Social Grades

High chiefs, lesser chiefs, and commoners form the social grades within the tribes. The highest title (ariki) is vested in the kiko mua (first-born son of a first-born son) in each generation and cannot be held by a female. The fact that daughters may be born before a male child does not affect succession. A sister may be senior in birth to her ariki brother but, owing to the restric-page 100tion of the relationship term of tuakana to the same sex, her seniority is not recognized. When she marries, her children may be theoretically senior to those of her brother, but this is offset by the fact that they are tama va'ine and cannot supplant their cousins, who are tama tane. They have also passed out of the tribe and even their adoption can not obviate their tama va'ine descent. This rule has, however, been broken on occasion.

The ariki is senior to all other chiefs within the tribe. In the three Ngariki subtribes, each subtribe maintained its own ariki title, held in addition to other public offices. The other tribes of Mangaia did not establish ariki titles.

The junior members of a chiefly line were termed rangatira (chiefs). They came of good stock and, if they established strong families, they had to be considered in the politics of the tribe. An ariki, as the senior head of the tribe, had to consult his chiefs, who were termed the 'ui rangatira (the assembly of chiefs). The ariki was often a figurehead who enjoyed certain privileges by virtue of his rank, but the family groups within the tribe were directly represented by the 'ui rangatira.

The younger members of families, who in each generation were pushed farther and farther from any chance of succession to the higher ranks, became the commoners or mass of the people. They were free men, but the higher positions in the tribe were occupied by their seniors in birth. The power of a chief was influenced by the number of people who gave him allegiance. This depended on the male increase in his particular family group, and on the number of outside people he could support in his establishment. Seniority of blood, though revered, was somewhat theoretical as compared with the practical advantages of number.

In the course of history the prestige of the toa (successful warrior) began to overshadow that of the rangatira (chief). Successful leadership in war determined whether the tribe kept its own lands and acquired others. The warrior was given substantial shares of land. The war leader of the successful tribe became Temporal Lord of Mangaia, Which carried more power than any hereditary office. A hereditary chief could not rely on his seniority alone, but, to maintain his power in the tribe, he had to be a warrior as well. Te Uanuku of Ngati-Vara held the mangaia through his personal prowess as much as through his being the first-born son of Mautara. None of his descendants displayed military leadership, and though his family is recognized as the kiko mua, the leadership in the tribe passed to junior branches of the family. The Ngariki alone endeavored to keep the original pattern based on hereditary succession, as they had everything to gain by adhering to it. The other tribes evidently admitted the Ngariki as direct descendants of Rongo and were not able to interfere with titles derived from that source.

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Another class in the community were the priests of the tribal gods (pi'a atua). They fought in war in addition to following the duties of their profession. They were also 'are korero (repository of tribal lore.)

The lowest class in the community were those who had been defeated in war and had not had time to reorganize their tribes. These people ('ao or ivi panga, "fatherless people"), immediately after battle, were fugitives hiding in the makatea or the mountain. After the sounding of the drum of peace they came forth and sought sustenance with their wives' relations, or became menials in the households of powerful chiefs.

The refuge caves and forest shelters of the 'ao were termed punanga. Mention of one of these refuges is made in a song composed by Koroa (12, p. 121):

Tei Takimivera 'oki te punanga	At Takimivera is the refuge,
Punanga i te 'ao e!	The refuge of the conquered.

The fugitives lived on such fruits and berries as they could find in the vicinity of their shelters. In the night they descended to the taro lands, but the danger was great. They also moved about frequently when the enemy were hot on their trail. The difficulty of obtaining food drove some fugitives to cannibalism. Rats were trapped and occasionally fish were obtained secretly from the lagoon. Large bodies of fugitives hid in caves which could be easily defended from openings situated some distance up the side of the cliff.

One of the outstanding features in Mangaian history is the way in which the wives of fugitives stuck to their husbands. They arranged secret meeting places and brought food to them. Even when refuge caves were blockaded, wives were allowed to pass the guards and take what scanty food they could conceal about their persons. It was but rarely that the blockade was made so strict that the wives were searched and deprived of the food they were carrying. Sometimes wives obtained protection for their husbands under some powerful relation in their own tribe.

During the period of concealment, many of the refugees made nets and other objects to store up as wealth with which to buy protection.

When the peace drum sounded and the fugitives emerged from their refuges, the victors gave them a feast (taperu kai) in public recognition of their safety. The conquered, however, had lost their holdings in the rich taro lands of the puna districts. They were awarded shares in the upper narrow ends of the valleys where they could still grow a certain amount of taro. They were also given land in the makatea, where sweet potatoes and paper mulberry plants could be produced. The conquered were rather unjustly blamed for the shedding of blood that had occurred and therefore became servitors in the households of the victors. They grew the paper mulberry, caught fish, and grated the taro (poke) for their masters to pay for the blood which had been spilt (ei tutaki i te toto i ta'e). Their masters then allowed them some share in the taro land which is expressed by the phrase, "Ka 'angai i roto i te puna." (They fed them in the irrigated taro lands.) The lot of the serf depended on the character of the chief he served.

The serfs were naturally inclined to plot for a reversal of power. When a chief became dissatisfied with his servitor, he evicted him without com-page 112punction by sending him word to go or by indicating expulsion in some other form. One method was for the chief to sit down near the hut of the serf and make fire himself with the fire plough of two pieces of wood. This indicated that the serf's services were no longer needed in the household. When warned, the serf had to leave and seek another master. Gill (12, pp. 99-102) relates a pertinent story:

The serf Autea, when asked by his master for the loan of a nanue hook, replied that the one he was using was all that he had. The fact that the master asked for a loan and allowed the serf to continue using his hook shows that the master was considerate. The master subsequently found out that the serf had several other nanue hooks in his fishing basket and so dismissed him summarily. The incident passed into the disciplinary saying, "Remember Autea."

When the serfs bought protection with goods manufactured during exile, as hooks, nets, and lines, they gave the best to their new masters. The masters generally made a show of magnanimity by allowing them to keep considerable quantities for themselves.