Genealogic Recitals entered into Ritual

It is well known that genealogical lines of descent, or portions thereof, were sometimes inserted in karakia (charms, invocations, &c.), to which they were supposed to impart power, effectiveness. The inclusion of the names of ancestors of repute and high standing, men possessed of mana when in this world, would appeal to the Maori mind. Those ancestors still possess power to protect and harm their living descendants, and to have their influence exerted on one's behalf would be a distinct advantage. But the Maori went still further back in order to obtain support in his appeals; he inserted in them the names of mythical agencies, conditions or beings of his cosmogonic genealogies, pertaining to the period prior to the existence of the sky and earth. The fact that the Maori explained the development of the universe in a manner genealogical—that one condition begat another, as it were—was probably the cause of his including such mythical forces in his line of human descent. His belief that man was descended from primeval forces bearing certain names, through the supernatural offspring of Rangi and Papa, would endow him with faith in the power and efficacy of such names when included in his ritual formulae. Thus it was that the earlier and mythical section of genealogies was inserted in such effusions. We know that the first-born male of a high-rank family, an ariki and ihorei, was looked upon as a very superior being. His condition of tapu, his descent from supernatural beings, together with the well-known respect of the Maori for primogeniture, all tended to such a man being viewed as being partially divine when in the flesh. Little wonder, therefore, that, if not actually deified after death, his name was still held to possess certain powers, or he retained the ability to succour or help his living relatives.