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The Legend of Hau-mia.
Hau-mia was the son of Kiapara-te-hau (the wind is sporting). He belonged to the Kahui Tipua. At a place called the Kohanga o Hau-mia (nest of Haumia), on the face of a cliff known as Pari-nui-awhiti (great cliff of Whiti), you may trace the gable of Hau-mia's house, the upright posts, and the cross battens. It was here that Hau-mia's people tried to stop the canoe of the celebrated navigator Kupe, by placing a reef of rocks in his way, but they did not succeed, as he went far outside them and escaped.
For the Legend of Kopu wai and Arai Te Uru, see Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. VIII., 1877.
I now turn to the most interesting part of Sir. Cameron's paper, that relating to the derivation of the names Kahui Tipua, and Ngapuhi. After carefully examining the evidence to hand, I am reluctantly forced to the conclusion that it does not support his hypothesis. The relation existing between the Maori words and similar Indian or Malay words is undeniable, but it is explained by the fact that the races using them have a common origin. When these words are examined, it will be found that their meaning must be very much strained to make them fit in with the theory.
Kahui Tipua means in Maori a band of terrestrial monsters—an ogre or demon-band. Hui means to congregate; prefixed by the particle ka, it means a herd, or flock. Tipua is a poetical form of Tupua, which comes from the verb tupu, to grow; the idea being that the creature so called sprung out of the earth—that it was, in fact, an αυτοχθωυ. In Archdeacon Williams's dictionary, one of the meanings given for tupua is steal. This is an associated meaning, and does not belong to the word in its primary sense. Terrestrial monsters being regarded as hostile to man, the word came to be used in the same way that many words are employed by us; as for instance, jockeyed, mesmerized, or macadamized. Tipua is sometimes applied in Maori as we apply monstrous in English.
Nga Puhi is the other name, which, singularly enough, is almost identical in appearance with the Indian words meaning serpent-race. But here again, I am inclined to think that the likeness is more apparent than real. Nga Puhi is a contraction for Nga-aitanga a te Puhirere. Nga is the
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plural demonstrative particle. Ai tanga means the begotten, a of, te the, Puhirere (name of the father). With all but the last word, there is no need for further enquiry, as Nga cannot be identified in any way with Naga, the great serpent. But what the meaning of Puhirere is, may be open to discussion. Pu has many meanings classed by Williams under headings:—1. Bunch, heap. 2. To blow. 3. Precise. 4. Loathing. 5. Gun. Puhi, one betrothed; knot on the head ornamented with feathers or flowers. Rere, means to fly.
The name Nga Puhi is borne by one of the most powerful tribes in the country, and when the chiefs have been asked about the derivation of their tribal designation, they have explained it, as being derived from the Puhi, or feather-ornaments of the canoe in which their ancestors came from Hawaiki. Puhirere may, I think, be freely rendered: “The streaming feather-ornament of the head.” Nga Puhi, or Nga aitanga a te Puhirere will then mean, “the begotten of the streaming feather-ornament;” the ancestor being probably distinghished by some peculiar head-gear. The South Island Nga Puhi were descendants of Awatopa, and consisted of three sections: Puhi kai ariki, Puhi-manawanawa, and Matukuherekoti; and it was their tribe that succeeded the Kahui Tipua.
In connection with the name Puhi, attention is drawn to the fact, that a kind of eel is known by that name, but tuna, and not puhi, is the generic name. Puhi is merely the distinctive name of a variety, and is descriptive of some peculiarity.
I do not wish to be understood as criticizing the theory under consideration in a hostile spirit—far from it; but I am reluctantly forced to the conclusion, that the evidence furnished by the legends regarding the Kahui Tipua, does not support it.
The evidence of the eastern origin of the Maori is daily accumulating, and, at the same time, indications are found of the presence, in past ages, of people in these southern lands, who must have differed in many respects from the present inhabitants. The discovery by Sir George Grey* in 1839, of rock-paintings in Australia, which he said could not have been done by the blacks; and the subsequent discovery near Mount Elephant, in Victoria, of circles of stone resembling Druidical remains; regarded in connection with the gigantic statues in Easter Island, the ancient roadways of masonry in Samoa, and the rock-paintings in our own country, all open up a wide and interesting field for speculation and research, into which it is to be hoped that many like-minded with Mr. Mackenzie Cameron will enter.
[Footnote] * Vide Travels in Western Australia, by Sir G. Grey, K.C.B., Vol. II., p. 201.