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Maori Agriculture

Kumara Gods (so-called)

Kumara Gods (so-called)

We now come to another form of "fertiliser" employed by the Maori of yore. These were rude stone images, rough hewn into semi-human form, that were placed in plantations for the same purpose that a mauri was, in fact they were mauri. These rough objects, however, seem to have been material representations of the gods themselves, such as Rongo. They are alluded to by natives as taumata or resting places, in full taumata atua or resting places of gods, that is to say temporary abiding places, or shrines. Another described them as he toi no te kumara, the word toi here bearing some meaning with which the writer is not acquainted, but possibly the toi of toiora. They may be alluded to as atua, which includes anything endowed page 203with supernatural powers. These atua kumara, however, it must be distinctly understood, were not viewed as real gods, but merely representations of such, something material that might be moved about, set in plantations, and seen by the eye of man. They were usually kept at the tuahu or sacred place of the community, or concealed, and were taken to the field when the planting commenced. They were placed at the upoko or head of the field, where they remained until harvest time, when they were returned to the tuahu, or elsewhere.

The first puke, that is to say the first tuber, planted at the upoko (eastern or northern side) of the field, as also the last planted at the remu or lower end of the field were tapu, or consecrated to the atua kumara, and are described as an ohonga ki te atua, a curious phrase, apparently meaning that the act of so devoting this offering was intended to stimulate the god represented by the image.

Prior to the lifting of the crop such an image would be returned to the tuahu. The two tapu plant hillocks were then opened and the produce thereof placed in two baskets. The contents of these baskets were then cooked, and one tuber of each lot was taken to the tuahu and there buried under the stone image. The two little mounds in which the first and last tubers were planted were known as the puke hopara, the word hopara apparently signifying abundance.

The remainder of the contents of the two baskets was eaten by certain privileged women, and by women only, no men were allowed to partake thereof, a singular custom pertaining also to the first fruits of birds. The oven in which the above tubers were cooked was known as the umu tamawahine. After this ceremonial performance was over the digging of the crop was commenced, and, at close of day, a portion of the product might be cooked as the meal for the workers, the above performance having lifted the prohibitive tapu therefrom.

The ritual recited by priestly adepts when placing the two tubers as an offering to the image has not been preserved.

Our illustrations show several of the rude images described above. The one named Rongo (Fig. 48, p. 204) is a Taranaki product and was formerly in the possession of the Waitara natives. In a weak moment they lent it to the residents of Puke-ariki, at New Plymouth, who, having heard of its excellent effect on crops, wished to increase the produce of their own fields. So pleased were they with its powers and effect that they page 204decided to retain it. When the site of the Puke-ariki fortified village was being levelled as a site for the railway station, this image was unearthed. Doubtless it had been buried in past times for safety, and it is supposed to have lain there for about fifty years.

Fig. 48. A Stone Taumata Atua. Employed as a shrine or temporary abiding place for atua under whose care a crop was placed. This one is said to have represented Rongo. See p. 203.

In Fig. 49 (p. 205) we see three more of these rude stone images. A. and B. represent Rongo, B., being the side view of A. C. is a specimen in the Whanganui Museum; it is one foot in height. D. is a Taranaki specimen of unusual form, a cast of which is in the Dominion Musuem. Fig. 51 (p. 206) shows two more of these stone forms.

Hari Wahanui, of Otorohanga, spoke of the image of Rongo as a double one apparently, and as though some tubers of the kumara were placed between the two figures. His words were:—"Te ariki o nga kumara ko Rongo te ingoa; penei tonu i te tangata te hanga, e rua e awhi ana raua nga kumara."

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The old native rat was a comparatively harmless little animal, but once its European congener was introduced its ravages soon taxed the utmost ingenuity of the Maori."

In his paper The Peopling of the North, Mr. S. P. Smith remarks:—"The awheto, I suppose, is nearly extinct in New Zealand. It was a large green or brown caterpillar, about the size of a man's little finger, with a spike on its tail, which fed on the kumara plant, and which in former times it was the women's work to collect and destroy. There is a Maori saying in reference to the awheto—'Te awheto kai paenga,' which is applied to any one who goes round tasting the various dishes, derived from the habit of the awheto of eating round the leaves of the kumara."

The sea-gull was occasionally tamed and kept that it might eat these pests of the cultivation. Another plan for ridding the field of these creatures was to keep alive for a time a number of smouldering fires on which the pungent leaves of the kawakawa were burned.

In Laing and Blackwell's Plants of New Zealand, occurs the following remark concerning the kawakawa:—"The wet leaves and twigs slowly burned produce a bitter smoke, said to be fatal to insect life."

The Rev. Mr. Wade tells us that the natives collected the old gum of the kauri tree, which they burned in the kumara fields in order to destroy the caterpillar pest.

Yet another method was the banishing of these creatures by means of certain spells or performances by a tohunga. The Awa folk of the Whakatane district maintain that this was a most effectual way of disposing of a pest, called torongu. This is a form of caterpillar.

Another remark by Mr. Smith, in the above-mentioned work is as follows:—"The kumara and taro plantations required constant attention to keep down the weeds, which was always done with great care by patient hand weeding, and the use of the kaheru." This better describes such work after the introduction of European weeds.

An insect pest, the tupeke, is mentioned by Te Manihera Waititi, who says that it is the same as that called torongu in the Bay of Plenty district. It is some form of caterpillar. Both may possibly be the same as the awheto. The ngurengure and tungoungou are also mentioned as destructive pests.

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Fig. 50. Matuatonga, the Famous Stone Figure of Rotorua. See p. 210.

Fig. 51. Two Stone Taumata Atua. The two faced one may represent Rongo-matane. See p. 204; 209.

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Fig. 52. Three Atua Kiato. Two views. Used as temporary shrines for spirit gods, as during divinatory ceremonial. See p. 210. H. Hamilton, Photo.

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Fig. 53. Three Atua Kiato. See p. 210.

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[The master being of kumara was named Rongo, formed so as to resemble a person, two clasping to themselves the kumara.] See Fig. 51 p. 206). Or possibly there were two such figures, one being placed at either end of a field. In another communication the same authority remarks:—"Regarding the mauri; this stood at the very side of the wakawaka [strip or division of a plantation owned by a family] and resembled a person in form. The innate powers of that object originated at Hawaiki. By the side of the mauri was placed a small portion of soil with the object of causing the crop to flourish. The mauri was a stone [image]; it was passed down from one generation to another as a valued bequest, but its supernatural powers came from Hawaiki, it having been endowed with such by high priestly experts of olden times. It was placed at the tuahu [sacred place] pertaining to agricultural operations. You must understand that this was [represented] Rongo, who was the offspring of Rangi and Papa [Sky Father and Earth Mother]. There is further information concerning him."

The term mauri is applied to the images, as it may be to anything that serves to protect and promote vitality and welfare. The Awa folk of Te Teko stated that the agricultural expert planted a special tuber in its puke to serve as a mauri, after which he recited a charm the effect of which was to establish the mana of the proceedings (Ka whakauria te mana o nga mahi). That mound represents the mana of all ceremonial performances and tapu pertaining to the proceedings, hence it holds great protective powers. Should such a mauri be interfered with by evilly disposed persons by the exercise of magic arts, as by sending a plague of caterpillars to destroy the crop, then such base design would be foiled by the mana or inherent powers of the tapu mound.

Some natives state that a stone was set up at one side of the cultivated ground and endowed with such fostering and protective powers by means of the repetition of certain ritual formulae; that is it would serve as a mauri.

Certain stones on which were rudely carved representations of the male or female organs of generation were noted in the Taranaki district, and the Rev. T. G. Hammond believes that they were placed in the kumara fields and viewed as fertilising agents. Three such stone forms are shown in Fig. 47 (p. 197).

The best known of these stone images is that known as Matuatonga, the property of the Arawa folk of Rotorua, page 210which is said to have possessed great mana in former times, however rude its appearance. See Fig. 50 (p. 206).

Another representation of Rongo is in that form known to the Maori as atua kiato, a rounded rod of wood neatly enwrapped in sennit, and with a grotesque carved head on its upper end. See Figs. 52 and 53 (pp. 207-208). The lower end of such a medium was pointed to enable it to be stuck in the ground in an upright position. When a tohunga or priestly expert wished to conciliate or stimulate by entreaty the god Rongo, represented by this carved rod, he so stuck it in the ground at the tuahu, and, sitting down before it, he recited his karakia, ritual formulae supposed to have the desired effect, though in most cases bearing no aspect of invocation or entreaty.

We thus see that the unworked material mauri, the stone image, and the atua kiato may all be described as shrines, abiding places or mediums of the gods, or, as the Maori puts it:—taumata, taunga atua, and waka.

Mr. White gives the following:—"At early dawn on the planting day the chief procures a branch or young tree of tipau and sticks it in the ground on the eastern side of the field to be planted, in the middle of the eastern boundary thereof. This branch is now known as Rongo. He leaves the branch for a space and then returns to it and calls it by the name of Maui. This is done in order that it may serve as a mauri or tupuna kai for the crop. The baskets of seed are then taken into the field and placed in a row, with intervals of space between each two baskets, across the eastern side of the field. They are now of easy access to those whose duty it is to carry supplies of seed to the planters.

Should any members of the community have died since the last planting season, then a grandfather or grandmother (if living) of each person who has so died acts as reciter of the charms repeated during the process of planting. These elders seat themselves in a line on the eastern side of the field and, as the planting is being done, repeat over and over again the following karakia:—

"Tenei au te kimi atu nei
Tenei au te rapu atu nei
I te kore te whiwhia
I te kore te rawea
I te whaiwhai noa i au
E mauri e!
Ko au ko Hatonga."

This goes on until the task of planting is finished.

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