ARYAN AND POLYNESIAN POINTS OF CONTACT.
THE STORY OF TE NINIKO.
IN “Hawaiki,” more particularly in the third edition, 1 the attempt was made to show that the traditions of the Polynesian Race pointed to India as their Fatherland—called by the Maoris Hawaiki-nui, Irihia, Te Hono-i-wairua, Tawhiti-nui; and by Rarotongans Atia-te-varinga-nui, etc. etc. The third name is properly not a geographical term, but more in the nature of a descriptive one—expressive of the place where, and the fact of, spirits of the dead foregathering with their ancestors in the ancient Fatherland. In the second name, Irihia, fancy might perceive by the aid of known letter changes the name India itself. For example: “r” and “n” are interchangeable letters according to Grimm's laws; and if the substitution is made in Irihia, we get Inihia at once. However, this is not the place to follow this question up; we will merely add that the origin of the name India is from Sindh (or Sindhava), variously given as meaning “a river,” “a country,” and again, as “the moon-land”—i.e., derived from Sin, in which connection we easily see Sina, and Hina, Samoan for moon, and Maori for “the woman in the moon.” The second part of the name, hava, may be the origin of ‘Hawa’ in Hawaiki.
The point, however, to which attention is desired just now is this: If the Indian theory of a Polynesian origin is correct, and the time of the exodus from that country given in the above work is also near the truth, the connection with the Aryan people should show in some of the Folk-lore of the Polynesians. It is probable that this can be shown in several instances, wherein the main points of the contact are clear, whilst details must necessarily vary. Much of the Aryan Folk-lore is known to the whole of the descendants of that ancient people, in which we include our own English. But these stories vary from people to people, whose Aryan descent—at any rate so far as language is concerned—is fully acknowledged; indeed, perhaps, these - 85 
variations are greater than as between the Aryan and the Polynesian versions—a point which is emphasised by a quotation given below.
variations are greater than as between the Aryan and the Polynesian versions—a point which is emphasised by a quotation given below.The Rig-Veda (or Rig-Veda-Samhitā) says Ragozin in “Vedic India” … “is, without shadow of a doubt, the oldest book of the Aryan family of nations.” 2 It dates, according to Mr. A. A. Macdonell, Boden Professor of Sanskrit, Oxford, in his “History of Sanskrit Literature,” from probably 1500 B.C., though not quite in its present form, which latter appears to have become fixed at about 1000 B.C. It is from this most ancient book, as quoted by the two authors above, and in Mr. J. F. Hewitt's “Primitive Traditional History” and “The Ruling Races of Prehistoric Times,” that we shall find the points of contact between the Aryans and Polynesians, though apparently none of those authors are aware of the connection—probably never read anything of the subject from the Polynesian standpoint. By “contact” it is not intended to infer that the Polynesians are Aryans, but rather that the two races were once near neighbours, probably intermarried, and mutually affected one another's lives, literature, and beliefs.
As has been said above, we must not expect the exact details of the stories to be the same; but if the ruling ideas that govern them can be shown to be identical, the assumption is that they have a like origin. And if so, it then becomes incumbent on those who deduce a different origin for the Polynesians to show whence the latter derived their truly Aryan ideas—nay more, whence came Aryan words in their language, and whence some of their Aryan customs? It would be a very bold prediction to make, and yet an exhaustive study may yet prove, that the Polynesian forms of these myths are the originals, and the Aryan versions only copies altered by the environment of those who have handed them down. And further, it may yet come about that the language in which these primitive Polynesian myths are still expressed may turn out to be older even than that of the Rig-Veda. But the time for pronouncing on either of these questions is not yet.
To illustrate the Aryan contact, which is suggested above, we may first take the following, as quoted from “Vedic India, p. 90:—
“Another play by the same poet, ‘Vikrama and Urvasī,’ or ‘The Hero and the Nymph,’ develops a mythical incident made familiar to us by a popular story from a similar source. A celestial nymph loves and marries an earthly king, warning him, however, that she can abide with him only so long as he will be careful she shall not behold him disrobed. For many years they enjoy unalloyed happiness, when her companions—the nymphs and spirits, who had sorely missed her—resolved to bring her back by stratagem, and contrived by sending an opportune flash of lightning in the night that the condition of her - 86 existence on earth should be violated. In that flash she saw her lord divested of his robes—and with a wail forthwith vanished. King Vikrama mourned for her and sought all over the world until, after long, sorrowful wanderings, he found her, and they were miraculously re-united.”
existence on earth should be violated. In that flash she saw her lord divested of his robes—and with a wail forthwith vanished. King Vikrama mourned for her and sought all over the world until, after long, sorrowful wanderings, he found her, and they were miraculously re-united.”The author then points out that this suggests the Greek story of Eros and Psyche, as also Lohengrin, the knight of the swan, “in spite of a few circumstances being altered or even inverted, etc.,” which we shall see occurs in the Maori story, but not to so great an extent as to cause it to differ from the Aryan story more than the latter does from the Greek and North German.
The Maori story—of which there is more than one version, differing, however, in no material point—is as follows:—
“Te Niniko was the name of a man who lived in very ancient days and who was much given to all kinds of enjoyment, such as games, dances, etc., in all of which he excelled, and was altogether a very gay and handsome young chief. On one occasion a Turehu (or Patu-pai-arehe—a fairy—in some versions), or celestial, or spirit lady saw him engaged in dancing and was immediately stricken with his charms, so much so that she fell passionately in love with him. She, herself, was the most beautiful of all the Turehu. Now Te Niniko dwelt in a house built a little distance away from the village, where his relatives and friends lived. One night the Turehu lady visited Te Niniko, and he was so charmed with her beauty that he made her his wife. After the lapse of some time, Te Niniko wished to exhibit his wife to his relatives and friends, but the lady would by no means consent, as daylight would put an end to the conditions under which their relationship existed. The lady used to stay with her earthly husband all night, but before daylight appeared she absented herself, only to return again after the shades of night had fallen. As time passed, Te Niniko continued to urge that his wife should show herself to his people, for he was very proud of her and her beauty. At last she said to him, ‘Wait until my child is born, and then we will introduce it to its relatives.’
But Te Niniko did not heed the wish of his wife, nor the condition on which she remained with him, and one day boasted to his people of the beautiful wife he possessed. The people all demanded to see the lady at once and ascertain the truth of the story. Te Niniko replied to their demand: ‘You cannot do that, for she leaves me every morning before dawn. There is only one way by which to accomplish your wish; if you stop up all the chinks in the house through which the daylight can enter, then she will not know when it is morning, and will linger on awaiting it.’ To this the relatives and people agreed, and set to work, completely excluding all light from the house. The next morning the lady awoke at her usual hour, but finding it still - 87 dark again slept until the sun was high in the east. The people had gathered outside, and, urged by their desire to behold the beauty of the celestial wife, now opened the door, when the whole building was flooded with light. The lady was greatly alarmed, and crying aloud rushed out of the open door, and thence, after gazing wildly around, climbed to the top of the house in sight of all the people, who exclaimed in amazement at her exceeding beauty. From the top of the house the lady sung a farewell song 3 to her husband, Te Niniko, lamenting her separation from him, which was to be final, as he had disobeyed her wishes and broken the condition of their union, and as she finished, a dense komaru, or cloud, was seen approaching from over the sea, which descended on the house where she stood, and enveloped her and the whole village in obscurity, and at the same time this cloud took up the lady and carried her off, leaving Te Niniko lamenting his loss.”
dark again slept until the sun was high in the east. The people had gathered outside, and, urged by their desire to behold the beauty of the celestial wife, now opened the door, when the whole building was flooded with light. The lady was greatly alarmed, and crying aloud rushed out of the open door, and thence, after gazing wildly around, climbed to the top of the house in sight of all the people, who exclaimed in amazement at her exceeding beauty. From the top of the house the lady sung a farewell song 3 to her husband, Te Niniko, lamenting her separation from him, which was to be final, as he had disobeyed her wishes and broken the condition of their union, and as she finished, a dense komaru, or cloud, was seen approaching from over the sea, which descended on the house where she stood, and enveloped her and the whole village in obscurity, and at the same time this cloud took up the lady and carried her off, leaving Te Niniko lamenting his loss.”Such is the Maori version as told to the writer by the Taranaki tribe, and it will be acknowledged that it does not differ very materially from that of the Rig-Veda. The lady's sisters are replaced by the husband's relatives; the flash of lightning gives place to a flash of daylight; and, practically, those are all the points in which the stories differ. The environment of the story, the Maori house with its characteristic chinks through which the light appears, is in accordance with the Maori standpoint.
It may be suggested that as the Indian version is embodied in a play, it was necessary to introduce the re-union of the couple to give the story a finish in compliance with the usual rules of all romances; but that in reality and originally the story ended as does that of the Maori—so it would appear from a paragraph in “Sanskrit Literature,” though this is not quite clear. In the same work (p. 107) it is stated that Urvaçi (or Urvasī)—the Turehu lady of Maori story—belonged to a class of celestial water nymphs called Apsaras. “Their abode in the later Vedas extended to the earth, where they especially frequent trees, which resound with the music of their lutes and cymbals. The Brāmanas describe them as distinguished by great beauty and devoted to the dance, and play. …. Such an one was Urvaçi.” The italics above are mine. The words are almost an exact counterpart of the Maori description of the Patu-pai-arehe (sometimes called Turehu), and with whom mortals married, and who were fair in colour. Professor Macdonell also says of this story (p. 119) …. “The dialogue takes place at the moment when the nymph is about to quit her mortal lover for ever. A good deal of interest attaches to this myth, not only as the oldest Indo-European love story (the italics are mine), but as one which has had a long history in Indian literature.”
- 88 In the brief version of the story as given by Professor Macdonell, the hero's name is given as Pururavas. It may be perhaps altogether too fanciful an idea to see in this name another link in the story. Puru rawa in Maori means “completely stopped up,” and is just an exact description of the stopping up of the chinks in Te Niniko's house, described in the story above.
The question whether the Aryan race originated in some part of Asia north of the Hindu-kush Mountains and thence made their way through those mountains and the passes of the Himālaya into India, or whether it originated in Scandinavia, does not affect the matter here dealt with so long as the common origin of the Aryan speech is acknowledged as the mother language of the Indo-European languages, in which we find such stories as are quoted above embalmed as fossils of a by-gone culture. In “The Huxley Lecture” for 1909, 4 Professor Gustaf Retzius, in an able manner, emphasises this Scandinavian origin of the Aryans but nothing that he says militates against the unity of the language origin, and this lecture is the latest pronouncement on the subject.
The above illustrates but one point of contact of Aryan and Polynesian Folk-lore, and not the closest. Later on we will show that the Polynesian hero Tawhaki is no other than the Greek hero Peleus, and that this story was well known to the ancient Aryans, and from them spread to (probably) all the nations descended from them, and is still—in somewhat different forms—preserved among the Scandinavians, the North Germans, the Greeks, Albanians, and the Celtic Irish.
1 Whitcombe and Tombs, Limited, Christchurch, 1910.
2 Italics are the authors, not mine.
3 Unfortunately this song is now forgotten, as is also the name of the lady.
4 Journal Royal Anthropoligical Institute, Vol. XXXIX., p. 277, ff.
POLYNESIAN AND ARYAN POINTS OF CONTACT. No. 2. THE SCANDINAVIAN VERSION OF THE STORY OF MAUI.
DR. E. B. Tylor, the well-known ethnologist, in a paper on “Asiatic Relations of Polynesian Culture” (Journal Anthropological Institute, Vol. XI., p. 401), says, p. 403, “To come to something more definite in mythological resemblance and perhaps connection …. in detail with the mystic philosophies of Asia …. Prof. Bastian lays stress, not for the first time, on the similarity between the Polynesian myth of the land being a huge fish drawn up from the depths of the ocean, and the old Scandinavian myth of Thor fishing up the great snake, the Midgard-worm. The resemblances are, indeed, remarkable, even in minor points, as when in the Norseman's tale, Thor goes out in the boat with Ymir, but is obliged to provide his own bait, much the same as in the New Zealand story is done to Maui by his brothers. Even in the name of the ox Himinbrjot, or Heaven-breaker, whose head Thor takes for his bait, reappears in the Hawaiian mythology, where the noon-day sun is called the Heaven-splitter. Looking at the myth of the raising of the land-fish in its different forms in the South Sea Islands, its being a myth of Day and Night is hardly doubtful, for the fisher who hauls up the earth from the abyss below is called in one version Noon, and in another Day, while the statement that Maui's fish, the North Island of New Zealand, was drawn up from the region of the under-world of night, occurs in the most distinct way. Without asserting a positive connection between the South Sea Island and the Scandinavian stories, the subject may be taken as pointing to further enquiry likely to lead to interesting results.”
Dr. Tylor then goes on to show that this connection “is proved almost beyond dispute by the occurrence in both districts of versions of the Swan-maiden,” which is the story of Te Niniko I have already quoted in Journal Polynesian Society, Vol. XIX., p. 84. He goes on, “The original story may be Aryan from Central Asia, whence it has found its way, perhaps in times of no great antiquity, westward - 38 over Europe, and eastward down the Indian Ocean, where one of its best versions is to be found in the Calebes, another lying yet further across the ocean in New Zealand.”
over Europe, and eastward down the Indian Ocean, where one of its best versions is to be found in the Calebes, another lying yet further across the ocean in New Zealand.”In the discussion that followed, Dr. Hack Tuke said (p. 405) … “Again, he understood the author of the paper just read to employ this argument to prove, not identity of races—for that could be no proof—but that there had been contact and intercourse between them.” And this is what I contend for in the paper on Te Niniko (loc. cit.); i.e., that there has been contact between the Aryan and Polynesian people. It is almost unnecessary to say that the Scandinavian people belong to the Aryan branch of mankind.
The following is also worth considering in this connection:—Indian puri, a town, as Maori puni, a camp, (Max Nuller's “Com. Myth.,” p. 52), “n” and “r” being constantly interchangeable. The same work, p. 51 (Routledge's edition), says, “A common Aryan word for king is rāg, in the Veda; rex, regis, in Latin; reiks in Gothic—which is probably the Polynesian word ariki, for king, chief, first-born, high-priest (with which the office of king or head-chief was associated), as again in Assyria in the patesi, when the same combination of offices occur.
THE FATHERLAND OF THE POLYNESIANS. ARYAN 1 AND POLYNESIAN POINTS OF CONTACT. No. 4.ARYAN AND POLYNESIAN POINTS OF CONTACT. No. 3.
IT is now well known that in Tahiti and the adjacent groups it was an ancient custom when a new marae, or temple, was built to lay a foundation stone brought from some old and well-known marae, generally from the celebrated one of Taputapu-atea at Ra'iatea Island. This was done, it is said, to form a connecting link with the most ancient marae in the Eastern Pacific, and to secure to the new marae some of the măna, or prestige, of the ancient one. In the same manner it is related in Maori tradition that the migrations from Tahiti to New Zealand in the twelfth and fourteenth centuries brought with them a small quantity of earth from there to form a connecting link with the old home. It is not, however, said that the earth came from the marae, or from the tuāhu, or altars, but the inference is that it was so. The main idea appears to have been in either case to ensure to the new sites a part of the sacredness and prestige of the original ones. It is not likely that this was a new custom peculiar to Tahiti and its neighbouring groups, but rather a very ancient one brought with the people from the original Fatherland.
That this idea was not peculiarly a Polynesian one is shown from the following, wherein it is clear that the custom was very ancient and accompanied the Western Aryans in Europe, for, of course, the Icelanders are Aryans. In Herr Jon Stefanson's “Island, its History and Inhabitants” (Transactions, Victoria Institute, 1902, Vol. XXXIV., pp. 164–178, 1906, Vol. XXXVIII., pp. 54–63, as quoted in the Annual Report, Smithsonian Institution, 1906, p. 287) we find the following:— “For sixty years the men of the best blood in Norway flocked to Iceland; each chieftain took with him earth from below his temple altar in the Motherland, built a new temple in the new land, and took possession of the country by going round it with a burning brand in his hand.” 1
This was in the latter half of the ninth century; in fact, about the time some of the earliest Polynesian migrations were finding their way - 171 to New Zealand. Unless it can be shown that this was a custom of other branches of the human race, we claim it in the meantime as another connecting link between the Aryan and Polynesian peoples.
to New Zealand. Unless it can be shown that this was a custom of other branches of the human race, we claim it in the meantime as another connecting link between the Aryan and Polynesian peoples.Another custom common to Polynesians and the Scandinavians will be seen in the following: It was a well-known Maori custom that in a battle, a siege, or other occasion when one man desired to save the life of another man, or a woman, or a child, he threw his cloak over him, or made him sit on it, which invariably had the intended result, for no other person would dare to insult the owner of the cloak by interfering. Numerous instances of this might be given. It would appear also to have been a Danish custom. In Archdeacon Trollope's “History of Sleaford” (county of Lincoln), p. 90, he says, referring to the destruction of Croydon Abbey in South Lincolnshire by the Danes in the tenth century, and after referring to the death of the monks, “Of the other inmates, one boy alone escaped, named Tugar, saved by the younger Sidroe, who threw a Danish cloak over him as a token of protection.”
With regard to the great and sacred marae of Taputapu-atea at Ra'iatea Island mentioned above, it is suggested that the following note abstracted from Maori traditions shows who it was that founded this marae. Perhaps our good friend Miss Teuira Henry can throw some light on the subject from the Tahitian point of view.
The Maori story is as follows: After describing one of the migrations from the Fatherland, it goes on to refer to Hui-te-rangiora, the celebrated navigator, about whom much will be seen in “Hawaiki,” pp. 43, 167, 169, 174, 2 under his Rarotongan name Ui-te-rangiora. This man's brother was named Tu-te-rangi-atea, also known as Tu-te-rangi-ariki, and he grew up to be a famous ship-builder, house-builder, and navigator. He came down to Tahiti from Hawaiki (? either Hawaii or Savaii, it is not certain which) in a great canoe he had built, named “Ao-kapua,” and built a temple for the priests and ariki, or high-chiefs, which he named Rangi-atea, “and from that name comes the name of an island, Rangi-atea (Ra'iatea), in the neighbourhood of Hawaiki (Tahiti), whither in later days Tu-rahui and Whatonga were driven by storm from Tahiti. This was a long time before the migration of Tamatea-ariki-nui to New Zealand” (in circa 1350). There is no doubt as to this island being the Ra'iatea one hundred and twenty miles W.N.W. of Tahiti, which will be obvious when we come to publish the story of Whatonga's involuntary voyage thither from Tahiti. It is here suggested that the temple built by Tu-te-rangi-atea was the original of the famous marae, Taputapua-atea in Ra'iatea Island.
1 This is the Maori custom of takahi, but it is doubtful if the fire-brand was used.
2 3rd edition, Whitcombe and Tombs, Christchurch, 1910.
AS time passes, more and more notes accumulate on the subject of “Aryan and Polynesian points of contact,” and in what follows some further information on the subject is supplied in continuation of papers printed in the “Journal of the Polynesian Society,” Vols. XIX., XX. It is believed by the writer that further research into this question by one who has sufficient enthusiasm, and above all an extensive knowledge of Polynesian myths, traditions, legends, folklore, and customs, and the same of the Aryan Hindus, would lead to very great results. But it means years of study, and access to the Sanskrit literature, which, it is believed, is as yet not obtainable in this country. Dr. Newman has made a start in this direction by the publication of his “Who are the Maoris?” in which he has collected much useful information relating to India in connection with Polynesian matters. But our old friend will, it is hoped, excuse us when we say he has made some mistakes due to the want of a more complete knowledge of Polynesian traditions, etc.
It is probable that in what follows some of the apparent identification mentioned may appear to the reader to be fanciful; but they are the result of an honest attempt to place the source of these old Maori traditions in their true bearing. Mr. Ed. Tregear in his many papers on the language, and some other points, ought to be consulted in this connection.
H. T. Pio's MSS., Vol. XII., p. 44 (for which the Society is indebted to Mr. Elsdon Best), referring to the peaceful nature of the people of New Zealand prior to the advent of Toroa and his party in the “Matatua” canoe, in the fourteenth century, says, “That is the descent from Toi-te-huatahi (which he quoted); it is the descent of the Ngati-Awa tribe, and the original people of Aotearoa, or New - 19 Zealand (i.e., Toi's descendants), they owned Aotearoa, nor did they practise evil, and hence the saying of Tuoi when the canoes (of the fleet of the fourteenth century) arrived in Aotearoa, and the crews commenced to kill Ngati-Tuoi; this was his word, ‘Ahaha! riri noa! Ahaha! patu noa! He aha te take o tenet mahie mahi mat nei nga tangata o Hawaiki? Kore rawa e mohiotia ana e nga tangata o Aotearoa.’ (Aha! Anger and killing without reason! What is the cause of the deeds of these men of Hawaiki? The people of New Zealand do not at all understand such proceedings.) The origin of the evil doings is from the people of Mataora, of Hawaiki-nui. All evils and all good originated in the times of (the gods) Tāne, Tangaroa, Tu, Tawhiri-matea and Haumia. The evils commenced at the whainga (or consecration) of their house (or temple) named Te Tatau-o-Rangiriri, and the place where they lived and where the house stood was Au-roroa. It was here that everything in the world originated. The chief cause of the evil was the destruction of the ‘vital essence’ (patunga i te hau) of the above gods; that was the cause of all evil in the world. Let me explain the hau of Tāne and the others; it was their mana (power, authority, prestage). 2 Tāne's enemy was Tangaroa, and Tu was the enemy of both Tane, Tangaroa and Tawhiri-matea, and hence these evils came into the world. Those who escaped (or were not subjects of the above evils, or perhaps survived them) were the ‘Heketanga-Rangi’ and the ‘Hapu-oneone’ who continue to practise good works in the world. It is said (of them) that (the arranging of) peace-making, great and small quarrels, differences between brethren” (were due to their teaching, or were their principles).
Zealand (i.e., Toi's descendants), they owned Aotearoa, nor did they practise evil, and hence the saying of Tuoi when the canoes (of the fleet of the fourteenth century) arrived in Aotearoa, and the crews commenced to kill Ngati-Tuoi; this was his word, ‘Ahaha! riri noa! Ahaha! patu noa! He aha te take o tenet mahie mahi mat nei nga tangata o Hawaiki? Kore rawa e mohiotia ana e nga tangata o Aotearoa.’ (Aha! Anger and killing without reason! What is the cause of the deeds of these men of Hawaiki? The people of New Zealand do not at all understand such proceedings.) The origin of the evil doings is from the people of Mataora, of Hawaiki-nui. All evils and all good originated in the times of (the gods) Tāne, Tangaroa, Tu, Tawhiri-matea and Haumia. The evils commenced at the whainga (or consecration) of their house (or temple) named Te Tatau-o-Rangiriri, and the place where they lived and where the house stood was Au-roroa. It was here that everything in the world originated. The chief cause of the evil was the destruction of the ‘vital essence’ (patunga i te hau) of the above gods; that was the cause of all evil in the world. Let me explain the hau of Tāne and the others; it was their mana (power, authority, prestage). 2 Tāne's enemy was Tangaroa, and Tu was the enemy of both Tane, Tangaroa and Tawhiri-matea, and hence these evils came into the world. Those who escaped (or were not subjects of the above evils, or perhaps survived them) were the ‘Heketanga-Rangi’ and the ‘Hapu-oneone’ who continue to practise good works in the world. It is said (of them) that (the arranging of) peace-making, great and small quarrels, differences between brethren” (were due to their teaching, or were their principles).Such was the teaching of old H. T. Pio, who had been taught in his childhood in the Maori College, and there are some things in it that differ from the usual traditional lore of the Maoris. First we have three names of the original Fatherland, two of which are (I think) found nowhere else. Hawaiki-nui, or Hawaiki-the-great, is a name known to all tribes, and from other accounts implies a continent. Mataora and Au-roroa are not such wide spread names. In one place old Pio says, “The first home of the people of Aotearoa (New Zealand) was Au-roroa, then Mataora, then Hawaiki-nui, then Aotearoa.” It is a question if any light can be thrown on the geographical position of these places through the meanings of the words.
Au-roroa: While there are quite a number of meanings to au in Maori, there is only one that might be used in a topographical sense; and that is as a ‘current,’ in which case the name means ‘a long current.’ This is a very unlikely name to be given to a country, and - 20 au-roroa does not seem to belong to the class of words usually associated with currents, such as au-kume, au-rona, au-whiro, etc. It might be suggested, perhaps, that it is an equivalent of Taheke-roa (which means along rapid), but in the sense in which this latter name is used, namely as the “current of death” leading on to Rarohenga or Hades, it can scarcely be a proper name for a country. One is therefore inclined to think that the Maori meaning of au must be abandoned for that of the Hawaiian given below.
au-roroa does not seem to belong to the class of words usually associated with currents, such as au-kume, au-rona, au-whiro, etc. It might be suggested, perhaps, that it is an equivalent of Taheke-roa (which means along rapid), but in the sense in which this latter name is used, namely as the “current of death” leading on to Rarohenga or Hades, it can scarcely be a proper name for a country. One is therefore inclined to think that the Maori meaning of au must be abandoned for that of the Hawaiian given below.We will try to follow the word au back along one of the known lines of migration of the Maori people, i.e., viâ Rarotonga, Tahiti, and Hawaii. In Rarotonga au means “the government,” i.e., of a people and country by a ruling chief. In Tahiti it has the same meaning as in Maori, while hau is “the government,” “a reign.” In Hawaii it means “time,” “a reign,” “one's life,” “a season,” and (besides others) “a territory,” usually where food will grow.
This last seems the only meaning likely to be used in a topographical sense. It is suggested, seeing that one of the Maori migrations dwelt for a time in Hawaii, that au as a word for “territory” was in use there (and long before), and has since gone out of use with the Maoris during the 600 or more years since the two peoples have ceased to have communication with one another. Hence it is thought Au-roroa may be translated as the “(very) long country.”
Next as to Mataora; the second stage of migration according to H. T. Pio. This word in Maori means “alive,” “in health,” and in Rarotongan means “pleasure,” “pleasant,” “happiness,” and one is inclined to translate the word as “land of happiness,” and consequently of plenty and safety. H. T. Pio himself says that the name was given after the wars referred to later on, and that it expresses the feeling of safety, peace and plenty, on the cessation of those wars.
As to Hawaiki-nui, it is well-known that this is the general name of the fatherland of all Polynesians, and is identical with Atia and Irihia. It has been suggested that the first part of the name “Hawa,” in Hawaiki, is derived from Sindh-hava, a name for the northern parts of India, whilst another of the ancient Maori names of the fatherland, Irihia, has been suggested as the equivalent of Vrihia, a name for India, or of some part of it.
The question is of interest as to whether these names can be located as an indication of the original home, or fatherland, of the Polynesians. No doubt the following attempt to do so will not be considered as a proof; but absolute proof is almost impossible, and there are so many things that point to India as their fatherland, that any evidence in support of that theory ought to be acceptable.
It is now acknowledged that the Polynesians belong to the Caucasian family of the human race, as do the Aryan people of India. It is known that the mythology of the former (the Polynesians) has - 21 many affinities to the mythology of the Aryans, and they have, or had, very many customs in common. If the Polynesians belong to the Aryan people, they must have separated off from them in very early times, before the rigid caste system of the latter people came to predominance, which was after their occupation of the whole of the Panjab, and also after the Aryans came into contact with the dark Bharata 3 people of Dravidian origin who were the original inhabitants of India. This contact took place in the country now known as the Panjab, or north-west India, in the early days of the irruption into India; and if the Polynesians formed part of that migration, it were better to use the name of Proto-Aryan for them, as indicating the contact of the first advance of the Aryans into India from their fatherland called Eran, which—it is suggested—is the equivalent of the name of a very ancient country known to the Polynesians under the various forms of Herangi, Erangi, Holani, and Harani, according to the part of Polynesia from whence each name originates, as recorded in their traditions.
many affinities to the mythology of the Aryans, and they have, or had, very many customs in common. If the Polynesians belong to the Aryan people, they must have separated off from them in very early times, before the rigid caste system of the latter people came to predominance, which was after their occupation of the whole of the Panjab, and also after the Aryans came into contact with the dark Bharata 3 people of Dravidian origin who were the original inhabitants of India. This contact took place in the country now known as the Panjab, or north-west India, in the early days of the irruption into India; and if the Polynesians formed part of that migration, it were better to use the name of Proto-Aryan for them, as indicating the contact of the first advance of the Aryans into India from their fatherland called Eran, which—it is suggested—is the equivalent of the name of a very ancient country known to the Polynesians under the various forms of Herangi, Erangi, Holani, and Harani, according to the part of Polynesia from whence each name originates, as recorded in their traditions.The brief history of the Aryan migration into India is as follows 4:—The dates of the migration into India are variously given as from 1500 to 1000 B.C., when they crossed the mountains by the Kyber and other passes into the Panjab, from Eran (or, as it is sometimes called, Iran), and gradually spread eastward to the upper waters of the Ganges. During the occupation of the Panjab the tribes—for they appear to have had a tribal organisation at that time—came into conflict with the Bharatas or Dasas, or original inhabitants, and fierce fighting took place. Many battles were fought, ending in a gradual amalgamation, to a certain extent, between the two peoples. These original inhabitants are described in the various Sanskrit works of the Aryans, as a very dark, or black people, and were much despised and abhorred by the fair “Heaven born” Aryans. The eastern part of northern India, which was occupied by the Aryans after some centuries dating from their first arrival in the Panjab, is described as a richer and pleasanter and more wooded country than that of their first settlement. This country was much coveted by, and was eventually conquered by the Aryans, and in the course of many centuries the people spread down the Ganges to its mouth, and all over northern India to the Vindhya mountains that partially cut the Indian peninsula in two, the south of the mountains being to this day occupied by the Dravidian (Bharata) people. It was during the occupation of the Panjab that the priestly craft gained - 22 great ascendancy, and then the rigid caste system of India was instituted.
great ascendancy, and then the rigid caste system of India was instituted.The suggested explanation of H. T. Pio's story is this: Au-roroa (the long territory) stands for the western Panjab with its plains and great rivers, where the gods—offspring of Heaven, Rangi (the Aryan Dyaus 5) and the Earth, Papa (called Prithivi with the Aryans, having the same meaning as Papa, broad, extended)—were created. It was here the “Heketanga-rangi,” or “descendants of heaven,” of H. T. Pio, a term which the Aryans apply to themselves, came into collision with the original people, the Bharatas or Dasas, which are perhaps represented by the “Hapu-oneone” of H. T. Pio, meaning “the tribe of the soil,” or in other words the original inhabitants. The wars that then took place may be represented in Maori traditions by the wars of the gods, known under the general name of “Te Paerangi,” in which the names of twenty-one battles have been recorded in Maori history. (See “Memoirs Polynesian Society”, Vol. III., p. 134.) This epoch may be descriptive of the “Wars of the ten Kings” of Aryan history. Although the Maori traditions say this series of wars was between the gods, and that “they fought as gods,” it is perhaps easier for people of the 20th century to consider this strife as between human beings, and that the record of it has become glorified in process of time, and in the form of myth to represent gods instead of men.
In the series of battles “of the gods”—“Te Paerangi”—referred to above, the principal enemy of the side that eventually conquered (led by Tāne, often said to be a god of light) was Whiro, who after his defeat became the chief god of Hades. Whiro is often called Whiro-te-tupua, Whiro-the-demon, Whiro-the-uncanny, Whiro-the-evil-doer, in which tupua has many other meanings, as “strange,” “gifted with unusual powers,” “evil,” etc. Whiro has become the god of thieves and evil doers; the dark night of the moon is called Whiro also. He is the great rebel of the Polynesian Myths.
It would seem probable that this name, Whiro-te-tupua, might appropriately be applied to the powers opposing the Aryans in their struggle against the original Dasas or Bharata aborigines of the Panjab. Tupua is just such a name as would be (and has been) applied to an uncanny dark race. In the language of myth, Whiro is the enemy of the “children of light”; in other words the opponent of the immigrant Aryan people.
As to the Hapu-oneone, H. T. Pio states that both this people and the Heketangi-rangi were peace lovers, and a genealogy is on record - 23 from the former to the present day, numbering 35 generations. This latter record is of no very great value, for it probably is based on the same footing as so many genealogies with the name of Rangi, the sky-father, at the head of them, and which only means that the names following the descent acknowledged Rangi, as the progenetor of all mankind. But the supposed peaceful character of the Hapu-oneone militates against their representing the Bharatas—and there we must leave it.
from the former to the present day, numbering 35 generations. This latter record is of no very great value, for it probably is based on the same footing as so many genealogies with the name of Rangi, the sky-father, at the head of them, and which only means that the names following the descent acknowledged Rangi, as the progenetor of all mankind. But the supposed peaceful character of the Hapu-oneone militates against their representing the Bharatas—and there we must leave it.The next stage in H. T. Pio's migrating movement was Mataora, which we have seen a few pages back is possibly translateable as “the land of happiness and plenty,” which, it is suggested, may represent the richer country to the east of the Panjab, so much coveted by, and afterwards conquered by the Aryans, as referred to above. It has been suggested that Mataora is represented by the ancient Indian state of Mathura, which is on the Jumna river (a principal branch of the Ganges), and now called Muttra, and where the Kuru branch of the Aryans lived. It is in the country “coveted by” the Aryans. But we do not know enough of the legitimate letter changes between Sanskrit and Polynesian to say if the one name may represent the other. There is perhaps more justification in supposing that Mataora as a descriptive name represents the richer lands of the country east of the Panjab, watered by the many branches of the upper Ganges.
It is perhaps possible that the ascendancy of the priesthood among the Aryans when caste was introduced, is represented by the prominence given to the priests in the Rarotongan recitation of the classes of people who attended the great meetings for public purposes under the rule of Tu-te-rangi-marama in Atia, the fatherland, as described in “History and Traditions of Rarotonga,” Part V., Which ruler was the builder of the temple called “Te Koro-tuatini”; and, we may say, was a king in Atia, the name by which the fatherland is known to the Rarotongans. This man was afterwards deified as a god.
With regard to the dark or black people the Aryan records speak of—the Bharatas or Dasas, or original inhabitants of India—it is possible they are referred to in the history of the original expulsion or migration of the Polynesians from the fatherland, one description of which is to be found in “Memoirs Polynesian Society,” Vol. IV., p. 9. There are five tribes or different kinds of men mentioned, two of whom were “lanky, thin people, whilst the three others were a black people, one kind was very black: they were not brown like the Maoris.” It is said above that the Aryan migration into the Panjab abhorred and despised the black aborigines. This disgust at black people (Negroes) was quite characteristic of the Maoris sixty to seventy years ago.
It is suggested above that if the Polynesians are a branch of the - 24 Aryan people, they must have separated from them before the rigid caste system became so pronounced; and it is quite clear also that the separation took place before Buddhism developed in India (fifth century B.C.) for there is no trace of it in Polynesia. Ragusin says, the caste system came to prominence about the end of the Vedic age, which Macdonnell fixes at about 200 B.C.; and as the Polynesian pedigrees leading back to the time of the exodus from (as I suppose) India, and from which we calculate dates, fixes that date at 475 B.C. (see “Memoirs Polynesian Society,” Vol. IV., p. 12) the Polynesians knew neither of the caste system nor of Buddhism.
Aryan people, they must have separated from them before the rigid caste system became so pronounced; and it is quite clear also that the separation took place before Buddhism developed in India (fifth century B.C.) for there is no trace of it in Polynesia. Ragusin says, the caste system came to prominence about the end of the Vedic age, which Macdonnell fixes at about 200 B.C.; and as the Polynesian pedigrees leading back to the time of the exodus from (as I suppose) India, and from which we calculate dates, fixes that date at 475 B.C. (see “Memoirs Polynesian Society,” Vol. IV., p. 12) the Polynesians knew neither of the caste system nor of Buddhism.It is clear from the Indian records that the Aryan people gradually moved down the course of the Ganges to the sea, and this movement according to General Forlong's tables, took place in about 600 B.C. He also notes, “Time of great disturbances in India 500 to 400 B.C.” If, as has been suggested above, the Polynesians were the forerunners of this migration (or Proto-Aryans), and they migrated down the Ganges in 600 B.C., they would not have been affected by the caste system, or by Buddhism, which were at first northern Indian institutions.
A tradition of the Maoris, told to the writer many years ago by the most learned man of the South Island then living, was to the effect that Hawaiki-nui was a tuawhenua, a mainland, not an island, that the southern part was mostly plains, with a high ridge of mountains to the north, always snow-clad, and through which country ran the river Tohinga, associated with the deluge. This is not a bad description in general terms of that part of India, and the river Tohinga (which means the Maori form of baptism) is possibly the Ganges, a sacred river of the Hindus.
The story about the deluge, however, is an instance of the transference of an occurrence localized in another place, of which we have such numerous examples. Although the story of the flood is well-known and fully described in Aryan records, it is believed by scholars to have been introduced from Mesopotamia, where great floods in the Euphrates and Tigris gave rise to the story, and formed the basis of the Biblical account. The Noah of the latter account is the Manu of the Aryan story, which word in Maori means “to float,” possibly an accidental similarity.
The Proto-Aryans formed, on their occupation of the lower Ganges, the people quoted by Logan (the Indonesian Ethnologist) as the “Gangetic Race,” from whom he traces the Polynesians and some of the most ancient peoples of Indonesia.
- 25 There is a Maori tradition to the effect that all fish come from a spring called Rangiriri, 6 and Dr. Newman in his book 7 says, there is such a place-name on the Hugli branch of the Ganges above Calcutta. There is always some foundation for similar stories, and it is suggested that this “spring” is where the tidal flow ceased on the Hugli, and where salt-water fish were first seen by the Polynesians. In Nobin Chandra Das's “Ancient Geography of Asia,” his map of India shows, that in Aryan times, the sea flowed up to where the Mandar hills come near the Ganges, or some 200 miles inland of the present coast line, forming a great bay now filled up by the delta of the Ganges. At the head of this bay he marks a country or district called Vanga. Now Whanga is the Maori name for a bay. Is this similarity of name purely accidental? and could the Rangiriri “spring” be situated at the head of this ancient bay? It will be noticed in the notes from H. T. Pio, ante, he mentions a building named Tatau-o-Rangiriri.
But there is another and possible explanation of this “spring” from which fish originate at Rangiriri. Hewitt in “The Ruling Races of Prehistoric Times,” p. 220, says, “It was from the belief in the life-giving waters as the author of life that the cult of the prophet fish god arose. This … was first developed in India where the conception was naturally engendered by the annual recurrence of the apparent miracle of the birth of fish from the life-giving rain. For it is there that water-tanks formed by excavations, or by throwing dams across the hollows between hills or rising grounds, are, though dried up every year by the heat of the dry season, found to be swarming with fish as soon as they are filled by the rains. 8 These fish . … proved by actual experiment, have been hibernating during the dry season. …”
The above is just such an occurrence as would give rise to the Maori story. And what does Rangiriri mean? It is the “angry sky,” descriptive, it is suggested, of the storms and downpour of rain that mark the inception of the monsoon season in India.
There is one (and one only I think) Maori tradition to the effect that a man named Kahukura introduced the knowledge of the kumara (sweet potato) to the Maoris. It is said in this tradition that he brought it to New Zealand. This, however, is another instance of the shifting of locality, as so often occurs. It is suggested that this - 26 Kahukura is the same man who is mentioned on page 12, “Memoirs Polynesian Society,” Vol. IV., and he flourished, according to the Rarotonga genealogies (on which Kahukura is also mentioned), in the middle of the fifth century B.C., that is, when these people were living (as I hold) in the valley of the Ganges, and it was in the same generation that the early exodus from there took place to the east, to Tawhiti-roa, and other places on the way to the Pacific. Dr. Newman (loc. cit., p. 267) mentions that in Bengal the tuber is called kumar, and that it grows wild in Orissa, the country lying to the south-west of the mouth of the Ganges. It is suggested that it was the above named Kahukura who got the tuber from Orissa, and introduced it to the knowledge of his compatriots when they were living in the Ganges valley. (See also what Dr. Newman says on this subject in the work quoted.)
Kahukura is the same man who is mentioned on page 12, “Memoirs Polynesian Society,” Vol. IV., and he flourished, according to the Rarotonga genealogies (on which Kahukura is also mentioned), in the middle of the fifth century B.C., that is, when these people were living (as I hold) in the valley of the Ganges, and it was in the same generation that the early exodus from there took place to the east, to Tawhiti-roa, and other places on the way to the Pacific. Dr. Newman (loc. cit., p. 267) mentions that in Bengal the tuber is called kumar, and that it grows wild in Orissa, the country lying to the south-west of the mouth of the Ganges. It is suggested that it was the above named Kahukura who got the tuber from Orissa, and introduced it to the knowledge of his compatriots when they were living in the Ganges valley. (See also what Dr. Newman says on this subject in the work quoted.)Just here it will be well to introduce the Maori account of the origin of the kumara, which is a true myth, but which has underlying it in all probability an historical basis, couched in the language of myth. We quote from the same H. T. Pio's MS., Vol, XII., p. 109. He says, “The kumara were the offspring of the star that takes its flight (low down) on the side of the ocean; it is named Whanui (alpha Lyrae or Vega). It was his younger brother Rongo-Maui that introduced the kumara to this world. The “basket” in which he placed those children was his own body. On his arrival he cohabited with Tinaku (or Pani-tinaku); she was his wife. When she became pregnant, that man said to her, “You must go to the waters of Mona-riki and give birth there,” at the same time teaching her the appropriate karakia. She did so and repeated the karakia as follows:—
| E Pani! E Pani-tinaku e! | O Pani! Pani-of-the-seed-tubers |
| Ki te wai opeope ai | In the water bring them forth |
| Ka heke i tua, ka heke i waho | Let them descend behind, outside |
| Me kowai? me ko Pani | Like whom? like Pani |
| Ka heke i takn aro | Descended from my front |
Then were born her children named Nehu-tai, Patea, Waiha, Pio-matatu, Pou-aro-rangi, Toroa-mahoe, Anu-rangi, and Nehu-tai-aka-kura (names of varieties of kumara). Such were the kumara offspring, which those ancients appointed for the sustenance of their descendants of this world. On their birth Rongo-Maui said, “Now (let us) institute the (ceremonial) ovens, imu-tapu, imu-kirihau, imu-potaka, imu-maharoa, imu-kohukohu. (He then describes the uses to which these imus, as he calls them, or umu, the common name, which were for special classes of priests and people at various ceremonies.) All of these things originated at Mata-ora in Hawaiki-nui, and when Hoake and Taukata came from Tahiti to New Zealand (a well-known story) they introduced this knowledge to New Zealand” (somewhere about the twelfth century).
- 27 From the foregoing myth we learn that the kumara tuber was originally the offspring of the star Vega, or Whanui, the position of which is about 38° north of the equator, and consequently does not rise high in the sky in New Zealand. From Pio's home in the Bay of Plenty it would be seen “at the side of the ocean” as he says. It is clear from its low elevation that the star myth did not originate in this southern hemisphere. The importance of the star Vega is due to the fact that in very ancient times this star was the whetu o te tau, the “year star,” marking the commencement of the new year among the northern people, afterwards superseded by Matariki, the Pleiades, which group was used by the Polynesians to denote the commencement of the new year down to the nineteenth century A.D. And, it is suggested, it was due to the importance given to Vega as the “year star” denoting the time for preparing the ground for the kumara crop, that it is said to be the parent of the tuber. Who Rongo-Maui was, we have nothing to indicate, except to suggest that this may be another name for Rongo-marae-roa (Rongo-of-the-wide-spread-courts, or fields), the god of agriculture. He married Pani-tinaku, who was the real mother of the kumara Now, in the various Sanskrit works of the Aryans, we find that Pani was the name given to the original inhabitants of India, as expressive of their “hard dealings in trade and their acquisitiveness,” and there is a very pretty story illustrating this feature, quoted by Ragusin (loc. cit., p. 257), taken from the sacred books of the Aryans, the Rig-Veda, X., 108, though that story has nothing to do with the transfer of agricultural products. If the kumara was growing wild, or cultivated, in Orissa, as stated by Dr. Newman, in the country of the Bharata aboriginies, it is suggested that the Aryans (and Polynesians) derived the kumara from these people nicknamed Pani. H. T. Pio says the “birth” (? exchange) took place in Mata-ora, which has been suggested as the parts of India lying east of the Panjab.
Kahukura is associated with the kumara, as will be seen in the following part of one of the karakias, or invocations, used in planting this tuber, everything to do with which was considered as of a sacred nature:—
| Tenei te whangai | This is the offering. |
| Ka whangai na | That is here offered. |
| Ko te whangai o wai? | 'Tis the offering for whom? |
| Ko te whangai o Rongo-mai | 'Tis the offering of Rongo-mai |
| Ko te whangai o wai? | 'Tis the offering for whom? |
| Ko te whangai o Kahukura | 'Tis the offering of Kahukura |
| Ko te whangai o wai? | 'Tis the offering for whom? |
| Ko te whangai o Uenuku | 'Tis the offering of Uenuku |
&c. &c. &. &c. &c.
This was the commencement of the ceremonies, when the priest offered the marere, or propitiatory tuber to the powers above. Rongo- - 28 mai is probably the same as Rongo-Maui before mentioned, god of agriculture (though Rongo-mai is usually said to be a meteor in which form that god appears), and Uenuku is another name for the rainbow, thus are these two names (Kahukura and Uenuku) and the kumara connected with the rainbow in some manner we have not yet got at.
mai is probably the same as Rongo-Maui before mentioned, god of agriculture (though Rongo-mai is usually said to be a meteor in which form that god appears), and Uenuku is another name for the rainbow, thus are these two names (Kahukura and Uenuku) and the kumara connected with the rainbow in some manner we have not yet got at.It is perhaps only natural that a people like the Polynesians (a branch, as suggested, of the Aryans) should, on first becoming acquainted with (to them) a new and valuable food, ascribe its origin to some super-human source, and connect the discovery with the star guiding the preparations for planting, and stars are often referred to as deceased ancestors, meaning probably deified ones. The introduction of the breadfruit to the knowledge of the Polynesians has a somewhat similar mythical story connected with it.
The Turehu, or fair, or white people, mentioned in the traditional history relating to the times just preceding the exodus of the Polynesians from the fatherland—a date fixed by their genealogical tables—are difficult to account for. In modern times the Maoris have come to look on the Turehu, or Patu-pai-a-rehe, as fairies inhabiting parts of New Zealand. This localization is characteristic of very many legends, all the world over; and the fact that the Niuē Islanders have some of the same stories about the Turehu as the Maoris, proves at once that this localization of an ancient legend has taken place. This is the description of the Patu-pai-a-rehe as given to the late Sir Geo. Grey by the Waikato people: “The fairies are a numerous people, merry, cheerful and always singing, like crickets. Their appearance is that of human beings, nearly resembling an European; their hair being very fair, and so is their skin. They are very different from the Maoris, they do not resemble them.” 9 It is said of them that their music, as they played their flutes, was very pleasing. Although called fairies by Europeans it is obvious the Maori tradition considered them as a people, not exactly like themselves, but still human—indeed much the same as they considered white people when they first came in contact with them.
The Maori tradition is that their ancestors learnt the art of making fishing-nets from the Turehu people. Obviously this indicates that there was a time when the Polynesian ancestors did not know much of salt-water fishing—very naturally so, if our supposition is right that they sprung from the inland Aryans; and the race they learnt the art from must have been a sea-faring people. The Maori - 29 tradition states that a man named Kahukura first learnt this art from the Turehu, and it is suggested that he is identical with the Kahukura who introduced the kumara to the knowledge of his people. If so, this would be some time in the fifth century B.C., when Kahukura flourished.
tradition states that a man named Kahukura first learnt this art from the Turehu, and it is suggested that he is identical with the Kahukura who introduced the kumara to the knowledge of his people. If so, this would be some time in the fifth century B.C., when Kahukura flourished.Kahukura is also a name for the rainbow, and when this appears as a double one, the upper bow is said to be a male, the lower a female.
But the question arises, what white, or fair race, this could be? The Aryan records mention more than one fair race, and Mr. Hewitt 10 seems to consider that branch of the Aryans (or perhaps one of the northern races, it is not clear which) called Chamar, connected with the Yadu Turvasu (who lived on the banks of the Indus) to be an early migration of fair people into India. He says (p. 217). … . “connects them with the very ancient immigrant race of India, the beardless Charmars. … .p. 219. … . in Chuttisgurh, where I knew them best, by their fair skins and the beauty of their women.” Another fair people was the Pāndyas or Pandavas. The same author says of them (p. 40), “The Pāndyas or fair (pandu) men. … Their father star, Canopus, controls the tides in Hindu astronomy by drinking up the waters of the ocean. … .” which quotation also illustrates a Maori belief, to the effect that a monster named Parata causes the tides by the inhalation and exhalation of his breath—identical with the Pāndyas' belief. It was these Pāndya people who held the state of Madura, which (says Sir W. W. Hunter, loc. cit., p. 127) was founded in the fourth century B.C. So far as can be made out these Pāndya people are not Aryans, but rather a northern people living among the Dravidians of the south of India, along the coasts, Madura being not far from the south extremity of India (Cape Comorin). These people apparently were the earliest navigators and traders of the Indian seas, obtaining the timbers for their craft from the west coast of India, where the forests formerly came down to the waters edge. It is these Pāndyas or Pandavas, the pandu, fair people, that possibly are those from whom the Polynesians learnt the art of making fishing nets and, no doubt, the art of sea-faring, which in the end they so developed as to carry them all over the Pacific. It may possibly turn out that in the word pandu, we have the first part of the name Patu-pai-a-rehe, a word to which we can otherwise give no meaning, though patu, in Niuē Island means a chief, with more probability derived from whatu, also meaning a chief.
There is also another possible, though not perhaps probable, white race, that might be that of Maori tradition, that frequented the southern shores of India in very ancient times. In “Journal Royal - 30 Anthropological Institute,” Vol. XLVIII., p. 176, H. J. Fleure and L. Winstanley say, “…we may note that the Milesians (Gaels) are said to have visited Taparobane (Ceylon), India, Asia, etc.” This appears to have been long before Christ, and if these Gaels reached Taprobane, a port in the Straits dividing Ceylon from India, they might easily have come in contact with our Proto-Aryans. Our authors do not indicate how the Gaels reached that part of the world.
Anthropological Institute,” Vol. XLVIII., p. 176, H. J. Fleure and L. Winstanley say, “…we may note that the Milesians (Gaels) are said to have visited Taparobane (Ceylon), India, Asia, etc.” This appears to have been long before Christ, and if these Gaels reached Taprobane, a port in the Straits dividing Ceylon from India, they might easily have come in contact with our Proto-Aryans. Our authors do not indicate how the Gaels reached that part of the world.Mention of the monster Parata above, reminds one of the belief of an old friend, long since dead, who had deeply studied Maori traditions, to the effect that the “Waha-o-te-Parata,” said to be a maelstrom in the ocean, is situated near the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where he had noticed the turbulence of the currents in former times. It is this “mouth-of-the-Parata” that is supposed to influence the tides, as does Canopus who drinks up the water according to the Pandava belief. One naturally wonders whether the Maori name Parata is associated with Bharata, the name of the original Dravidian people of India, and of the country.
Such a large number of notes have accumulated on the subject of “Aryan and Polynesian points of contact,” that they must be deferred to another occasion.
1 The word Aryan is here used strictly for the people that invaded India from 1500 to 1000 B.C.; the ancestors of the Hindus.
2 In another place Pio says that the hau was the kura for which the gods strove, and kura means “knowledge” of a sacred character. This agrees with the account in “Memoirs Polynesian Society,” Vol. III.
3 It is from this Bharata people that comes the oldest name for India, viz., Bharata-vasha. See Hewitts' “Myth Making Age,” p. 281.
4 See “Vedic India,” by Ragusin; “The Original Inhabitants of India,” by Oppert; “The Myth Making Age,” by Hewitt, and other works of the same author; “Sanskrit Literature,” by Prof. Macdonnell; “Brief History of the Indian People,” by Sir W. W. Hunter.
5 The name Dyaus, for the Heaven-father, in later times obtained another name Varuna (“the all covering heavens”). Now in the Ngata-Awa dialect of Maori, Wa-runa means the “space above.” Probably this similarity of names is quite accidental.
6 A place of this name is recorded in the tradition of the Mangareva Islanders, but not apparently connected with fish.
7 “Who are the Maoris?”
8 These south-west winds, that bring the Monsoon rains, are called martu in Sanskrit; and mātū is the Samoan for a northerly gale, perhaps derived from the Sanskrit, but the direction altered because the Samoans came from the north.
9 In a note to be found under the Maori text, Sir G. Grey adds, “Upon the 27th October, 1853, Te Wherowhero (head chief of Waikato, afterwards the first Maori king) described the fairies as a white race, elegantly clothed in garments quite unknown to the natives, and as delighting in music.”
10 “The Myth Making Age,” p. 215 ff.
No comments:
Post a Comment