeeded by Nga Tavake when time is due, after having been struck by the 'turtle' (whose shadow weakens him long before winter solstice). The Y-shaped digging stick (oka) is also used to support the roof of the sky (as in a hare paega).

Metoro's kuukuu therefore probably refers both to the Hawaiian ku'uku'u (the shrinking sun - by way of his interpretation of the story of Kuukuu the planter) and to the Hawaiian kukulu (sun beam pillar upholding the sky).

Y-shaped sticks (oka) are used both to put holes (rua) in the ground and to hold the roof high. A nut in a hole will grow upwards and be a tall tree. A star in a hole will grow upwards to be a pillar supporting the sky.