Man aw a ora

Here we have a quality that is soon explained and disposed of. Manawa is a term denoting the breath, and the expression manawa ora means the breath of life.

When Tane formed the earthen image that was vivified and so became the first of mortal women, the wairua and manawa ora by means of which life was imparted to it were obtained from the Supreme Being. Thus the latter expression denotes something more than ordinary breath; it is often used as implying a more spiritual quality. As in the case of Hine-ahu-one it pertains to the supernormal, spiritual life, ira atua. On the other hand manawa page 54ora is also used to denote ordinary breath, or fresh air. In Java we find that the word nawa denotes breath, life and soul. In the Hawaiian Isles manawa means the spirit, among other things; at Mangaia it denotes the mind, or spirit; in the Marquesas the life breath; and at Mangareva the soul, the conscience. At many isles it carries its two ordinary meanings of "breath" and "belly". It also means, in Maori, the heart, both the material organ and the heart as the seat of the emotions. The word appears in a number of compound forms as manawa-nui (stout-hearted); manawa-pa (parsimonious);. manawa-rau (uneasy); manawa-reka (gratified), etc.

Words meaning breath, wind, air and heart have been utilised by many peoples to denote spirit or soul, sometimes mind. The Maori employed such words to define certain qualities pertaining to man, but selected the word for shadow to apply to the apparitional soul of man that finally leaves the body at death.

The word ngakau means the entrails in Maori, also the seat of affections, also the mind. At the Hawaiian Isles na'au, the same word, bears the same meanings, but is also used to denote the soul, a synonym of uhane. In both dialects it means the seat of moral powers. Evidently the original meaning was the first one given above, and this is noted in many Polynesian dialects. The word puku, meaning "stomach", is employed in a similar manner, for the stomach was viewed as the seat of emotions and of memory. So we have pukukata (amused); pukutakaro (playful) pukumahi (industrious); pukumahara (cautious), etc.

The term hinengaro denotes the seat of thought, the mind, and is also employed where we use the word "conscience".

The following curious passage is taken from an account of Vancouver's voyage: "The priests (of Tahiti) taught that the bowels are the immediate organ of sensation, where all impressions are first received, and by means of which all the functions of the soul are carried on; and hence they maintained, as a first principle in the philosophy of mind, that the intestines bear the greatest affinity to the immortal part of man. The officers, who occasionally entered into conversation with the leading persons at Matavai, endeavoured to convince them that all intellectual operations took place in the head. They usually answered with a smile of incredulity, remarking that they had often seen men recover whose skulls had been fractured… but that in all cases where the intestines were wounded, the patient died…. Other arguments they also advanced in support of their belief, especially the effect of fear or any violent passion, which page 55caused great agitation in the heart, and even in the stomach…. In these views they shared a belief very common in the western parts of Asia, and of which we find some traces in the sacred writings." (Vancouver, Voyage of Discovery 1790-1795, vol. 1, pp. 121-2).

The above exactly coincides with the Maori belief in the functions of the ngakau. It is, however, somewhat curious that the writer does not mention the Polynesian belief in the spirit that leaves the body at death, and enters the spirit world.

Further data concerning the terms pertaining to spiritual concepts have been given in Dominion Museum Monograph 2, Spiritual and Mental Concepts of the Maori.

Some of the terms employed to denote the immortal element in man in the isles of Polynesia are apparently unknown to the Maori of New Zealand. This may be said of the Hawaiian term uhane and the Tuamotuan mahoi. It is just possible that we have this latter word in Tini o te mahoihoi, a name applied by the Bay of Plenty tribes to certain forest dwelling creatures, apparently mythical, of the distant past. Again we have the Arawa story of Te Mahoi, or Te Mahoihoi, also known as Tama-o-hoi, the last of which terms does not impress one as being a genuine form. These names refer to a weird being said to have dwelt underground in the Rotoiti district, a being who appeared in human form and was a master of black magic. Some natives state that he took to a subterranean life after the arrival of Polynesian immigrants, whose magic arts were too much for him to contend against. Apparently this was an evil spirit and the story one of the many local folk tales. In the Tahitian dialect mahoi is said to denote the essence or soul of a god, and Te Mahoi of Maori myth is one of the horde of mythical beings that are included in the term atua.

In angaanga we have a term that denotes spirit or soul at Niue island and the Samoan group. In Maori, so far as we are aware, it bears no related meaning. In the Tuamotu group iho means spirit, ancestral spirits called ihoiho; these terms seem to be also employed in the Society and Cook groups, in the form of io at the latter. In Maori, as in the isles just mentioned, iho means kernel, the innermost part or core, but it is also employed to denote a predominant constituent quality or product. I have known a few birds or fish to be presented to a native as the iho of lands in which he held an interest. The material mauri or fish weir is spoken of as the iho of that weir, simply because it is the most important and essential object at the weir, although not a part thereof. Iho also denotes the umbilical cord. But our Maori folk page 56do not use this term as a synonym for wairua when referring to the spiritual part of man. Ora, a term for spirit and ghost in the dialect of Tikopia, is a Polynesian word signifying life and welfare in many far sundered isles. It does not seem to be used to denote spirit in Polynesia proper or in New Zealand, but an allied term, toiora, is used by the Maori to denote spiritual life and welfare. In the following passage, culled from an old recital, the term toiora is obviously applied to welfare of the spirit that leaves the body at death and proceeds to the spirit world; not that any particular spirit or spirits is denoted, but the spiritual welfare of all the descendants of Hine was to be her future care: "Ka kapua i konei te toiora ki te wheuriuri e Hine-titama." The erst Dawn Maid assumed the task of protecting the spirits of the dead in the underworld.

The term koiwi ora is occasionally employed to denote the spirit of man, as shown in Williams's Maori Dictionary. This word koiwi is used in a peculiar manner in some cases and various meanings seem to be applied to it. A certain thing is mentioned in a recital of some myth, or of life and occurrences in the heavens or spirit world, and we are told that "toua koiwi i tenei ao he…" that is, it is represented in this world by… In an account of the fashioning of the first woman by Tane in order that he might beget mortal man occurs the following—"No tona hikanga kia puta te koiwi ora ki te ao", etc. Here koiwi ora does not, apparently, denote spirit, but a living member of a new race of beings about to be generated.

We have not much data available from Polynesia concerning subjects that call for long and careful enquiry, such as spiritual concepts for example. Hawaii and New Zealand have put the most native lore on record, but at many isles opportunities have been neglected.

The two expressions, ira atua and ira tangata, as denoting supernatural or spiritual life and mortal life, have been explained in Bulletin 10, pp. 61 and 122, et seq.

Although these atua possessed bodies composed of bones, flesh and muscles, and had eyes, yet they had no blood, no form of moisture pertained to them; it is because we possess blood and moisture that we do not resemble such as the poutiriao. The eyes of those beings differ from ours, hence all things and all actions are clearly seen by them; therefore blood was bestowed upon the ira tangata (mortal man), because he is of the earth, so it is that we cannot see, we do not possess such powers of sight as are held by atua.

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