22/01/2015
By Tuhoto-Ariki. This karakia was composed by Tuhoto-Ariki on the birth of his grand-nephew Tu-tere-moana, 14 generations ago, dating from Tuhoto-Ariki.
Nau mai E Tama! kia mihi atu au,
I hara mai ra koe i te kunenga mai
O te tangata i roto i te ahuru mowai,
Ka taka te pae o Huaki-pouri, ko te whare
Hangahanga tena a Tane-nui-a-rangi
I te one i Kurawaka i tataia ai
Te Puhi-ariki, te Hiringa-matua
Te Hiringa-tipua te Hiringa-tawhito-rangi,
Ka karapinepine te putoto i a ia
Ki roto te whare wahi-awa
Ka whakawhetu tama i a ia
Ka riro mai a Rua-i-te-pukenga, a Rua—
I-te-horahora, ka hokai tama i a ia
Koia hokai Rauru-nui, koia hokai Rauru-whiwhia,
Koia hokai Rauru-a-marua-aitu.
Ka maro Tama
I te ara namunamu ki tai ao,
Ka kokiri tama i a ia ki te ao turoa,
E Tama e i!
Hara mai E Tama! whakap**a i a koe
Ki runga te turanga matua
Marama te ata i Ururangi
Marama te ata i Taketake nui o Rangi,
Ka whakawhenua nga Hiringa i konei E Tama!
Hara mai e mau to ringa ki te kete tua-uri
Ki te kete tua-tea ki te kete aronui i pikitia e Tane-nui-a-rangi
I te ara tauwhaiti i te Pu-motomoto o Tikitiki-o-rangi
I karangatia e Tane-nui-a-rangi ki a Huru-te-arangi
I noho i a Tonganui-kaea, nana ko Parawera-nui
Ka noho i a Tawhiri-matea ka tukua mai
Tana whanau Titi-para-uri, Titi-matangi-nui
Titi-mata-kaka, ka tangi mai te hau mapu
Ka tangi mai te roro-hau, ka eketia nga rangi
Ngahuru ma rua i kona.
E Tama e, i!
Hara mai, E Tama! i te ara ka takoto i a Tane-matua
Kia whakangungu koe ki nga rakau matarua na
Tu-mata-uenga, ko nga rakau tena i patua
Ai tini o Whiro i te Pae-rangi, ka heke i Taheke-roa
40 Koia e kume nei ki te po-tangotango
Ki te po-whawha o whaka-rua-aumoko
E ngunguru ra i Rarohenga, ka waiho nei
Hei hoa riri mo tini o Tane-matua i te ao turoa,
I konei, E Tama! ka whakamau atu ki te Pito ururangi,
Ki a Tu-mata-kaka ki a Tu-mata-tawera, ki a Tu-mata-huki,
Ki a Tu-mata-rauwiri,
Hei whakamau i te pona whakahoro kai
Na Hine-titama, ka waiho hei tohu ki a Tane-matua
Ka whakaoti te pu manawa o Tane i konei
E Tama e i!
Hara mai E Tama! puritia i te aka matua
Kia whitirere ake ko te Kauwae-runga ko te Kauwae-roa
Kia tawhia, kia tamaua, kia ita i roto a Rua
I te pukenga, a Rua i te horahora, a Rua
I te wanawana a Rua-matua, taketake o Tane.
Nau mai e Tu-tere-moana kia areare o taringa ki te whakarongo,
Ko nga taringa o Rongomai-tahanui, o Rongomai-taharangi—
O Tupai whakarongo wananga, ka taketake i konei
Ki Tipuaki-o-rangi ka rere mai Poutu i te rangi
Ka whakaawhi i a Puke-hau-one, ka hoka
Hine-rau-wharangi i konei i a ia, kia taha mai
Ahuahu ahua te Puke-nui, ahua te Puke-whakaki,
Nau, E Rongo-marae-roa! koia te ngahuru tikotiko-iere
Te marua-roa o te matahi o te tau
Te putunga o te hinu.
E Tama e i!
Wakarongo mai E Tama! kotahi tonu te hiringa i kake ai
Tane ki Tikitiki-o-rangi, ko te hiringa i te mahara, ka kitea i
Reira ko Io matua-te-kore-anake, i a ia te Toi-ariki
Te Toi-urutapu, te Toi-ururangi, te Toi-uru-ora,
Ka whakap**a Tane i a ia ki te wai-tohi
Na Pukao-rangi, na Oho-mai-rangi te wai whakaata
Na Hine-kau-orohia, kau-orohia nga Rangi-tuhaha,
Ka karangatia Tane ki te paepae tapu i a Rehua
I te hikumutu o Rangi, ka turuturu i konei te
Tawhito-rangi, te tawhito-uenuku te tawhito-atua,
Ka rawe Tane i te hiringa matua, i te hiringa
Taketake ki te ao marama, ka waiho hei ara mo
Te tini o whakarauika nei.
E Tama e i!
Hara mai E Tama! whakapau to mahara
Ko nga mahara o Tane-matua i tokona ai nga rangi
Ngahuru ma rua, kia tuhaha, kia tangi te piere
Kia tangi te wanawana, kia tangi te ihiihi
I konei E Tama! ka toro te akaaka-rangi, ka toro
Te akaaka-whenua, ka tupea ki te wehe-nuku-rangi
Ki te wehe-nuku-atea, ka takoto te urunga tapu-mowai
Ka whakahoro ki roto i te whare pukaka nui
Kia Rongomai-taha, ki a Rongo-mai-tuwaho
Ki a Rongomai-whakateka ka hoaia e Tane-matua
Ki te Iho-taketake na Tuhae-pawa na Io-matua—
Te-kore koia pou-takeke, koia pou-takiki
Ka kapua i konei te toi-ora ki te wheuriuri e
Hine-titama.
E Tama e i!
Hara mai E Tama! e piki ki runga o Hikurangi,
O Aorangi, he ingoa ia no Hawaiki mai i
Tawhiti-nui na o kau (matua) i tapa, e huri to aroaro
Ki Parawera-nui, ki Tahu-makakanui,
Ko te ara tena i whakaterea mai ai o tipuna,
E te Kauika-Tangaroa te uranga tapu o Pai-kea,
Ka takoto i konei te ara moana ki Harua-tai,
Ka tupea ki muri ko tai whakahuka, ka
Takoto te ara o Kahu-kura ki uta, ka tupatia
Ki a Hine-ma-kohu-rangi, ka patua i konei te
Ihinga-moana, te wharenga-moana, ka takiritia
Te takapau whakahaere, ka takoto i
Runga i a Hine-korito, i a
Hine-kotea, i a Hine-makehu, ka whakapau te
Ngakau i konei ki te tuawhenua, ka
Rawe i te ingoa ko Aotea-roa, ka tangi te
Mapu wai-ora i konei.
E Tama e i!
Hara mai E Tama! e huri to aroaro ki
Te uranga mai o te ra, ki Turanganui-a-Rua
Ki Whangara; e hara i konei, he ingoa
Whakahua no Hawaiki nui a Rua-matua
Ka waiho nei hei papa mo te kakano
Korau, a Ira-nui, hei papa mo te kumara
I maua mai e Tiunga-rangi, e Haronga-
Rangi, ka waiho nei hei mana mo Mahu
Ki Marae-atea, tenei e Tama te whakarongo
Ake nei ki te hau mai o te korero
Na Tuwahi-awa te manu whakatau
I mau mai i runga i a Tokomaru
Parea ake ki muri i a koe, he atua
Korero ahiahi, kotahi tonu, E Tama! te
Tiaki whenua ko te Kura-nui te manu
A Rua-kapanga i tahuna e to tipuna
E Tamatea ki te ahi-tawhito, ki te
Ahi tipua, ki te ahi na Mahuika
Na Maui i whakap**a ki te ao
Ka mate i Wharehuhi o Reporoa
Te rere te morehu.
E Tama e i!
Translation:
Come hither, O my Son, I would thee greet;
Approach from Man's own secret, first abode!
Secure in darkness deep and genial warmth
Thou wast, till opened burst the barrier dark,
Disclosing workshop of creative power
And s*x, by Tane-nui-a-rangi 1 made
From earth of Kurawaka. Thus was formed,
By mighty occult power, a noble maid
To be great Tane's spouse, and mother of
The human race;—For Tane's will it was
That man should have such might as he did wield,
That Man's companion, too, should hold large sway.—
Ennobled both, they share great Tane's work
And let him rest awhile.—But there is more,
Much more to say about this work of old;
From it the strength of Tapu 2 was derived
And (through the woman) handed on from sire
To son; so, also, influence divine,
And even powers demonic, thus passed down
The stream of ages in those days of yore.—
Now hither trends the matter with its force,
Concerned to form anon a progeny
A child that, by-and-by, will be a man!—
Meanwhile, he lives and thrives just here until
The fitting time for exit come; and then
His separate existence will begin.
So far, his process has been this: his eyes
Come first, the bones and marrow afterwards;
Still later on the sinews and the flesh,
The blood; and now, the heart, the liver, lungs;
The kidneys and the bowels close the list!
The child has been completely formed at length
So far as outward shape's concerned. Within
Grows power of knowing forms, and this can soon
Be brought to use—applied to everything! 3
Now, when the child such faculty has gained,
He soon begins work with it, stretching forth
His legs, his hands, his neck, his tongue within
His mouth: now, sure, a sturdy, crisp-haired child,
And strenuous he'll be, and healthy quite,
When once his mother's birth pangs ended are
And she with joy looks on her first-born son,
Who now has come to face this outer world.
II.
O son, we welcome thee to thy career—
Make manifest thyself, Thou morning's Sun;
The Heav'nly dawn lights up the west, the east
Already bright: The hour has come when we
With water pure must sprinkle this our son
And take from him the sacred ban 4, that nought
May stand as barrier to his swift advance,
In ev'ry kind of knowledge weighty.—He
Must serve as faithful judge of what is best.
A powerful thinker must he be, and brave.
Nor may he deem the culture of the fields;
To build a house aright; to lead in war;
Or other work that high-born man may do,—
Beneath him.—Through his toil the earth doth move.
O son, mark this: our common thoughts we can
Indeed, think o'er again as thoughts; but find
We loftier thinking hard to bring about,
If ours have centred been on common things.
For we can see and feel and firmly grasp
These small concerns; while this great world at large
Would seem immutable, for even gods
Who tried to think it other than it is.
III.
Come forward now and grasp that which is dark
And cause the light to clearly beam thereon.
'Tis true that toilsome is the task for man,
To bring to light the prayers to gods of old—
And sort without mistake our ancient lore,
To give a clear idea of early Maori thought
With aid of rite and saga;—nothing more
Than we can just repeat by word of mouth.—
Most difficult of things that reach us so,
Are spells and rites transmitted by the dead
Who had themselves in life through medium weird,
Most fully learnt the chants and prayers to grasp;
Transmitted, these became true Wananga, 5
With power to move the living spirit force.
The lowest class of these deal with man's thoughts
Of evil. Then comes knowledge good and sound,
But not the highest. Now at last is found
The third, and formed in it is wisdom true—
Relation to the all, of Ill and Good.
IV. So! here's the path which Tane climbed when he
From Earth ascended high and scaled the Heavens;
And reached the outermost Celestial Belt—
The very home in Heaven this of Io, 6
The chief and parent of the Gods. Just here's
The self-same path by which went up on high,
On whirlwind seated, Mighty Tane; till
He reached the doorway of Pu-moto, as
The wind that whistles and the gale that shakes
The whirling storms are these; 'twas by their strength
That Tane was conveyed to Heavens on High.
Twelve were the regions pierecd by Tane when
The baskets three of precious heavenly lore
Were by him brought for Man from Heav'n to Earth.
V.
But Tane-matua then did also bring
The curse of crime and conflict from the sky
These were, by progeny of Rangi and
Of Papa, heedlessly accepted. Soon
They fought and were dispersed at Pae-roa.
Defeated; some to Heaven went and some to sea;
Some to the mainland, some to depths beneath
All in diverse directions; nor has peace—
To close this fearful war—been ever made,
In all the ages, to this present day.
VI.
A word or two will not be out of place
Concerning that long slide and plunge,
Taheke-roa named—the long descent;
It leads to realms infernal: here's Te Reinga!
Here no light appears—no single gleam;
An awful gloom for ever reigns: such is
The darkness of that lower world of Night,
Eternal. Where deposed Whiro 7 rules
And grasps with fearsome clutch the passing dead. (souls)
With horrid reptiles rules this dismal hell!
The gods infernal, sons of Earth and Heaven
Fight ever on with Tane's offspring, who
Their fellow men have slain—These go to hell—
The vilest spirits there—in Rarohenga—
The place of sighs and groans—just there they wait
As enemies, for hosts of Tane in
Th' infernal world. And here, O son! secured
Are western bounds whence raging fires burst forth
To validate the ban secured against
Incestuous Tane by his daughter-spouse—
Hence shameful juncture of his chin and breast. 8
VII.
Come hither, Son; hold fast these principles
That thou may'st speed toward the gods above,
Even to those far off; digest, too, fast
Retain, and make thine own for good; be sure,
Whether exalted or laid low thou be;
For quickness strive and aims well based on truth,
Draw near, O mariner, and listen well;
Your ears be those of Rongomai the Great,
“The List'ner,” Mark thou Tupai who knows well
The pedigrees and reels them off at once.
Midwinter in the sky moves every one
To plant the kumara crop, to earth up hills,
And clear out weeds. Now soon the growth of leaves
Begins, with aid of Rongo-marae-roa,
The kumara god or demon. Soon the month
For harvesting arrives; the kumara
With other food, the paua, eel; dried fish,
And birds in calabash conserved, and put
Away in store-house, called the whata, still.
It is not hard to see that summer must
The time of plenty be, for land and men:
When food for men abounds land gets its share!
List, O my Son; one only was the climb—
The Sacred climb of Tane up to Heaven.
Inspired he was by thought that there perchance
He might himself behold the nameless one!
The “I,” the parentless, from whom did spring
The priestly influence and tapu's power;
Also, the power of life. Now Tane's self
Makes manifest—reflected from a stream
Where baptism takes place: Puhao-rangi,
Ohomairangi too, perform the work
The stream supplies the image, while the rest
Is done by experts. Tane is at last,
With tattoo, work for Rehua, sacred made.
At Heaven's very base, with title firm
The Ancient One of Heaven, and the source,
From which the rainbows and good demons spring,
And Tane excellent, became when trained
By sire; by Taketake, too, who stands on high,
On high in space,—the guide serene for those
Who capture fish.
IX.
Come hither, then, my son,
Complete thy survey of thy Sire—of Tane,
By whom the heavens above once traversed were.
The years complete; ten months and more have passed;
The cold is late in coming, still we may
Bewail this cold, the crystal spikes, the Bear 9
Henceforth, O son, the plants with fibrous roots
Shoot forth; tho' roots themselves disabled are,
Disrupted by the potent cold of space.
The chilly region o'er us junction finds
Of earth and sky—the fruitful source of rain—
Which makes our Earth a bridal room for plants
Along with Rongomai and Earth his spouse;;
This spouse, Hine-hau-one, pierced with grief
Deserted Tane, by the drastic course
Of vanishing, cold air becoming, and
By subtle means inducing death for man
Which never since has let him live right on.
X.
Come here, my son; we Hikurangi climb:
A title this of Aorangi, hither brought:
From Hawaiki far away, named by
Your forefather.—First southward turn and gaze;
And now north-west. In moving thus you've glanced
Along the line by which your ancestor
Paikea (name of mighty Ocean God,
Great Tangaroa) safely reached the shore,
Along the watery road of rumbling sea,—
Charmed later on, and called the Sea of Foam.
This path of the great Rainbow God leads straight,
If cautiously the foamy sea be met—
That hissing, whirling sea—Down quickly comes
Th' impelling sail—Attendant Tangaroa thrusts
The craft safe to the shore—and all is done!
How suitable the name.—The lengthened Twilight!
Aotearoa! With great sobs of joy,
They reach the shore! Aotearoa's shore!
XI.
Come hither, O my boy, and turn thy face
To glorious glow of Sun on Turanga—
On Whangara; not here were found these names,
They came from great Hawaiki to form
As 'twere a mother pit to hold out long,
And be as parent for the korau 10 seeds
Of Iramu, and extra shelter too
For kumara. They who brought these plants here
Were Tiungarangi and Ho-ronga bold.
This food 'tis said, was used at Mahu's feast:
He wished for rep**ation as a host—
Be talked about, he would on public square,
And listen to “the backwash” of such talk.—
By Tu-wahia, 11 noted bird, a tale
That imitates mankind was brought right here
On board the “Tokomaru.”—He would turn
And follow you—an evening ghost; he'd talk
Right on, O son—To guard the land his work.
The Moa this bird was—Kuranui—
Ruakapanga's bird burnt up
He was by fire of thine, by Tamatea—
With ancient, magic, all-consuming fire
Which Maui to this World did introduce.
Thus perished they in Reporoa swamp;
From which not one escaped, my Son!
Reference: http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_16_1907/Volume_16,_No._1/An_ancient_Maori_poem,_by_Tuhoto-Ariki,_p_43-60/p1
