434
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS: VOLUME I

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

  • Upload
    vohuong

  • View
    343

  • Download
    11

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS: VOLUME I

Page 2: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

FROM THE TWO CANOES

Page 3: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

FROM THE TWO CANOES

Oral Traditions

of Rennell and Bellona Islands

SAMUEL H. ELBERT TORBEN MONBERG

PUBLISHED BY THE DANISH NATIONAL MUSEUM IN COOPERATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII PRESS

HONOLULU 1965 COPENHAGEN

Page 4: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE PUBLICATION OF THIS BOOK WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY GRANTS FROM THE RASK-ØRSTED FOUNDATION AND THE TRI-INSTITUTIONAL PACIFIC PROGRAM

COPYRIGHT © 1965

BY THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF DENMARK

PRINTED IN DENMARK BY LANGKJÆRS BOGTRYKKERI

Page 5: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

PREFACE Rennell and Bellona are two Polynesian Outlier islands in the British Solomon

Islands. The people of Rennell and Bellona often refer to their islands in their rituals and poetry as two canoes. The ancestors who discovered the islands came from the east in two canoes, and the crews of these two canoes laid the foundation for the culture of Rennell and Bellona. Each island, furthermore, is canoe-shaped, with low-lying interior and high coastal walls not unlike the sides of a canoe. This is why we have named this volume of traditions From the Two Canoes, and this use of "two" is in harmony with the Rennellese and Bellonese predilection for the dual number.

A collaboration of persons possessing different academic backgrounds and in-habiting different hemispheres and speaking different languages is unusual, but to each of us it has proved beneficial. Elbert was interested primarily in language and folklore for their own sake and for the information they provided about Polynesian prehistory; Monberg was interested in what the tales and traditions revealed about the culture, particularly the religious experiences of the people before they accepted Christianity. Our collections reflect these interests to some extent. Elbert collected many secular tales concerning the vicissitudes of ordinary folk. In addition to tales in this volume, Monberg collected many ritual and ethnographic texts which are not included here. Our informants learned our interests. They sensed that Elbert, after he had collected many songs and a few rituals, despaired of the ambiguities inherent in them, and that he enjoyed stories about gods and humans that contained humor and drama. People knowing this sort of tale came to him. People knowing rituals went to Monberg. Each of us was interested in the other's specialty, but did not deliberately seek tales relating to it.

Another advantage of our collaboration is that Elbert worked longer on Rennell (1957-58) and Monberg longer on Bellona (1958-59). A valuable result is that for a given story we have variants collected on different islands in different years from different persons.

Problems as abstract as theory and as prosaic as the use of commas were discussed between us. Each of us suffered the stimulation and the goad of having a doubter at hand who questioned his every categorical remark and scanned (and sometimes scoffed at) every line he wrote. Each checked every text and its translation.

Yet, the greatest advantage of all was the pleasure of sharing our enthusiasm about a people who delighted us.

Our work would not have been possible without the cooperation and aid of many institutions and individuals. The Tri-Institutional Pacific Program, administered by the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, the University of Hawaii, and Yale University, financed Elbert's field work on Rennell and Bellona in 1957 and 1958 and Taupongi's trip from Bellona to Honolulu in 1961 to serve as consultant. Monberg is grateful to Kaj Birket-Smith, of the Danish National Museum, who with his study of the material culture of the two islands in 1951, laid a foundation for further research into the language and social culture, and who arranged for

vii

Page 6: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

Monberg to go to Rennell and Bellona. The Statens almindelige Videnskabsfond (Danish State Research Foundation) financed his expedition and the subsequent preparation of the manuscript. Sten Willier-Andersen accompanied Monberg to the two islands and provided outstanding comradeship and unfailing help. The United States Educational Foundation in Denmark provided a government travel grant for Monberg's trip to Honolulu in 1961 to work with Elbert and Taupongi, and his stay there was financed by the Rask-Ørsted Foundation. The publication was financed jointly by the Tri-Institutional Pacific Program and by the Rask-Ørsted Foundation.

Officials of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate provided each of us with transportation to and from Rennell and Bellona, supplied Elbert with a pedal radio, and did numerous other things to expedite our work. We wish to mention par-ticularly the following for special courtesies and hospitality in Honiara: Sir John and Lady Gutch, John C. Grover, Derek and Vrai Cudmore, Sandy and Margaret Wilkie, C. H. Allan, Dudley Wright, P. A. Pudsey-Dawson, and V. J. Andersen. The complicated arrangements for Taupongi's trip to Honolulu were made by Sir David Trench, High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, and V. J. Andersen. M. B. Hamilton and M. A. Andrew kindly made ethnological inquires on Bellona that helped solve difficult problems.

In 1962 we had the opportunity of revisiting the two islands as members of the Danish Noona Dan Expedition and we express our gratitude to Captain Jørgen Narup and his crew and to our colleagues including Torben Wolff, the leader, and Leif Christensen, Sofus Christiansen, Henry Dissing, and William Buch. We were also helped by many Solomon Islands government officials: H. E. Gass, Chief Secretary; M. A. Andrew, Secretary for Protectorate Affairs; R. Davis, Attorney General; T. Mitchell, District Commissioner; Dr. R. Thompson, Acting Chief Geo-logist; J. O. Tedder, District Commissioner.

Many people reviewed portions of the manuscript and discussed our problems. We are grateful to them all, and wish to thank specifically, for their helpful sug-gestions, O. A. Bushnell, Leif Christensen, George W. Grace, Alan Howard, J. Prytz Johansen, Robert and Barbara Lane, and Katharine Luomala. For their assistance we wish also to thank Thomas Nickerson, Chairman of the University of Hawaii Press Committee, and especially Alexander Spoehr, then Chairman of the Tri-Institutional Pacific Program's executive committee, who for many years has been so helpful. Gordon Macgregor kindly permitted us to print Figure 4 taken in 1933.

The entire manuscript was expertly typed by Mildred Knowlton. Faith N. Fuji-mura prepared the excellent sketch maps of Rennell and Bellona (Plates 1 and 2). Alberta Pualani Anthony carefully supervised the exacting task of proofreading. Aldyth Morris, Managing Editor of the University of Hawaii Press, provided initial help in the determination of style. Robert Sparks, Senior Editor of the University publications office, edited the entire book with care and skill, and attended to its publication.

In Chapter 2 we have attempted to express our gratitude to the Rennellese and Bellonese.

SAMUEL H. ELBERT TORBEN MONBERG University of Hawaii University of Copenhagen

Vlll

Page 7: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. Introduction......................................................................................... 1

1. Field experiences ......................................................................... 1 2. Physical description of the islands; their outside contacts ................ 4 3. Social organization and culture ....................................................... 6 4. Language and orthography ............................................................ 19 5. Translation ................................................................................... 22 6. Notes to the texts............................................................................. 28 7. Status and function of stories and story telling................................. 29 8. Selection and arrangement of texts ................................................. 32

2. The Tellers... .................................................................................... 35 3. Genealogies.............................................................................................. 52 4. Deities .................................................................................................. 62 5. Mautikitiki ........................................................................................ 109 6. Sina..................................................................................................... 137 7. Other Culture Heroes ...................................................................... 155 8. Kaitu'u and Taupongi ......................................................................... 173 9. The Hiti ......................................................... ................................. 200

10. Tinopaumatu'a..................................................................................... 219 11. Ancestors of Mugihenua and the Lake.................................................... 229 12. Ancestors of Kanaba............................................................................ 247 13. Ancestors of the Kaitu'u Clan, Bellona ................................................... 257 14. Ancestors of the Iho Clan, Bellona........................................................ 281 15. The Extinct Clans ................................................................................... 301 16. Men and Gods .................................................................................... 320 17. Human Affairs..................................................................................... 345 18. Wanderings.......................................................................................... 369 19. Christianization.................................................................................... 392

References ........................................................................................... 420 Index ............................................................................................. 421

FIGURES 1. The Hangekumi lineage, Bellona ................................................... 9

The following figures are inserted after page 38: 2. A traditional house (hata), 1933 3. A group of Rennellese tellers 4. Moa, Taumata, A. Taupongi, Tegheta in 1933 5. A. Taupongi, Moa, Tetamogi, J. Togaka 6. A dance, 1933 7. Paul Sa'engeika 8. Temoa, Taupongi, Tango'eha, Kaipua 9. Nose pressing

10. Respect and humiliation

PLATES 1. Sketch map, Rennell Island 2. Sketch map, Bellona Island 3. Principal descent lines of the Kaitu'u clan, Rennell and Bellona

Ix

Page 8: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

SYMBOLS

BE .................... Bellona Brackets [ ] . . . . Insertions in translations for grammatical clarity G ...................... generation N ...................... Notes

N49:l Notes to Text 49, verse 1 N41(A):6 Notes to Text 41, variant A, verse 6 N4(II) division II of Notes to Text 4

RE ..................... Rennell SE .................... Samuel H. Elbert T ........................ Text

T27:3 Text 27, verse 3 T31 (B): 7 Text 31, variant B, verse 7

Taupongi 1961 . . Taupongi of Sa'aiho, Bellona, during his stay in Honolulu, June-August 1961, as consultant (see Section 1.3, Chapter 1)

TM..................... Torben Monberg

X

Page 9: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

The first three chapters of this book contain matter designed to make the islanders' traditions given in later chapters more meaningful. The present chapter includes brief discussions of the following topics: the field experiences of the two authors (Section 1); a physical description of Rennell and Bellona and a resume of their few contacts with the outside world (Section 2); the social organization, kinship system, religion, and cultural inventory of the people (Section 3); the language, orthography, and translating techniques (Sections 4 to 6); the function of stories and story tellers in the culture (Section 7); the selection and arrangement of the texts (Section 8).

Chapter 2 presents brief biographies of the 49 tellers best known to the compilers, and Chapter 3 consists of genealogies of ancestors and living persons, from the fat immigrants down through some 23 generations to the children of the present chiefs.

In Chapters 4 through 19 the traditions of the Rennellese and Bellonese are given in their own words, with our translations into English in parallel columns. The traditions are not presented here in the haphazard order in which they were told in the field, which depended on the knowledge and moods of 72 informants, but have been rearranged in the following historical-semantic order: the gods and the semi mythical early inhabitants; the immigration of the ancestors of the present-day people from a place called 'Ubea; the formation of settlements and clans and subdivisions of clans, and the nearly constant fighting and strife; the vicissitudes and doings of ordinary folk, and the arrivals of castaways from other islands; finally, the conversion to Christianity in 1938 with its traumatic events at Niupani.

1. FIELD EXPERIENCES 1.1. Elbert's account. I was on Rennell from October 4, 1957, to April 10,

1958. The first 6 weeks were spent on a trip from Mangautu, on the northwest coast, to Labagu, on Lughu Bay, where I stayed for a time. Most of December, January, and February were spent at Niupani, on the lake, with excursions to Hutuna, Tigoa, Teaba, and Mata'aso (see Plate 1). During most of March, I was on a field trip through central Rennell to as far as Hatagua. Because of experience with other Polynesian languages I could communicate with the Rennellese from the start, but many of their common words and particles were so different that I could understand almost nothing of connected discourse. I pretended ignorance of pidgin English and spoke only Rennellese. Pidgin English would not have been of much help with abstractions and multiple meanings. Cognates in other Polynesian lan-guages were easily recognized.

The procedure was first to take a text verbatim, with some indication of junctures and allophonic variations, but without interrupting the informants with questions about meanings. Some informants, such as Samuel Tuhenua, immediately timed their speech to my writing speed. Older informants, before indoctrination, tended

1

Page 10: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

either to speak very fast or syllable-by-syllable. After finishing a story I read it back, asking for corrections in pronunciation and for meanings of unknown or imperfectly understood words and idioms. This was often a long process.

Usually my house was crowded. Everyone wanted to help or to listen. People considered that leaving me alone even for short intervals was a breach of hospitality. Such solicitude prevented confidences, but did afford walking monolingual dic-tionaries, and made the informants alert to provide what they believed to be the most accurate information.

After finishing a translation I read back the text three or four times and asked questions about points still obscure.

In spite of frequently large and convivial crowds, the contributions were from individuals. Details sometimes were furnished by bystanders, but the story was given by the person named before each text.

Between November 29 and April 10 no ships called at Rennell. No white people lived on Rennell, and there were no stores. Communication was maintained with Honiara during fine weather by a pedal radio, but I could send or receive messages only with difficulty. A beautiful new house at Niupani was put at my disposal; it had views of the lake on one side and of a coconut grove on the other. My food consisted of canned goods to a limited extent, but mostly of coconuts, papayas, taro, and fish supplied by the Rennellese, with occasional chickens, eggs, bananas, and sweet corn. I usually reciprocated with stick tobacco.

When I arrived at central Rennell, Headman Tahua sternly told me that the people in his district wanted to give me food and would be offended if I gave anything in return. In every village the people came with gifts, sometimes such delicacies as string beans. I was never sick and I enjoyed the people and my work too much to be lonely. Also, the long canoe trips and hikes provided excitement and healthy exercise, as well as new informants and dialects.

Through the courtesy of Derek Cudmore, Commissioner of the Central District, I was able to spend a week on Bellona. However, there was no time for translating because of the almost ceaseless work and excitement prior to the visit of Sir John Gutch, High Commissioner of the Western Pacific, and Lady Gutch, for whom the Bellonese staged a lavish program of dancing and singing. The visit of the High Commissioner was most fortunate as he expressly asked via my radio that dances and traditional ceremonies be performed for his welcome. Otherwise, there would have been none because both missions forbid traditional dancing and singing. On my first visit to a church I saw these words in large letters on a blackboard: SINS. UNTRUTHFULNESS. PRIDE. DANCING. CUSTOM. LYING.

1.2. Monberg's account. I arrived at Rennell on October 2, 1958, almost 6 months after Elbert had left. The purpose of my visit was to collect as much in-formation as possible on the pre-Christian culture, especially the religious aspects, before it vanished completely from the memories of the people.

I had a most excellent companion in Sten Wilier-Andersen, who took over the practical side of the expedition. He also collected animals for the Danish Zoological Museum, took pictures, and was of great help to the people of Rennell during the critical days of an epidemic of poliomyelitis.

In all ways my work was facilitated by the help of others. I would have been able to accomplish little during my 4 months' stay without the help of Elbert, who generously allowed me to make use of his linguistic field notes and vocabulary cards from Rennell. With my reading knowledge of other Polynesian languages, it was thus much less arduous for me to obtain enough training in Rennellese to be able to begin collecting material in this language after only a few days' stay. This saved months of field work.

2

Page 11: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

The 2 months' stay on Rennell was spent in Labagu village on Lughu Bay, in Niupani village on the shores of the lake, and in Matangi village in central Rennell. My first efforts were aimed at getting basic knowledge from informants about the pre-Christian social organization. Information was gathered through interviews and discussions, and was taken down in Rennellese. The Rennellese themselves showed great interest in this work. The house was usually crowded with people who listened and talked, and very often volunteered to be informants. Everybody was anxious that I should get as much information as possible and that it should be correct. Sessions were often gay, with joking and laughter filling the house till very late at night.

I admired the intellectual abilities of most informants. They patiently explained semantic nuances by giving examples of the use of a word in different contexts. They worked for hours, telling stories, listening to my rereading, and explaining difficult words and passages, and they never tired of correcting my mistakes. Even during arduous hikes through the bush, the people walking nearest me talked on subjects of common interest, or corrected something I had said the day before, or started explaining the construction of a temple site we had passed, or told a story about a battle fought in this particular area.

As informants the Rennellese and Bellonese had one particular drawback. Their concept of hospitality, mentioned also by Elbert, often made it difficult to arrange a session with only a single informant. My house was nearly always full of people who listened eagerly to what was said. In the beginning I thought this was an indication of suspicion toward each other, but soon realized that it was more an eagerness to help. Sessions with a single person, therefore, usually took place at noontime, when the temptation to take a nap prevailed over most people's eagerness to serve as informants.

I was especially interested in religious concepts and rituals, and in this respect my stay on Rennell was a disappointment. The Rennellese readily admitted that almost all the ritual formula had been forgotten. Only one man on the island, Paul Takiika, still remembered some of them. Unfortunately, Paul became very ill and was unable to help. I had heard people say that Paul Sa'engeika and others on Bellona still remembered a great deal about the old religious practices. Thus we decided to leave for Bellona, although I had originally planned to work only on Rennell. On December 8 we arrived there, together with one of our best Rennellese friends, Jotham Togaka, his wife Temota, and their two infant sons.

We were given a very fine house in Ngotokanaba village and stayed there until January 27, 1959. These were two months of almost incessant excitement. In-formants would come early in the morning and work until late at night, telling stories, reciting ritual formulas, and demonstrating ritual practices. Frequent visits to sites of old settlements and temples revived their memories and evoked im-portant details in their accounts. We lived at the border between the two rival districts of Sa'aiho and Ghongau. By working with informants from these two different clan groups, I obtained extensive comparative material concerning social organization and religious practices.

Taupongi of Sa'aiho was one of my principal Bellonese informants for tales. He was, moreover, an indefatigable teacher in all that concerned language, but he was too young to know many details of the ritual aspects of the old religion.

We left Bellona on January 27, 1959, and after a few days' stopover on Rennell returned to Honiara. I thought that my collecting of material from Rennell and Bellona was over. Later, however, Taupongi and Tapuika both sent me neatly written notebooks full of stories; their frequent interlinear translations (the method I had used) into somewhat halting English were done only for the easier words.

3

Page 12: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

This material would not have been of much value had I not been able to work it over with Taupongi in Honolulu in 1961 and with others during my revisits to Bellona. Taupongi said that he had kept sending me stories because I had paid too little attention to some of them while I was there, and had used far too much tune for gathering data on ritual practices!

1.3. Work in Honolulu. We had the advantage of consulting Taupongi of Bellona in Honolulu from June 10 to August 12, 1961. All the texts in this volume (except T140) were checked with him. Many additional texts were taken down, and much material was tape recorded. Grammatical analyses were continued. Taupongi was of great help in clearing up obscurities and in supplementing our material. He talked quite freely in Honolulu and did not hesitate to use swear or obscene words. He may have felt free of the social restrictions of his island. Such freedom from local taboos is a possible advantage of working with an informant away from his home. His departure from Honolulu was as sad as our own de- partures from the two islands. His contributions are assessed in Chapter 2. His work in Honolulu in the summer of 1961 is referred to in the notes as "Taupongi 1961".

1.4. Noona Dan Expedition of 1962 and Monberg's 1963 visit. As members of the Danish Indo-Pacific Expedition, Elbert was on Rennell from August 16 to September 2 , and from December 9 to 13, and on Bellona from September 26 to December 9, and on December 13 and 14. In addition Elbert was at Honiara from July 16 to August 16, from September 2 to 25, and from December 15 to January 23, 1963 (save for a week on Malaita). Monberg was in Honiara for a month pre- ceeding his time on Bellona and also from September 30 to October 9. He was on Bellona from August 15 to September 29.

Much of our time in Honiara was spent with informants from Rennell and Bellona. Elbert was checking translations and grammatical and lexical notes, as well as collecting songs and making demographic studies. Monberg was checking material on religion and studying social organization with Leif Christensen. No texts secured in 1962 have been included in this volume; additional notes made in 1962 have been so labelled. Each text was again checked hi 1962, most of them for the fifth time. We believe that our work in 1962 enhanced the accuracy of our translations and interpretations, but new-found intricacies left each of us with the impression that we were only beginning to understand the language and culture.

Monberg was back in the Solomons from October 2 to November 30, 1963, continuing his study of social organization. He was on Bellona for 2 weeks, and during the rest of the time worked with Bellonese employed by plantations on Guadalcanal.

2. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLANDS; THEIR OUTSIDE CONTACTS

Rennell and Bellona, Polynesian Outlier islands with a single language and culture, are a part of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and lie at 11° south latitude and about 160 kilometers south of Guadalcanal.

Rennell Island is nearly 80 kilometers long and, at most, 14 kilometers wide. The island is completely girded by limestone cliffs, most of them covered with dense vegetation. On the south coast, the cliff at Tuhugago, the anchorage for the Lake district, is about 120 meters high. The coastal profile is even. The north coastline is straight, but the south coast undulates, with a deep bay in its center

4

Page 13: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

at Lughu. Occasional patches of coconut palms and small strips of white sand are found at the bases of the coastal cliffs.

At Lughu Bay, on the south coast, the cliffs in several places are low, and access to the interior is easy; but to go inland elsewhere on Rennett, one scales the outer cliff by gripping roots and branches, then descends into a depression resembling a moat, climbs another less formidable rampart, and then gradually descends through rain forests to the interior basin. A lake—the largest in the Pacific— occupies almost the entire east end of Rennell; it is 27.5 kilometers long and 9.5 kilometers wide; it lies at sea level, and is everywhere about 42 meters deep, according to soundings made in 1962 by the Noona Dan Expedition. Its brackish water is occasionally drunk. The important villages on the shores of the lake today are Niupani, Tegano, Hutuna, Tebaitahe, and Tigoa. The western end of the lake is dotted with islets.

The Lake fauna includes two varieties of sea snakes, reported by Danish scien-tists as deadly poisonous (this the natives do not believe; the snakes have never been known to bite anyone); giant eels, which in stormy times are netted in the lake estuaries; small goby fish (paghabu); an African species of Tilapia introduced about 1957 which by 1962 was so common that 9 or 10 large ones could be speared in an hour. Bird life is abundant, and includes Australian gray ducks, gray teal, reef herons, and, especially, black-and-white, cormorants, which seem constantly to be diving into the lake, or posing like statues, wings outstretched, in tree tops.

The east central and far-western parts of Rennell are uninhabited wildernesses where towering trees grow like weeds from land strewn with coral boulders. Be-tween these two wastelands is the most fertile part of the island, with frequent neat villages and beautifully tended yam gardens. Most of the 1,020 Rennellese (1959 census, McArthur, 1961: 23) live here or in the lake villages.

There are no streams on this porous island. Water is obtained in limestone caves. Rainfall is abundant. Elbert measured rainfall as follows: October 17-31, 1957, 485 mm. (19.09 inches); November 1-24, 173 mm. (6.82 inches); December 1-30, 191 mm. (7.52 inches); January 10-31, 1958, 54 mm. (2.13 inches); February 1-26, 359 mm. (14.13 inches); March 2-7, 24 mm. (0.95 inches); March 28 to April 10, 328 mm. (12.91 inches). At this rate the annual rainfall would be more than 170 inches. (From August 15 to September 2, 1962, it rained every day, sometimes very hard and for several hours!)

Bellona Island, 11.5 kilometers long and 3 kilometers wide, resembles other Pacific islands more than does Rennell. The surrounding cliff, covered by forest, is a modest 100 feet or so in height, and in many places it is easy (rather than impossible) to climb. Bellona, with approximately 700 inhabitants, is densely pop-ulated, and its ulterior is very fertile. A broad trail that is level enough for a car runs through the island from east to west. Along this trail lie neat villages, gardens, and coconut plantations that give an impression of orderliness and comparative wealth.

The very shape of this small island lying in the vast sea—the break of the surf heard everywhere, the cliffs visible on all sides of the low-lying interior—gives one the sensation of being on board a ship in the middle of the ocean. The inhabitants, who live in the hull of the canoe, are aware of this illusion, and in their poetry often refer to the island as te baka (the canoe).

Plates 1 and 2 are based on maps prepared by the Protectorate Geological Survey. We have supplied place names and some trails, but positions are only approximate, particularly for Rennell. The map of Bellona is more detailed than that of Rennell.

5

Page 14: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

The people impressed us as having been self-sufficient and as having feared contact with strangers until the advent of Christianity. This generalization may be said of the people of both islands. A Rennellese informant (T232:4) reported that when European ships came the people fled in fear to the interior of the island. Perhaps for many centuries the occasional ships saw no people. Blackbirders to a large extent kept away, as did planters and traders, who were appalled by the lack of safe anchorages, the poor soil, the lack of economic products, and the supposed hostility of the people (this reputation was enhanced by the murder of missionary teachers in 1910).

Rennell and Bellona apparently were discovered in 1790 by a Captain Wilkin-son on the British vessel "Indispensable" (Findlay, 874, and Sharp, 162-163; Brigham, 137, and Woodford, 1916:46, had credited a Captain Butler on the "Walpole" in 1794 and 1801, respectively). The first white persons to go ashore, according to Yonge (164-165), were Bishop Selwyn and John Patteson (after-wards bishop) for a few hours in July 1856. They met about 20 people on Rennell and 13 warriors on Bellona. Later visitors included the Reverend Codrington in 1863, C. M. Woodford (Resident Commissioner of the Solomons) in 1906, Dr. Northcote Deck (a Protestant missionary) between 1908 and 1911, the Australian anthropologist Ian Hogbin in 1927, the American physician S.M.Lambert in 1928 and 1933, the American anthropologist Gordon Macgregor in 1933, and Broek d'Obrenan on the yacht "La Korrigane" for a week in 1935. Geologists have visited the two islands since World War II and have mapped phosphate deposits. Visitors have been so few that at least those since Deck are remembered. The most valuable accounts have been left by Lambert and Macgregor.

In 1951 scientists from the Danish Rennell Expedition, which was part of the Galathea Deep-Sea Expedition Around the World, visited Rennell, and Kaj Birket-Smith gathered material for his study (Birket-Smith, 1956) which was of great value to us on the islands and in our subsequent research. In 1953 the British Museum Expedition visited the two islands, and Torben Wolffs work (Wolff, 1958), based on the results of the two expeditions, has been our source for English names of the fauna and for most of the statistics cited in this section.

3. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND CULTURE In this sketch of the social organization and culture, which is intended to make

the texts more meaningful, only certain aspects will be discussed: the nature of kin groups, kinship terminology, social stratification, sex and marriage, fighting, sus-tenance, religion, and culture change since 1939 when Christianity was suddenly and unanimously embraced. The interpretation is preliminary. An exhaustive ana-lysis of our data concerning social organization is yet to be made. It will be noted that most references in the following are to conditions on Bellona; the social organi-zation of Rennell has not been studied in detail.

3.1. The kin groups. The Rennellese and Bellonese distinguish functionally and formally the following types of kin groups:

sa'a: a large patrilineal and patrilocal descent group whose members all claim descent from the same first immigrant. Sa'a is translated as clan in this volume.

kakai 'anga: a patrilineal and patrilocal descent group whose members trace descent from a common, remote ancestor of a later generation than that of the first immigrants. Male members of a kakai 'anga all reside within the same kano-manaha (district). The kakai 'anga is a subdivision of a sa'a.

hanohano: a lineage or family. Persons sharing a hanohano trace descent to a

6

Page 15: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

common ancestor who had once broken away (babae) from his paternal settlement and established his own settlement under a new name, usually on land inherited from his father. In vague speech all members of a clan (sa'd) are said to be of the same hanohano, in that they trace descent to a common ancestral immigrant, but it is also said that a person who has founded a new settlement has started a new hanohano. Another name for lineage is manaha. This term, however, has other meanings and these are discussed below. Both hanohano and manaha (in this sense of lineage) are a subdivision of the kakai 'anga.

hohonga 'anga: true matrilineal kin. tau pegea: persons of the same manaha (lineage group) as a member of an

individual's matrilineal kin (hohonga 'anga). baaghaugha: remote relatives, such as persons of father's matrilineal kin (hohonga

'anga) and their offspring; offspring of male members of one's own matrilineal kin; members of wife's kin group (manaha); members of sister's husband's kin group (manaha).

The origin of the clans (sa'a), the largest kin groups on the two islands, is told in the oral traditions, especially in T66. The first immigrants are believed to have been eight married couples who settled on Bellona and became the founders of eight clans. Traditions concerning this vary and may of course be purely mythical. Of the original eight clans only two are said to survive. The people of Bellona in-habiting the eastern (Matangi) district and the middle'district (Ghongau) and all the people of Rennell trace their ancestry back to Kaitu'u, one of the immigrants, and are called the people of sa'a Kaitu'u. The small group of people inhabiting the western (Ngango) district on Bellona claim to be descendants of another immigrant, Taupongi, and are called the people of sa'a Taupongi. The sa'a are residential units, in that a man from one sa'a cannot reside permanently or own land hi the territories of the other. The borderline between the lands of the two sa'a on Bellona is clearly defined, but has been a source of incessant disputes and fights. In many texts the rivalry is shown by ridicule; in others, by open fighting. The two clans are parti-cularly dissimilar on the religious level, for they worshipped different sets of deities (Chapter 4) and their rituals were somewhat different. The very small sa'a Taupongi was an exogamous kin group, whereas marriages might take place between members of the very large sa'a Kaitu'u.

According to traditions, kakai 'anga subdivisions were formed when a sa'a became overly large and land disputes had developed between its members. A number of texts in this volume describe the developments of kakai 'anga on Bellona. This will be clear if they are read with reference to the Bellona section of Plate 3. Teika'ungua (Ghongau line, G10) was said to be a prolific individual with 20 wives and 50 children (20 boys and 30 girls). Only two of this host of children are remembered: Ta'akihenua, who inherited the homestead called Ghongau from his father and carried on the line, and Teho'akimatu'a, who broke away from Ghongau and together with his son Teikangongo started a new descent group with its headquarters at Mataki'ubea at the east end of Bellona. The patrilineal descendants of Ta'aki-henua constitute the kakai 'anga of Ghongau district, which was much later split into two sections (Tengutuangabangika'ango and Tengutuangabangitakungu) which are considered by most informants to be separate kakai 'anga, and by others simply separate section of the kakai 'anga of Ghongau. In contrast to other kakai 'anga these two sections, however, do not constitute local groups, as their homesteads and gardens lie intermingled within Ghongau district.

On Bellona there once were a few smaller kakai 'anga located within the larger ones, such as Nguaniua in Ghongau district, started by Hu'aingupe of Rennell CT140 and Genealogy 8). Another was Temanu hi Ngango (Sa'aiho) district, which

7

Page 16: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

was started by Kaitu'u of the Taupongi clan (T144 and Genealogy 9). Both kakai 'anga are now extinct.

All members of a kakai 'anga thus trace their descent back to the same remote ancestor in the patriline. The kakai 'anga had its significance as a social group, especially on the religious and political levels. Each kakai' anga had its own set of gods (ngasuenga; see Introduction to Chapter 4) and was considered a religious unit in that all its temples were offshoots from one major temple in the district. It was a political unit in that its members commonly united in fights against other kakai 'anga. This was especially the case with the two small districts of Matangi and Ngango (Sa'aiho). In recent times members of the kakai 'anga of Ghongau have been fighting among themselves.

As previously stated, the manaha is a subdivision of a kanomanaha (district) and the word may be used as a general term for a patrilineal descent group. The term manaha is also used for gardens or coconut groves, or for any area inhabited by a nuclear family, and is also a general term for a homestead or a group of home-steads and land areas belonging to people who constitute a patrilineal descent group. In daily speech the terms manaha and hanohano are often almost synonymous. One may say that two manaha intermarry (gua manaha hetaka'aki). Manaha tends to emphasize members of the lineage as a social group; hanohano, the genealogical relationships. The islanders distinguish the various meanings of manaha (lineage, homestead, garden, owned land, group of homesteads) by context.

Lineages are named for the oldest and usually largest homestead of the group, the hakanohonga. This is the homestead to which every member owes allegiance ('oea kinai). Other homesteads belonging to members of the lineage are sometimes described by qualifying terms. A manaha sokotasi (independent homestead) is a large unit with attached arable land; an anga a manaha is a smaller unit, usually without habitation, within the larger unit and is owned and administered by the same individual.

In this volume the word manaha when used without qualifiers is commonly trans-lated as settlement, although research subsequent to the setting of type for the texts suggested that "homestead" would in some instances have been a preferable trans-lation. According to traditions each kakai 'anga consisted originally of people of a single manaha; but with population growth the kakai 'anga became subdivided into several hanohano whose members called themselves people of (pengea o...) the manaha or hakanohonga which first branched off. This process of segmentation continued down to the acceptance of Christianity. It was a dynamic process, yet occasionally a slow one. Several of its stages might be present at any given time. When Christianity was accepted in 1938-39 there were about 430 inhabitants on Bellona and they were divided into 20 exogamous lineages. Some of these lineages consisted of two or more sublineages (manaha gua), each taking its name from one of the more prominent homesteads among the manaha sokotasi (independent homestead) of the lineage, but still recognizing affiliation to the hakanohonga. Members of subline-ages considered themselves as belonging to the same hanohano. Under certain conditions, as during feuds within the lineage, or if a head of one of the sublineages was a powerful and individualistic personality, a sublineage might branch off and establish itself as a separate homestead (manaha) with its own lineage (hanohano). The genealogies in Chapter 3 give a simplified picture of the traditions regarding the branching of lineages. In stories about ancestors, the reporting of how these branchings took place, why, and through whom, play an important role. In fact, much of the traditional history can be regarded as an oral rationalization of the lineage structure of the society.

8

Page 17: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

Figure 1. An example of the composition of a Bellonese lineage in 1939, that of the Hangekumi. The genealogy is skeletal and does not show marriages of female members of the lineage or births subsequent to 1939. Generations are shown in vertical columns; polygynous marriages of male and female members of the lineage by P; sequences of children by the same father are indicated by arabic numerals. Members of other lineages (wives of members) are in bold face type. Names of persons alive in 1939 are in italic type. Broken lines indicate adoptions.

Origin of females married to members of Hangekumi lineage: 619: Tengaba (Rennell); 621: Taukamua (Nuku'angoha); Kangima (Nuku'angoha)j Kaisio (Rennell); 622: Teahemako (Gho-ngau); Temalobe (Rennell); Kaisio (Mata'ubea); Tesaohanga (Matabaingei); Utuika (Mata'ubea); Kaisa'unga (Ghongau); Tetabake (Nuku'angoha); Temalobe (same as Temalobe above).

There were only two adult male members of Hangekumi lineage in 1939, namely Topue and Hakaahemangu. Gardens and homesteads belonging to members of the lineage were either owned (hakahua) or taken charge of (ge'o) by them. A few homesteads were cared for by Teahemako, widow of Taaika. When the sons of Tangitonga, Ngakei, and Hakaahemangu grew up, they took over land that had belonged to their respective fathers.

s".."O"" (chilclj

Ne....; (child)

o l.boi,..,.. 3.

6 NIIOk'i 1.

T•••ohanll" dJ-.o.III lJ.o Sikomou ...

G20

T.....boki.. 6

......

G", 0

Touponll; '.6

o Tlngoun"en"" 6.

Utulko 0

~Hu'ail,kobo 7.6I 0 I(o",,,,,,,,ho

KailO'unllll ao /(oi...·,,"\I.. 8.

o

KlInglmll 0J-'Tap". .../),

So,,'.ho 3. LI. IIo

, oMo'''n'''' ... 6

o Tuonllukoba I.

rerab"lc. 02. :!L6

Hokaohe",,,n," ;S"Tema/obe 6. S""',h,, (child)

r'"IIO""olooMounll" 6

T-oohilu

0"63-0 Sibo;

3.

John

T."IIObo 0 , 0

Page 18: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

Figure 1 shows the composition of a Bellonese lineage, Hangekumi. Each adult male member of a lineage owned one or more settlements or home-

steads with attached garden and bush areas. The homesteads of a lineage were not grouped together in villages but lay scattered in the arable areas of a district. On Bellona the homesteads lay along the main trail which runs across the island from east to west. The land and homesteads of different lineages commonly lay inter-mingled within the district, but there was a tendency to form local groupings, with several gardens and homesteads of a single lineage lying in close proximity.

A manaha, in the sense of a single homestead, was commonly inhabited by a nuclear family. The house lay in a clearing hi the garden area surrounded by coconut trees. It was usually a so-called hata (Figure 2), a pitched gable roof thatched with pandanus leaves and extending down to about 75 centimeters above the ground. Under this roof, about 1 meter above the ground, was a ceiling-like shelf (hata) that formed an upper storeroom under the roof. The house had no walls. The floor covering consisted of coconut leaves, and on ceremonial occasions was covered with coconut-leaf mats (takapau). Under the shelf were hung ceremonial paddles, dancing sticks, spears, parcels of turmeric, fishhooks, lines, and nets. Another house type, the hage hakahuahua, was a larger, more impressive edifice with curved rafters and artistic plaitings on the ridgepole. Such houses were rare, and were usually owned by expert carpenters (mataisau) or by those who enjoyed great prestige and thereby enlisted the aid of such carpenters. Behind the house was a small kitchen shed, the hai umu, or paito, containing the stone oven. All the food was prepared here, as it was tapu (taboo) to bring fire into the dwellings. In front of the house were the ritual grounds (gotomaga'e), a clearing surrounded by coconut trees. It was the place for religious activities, dancing, and distribution of certain ceremonial offerings. From the clearing a small trail (anga singd) led to the main trail (anga tu'u) of the island, passing through the garden areas of the manaha. At the beginning of the small trail, by the ritual grounds, lay graves of ancestors. Each grave was topped with a mound of sand, surrounded by flat coral stones, and covered by a small house with curved rafters. In front of each grave was a small clearing used during ancestor rituals.

Land was held individually by the male members of the lineage. As mentioned above, a man might own several manaha and sometimes also two or three houses in his various gardens and coastal areas. He might then live in one or the other, de-pending on which lay nearest the areas presently under cultivation, or he might live in his house at the coast during certain periods of fishing. In some cases of polygynous marriage each wife had her own house.

Succession to land was usually from father to son. If a person had no male off-spring, land would commonly go to his brother's sons. As a general rule, women did not own land but acted only as stewards, as for instance when a husband had died and his sons were too young to hold titles to their father's manaha. The reason given by the Bellonese for this custom is that the manaha was exogamous, and these women of the lineage always married into other lineages and resided with then: hus-band's kin. Women were considered to belong to their paternal lineage; when a marriage was dissolved a woman returned and resided with her patrilineal kin. But as long as a marriage lasted, a woman was expected to show loyalty to her hus-band's lineage, even if it became engaged in hostilities with her own patrilineal kin. Any land owned by women in their paternal manaha might have accrued to members of other lineages. There are a few recorded cases of women owning land, or of persons inheriting land from a mother's brother (that is, from another lineage), but such cases are considered anomalies by the Bellonese and are generally dis-approved of.

10

Page 19: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

With strict unilineal succession to land, and with considerable fluctuation in size of lineage groups from generation to generation, there was occasionally too much or too little available land for a lineage. This unbalance was at times met by inter-lineage adoption of males, and by polygynous marriage of males for the purpose of securing enough successors. In general, scarcity of land was a major source of conflict.

Within the lineage, primogeniture was of importance. Theoretically, the oldest son was entitled to his father's largest manaha. The person closest to being a direct descendant in the line of first-born sons (hano 'angd) would inherit the hakanohonga of the lineage, that is, the first and oldest homestead of the group. In practice, there were exceptions. A father would often consider the individual abilities of his pro-spective successors when allotting land. If, for instance, the first-born son was a better fisherman than gardener, or if he lacked any of the virtues so much admired by the Bellonese (generosity, diligence, and modesty), the father was free to allot larger blocks of land to younger sons or to other members of the lineage, preferably to those of the same generation as that of his children.

The land owner could normally decide when to cultivate the land, what to plant, and to whom to distribute the garden produce; he could also grant usufruct privileges to others for shorter or longer periods, or give the land to any member of his lineage without asking for consent from other members. There was, however, one particular restriction on individual ownership of land. If a person had alloted land to someone else such as a father to his son, ownership was usually considered joint as long as both parties were alive, but the original owner could, if conflicts arose, annul the conveyance and vest the land in someone else.

There was considerable cooperation within the lineage with regard to cultivation of land. If a male member became sick or died, his land was guarded (ge'o) and cultivated by other male members of the lineage until it could be formally taken over by his successors. A man could always count on help in clearing and planting from the men of his manaha and from their wives and children. Also, two or more men of a lineage might sometimes pool their garden produce and hold a single ritual feast with ritual distributions. When the gardens were ready for digging, relatives might be invited to partake in the work, together with the owner's relatives in other lineages, especially members of his mother's lineage and his in-laws, and receive their shares of the produce. There was, furthermore, close cooperation among the members of a manaha in such undertakings as fishing, hunting, canoe- and house-building, and fights against other lineages.

Rules of succession and inheritance might be set aside in favor of persons pos-sessed of talents and virtues admired in the culture. These included special skill in gardening, fishing, canoe- and house-building, dancing, poetic composition, and ritual performance. The most important virtues included kindliness and generosity.

Authority within the lineage, in theory, lay with all its male landholding members (matu'a). However, certain factors might assign one matu'a to a higher position. These included seniority in one's own generation, seniority of one's father in his generation, and possession in unusual degree of admired skills. Such persons were called hakahua, and in each of the large lineages there were one or two matu'a called the hakahua of the manaha. The word hakahua means to excercise authority, to act, to own, and to do as one pleases. Although outstanding personal attributes might elevate any land-holding male of the senior generation to the title of hakahua, the hakahua was usually the first-born son ('ugumatu'a) of the former hakahua. An exception was Paul Sa'engeika of Bellona (see Chapter 2 and Genealogy 6), who acquired the title of hakahua because of unusual skills, even though he was of a junior sublineage.

11

Page 20: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

The matu'a of the lineage were not compelled to obey the hakahua. The latter had no rights over their land and could not command other matu'a to labor for him. Yet because the hakahua usually had greater land resources at his disposal than had other members of the lineage, and because he was usually the senior member in his generation (often an older brother or first cousin of the other matu'a), his status within the lineage was higher than that of the other matu'a. He could perform more elaborate harvest rituals and distribute larger amounts of food and goods, thereby confirming or heightening his personal prestige. If he had the admired skills he became the central figure of the manaha, one whom it was considered an honor to serve, and one whose counsel and help were sought by members of the lineage. Often one or more of the other matu'a of the lineage added their own garden produce to that of the hakahua, who then performed the ceremonial distribution of their bonus material along with that of his own gardens. When a hakahua became very old and his strength and abilities began to decline, he was usually no longer considered a hakahua; the title passed quietly to another person of the lineage, normally the first-born son of the former hakahua.

Whereas a man's patrilineal kin group was of importance in establishing his rights to land, his relations with members of other lineages were influenced by his matriline (hohonga 'anga). Records of the hohonga 'anga, however, were not re-membered for more than a few generations, rarely further back than the grand-parents' generation, that is, with the living kin of the mother. An individual had very close ties with his mother's sisters and brothers. The latter (tu'aatind) took part in the education of nephew and niece ('igaamutu); they exchanged gifts, visited one another frequently, granted each other usufruct privileges, and were expected to help in tunes of crisis. Whereas all persons of the same generation and manaha were not considered of the same blood, those of the same generation and hohonga 'anga were considered as sharing blood (te toto e tasi).

Close ties also existed between and individual and members of the manaha of his matriline. Such persons were commonly called one's tau pegea. Persons in the mother's patriline were of particular importance. One was believed to originate (tu'u n.ai) in one's mother's lineage, whereas the father's manaha was that which a person was said to be born into. It will be seen below how this point of view is consistent with Rennellese and Bellonese views of conception and childbirth.

3. 2. Kinship terminology. Some kinship terms which frequently occur in the texts will be explained in this section.

The general name for genealogy is hanohano. The lineages of first-born sons which constitute the core of the patrilineal descent groups are called hano 'anga.

Persons are commonly addressed by their established name (ingoa hakama'u), which is the first name given in infancy by the parents, or by their baptismal name (members of the South Seas Evangelical Mission). Persons who stand in a restraint relationship, such as brother and sister, brothers-in-law, and sisters-in-law, use only the second name (ingoa hakapengepenge) as a term of address and reference. The only kinship terms occasionally used as terms of address are tupuna, tamau, tinau, tu'aatina (see below). Friends of the same generation and sex, lovers, and married couples often address each other by the informal term teiana.

All kinship terms are o-gender (see Section 5) except hanau, tama, and tama-'ahine, which are a-gender.

The following abbreviations are used here: B, brother; C, child; D, daughter; F, father; GP, grandparent; H, husband; M, mother; m. s., man speaking; P, parent; Si, sister; So, son; Wi, wife; w. s., woman speaking.

pegea: relative, family member, fellow islander (literally, person). 'atima'ogi: relative, close friend.

12

Page 21: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

'api: collateral members of speaker's generation, usually of M's lineage. nohonga, takanga: married couple. tupuna: MF, MM, FF, FM, MMM, FFF; also others of GP or earlier generation,

especially of speaker's matri- or patriline. tamana: F, FB, FSiH, FFBDH, FFBSo, FMSiSo, MH, FMSiDH, MSiH,

MMSiDH, HF, WiF; sometimes also other persons termed ta'okete or taina by F of speaker. Term of address: tatnau.

tinana: M, MSi, MBWi, FSi, FFBSoWi, FBWi, WiM, HM, MMSiSoWi, MMSiD, MFBD, FFBD, FMSiSoWi, FMSiD, FWi; sometimes also other females called ta'okete or taina by M of speaker, or tuhahine by F of speaker, and females married to persons called ta'okete or taina by speaker's F. Term of address: tinau.

tu'aatina: MB, MMSiSo, MFBSo; sometimes also other males termed tunga'ane by M of speaker: tamana of Wi.

maatu'a, hai maatu'a: P; also same as hungabai. Compare: matu'a: H. ta'okete: persons of same sex and born earlier than speaker and of one of the

following relationships to him or her: PC, MBC, FFBSoC, FFBDC, FMSiSoC, FMSiDC, MMSiSoC, MMSiDC, MFBSoC, MFBDC; sometimes also used for more remote relationships such as spouse of ta'okete or taina older than speaker.

taina: same relationships as with ta'okete, but persons younger than speaker. tuhahine: Si, FD, MD, FED, FFBSoD, FMSiSoD, MMSiDD, MFBDD (m. s.). tunga'ane: B, FSo, MSo, FBSo, MSiSo, FFBSoSo, FMSiSoSo, MMSiDSo,

MFBDSo (w. s.). ha'anga: FSiD, MBD, FFBDD, MFBSoD, MMSiSoD, FMSiDD (m. s.); FSiSo,

MBSo, FFBDSo, MFBSoSo, MMSiSoSo, FMSiDSo (w. s.). uguugu: Wi. matu'a: H. ma'aa: H of tuhahine, tunga'ane of Wi (m. s.); Wi of tunga'ane, tuhahine of H

(w s.). hai hanau: general term for persons called taina, ta'okete, tuhahine, tunga'ane,

and ha'anga. hosa: So; also So of persons termed ta'okete, taina, and ha'anga (m. s.). tama: So; also So of persons termed ta'okete, taina, ha'anga, and tunga'ane (w. s.);

children, offspring (m. s., w. s.). Plural: tamagiki. tama'ahine: D of persons termed ta'okete, taina, ha'anga (m. s., w. s.) and tunga-

'ane (w. s.). 'igaamutu: C of persons termed tuhahine (m. s.); also same as hunga. hanau: general term for hosa, tama, tama'ahine, and makupuna. makupuna: C of persons termed hosa, tama, tama'ahine, and 'igaamutu. hunga: DH, SoWi, BDH, BSoWi, SiSoWi, HP, WiP; hungabai: tamana, tinana

of H, Wi. Qualifying terms that may follow a base include pusi, adopted child (see below);

tangata, male; hahine, female. Also hakahualhakapigi: If X is a kinship term, haka- hua qualifies X as the closest possible relationship to ego, hakapigi the remoter.

tau: Like the Tikopia, the Rennellese and Bellonese sometimes place the relational particle tau before certain kinship terms. Then, in Firth's terms, "the existence of the other term or terms may be inferred, and a dual or reciprocal significance given to the concept" (Firth, 1936:254). Tau tinana: tinana and tama or tama'ahine; tau tamana: tamana and hosa or tama'ahine; tau tuhahine: lineal and collateral tunga'ane and tuhahine; tau tupuna: tupuna and makupuna; tau tu'aatina: male or female and tunga'ane of tinana; tau ma'aa: male and tunga'ane of wife or husband of tuhahine, female and tuhahine of husband or wife or tunga'ane.

Certain relationships required circumspect behavior. A man and the husband of

13

Page 22: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

his tuhahine and wife's tunga'ane (tau ma'ad), and also a woman and the person to whom she was related as a ma'aa, had to observe careful decorum, solemnity, kind- ness, proper language, and politeness. Tunga'ane-tuhahine avoidance was carried out rigidly by persons in such relationship and of the same matri- or patrilineage for fear, people said, of marital alliance of people of the same lineage. A message for one's tuhahine might have to be relayed through another relative. It was a female's duty to keep out of sight of her tunga'ane.

Adoption was common. Two types were distinguished: (1) adoption of a child who had a father; such a child was called a tama tuku (given child); (2) adoption of a child born out of wedlock; such a child was called a tama pusi (reared child). Today tama pusi is commonly used unless the "given" origin is emphasized.

Another group of people of some importance to an individual were the relatives hi a baaghaugha relationship. The word baaghaugha means to creep along the ground or to branch off from a main stem, as with a vine. This term indicated that the persons in question were not in one's main stem, that is, his matri- or patriline, but were more remote kin. The term had a wide range. It was used about the tau pengea mentioned above, about people of one's father's matriline, and about in-laws. The baaghaugha relationship was important in that theoretically it involved cooperation, gift exchanges, mutual invitations to feasts, and alliances in fights, but one's obliga- tions to these relatives were lighter than to one's patri- and matrilineages.

From an egocentric point of view, the term "my people" (oku pegea) referred to all living people to whom one could trace cognatic connection, and to whom one might, at least theoretically, turn for support. As in other societies, the actual social activity system on Rennell and Bellona was not guided by the ideal system of kinship alone, but also to some extent by such factors as friendship and the traditional alliances of certain lineages not otherwise related.

3.3. Social stratification. There was only limited social stratification on Rennell and Bellona. In Section 3.2 the position of the hakahua within the lineage was mentioned. There was no system of supremacy among the hakahua of an island or of a district. Hakahua of an older lineage were not considered superior to those of a younger lineage, nor was a hakahua with extraordinary personal skills con- sidered superior to other hakahua of his district or island, at least not on Bellona.

The hakahua of a lineage did not dress or live differently than other matu'a. Some of them had larger houses and were tattooed with the solid taukuka pattern, a prestige symbol, but a man could very well live in a large house and have the taukuka tattoo without being referred to as a hakahua. Also, some hakahua lived in small houses and were not tattooed with the taukuka. Among the matu'a some were considered "big matu'a, almost hakahua" and others were only "small matu'a." The criteria were partly the amount of land held by the individual, and partly his personal abilities.

The lowest category of people were the tangani pegea (abortive people), or as they were also called, pegea i tu'a (subsidiary characters). The majority of these had been born out of wedlock (tama tausu'u). They resided with their mother's kin, often with a mother's brother, or they were adopted by members of a different lineage. In both cases they were considered to be of lower status than the true members of the lineage with whom they resided. They received little or no land, and often acted as servants (guani, tino) to a matu'a and labored for him in the gardens and about the houses. They received only the poorest shares at ceremonial food distributions, and only in exceptional cases officiated at rituals. A man frequently adopted illegitimate children born previously to his wife, but they rarely inherited his largest manaha, and this only if he had no true offspring of his own.

Social status and the amount of land held were thus interrelated factors.

14

Page 23: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

Apart from children born out of wedlock, there were a few other individuals who acted as servants for the hakahua on Bellona. They were usually people who had come from Rennell, or whose fathers had come from Rennell, and they were in- variably people who had a low social prestige on their home island. They were usually given small lots of land, but their garden produce was normally handed over to the hakahua for ceremonial distribution as they could not act as priest- chiefs themselves.

The system of guani may have been more developed on Rennell than on Bellona. Out of the Bellonese population of about 430 in 1938-39, less than 10 men served as guani. However, the Bellonese claim that about one generation before the adop- tion of Christianity when the population was considerably greater (this was before any contact with Europeans began and before new diseases were introduced) there were more guani on the island, than there were in 1938-39. Undoubtedly a correla- tion exists between availability of land and the amount of landless, or practically landless guani, at any given time.

It should be mentioned that marriages between illegitimate persons and hakahua or matu'a or their offspring were disapproved of.

3.4. Sex and marriage. The Bellonese state that there are two reasons why people marry. One is that a marriage (taka) creates an alliance (hepotu'akingd) between two lineages. The other is that a man's wife, by giving birth to children, will make her husband's lineage "go on." The Rennellese and Bellonese claim that before contact with European doctors and missionaires they were ignorant of any connection between copulation and pregnancy. It is admittedly surprising to find ignorance of the function of intercourse in a patrilineal society, but several factors make the informants' statements seem plausible. Copulation was considered merely a pleasant pastime, a play, and a child was considered the fruit of the woman (te hua o te hahine). It was planted in her womb, not by her husband, but by one of her husband's deities or ancestors to whom he had prayed for a child to be born into his lineage by his wife. If an unmarried girl became pregnant, it was recognized that her ancestors had pitied her and given her a child. There is also a lack of sexual emphasis in the rituals, stories, dances, and songs. The only type of anti-conception practiced consisted of prayers to gods and ancestors to stop sending children as gifts (tonu), and this only if a woman was known to be subject to severe physical complications during the period of gestation.

There was considerable sexual liberty on Rennell and Bellona. Young people experimented before deciding to live together (taka). Sexual relations before adoles- cence were disapproved of, as they were believed "to stop the growth" of the boy and the girl. They were, however, practiced; but if discovered, the couple involved would be reproached by their relatives. Sexual relations of two people of the same patri- or matriline were termed incestuous (getu). It was considered bad and nau- seating, but no official social sanctions were applied against the offenders.

The embarrassment might be set aside by parents desirous of creating or strengthening alliances between lineages, preferably as between a male and MBD (that is, between first cross-cousins). Many young people objected to such match- making by parents, and it was commonly agreed that parents could never force children to marry against their will. Sometimes children eloped with a spouse dis- approved of by their parents. Marriages were always virilocal, and the girl moved to her husband's home. The father of the girl who had eloped might be angry, but there are no records of persons having taken action against an unwanted son-in-law. There was no immediate exchange of presents between a person and his father-in- law. If the marriage lasted, the husband would usually, after some time had elapsed, go to the house of his father-in-law and exchange presents of mats, necklaces, and

15

Page 24: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

food, or he would invite him to one of his harvest feasts where the father-in-law would be given an elaborate share of the produce. By this procedure an official alliance between the two men and their manaha was established.

Extramarital relationships were frequent, but they were conducted in secret for fear of arousing a spouse's jealousy.

Polygyny was accepted but not very common. Out of a total of some 60 married males on Bellona in 1938 only 7 were engaged in polygynous marriages. A succes- sion of spouses occured frequently. When a married couple separated major social problems sometimes ensued. Normally, the husband could dissolve the marriage without consequences; the wife would return to her father's home with personal belongings and her infant children. The children were still considered members of their father's lineage and they would return to his home when they were old enough to take care of themselves. If a woman suddenly left her husband, he might become angry and fight with his former wife's father and brothers. Despite the strong social ties between a man and his family-in-law, an interloper could cause the end of friendly relationships between the two lineages or districts, and could in tunes of hostility even break up alliances.

3.5. Fighting, It will be apparent from Chapters 10 to 15 that fights between lineage groups (manaha) and also fights between individuals were a prominent feature of the culture of Rennell and Bellona. Raids, sieges, and assasinations were said to have led to almost constant fear and distress from the day people first set foot on the two islands until they adopted Christianity in 1938-39. We shall not discuss here the details of fighting techniques (they are well documented in the texts), but a few general observations should be mentioned. The beginning of a fight involved elaborate rituals, in which the prospective victims were dedicated to the gods as sacred food. Kinship ties prevailed in the conduct of fights. In theory, a person could not fight against members of his matri- or patrilineage or against affinal relatives such as brothers-in-law. This was considered tapu. In actual fact, there are quite a few recorded cases of fights among members of the same patriline, and T137 tells of a man killing his brother-in-law and attributes this act to a god who possessed the killer. Women were very rarely killed, no matter how remote their relationship to the attacker. The two major causes of fights were land trouble and verbal insults. Scarcity of arable land was a major incentive. If all male members of a patrilineal kin group could be killed, their land could be taken. Peacemaking was an elaborate affair. Women usually conducted the preliminary talks with the opponents of their manaha.

3. 6. Sustenance. The following description is based on the pre-Christian culture, but most features persist today. Accretions to the culture are listed in Section 3.8.

The economy was based on horticulture, fishing, and, to a lesser extent, on hunting and on collecting wild fruits and roots. Each large settlement was able to support itself, and there was no real specialization among the lineage groups as to cultivation, fishing, or bush collecting. The gardens lay scattered in the bush, usually near the settlement that owned them. The slash-and-burn method was applied in cultivating the land. According to informants, a garden plot lay fallow about 4 to 6 years before being used again. The most common crops were yams (Dioscorea elatal), and yams of the kind known in Solomon Islands English as pana (Dios- corea esculenta?), taro, bananas, and unidentified tubers such as suinamo, betape, and abubu. Coconuts were of great importance for their liquid and meat, and their leaves were used for mats and baskets. Coconut fiber was plaited into sennit. Gemugi fruits (Gnetum sp.?) were considered a delicacy, and involved elaborate rituals (see N79:2). Betel nuts were chewed.

Division of labor between the sexes was approximately as follows. Women's

16

Page 25: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

work: cooking, gardening, fruit gathering, fishing (inshore), portage, plaiting (mats, bags, sennit), tapa making, net making, preparation of turmeric, midwifery, baby care. Men's work: gardening (heavier work), fruit gathering, hunting, fishing, portage, wood carving, canoe making, house building, thatching, tapa making, sennit plaiting, net making.

Because of the scarcity of good beaches, and because on Rennell many of the villages are far from the coast, fishing was perhaps of less importance on Rennell and Bellona than on many islands in Polynesia. However, most persons visited beaches regularly, and many had beach houses and canoe sheds. Of great im- portance on both islands was shark fishing, and on Bellona the netting of flying fish (sasabe). Turtles and porpoises were caught only when they came ashore. On Rennell, eels were netted in the lake's estuaries when they sought shelter there from storms. The people hunted doves (gupe), flying fox (peka), and coconut crabs (akui); all three were considered delicacies.

Manufactured articles included canoes, tapa (which was not painted), plaited bags and mats, nets, baskets, and, especially, war clubs. (Birket-Smith, 1956:187, after a detailed comparison of the material culture of Rennell with that of the rest of Polynesia concludes that "there is probably no single island in Polynesia where so many kinds of clubs occur as on Rennell." This accords with the emphasis on fighting that perhaps is one of the leitmotifs of the tales in this volume.)

3.7. Religion. Texts which have special bearing on the religious aspects of the culture will be found in Chapters 4 and 6. However, there is scarcely a text in this volume that has not some reference to religious concepts or ritual practices, a reflection of the culture orientations of the two islands.

A description of the religion and social organization of Bellona will be given in a later volume in this series. Here, some preliminary remarks may facilitate an understanding of the more important religious aspects dealt with in the texts.

As will be indicated in greater detail in the introduction to Chapter 4, rituals were centered around two groups of gods, Tehainga'atua and his family and Te- hu'aigabenga and his family. This duality is found also in the religious organization. Tehu'aigabenga and his family were worshipped primarily in the settlements. Rituals were performed in the dwelling houses and on the cult grounds in front of the houses. The dwelling house of the settlement was considered the earthly manifestation of Tehu'aigabenga's abode, Nukuahea, in the western sky. The other great deity, Tehainga'atua, who was considered the classificatory grandfather of Tehu'aingabenga, was worshipped in specially constructed temples (ngaguenga), of which there were a few large ones in each district and many small ones. These extremely sacred places were the manifestations of Tehainga'atua's abode, Manu- katu'u. The duality of the pantheon displays an important aspect of Rennellese and Bellonese concepts. Tehainga'atua was a fearsome god, owner of all land and controller of nature and its phenomena. Tehu'aigabenga, a god of a milder dis- position, controlled the cultural and social activities on the islands, and also the cultivated plants. The duality of the pantheon reflects the concepts of a duality of nature versus culture.

A third group of supernatural beings worshipped were the sa'amaatu'a or tako- tonga (ancestors). They were considered intermediaries between gods and humans, and they constantly traveled between their settlements of origin and the rituals performed on the two islands.

All adult males served as officials at the rituals. Tn each district most of the older chiefs or landowners (matu'a) held the title of tunihenua (priest-chief). The priest- chiefs took turns officiating at the various rituals in their districts. Each had a second priest-chief (haihenua) as a helper, and one or more hakabaka (assistant to priests),

17

Page 26: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

who were young men being trained in the intricacies of the many rituals. In some of the rituals, namely those performed in the settlement, a group of adult males served as bakagoa'au (embodiments of the sons of the god Tehu'aigabenga). They sat in a row and received offerings of food and drink from secular members of the society.

One of the most important religious events was the cycle of rituals connected with the harvesting and distribution of yam and pana; the pertinent rituals were conducted successively settlement-by-settlement, and they usually began in April or May. After the harvest had been consecrated, it was distributed among the members of other kin groups, with the brothers-in-law, mother's brothers, and clas- sificatory brothers getting the largest shares of the produce. In this way, close ties to other lineage groups and other districts were secured.

In death rituals the welfare of the spiritual self of a deceased person played only a minor role; the major parts of these rituals were concerned with strengthening social ties.

On the whole, religious concepts seem less concerned with eschatology than they do in certain other Polynesian cultures. Concepts of the creation of the world played no direct role in the rituals. The traditions of the heavens of the gods were not very elaborate. The fate of the spiritual self after the death of an individual was not of great importance. It was believed that the deceased went down to the coast, where he danced with other deceased ancestors and then, after a certain time, went to the abode of the gods in the eastern sky, taking the same route that Kaitu'u and the other immigrants had taken when they came to Rennell and Bel- lona. The dead person presented the gods with the gifts that had been buried with him, such as mats and necklaces, and then returned to his grave near the settle- ments. Here, his survivors performed minor rituals to induce him to carry out their wishes and to persuade the gods to come to the rituals. Theoretically, the spiritual self of an individual might exist eternally, but by certain rituals, however, a person could induce the gods to annihilate an enemy's ancestors, thus depriving him of ancestral help and protection.

The most sacred rituals of the islands took place near the two sacred stones, Guatupu'a and Tepoutu'uigangi (Gau'eteaki) at Ngabenga on Bellona. These rituals were only performed when invocation to other gods had failed. They took great courage and were considered extremely dangerous, as the two gods worshipped were said to be especially sacred and fierce. These rituals were performed only once or twice in each generation. Only fragments of the prayers are remembered today.

Rituals were performed for every type of harvesting, such as digging taro and other tubers, and picking bananas, coconuts, gemugi, and other fruits. Rituals for fishing and hunting were of equal significance, especially those concerned with the catching of flying fish (sasabe) and shark (mangoo). Social events also called for rituals. A newborn child was dedicated to the gods and thus entered the social sphere of the society. Construction of temples, installation of religious officials, and certain types of tattooing were also accompanied by rituals. Death was followed by elaborate offerings and exchanges of gifts; the ceremonies usually lasted several months.

Mediums (taauga) possessed (eke) by worshipped gods were considered very important conveyors of messages and information from the gods, and their trances were accompanied by certain rituals. Another type of possession of persons by gods who were not worshipped was manifested in madness (ugu, uguhia).

Women did not participate directly in men's rituals but worshipped their own female deities, such as Kaukaugogo and Geipau. Their rituals were shorter, less

18

Page 27: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

complicated, and less sacred. Rather than food, women offered articles of their own making, such as mats, bags, and tapa. They had their own female mediums, who were possessed by the female deities mentioned above or by female ancestors.

In general, the rituals satisfied two needs of the people: (1) They confirmed the ties between men and gods through communal offerings whereby life and fertility of soil, animals, and human beings were secured for the months to come. (2) In the elaborate feasts with their distribution of the produce of gardens, forest, and sea, a certain economic balance was maintained.

3.8. Culture change since 1939. All the texts in this volume were collected after the people on Rennell and Bellona had renounced their old religion, and after considerable change in the culture had taken place. The old settlements had been abandoned, and the people had moved together into villages where the churches were the most important centers. The two islands are still covered by the Closed Districts Regulations of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, and no white settlers or missionaries are allowed to stay there. Visiting government and mission- ary vessels, however, bring small amounts of European goods, such as money, knives, axes, matches, tobacco, cloth, kerosene lanterns, stationery, Bibles, medi- cines, and water drums. Chickens, pigs, watermelons, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and citrus fruits have also been introduced. Clothes replaced tapa, brother-sister avoid- ance is less strictly observed, and the old rituals and gods are abandoned. A strict Sunday taboo is enforced. The Seventh Day Adventists have renounced many important traditional activities, such as shark fishing, eel netting, flying-fox snaring, gathering shell fish and longicorns, and catching coconut crabs; scaleless fish, flying fox, and all crustaceans may not be eaten. Church members in good standing no longer compose or sing tangi and traditional songs, and all young people know Christian hymns in English and write letters to absent relatives and friends. Dances are rare pleasures forbidden by both missions, which incessantly struggle to make the people forget their cultural past as they adopt European ways. The opposition to singing and dancing is apparently due to a fear of revivalistic movements, such as have occurred in the Solomons, and to the belief that such activities are a waste of tune. The story of the conversion to Christianity is told by the Rennellese and Bellonese themselves in Chapter 19. It will be noticed that this acceptance was extremely abrupt. The two missions that came to the islands — unlike some other missions in the South Seas — did not apparently tolerate mixture of old concepts or traditions and Christian ideas. It was either the old religion or the new, a dicho- tomy constantly emphasized by our informants.

This dichotomy appears to have had some effect which is of interest in studying the culture of the islands. The memory of the pre-Christian culture has been kept comparatively free of Christian concepts. Rennellese and Bellonese have a very clear idea of what is new and what is old. They surprised both of us by their ability to distinguish between the two cultural layers when they gave information or told stories. Very often we heard remarks such as "Before we believed so and so; today, however, we have been taught that..."

With change, there has been a considerable population increase. It is our im- pression that the members of deaths resulting from epidemics introduced by Euro- pean ships are more than offset by medical care and by the cessation of the constant fighting and assassination of adult males.

4. LANGUAGE AND ORTHOGRAPHY The following segmental phonemes have been noted in Rennellese: /p t k' m n ng

nggslbhghieaou/. /ptkmnng/ are stops and nasals at bilabial, dental, and

19

Page 28: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

velar positions. /'/ is a glottal stop, /g/ is a voiced prenasalized velar stop, somewhat like ng in English finger. /s/ is a voiceless dental sibilant. /l/ is a voiceless alveo- palatal lateral, with allophones suggesting English / and d and the voiced th in that. /b/ is a voiced bilabial fricative, something like b in Spanish abogado; an un- common allophone is prenasalized. /h/ is a glottal aspirate; after /u/ it is commonly labialized, /gh/ is a voiced velar fricative, something like g in Spanish abogado, but with more friction. All consonants occur initially and medially and in native words in slow speech, never at the end of a syllable or next to another consonant. A few common Bellonese words with /si/ are /hi/ on Rennell, as tasi, tahi (one).

The five vowels contrast in relative degrees of tongue position and lip-rounding. Double vowels are common as are double consonants in fast Bellonese speech in which vowels are lost. Vowels may be lengthened in emphatic speech, as in hu'aaigaoi (very, very good) contrasting with hu'aigaoi (very good). Final vowels may be lengthened or changed, as Teikoo!, a call to attract the attention of Teika when he is at a distance. Single vowels before terminal junctures are quite commonly voiceless, as they sometimes are within the utterance in fast speech. Vowels after terminal junctures are preceded by glottal stops; this predictable component of vowels is not the /'/.

Rennellese /g/ and /ng/ are both /ng/ in Bellonese; Another distinction in the two dialects is that many words with /gh-gh/ on Rennell are on Bellona /ng-gh/ or /gh-ng/. Examples include maghighape and mangighape (fantail), ghoghughoghu and ngoghungonghu (intestines), and ighabogha and ighabonga (parrot fish).

In this volume the following system of transcribing the two dialects has been used:

In texts, bylines, translations of texts, and notes after texts, the language of the text itself has been used.

In discussions elsewhere (as in Chapters 1, 2, and 3, and in the introduction to each of the remaining chapters), spelling is in Rennellese except in names of Bellonese persons and places. Thus, the names of the great gods Guatupu'a and Tehu'aingabenga are spelled in Rennellese fashion in the first three chapters, in the chapter introductions, and in Rennellese texts and notes. In Bellonese texts and notes these names will be written Nguatupu'a and Tehu'aingabenga.

It might have been preferable to have written always in Rennellese. Rennell is considerably more populous, and the Rennellese /g/ and /ng/ phonemes correspond to Proto-Polynesian /l/ and /r/, and /n/ (see page 23). Also, the two peoples would have had a uniform spelling, and the Bellonese would merely pronounce every /g/ as [ng].

This has not been done for three reasons: (1) We wanted to write a closer ap- proximation to the actual speech of the tellers. (2) Bellonese speakers are some- times not sure of the Rennellese form of rare words. (3) We have not wanted to suggest to the Bellonese that they burden themselves by attempting to write a distinction not made in their dialect.

The Four Gospels and the Book of Acts were translated into Rennellese and published in 1950 as Tokagima Puka Esiesi. The Renellese quickly became literate and used the Bible daily; but in spite of an extremely meager knowledge of English they prefer the English Bible, perhaps because it is, they think, in the language of Jehovah rather than that of Tehainga'atua. The people also have not accepted the spelling in their own Bible, and most writers use ng, gh and b for the Bible's italicized n and g and "v." We have observed ng and gh in dozens of letters and manuscripts, and have decided to accept the people's ng and gh. In two ways we break with custom, both that of the people and of the Bible. We write the glottal stop with an apostrophe and we show vowel length by means of double vowels (we may have

20

Page 29: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

failed in some instances to do so). We always write b (some persons write this phoneme with both b and v).

Punctuation marks in this volume do not, in general, correspond to juncture and pitch phonemes; much of the material was collected before analysis of supra- segmentals was completed. In this volume, for example, all questions are followed by a question mark. (Actually, not all questions end with rising pitch.) Both suspension and falling terminals are indicated usually by commas and periods. (Elbert has indicated more of such junctures than has Monberg.)

In spans bordered by any of the terminal junctures, there is one unpredictable primary stress, with or without one or more secondary stresses and commonly alternating weak stresses. Bases (the smallest elements that may be heard alone) do not appear to exhibit stress contrast when they occur alone; the stress is on the penultimate syllable; geminate vowels constitute a single syllable and thus receive primary stress only in penultimate position: [tàangáta] (men), [mángoo] (shark), [báato] (canoe connective). Geminates before pauses are not voiceless. Final vowels before suspension junctures are frequently lengthened and sometimes stressed (N2[B]:5).

Factors influencing our choice of orthography included the wish to indicate most of the segmental phonemic oppositions, but to omit nonsegmental oppositions, the indication of which might confuse the islanders. It is our hope that the Ren- nellese and Bellonese themselves may find the spelling used in this volume ac- ceptable for their own use.

A few English words have been completely assimilated into Rennellese. One of these is gahumanu (government). Contact with Europeans is so recent, however, that a great many English words are used that are not yet assimilated, and for which many pronunciations are heard. In a long story, not included in this volume, Elbert recorded four pronunciations for "Japan." One approximated the English pronunciation; another used Rennellese sounds except for the "j" sound of English, plus a final vowel (japani). The other two used Rennellese sounds exclusively (tia- pani, tipani). The common word "school," which has come to mean "Christianity" and sometimes "school," is heard as sikulu, skulu, sakulu, and about as in English. Informants said they would prefer that such names be written in standard English orthography. Proper names are commonly written in conventional orthography, but are pronounced in various ways. The common name pronounced "Polo" is written Paul. We have decided, for the reasons given above, to write proper names and unassimilated loans from English in standard English orthography.

We have usually written contractions as heard. Some are so common that the full form is never heard, as in hinake (hina ake, come, come up), hinatu (hina atu, go away), to'ake (to'o ake, bring, bring up), to'iho (to'o iho, bring down), na'anga (na'a 'anga, knowledge [to know, plus a nominalizing article]).

A preliminary analysis shows the following levels: phonemes, bound morphemes (those uniting to form pronouns, possessives, and demonstratives, and such affixes as -ina, -nga and haka- that unite with bases to form derived words), particles (not said alone, not closely bound to heads, usually with grammatical meaning), bases (single morphemes that may be said alone and have lexical meanings), words (bases with or without bound affixes, and pronouns, possessives, and demonstra- tives), lexemes (dictionary entries: words or sequences of words commonly heard, as tangata susugu [white man] and baka gege [airplane]), phrases (words or se- quences of words with or without modifying particles), sentences (phrase or phrases bounded by terminal junctures).

Spaces separate words and particles in the texts.

21

Page 30: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

As an aid to the reader familiar with other Polynesian languages, a table is given (p. 23) of the consonant correspondents of various languages, according to present knowledge. (In Bellonese, ,/g/ of Rennellese is replaced by /ng/.)

It will be noted that Rennellese /gh/ and /l/ have no correspondences. These phonemes have been discussed elsewhere (Elbert, 1962). Some 340 words have been noted with /gh/ or /l/ or both, exclusive of names of places and persons. None of these appear definitely to be of Polynesian origin. Although only 4 are included in the original Swadesh list of 215 basic words (claw, lango; clothing, laoa; dry, mamala; sew, lapui), many of them are of common occurrence. One theory suggests that these words may have been a legacy of the hiti, the original inhabitants of the two islands (Chapter 9).

In Section 5 a few structural differences between Rennellese and English are listed. A discussion of the grammar, however, is deferred to a later volume, and the position taken here is provisional.

5. TRANSLATION Four types of translation have been recognized: linguistic, aesthetic-poetic,

pragmatic, and ethnographic (Casagrande, 1954: 335). The linguistic translation is morpheme-by-morpheme, and is necessary in linguistic analysis, but has no meaning unless accompanied by one of the other types of translation. A free or aesthetic-poetic translation gives a literary flavor, perhaps of the translator rather than of the original; in Casagrande's words, it "is all too frequently sacrificed to the prevailing literary mode." This type of translation is rarely a safe guide for the student of a culture. A pragmatic translation (such as multilingual instructions on a bottle of medicine) is concerned with presenting a message and is unconcerned with aesthetics or fidelity.

An ethnographic translation is not rendered morpheme-by-morpheme but or- dinarily does attempt to translate with glosses or by grammar every morpheme as long as there is no loss of clarity and smoothness. There is no one-to-one cor- relation of grammatical elements: a passive in one language is not necessarily translated by a passive in another. The word order is switched. This kind of trans- lation differs, then, from the linguistic translation in that it has meaning. This meaning is closer to the original than are the meanings in either aesthetic or pragmatic translations. Fidelity of message and of style is a goal, but not at a sacrifice of smoothness and clarity.

Hence, there are no such terms in our translations as "we two inclusive" or "they three" or "subject marker." At the same time, information usually carried in English but not present in Rennellese has been supplied, such as the he/she and his/her distinctions, forms of the verbs "to be" and "to have," a possessive with body parts or kinship terms, and pronoun subjects and objects of verbs,

To summarize, we have had to resort to two compromises: (1) We have omitted in translation certain grammatical features common or obligatory in Rennellese but absent or rare in English. (2) We have supplied in translation the equivalents for features common or obligatory in English but sometimes or always absent in Rennellese.

A few points of structural differences in the two languages are listed below. An analysis of the grammar will be published later. Meanwhile, this brief section may clarify our translating methods, especially for those who have had experience with Polynesian languages.

Grammatical and lexical oppositions obligatory or common in Rennellese but absent or usually absent in English:

22

Page 31: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INT

RO

DU

CT

ION

3

23

POLYNFSIAN PHONEME CoRRESPONDENCES

PROTO-POLYNESIAN

ISLANDS P , k , f v • h m n • 1 , # #

R=<l1 p , k > h b • # = n • r r rh I

Futuna p , k '1# f v - # m n • I 1 # #

Uvea p , k '1# f v h hl# m n • lin 1 # #

Niue p , k # f v h h m n • 1 11# # #

Tonga p 'I- k '1# f v h h m n • lin # " "Tikopia p , k " f v - " m n • '11 '11 " "Elliee p/ph 'I'" klkh " f v • " m n • I I " "S""'" p , ," f v - # m n • I I " "Kapingamarangi p{ph 'I'" klkh " h w;Wh h " mlmh nlnh n/oh r/rh , # #

Easter p , k , h v h " m n • , ," #

Marquesas p , kl' " flh v h " m n n/ofk , ," "Rarotonga p , k "

, v ," m n • , , # "T~ru p , k " fjh v h " m n • , ,

" "New Zealand p , k " h/wh w h " m n • , ," #

Hawaii p k ,# h w h # m n n I I # #

Tahiti p , ,# fjh v h # m n , , , # "

Page 32: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

1. dual:plural (pronouns, possessives) 2. inclusive:exclusive (pronouns, possessives) 3. o:a (gender of possessed objects) 4. plural:nonplural 5. toward speaker:away:up:down:near addressee (bases) 6. older:younger (siblings of ego's sex)

Grammatical and lexical oppositions obligatory or common in English but absent or often absent in Rennellese:

7. lineal:collateral status of kin 8. male:female (third singular pronouns and possessives, kinship terms) 9. definite:indefinite (articles)

10. owned:not owned (body parts, kinship terms) A component common in Rennellese but rare in English:

11. aspect Components obligatory in English but absent or often absent in Rennellese:

12. copula uniting successive phrases 13. tense 14. subjects of verbs 15. objects of verbs

NOTES Paragraph numbers refer to the oppositions listed above. References in parentheses refer to the sample translations following these notes or to texts in later chapters. 1, 2. The Rennellese personal pronouns are:

First person dual and plural pronouns are inclusive (forms with ta-) and exclusive (forms with

ma-). The interrogative pronun is ai (who). 2,3. Possessives in Rennellese reveal the gender (o, a) and number (singular, dual, plural) of

the possessed object, and the person (1, 2, 3) and number (singular, dual, plural) of the possessor. The forms given below are o-gender.

A -gender is formed by replacing the -o- following t- with -a- (-e- commonly replaces -a- in

all except toku, tou, tougua, and toutou). The gender morphemes may be replaced by o'o and a'a to indicate "one of several;" to these forms may be prefixed m- with the meanings "for, with, and."

Possessives meaning "plural possessed objects, o-gender" consist of the same forms with t- replaced by zero (aku 'aamonga ... oku kainanga, T67:2, 3). But if a t-form precedes the head, and the reduplicated possessive follows the head, the meaning is "one of several" (toku uguugu, my wife; te uguugu o'oku, my wife [one of a number of wives of a number of men]). Posses- sives meaning "dual possessed objects, o-gender" consist of the same forms with t- replaced by gu (gu 'aku tama, my two sons).

The inclusive/exclusive opposition in possessives is neatly illustrated in T88:8. 3. Gender opposition, o-gender marks possessed objects that may be classed as intimate, as

'ugu (b), tu'a (d), tautupu'a (h), hage (p), baka (q), mate, manaha CT67:29.) Possessed objects classed as nonintimate are marked by the morpheme a/e, as tama'ahine (a, f), mugi (k), gau (k),

24

Singular Dual Plural

Long Short Long Shortau (e) kitaaua (Tl[A]: 19) kitaa (f2(C):4) kitatou tatau, tau

kimaaua (T1[A]:16) kimaa hma/oll (TSO[A]:20) matou (k)2 koe (TI[A]:7) kougua (T1[A]:16) koutOll (TI22:20)3 ia (TI[Al: 10) kitaalla (T2[A]: 1) kigaa (T27:1) kiKatou G)

gaaua (T28:2)

Singular Dual PluralPossessors Possessors Possessors

toku (Tl[B]:7) rotaa fotatOIl, inclusivetomaa (T66:24) tomatou (1'9:1), exclusive

2 tau (TI[A]:18) tougua (Ti[Bl: 18) tau/au3 tona (p, q) togaa (n[B]: 18) togatou (1'9:4)

Page 33: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

maatu'a (r), giu 'atua 'anga (T67:41). Body parts and parts of things are usually of the o-gender. Action words and acquired objects (such as a daughter) are a-gender. (Most other persons are o-gender.) A contrast is shown in T67:47: tona hata ... tena tuhanga (his perch .... his distri- bution). The o-gender here is an object on which one sits; the a-gender (tena) is an act one performs. The o:a opposition is obligatory. (However, only in the Lake district on Rennell is the distinction maintained in the third person, tena being the usual singular form elsewhere without gender distinction.)

4. The specifically plural stems in Rennellese are few in number and include boo (1), ngiu (m), noho (kinds), kigi (skin), and derived reciprocal forms in -'aki (1) and he... taki (o), and reduplications (tutugu, c, e).

5. The common directional particles are mai (toward the speaker), atu (away from the speaker), iho down or toward the speaker westward), ake (up or toward the speaker eastward), ange (sideways from the speaker). Examples: c, d, f, g, 1, n.

6. 7. Relative age of consanguineal relatives of ego's generation and sex is implicit in the most common uses of the kinship terms ta'okete and taina. Lineal versus collateral status is not indicated (see Section 3.2). The terms ta'okete and taina are translated in this volume as brother (man speaking) or sister (female speaking), unless the contexts indicate that the term "cousin" is more accurate, or unless an indication of "older" or "younger" is essential for comprehension.

8. Sexual gender is shown in English third person singular pronouns and possessives, but not in Rennellese (a, d, f, p, q, r). Sexual gender is implicit in certain English kinship terms but not in Rennellese (brother, sister, uncle, aunt, grandmother, grandfather).

9. The common Rennellese particles te and na mark nouns in the singular and plural, respectively, rather than the definiteness of an object (c, h, i, j, 1, m, o, q).

10. Body parts and kinship terms in English are commonly preceded by possessives, in contrast to the frequent lack of possessives in Rennellese (b, c, i; but possessives occur in a, d, r). Possessives have been added to English translations where needed for clarity and smoothness.

11. Certain common verb-marking particles in Rennellese (e, ma, manga, kua) mark aspect rather than tense, but have been translated by English tenses.

12. Noun phrases often follow without contiguous verbs or verb phrases in Rennellese (h, q). 13. Tense is rarely marked in Rennellese. In the sample translations given below, only the

word after noko (j) seems to require translation by an English past. The other words translated by English verbs have no preceding markers of tense-aspect (c, f, g, k, p), or merely have co- ordinators (kae, a; o, a, b, d, g, 1, m, n, o, p; e, c; te, e, 1, o). In translating the texts we have adhered to the English need for tense consistency, and have usually used the past tense.

14. 15. Comprehension of a story was often made difficult by a frequent omission of the subjects and objects of verbs. The man in the culture usually knew the story, and knew who was being pushed into the oven to die, but foreigners often need to ask such questions; in our translations, subjects and objects often had to be supplied. Brackets enclose these inser- tions, so that the student may gain an impression of the elliptic quality of many of these narratives. Examples: b, c, d, f, g, 1, m, n, p.

SAMPLE TRANSLATIONS

(g: gender; lc: lineal-classificatory; nm: noun marker; po: possessed object; sg: singular) Text 33:6-7 a. Kae hano o noho a 'Atagangahenua, ngege ia tena tama'ahine;

and go and sit intransitive 'Atagangahenua call to his/her lc daughter subject sg po

a-g And 'Atagangahenua went, sat down, and called for his daughter;

b. o a'u o hai te 'ugu o te tamana. and come and do nm head of nm lc father

o-g [she] came and looked for lice in her father's head.

c. Hakagongo ake ki na go'imata e tutugu cause to feel up to plural nm tear which now trickle [He] felt tears trickling down

3* 25

Page 34: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

d. ki te tu'a o'ona. O hakaanu ake kinai: to nm back of his/her And cause to ask up to him/her

o-g to his back. And [he] asked her:

e. "Po ni aa te tutugu kiate au?" question some what? does drip to me "What is dripping on me?"

f. Siga ake kinai. Ko tena tama'ahine turn up to him/her person his/her lc daughter

subject sg po a-g

[He] turned to her. His daughter

g. manga tangi, o hakaanu ake kinai: is cry and cause to ask up to him/her was crying, and [he] asked her:

Text 125(A):I h. Te tautupu'a o te tokagua hai hanau,

nm story of nm number- sibling o-g classifier

two [This is] the story of the two brothers,

i. ko Taamogi ma te taina — person Taamogi and nm lc younger sibling ego's sex subject Taamogi and his younger brother —

j. Ko kigatou noko gue te hogau. person they-3 did prepare nm trip subject They prepared the trip.

Text 40:6 k. Tautou mugi kae amatou gau. yours-3 lower and ours-3 leaf a-g exclusive

plural a-g

You have the lower [part] and we have the leaves.

Text 4KB):3 1. Ma te boo ake o ngii 'aki te kupenga

and do go up and wrap nm net plural plural

And [they] went up and wrapped up a net

m. o ngiu kinai o 'asu ai te kaui and bring back to it and drive into it nm fish

plural and brought [it] back to it [the reef] and drove the fish into it

26

Page 35: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

n. o to'ake o pusi and lift up and take care and lifted [it] up and took care [of it].

Text 41(B):16 o. ma te hepootaki ngua hatu ki te hinangango o benga ai

and do collide two stone in nm throat and burn it and the two stones collided in his throat and burned it.

Text 20:7 p. To'o e ia o tau i tona hage

take transitive subject he/she and place on his/her house

sg po o-g He took [the basket] and placed [it] in his house.

Text 5:4 q. Te mi'ibaka tona ingoa te hua

nm small canoe his/her name nm small-type canoe sg po o-g The small canoe was named the hua type.

Text I(B):I2 r. o hakama'ungi'ia tena matu'a

and cause to live his/her husband transitive sg po

a-g and brought her husband back to life

As can be seen in these sentences, we have not hesitated in translating to change word order: to put the subject before the verb, the adjective before the noun, and to move a pronoun subject from a position after a second verb to precede an earlier verb. (Ina ano kinai, sa'u ake e ia te pegea [T6:3I], looked then at him/her took out subject she/he the person: she then looked at him and took the person out.)

We have kept in English translation certain Rennellese redundancies, even at a sacrifice of clearness and smoothness. Some of this redundancy may have been a feature of oral delivery, and some a result of our frequent requests to informants to explain missing subjects and objects.

Semantic segmentations in related languages rarely coincide, and in languages as diverse as English and Rennellese, the differences harass the translator. Some- times in Rennellese, minute distinctions are conveyed by terms that may in English either be glossed by cover-all terms (if the context contains the nuance involved), or explained in long phrases. Only four examples will be mentioned here; exact definitions must await a lexicon or be inferred from the texts.

go: hano, hinatu, siga, singi, boo, tatae. carry: takitaki, 'amo, baba, laughaghi, nebe, 'abingi, kopi, to'o, soge, pagepage,

lughulughu, nekeneke, neneke, labaga. break: motu, momotu, momomomo, tohi, totohi, tohitohi, hohoa, mape'e, ma-

poghi, hati, tigi, lulugu, bubulu, bulubulu, bulu, lobe, lage.

27

Page 36: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

cut: tua, tuatua, koti, kotikoti, huge, pani, toghitoghi, tapi, sege, tobago, pe'egua, ha'a gua, taataa, taa, sepe, sugi, gamo, nao.

Some general terms in Rennellese may each be translated by a great number of English equivalents. Examples are:

kinai: to him (T14:4), her (T50[C]:9), for him (T6[A]:5), it (T8:6), to it (T4:2), at it (T4:3), by this (T6[A]:3), for her, him, her, there.

ai: into it (m), it (o), her (T1[A]:1), about it (T1[A]:3), from there (T2[A]:8), with (by means of, T1[B]:5), there (T1[B]:5), so (T6[B]:1), who, to him, ac- cordingly.

gaoi: good, beautiful, fine, handsome, well, moral. songo, maase'i: bad, ugly, wicked, sinful. gaataki: meaning, example; to understand, learn, measure, imitate, read, practice. pan: permanently, forever, chosen, selected, determined, decided, concluded,

finished; character, nature, responsibility; to think, believe, protect, care for; very, completely.

We have standardized our translations to the extent that each of us has at- tempted to adhere to the conventions above, and each has checked the other's translations. We have also agreed on the translations of technical terms. For these we have avoided using Rennellese words without English qualifiers (as huaa mako song); we have also avoided words with Euro-American connotations, such as devil, spirit, soul, service, licentious, adultery, war, murder. For words not used in the presence of Rennellese women or brothers-in-law, we have used risque English as the most apt translation of the original (see N13:7).

Otherwise, the two of us made no effort to translate in the same way. No two people ever translate the same, and no one person translates the same way twice.

6. NOTES TO THE TEXTS Notes by the translator are given after most texts in this volume. (The translator

is identified by his initials, SE or TM.) The purpose of these notes is to: (1) Present as intimately as possible the background of the telling—place, time

of day, attitudes of tellers and others present, especially their biases and pre- dilections, as well as their narrative techniques. Both of us consider this background helpful for analysing the function of traditions in the culture (see, however, Section 7.2), as well as for studying the style. Such notes also reveal much about the life of both the people and the collectors and about the mutual interplay between them.

(2) Present additional information given in answer to questions about obscurities of any kind, especially cultural and grammatical ones. The ethnography gleaned in this way was sometimes considerable, and also necessary for comprehending the text.

(3) Explain specific translator's problems and solutions. (4) Indicate exact places in the texts where tellers and others present laughed

or argued or were uncertain or seemed embarrassed, or preferred to make substitu- tions or additions to the original text, whether the text was by the speaker or by someone else. Our practice of reading texts aloud on several occasions evoked much additional material and some controversy. Many comments made by Tau- pongi in Honolulu are in the notes.

(5) Give cross-references to other texts or notes. We think the notes indispensable. The elliptic style of many tellers, and the fact

that a thorough knowledge of both present and old culture is assumed for the hearer make their constant consultation necessary.

28

Page 37: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

To some texts both of us have added notes; these are titled I and II. Chapter 2 contains informal notes on those tellers for whom we were able to

gather information. The careful student of a particular text is advised to consult these sketches, which are alphabetized by tellers' names.

7. STATUS AND FUNCTION OF STORIES AND STORY TELLING 7.1. Terms for stories. The general term for stories is tagatupu'a or tautupu'a.

These names cover all types of tales—those about gods, culture heroes, animals, hiti, ancestors, and ordinary folk—as well as genealogies and informal accounts of recent events. Tales as such are sharply distinguished from two other types of oral traditions, the kupu giu 'atua (ritual formulas) and the kupu me'a or taugua (songs).

7.2. Function of tales. The tales were collected between 1957 and 1959 after considerable acculturation had already taken place on Rennell and Bellona. Therefore, it was difficult to analyse the original function of tales in the society. From available data, however, the following picture of the role of tales emerges. They served the purpose of establishing, preserving, and rationalizing (a) group ties and border lines between groups in matters such as kinship, ownership of land, and social and religious rights and duties; (b) the superiority of one social group over another; (c) social institutions such as marriage rules; (d) moral values; (e) ties to supernatural powers such as gods and ancestors. The tales probably also served the psychologically tranquilizing function of explaining to some extent the nature of the universe.

These categories do not constitute a Rennellese and Bellonese typology of tales; actually they overlap each other. More than one purpose may be served by one text or one portion of a text. T66 is an example: (a) this text tells the story of the immigration and also rationalizes the division of society into clan groups; (b) told by a member of the Taupongi (Iho) clan, it stresses the superiority of that clan over the Kaitu'u clan; (c) it relates the history of how cross-cousin marriage became allowed; (e) it relates how the first contact between the immigrants and the gods was established.

Thus it seems that the tales served the function of verbalizing the structure of the universe within the boundaries of the Rennellese and Bellonese world. Of course, the tales served other purposes, including the obvious one of providing good entertainment.

With the changes of acculturation, stories probably lost some of their original functions. We might venture the theory that after contact with Europeans the people of the two islands realized how much the white man appreciated tales, and thus it became a matter of social prestige to know stories, even for those who had never been interested in stories before. A result of this, according to Taupongi 1961, was a pilfering (kaia'a) of tales that originally belonged only to certain family lines. Consequently, the original social function of tales on the two islands became difficult to determine.

7.3. Tellers and the situation. Training in story telling was a part of a child's upbinging, as was training in the arts of handicraft and of fishing, gardening, hunting, and fighting. The first thing a child was taught when he started to speak was usually the play-counting of the children (taunga babange o na tamagiki): Kahika, ngua ka, tongu mu, hati mai, noko ihea, noko iko, paka ko, tiitii, manai, pingii. These words represent the numbers one to ten. Their purpose was to make the children laugh. At a later stage, the child was taught tales about animals (not

29

Page 38: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

included in this volume), Mautikitiki (Chapter 5), and Sina and other culture heroes (Chapter 6, 7). At the same time, the religious training of the child was started. He was taught ritual prayers and children's versions of the ritual formulas, and he was taught to make offerings to the imaginary gods, Ngau'amo and Tehingimatu'a.

Informants stated that although the names of the gods were sacred the stories could be told by anyone at any time. The father taught stories about gods and ancestors to his sons even before they had reached puberty and could be initiated as hakabaka (assistants to priests). Even women could tell all types of stories freely and teach them to their children. However, nobody could mention the names of gods casually or joke about them. Informants said that although the stories were not sacred the names of the gods were. The degree of sanctity of the tales and other traditions is difficult to establish today; all bans have been lifted, and every- body talks freely and without caution, even about matters that were immensely sacred before the acceptance of Christianity.

Stories were not a part of the rituals, but were told freely when few or many people were gathered, as in the family circle or at the large feasts. Every lineage had its own stories, but many stories were common lore of larger groups of lineages or districts, or of the whole of Rennell and Bellona. Everyone was free to retell the stories of other lines, and apparently the tellers often colored the stories to fit into the religious or historical traditions of their own lineages (T66, T67), and to preserve their social status (N66). This may help explain the wide range of variants of the same tales within the comparatively small community of Rennell and Bellona.

Taupongi 1961 said that there were three settlements on Bellona that had men who were expert story tellers: Tebaitahe and Nukungango in Sa'aiho district, and Bosuka in Matangi district. Whether this information is correct cannot be proved. However, to some extent, it agrees with Monberg's experience that the people of Ghongau district were not so much interested in tales as in rituals and songs. In 1962 Paul Sa'engeika, from Ghongau district, said that the great story tellers of Bellona in the old days were the men of Sa'aiho, thus admitting the superiority of a clan other than his own in this special field. In fact, not many people of Ghongau district were able to contribute tales to this volume. Taupongi said furthermore that when school (Christianity) came everybody stole stories of the two ends (Sa'aiho and Matangi districts) of Bellona and told them incorrectly.

This brings us to the question of what attitude the tellers and listeners had toward the stories. Did they seem merely an amusing pastime? Were they believed to be true, and, if so, what does true mean?

As mentioned in Section 8.2, the Rennellese have no interest in chronology. The events in each story usually fell in a certain order, but the stories were told as separate entities or blocks of data, and an informant rarely attempted to place the events in time unless prodded by us. Thus, the long immigration story (T66) actually consists of several huge blocks of tales that hang together only because they are remembered and told by the same informant. The informants were interested in the events they talked about, and were not concerned with piecing together a chain of events; there were no compunctions to produce a connected story.

We believe that the Rennellese and Bellonese appreciated some of the factors mentioned in Section 7.2, and that they also set value on the stories as an ex- pression of truth. They are a people with a high regard for truth. Time and again a teller would ask others: "What is the man's name? What were his exact words?" Truth or fiction, we never heard any debate on the subject. Raymond Firth (1961:12) said that in Tikopia no one seemed to care if the stories were true or not. On Rennell and Bellona no one seemed to have doubts. Marvellous or prosaic,

30

Page 39: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

truth was truth, and the approach to stories was very realistic and matter-of-fact. One of Teika'ato's objections to a rival version of a complicated tangi song (not included in this volume) allegedly composed and sung by a newborn baby being carried between a pool and the settlement was that the other version was too long. The baby didn't have time to sing such a long song. Nobody seemed to have doubts that a newborn baby could sing, but the singing itself had to accord with the empirical laws of the culture.

The value of this material as a source of history (in our sense of the word) will not be discussed here. What is important, however, is the Rennellese and Bellonese conception of this part of their lore. To them, probably all tales are history in the sense that they relate true events, and their veracity is proved by the mere fact that they have been handed down through the centuries or that they have been told by mediums in their trances, and probably also by their serving certain func- tions in the society (Section 7.2).

One more question about the tellers. Are the tales, songs, and rituals going to die out? Are the young people going to learn them? For the tales, the question is hard to answer. The fate of the songs and rituals that accompany the tales, how- ever, is certain. Unless the missionary ban on them is lifted, they cannot survive. We did not find one person in his teens who knew any songs other than church hymns (often from the mountains of Arkansas and Tennessee) or a few songs learned at Honiara in English, pidgin English, or a Western Solomons language. The songs in the tales will probably not be remembered except for fragments. The two variants of T185 exemplify premissionary and postmissionary styles. Variant A, by Paul Sa'engeika, has a beautiful saka song that tells of clouds hovering between sky and earth. Variant B by a much younger man, Togaka, has just as good a story, but with only the first and last lines of the song. The poetic variant shows the gods' delight in music, while the second version shows little more than the gods' greed for offerings.

Story telling, perhaps without poetry, will probably survive. Stories are enjoyed too much to die out; furthermore, they are well known to persons still in their 30's, such as Taupongi, Tuhanuku, Headman Togaka of Rennell, Te'ota, Malakamu, and Teikanoa. Tellers need not fear condemnation of the mission as long as the stories do not contain prayers or sexual references.

The new function of tales (Section 7.2) as a means of acquiring prestige among Europeans may also contribute to their survival.

7.4. Style. Some of the narrators differed both as to type of story known and as to method of delivery. Some had special interests. Paul Sa'engeika of Bellona was an expert on ritual and religion and an inspired leader of the ancient dances, but he did not remember many stories. Paul Takiika of Kanaba, Rennell, re- membered many semihistorical stories, and took much pride in listing all the names of persons and places, involved. Te'ota at the lake, one of the best female sources of stories, knew almost no names and places, and her stories contained no gods; she preferred domestic dramas—a bossy woman drives her husband to suicide, or a man eats his wife and then is killed in revenge by their daughter. In her stories, women are important, just as they are in some of Esther Teika'ato's, and they are not told of in heroic terms. Tetamogi knew stories of the gods, and took pains to remember genealogies. Most tellers (especially male) attempted to remember verbatim set speeches of gods and heroes, often in figurative and cryptic language. Other persons who were intelligent informants and walking dictionaries could remember no stories (Taumoana, Luke Tegheta, Headman Tegheta, Puia, Head- man Haikiu, Headman Tahua, Headman Solomon Puia). The last two knew songs but not stories.

31

Page 40: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

Delivery styles varied even more. At first, Tetamogi of Tigoa had so little con- fidence in Elbert, who arrived in the dead of night at his remote village, that he told the stories to others, expecting them to be passed on to the strange white man. Later he gained confidence, and then spoke with feeling, often making graceful arm gestures, and obviously enjoying the stories himself. On the other hand, Tuhenua was so cold and efficient that he might have been an executive dictating an annual report to a secretary. Malachi Tegheta talked in a low, gentle voice, never shedding his reserve and passivity, even when his material was hi- larious. Taupongi often roared with laughter over his own stories. Te'ota was shy, as women were supposed to be, and usually wrote out her stories beforehand. Moa wrote his, too; he was conscientious, and a perfectionist and a scholar.

Some tellers frequently stopped to consult listeners, who were nearly always in attendance. Others, who had perhaps previously checked details, spoke without hesitation and with serene confidence, even such young tellers as Taupongi, Ta- puika, and Malacham Teikanoa. Some tellers seemed to simplify; at least their texts were easy to translate and contained few rare expressions. Some tellers in- serted for our information explanatory details that would probably not have been included in tales told to islanders. Children may have been told the tales with similar pedagogy. Paul Takiika's stories usually did not need much explanation. Taupongi, on the other hand, had no mercy for his interlocutors, and his tales were filled with rare and difficult expressions, often with figurative meanings that required much explanation. Although we rejoiced in these problems, we despaired when Taupongi's explanations contained still more new words and idioms, as they always seemed to do. He was usually very patient and clear in his expla- nations, but always showed surprise at our ignorance.

Some of our difficulties were attributable to the elliptic style. Was it more elegant to talk without interposition of subjects and objects of verbs, or was it merely old fashioned? We were not sure, and it was a long time before we finally began to surmise who in the stories was doing what and to whom. Other tellers, such as Headman Togaka of Mugihenua, Rennell, usually mentioned these details. Did they pity us, or were they just more deliberate?

8. SELECTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF TEXTS 8.1. Selection. The material in this volume is only a portion of that collected.

The following types of texts have been excluded. (1) Ritual texts (descriptions of rituals, ritual formulas, comments on ritual procedures), collected by Monberg; they will appear in a later volume concerning pre-Christian religion. (2) Animal stories without humans and a group of stories concerning adventures with snakes (ngata), lizards (hokai), and legendary giant octopuses (ngungutapongi) have been excluded for reasons of economy. Most of these stories were collected by Elbert. We hope that they can be published separately. (3) Many songs, collected by both of us, have also been excluded for reasons of economy. Most songs, such as the types called huaa mako (for dancing), pese (clapping songs), and saka (songs for comforting persons being tattooed and for gods) are difficult to translate and require more notes and comments than space in this volume permits. (4) Garbled texts and fragments that do not clarify other texts or the general culture have also been excluded for reasons of economy.

Although the criteria for excluding or including a text were established by us, our informants actually set the standard themselves. They told of what seemed most important to themselves. We rarely prompted the telling of stories. The tellers

32

Page 41: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

gave us what they wanted to give. Very often the telling of one story about a certain god, culture hero, or ancestor would release a whole series of stories about the figure in question, and we would mechanically take down what was told.

For the benefit of scholars Interested in traditional history, and for the light the texts may throw upon the structure and the concepts of society, we have included as many historical and semihistorical accounts as space permits. A few sections of these accounts have been excluded, but we have included as many variants of the same traditions as possible

For scholars interested in comparative studies of folklore, we have attempted to give all stories about legendary persons known elsewhere in Polynesia (names found elsewhere in Polynesia are in parenthesis): Mautikitiki (Mauitikitiki, Maaui), 'Ata- ganga (Atalanga), Tangagoa (Tangaloa, Ta'aroa, Tana'oa, Kanaloa), Sina (Hina), Gata (Lata, Laka, Rata). We have also included stories of the types generally known, such as counting stories and explanatory tales.

A characteristic of the Rennellese and Bellonese oral traditions unusual in Poly- nesia is the almost complete lack of proverbs and traditional sayings. The only comparable elements are the cryptic remarks in tales of gods and ancestors, which are usually repeated verbatim by tellers in sometimes apparently archaic language.

In general, we have attempted to present the history of Rennell and Bellona and the concepts of the Rennellese and Bellonese as they conceive them. It seems to us to be very difficult to establish objective criteria for selecting oral traditions for a volume which covers as many different fields as does this one. To be as objective as possible we have let the informants talk and choose themselves. The arrange- ment of the material is the only part that is entirely our work.

8.2. Arrangement. Most of the Rennellese and Bellonese trace their ancestry back to Kaitu'u, who is believed to have come 23 generations ago from a place called 'Ubea (T66). We have dated Kaitu'u as living in the first generation (see Plate 3), and have numbered consecutively the suceeding generations up to the present ones, G21, G22, and G23.

When asked by us, the Rennellese and Bellonese - often after much discussion - were able to locate by generation significant or unusual events in their genealogies. They knew songs attributed to Kaitu'u (Gl) and Tinopau (G8). They recalled such things as Taupongimatu'a's fear of being tattooed (G10; T115); chief Nika, who fell from a baghu tree and died (G17); and the incessant fighting and killing throughout the centuries from Gl until the adoption of Christianity.

In spite of this collective skill in locating by generation great and small events, and in spite of a deep interest in history and the past, it cannot be said that the Ren- nellese and Bellonese have any interest in chronology. Time and again we had to ask the generation of a story's protagonist, and often only after prolonged discussion was an answer given. Details were remembered, not because of a desire to produce a complete history for its own sake, but for many other reasons, of which only a few can be touched upon here and these only speculatively. One reason may be pride in ancestry (remembering complimentary things in one's own line and uncompli- mentary things in a rival line). Others might be the strangeness of an act (perhaps why suicide stories are recalled), or earthy humor (a bridegroom's letting wind, T202), or fascination (tales of culture heroes), or horror (stories of snakes and cannibals).

The arrangement of the texts in a time-semantic sequence is ours, but the material is from the Rennellese and Bellonese. We have tried not to intrude our Euro-American obsessions with time and classification into the stories and thek translations.

In attempting a semantic chronology, we have begun this ethnohistory with

33

Page 42: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

INTRODUCTION

accounts of the deities ('atua), and then the stories of the culture heroes (kakai), especially Mautikitiki, Sina, Gata, and Soso. Then follows the material that to the people of the two islands is perhaps their most cherished tradition, the discovery and settlement of Rennell and Bellona by Kaitu'u, Taupongi, and others. Kaitu'u found people on the islands whom he called the hiti. The encounters of hiti with Rennellese and Bellonese are told of in Chapter 9.

The six chapters that follow contain semihistorical events that happened in the various districts of the two islands. The texts in each chapter are arranged in chronological order by generations. These chapters begin with Tinopaumatu'a, who lived in both central and east Rennell, and then give the accounts by districts, proceeding westward from the lake to Bellona. Following the dated texts, the stories of persons whose genealogies or names are unknown are given in two chapters; those concerned with the relationships of men with gods are in Chapter 16, and the prosaic tales of the relationships of a man with his wife, parents, and brothers are in Chapter 17.

Chapter 18 concerns castaway canoes (baka tahea), so ardently wished and prayed for by the Rennellese; also included here are the few available texts about the visits of Rennellese to other islands. The final chapter gives the islanders' own account of the killing of the missionaries in 1910, and of the conversation later to the white man's God in 1938-39.

34

Page 43: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 2. THE TELLERS

This chapter presents short accounts of the people of Rennell and Bellona who gave us the material contained in this volume. These sketches were written after our 1957-59 trips. During later visits we were privileged to know many of the tellers more intimately.

Not only did people on the two islands receive us with magnificent hospitality and treat us as welcome guests, they gave us insight into their culture and shared their lore with us. For days and days they worked patiently, telling stories and explaining them carefully. They laughed with us at our misunderstandings, cor- rected our language, flattered us with praise when they thought we did compara- tively well, and—rare in many cultures—they corrected our mistakes in interpreta- tion and pronunciation. (Elbert will never forget Misianga's shrieks of admonition when he said hakangogo instead of hakagongo.) And the people did not hesitate to defy us when our theoretical interpretations seemed wrong to them. This honesty is one of their unusual gifts.

We have been able to do little to repay all that they have done for us. It is, however, our hope that they will receive this book as a contribution to the under- standing of their present culture and way of life, and as an epitaph upon that phase of their culture which in a few years may no longer be remembered.

The sketches that follow are arranged alphabetically according to the Rennellese or Bellonese names. Members of the South Seas Evangelical Mission had Christian names in addition to native names; usually they were called by only one of the two names, and this has been set in capital letters. An informant's name is followed by that of his village and island. Sketches of informants with whom we did not have the opportunity of becoming well acquainted are short. For some informants we have no more than their names. (Elbert was working so intensively during his short stays at Hatagua on Rennell and on Bellona that he neglected to obtain biographical information. He hopes that those who are mentioned only by name will not feel slighted.)

For a more detailed study of an informant, the notes following his contributions (see Index) should be consulted.

Persons who gave us material that is not included in this volume will not be mentioned here.

We have estimated the ages of the tellers. (Islanders are still uninterested in ages and do not try to remember when their own children were born.) Presence or absence of traditional tattooing was of some help on Rennell in making these guesses, as tattooing was no longer performed there after the adoption of Chris- tianity in 1938-1939. Tattooing was performed upon people in their late adoles- cence; thus it might be assumed that all tattooed people were born before about 1920, and untattooed people after this date.

Two persons must be mentioned because of their special courtesies and hospi- tality. Headman Malacham Tahua and Solomon Puia of Rennell did not give stories but contributed in innumerable other ways to the success of our work. Each of the two knew songs, and Solomon was in great demand as a dynamic beater of the sounding board. Each gave Elbert many songs, but they are not

35

Page 44: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

included in this volume. (A photograph of Tahua is given in Birket-Smith, 1956: figures 10, 75 [to the left]; Solomon is shown in figures 44 [left], 68, and 72.)

Those persons who made contributions to this volume but about whom we were unable to obtain biographical data are: Erastus Baiabe (RE), Toketa Gongona (RE), Kagobai (RE), Nathaniel Kaihuei (BE), Malaki (RE), Gilead Moa (RE), Michael Moa (RE), Amiel Nasiu (RE), John Ngatonga (RE), Timotheus Ngatonga (RE), 'Oea (RE), Lucius Peseika (BE), Makaleni Tebegi (RE), Tegautago (RE), Dothan Teikahoki (RE), Timeus Tekiou (RE), David Teosi (RE), Meshach Teosi (RE), Kemuel Tepai (RE), Tetago (RE), Togaka (RE), Michael Tongaka (BE), Gileiti Tohahenua (RE).

BASIANA, Matangi, BE Basiana was a serious man in his late thirties, and one of several younger persons

with a tremendous interest in the past. I knew him best in 1962. He was filled with information and took pains to correct my Bellonese. His usual quiet gentleness changed when discussing historical matters and he would speak loudly and com- batively. (SE)

GAAMUTU of Sa'aiho, BE Gaamutu was a modest, unassuming, and kind man in his forties who was

visiting Hutuna on Rennell. He was of sparse frame, but a hard worker. He knew a great many songs, some quite ancient, which he sang with fervor. I had the privilege of knowing him well on Bellona in 1962, and enjoyed his sense of humor and his many welcome gifts, such as tomatoes and eggs. He was not married but had adopted two small children given him by a younger male cousin (taina hakapigi). (SE)

Headman Heman HAIKIU, Sa'aiho, BE Headman Haikiu (Genealogy 9, G22) of Bellona was my host during my stay

on the island. He was a quiet man, about 35 years old, with an extremely mild and kind disposition, and he apparently had an earnest interest in the welfare of his people. In the evenings he often came and discussed the problem that occupied him more than anything else: the future of Bellona. What would happen to his people if the proposed digging for phosphate started?

Haikiu was a devout Christian. He had been to the South Seas Evangelical Mission station in Onepusu and also had served as policeman in Honiara for some years. He favored discussions of Christian matters, such as the difference between the teachings of the two missions on the island.

Being a man with apparently more interest in the future than in the past, he did not directly contribute many stories, but was very good at explaining difficult passages in the texts. He said himself that he did not know many stories and that the ones he knew he had already told SE. (This was sometimes a final answer from informants, meaning that they did not want to bother me with repetitions. I did not press the issue. It was too difficult to explain our interest in variants of the same tale.)

Haikiu's wife Sungu'ia, whom the Bellonese themselves considered one of the most beautiful women on the island, was a perfect hostess. She had a far more joyful disposition than her husband and was helpful to everybody, with a great sense of responsibility toward her white guests. Did we have enough to eat? Here were some more bananas. And she had just cooked some sweet potatoes for me. Would I care for some songo pudding? (TM)

36

Page 45: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

HENRY Hegoga, Niupani, RE Henry was a quiet man, a half-brother of lively Tuhenua. When my house was

not crowded he often brought over gifts, especially sweet corn, which he knew I appreciated. He usually stipulated that he wanted nothing in return. He knew a few stories and songs which he was happy to be able to tell. (SE)

KAIPUA, Ghongau, BE Kaipua (Genealogy 4, Sa'apai line, G23) was probably in his late teens. He was

my first Bellonese acquaintance. While I was working on the language in Honiara, he wrote down a few stories for me in Bellonese. Kaipua has a job in Honiara and prefers living there rather than on his island. (TM)

JOSHUA Kaipua, Ghongau, BE Joshua was a quiet man in his fifties; he was tattooed. He was not a story teller

but had considerable knowledge. He was eager to contribute information, and was an interested listener during many sessions. He often corrected informants and started discussions of details in stories, thus helping to clarify obscure passages. (TM)

Shadrach MAAUI, Hatagua, RE Maaui (Genealogy 3, G21), a genial gray-haired man in his late fifties, was my

host at Hatagua in central Rennell from March 17 to 24. He and his wife Rachael Paieke turned over their large house to me and seemed to enjoy the resulting chaos, with the constant stream of visitors wanting to look me over, tell stories, or bring gifts of taro, green coconuts, string beans, chickens, and other things. At nights the hubbub was greatest. Five kerosene lanterns were placed strategically on the floor, and men and boys filled every inch of space. A few women sometimes squeezed in, but usually they stood outside by the door. Stories were told and tangi sung. The material collected at Hatagua was so voluminous that for the first time I was not able to keep up with the translations. Maaui knew many stories, but he preferred to stay in the background and usually told stories only when asked by others. Hatagua village was on a grassy knoll in the most fertile part of Rennell. Food was so plentiful that papayas rotted on the trees; at the lake, people seemed to be watching the papayas hungrily until they were ripe enough to pick. (SE)

JONATHAN Ma'itaki, Labagu, RE Jonathan (Genealogy 1, G21) did not tell many stories, but was always willing to

help with explanations. He was a clever wood carver and was a leader in the church. (SE)

MISIANGA, Niupani, RE Misianga, who was Aaron Taupongi's wife and much younger than he, felt a

personal responsibility that I be well fed, both physically and mentally. She and her husband brought me great baskets of taro, far more than I could possibly consume, and she also brought me tales and tangi. She was concerned about my pronunciation, and scolded when I mixed the troublesome [g] and [ng], usually raising her voice to a shout to1 increase the effectiveness of her pedagogy. She also

37

Page 46: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

drilled me on intonation, such as the various ways of saying he'egahi mai (not near, not at the present tune, long ago) for different degrees of emphasis. She also wanted to know about our way of life, and on one occasion asked if we had gods ('atua) before our "schooling."

SE: "Yes, we had 'atua. There were Tupitala (Jupiter) and his wife Tiuno (Juno), and Piluto (Pluto) in the underworld (poo'ugi), and Benusi (Venus) who was very beautiful. Masa (Mars) was the god of war." (I made up Rennellese names.)

Misianga: "Wait. I want to write that down." (She got paper and pencil and SE became the informant.) Taupongi: "Did your parents worship these 'atua?" SE: "No. These gods were very very very long ago (he'egahi mai)." Taupongi: "Just like here on Rennell. You gave them up. I see." I felt that our relationship was now on a healthier plane. And then this happened. The High Commissioner of the Western Pacific had sent word that he was coming to Rennell and that he would like to see traditional dances and ceremonies. This request divided the island: the enthusiastic supporters of the government against the die-hard followers of the missions. Headman Tegheta was with the dancing faction; to ease his conscience and to enlist more followers, he asked me to trans- late into Rennellese Psalms 149:3: "Let them praise his name in the dance; let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp."

Misianga, who was actually an intellectual, asked me to go on translating Psalms 149, and I must even translate verses 6 and 7: "... a two-edged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the peo- ple ..."

"Vengeance upon the heathen," Misianga repeated. "That's what we were." (SE)

MOA, Hutuna, RE Moa was one of the most remarkable and brilliant persons on the island. Rather

solemn and reserved, he had an inquiring mind and brought me lists of unusual words, both in English and in Rennellese. On his own initiative he wrote out a 22-page account of the conversion to Christianity and the subsequent madness, including his own important role in the destruction of the stone gods on Bellona (T235[A]). He died of tuberculosis in September 1963. (SE)

Rachael PAIEKE, Hatagua, RE Paieke, wife of Maaui, was my hostess during my week's stay at Hatagua.

Originally from Bellona, she seemed to have lost much of her accent. She told several stories, such as that of the enigmatic Labupepe (T189). Some of her stories seemed to be fragments of longer pieces. (SE)

STEPHEN Panio, Niupani, RE Stephen helped in many ways to make my stay profitable. He and his wife

demonstrated tapa making, and took me to Mata'aso. Stephen was a clever wood- carver. He remembered the Australian anthropologist Hogbin and the American doctor Lambert. (SE)

38

Page 47: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

Figure 2. Traditional house known as hata in a manaha (homestead) owned by Paul Sa'engeika at Hangekumi, Bellona. The small houses at each end are for food storage. Ritual grounds (gotomaga'e) are in front. (Photo by Gordon Macgregor, 1933).

Page 48: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with
Page 49: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

Figure 3. A group of Rennellese tellers. Standing, from left to right: Timothy Sau'uhi, Henry Hegoga, District Headman Togaka, Job Topue, District Headman Solomon Puia. Sitting, from left to right: Jonathan Ma'itaki, Tegautago, Misianga, Te'ota, Samuel Tuhenua. (Photo by H. Dissing.)

Figure 4. Moa, Taumata, Aaron Taupongi, and District Headman Tegheta in 1933. All except Taumata played leading roles in the conversion to Christianity, T235(A, B).

(Photo by G. Macgregor, 1933.)

Page 50: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

Figure 5 (A). Aaron Taupongi of Niupani, Rennell.

(From a film by S. Wilier-Andersen.) Figure 5 (B). Moa of Hutuna, Rennell.

(Photo by H. Dissing.)

Figure 5 (C). Tetamogi of Tigoa, Rennell. (Photo by H. Dissing.)

Figure 5(D). Jotham Togaka of Lughu, Rennell. (Photo by T. Monberg.)

Page 51: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

Figure 8 (A). Temoa of Sa'aiho, Bellona. Father of Taupongi. (Photo by T. Monberg.)

Figure 8 (B). Taupongi of Sa'aiho, Bellona. (Photo by T. Monberg.)

Figure 8 (C). Tango'eha of Sa'aiho, Bellona. He is the only person on the island still wearing the traditional tapa loincloth.

(Photo by T. Monberg.)

Figure 8 (D). Joshua Kaipua of Ghongau, Bel- lona. (Photo by T. Monberg.)

Page 52: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

Figure 6. A dance to the accompaniment of the sounding board, following a harvest ritual in Hangekumi settlement, Bellona, in 1933. The dancer at the left, his back to the camera, is Kaihuei, younger brother of Tango'eha (Genealogy 9, G20). The beater, Tema'unga'uhi (Plate 3, G20) is sitting in the middle. Bending over Tema'unga'uhi is Ngibauika (Genealogy 7, G21). To his left is Tekiuniu (Genealogy 7, G21). Left of Tekiuniu is Suamoana of Matangi. (From a film taken by the Templeton Crocker Expedition, 1933. Courtesy of Bishop Museum.)

Figure 7. Paul Sa'engeika of Ghongau, Bellona. Note his solid tattooing (taukuka).

(Photo by S. Wilier-Andersen.)

Page 53: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

Figure 9. Sanga'eha and Sa'engeika pressing noses (sosongi). This traditional greeting has almost died out. (Posed for a film by S. Wilier-Andersen.)

Figure 10. Sa'engeika showing his respect for Sanga'eha and humiliating himself by inserting his head between Sanga'eha's legs.

(Posed for a film by S. Wilier-Andersen.)

•. --..! ". '~

•,

Page 54: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

PUIA, Ghongau, BE Puia (Genealogy 7, G22) was a slim man about 40 with somewhat European

features. He was almost always dressed in clean and perfectly ironed white shorts; he took pride in following one of the basic principles of the Seventh Day Adventist mission, to which he belonged, by being a model of personal cleanliness.

Puia did not like stories about the old religion and culture, especially those which mentioned the names of the old gods. He was almost the only one who kept calling the old gods "devils" [tebil] in spite of my joking protests that this word was not an adequate translation for 'atua. Nevertheless, Puia liked to talk about the tra-ditional history of his people and knew a great deal about it.

Puia was too young to have had priestly rank before the acceptance of Chris-tianity. (TM)

JAMES Puipuia, Matangi, RE James (Genealogy 1, G20) was probably between 50 and 60 years old. He had

the distinction of being a younger brother of Kagobai, who had been the principal kilter of the missionaries (Chapter 19, especially T234). Like many Rennellese, James had two houses, one in Matangi and one at Labagu on the shore of Lughu Bay. IB his younger years James had been an expert fisherman, but his eyes had become weak, and he suffered considerably, especially when the light was very strong. James had not been a priest-chief because he was the last of five brothers. He was familiar, however, with minor household rituals and the rituals used at shark fishing, and he also knew some stories. He had a fine sense of humor. When he told the story about Mahuike (T21) he had a large and appreciative audience. (See Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 30 for his photograph.) (TM)

PUKA, Matangi, RE Puka was in his late thirties, a man with many skills, an expert fisherman (he

had a house in Labagu), and a fine artisan. Puka was married to a daughter of Paul Sa'engeika of Bellona.

PAUL Sa'engeika, Ghongau, BE Paul Sa'engeika (Genealogy 6, G21) deserves a prominent place in this chapter,

not as a story teller, but because he was an outstanding informant on religion and culture. Paul (pronounced Polo by the Bellonese) was one of the most respected chiefs before the acceptance of Christianity in 1939. In 1958 he was about 60 years old, gray-haired, and the upper part of his body covered by the nearly solid tattoo pattern called taukuka.

Before 1939 he lived in the settlement of Hangekumi between Ngotokanaba and Kapata. Hangekumi in the old days was one of the important centers of ritual and dancing. Paul was said to have been an excellent dancer and one of the most skilled priest-chiefs. He was reported also to have been a successful fisherman for flying fish, the only person using a double canoe (two hulls) immediately prior to the adoption of Christianity.

Paul was a strong supporter of the new religion, but he still felt an urge to keep the old tonginga (customs) alive. He often complained that the old dances were being forgotten under the regime of the Christian God. On one occasion he gathered people on the grass outside my house and began the suahongi dance, taking the first steps within the circle of men sitting around him. Nobody was

4 39

Page 55: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

willing to join him; they feared the missionaries and froze in their positions, staring blankly at him. After a few minutes of solo dancing and singing he stopped abruptly and almost ran to my house, where he quietly sat down in a corner and looked at me with eyes full of sorrow. I think that this moment of mutual under-standing brought us nearer to each other than many previous sessions of dictating and discussing ritual texts.

Paul was a gifted and patient informant. During my stay on Bellona he came almost every morning, sometimes joining us at breakfast. We worked until about noon, when we had our meal, a short rest, and then went on working. Although Paul had not performed rituals for 20 years, he could recite the complicated for-mulas fluently and without hesitation, and he often acted out different roles. His skill as an actor was heightened by a constant enthusiasm when talking about the old days. In spite of this enthusiasm, it was clear that he felt these rituals no longer had any power because the Christian God was now the protector of the islands. He could recite the rituals without fear that they might invoke the old deities to come to his island. The road from their heavenly abodes in the east was blocked by the force of God and the 'aitu (Jesus).

I owe my sincerest thanks to Paul Sa'engeika for his help and for the friendship he showed me, a curious stranger on his island. Although he did not know more than a few tales—tale-telling was not his field—he contributed the most to my understanding of the concepts of the Bellonese and thereby also of the tales.

The following huaa pati song, composed by Paul Sa'engeika and translated somewhat more freely than most of the songs in this volume, gives an impression of the fine personality and abilities of this old man:

Toku tuku hano i na henua o haka- tangi ai au mu'a. Noka i ba'i

tengeu'a, noka i ba'i ngahonga. Kua noka toku sau

'ungua; noka i toku sao ghatogha.

Kae noka ma toku bugho ngoa; kae noka toku kupenga apa.

Noka toku sau 'angaba i ti au taki ma'anusanga. Noka oku ba'e ma

toku papa. Seu oku ngima o tahonga.

Noka i toku hai pengea ma te noko taki i aku me'a.

Haka'angoha aku tengeu'a; ke ma-nga nga'u ki te kenge masa.

Na matakite i ti au, mu'a.

I have grown old in the lands and it makes me angry now. Never more do

I think, never more do I make plans. Never more do I get a

wealth of 'ungua fish; never more do I make an offering of ngemungi fruits. Never more do I

catch fish with my long net; and never more do I catch nga´ea fish with net. Never more will there

be a wealth of shark for me at each fishing ground.

Never more do my legs move in dance or does my sounding board sound. My hands are useless and they rest. Never

more do I make friends, the ones that I called to my feasts before. My

thoughts are mournful; I am rich only in dry soil. Everyone has left me, the

superior one. (TM)

SANGA'EHA, Sa'aiho, BE Sanga'eha (Genealogy 9, G21) was the father of Headman Haikiu and the

younger brother of former Headman Mathew Sa'omoana Taupongi. He was a dignified gentleman with gray hair and European features. Although frail of form,

40

Page 56: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

he was a busy worker and famous as a fisherman. He was a frequent visitor to my house and a good informant, often joining Taupongi in telling stories or reenacting rituals with Paul Sa'engeika. He had been priest-chief and medium in the Iho clan. He spoke with lightning rapidity. (TM)

SA'OBAA, Sa'aiho, BE Sa'obaa was Taupongi's neighbor at Sa'aiho. A quiet, friendly man in his late

thirties, be was acknowledged to have considerable information about stars, and helped me identify stars in 1962. He had gone by canoe to San Christoval shortly after World War II to find missionaries. He was a deacon in the Seventh Day Ad-ventist church. (SE).

Suseni SAU'EHA, Ghongau, BE My acquaintance with Sau'eha was brief. We met on Rennell, where he had a

few day's stopover while waiting for a ship to Honiara, and he volunteered to tell stories. He was probably in his late twenties, and he had a fine appreciation of tales. He talked quietly but distinctly, with long pauses now and then for thinking. His stories are easy to read, in considerable contrast to those told by many older informants. (TM)

TIMOTHY Sau'uhi, Baitupu, RE Timothy (Genealogy 1, G21) was tattooed and probably was in his early forties.

A small man with a slender frame, he was a leader, business man, church official, father, hard worker, story teller, and charmer. He was one of my valued informants and the most successful provider of coconut crabs. He had a winning smile which he flashed frequently. He traveled a great deal and told me stories at Labagu, Niupani, Baitupu, Matahenua, and Hatagua. His narrative style was elliptic and not rich in detail. He was usually accompanied by one of his children, whom he treated with obvious affection. He had had four older brothers, two of whom had been killed in the fighting preceding the adoption of Christianity. (SE)

SENGEIKA, Sa'aiho, BE Sengeika, also known as Tepuke, was born in about 1932 and was married to

one of Taupongi's sisters. I did not have much opportunity to know him in 1958, but in 1962 in Honiara (he was working there as a cook) he proved to be a cheerful and valued informant for many things, including tangi, ngongole, and kananga songs. He reminded me that he had told the story of Tamua (T146[B]) on Bellona in 1958. (SE)

TAKIIKA, Ghongau, BE Takiika (Genealogy 7, G21) was not a story teller but had considerable know-

ledge of the old culture, especially rituals and genealogies. He was probably in his carry fifties. He had held great influence in pre-Christian days, and had been trained as a priest-chief. Yet his statements on details were often met with much opposition by others present. Takiika had played a prominent role in the establish-ment of Christianity on Bellona. (TM)

4 * 41

Page 57: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

PAUL Takiika, Kanaba, RE Paul was commonly recognized as the most learned of the Rennellese. He had

been priest-chief and was said to know a great deal about rituals. He made a special trip to Bagika'ago to help me and devoted himself completely to reporting every-thing he thought I wanted to know. He dictated clearly, but his stories were simple, and he may have simplified them in order to help me. He made a great point of remembering names. He was in his middle fifties, tall, dignified, and impressive. (SE)

NAIHAM Tamua, Sa'aiho, BE Naiham (Genealogy 9, G21) was a very friendly and sociable man about 50

years old. He wore a gruff expression and had the habit of rounding his mouth in scorn when I or others said something he disliked. He was a very able person who could rattle off ritual formulas so fast that it was hard for me to follow. At the beginning of our collaboration he dictated very slowly, syllable by syllable, but he soon developed a speed that suited both of us.

Naiham seemed to have a passion for listening to radio music. This very often brought him to my house in the evenings. He turned on the battery set, sat down quietly in a corner, listened for a while, and then fell asleep.

Naiham had served as priest-chief in the Iho clan. His temple was Ngangi-tapu. (TM)

TAPUIKA, Ghongau, BE Tapuika or Tengaungakiu (Genealogy 4, Sa'apai line, G23) was about 35 years

old and had no traditional tattooing but a generous allotment of European pat-terns. I first came to know him at Labagu on Rennell, where he was staying for a month, waiting for a ship to Bellona. He had been a policeman in Honiara for some years and had adopted many of the white man's ways, taking a certain pride in wearing a shut and shoes. In Labagu he and Timothy Sau'eha told the story of Kaitu'u's arrival from 'Ubea from their clan's viewpoint and then he read the account from my notebooks to the tape recorder. On Bellona he offered his services as a cook. As my house was in a village belonging to the Iho clan, and Tapuika had aroused the anger of this clan by his account of the immigration (N66), he was not too welcome there at first. The ill feelings eased up somewhat after Taupongi had had the opportunity to balance matters by telling the Iho clan's version of the story of the immigration.

After my return to Denmark I received a notebook full of valuable material written by Tapuika. Most of it had been dictated to him by Paul Sa'engeika. (TM)

TAUMOANA, Hutuna, RE Taumoana, younger brother of Headman Tegheta (Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line,

G20) and probably in his thirties, acted as informant and, on Sundays, as cook (a Seventh Day Adventist, he replaced the Evangelical Teikagei, who could not work on Sunday). Taumoana rarely went to church, and in other ways he did not conform to prevailing custom. He had no garden, canoe, or house; he was not married. During World War II he had worked for Americans at the seaplane anchorage at Tigoa, at the far eastern end of the lake. Once while fishing he was bitten by a barracuda (agu). The Americans flew him to the hospital at Lunga,

42

Page 58: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

Guadalcanal, where he was treated and where he lived in what seemed to him the greatest luxury. While there he had this experience which may have had something to do with his being more interested in American culture than in his own:

Taku hemasi'inga noko hai mai kia te am i te launatahi 'aso i ama-tou hiina 'anga i Luga: "Ko koe te pegea o te kakai 'anga tahahanga?" O he'e na'a e au. O hai atu kinai au: "He'e na'a e au tau hakahegeu e haina. Ka e sia hai au ke haka-maahoga mai e koe, taku hemasi-'inga gaoi. Te ingoa o te aa?"

Te kakai 'aoga tahahanga? A he'e na'a e koe? Te ingoa amatou America ki na pegea—he'e taka-ba'e, o he'etau stockings, ma te he'e trousers gogoa, o he'e shirt, o he'e tago 'ugu. O hai ai tematou ingoa nei, na kakai 'anga tahahanga."

My friend said to me one day when we were living at Lunga: "Are you a person of the naked people?" I didn't know. I said to him: "I don't understand the words you are saying there. And I wish you would explain to me, my good friend. What is it the name of?"

"Naked people? Don't you know? The name we Americans have for people— without shoes, without stockings, without long trousers, without shirts, without hats. We just call [them] naked people."

Taumoana was of great help with the language and translation, but he knew no stories and attached great value to American culture.

He was curious about America and associated the immensity of America with the immensity of Honiara. He once expressed his conception of this immensity as follows: "In Honiara there are four radio operators. I suppose America is so big that there are a dozen or maybe a hundred radio operators." (SE)

TAUPONGI, Sa'aiho, BE Taupongi (Genealogy 9, G21) contributed most of the Bellonese stories in this

volume. Although a young man, about 35 years old, he had a surprising knowledge of the cultural traditions, not only of Bellona but also of Rennell. He was too young to have been initiated as an official at the rituals, and so did not have an extensive knowledge of this part of the culture. He had, however, inherited a special interest in stories and story telling from his father, Temoa, and although he had grown up mostly after Christianity had been accepted, his enthusiasm and interest in the past had not waned. His eagerness to cooperate and his intellectual abilities made him an outstanding informant. He was extremely helpful to me in that he immediately understood that I had not come to the island as a mysterious inquisitor, but among other things, for the purpose of preserving as much information as possible before it was lost. He felt enough pride in his old culture to consider this an important task, and he stressed this point again and again to us.

Taupongi had been a policeman in Honiara for several years, and he had also worked on the coconut plantations at Yandina. He knew the white man but did not marvel at him. Like most Rennellese and Bellonese, Taupongi had never attended a proper school, yet his handwriting was fluent and easily read. His style in story telling was far from easy. In contrast to what may have been the case with some informants, Taupongi never seemed to try to adjust his style to a white man's concepts. He took pride in his knowledge and pride in giving his information as exactly and as detailed as possible.

43

Page 59: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

Taupongi's visit to Honolulu in June 1961 was his first trip outside the Solomons. He stayed with my wife and children and me and surprised all of us by the way he adjusted himself to Euro-American culture. The purpose of his stay was to act as informant, and he had a strong feeling of obligation toward his job. He did not complain even when we worked for days without other breaks than for meals. We realized the great intellectual strain it must have been for him, yet he never said that he was tired. His only complaint was that he had too much to eat and too little exercise in Honolulu.

Taupongi's English was not too fluent, but his Bellonese was of an unusual rich-ness. His vocabulary was large and he took pride in using rare terms, scorning us when we expressed our ignorance.

We feel that by going over our material with him we learned much, not only because of his patient explanations, but also from his reactions to various stories and his comments which showed his knowledge and his pride in his clan and his fine sense of humor.

During his stay in Honolulu we persuaded Taupongi to write an autobiography. He worked on it during many hot nights when he was unable to sleep, and completed it the day before he left. It consists of 74 handwritten pages containing valuable information on his life and on the culture of the islands; the most in-teresting parts being probably the description' of his childhood and of the ac-ceptance of Christianity on Bellona in 1939. (TM)

Aaron TAUPONGI, Niupani, RE Aaron Taupongi (Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line, G19) was the aged chief in

Niupani. He was a dignified and very kind old. gentleman whose memory was some-what dimmed by age. This was most unfortunate, as Aaron Taupongi had been one of the powerful men on Rennell before and during the adoption of Christianity, and he is probably one of the most talked-about persons on the island in the earlier literature (Lambert, 1931: 149-157; 1941: 292; Macgregor, 1943: 34-37; Deck, 1945: 73; Birket-Smith, 1956: 18). Aaron had been priest-chief (tunihenua) and his principal place of worship was the temple at Magama'ubea, east of Niupani on the shore of the lake. As priest-chief he was holder of the most sacred knowledge regarding the rituals. Both SE and I, however, found his memory of the past very vague, a fact that he readily admitted himself, often with an apologetic smile.

Aaron Taupongi had been to the South Seas Evangelical Mission station in One-pusu, Malaita, and had become a devout Christian. However, he went to church only on very rare occasions. When one visited him, he was nearly always occupied with one of his two favorite pastimes, carving artifacts or reading the Bible.

Although no longer a headman, Taupongi felt obligations toward visitors to his village. When returning from his garden work he often brought us large piles of coconuts, watermelons, papayas, taro, and eggs, and he never expected to be repaid. His last wife was Misianga, about whom SE has written in this chapter.

The Bellonese Taupongi (no relation to Aaron) told us in 1961 that Aaron died in his house in Niupani at the end of 1960. He was buried in his old settlement, Baigau, close to Niupani. (TM)

Headman TEGHETA, Hutuna, RE Tegheta (Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake, G20) was Aaron Taupongi's adopted son

and at an early age had served as priest-chief. He is mentioned by MacGregor (1943: 35) and Lambert (1931: 140; 1941: 299). Lambert (1941) said this: "He

44

Page 60: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

had the perfect classic profile and his tattooed torso was magnificent," and while acting as priest, "as be talked he rolled his eyes and every few moments he would go into a silent semi-trance." As headman at the lake, Tegheta felt a sense of responsibility for both my well-being while staying there, and for the success of my mission. He bad a nervous almost manic drive for activity and was constantly traveling about. He followed me to Tigoa, at the far eastern end of the lake, and helped me work with Tetamogi there. He made no effort to remember stories or facts. He knew many songs, however, and was an enthusiastic dancer during the period preceding the arrival of the High Commissioner. He was active hi the Seventh Day Adventist church, and on New Year's Day he invited me to the service and then asked for a short talk. (I tried to stress a religion of love and the value of preserving old customs!) Before I left on a trip to Mata'aso, he came to my house and asked me to pray with him for the success of the trip, and in a long prayer especially begged for protection from the rocks upon the path. For Tegheta's key role in the conversion to Christianity, see Chapter 19. (SE)

LUKE Tegheta, Niupani, RE Luke did not know many stories, but was most helpful in reviewing the transla-

tions. He would sit in my house by the hour, especially when other informants were not there; he was always willing to answer any question and never raised his voice. He left when a meal was brought me, and returned when I finished. He expected no reward for his constancy, smiles, and knowledge. He had spent a year and a half at the Evangelical Mission at Onepusu working with Miss Waterstone at translating the Gospels and Acts into Rennellese. (SE)

MALACHI Tegheta, Niupani, RE Tegheta (Genealogy 2, G19) was my neighbor for several months at Niupani.

Quiet, grave, and dignified, it was hard to realize that he had had considerable fame as a killer; he once dictated a story (T177) about female jealousies over the relative beauty of tattooing, but he told it without a smile. He was a hard worker and sometimes came directly from his work, all perspiration and fatigue, but filled with a story that he wanted to tell (e.g., T57[C]). He was in his fifties and knew much of the old traditions, especially the songs. Taupongi 1961 reported that he had died recently while doing contract labor at a coconut plantation on Guadal-canal. (SE)

Esther TEIKA'ATO, Niupani, RE The wife of Jasper Tekobi and a leader among the women, Teika'ato had been

to the mission school in the Solomons. Less bashful than most women, she dared come to my house to tell stories and songs, or trade bananas, or sell a plaited mat. She had a gentle voice and charming smile. She loved the tangi song and on Christmas stayed up all night singing. Her comments were often poetical. She was probably in her early thirties. In 1962 we learned that she had died of an operation in Honiara. (SE)

TEIKAGEI, Matangi, RE Teikagei (known to all as Teika) cooked for me. Like other Rennellese, he was

conscientious about what he considered to be his duties. There included traveling from one end of the big island to the other, walking for miles, and canoeing on

45

Page 61: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

the lake and, on one occasion, in dangerous seas. He was not particularly interested in Rennellese culture, and was too young to remember pre-mission times. He was merry and was constantly singing "Jesus is the Captain" until I finally told him that this song was not high in my esteem. He told only one tale (not included in this volume), an animal story he had learned in the Solomons; he relished its eschatological humor. (SE)

Isaac TEIKAHOKI, Bagika'ago, RE Teikahoki appeared to be the oldest person I saw on Rennell. He was short,

with a luxurious gray pompadour, and some tineal blemishes on his skin. He was extremely alert both mentally and physically, and dictated the unusual T224 about the arrival of a Taumako castaway, as well as an important ritual (not included in this volume). His genealogy is given in N224. He died before our 1962 visit. (SE)

MALACHAM Teikanoa, Hatagua, RE Malacham (Genealogy 3, G22) had boundless enthusiasm and energy and knew

a great deal about the past, even though he was not tattooed and was about forty. He still netted doves in the traditional way. He talked very dramatically in a loud voice, remembered picturesque dialogue verbatim, and used unusual words (T102). (SE)

Jasper TEKOBI, Niupani, RE I

My neighbor Tekobi was in his mid-thirties, and not tattooed; he had a brilliant mind and still remembered much of his participation in the pre-Christian cere-monies. A sparse, dynamic person with flashing eyes, he was a leader and had a great deal of initiative. He escorted me to Teaba for eel fishing. He was married to Teika'ato. He had been to the South Seas Evangelical Mission School and he often led the church service. He surprised me one Sunday by asking for a prayer. Apparently he had a passionate nature for he once forgot himself and fought in a Christmas afternoon brawl following a football game at Niupani between the bachelors and the married men. He knew both stories and songs. His father, whom he remembered, was killed on the first day of the siege at Agaitai in about 1926 (T108). He and his mother were allowed to escape. (SE)

II Jasper was my informant on the conversion to Christianity. He was an eye

witness to the madness in Niupani in 1938 (Chapter 19), and his account of what happened is that of an intelligent observer and a fine story teller.

The evening before I had to leave Niupani, Jasper complained about pains in his head, neck, and chest. He had a slight fever and I gave him some sulfa drugs. During the night his condition worsened, but he felt somewhat better in the morning. I gave Teika'ato some medicine for him, and left for Lughu feeling certain that he would recover. Two days later a messenger came to Lughu and re-ported that Jasper Tekobi had died the night before. Dresser Tahua in Niupani said that the cause of death was pneumonia. (TM)

TEMOA, Sa'aiho, BE Temoa, father of Taupongi, was a gifted story teller and expert on songs and

rituals. (In 1962 he tape recorded the long suahogi ritual song without the slightest

46

Page 62: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

hesitation). He had taught much of his vast knowledge to Taupongi, and thus indirectly contributed a great deal to this book. In 1962 we lived next door to him, and he made himself constantly available as a source of information. His was an intense nature, and sometimes he and others had loud arguments. He seemed to breathe out an effortless torrent of information. (SE, TM)

TEMOA, Matangi, RE Temoa often lived next door to the large house in Labagu where I stayed; he

was an expert fisherman and often supplied me with fresh fish. He was also a nonconformist. He was not married. He had broken with the church and never went to the daily or Sunday services. He lived alone hi a tiny but neat house at Matangi, but came nearly every week to Labagu, often walking alone at night —4 hours on a dark, rocky trail. He often worked alone, as when cutting weeds at Labagu or fishing. I asked if he knew stories, and he said that his mother and father had taught him some, but that they died when he was young and he didn't know many. He dictated my first hiti story (T85), his black eyes flashing with pleasure. (SE)

John TEMOA, Bagika'ago, RE John Temoa had a deep bass voice and a flair for stories, of which he knew

many in spite of his relative youth. He told them with gusto and considerable laughter. After telling T 77, I thanked him and suggested that we count his stories. There were nine, some quite short. The two headmen, Solomon and Tahua, hap-pened by and he said to them with satisfaction: "I've helped the white man very much. Nine stories." He often carried an American haversack, a relic of the war. (SE)

TE'OTA, Niupani, RE Te'ota (wife of Teu'a) made interesting contributions which were rather different

from those given by men. They were brief gems about nameless people in nameless places. Some of her stories were innocuous or funny, but most were highlighted by a single horrible deed, such as cannibalism or lizard eating, and nearly all of them ended with a death; the leading character was usually a woman, sometimes a villainess, Te'ota was not interested hi remembering the details of battles or of Kaitu'u's travels, but recalled homely bits, and she also knew a great many tangi songs. She would usually write her stories out, with excellent spelling but almost no word division. They were clear; I rarely needed to figure out the subjects of the verbs.

Once she brought her infant son, who cried loudly when he saw me. A man took him away and brought him back in a few minutes after he had quieted. Te'ota said to the child, looking at me: "Mataku!" (Danger!). The child cried louder than ever, and this time a little girl took him away.

Te'ota would manage to come to my house when no one else was there; she often brought another woman with her because, she said, they were papa'a (shy). She was tattooed and in her early or middle thirties; she had lived with an Ameri-can in Tigoa during the months in 1943 or 1944 when there was an American air base there. (SE)

47

Page 63: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

TETAMOGI, Tigoa, RE Middle-aged Tetamogi (Genealogy 2,G19) was famous as an expert on genealogy,

and as a singer, dancer, and composer of many highly esteemed songs. I made a special canoe trip of more than twenty miles to see him at Tigoa at the east end of the lake. We reached Tigoa late at night, and I first saw him next morning. He had badly cut his hand with a knife and it was wrapped with a bloody rag. I asked him to clean it, and then applied ointment and a clean bandage. He did not think I could possibly understand his Rennellese and addressed his remarks in very fast but fault Rennellese to others, especially to Headman Tegheta, and they repeated to me. It was a painful process. When Tetamogi looked at me he talked syllable by syllable. Preoccupied with his ever present grandson, he had not been thinking of legends, and the strange white man had appeared in the dead of night. He needed time to collect his thoughts.

Gradually he began to speak directly to me and to slow down, but he never became a dictating machine. Emotionally involved with his narrative, he gesticu-lated gracefully or emphatically as he spoke and he chanted frequently. Later he came to Niupani and Labagu, where he was a respected leader in the dances. He had a shock of gray hair and a rather solemn face. When he told stories in Tigoa he usually sat on the floor holding his infant grandson. (SE)

TEU'A, Niupani, RE Teu'a (husband of Te'ota) was a modest, quiet little man of about 50 who lived

on the north side of the lake. He would come to my house when few people were there and dictate quietly but with precision and without groping for words. (See N232 for a note about him.) He died before my 1962 visit to Niupani. (SE)

Mathew TIGHESUA, Bagika'ago, RE Tighesua, a man of wide prestige, was the father of Headman Solomon Puia

and a former district headman. He was very deaf, but like all Rennellese he was most agreeable and cooperative.

Paul Takiika told the following story about Tighesua's experience with a white doctor, presumably in the 1920's. Nila (needle) refers to any kind of injection or vaccination.

Ka ko kigatou na pegea o Kaga-ba e iai Tahua noko sia hai ki taa ia gahumami ma tena lango 'anga i te hakahuahua a Kagaba, ma te hai masaki.—Noko tata'o ai te tokita o to'ake e ia medicine, ma te to'ake te nila. Ka te launatahi tangata, noko hai tena maka, ko Tighesua, ka na hogahoga kia Tokita o gongo ai. O a'u ia o ina ki te tangata e hai tena maka, o hai tena haka-hegeunga, ko Tighesua hai ke nila. Ka te 'apitanga o pegea he'emama-ka i te matataku ki te nila, i te me'a gaa te'itoo kite ai o matataku kinai. — loo 'oti te hegeunga nei, kae nila.

And they, the people of Kagaba in-cluding Tahua, wanted to kill the govern-ment people in the expedition as [they] were ruling Kagaba and causing sickness. —The doctor came with them and he brought medicine, and brought a needle. One person who had a sore was Tighesua, and [this] was told to Doctor who heard it. He came and looked at the person who had a sore, and made his statement that Tighesua should have an injection. But most people did not agree because of fear of the needle, as this was the first time it had been seen and there was fear of it. —After this conversation, there was an injection. Doctor said: "In a little over a

48

Page 64: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

O hai atu a Tokita: "Tahi mahina ma te potu ka ke mahu na maka." —Namaa hano te mahina o 'oti, kae hakatu'u ia mahina o hano o ngatahinga, kae huhuke na maka o Tighesua, kua mahu. Te 'apitanga noko mangaongaohie, ma te kogaa agatou hai ake: "Ko kitatou noku hu'u, te hai atu kitatou kia Tokita, ko Tighesua, kaa nila koe, o mate."

month the sore will be healed."—After this month was finished, and the next month had begun and was half over, the sore of Tighesua was uncovered and was healed. Most of the people were pleased and they said this: "We were foolish when we said to Doctor, that when you inject Tighesua, [he] will die." (SE)

Headman TOGAKA, Kaagua, RE Togaka (Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line, G22) was one of the younger tattooed

men. He had learned a great deal of the old culture from his father, Teikabego, who had acted both as priest-chief and as lesser priest. Togaka was an enthusiastic raconteur and dancer, and a pleasant companion. For his chiefly duties he traveled considerably, and I collected stories from him at Niupani, Bagika'ago, and Ha-tagua. (SE)

JOTHAM TOGAKA, Labagu, RE Jotham Togaka, a tall man with a very gentle and kind disposition, was my

first acquaintance on Rennell. He offered his services as a cook, but he soon proved to have greater abilities as a language teacher and informant Togaka was about 35 years old. His father, Ngatonga, had had no particular prestige or rank, and Togaka was adopted by his mother's brother, also named Togaka. Togaka's per-manent home was hi Labagu at Lughu Bay. Before the acceptance of Christianity, Labagu had been a sacred place with almost no habitation. It was the place where the dead gathered and danced before making their voyage to the abode of the gods. When the area was cleared after the acceptance of Christianity, Togaka inherited several lots of land. This caused a land dispute between Togaka and Stephen Puia, the first district headman of Rennell. Puia claimed ownership of the middle section of Labagu where his house and the church were; Togaka reported that Puia lost the case before the court in Honiara.

Togaka had been a member of the police corps in Honiara, and so was used to the odd behavior of white men. He was a devoted member of the South Seas Evangelical mission. During the first weeks he appeared to despise the pre-Christian way of life, and talked with disgust of the old religion and social structure. However, when we became better acquainted, his attitude changed some-what; he probably realized that I did not feel the contempt for the old culture that he expected from white people. From then on, he gave objective information and carefully avoided coloring it with personal likes and dislikes. He did not re-member any of the old cult formulas, but had a very clear memory of ritual procedures. Later checking showed that his information had been entirely correct. He was a good language teacher; although very much puzzled by my inquisitive-ness, he could sit for hours giving information on such matters as social structure. When I went to Bellona, he asked if he and his wife, Temota, and two sons, Tago and Hanoba, might also come. Temota wanted to visit relatives and Togaka was afraid that I would have difficulties in understanding the Bellona dialect.

Accordingly, we all went, and Togaka's stay on Bellona proved of immense value. As an outsider he felt free to discuss everything he heard and saw, and this

49

Page 65: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

made it easier for me to understand many puzzling details in behavior, and enabled me to see the disputes between the Kaitu'u and Taupongi clans in new perspective. (TM)

JOB Topue, Niupani, RE Job was tattooed and in his fifties. He did not tell many stories himself, but was

often present with informants and assisted in interpretations. He had a sensitive appreciation for the niceties of the old religion and had taken an active part in the ceremonies. He was in some ways a purist and prude. He objected rather strongly, for instance, to someone calling a coconut grater by the Solomon Islands name, pelopelo, instead of tuai, the Rennellese name for a pearl-shell scoop such as was used for grating coconuts. He complained about a woman telling the story of the man who broke wind (T202); in 1962 he objected when a group of women were telling me kananga songs, a source of some embarrassment and much pleasure, as a few of the kananga were love songs. Topue was very talkative, and in 1962 ever present. He was a good shot and one of the few who had a gun. He had been one of the first to meet the Tikopia castaways (T226). He had known the Australian anthropologist Hogbin and the American doctor Lambert. He knew many songs and was an enthusiastic dancer. (SE)

DANIEL TUHANUKU, Ghongau, BE Daniel Tuhanuku was about 30 years old and not tattooed. He was rather

taciturn and solemn at times, but on other occasions smiling and rather jolly. This puzzled me a great deal. Taupongi was a frequent visitor to my house in Ngoto-kanaba, and he was often there when Daniel came. But when Daniel told the story about the fight with five victims (T126), Taupongi was not present and Daniel was in his jolly mood. Taupongi in Honolulu, 1961, explained that he and Daniel were brothers-in-law (tau ma'aa) and each had to be very careful of what he said. Taupongi always spoke pleasantly of Daniel. I asked whether brothers-in-law could say unfavorable things about one another. Taupongi said that one always speaks nicely about one's brother-in-law.

Daniel Tuhanuku was a good story teller, although a little hard to understand at times. He was present at many sessions and contributed valuable information on genealogies and historical traditions, but he did not often tell stories himself, probably because Taupongi was usually present.

Genealogy of Daniel Tuhanuku (dotted line indicates an adoption):

50

G (o.n'rallon)

21

22

22

rl_--L_-., ,Touklu Sango'.ho Saungongoi ,,_....L'__,l T.lkong.l T.ikongongo

--------.-----", IKaifu'll (Takllko)

IDoni,1 l ..ha..""..

INghl1Gft1tCI

IJuon NglIIlGnga

Il,balota

'i'lell.pongl

I

Page 66: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

THE TELLERS

Samuel TUHENUA, Niupani, RE My first and most frequent contributor at Niupani was Tuhenua, who was

probably in his early forties. He was gifted with a remarkable memory and was very articulate. His style suggested an efficient business executive dictating to a stenographer. He told a long story (not included in this volume) of his experiences as one of six Rennellese commando fighters who stalked the Japanese in the Solomons. He had become a Christian before his tattooing was completed, and hence had only the three nearly converging chest stripes,

For Tuhenua's perceptiveness, see N215. (SE)

TUPEUHI, Mangui, BE Tupe'uhi was a frail man probably born before 1910, as he had taken an active

part in the wars. In 1962 he visited me in Headman Togaka's house in Matangi, made a present of tomatoes, and recorded many old songs. I had first met him at Hatagua, Rennell, in 1958. He had come from Bellona with a fleet of five or six canoes to attend an Adventist meeting at the Lake. (SE)

51

Page 67: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 3. GENEALOGIES

Unlike some other Polynesians, the people of Rennell and Bellona did not regard their genealogies as sacred lore. Genealogies were neither recited at the rituals nor were they considered secret knowledge which had to be guarded carefully lest outsiders with this information magically destroy those involved. Genealogies were knowledge openly available to everybody. As the districts were exagamous on both islands, every individual would have blood-ties to other districts through his or her hohonga 'anga (matrilineage) and thus ties to other lines of descent than the patri-lineal descent group of his own district. The patrilineal descent, however, was the most important. It will be seen that the mothers' lines are very rarely referred to in the texts; in fact, very few informants could trace back their mother's line more than a few generations. In this volume, the women's lines are given only in the few cases where they are of significance for understanding the text.

Knowledge of the genealogies of ancestors is very rapidly disappearing on Ren-nell and Bellona. On Rennell a very few older informants could trace the lines back to the first immigrant Kaitu'u, and no traditions about the genealogies of ancestors in 'Ubea exist on either of the islands. On Bellona most of the older people have a fairly good knowledge of the ancestry of their own districts, but only vague ideas of the genealogies of other districts. This seems to have been the case even before Christianity was introduced.

The various genealogies furnished by different informants coincide very well. Upon study of the genealogies, persons mentioned in the stories, sometimes on different islands, will be found to have probably lived at the same time; in other words, they will be in contiguous generations (see T14, T66, T133, T139, T140). Very few inconsistencies appear. It will also be seen that nearly all genealogies have 22 or 23 generations from Kaitu'u down to the present. An exception will be found in Plate 3; the Mugihenua-Lake lines are shorter. In some cases apparent irregularities can be explained by the fact that some men had sons with different wives over a comparatively long span of years, the youngest son thus being of the same age as the sons of his oldest brother. This was, for instance, reported to be the case with the six sons of Saungongo (Genealogy 5, Tongaba line, G17).

Tetamogi (Genealogy 2, G19) explained the shortness of his own line (the Kaitu'uma'tu'a branch of the Mugihenua-Lake line) as due to late marriages. In this line Headman Tegheta's little son Newman and Teikabego are both in genera-tion 21 (Plate 3), but Teikabego died as an old man after World War II (according to his son, Headman Togaka), probably before Newman was born.

It is probable that the surprising contiguity of genealogies is the result of deliberate manipulation of traditions, especially as regards the earliest generations. In the Kaitu'u clan, traditions concerning generations 2-5 after the immigration are vague. In the Taupongi clan it is publicly known that the names of the an-cestors hi generations 2 and 3 had been forgotten, but that a medium had disclosed them in fairly recent times (see Notes to Genealogy 9).

Unlike the situation in other Polynesian cultures, Rennell and Bellona have different names for men and women. Examples of female names are: 'Amoika, Kabasingi, Kaba'uhi, Kaisio, Paieke, Sibai, Teamosi, Tebaisongo, Tebegi, Teika-'ato, Telanga, Temakosa'u, Temano, Temoni, Temota, and Tesope.

52

Page 68: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

GENEALOGIES

Some of the men's names occurring at least twice in Plate 3 (including variant names, but excluding here a final matu'a [elder]) are Kagobai, Kaitu'u, Nika, Sa-'obaa, Sau'eha, Sau'uhi, Tagosia, Taupongi, Tegheta (but only beginning with generation 18), Teikagei, Teikanoa, Togaka, and Tuhenua.

This use of the same name, especially in adjacent generations, adds to the difficulties of understanding the stories and of keeping the generations straight. For example, the name Tegheta is found four tunes in generations 18, 19 and 20 in the Mugihenua-Lake line in Genealogy 2 and in Plate 3, Furthermore, males are sometimes named for their grandfathers (Tagosia, Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line, G17, 19; Ngibauika, Genealogy 7, G19, 21). This may have caused some informants to leave out a generation when dictating, and may have been a factor in the shortness of one branch of the Mugibenua-Lake line. Usually, and we hope in all cases, these mistakes were found when the genealogies were rehearsed and then collected by informants.

Another factor that could sometimes lead to confusion .is that every person had many names, and would often be called by several of' them. When a new father learned the sex of his offspring, he often gave the child its first name (ingoa hakama'u) after a member of his line. Then the mother gave names from her line, and the father added additional names. Sometimes but not always the mother both addressed the chid and spoke of him by names from her line, and the father used names from his line. A person did not list his names in any fixed order. Taupongi of Sa'aiho had the following names: Ngibauika, Tengautangata, Sa'angongo (given by his father when he learned of his sex); Taupongi, Ngakei, Sau'eha, Puipui-mangu. Tesengu (given by his mother); Hakamanguhenua, Sangakiu (given later by his father).

In T130 will be found an example of two different names (Kaipua and Kautasi) used without explanation by the teller for the same person within the same text. Since 1939 it has become increasingly common to give Euro-American names, especially among adherents of the South Seas Evangelical Mission, who receive a Biblical name when baptized. Some adults who are not yet baptized take a name of their own liking. For more exact references we have given both the Euro-American and the Rennellese or Bellonese names.

The plates and figures in this chapter have been purposely simplified. Only persons of importance are included, so that the genealogies may better serve their purpose: to help the reader find his way through that wilderness of names which appears in the traditional history of the two islands. Constant reference to the genealogies may facilitate the understanding of many stories, especially in chapters 10-15.

The genealogies of the gods (they have no points of connection with those of men, according to Rennellese and Bellonese concepts) will be found in chapter 4.

Plate 3 shows the principal lines on both islands. Chiefs in generations 1-5 were on both islands. Taupongi's sons (generation 6) spread to the two islands and are the ancestors of the descent lines commonly recognized today. From generation 6 to the present, abundant details are available, far more than are indicated in this skeleton outline or in genealogies 1-10. In generations 1-5, how-ever, details are sparse, save for a single text concerning the Ngatongas (T124).

Genealogies 1-10 are selected, short genealogies, showing descent lines of tellers (genealogies 1-3) and further details of later ramifications of the Bellona lines (genealogies 4-7). A few other genealogies are given in the notes to illuminate particular texts.

Dotted lines in the genealogies indicate adoptions.

53

Page 69: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

GENEALOGIES

Genealogy 1. Genealogies of Jonathan Ma'itaki and Timothy Sau'uhi of Rennell. Panio (G20) had two wives: Paieke (mother of Tebegi) and Tepua (mother of Jonathan).

Genealogy 2. Genealogies of Tetamogi, Headman Tegheta, Headman Tahua, Aaron Taupongi, Malachi Tegheta of Rennell. Variant names: G18, G19, for Teikagei and Kagobai, see Plate 3. Tegheta, Teikagei. Tegheta (G 19) was the son of Paieke.

54

Page 70: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

GENEALOGIES

55

Page 71: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

GENEALOGIES

Genealogy 5. Descent lines in Ghongau district, "north side of the trail," Bellona.

The settlements Tongaba, Mata'ubea, Baitanga, Ngikobaka, Tongomainge, and Nuku'angoha constitute the so-called hange ngima (five houses; see T133).

G18, Sa'engeahe: Traditions concerning the Tongomainge line are the source of incessant disputes between the Iho (Taupongi) clan and the people of Ghongau district. Informants from Ghongau stated that Tongomainge was founded by Sa-'engeahe as a subsettlement of Sabesabea. Sa'engeahe had one son, Tepoolua, who died young, and a daughter, Teikatangi. When Sa'engeahe died, Te'ungutiange (Baitanga line, G18) married his (Sa'engeahe's) wife, Tetabake, adopted Teikatangi and took possession of Tongomainge settlement and all its ground. Te'ungutiange later went to Rennell, married, and came back with a daughter, Sungu'ia, who married Sa'omoana (Genealogy 6, G20). Their son, Teikangongo, a younger brother of Pongi (Genealogy 6, G21) took over Tongomainge village, and it was inherited by his son Maaui (died 1961).

G21, Teikangei: According to some informants, the true rather than the adopted son of Saungongo.

G21, Teika'ungua: His real father was Tetuha, a younger brother of Sa'engeahe. Variant names: G22 Saungongo, Ngiusanga. According to the tradition of the Iho clan, the name Tongomainge was not a

part of Sabesabea settlement, but a settlement owned by Tamama'o (Genealogy 9, G19) that was "stolen" by Te'ungutiange [see T133:8).

56

Page 72: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

5* GENEALOGIES

Mata'ubea is not the same line as that in Genealogy 5. Variant names: G20 Puipuihenua, Namona; Mangakenga, Teikanoa.

57

Page 73: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

GENEALOGIES

Genealogy 8. Hu'aingupe clan, Bellona.

Hu'aingupe came from the district Hakatu'uigoto (Taungagoto), Rennell, as a refugee during a war. The name of his settlement on Rennell was Tongabu. On Bellona he founded a new settlement, Nguaniua, which was considered a kano-manaha (district) in itself.

The generations of this clan are uncertain, but the following information may serve to establish a relative chronology for the later generations. It was given TM as a running commentary by the informants of the genealogy, Paul Sa'engeika and Daniel Tuhanuku, on December 19, 1958.

Tongonga, the son of Ngaimono, gave most of his gardens and fishing grounds to Utahenua (Genealogy 5, Tongaba line, G19). (The reason was unknown to the informants.)

Maukumi, the son of Tongonga, lived in Nguaniua, but had very little land left. Huei, the son of Maukumi, was killed by Tangaibasa (Genealogy 5, Nuku-

'angoha line, G18). Tebaghibaghi, the daughter of Maukumi, went to the Lake on Rennell and mar-

ried. With Maukumi, the Hu'aingupe clan was considered extinct (hiti). Tebaghibaghi had one daughter, Temalobe, who died in the 1950's. Temalobe

had a daughter, Kamungoba, and a son, Mausonga (Taiake), who was an adopted son (hosa pusi) of Takiika (Genealogy 7, Nuku'angoha line, G21).

58

Page 74: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

GENEALOGIES

59

Page 75: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

GENEALOGIES

Members of the Iho clan trace their origin back to Taupongi, one of the chiefs traveling with Kaitu'u to Rennell and Bellona (see T66). The Iho clan is a minority when compared to the clan tracing its ancestry back to Kaitu'u—in 1939 there were approximately 30 male members of the Iho clan on Bellona, as contrasted with approximately 200 male members of the Kaitu'u clan. The Taupongi clan occupies the western (ngango) end of Bellona.

G2, G3: The names of the two ancestors, Ngiungata'a and Soamangongenga, were said to have been forgotten by members of the Taupongi clan, but were Revealed in recent times by mediums possessed by deities [see T140 and T141:12).

Iho, G4, founded the settlement Sa'aiho. The clan often calls itself the Iho clan after this ancestor.

Tu'ataa, G10, had five sons, four of whom founded new settlements, the basis of the present-day organization of the Taupongi clan.

Kaitu'u, G13, founded his own district, Temanu, within the Sa'aiho district (see N144).

Baiango, G17, was adopted by Tehatubii. Haikiu and Sauhonu. G19, were of the Tongomainge line, but as Ngimamua,

G19, had no sons he adopted them so that the Matabaingei line might go on. Haikiu and Sauhonu are shown in parentheses hi the Matabaingei line.

Tebuni, G20, was adopted by Ma'itaki, G19, to continue the Tongomainge line. Variant names: Gil Tu'utihenua, Baiango; G13 Tangokona, Taaikangongo;

G21 Tuhenua, Puku'uhi. For Taupongi, G21, see Chapter 2.

Genealogy 10. The extinct clans. Data were furnished by Temoa of Sa'aiho, Bellona, on January 10, 1959; spelling is in Bellonese, except for the clan names.

60

Page 76: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

GENEALOGIES

Only fragments of the genealogies of three of the six extinct clans are known. Generations cannot be given, as, according to several informants, there are gaps in the lines, here indicated by dotted lines. Pootua of the Puka clan, who is the fourth in the line of Puka ancestors, lived at the same time as Ngiuika of generation 12 of the Iho clan (see T154).

Togo clan: Tongo founded the settlement 'Utumaaua near Ngongona. Ho'imata lived at the same time as Iho (Genealogy 9, G4). 'Angiki'angaba lived in 'Utu-maaua as well as in Baimangasi.

Puka clan: Puka and his successors lived hi Tesungu, opposite the modern vil-lage of Ngotokanaba, Sa'aiho, Bellona.

Goha clan: Ngoha founded the settlement Hangebakatapu. Its land and fishing grounds were later annexed by the Iho clan. Natiu founded the settlement Sa'amoa, between Angaiho and Kapata.

61

Page 77: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 4. DEITIES

The gods of Rennell and Bellona constitute a group of supernatural beings stated to be entirely different from humans. (For references to each god, see Index.) They are not considered ancestors of men. They are invisible except to mediums, who in their trances may see them approaching from afar to embody themselves in the medium. The gods may embody themselves also in birds, fireflies, lizards, stones, various utensils, and in humans other than mediums, such as priests offi-ciating in rituals.

The general name for gods is 'atua. This term includes the most powerful gods (1 and 2 below), as well as gods not worshipped (3 and 4 below), sometimes also deified ancestors, ghosts, and a host of lesser spirits. Traditions concerning the gene-alogies of gods are dissimilar on Rennell and Bellona and they seem to have been of a loose and somewhat fluctuating structure on both islands, subject to changes according to the latest sacred relevations by mediums who frequently communi-cated with gods and ancestors.

The more important groups are listed below in the approximate order of their sanctity. The texts in this chapter are arranged in this same order. For a further understanding of the gods, this chapter may be read in conjunction with Chap-ter 15.

1. Guatupu'a, Tepoutu'uigangi (Gau'eteaki), and Tehainga'atua and his family. This is a group of deities who are man-eating and mischief-creating, but also are gracious enough to bestow upon their successful worshippers food from land and sea, health, and children, and to bring death to a foe. The chief centers for the worship of these deities are the temples, earthly manifestations of their heavenly abodes. They are, however, also worshipped in the settlements. This group of gods is also called the 'atua gangi (heavenly deities). (T66:ll-13.)

2. Tehu'aigabenga and his offspring. Tehu'aigabenga and his offspring are often termed 'aitu or ngasuenga. They are gods of a somewhat milder disposition than those listed in paragraph 1, with whom they are constantly fighting. Tehu'aigabenga is the adopted grandson of Tehainga'atua. He is worshipped in the settlements that are considered the earthly manifestations of his heavenly abode. He is also wor- shipped in the temples. It is believed that, during rituals, he owns the house in each settlement and that he does not permit Tehainga'atua to enter the house. He is ac- cordingly called 'atua i huge (god in the house), and Tehainga'atua is called 'atua i haho (god outside).

3. 'Apai, the offspring of Tehainga'atua and Tehu'aigabenga, and not worshipped. These 'apai are often termed haagiki, tama'auge, 'apai, or haka'apai. Of these terms, tama'auge (child-of-penis) is the name most commonly heard today. It is a deprecatory term. Although it contains the word uge (penis) which is not used in public, the word tama'auge is said even in the presence of women. We have trans- lated it child-of-a-member to show that the literal meaning of uge is not closely associated with the term. Haagiki, 'apai, and haka'apai are names not frequently used and may be considered more or less technical terms. The 'apai are implacable gods, causing mischief and possessing people, thus making them mad or sick.

62

Page 78: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

DEITIES

4. 'Apai not related to gods in 1, 2, and 3. This is a group of gods whose rela-tionship to the three groups mentioned above is not known or not recognized. These gods are also called haka'apca, haagiki, and tama'auge, and are also im-placable and mischief-making.

Genealogies 11-15 below contain information obtained from various informants on Rennell and Bellona. Some of the principal informants were Aaron Taupongi, Niupani, Rennell; James Puipuia, Matangi, Rennell; Jotham Togaka, Lughu, Ren-nell; Puka, Lughu, Rennell; Takiika, Ghongau, Bellona; Paul Sa'engeika, Ghongau, Bellona; Naiham Tamua, Sa'aiho, Bellona; Sanga'eha, Sa'aiho, Bellona.

O 15 Ha'usanga_ A 16 Tehu ' aigabenga

Genealogy 11. Tehainga'atua and his family (Rennell version).

NOTES 1. Sinakibi: not to be confused with Sina, the culture hero, or with Sinageitataki, an unrelated

deity not worshipped. 2. Guatupu'a: Guatupu'a and her brother were the most sacred deities of all Bellona and

Rennell. Their embodiments were the two stones in Ngabenga, Bellona. Guatupu'a's stone was of black volcanic rock.

3. Gau'eteaki: also called Tepotuigangi or Tepoutu'uigangi. T1(C) has Tepoutapu. Brother and husband of 2. This deity embodied himself in a stalactite in Ngabenga, Bellona. Some in- formants called Gau'eteaki the tamana hakapigi (classificatory father) of 6.

4. Tupegusu: a snake god. Probably only the classificatory mother of 6, 7, and 8; informants were uncertain.

5. Mauloko: Some informants said that Mauloko was the tuhahine hakahua (real sister) of 6 6. Tehainga'atua: the most important of all deities in this group. Other names: Tetupu'a,

Tupu'a, Semoana, Te'agiki'eha, Ahegangi, Tetonusanga, Nika'eha, Tikitikiaguagangi.

63

l.epM fw Ge-o!ooiIH 11·15

o '-'- god. flOt ...OfJ.ipped

b AW. god, IlOf _J.ipp.d

... Mole god. -..onhlPfMd

• f_l. god, worshipped

.,.... Ii.... iMlicot...latlon,MpIII/'OUSlh ..doplion or dQullkatio,,·

10 T...ng_lo"

11 Sail

11 TQholr.igQngl

104 TltlgQ,,'ogc.ba

~6 T.hoingo'otlHl ...__~__.,

[

e, ....,.,.,} ~, ".;..,~

01 $I11OliW .. Tupeg.....!-OI T..'uW,,,3 GcN'eho Let $I~g;-'E17 So'op",,_,

,

Page 79: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

DEITIES

7. Ekeitehua: not worshipped on Rennell, but principal district god of the Iho (Taupongi) clan on Bellona.

9. Sikingimoemoe: Some informants said that Sikingimoemoe was a real sister of 6, whereas others considered her a classificatory sister but did not know the exact relationship. Married to 6. Other names: Tahakuga, Tehanetautai, Tehahinetaugangi, Tehahinetautai.

10. Teangaitaku: other names: Honomu'a, Tangaitaku. 12. Tahakigangi: other name: Manabasia. 13. Baabenga: a deity that sometimes transforms herself into a male; she was married to Te

hainga'atua. Some informants considered Tehainga'atua her real father, others said that he had only adopted her.

14. Titigau'agaba: sometimes considered a daughter of Baabenga, sometimes a sister; classifi catory mother of Tehu'aigabenga. Other names: Tehahine'agiki, Titikasokaso. In T17(B) called 'gaamutu (SiD) of Tehainga'atua.

15. Ha'usanga: Informants disagreed on whether Ha'usanga was a goddess, culture hero, or human. One source said that Tehainga'atua married her. Others do not mention any relation ship between the two.

16. Tehu'aigabenga: See Genealogy 13.

Genealogy 12. Tehainga'atua and his family (Bellona version in Bellonese spelling).

NOTES 1. Nguatupu'a: See 2 in Genealogy 11. Other name: Tanakingabenga. 2. Ngau'eteaki: See 3 in Genealogy 11. 3. Sinakibi: Some informants said that she was married to 4. 4. Sikingingangi! Informants were uncertain whether he was married to 3, 5, or both.

7. Tehainga'atua: See 6 in Genealogy 11. Other Bellonese names: Tetupu'a, Tupu'a, Semoana, Te'angiki'eha, Ahengangi, Tetonusanga, Nika'eha, Tikitikianguangangi, 'Angikio'atuahano, 'Angikio'atuahena, Tetupu'atemate, Tupu'atengemate.

8. Ekeitehua: only worshipped by the Iho clan; sometimes called 'aitu, being the father of the ngasuenga (district gods). Other names: Singanotu'umoa, Singano. See N5.

9. Teu'uhi: adopted daughter of Sikingingangi and 'Iti'iti.

64

{

e. 1 NgvotuplI'o

o 3 $illoklbi

2 HfIIOII'.t.okl

.e 11 8oobellgo

•12 T.alltl"itaku

o so r."',,hl

6 .. SilU"";";o",,I__

o .s 'bi~<ti _

?

• 10 Sikillr_......,._6I._6I~_6--

?

?

Page 80: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

DEITIES

11. Baabenga: Sec 13 in Genealogy 11. Other Bellonese names: Haaimoana, Tehu'aisa'apai, Sinuiakau, Sinuitu'anga, Titikabangeba.

12. Teangaitaku: other name: Honomu'a. 13. Tetahioe'angiki: other names: Titigau'angaba, Titikasokaso, Titimangotea. A few in-

formants considered Tehahine'angiki the 'ingaamutu (SID) of Tehainga'atua.

Genealogy 13. Tehu'aigabenga and his family (Rennell version).

NOTES 3. Tehu'aigabenga: the chief and father of all district gods. Other names: Hakamagukai,

Tehu'aitonga, Tupuitegenga, Tupuimanukatu'u, Tetamaha'usanga. 4. Koginuku: wife (or mistress?) of 3. Other name: Hakakamu'eha. 5. Kaukaugogo: wife of 3, mother of all sons of 3. 6. Tuhaite'agaba: one of the more important sons of 3. Principal district god of Kanaba

district 7. Tupuimatangi: principal district god of Mugihenua. Other names: Te'aitubabe, Te'aitugeba,

Tabihakagau. In T179 he marries a mortal, Kamugoba, and has three sons, Tupuitenuku, Haka-saohenua, and Temagokaiba.

8. Putuitekaba: an important god of Bellona, but also worshipped on Rennell. Other name: Guatunihenua.

9. Masahuitekaba: principal district god of Lughu, Bagika'ago, and Tetu'aakoi. Other names: No'aitekaba, Ghibauitenuku.

10. Ghibaumoana: principal district god of Tepotuhage district. 13. Tuhaitema'ugi: district god of the Lake. Other name: Tonga'aitu. 14. Tonusia: district god of the Lake.

18. Sagama'ugi: district god of the Lake. 19. Tu'ukiteika: god worshipped in all districts. Other name: Tu'uiteika. 11. 12, 15, 16, 17: gods probably worshipped in all districts.

65

.~, r...............,r-_O , Ho'-vo--J • • Tuho;,.'OllobG,

• I ,........-_-..: 1 r"''''_"gI• • I'vttlittolr.obo

, Motoll~obo

10 0I0<1oo_11C11

II ,...-12 Goolgi'llti

•12 '.....'_·"'i16 TOO\"'''12 T....* ..II16 HokohlKlbi

11 TvpII'OSIohop

" 50...-·...Q' loti"...• " Tu'"kltelk..

•• kOIlIr.Q~

Page 81: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

DEITIES

Somewhat more is known on Bellona about the offspring of Tehu'aigabenga. Each of the two districts (Ghongau and Matangi) that worship Tehu'aigabenga has its own list of his sons and his grandsons.

66

'",•~1,

,~. ,.~< ,• •...~..,.

,! £

,•r- ~:' ~, .

• •.,~~

:•i•1•z

~ .:;;;:'• <.~< , •, . ,,- ~

~ :' ..:~~~

Page 82: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

DEITIES

Traditions concerning the genealogy of Tehu'aigabenga and his offspring differ considerably, not only among the Rennellese and Bellonese but also among the different kanomanaha (dis-tricts) on the two islands. Each district had its own set of gods fai'/u or ngasuengd), descendants of Tehu'aigabenga worshipped at the important rituals. It is confusing that some gods had more than one name; in Genealogy 14 Tehu'aigabenga has 14 names! Many names of district gods have apparently vanished from the memories of people, especially on Rennell.

NOTES Variant names of Tehu'aingabenga: Tehu'aitonga, Hu'aiteahengengamatangi, Hu'aitepuke-

ngengamatangi, Tetama'angiki, Te'aitutunihenua, Tetamaha'usanga, Hakamangukaiba, Tema-nguona'aamonga, Temanguekenga, Te'aituongatonga, Hu'aitekabangea, Temata'aitu'oti, Tesasa-tongafliti,

Unlike all other districts on Rennell and Bellona, the small Iho (Taupongi) clan did not wor-ship Tehu'aigabenga but Ekeitehua, the younger brother of Tehainga'atua. Ekeitehua's offspring were the district gods of this clan, and their functions parallelled those of the district gods of all other districts on Rennell and Bellona.

Genealogy 15. District gods of the Iho clan, Bellona, in Bellonese spelling.

NOTES Teabaikatapu: considered a male god by Tamua (N5). Baeika: considered the father of Tu'ukiteika by Taupongi 1961. Nguatunihenua: also called Nguatinihenua. Tu'ukiteika: considered a son of Ekeitehua by Tamua (N5). All gods classified as not worshipped (O, A) in the above lists are termed 'apai,

haka'apai, haagiki, or tama'auge. This huge class contains, however, other beings whose relationship to the two great groups of deities is not known or not recog-nized. The names of some of these follow; variant names are given in parentheses.

Male: 'Amokese, Gata (sometimes called a kakai [culture hero]), Hu'aitekongo (deity of the extinct Tongo clan). Hu'aitemanatapu, Tsoso (Soso), Kaitago, Kaitahi-tahi, Mahuike, Mata'u, Moesabegubegu, Manongitegautago, Taha'uinga, Tangagoa, Tangiteaga, Tehanonga, Tepou (deity of the extinct Tongo clan), Tetaganga, Tino-tonu, Titikanohimata, Tongagegeba, Togomatangi, Tu'utagaba.

Female: Gaumata, Gaumataki'one, Manusekeitapu (Sekeitapu), Matabilongo (Nge'obiongo), Patikoge, Sinageitataki, Tekie (sister of Tangagoa), Tugi'one.

Sex not known: 'Inatimu'a, Manupopoa, Matagoa'au, Tebaghoghu, Tegosinga, Tekokona, Tugiahanga, Tugimagokuna, Tukiakau.

67

Moeonlla

Ehilehua

]

Teungi,aka 0

o Teaboikalapu

•'.'.'.".b.:J-·• Baeika

• NlIiuile'OnU

• TOlluwa

• MallllUpea

o Ngeipau

• NlIlICIlUllihellUa~• Taha'uilliia

Tu'ukileika

Page 83: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 1 (A)

1. Nguatupu'a ma Tona Tunga'ane ma Sinakibi

Nguatupu'a and Her Brother and Sinakibi

(A) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 27, 1959. 1. Ko Sinakibi, te hahine kibi; na

hai at aano a ngu ana tama, a Ngua-tupu'a ma tona tunga'ane ma te hai-ngata'a kinai. Nimaa i teengaa 'aso, boo a Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga'ane o to'o mai te ma'ungi o Moesabe-ngubengu, te matu'a o Manuseke-itapu. 2. Sasanga aano ai a Manu-sekeitapu, nimaa sopo atu ki Nga-benga, manga iai a Sinakibi. Manga poghipoghi tena kaukauniatango, ka manga kongaa na to'o a Sinakibi: "Taku me'a noko tuku e ngu aku tama. Kai e katoa, toe iba." 3. 'Oso ake ma'u o poghipoghi teengaa, kae kongaa na to'o ma'u: "Taku me'a noko tuku e ngu'aku tama, kai e iba, toe bangu." 4. Hai atu ma'u: "Taku me'a na tuku e ngu 'aku tama, kai e bangu, toe hitu." Hai atu ma'u: "Taku me'a na tuku e ngu aku tama, kai e hitu, toe ono." Hai atu ma'u: "Taku me'a noko tuku e ngu aku tama, kai e ono, toe ngima." 5. Hai atu ma'u: "Taku me'a noko tuku e ngu aku tama, kai e ngima, toe haa." Hai atu ma'u: "Taku me'a noko tuku e ngu aku tama, kai e haa, toe tongu." 6. Hai atu ma'u: "Taku me'a noko tuku e ngu aku tama, kai e tongu, toe ngua." Hai atu ma'u: "Taku me'a noko tuku e ngu aku tama, kai e ngua, toe tasi." 7. Ma te poo atu a Sinakibi, poo ki te ngima o Manusekeitapu. Ma te hai atu a Sinakibi: "Ko ai?" Hai atu a Manusekeitapu: "Ko au." Ma te hai atu a Sinakibi: "Kau pipiki'ia ngaa koe. Kau hitangi ia ngu aku tama." 8. Ma te hai atu a Manu-sekeitapu: "Mau'i ange, ka kau hai ia tou sanga tamakina ke noka." Ma te hai atu a Sinakibi: "Toku sanga tamaki kua hai aano ngu 'aku tama. Kua hakapau, kae hai ke ko-hea na hakanoka e koe?" Hai atu a Manusekeitapu: "Mau'i ange."

1. Sinakibi was a blind woman; her two children, Nguatupu'a and her brother, treated her and had difficulties doing so. Then one day, Nguatupu'a and her broth-er went and brought in the life principle of Moesabengubengu, the husband of Ma-nusekeitapu. 2. Manusekeitapu looked for it and so [she] went to Ngabenga where Sinakibi stayed. [Sinakibi] just broke off [the fingers of] her kaukaunia-tango yam, and Sinakibi said [to herself]: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left; [I] eat the tenth, nine are left." 3. [Sina] grabbed again and broke another off and said again: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left; eat the ninth, eight are left." 4. [She] said again: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left; eat the eighth, seven are left." [She] said again: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left; eat the seventh, six are left." [She] said again: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left; eat the sixth, five are left." 5. [She] said again: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left; eat the fifth, four are left." '[She] said again: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left; eat the fourth, three are left." 6. [She] said again: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left; eat the third, two are left." [She] said again: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left; eat the second, one is left." 7. And Sinakibi grabbed [for the last piece of yam], grabbed Manusekei-tapu's hand. Sinakibi said: "Who is it?" Manusekeitapu said: "It's me!" Sinakibi said: "I'm going to keep you. I'm waiting for my two children." 8. And Manusekei-tapu said: "Let go, and I shall treat your grave malady to make [it] end." Sinakibi said: "My two children have been treating my grave malady. It is permanent, and how are you going to put an end [to it]?" Manusekeitapu said: Let go!"

68

Page 84: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 1 (A)

9. Ma te mau'i a Sinakibi. Hano a Manusekeitapu o hai te ngau tongo o sengesenge ai e ia te mata. 10. Kae hai e ia te kati o hakamatinga e ia ki te mata ma te ina. Hai ma'u e ia ki teeogaa mata o ina ma'u. Ma te ailauee a Sinakibi o hai atu: "Toku sanga tamaki kua hai aano ai ngu aku tama, hakapau, ka te hai nei e koe ia te au o ina." 11. Ma te 'abange kinai e Sinakibi te ma'ungi o tona matu'a, a Moesabengube-ngu. 'Abange ma'u kinai e Sinakibi ngua kongoa, kae hai atu: "To'atu o hano. Nimaa tatae koe ki ngua anga, e bebenga teengaa, kae ngo-ngohi teengaa. Hohonga atu ngua kongoa i te anga e ngongohi o haka-anga 'ango ki te anga e bebenga." 12. Ma te to'o a Manusekeitapu te ma'ungi o tona matu'a ma ngua kongoa o hano.

13. Nimaa tatae ki ngua anga, hohonga e ia i te anga e ngongohi o hakaanga 'ango ki te anga bebe- nga. Nimaa sosopo mai a Nguatu- pu'a ma tona tunga'ane, ngua ko- ngoa manga ma honga; heha'ao'aki kinai; taka ma Nguatupu'a te hu- 'aime'a, kae taka ma Tepoutu'ui- ngangi te mi'ihoto.

14. Ma te noho aano a Sinakibi i Ngabenga. Hungihungi iho e Ngu- atupu'a ma tona tunga'ane ngua pengea taukuka mai Siba. Ko Sina- kibi manga ina mai, ma te hai atu a Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga'ane: "Po ko ia manga ina i te aa?" Ma te hai atu a Sinakibi: 15. "Kae aa ngaa! Ka toku maatenga, kua hai aano ai koungua, hakapau; ka kua a'u teenei ta'ahine o hai e ia, ka kua 'abange kinai e au te ma'ungi o tona matu'a o to'o." 16. Ma te hai atu a Ngutupu'a: "He'e ngongo mai kia te kimaaua, ka manga mangie hakasabangau i temaa me'a." Ma te hai atu ma'u: "A'u! Ke boo o to'o mai."

17. Nimaa boo atu a Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga'ane o sisinga ake i te manaha o Moesabengubengu; ma-

9. And Sinakibi released her. Manuse-keitapu went and took a sugar-cane leaf and she operated on the eye with it. 10. And she took a long ant and she touched the eye lightly with it and [the eye] could see. She treated the other eye too and [it] could see too. And Sinakibi cried oh! oh! and said: "My two children treated my grave malady, and [it was] permanent, but you treated me and [I can] see." 11. And Sinakibi gave her the life principle of her husband, Moesabengubengu. And Sinakibi also gave her two tapas and said: "Take [them] away and go. Then you will arrive at two roads, one is hot and one is cold. Spread out there the two pieces of tapa on the cold road facing the hot road." 12. And Manusekeitapu took the life principle of her husband and the two tapas and went away.

13. When arriving at the two roads, she spread out [the tapa] on the cold road facing the hot road. Then Nguatupu'a and her brother came as the two tapas had just been spread out; [they] snatched them away; Nguatupu'a took the large one and Tepoutu'uingangi the small one.

14. And Sinakibi stayed in Ngabenga. Nguatupu'a and her brother hurled down two people from Siba having the taukuka tattoo. Sinakibi just looked on, and Ngua-tupu'a and her brother said: "How is it that she sees?" Sinakibi said: 15. "Well, what! My deadly sickness, you two treat-ed it, [but it] was permanent; but this fine lady came and she treated it, and I gave her the life principle of her husband and [she] took [it]." 16. And Nguatupu'a said: "[You] didn't tell us, but were just generous with our thing without permis-sion." And [Nguatupu'a] also said: "Come! Let [us] go and bring [the life principle] here."

17. Then Nguatupu'a and her brother went and turned off at the settlement of Moesabengubengu; [he] and his wife were

69

Page 85: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 1 (A)

nga hai 'ungu ai ma tona unguungu. 18. Ma te hakakite'aki ia Ngua-tupu'a ma tona tunga'ane e maa-kango ake ma te teka iho a Moesa-bengubengu o langa hakasinga e ia o kongaa na langa hakasinga: "Taumaha, Nguatupu'a ma tou tu-nga'ane! Ta'aki mai he kai, ke ngo hungu ai toungua ngenga ma tau hanau, kae 'ango mai ai he kai ke mei angatonu ai koungua ma tou tunga'ane." 19. Ma te mi'ihinake Tepoutu'uingangi, kae ghali ake a Nguatupu'a. Ma te hai atu a Te-poutu'uingangi: "Noho mai! Kitaa-ua kua boo mai, sasa'o ki ngua kongoa. Takama koe te hu'aime'a, nimaa boo mai ma'u, haa mu'a nei iho ma'u ia te koe. Ka ke ngiu." 20. Ma te ngengema'ungi a Nguatupu'a o hai atu: "Ke ngiu." Ma te ngiu.

delousing each other. 18. And [they] showed each other that Nguatupu'a and her brother were approaching quickly, and Moesabengubengu crept [out of the house] and recited the langa hakasinga formula, and this is what the langa haka-singa formula is like: "A dedication, Nguatupu'a and your brother! Bring some food here, so that [we] can anoint [our-selves] with the turmeric belonging to you and your offspring, and face here the food so that [we] can present you and your brother with an angatonu share from it." 19. And Tepoutu'uingangi came slowly, and Nguatupu'a came quickly. Tepoutu'uingangi said [to Nguatupu'a]: "Stop! We two came and found two tapas. You took the big one, and also when [we] came here, [Moesabengubengu] falls down first to you too [praying to you first?|. Let [us] return." 20. Nguatupu'a was shocked and said: "Let [us] return." And [they] returned.

NOTES On the evening of January 26 I discussed Sina with a group of people outside Headman Hai-

kiu's house in Ngotokanaba. Present were Paul Sa'engeika, Tapuika, Tamua, Taupongi, and others. I remarked that Sau'eha from Bellona had given me the story of Sina and Hetu'u-'amo'amo (T50) while we were both staying in Labagu on Rennell. Sa'engeika then said that this was "another Sina," the kakai (culture hero). The 'atua haahine (goddesses) called Sina were Sinakibi and Sinageitataki. Taupongi asked Sa'engeika if he knew the tale of Sinakibi, Nguatupu'a, and Tepoutu'uigangi. He said he did not remember it. The next morning the ses-sion was resumed; Taupongi dictated this long story, which he had written down during the night. Everybody present seemed satisfied with this version, which gives a revealing picture of the two extremely sacred gods, Nguatupu'a and her brother Ngau'eteaki (or Tepoutu'ui-ngangi).

Sinakibi: literally, blind Sina. 1. te ma'ungi o Moesabengubengu: I asked whether ma'ungi here meant skull, as it did in the

Tapuika-Timothy version of the Kaitu'u story (N66:59). Taupongi said that here it meant 'a/a (spiritual self), which was invisible to humans but not to the gods. (See T149:8.)

Moesabengubengu and his wife, Manusekeitapu, were gods not worshipped. The story con-cerns Manusekeitapu's search for her husband's life principle (ma'ugi).

2. Ngabenga: See notes to Genealogy 11. kaukauniatango: said to be a type of yam with branching (manga) tubers; formerly culti-

vated, now only growing wild in the forest. Kai e katoa, toe iba: Informants said that Sina always counted backwards, saying "ten" for

"one," "nine" for "two," etc. 4. ngu 'aku, ngu aku: both forms are heard. 8. sanga tamakina: grave malady or misfortune, referring here to Sina's blindness, -na is a

demonstrative clitic. 10. AM/I: long black ant which lives in rotten tree trunks. 11. kongoa: here, the bego (sacred tapa of the temple).

ngua anga: Taupongi 1961 explained that the two roads were forked branches of a single road. The mat was spread out so that its wider edge was turned toward the hot road; similarly during rituals the mat faced in the direction from which the gods were to arrive at the cult grounds. One of the roads was hot because Nguatupu'a and her brother had walked along it. The other was cold because it was the road on which human beings walked. (See N50 [B]:ll.)

70

TEXTS 1(A), 1(B)

Page 86: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

14. ngua pengea taukuka mai Siba: Siba is a (mythical?) island from which came the taukuka, a solid black tattoo covering the entire chest. Nobody knew where Siba was. Some kakai (cul- ture heroes) were said to have learned the art of tattooing there.

15. ta'ahine: hahine. Used in complimentary speech. 16. mangie hakasabangau i temaa me'a: The life principle of Moesabengubengu had been

stolen by Nguatupu'a and her brother, who were about to eat it when Sinakibi without their permission gave it to Moesabengubengu's wife, Manusekeitapu.

18. langa hakasinga: ritual formula used in all major rites when dedicating an offering of food to Nguatupu'a and Tepoutu'uingangi.

angatonu: name of the part of the food offering given to Tehainga'atua and his family or to Nguatupu'a and Tepoutu'uingangi.

(B) Nathaniel Kaihuei, BE. April 14, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a kia Manongite-

ngautongo ma tona unguungu, a Moesabengubengu. Ko kingaaua noko noho'aki i tongaa manaha, Timotiimoana. 2. Sisinga ake gu 'atua ko Nguatupu'a ma tona tu-nga'ane, a Tepoutu'ingangi, boo ake o to'o te ma'ungi o Manongite-ngautongo. Ma te sehu a Moesabe-ngubengu o sasanga e ia. Hano a Moesabengubengu o sasa'o ki te pengea, tona ingoa ko Tekeuta'ane, ma te hakaene kinai, kongaa te ha-kaanu a Moesabengubengu: "Te ingi e tibua i te anga nei, Moesa-bengubengu?" 3. Hakatau Tekeuta-'ane, o kongaa na to'o: "Ma tangi ai koe o huhunga ou mu'a ngutu, ka manga te singi ange ngoa i te taha-'ata." 4. Singi a Moesabengubengu o kite i Tekeuhakahahine. Hai ake a Moesabengubengu: "Te ingi e tibua i te anga nei, Moesabengu-bengu?" Ma te hai mai a Tekeu-hakahahine: "Manga tangi ai koe o huhunga ou mata, kae ma te singi ngoa ange i te taha'ata."

5. Singi ai a Moesabengubengu, hano aano sopo atu ki teengaa ku-nga, manga iai a Sinakibi, te tinana o Nguatupu'a ma tena tunga'ane. E hai tena ahi o tunu ai tena kaukau-niatango, noko katoa ona manga. Tunu aano a Sinakibi, nimaa moso, ase ki taha o bangubangu, sa'u ake o popoghi te manga. 6. Hai atu a Sina-kibi: "Taku me'a e tuku e ngu 'aku tama. Kai e tasi kae noho e iba." Popoghi ma'u ia, manga hai ake: "Taku me'a tuku e ngu 'aku tama. Kai e ngua, noho e bangu." Popo-

1. The story of Manongitengautongo (Manongi-the-sugar-cane-leaf) and his wife, Moesabengubengu. The two lived in their settlement, Timotiimoana. 2. The two gods passed by, Nguatupu'a and her brother Tepoutu'ingangi, going along and taking the life principle of Manongite-ngautongo. Moesabengubengu walked away and she searched. Moesabengube-ngu went on and met a person whose name was Tekeuta'ane and asked him a favor, Moesabengubengu questioning as follows: "Did Moesabengubengu pick up the fan on this pathway?" 3. Tekeuta'ane answered, saying as follows: "You may weep about it until the front of your mouth swells, but [Nguatupu'a and her brother with the life principle] passed by long before in the morning." 4. Moesa-bengubengu went on and saw Tekeuha-kahahine. Moesabengubengu said: "Did Moesabengubengu pick up the fan on this pathway?" Tekeuhakahahine said: "You may weep until your eyes swell, but [they] passed by long before in the morning."

5. Moesabengubengu passed by, on and on, and came to that place where Sinakibi was, the mother of Nguatupu'a and her brother. She was making her fire and cooking her kaukauniatango yam, which had ten fingers. Sinakibi cooked, and when [the yams] were cooked, took [them] out and scraped, took [them] out and broke off a finger. 6. Sinakibi said: "This is my tuber that my two children left. [I] eat the first and nine are left." She broke [this] too, and then said: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left. Eat the second and eight are left." She broke

71

Page 87: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 1(B)

ghi ma'u ia, manga hai ake: "Taku me'a e tuku e ngu 'aku tama. Kai e tongu, noho e hitu." Popoghi ma'u ia, manga hai ake: "Taku me'a e tuku e ngu 'aku tama. Kai e haa, noho e ono." Popoghi ma'u ia, manga hai ake: "Taku me'a e tuku e ngu 'aku tama. Kai e ngima, noho e ngima." Popoghi ma'u ia, manga hai ake: "Taku me'a e tuku e ngu 'aku tama. Kai e ono, noho e haa." Popoghi ma'u ia, manga hai ake: "Taku me'a e tuku e ngu 'aku tama. Kai e hitu noho e tongu." Popoghi ma'u ia, manga hai ake: "Taku me'a e tuku e ngu 'aku tama. Kai e bangu, noho e ngua." Popoghi ma'u ia, manga hai ake: "Taku me'a e tuku e ngu 'aku tama. Kai e iba, noho e tahi." 7. 'Oso atu a Sinakibi, 'oso ake a Moesabengubengu, 'oso a Sinakibi ki te ngima o Moesabengubengu. Hai atu a Sinakibi: "Taku me'a e tuku e ngu 'aku tama. 'Ai kua kai e koe, kae hai kau pipiki'ia koe ke hetangi ngu 'aku tama." Hai atu a Moesabengubengu: "Mau'i ange i toku ngima, ka kau hai'ia ngu 'ou mata ke ina."

8. Hai atu a Sinakibi: "Toku sanga tamaki kua hai aano ai a ngu 'aku tama, hakapau, ka kohea ona hai e koe!" Hai atu a Moesabenga- bengu: "E hai kau hai'ia mo'ona he hai 'anga." Mau'i a Sinakibi i te ngima o Moesabengubengu.

9. Hano a Moesabengubengu o totohi e ia te matu'aa tongo, o labu kinai te kati, to'o mai e ia te ma- tu'aa tongo, hakaeke e ia i ngua mata o Sinakibi, kae hakamatinga e ia te mungi kati ki te mata, ma te ina mata tasi. 10. Hakamatinga atu ki teengaa mata, ina ma'u; o tasi ona noho ngu mata. Siasia a Sina- kibi i te kua ina; hai atu kia Mo- sabengubengu: "Hinatu o to'o te ma'ungi o tou matu'a e i te bai. Ngu a'a ngu 'aku tama, te ku toka, ka teengaa te ma'ungi o tou matu'a te manga koi poponge."

[this] too, and then said: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left. Eat the third and seven are left." She broke [this] too, and then said: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left. Eat the fourth and six are left." She broke [this] too, and then said: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left. Eat the fifth and five are left." She broke [this] too, and then said: "[This] is my tuber that my two chil-dren left. Eat the sixth and four are left." She broke [this] too, and then said: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left. Eat the seventh and three are left." She broke [this] too, and then said: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left. Eat the eighth and two are left." She broke [this] too, and then said: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left. Eat tjie ninth and one is left." 7. Sina-kibi reached out, Moesabengubengu reached up, Sinakibi grabbed Moesa-bengubengu's hand. Sinakibi said: "[This] is my tuber that my two children left. And you have eaten [it], and I'm going to grab you and wait for my two children." Moesabengubengu said: "Let go of my hand, and I'll make your two eyes see."

8. Sinakibi said: "[This] is my grave malady that my two children took care of [but it] was permanent, and how can you do anything!" Moesabengubengu said: "I'll have to do something for her!" Sinakibi let go of Moesabengubengu's hand.

9. Moesabengubengu then went and broke off the mature sugar-cane stalk and caught there a long ant, and she took the mature stalk and she put [it] on Sinakibi's two eyes and she touched the butt end of the ant on the eye and one eye saw. 10. [She] touched the other eye and [it] saw; the two eyes were the same. Sinakibi was happy because of having become able to see and said to Moesabengubengu: "Go and get your husband's life principle that's in the pool. Two of my children's [things] are lying quiet, but one, the life principle of your husband, is still qui- ering."

72

Page 88: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 1(B)

11. Hano a Moesabengubengu o to'o mai e ia, sa'u ake e Sinakibi te tokangua kongoa, te hu'aikongoa ma te mi'ikongoa. Hai atu a Sina kibi kia Moesabengubengu: "To- 'ake ngua kongoa nei o hano. Nimaa sopo koe ki te masanga ngua, ho- honga ngu kongoa nei o 'ungu epa i te hu'aikongoa, kae ma'ai atu i te mi'ikongoa."

12. To'o e Moesabengubengu ngu kongoa, hano tatae ki masa- nga ngua, hohonga e ia ngu kongoa i te masanga ngua, o 'ungu epa i te hu'aime'a, kae singi ki tona manaha, o hakama'ungi'ia tena ma- tu'a.

13. Hepu'i mai a Nguatupu'a ma Tepoutu'ingangi, hiina'i mai ki ngua kongoa, heha'ao mai kinai. Hai ake a Nguatupu'a: "Toku hu- 'aikongoa!" Hai mai a Tepoutu'i- ngangi: "Toku hu'aikongoa!" He- 'engiko mai kinai, samu e Nguatu- pu'a te hu'aikongoa, kae hai e Te- poutu'ingangi te mi'ikongoa, To'o e kingaaua o singi o tatae atu, ki tongaa manaha,

14. Ko Sinakibi manga ina mai. Hai atu a Nguatupu'a: "Ko te 'angi- ki ku ina!" He'engiko kinai, ha- kaanuanu atu a Nguatupu'a ma tena tunga'ane kia Sinakibi: "Ko ai e hai ia te koe o ina?"

15. Hai mai a Sinakibi: "Toku sanga tamaki na hai aano ai kou- ngua, hakapau, ka ku a'u a Moesa bengubengu o hai e ia i te au o ina, ka ku 'abange e au te ma'ungi o tena matu'a o to'o." Hai atu a Nguatupu'a ma tena tunga'ane: "He'e ngongo ange kia ti kimaaua ka manga mangie hakasabangau i tamaa me'a! Ke ngiu o to'o mai!"

16. Boo mai a Nguatupu'a ma tena tunga'ane, o tatae mai ki te manaha o Moesabengubengu ma tena matu'a. Ko Moesabengubengu ma tena matu'a Manongitengauto- ngo manga hai 'ungu. He'engiko ake kinai a Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga'ane. Hai atu a Moesabengu-

11. Moesabengubengu came and she took [the life principle], and Sinakibi brought out two tapas, a large tapa and a small tapa. Sinakibi said to Moesabe- ngubengu: "Take these two tapas and go away. When you come to the road fork, spread out the two tapas and make the large tapa an 'ungu epa mat, and [?] with the small tapa."

12. Moesabengubengu took the two tapas, going on and reaching the road fork, where she spread out the two tapas on the road fork, and made an 'ungu epa mat of the large tapa, and went on to her home and thus restored her husband to life.

13. Nguatupu'a and Tepoutu'ingangi came, saw the two tapas and snatched them. Nguatupu'a said: "The big tapa is mine!" Tepoutu'ingangi said: "The big tapa is mine!" They rushed for them, and Nguatupu'a grabbed the large tapa and Tepoutu'ingangi had the small tapa. They took [them] and went on to reach their settlement.

14. Sinakibi was watching. Nguatupu'a said: "The chiefess now sees!" [They] ran to her and Nguatupu'a and her brother asked Sinakibi: "Who made you see?"

15. Sinakibi said: "My grave malady and you two did what [you] could (haka- pau), and then Moesabengubengu came and she made me see, and I gave her her husband's life principle to take away." Nguatupu'a and her brother said: "[You] didn't tell us and just gave our thing away without permission! Let [us] go back and bring [it] here!"

16. Nguatupu'a and her brother came and got to the settlement of Moesabengu- bengu and her husband. Moesabengube- ngu and her husband, Manongitengau- tongo, were then delousing each other. Nguatupu'a and her brother rushed upon them. Moesabengubengu said to Mano-

73

Page 89: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 1(B), 1(C)

bengu kia Manongitengautongo: "Langa atu!"

17. Tu'u a Manongitengautongo o kongaa na to'o: "Taumaha, Ngua- tupu'a ma tou tunga'ane." Ka ma- nga he'engiko ake.

18. Tu'u a Tepoutu'ingangi kae manga tenge ake a Nguatupu'a. Hai atu a Tepoutu'ingangi kia Nguatu- pu'a: " 'Ai nohomai! Ka ko kitaaua kua boo mai, kite e kitaaua ngu kongoa. Hai e koe te hu'aikongoa, hai e au te mi'ikongoa. Ka ko ki- taaua te boo mai nei. Langa iho e Manongitengautongo a haamu'a iho ia te koe, Nguatupu'a, kae mungi ake ia te au. Kae manga hengotu- ngotu'aki atu ke aa?" Ma te ngiu iho a Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga- 'ane. E 'oti.

ngitengautongo: "Recite the langa for-mula!"

17. Manongitengautongo stood and said the following: "A dedication, Ngua- tupu'a and your brother." Then [they] ran away.

18. Tepoutu'ingangi got up, and Ngua- tupu'a then ran away. Tepoutu'ingangi said to Nguatupu'a: "Stop! We came and we saw two tapas. You took the large tapa and I took the small tapa. Then we both came here. Manongitengautongo chanted the langa formula first to you, Nguatupu'a, and afterwards to me. Why do you want so much?" Nguatupu'a and her brother went down again. Now finished.

NOTES Taupongi 1961 explained that the informant was of the Kaitu'u clan, and that his father,

Tausia, had been killed by his (Taupongi's) uncle, who was of the Iho clan. Kaihuei was not tattooed, hence he was probably under 40. I admired his skill in dictating so clearly this long, difficult story; I rarely needed to ask him to repeat individual words.

1. Taupongi 1961 suggested that Temotiimoana may be in poo'ugi (the underworld). 2, 3. The wife is searching for her husband's life principle.

Tekeuta'ane and Tekeuhakahahine: ferocious Tekeu and calm or loving Tekeu; ta'ane, perhaps cognate with East Polynesian taane (male), contrasts with hahine (female); the anti-thesis is typically Polynesian, but not common in Rennellese.

Moesabengubengu did not use the language of mortals. She spoke of herself in the third person, and said "fan" instead of the obvious ma'ungi.

5. Sinakibi: blind Sina. 11. 'ungu epa: the first and most westerly mat or tapa in a row of mats or tapas spread out

on the floor of the house during certain rituals; considered the seat of the most important deity worshipped, usually Tehu'aingabenga.

16. langa:See Nl(A):18. SE (C) Tetamoge of

1. Te tautupu'a kia Moesabegu-begu ma tona uguugu, ko Sekei-tapu. Ko Moesabegubegu na kai e Guatupu'a (na gua 'atua o Togo, i Mugiki), to'o o kai o 'oti. Teegaa te kunga noko ma noho, te 'ugu. 2. Hano a Sekeitapu o sasaga ia tona matu'a ia Moesabegubegu, he'e kitea. Sehu aano, sopo ki te manaha. Teegaa te 'atua ma i te manaha, ko Sinakibi, te 'atua noko moe, teegaa te me'a noko ma kai e Sinakibi, te kaukauniatago. 3. 'Oso a Sinakibi ki teegaa ga'a o popoghi o kai. Sui a Sekeitapu o popoghi ta'ana ga'a o kai. 'Oso hoki a Sina-

Tigoa, RE. January 8, 1958. 1. The story of Moesabegubegu and

his wife, Sekeitapu. Moesabegubegu was eaten by Guatupu'a (the two gods of Togo at Bellona), who took and ate ev-erything. The part still left, that was the head. 2. Sekeitapu went and looked for her husband, Moesabegubegu, but did not find [him]. [She] walked on and came to a settlement. That was its deity at the settlement, Sinakibi, a goddess who slept, and that was what Sinakibi was eating, the kaukauniatago yam. 3. Sinakibi grabbed one shoot and pulled [it] off and ate. So Sekeitapu pulled off her shoot and ate. Sinakibi then grabbed another shoot, pulled it off and ate. Sekeitapu grabbed the

74

Page 90: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 1(C)

kibi ki teegaa ga'a o popoghi o kai. 'Oso a Sekeitapu ki te ga'a noko toe, 'oso atu ma'u a Sinakibi o ma-nga bilaabei ngatahi ogaa gima ki te ga'a noko toe. 4. Tutahi a Sina-kibi o 'oso kia Sekeitapu o pipiki. Hai atu a Sekeitapu ke mau'i, ka ke hai ke 'aga; o he'emaka Sinakibi, manga hai atu ia Sekeitapu: "He'e po ko gu 'aku tama?" 5. Hai atu ma'u a Sekeitapu ke mau'i he gima. Ma'ogi o mau'i a Sinakibi i teegaa gima o Sekeitapu. 6. O bubulu e Sekeitapu te gau togo, sa'u mai o sege ai te mata o Sinakibi noko moe, kae sa'u mai te kati o haau'u ai te mata o Sinakibi, u'u o gege te kati, haka'agahia te mata; te sege atu te mata noko toe, haau'u ma'u te kati. O u'u e te kati o gege te kati o haka'agahia ma'u te mata noko toe.

7. Kae haka'atu'atu a Sinakibi kia Sekeitapu, hai atu kinai: "Ko koe te kua hai nei ia te au o ma'ugi, kae hinatu o to'o te 'ugu o tou ma-tu'a." 8. Ma'ogi o hano o 'oso ki te 'ugu o tona matu'a, a Moesabe-gubegu. Hakaanu atu a Sekeitapu kia Sinakibi: "Po kaa to'o kohea ona hakama'ugi?" Hai atu a Sinakibi kia Sekeitapu: "To'atu te 'ugu o tou matu'a o tupe ki te bai." 9. Ma'ogi 0 to'o te 'ugu o Moesabegubegu e tona uguugu o tupe ki te bai, kae noho a Sekeitapu o tangi, tangi aano, hakagongo ki te bai e ngatata te tai i te e'ake a Moesabegubegu i te kua ma'ugi a Moesabegubegu.

10. Hinake ki tona manaha o gosigosi ai, hinake i te bai o noho 1 tona hage o gosigosi ai. 11. Tosi gu 'ana siapo, gosigosi, o noko ma noho, kae a'aki giu a Guatupu'a ma tona matu'a Tepoutapu ia togaa tinana kua 'aga, o hakaanuanu'aki i tegaa utunga, i te 'ugu o Moesa- begubegu. 12. Manga hai atu a togaa tinana, Sinakibi, kia gu 'ana tama: "Kua tuku e au o to'o haka- hoki e Sekeitapu i te kua a'u o hai ia te au o ma'ugi." Manga haiteteke

shoot that was left, and Sinakibi also grabbed it, and their hands came together on the remaining shoot. 4. Sinakibi then grabbed Sekeitapu and held on; Sekeitapu said to let go and [she] would make [her] wake up; Sinakibi did not consent and just said to Sekeitapu: "What of my two children?" 5. Sekeitapu said again to let a hand go. So Sina let go of one of Sekei-tapu's hands. 6. Sekeitapu stripped off a sugar-cane leaf, brought [it] and cut the eye of Sinakibi who was lying down and took a long ant and made it bite Sina-kibi's eye; the ant bit and jumped and the eye woke up; then [she] cut the re-maining eye, made the long ant bite again. The long ant bit, the long ant jumped, and the remaining eye opened.

7. Sinakibi greeted Sekeitapu, saying to her: "Since you have cured me I'm going to go and get your husband's head." 8. So [she] went and got the head of her husband, Moesabegubegu. Sekeitapu asked Sinakibi: "How can his life be re-stored?" Sinakibi said to Sekeitapu: "Take the head of your husband and throw it into a pool." 9. So the wife took Moesabegubegu's head and threw [it] into a pool, and Sekeitapu stayed weeping, weeping, listening to the pool, and the sea rustled at the appearance of Moesa-begubegu because Moesabegubegu was restored to life.

10. [She] returned to her settlement and got [things] ready, and went from the pool and stayed in her house and got [things] ready. 11. She stripped her two tapas and got [them] ready and stayed, and Guatupu'a and her husband, Tepou-tapu, came back to their mother, [whose eyes] were awakened, and they asked for their food, for the head of Moesabegu-begu. 12. But their mother, Sinakibi, just said to her two children: "I have permit-ted Sekeitapu to take [it] back because [she] came and treated and cured me."

75

Page 91: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 1(C), 2(A)

a gu 'ana tama. Manga he'agiko mai ke to'o hakahoki te 'ugu o Moesabegubegu e Guatupu'a ke kai haka'oti. 13. Manga boo mai aano gua 'atua a Guatupu'a ma Tepou-tapu, sosopo mai i te manaha ma iai a Moesabegubegu, manga he-'agiko ake kinai ke taa, ke kai ma'u, ghali a Moesabegubegu o 'oso ki gu 'ana siapo, tohu iho, pipiki gua siapo i na gima kae laga iho aano 'oti, he'agiko ake a Guatupu'a ma Tepoutapu. 14. Boo atu o he'osohi ki na siapo o to'o giu i togaa ma-naha, kae ma ma'ugi a Moesabegu-begu. Kua 'oti.

Her two children became angry. Gua-tupu'a rushed to get the head of Moesa-begubegu back to devour completely. 13. The two gods, Guatupu'a and Tepoutapu, came along [and] arrived at the settlement where Moesabegubegu was, rushed up at him to strike and eat again, but Moesa-begubegu quickly picked up his two small tapas, went out, holding the two small tapas in his hands, and prayed the laga formula and then Guatupu'a and Tepou-tapu ran away. 14. They went and took the small tapas, took them and went back to their own settlement and Moesabegu-begu lived. Finished.

NOTES For the initial difficulties of working with Tetamoge, see his sketch in Chapter 2. This story

was written on my fourth day at remote Tigoa, and by this time Tetamoge had become accus-tomed to dictating. He apparently on this occasion had thought out his material ahead of time, or had consulted others, as he didn't stop to ask questions. He assumed, however, that his listeners already knew the story. For example, the quotation in 4 (He'e po ko gu 'aku tama?) would be meaningless to anyone not familiar with versions A and B.

For this session I sat on a cot before a plank table on which I wrote. Tetamoge sat on the floor. Tegheta lay on a baghu mat reading his English Bible, a Rennellese mission teacher sat inside the door, and two women sat outside looking at the Birket-Smith book (Birket-Smith, 1956). Taumoana appeared after we had begun, and, hearing the name Sina, stopped Tetamoge to say that I had already written the story. Tetamoge explained in such fast Rennellese that I could not follow, and Taumoana recanted. He had probably mixed Sinakibi of this story with the story of the culture hero Sina and the mouse. Taumoana, like others, did not want me to take a story twice.

1. Tetamoge did not mention Guatupu'a's brother, who is nearly always mentioned imme- diately following the name Guatupu'a.

2. kaukauniatago: No one knew much of this except that is was branching (ga'aga'a), which Tetamoge illustrated with spread fingers. Taupongi 1961 suggested kibi (blind) instead of moe (sleep) in 2 and 6.

6. Taupongi 1961 suggested suki ai te mata (pierce the eye) instead of haau'u ai te mata. SE

2. Patikoge Patikoge

(A) Tetamoge of Tigoa, RE. January 7, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a ki gua 'atua a

Togo (tu'aatina o Kaitu'u) noko kai pegea, hakagonga'a i te kai pegea, kai pegea aano, kai e kigaaua te tinana o Patikoge, ma te haka'igo-'igo i te kai namutaahangahanga i te hai tama. 2. Magepe a Patikoge ia te tinana, sui o hai tena pake, o to'o tona kupenga o hohoga i te bai, kae tohitohi na tiagetaha, o to'o kake i na ga'akau, o gii kinai, o tege ona 'ata ki te bai, kae hoki iho o tohitohi o sugusugu ki na

1. The story of the two gods of Togo (uncle of Kaitu'u) who ate people, often ate people, eating people and they ate the mother of Patikoge, even though they realized while eating that she had the unpleasant odor of pregnancy. 2. Pati-koge mourned her mother, and in re-venge [she] did this trick, taking her net, and opening it in the pool, and cut some tiagetaha flowers and took them and climbed trees and tied [them] there so their reflection showed in the water, and came down again and cut [more flowers]

76

Page 92: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 2(A)

gima, o to'o o hano o e'a kia Gua-tupu'a ma tona matu'a Tepoutapu. 3. Sia hai ki na sugusugu o Pati-koge; o gotu kinai mo'ogaaua, he'e-maka Patikoge i ona sugusugu, manga kaunaki atu ia Guatupu'a ma tona matu'a Tepoutapu, o boo ki te kunga e iai te bai. 4. Boo kae tata'o ai, boo aano gua 'atua sosopo atu ki te bai, na lakaa tiagetaha noko ha'u ki 'agunga o hakatege 'ata i te bai. 5. Manga boo hetoki kinai, 'oso a Patikoge ki te tuni-bugu o te kupenga, o tata e ia o he-pootaki e'a'aki giu ake a Guatupu'a ma tona matu'a Tepoutapu. 6. Kua ma'u te gosinga Patikoge i gua 'atua, gii e ia o to'o hano, hetae ki te manaha o hai baakai kinai. Iho, hai tena ahi o baalau. O kaa tena ahi, tu'u o nekeneke kinai gua 'atua o tunu e ia. 7. Ko ma eke i te ahi, kae ma hakapata kinai, hakapapata aano kinai, moso nekeneke ki taha, tena tunubolu i gua 'atua, huhuke e ia gua 'atua. 8. Hano te hainga hasi ke to'o mai ke sege ai gu 'ana 'atua noko tunu. Manga ina mai ki gua 'atua o sui o hegegei ake ai gua tagaighali, kae ma taahoga gu 'ona lango, ka kua hegegei gua tagai-ghali o boo. Kua 'oti.

and placed on her arms as armlets, and went and showed herself to Guatupu'a and her husband Tepoutapu. 3. [They] wanted Patikoge's armlets, desired them for themselves, but Patikoge refused [to give] her armlets and just told Guatupu'a and her husband Tepoutapu to go to the place where the water was. 4. [They] went there together, the two gods went and jumped into the water for the tiage-taha flowers that had been tied up above and cast the reflection in the water. 5. [They] went and jumped in, and Patikoge took the upper cord of the net and she pulled, bringing [the gods] together, and Guatupu'a and her husband Tepoutapu came up again. 6. Patikoge secured the two gods firmly and she tied [them] and took [them] along, arriving at the settle-ment and gathering firewood for them. She came down and made a fire, piled on wood. And as her fire burned, she stood up and put the two gods into it and cooked them. 7. [She] put [them] on the fire, and kept [them] there, just keeping [them] there, [and when] cooked, took out her package with the two gods and she took out the two gods. 8. [She] then went to get pearl shell to bring so as to carve her two gods with that had been cooked. [She] glanced at the two gods, and then two tagaighali birds flew up from there, and lying there were their two shells, and the two tagaighali birds flew away and left. Finished.

NOTES Tegheta felt he no longer needed to repeat for Tetamoge, and lay on the floor reading an

English Bible by lantern light. (He asked the meanings of the English words "prove," "heir," and "problems of Abraham.") A woman with three children sat outside the door looking at the photographs in the Birket-Smith book (Birket-Smith, 1956) and identifying the people and naming the types of war clubs. I asked her to come in to the light, and she came about a foot closer. Everyone was fascinated by Birket-Smith's book except Taupongi, Tegheta, and Teta-moge who didn't so much as glance at the book when it was proffered. Tetamoge had sent over a lengalenga pudding of pounded kape and coconut cream in the afternoon; I gave him a little rice and a can of beef.

1. Taupongi 1961 was amused and baffled by the term namutaahangahanga. 2. Patikoge: a goddess not worshipped and not related to other gods.

Guatupu'a and Tepoutapu: these names surprised Taupongi 1961. The constantly heard designations for the famous couple are Guatupu'a and her brother Tepoutu'uigangi (Genealogy 11). (See N50[B]:ll.)

7. Ko should perhaps be ko ia (she). Taupongi suggested the plural heketi instead of the singular eke.

8. Taumoana and Luke during a later reading said that gaukei (leaves) should have replaced lango (shell). Taupongi 1961 did not know tagaighali but supposed it was the same as ligobai (yellow-eyed graybirds), which were often the embodiments of Guatupu'a and her brother.

SE

77

Page 93: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 2(B), 2(C)

(B) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 10, 1959. 1. Ko Patikonge ma Nguatupu'a

ma tona tunga'ane noko boo hai bugho. 2. Ngigho te bugho o Pati-konge o kaunaki ia Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga'ane o heukuhi ai, ma te samu e Patikonge te tunibungu o te bugho. 3. Ma te niti kia Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga'ane, ma te to'ake e Patikonge o tunu aano, nimaa kubi-lobo atu e Patikonge, manga mata. 4. Ma te hepunge'aki a Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga'ane kingaa moso pake. Nimaa kubi atu ma'u e Pati-konge, kua susungu. 5. Ma te sa'u e ia ki taha i te ahi o tuku kae 'oso atu ki tena lungataa ke sa'u mai ai he me'a ke senge ai. Ma te hetapa-tapa'aki o hengengei. 6. Nimaa keu ake a Patikonge ngua lingobai. Ma te boo ngua lingobai o kaukau i te bai i Nakangibai. 7. Kae hengengei o boo, tutu'u ki te heta'u i Anganoa o hai ai angaa hua. 8. Noko kongaa na hai: "Oi toe, aoa toe, euai. Kia-kia, ma he too, uoi." Ma te hai ake a Tehainga'atua: "Po kohea te ma tatangi mai ai a oku maatu'a?" 9. Ma te hano a Tehainga'atua, noko anga ki te lingobai 'ungi o mu'a, kae mungi a Nguatupu'a ma tona tu-nga'ane i ngua lingobai susungu. 10. Noko ta'anga tatangi i na poo, kae tuu'ungu ai, o kongaa na tuu'u-ngu: "Singi'akina, mau matu'a, ki Ngabenga."

1. Patikonge and Nguatupu'a and her brother went to set a large net. 2. Pati-konge made a circle of her large net, and [she] told Nguatupu'a and her brother to dive into it, and Patikonge quickly pulled the rope at the edge of the large net. 3. And [it] pressed against Nguatupu'a and her brother, and Patikonge then took and roasted [them], and then Patikonge tested [them to see if they were cooked] by scratching, but [they] were still raw. 4. And Nguatupu'a and her brother planned that they would pretend to be fully cooked. Then Patikonge scratched again, [and they] had become white [cooked]. 5. And she took [them] out of the fire and put [them] down, and took hold of her basket to take something to cut with from it. [Nguatupu'a and her brother] took off and flew away. 6. Then Patikonge turned her head [and saw] two yellow-eyed gray-birds. And the two graybirds went and swam in the water at Nakangibai [west-ern Rennell]. 7. And flew and went away and alighted in the heta'u tree at Anganoa [near Lughu] and made their song there. 8. It was like this: "Oi toe, aoa toe, euai. Kiakia, ma he too, uoi." And Tehainga'atua said: "Where are my parents crying now?" 9. And Tehai-nga'atua went on, had embodied [himself] in the black graybird, and went ahead, and behind were Nguatupu'a and her brother in the two white graybirds. 10. They usually cried at nights, and there-fore [people] prayed in prayers like this: "Pass on, [you and] your two parents, to Ngabenga."

NOTES Taupongi took the leading part in the dictation. The story was an answer to my question

whether the gods ever embodied themselves in animals or plants. 5. lungataa: lungata. Final vowels before a suspension juncture are frequently lengthened

and sometimes stressed. 8. Taupongi 1961 said that nobody could understand the words of the song. 10. Before their conversion to Christianity, when people heard graybirds crying at night they

would utter this formula to Tehainga'atua. Ngabenga: See Notes to Genealogy 11.

(C) Joshua Kaipua, BE. April 16, 1958. 1. Ko Patikonge noko hinatu. Ngu 1. Patikonge went away. Two yellow-

lingobai manga kaukau i te bai, ma eyed graybirds were bathing in a pool,

78

Page 94: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

te hano hakapata ke taa ma'ana, ma te haingata'a. 2. Ma te hano ngiiaki tena kupenga, to'o mai o ta-kenge'aki ai e ia te bai, ma te pake e ia ngu lingobai: "Koungua heu-kuhi ngatahiho i te bai!" Ma te heu-kuhi ngatahi ai, ma te samu e ia te tinibungu o te kupenga ma te pipiki e ia, o to'o o tahu te ahi, o huti-huti ona hungu o seu, ma te to'ake o tunu i te ahi. 3. Aano kubikubi e ia, manga toto; aano 'oso hoki atu o kubikubi, manga toto. 4. Ma te hai atu a teengaa: "Kitaa moso pa-ke na'e kitaaua kitai tutahi o moso, ma te kai e ia ia te kitaaua." 5. Ni-maa kubikubi hoki ma'u e ia, ku moso, ma te sa'u ki taha i te ahi o tuku ki tena kete, o to'o ki hange o tuku, ma te hinake ke sa'u iho tena hasi ke senge ai, ngatata, ma keu iho; e hengengei ngu lingobai o boo. 6. Boo boo boo boo boo boo, boo, boo aano hai atu teengaa: "Kitaa tutu'u!" Hai atu teengaa: "Te hernia o Patikonge manga tu'u tona gha-bo." 7. Boo ma'u aano ma te tatae ki teengaa kunga o tutu'u, hai mai teengaa: "Ooi toe." Hai mai tee-ngaa: "Oi toe." Hai atu a Semoana: "Ko 'oku maatu'a engengea mai hea?" Ma te 'oti.

TEXTS 2(C), 3

and [she] went near to kill [them] for her-self, but [it] was difficult. 2. She then wrapped up her net, and she brought [it] and set it in the bottom of the pool and [said] craftily to the two graybirds: "You two dive down together into the pool!" [They] dove down together into it, and she pulled the top border of the net and grabbed [the birds] and took [them] and built a fire and plucked their feathers and threw [them] away, and took [the birds] to roast on the fire. 3. Then [she] pinched [the birds to see if they were cooked], and [they] were still bleeding; so [she] took [them] out again and pinched, but [they] were still bleeding. 4. So one [of the birds] said: "Let's pretend to be cooked, lest we may be completely cooked and she'll eat us." 5. Then [she] pinched [them] again too, [and they] were cooked, and she took [them] out of the fire and put [them] in her bag and took [them] to the house and left [them], and went to take down her pearl shell for carving them, and there was a whizzing sound and [she] turned; the two graybirds went away. 6. Went went went went went went, went, went on and one said: "Let's land!" The other said: "Only a speck of Pati-konge's land stands [in view]." 7. Going on again and reaching another place to land and one said: "Ooi toe!" The other said: "Oi toe." Semoana said: "Where are my elders calling from?" And the end.

NOTES The birds at the end of the story were speaking the language of the gods. Semoana (Tehai-

nga'atua) claimed them as his elders, thus revealing that the birds were Guatupu'a and her brother.

SE

3. Manukatu'u

Aaron Taupongi of 1. Ko Manukatu'u te manaha o

Tehainga'atua ma tena hanau. Ka noko hai o'ona noho. Noko ga'u i ba'i me'a, na huaa 'umanga, ma na niu, ma na huaa ga'akau, ma na ika. 2. Kae kai pegea toto'a ko Tehainga-'atua ma tena hanau ma tona ugu-

Manukatu'u

Niupani, RE. November 11, 1958. 1. Manukatu'u is the settlement of

Tehainga'atua and his offspring. It was of a special nature. [It] was rich in all things, garden crops, and coconut trees, and fruit from trees, and fish. 2. And [these gods] ate people very much, Tehainga'atua, and his offspring, and his wife, and his sister,

79

Page 95: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 3, 4

ugu ma tona tuhahine ma ona maa-tu'a. Ka ko Tehainga'atua ma tena hanau noko manga boo mai ki na hakatahinga ki na kaba ki gangi. 3. Ma te boo mai ki na 'aso ngaguenga i ba'i ghapu ma ba'i kagakaga. Na-maa he'e hai utunga a pegea, ko Tehainga'atua ma tena hanau, ka taa ma'agatou he tunihenua po he haihenua po he hakabaka ke to'o ki Manukatu'u ke kai ma'agatou. 4. Namaa sisia i na utunga ka he'e taa e kigatou ni pegea, ma te siasia a Tehainga'atua o hai ga'a na tonu o na tunihenua i na pogo, ma na gemugi. 5. Ma na honu ma na 'uhi-gaba 'eha to'a, ma na tago, ma na polo, ma na 'uhi, ma na abubu, ma na huti, ma na mei, ma na beetape, ma na suinamo. 6. Ko Manukatu'u ma kogaa na noho ngaguenga, ka noko manga 'eha to'a te ta'u niu, ma ba'i huaa 'umanga, ma ba'i huaa ga'akau.

and his parents. And Tehainga'atua and his offspring came here only to the feasts, to the kaba ki gangi rituals. 3. And [they] came here to the temple rituals in all harvest seasons, and all seasons without crops. When people do not have food, Tehainga'atua and his offspring will kill for themselves a priest-chief, or a second priest-chief, or an assistant to the priests, to bring to Manukatu'u that they may eat. 4. When happy because of food they will not kill people, and Tehainga'atua becomes very happy and pays for the priest-chief's food offerings with pogo fish and gemugi fruits. 5. And turtles, and the very important pana, and taro, and coco-nuts, and yams, and abubu tubers, and bananas, and breadfruits, and beetape tubers, and suinamo yams. 6. Manukatu'u was like a temple, except that there were very many coconut trees, as well as all garden crops, and all fruits of trees.

NOTES Many people were present during this session. Aaron Taupongi sat in my chair and his wife

Misianga stood behind him. Bits of information were added to Taupongi's account by several persons, often after agitated discussions. Aaron Taupongi did not object to the interruptions and seemed relieved to get help when his memory failed.

1. Manukatu'u was in the eastern sky. 2. Tehainga'atua and his family, informants said, killed people and ate their 'ata (spiritual

self) and ma'ugi (life principle) in Manukatu'u. According to Aaron, Tehainga'atua's wife re ferred to here was Mauloko, and his sister was Sikingimoemoe.

3. kagakaga: Aaron described this as te lae utunga (poverty of food). It was a name for the period without food, especially yams, the all-important source of nourishment.

4. Note sisia (plural form) and siasia (singular form). tonu: food given to humans by deities and ancestors.

5. pana: a Solomon Islands name for various species of large yams. TM

4. Mata'aso

Aaron Taupongi, Job Topue, and Jasper 1. Ko Mata'aso te manaha o Te-

hainga'atua. Noko kite e ia i te uta mai 'anga e Kaitu'u mai 'Ubea. 2. Ka na hai ai te ngaguenga; o tau ai te ha'ogua, te baka o Tehainga'atua. Ka noko tapu to'a. Noko he'e maa-soko te lango kinai ni pegea i te tapu to'a. 3. Ioo usu'aki kinai na 'aso ngaguenga ioo tata'o ai na pe-gea o te ngaguenga o hiina'i kinai,

Mata'aso

Tekobi, all of Niupani, RE. November 12, 1958. 1. Mata'aso is Tehainga'atua's settle-

ment. He found it upon Kaitu'u's arrival here from 'Ubea. 2. And a temple was made there; and the ha'ogua, Tehainga-'atua's canoe, was placed there. [It] was immensely sacred. Nobody walked to it in-discriminately because of the immense sacredness. 3. When bringing the food offering to the temple, the people of the temple followed and looked at it and

80

Page 96: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

ma te kaghaghi 'aabaki i na taha- taha o te ngaguenga. Boo o tatae ki Mata'aso o tuku te maga'e, kae hakaneke te tunihenua ki te ha'ogua o tau ai, o kogaa na to'o: "liiia, iiiia!" 4. Kae hoki iho o unga kia pegea o boga na taha o te ngague- nga. Aano 'oti, unga o hakatu'u te sa'o i te gotomaga'e o te ngague- nga, kae hoga te malikope.

TEXTS 4, 5

helped by pulling up weeds at the border of the temple [grounds]. [They] went and reached Mata'aso and put down the food offering, and the priest-chief climbed up to the ha'ogua and touched it and said as follows: "Iiiia, iiiia!" 4. And [he] went down and told people to cut weeds at the sides of the temple. Then [he] told [them] to pile up the sa'o food offering on the cult grounds, and to spread out the mat.

NOTES I

Aaron Taupongi came in the morning with presents: two baskets of taro, papaya, soursop, and eggs. I asked him to come in and tell more about "the old days." In Ms nice, modest way he answered that he was an old man and had forgotten most of the rituals. He was, however, persuaded to sit down. He asked whether I knew about Mata'aso. I didn't. He said that it was a place on the north coast to which SE had gone with some people from Niupani (see II). There were many people in the house, the men sitting on the floor and two or three women standing in the doorway. Everybody then started to talk about Mata'aso. It was considered one of the most sacred places in the Lake district because the canoe belonging to the powerful god, Te- hainga'atua, had been placed in a cave there. Below the cave and close to the sea, there was a narrow strip of flat land where the offerings to the god were placed. (A miniature of the sacred canoe is shown in Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 22.)

2. When taking down Aaron Taupongi's narration I heard the name of the canoe as ha'ugua. Taupongi 1961 explained that its name was ha'ogua. The ha'ugua was the double canoe in which Kaitu'u came to Rennell and Bellona, bringing the two sacred stones, Guatupu'a and Tepoutu'uigangi. Ha'ugua literally means two (hulls) lashed together (ha'u). Ha'ogua was the name of the canoe-shaped altars at Rennell and Bellona. Ha'ogua literally means two chisels, the altar being without an outrigger and shaped like a chisel at both ends. In 1962 informants said that both forms could be used. Taupongi said that there was no tradition of Tehainga'atua coming to Rennell in this canoe. It was "just called Tehainga'atua's canoe."

4. sa'o: name of the food (offering) brought to the temple. T M

II On January 28, 1958, I went on a fishing expedition to Mata'aso. We left the lake at 'Ubea,

at the west end, and Stephen pointed out where Kaitu'u had left his mother (T67:33) at a place where deep, clear channels lead inland beneath overhanging trees. We took the inland trail to Manupisu on the coast, and Stephen said I was the first white man to walk this trail. Before reaching the sea, three ridges had to be climbed and descended. A narrow lagoon lay between the coastal strip and the barrier reef. At Mata'aso the sheer cliff receded slightly, and I counted 30 coconut trees that had been planted after the taboos had been lifted. One of the most sacred of all temples had been in the shallow cave at the back, where only the priest-chiefs might go, the last being Aaron Taupongi and Tegheta. Several persons said that even the lagoon had been taboo, and canoes had had to pass beyond the reef. Tuhenua told how after accepting Christi- anity a group had come here and read from the Bible: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." They were frightened, he said, but prayed to the Christian God. They cut the brush and destroyed the altar. "Tehainga'atua fled!" said Tuhenua.

SE

5. Ekeitehua Ekeitehua

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 2, 1959. 1. Ko Ekeitehua noko sopo i te 1. Ekeitehua came out of a yam with

'uhi, ma tona tuhahine, ko Teu'uhi. his sister Teu'uhi. The yam out of which Te 'uhi noko sopo ai a Ekeitehua Ekeitehua and his sister Teu'uhi came ma tona tuhahine, a Teu'uhi, te was masticated food for Tehainga'atua.

81

Page 97: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 5

mama kia Tehainga'atua. 2. Te ingoa o te 'uhi noko sopo ai a Ekei- tehua ma tona tuhahine te 'uhi hua. 3. Ma te hai ai te taina o Tehainga- 'atua ia Ekeitehua. Ma te sa'u e 'Iti'iti ia Ekeitehua o pusi ai te tai- na o Tehainga'atua. Kae pusi ma'u ai e 'Iti'iti te hosa mo'o Sikingi- ngangi.

4. Te baka o Kaitu'u, te ha'u- ngua, noko a'u mai 'Ubea, kae mu'a mai ai te baka o Taupongi. Te mi- 'ibaka, tona ingoa te hua. O a'u te baka o tatae mai ki Mungiki nei o hakanoho ai tena ngasuenga, o hakaingoa ko Ekeitehua. 5. E tapa te ingoa ki tena ngasuenga i te me'a ngaa, ko ia noko mu'a i te ha'ungua.

2. The name of the [part of the] yam which Ekeitehua and his sister came out of was the yam fruit. 3. And Tehainga- 'atua took Ekeitehua as his younger brother. And 'Iti'iti picked up Ekeitehua and raised him as a younger brother of Tehainga'atua. And in this way 'Iti'iti also raised [him] as a son of Sikingingangi.

4. The canoe belonging to Kaitu'u, the double canoe, came from 'Ubea, but the canoe belonging to Taupongi came here first. [It] was a small canoe, its name was the hua. And the canoe came and arrived here at Bellona, and installed its district god here and named [him] Ekeitehua. 5. [They] called his district god that name because he arrived before the double canoe.

NOTES Taupongi knew the story but had his father, Temoa, retell it to him the night before to be

sure that all details were correct. See Genealogy 12 for the gods mentioned. 1. mama: food which is masticated by a mother and then given to her infant. Tehainga'atua

was an infant when Ekeitehua and Teu'uhi came out of the masticated food which the mother was about to feed him.

2. uhi hua: Taupongi 1961 said that the fruit (not the tuber) of a type of yam called tetua was cooked and eaten. Another type of yam ('uhi mea) with red flesh was considered the em- bodiment (tino) of Ekeitehua and Teu'uhi, and was always used as bae 'anga (the offering of two tubers to Nguatupu'a and Tepoutu'uingangi during major rituals). The tubers were placed at the juncture of the path and the cult grounds.

3. People of the Iho clan considered 'Iti'iti the mother of Tehainga'atua. Sikingingangi way considered the father of Ekeitehua, but he was not married to 'Iti'iti.

4. Reference here is to the boat race that took place during the immigration (T66:20). hua: a small outrigger canoe. Ekeitehua: literally, to rest on the hua canoe. It was because the god was sitting in the

canoe that it won the "race." Taupongi added the following: In 'Ubea the god's name was Singanomanongi (meaning unknown). When the canoe arrived at the place in the ocean where the seas were rough and managed to pass it in safety, the god was given the name Singano- tu'umoa (Singano-standing-up-in-rough-sea).

A similar story was given SE by Paul Takiika and Headman Togaka on March 18, 1958. Tamua, who was present when Taupongi narrated, furnished the following genealogy of

Ekeitehua:

Taupongi 1961 gave the following information: Another son of Ekeitehua was Baeika. Tu'ukiteika was the son of Baeika, and not, as stated above, of Ekeitehua. Another son of Ekeitehua was Taha'uinga. He was the god that made the 'uiga (lightning). He was not wor- shipped.

TM

82

Ekeluhua

•C lno <.lIdre"

Moeang.(he "'110)

oI

•Tononl~

•Teabolkat.1pu

•S>.·o·"'g~ba

T""ngluk~

(2nd wile)

IA

Page 98: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 6(A), 6(B

Son of Ha'usanga

Niupani, RE. February 21, 1958. 1. Tehainga'atua was married to Ha- 'usanga who did not give birth; she just had a pet skink. 2. She made some tur- meric liquid and rubbed the turmeric root, covering her turmeric liquid and went away, and then returned and opened her turmeric liquid to press the turmeric in it into shape, then took off the coconut- leaf mat, and a human being was there. 3. Ha'usanga was surprised by this, by the human come into being from her turmeric liquid. She looked him over, took the human out, and she cared [for him] and named him Tupuimanukatu'u (Growing-up-in-Manukatu'u). 4. Tehai- nga'atua wanted to have [him] on the cult grounds, and Ha'usanga treated her son with great reverence and took him to the place where offerings were left, and kept him there. 5. [Then they] entered the house and stayed there always, and [he] was worshipped in the house, whereas Tehainga'atua was worshipped on the cult grounds. When Tehu'aigabenga was ma- ture, Ha'usanga took [him] and built Nu- kuahea for him, and so the grandparent and grandchild lived separately.

6. Tama Ha'usanga

(A) Malachai Tegheta of1. Tehainga'atua noko pipiki kia

Ha'usanga, o he'e matigi; mangahai tena tama i te kagisi. 2. Kae nahai tena naha o nunu te angoma-tangi o poghi tena naha, kae hano,hoki mai o luga tena naha, ke haka-hua ai he genga, namaa luga atu tetakapau, ma iai te pegea. 3. Mangalangalanga kinai a Ha'usanga ki tepegea kuai tena naha. Ina aano ki-nai, sa'u ake e ia te pegea o gosi-gosi e ia, o hai tona ingoa ko Tu-puimanukatu'u. 4. Ka noko gotu aTehainga'atua ke hai ki gotomaga'eka noko haka'esi'esi a Ha'usanga iatena tama, manga to'ake ki te tu-kungaakai o tuku ai, o pipiki ai. 5.Ugu'aki mai ki te hage o pau o no-ho ai, o hegiu'aki i hage, kae giu-'aki a Tehainga'atua i te gotoma-ga'e. Namaa matu'a a Tehu'aiga-benga to'o e Ha'usanga o gosigosikinai a Nukuahea o taki hiina'i aite tau tupuna.

NOTES Malachi came to my house eager to tell his story, which proved to be an important one, but

during dictation it meant little to me because of the technical terms concerning turmeric. Later I realized that the story explained the birth of Tehu'aigabenga and the reason for one of his names, Tupuitegenga (Growing-out-of-the-turmeric).

2. Taupongi 1961 preferred to have the last part, beginning namaa luga, read: ... nimaa luga atu te takapau, o hengingi'aki na haangongo, ma te kite e ia te tama 'iti'iti manga i te 'ango te haangongo (... taking out the coconut-leaf cover and emptying the coconut bowls, and she saw a child just in the inside of the bowl).

3. kuai: kua iai. Tupuimanukatu'u: another name for Tehu'aigabenga.

5. Taupongi 1961 preferred hegiu'aki as the plural of giu'aki (to worship). SE

both of Niupani, RE. November 11, 1958. 1. Tehu'aigabenga had no father, but

just came out of turmeric, and so got his name Tupuitegenga (Growing-out-of-the- turmeric). 2. And one woman, her name Ha'usanga, made her liquid turmeric and wrung [it] out into a wooden bowl and covered [it] with banana leaves. Ha'usa- nga opened the covering of the wooden

(B) Aaron Taupongi and Job Topue,1. Ko Tehu'aingabenga noko he'e

tau tamana, ka manga sopo i te ge- nga o hai ai tona ingoa, ko Tupuite- genga. 2. Kae te launatahi hahine, tona ingoa ko Ha'usanga, noko hai tena naha o tatau ki te kumete o poghi i na gau huti. Luga e Ha'u- sanga te poghinga o te kumete. E iai

83

Page 99: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 6(B), 7, 8

te tama 'iti'iti. 3. Poghi hakahoki e Ha'usanga te kumete. Aano luga hakahoki e Ha'usanga te poghinga o te kumete. Kua tiketike te tama 'iti'iti i te 'ago o te kumete. 4. Sa'u ake e Ha'usanga ki taha o haka- ingoa e Ha'usanga tena tama, ko Tupuitegenga. Kae mugi a Tehai- nga'atua o hai ake: "Toku maku- puna!"

bowl. There was a small child in it. 3. Then Ha'usanga again covered the wood- en bowl. Again Ha'usanga took off the covering of the wooden bowl. A small child was sitting cross-legged in the in- terior of the bowl. 4. Ha'usanga took [him] out, and Ha'usanga named her son Tupuitegenga. Later Tehainga'atua said: "My grandchild!"

NOTES Being familiar with Macgregor's account of Tehu'aigabenga's birth (Macgregor, 1943:33), I

asked about the births of the gods. Aaron Taupongi told how Kaitu'u, the first immigrant, had brought the gods to Rennell, and after a brief pause he went on with this account. After he had finished, I asked if he knew how Tehainga'atua was born. He said that he did not know, as "this took place a very long time ago." Taupongi 1961 said that it was not Ha'usanga who raised Tehu'aigabenga, but the goddess 'Iti'iti. It was also 'Iti'iti who gave the god the name Tupuitegenga. This is the tradition of only the Iho clan, Bellona.

TM

7. Te Ingoa Tehu'aigabenga The Name Tehu'aigabenga

Shadrach Maaui of Hatagua, RE. March 23, 1958. Te tautupu'a o te baka haangota o

Tehainga'atua noko hai kaui i te tai. Namaa sahe hoki ki tena nuku, o ase ake na gabenga o 'ati tena tu'u. Ka noko hinatu a Tehu'aigabenga o ina ki te tu'u kaui. Ka noko haka- pupugu e Tehu'aigabenga te hu'ai- me'a, kogaa na to'o: "Ta'aku te hu'aigabenga." Ma te hai atu a Te- hainga'atua: "Tou ingoa, ko Tehu- 'aigabenga." Hai ai tena ingoa tu'u o te 'atua. E 'oti.

The story of Tehainga'atua's fishing canoe that went to catch fish at sea. He went back to his abode, and took out the gabenga fish and heaped up his pile. Tehu'aigabenga came and looked at the pile of fish. Tehu'aigabenga then claimed the large part, saying: "Mine is the large gabenga." And Tehainga'atua said: "Your name is Tehu'aigabenga (The-large-ga- benga)." So the god got his commonly used name. Now finished.

NOTES This story was prompted by my inquiry as to the meaning of the name Tehu'aigabenga.

Taupongi 1961 explained that the gabenga fish is about the size of a man's hand and is caught occasionally in the open sea. SE

8. Nukuahea Nukuahea

Aaron Taupongi, Job Topue, Jasper Tekobi, all of Niupani, RE. November 12, 1958. 1. Ko Nukuahea te nuku o Tehu-

'aigabenga ma tena hanau. Noko i na nuku matangi. Noko kogaa na noho a Nukuahea te iai na manaha o pegea. 2. Ka noko tu'u ai ba'i me'a: na niu ma na pua, ma na pita, ma na mei, ma na 'uhigaba, ma na 'uhi, ma na suinamo, ma na tago, ma na huti, ma na beetape, ma na abubu. Noko iai te hu'aihage, tee-

1. Nukuahea was the abode of Tehu- 'aigabenga and his offspring. [It] was among the eastern abodes. Nukuahea looked like the settlements of humans. 2. And all things were there: coconut trees, and betel palms, and pepper plants, and breadfruits, and pana, and yams, and suinamo yams, and taro, and bananas, and beetape tubers, and abubu tubers. There was a big house, its name was

84

Page 100: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 8, 9

gaa tona ingoa Tehagetapu. 3. No- Tehagetapu (The-sacred-house). 3. In it ko iai gua hataa sua, ma na masa- were two shelves for the sacred paddles hu, ma na genga 'eha to'a, ma na and the sacred spears and the very im- ha'u, ma na malikope,ma na kogoa, portant turmeric, and turbans, and mats, ma na utunga, ma na ika. 4. Noko and tapas, and foods, and fish. 4. There iai ma'u te manu, tona ingoa Te- was also a bird, its name was Tengi- ngigongigo.Tengigongigo, te manu a gongigo. Tengigongigo, Tehu'aigabenga's Tehu'aigabenga, noko 'igo'igo to'a. bird, was very wise. Tehu'aigabenga Noko sehu a Tehu'aigabenga, o he- walked about, and Tengigongigo always tata'o'aki ai Tengigongigo. 5. Te- accompanied him. 5. Tengigongigo was ngigongigo te manu hai ga'a ma'ugi the bird giving the life principle to human kia pegea. Noko tangi i te moana beings. [It] cried in the sea and cried 0 tangi i na 'ago hage, ki te manga inside the houses, and people prayed to sogi ai a pegea kia Tehu'aigabenga Tehu'aigabenga in the thought that Tehu- 1 te maanatu ake, ko Tehu'aigabe- 'aigabenga was near people because his nga e hitaiaki kia pegea, e te tangi ai bird was crying. 6. [It] just cried, and tena manu. 6. Noko manga tangi o people heard it, but nobody saw it. hakagongo kinai a pegea, ka noko he'e ina kinai te pegea.

NOTES I asked Aaron Taupongi if he knew anything about the heavenly home of Tehu'aigabenga.

At first he seemed bewildered, but then started to talk so fast that I could not follow him. Togaka, who knew the procedure of dictation, interrupted and helped explain what Taupongi said. Job and Jasper also added information when Aaron's memory failed, such as the name of the bird Tengigongigo.

3. sua: sacred paddles (Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 16d). masahu: sacred spears (Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 16e-g). Also a general term for sacred

objects used during the rituals. ha'u: See Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 10. malikope: See Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 58. kogoa: See Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 10.

4. Tengigongigo: a mythical bird. Taupongi 1961 said he had never heard of this bird, and added: "Maybe this is just a thing of Rennell!"

6. This paragraph was added as an answer to my question: "Where does Tengigongigo live? Has anybody seen it?"

On Bellona, Paul Sa'engeika gave the following topographical description of Tehu'aigabe- nga's heavenly home: Ko Nukuahea noko iai te hange o te ma'ungi. Ma te hange o te huaa umanga. Ma te hange 'ota'ota. Ma te hange na tamangiki. Ma te hange o na ika. (In Nukuahea was the house of the life principle. And the house of garden crops. And the house of goods. And the house of children. And the house of fishes.)

The Bellonese tradition thus stresses the fact that Nukuahea was the home where all things desirable to humans were stored, and from where Tehu'aigabenga, the great donor of things, took them and gave them to people.

TM

9. Tugi Ngasuenga The Principal District Deities

Jotham Togaka of Labagu, RE. November 9, 1958. 1. Ko Tehainga'atua te 'atua o 1. Tehainga'atua is the deity of Rennell

Mugaba nei ma Mugiki ngatahi, i te here as well as of Bellona, because Kai- me'a gaa tomatou 'atua noko mataa tu'u first brought our deity here to these to'o mai e Kaitu'u ki gua 'aamonga two lands. 2. Kaitu'u did not ship Tehu- nei. 2. Ko Tehu'aigabenga noko 'aigabenga here from 'Ubea, but a man he'e uta mai e Kaitu'u mai 'Ubea, from Rennell here or from Bellona just ka noko manga hakanoho e te lau- instituted the worship [of him]. 3. And

85

Page 101: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 9, 10

tiatahi pegea Mugaba nei po ko Mugiki. 3. Ka ko Tehu'aigabenga noko manga hai ai te 'ugu epa o ba'i ngaguenga i Mugaba nei ma Mugiki. Ka noko 'api to'a tena bar nau. Noko tuhatuha o taki 'ugu epa ai te ta'u ngaguenga a Mugaba nei ma Mugiki.

4. Te hosa o Tehu'aigabenga, ko Tuhaitema'ugi, te tugi ngasuenga a Tegano. Ka ko Masahuitekaba te tugi ngasuenga a Kanaba. Na kakai 'anga noko hai togatou tugi ngasue- nga ia Masahuitekaba, ko Temugi- nuku ma Namalaga ma Ngakea. 5. Ka ko Tupuimatangi te tugi nga- suenga a Tetaungagoto ma Mugi- henua.

so Tehu'aigabenga indeed owned the 'ugu epa (sacred mat) of every temple here on Rennell and on Bellona. He had many many offspring. There was distribution [of food offerings], and every temple here on Rennell and on Bellona had its 'ugu epa mat.

4. The son of Tehu'aigabenga was Tu- haitema'ugi, the principal district deity of the Lake. Masahuitekaba was the prin- cipal district deity of Kanaba. The district peoples who had Masahuitekaba as their principal district deity were Temuginuku and Namalaga and Ngakea. 5. And Tu- puimatangi was the principal district deity of Tetaungagoto and Mugihenua.

NOTES After having dictated this, Togaka seemed to have doubts as to the correctness of the infor-

mation given in 2, and advised me to have it confirmed by other informants—an illustration of the concern of Rennellese and Bellonese for giving the most correct information possible. People were always ready to admit if they had no answer to questions, and would then either consult somebody or advise me to ask others.

Much later on Bellona, Togaka and I looked at this text again, and Togaka suggested that the information given in 2 be deleted. He had consulted some Bellonese who "knew more about these matters." Later I asked Paul Sa'engeika and others. They all said that the information given in 2 was wrong. Taupongi 1961 also denied that the worship of Tehu'aigabenga had been instituted by a man from Rennell or Bellona. He added that Tehu'aigabenga was termed te hu'aingasuenga (the great district god) and that he was worshipped by all the clans except the Iho clan on Bellona. He was only rarely termed tugi ngasuenga (principal district deity). This was normally one of his sons.

3. 'ugu epa: See NI(B):11. T M

10. Sisi The Nerita Shell

Daniel Tuhanuku of Ghongau, BE. December 11, 1958. 1. Ko Mungiki nei noko hakatu'u

i te sisi. Te sisi noko i te tai o nga- songo ake, aano e'a kia 'angunga, o hai ai te 'aamonga. 2. 'Oti te tu'u te 'aamonga, o iai te kenge. Tee- ngaa te me'a noko mataa noho ai, te pangati. Mungi te soi tea o malubu ai o hinake, o he'e ma'u'angunga, 0 manga hinake o hakapau kinai te ngangi. 3. Ma te a'u Tangangoa o sia hai ke to'o te ngangi ke mama'o 1 te kenge o Mungiki nei. Mataa to'o ki 'angunga i te 'ungu, o haingata'a, aano tu'u o to'o i gua gima aano tu'u teitei, ma te pulu a Tanga- ngoa. Sui a Tongangengeba o to'o e

1. Bellona here rose from a Nerita shell. The Nerita shell was in the sea and grew upwards and came to the surface and thus became an island. 2. After the raising of the land had stopped, soil was there. This is the thing which first stayed there, the pangati beetle. Later came the soi tea plant and sprouted and came up and was not high either, just came up and the sky was firm (hakapau) thereon. 3. And Tangangoa came and wanted to take the sky to make it distant from the soil of Bellona here. First [he] took [it] up on his head and [it] was difficult, then [he] took [it] on two hands and stood on tiptoes, and Tangangoa was [too]

86

Page 102: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

ia, kae mata e Tehainga'atua aano, namaa teitei ma'u a Tongangenge- ba, o> pulu. 4. Ma te sui o to'o i te nga'akautu'uti, ma te pau i te nga- 'akautu'uti, ma te hai atu a Tehai- nga'atua: "Ke noho i teengaa. Na'e kua ngaoi."

TEXTS 10, 11

short. Then in turn Tongangengeba took hold [of the sky], and Tehainga'atua watched. And then even Tongangengeba stood on tiptoes and was [too] short. 4. And then [he] took the priestly staff and concluded [the attempts] with the priestly staff, and Tehainga'atua said: "Let it rest there. So now [everything] is fine."

NOTES The day before, I had asked Puia and others about the tradition of Mautikitiki fishing up Ren-

nell (T31, T33, T35[D], T39). Did he also drag Bellona out of the ocean? Everybody said that Bellona was already there when Mautikitiki got Rennell on his hook, and that Bellona had risen from a small shell. Nobody present knew the details of this story and several persons suggested that Daniel Tuhanuku come and tell it. He came the next day (somebody had sent for him). He first told the story at normal speed, then dictated it. Puia and Paul Sa'engeika were present and listened with great interest. None of them had heard the whole story told before, they said. Daniel said that this father, Kaitu'u, had told it to him.

1. sisi: Nerita shell. Used for making coconut scrapers (Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 41). 2. pangati: black beetle which lives on the ground. It never comes into the houses. Taupongi

1961 said it looked like the poi (another kind of beetle). soi tea: a dry-land tuber, possibly arrowroot; its baked tubers are soaked in water for

several days before eating. 4. nga'akautu'uti: See Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 16a. Apparently I had misunderstood the

last part of the tale when working it over and translating it on Bellona. My first translation of 4 went: And [Tehainga'atua] replaced [him] and took the priestly staff. . . . Taupongi 1961 ob- jected, saying that Tehainga'atua was just watching the events. It was Tongangengeba who lifted up the sky. The phrase sui to'o here just means: then [Tongangengeba] took. Taupongi also ex- pressed his doubt concerning the correctness of the story: "I don't think that Tangangoa tried to lift the sky. It was only Tongangengeba, and Tehainga'atua watched him."

TM

II. Tongagegeba

Tongagegeba

Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Hatagua, March 19, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o Tongagegeba

noko to'o e ia te gangi o mama'o iho. Te gangi noko manga pigi iho ki te kege nei. Teegaa tena haaite noko manga hai, na hegegei 'anga na tuu ma na soi tea. 2. Noko' ma- nga hegegei ake na tuu o manga paa 'anga i te gangi o hitoki giu iho. Malubu ake na soi tea, o manga paa 'anga ki te gangi o mangama- nga tena gau. 3. Namaa ko Tonga- gegeba, ta'aki e ia, te gangi o hano he'egahi iho. Manga noho toka ai nei. Teenei tena 'otinga.

1. The story of Tongagegeba who took the sky far up. The sky formerly touched down upon the earth here. The height that it had, the flight of ground pigeons and the soi tea plant. 2. The pigeons would fly up only to touch upon the sky and fall back down. The soi tea grew up only to reach and touch the sky and spread out its leaves. 3. Then as for Tongagegeba, he lifted up the sky and [it] went far up. [It] stays there quietly now. This is the ending [of the story].

NOTES 1. Togaka considered Tongagegeba a deity ('atua) not worshipped. For other references to

Tongageba, see T10 and T67:19. iho: seems to be a mistake and is not translated.

2. It is difficult to convey in English the difference between paa 'anga i te gangi (touch upon the sky) and paa 'anga ki te gangi (to touch as far as the sky).

soi tea: See N10:2. SE

7 87

Page 103: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 12, 13

12. Sikingimoemoe Sikingimoemoe

Timothy Sau'uhi of Baitupu, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 12, 1958. 1. Ko Sikingimoemoe noko sia hai

ke hakapigi, ia tena tunga'ane a Te- hainga'atua. Too iho te gaukei o pi- si ai, mate goi. O hetauaki e Tehai- nga'atua i ba'i hai 'anga o he'e ma- 'ugi ghali. Namaa te tahi 'aso tu'u a Tehainga'atua o ogiogi 'atua, o kogaa na to'o: "Tugou Tetupu'a! Tugou ma tou tuhahine!"

2. Tu'ia a Sikingimoemoe o nga- guegue. Namaa hai ake a Tehai- nga'atua: "Tetupu'a ma tou tuhahine magie sou goto!" Siasia a Sikingi- moemoe o 'aga, e ma'ugi. Kua 'oti.

1. Sikingimoemoe wanted to stay with her brother Tehainga'atua. A leaf fell and hit her and [she] pretended to lose con- sciousness. Tehainga'atua applied every cure but [she] was not quickly brought back to life. Then Tehainga'atua prayed to his gods, saying: "Permission! Tetu- pu'a and your sister!"

2. Sikingimoemoe was surprised and her pulse beat. Tehainga'atua said: "Te- tupu'a and your sister, may your hearts be serene!" Sikingimoemoe was happy and got up, alive. Finished.

NOTES Timothy was not all sure of the ritual prayer and said atogoto, which Paul Takiika on April

6 changed to 'atugou. Taupongi 1961 said that the correct term was tugou, and I made an ex- ception to the usual procedure and changed the original text. Taupongi explained that Tehai- nga'atua was repeating the formula that was used to address him and his sister Sikingimoemoe as a way of pleasing her and restoring her to life. Tetupu'a is a name for Tehainga'atua. Tau- pongi chanted with prolonged vowels: "Tetupu'aaa! Tuhahiiine!" The phrase sou goto should be tou goto (Taupongi 1961).

SE

13. Sikingimoemoe ma Sa'opunuasee

Sikingimoemoe and Sa'opunuasee

Timothy Sau'uhi of Baitupu, RE. At Labagu, November 9, 1957. 1. Ko Sikingimoemoe noko pusi e

ia ia Sa'opunuasee ma gua hai taina. Kua tuku ki te hata. 2. Kogaa 'aso hano hai ake: "Tuku iho outou gi- ma!" Haka'igonga kua tauiku. 3. Hano ke hai baakai ke kiki (kogaa na noho kai te tago, kai te kaui e kiki). 4. Tu'u mai Sa'opunuasee, me'ime'i i te titingi hata ma tohi, a'aki iho ha'agiko. Boo ke kake, kake te pukabai. 5. A'u ko Sikingi- moemoe, kua ha'agiko; sasaga. Ha- no ina'iho ki te bai. 6. Ma noho ake ai na 'ata i te bai. Siasia. Kogaa na to'o Sikingimoemoe: "Konei aku ta- ma. Ke noko kai, ke noko kai." 7. 'Utu kinai. He'e kitea. E'a hoki ake; guti te kaatanga. Ina hakatu'u, ina hakatu'u, sia hai ke kake. Gi- bai iho i te ga'akau. Momoge. Too

1. Sikingimoemoe adopted Sa'opunua- see and two younger brothers. [She] put [them] on a shelf. 2. One day [she] went and said [to the sons]: "Put your hands down!" [She] felt, [they] had matured. 3. [She] went to get firewood so as to make supplementary food (that is the same as to eat taro and to eat fish at the same time). 4. Sa'opunuasee stood up, jostled the covering of the shelf, broke [it and they all] came down [and] ran away. Went to climb, to climb a pukabai tree. 5. Sikingimoemoe came, [the sons] had fled; [she] looked about. [She] came and looked down into a pool. 6. Reflections were in the water. [She] was happy. Siki- ngimoemoe spoke as follows: "These are my sons. [I] will certainly eat, [I] will certainly eat." 7. [She] dove down for them. Did not find [them]. [She] came up

88

Page 104: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 13, 14

again; laughter sounded. [She] looked up, looked up, wanted to climb. [The sons] passed water down from the tree. [The tree became] slippery. [She] fell back down. 8. [She] took an adze to cut the tree with. Almost falling. The older brother chanted to a bird, saying the fol- lowing: "You frigate bird; I am leaving the pool, the pool, Teninipo." The middle one chanted: "You booby bird; I am leaving the pool, the pool, Teninipo." The youngest brother chanted: "You little tern; what of you; I am leaving the pool, the pool, Teninipo." 9. The little tern came and took the three on its back, carried the three on its back; he took [them] and went away. Finished.

hoki ki gago. 8. To'o mai te toki,tua ai te ga'akau. Hetaiake ke too. Tangi ki te manu te hai ta'okete, kogaa na to'o: "Kataha koe; 'ai ko au kaa ti'akina te boi, te boi, Teni- nipo." Tangi te pegea i goto: "Ka- napu koe; 'ai ko au kaa ti'akina, te boi, te boi, Teninipo." Tangi te hai taina: "Gopiti koe; koe aa; 'ai ko au te ti'akina te boi, te boi, Tenini- po." 9. A'u te gopiti, o baba togu; baba togu o to'o e ia o hano. Kua 'oti.

NOTES This was the first story taken down in the field. Timothy narrated in the elliptic style that was

to prove characteristic of him and of many other narrators, that is, in short phrases without subjects and objects. This seemed to impart a brisk effectiveness and elegance. It increased the difficulties of the foreign listener, but apparently not of those who already knew the tale. Most of the particles were still not clear, especially the noko (certainly) in 6 contrasting with the noko (marker of past time) in 1. Timothy said that this story was taught to children. His son, about 8 years old, who nearly always was with his father, and who was listening quietly, sang the chants in 8 ahead of Timothy.

1. Sikingimoemoe: Genealogy 11, sister of Tehainga'atua. 7. Timothy first said mimi, then he changed to the euphemism gibai. The word mimi is not

used in the presence of certain relatives, like a male's sister or brother-in-law, and is probably as taboo as the English "to piss," the translation of mimi used in this volume.

8. boi: poetic for bai (water). Teninipo is the site of the pool. SE

14. Tangangoa ma Tehainga'atua

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, 1. Ko Tangangoa na to'o hakatau

e ia te hanau a Tehainga'atua, o hai te hekau a Tehainga'atua te 'autao e ia ia Tangangoa o he'e memene ia Tangangoa. 2. Noko manga haka- sangeba; noko manga kongaa na hai te too iho ke to'o ma'ana tasi i te hanau a Tehainga'atua. 'Autao e Tehainga'atua kae hakasangeba. Aano nimaa 'oti i te 'autao e Te- hainga'atua, suki ta'ana ia tana ha- nau o ngenge. 3. Ma te suni ai a Tehainga'atua kia Tehu'aingabe- nga. Nimaa i teengaa 'aso hano a Tehu'aingabenga o pali e ia i te ahi- ahi. Too iho ma'u a Tangangoa ke

7*

Tangangoa and Tehainga'atua

BE. January 21, 1959. 1. As for Tangangoa, he made off with

the offspring of Tehainga'atua, one by one, and Tehainga'atua worked: He hurled spears toward Tangangoa, and [they] did not penetrate Tangangoa. 2. [Tangangoa] sucked in his abdomen; [he] just did it when swooping down to take for himself one of the offspring of Tehainga'atua. Tehainga'atua hurled many spears [to- ward him], but [he] sucked in his ab- domen. Then, when Tehainga'atua had finished hurling many spears, one of his spears pierced his child, and [Tangangoa] flew away [with it]. 3. And so Tehainga- 'atua complained to Tehu'aingabenga. Then, one day, Tehu'aingabenga went

89

Page 105: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

and he spied on [Tangangoa] in the late afternoon. Again Tangangoa swooped down to take again for himself [one] of Tehainga'atua's offspring. 4. And Tehu- 'aingabenga came to him with his bundle of ritual spears, and Tangangoa was startled and sucked in his abdomen, and then, when he distended his abdomen, Tehu'aingabenga hurled spears. 5. When four of Tehu'aingabenga's spears came at Tangangoa, Tangangoa became convinced that he would die, and [he] flew away. And he did not take [any of Tehainga- 'atua's offspring]. Then Tangangoa flew and arrived at his settlement and showed that there were spears [in him]. 6. His servants then stood up and they

pulled, but [the spears] were firm, and so Tehu'aingabenga's spears remained in

Tangangoa.

TEXTS 14, 15

to'o ma'ana he pengea ma'u i te ha-nau a Tehainga'atua. 4. Ma te sopokinai a Tehu'aingabenga ma tena'uu mangasingabee, ma te ngenge-ma'ungi a Tangangoa o hakasange-ba, aano nimaa hakamakona te ti-na'e, bengo e Tehu'aingabenga. 5.Nimaa tokahaa tao o Tehu'ainga-benga kia Tangangoa, pau iho e Ta-ngangoa ko ia kaa mate, ma tengenge o hano. He'e to'o ma'anatasi. Nimaa ngenge a Tangangoa otatae ki tona manaha o hakakite natao e iai. 6. Tutu'u mai ona kaina-nga o unu atu e kingatou, ma tepau, o manga noho ai na tao o Te-hu'aingabenga ia Tangangoa.

NOTES Informants disagreed as to whether Tangangoa was an 'apai (god not worshipped) or a kakai

(culture hero). His settlement was not in the sky but at Toho, south of the lake, Rennell. Tau- pongi 1961 said that mangasingabee was the name of the 'uu tao hakasanisani (bundle of barbed spears; Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 16f). These spears were used only in rituals. The mediums had said that these spears were protruding from the body of Tangangoa. Tangangoa was said to look like a fireball: Ko Tangangoa te ingoa a pengea a Mungiki ki te me'a e ngenge i te ngangi o unga pe te 'ahi (Tangangoa was the name of people of Bellona for a thing flying in the sky, red like fire). Taupongi had seen this phenomenon several times on Bellona. He said it was "very fast."

TM

15. Te Lango 'anga a Tehu'aingabenga

Tehu'aingabenga's Party of Travelers

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 21, 1959. 1. Te lango 'anga a Tehu'aingabe-

nga noko boo ma te mounoho' a Ta- ngangoa kia Hakakamu'eha, te unguungu o Tehu'aingabenga. 2. Ma te hakatangi a Sangama'ungi i te mounoho kia te tinana, a Hakaka- mu'eha. Ma te hakataha a Sanga- ma'ungi. Nimaa pata ake te lango 'anga a Hakakamu'eha, ia Sangama- 'ungi, keu iho ma'u a Tangangoa o mouinaina kia Hakakamu'eha. 3. Ma te sopo iho a Sangama'ungi o hakaiho e ia te toki 'ungi ki te 'ungu o Tangangoa, ma te tapa- tapa o ngenge.

1. Tehu'aingabenga's party of travelers went along, and Tangangoa lusted after Hakakamu'eha, the wife of Tehu'ainga- benga. 2. And Sangama'ungi complained because [Tangangoa] lusted after his mother, Hakakamu'eha. And Sangama- 'ungi stepped aside. When Hakakamu- 'eha's party of travelers came close to Sa- ngama'ungi. Tangangoa again turned his head and ogled Hakakamu'eha. 3. And Sangama'ungi went down and brought the adze of black rock down on the head of Tangangoa, and [he] rose up and flew away.

90

Page 106: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 15, 16

NOTES This story caused much laughter, especially the mentioning of Tangangoa's lusting (mounoho)

towards Hakakamu'eha. The elliptic style makes it difficult to understand without a description of the scene: A party of gods walk along a path, the men in front and the women in a line behind. Tangangoa, a god not worshipped, steps aside and waits until the women pass by. He joins them and flirts with Hakakamu'eha. Sangama'ungi, a district god from the lake on Ren- nell and son of Tehu'aingabenga (Genealogy 13), steps aside and waits for the women to pass him, so that he can catch Tangangoa. Tangangoa takes off as a bird and flies away when Sanga- ma'ungi hits his head with an adze.

Taupongi 1961 gave a vivid and amusing description of mounoho and mouinaina, complete with gestures and animation. He said that Hakakamu'eha often possessed female taaunga (mediums).

TM

16. Tangagoa, te Hu'aiahi

Tetamoge of Tigoa, 1. Te tautupu'a kia Tangagoa

(Luimoa, Tepu'ateba'ihenua, Tino lau), noko nuku i Nukuma'anu, kae noko he'e kakai 'agunga nei. Teegaa tona manaha, noko noho i te takege o te tai i te moana i Nukuma'anu. O he'e ma'ugi ai he pegea i na 'a'ago 'anga i Nukuma'anu, masege i te mamate.

2. Manga ina aano kinai te 'atua omatou a Tehu'aigabenga, hano te sasaga, hano iho ki Nukuma'anu i te iho i Labagu o hano1 i te aga. 3. Hano aano i te aga, sopo ake a Te- hu'aigabenga, i te ogo Tabai ma ha- kaga'aa ai te 'atua hahine (he'e mate tona ingoa); manga hai atu a Tehu- 'aigabenga ki te 'atua hahine: "Ko- nei na kunga kakai?" Manga nguu mai kinai o hai mai: "Konei na ku- nga kakai." Na hai atu a Tehu'ai- gabenga: "Si'ai!" 4. Kae kaunaki o tu'u o boo, boo aano i te aga i Nukuma'anu, sosopo ki tai, o boo i te goto, boo hetae ki na taahoga o sosopo, boo i te moana, hetae ki te kunga e patake ai, te rnanaha o Ta- ngagoa i te takege o te moana.

5. Manga hai atu te 'atua hahine ia Tehu'aigabenga: "Uku iho!" Ma- nga hai atu a Tehu'aigabenga ki te 'atua hahine: "Mataa uku iho!" Ma- 'ogi o mataa uku te 'atua hahine. 6. Uku iho o hano a Tehu'aigabenga i te aga singa o te manaha o Tanga-

Tangagoa, the Great Fire

RE. January 8, 1958. 1. The story of Tangagoa (Luimoa,

Tepu'ateba'ihenua, Tinolau), who resided in Nukuma'anu, but did not live above here. That is his home; [he] lived at the bottom of the sea in the ocean at Nuku- ma'anu. No one going shark fishing at Nukuma'anu survived, usually all died.

2. Our god, Tehu'aigabenga, saw this and went to look [for him], going down to Nukuma'anu, by first going down to Labagu, and then going on the trail. 3. Going along the trail, Tehu'aigabenga climbed Tabai Hill, and a goddess (name unknown) was sunning herself there, and Tehu'aigabenga said to the goddess: "Are these the places lived in?" [She] just nod- ded to him and said: "These are the places lived in." Tehu'aigabenga said: "No!" 4. [He] said [they] should go right away along the path at Nukuma'anu, go into the sea and into the lagoon and on to the outer edges of the barrier reef, and then into the open sea and then to the place joining onto Tangagoa's home at the bottom of the sea.

5. The goddess then said to Tehu'ai- gabenga: "Dive in!" Tehu'aigabenga then said to the goddess: "[You] dive down first!" So the goddess dove first. 6. Tehu- 'aigabenga dove down and went along the bypath at Tangagoa's home that was at the bottom of the sea. 7. Tehu'aigabenga

91

Page 107: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 16

goa noko i te takege o te moana. 7. Hinake a Tehu'aigabenga i te manaha o ugu ki te hage o Tanga- goa, o 'ui mai e Tehu'aigabenga te kete noko i te kasomutu te taaunga a Tangagoa, gua pegea kua mate, tu- tahi o mate, kae ma popoge teegaa; sa'u e Tehu'aigabenga o pegu i te siku huna, kae pagepage ake ia Tangagoa o e'ake 'agunga nei i te moana, o hinake ki 'agunga, hinake o noho i te teatea. 8. Hakaanuanu atu e Tehu'aigabenga kia Tanga- goa: "Teenei te manaha?" Hai atu: " 'Oo, teenei te manaha." Hai atu a Tehu'aigabenga: "Na kunga nga- aki maahana 'oku kainanga kia te au." 9. Tu'u a Tangagoa o hinake, hinake aano, noho i te tahoga, hai atu kinai a Tehu'aigabenga: "Tee- nei te manaha?" Hai rnai a Tanga- goa: '"Oo, teenei te manaha." Hai atu ma'u a Tehu'aigabenga: "Konei 'isi kunga ngaaki maahana 'oku kai- nanga ma'u kia te au." 10. Tu'ua o hinake a Tangagoa, hinake o noho i te goto, hai atu ma'u a Tehu- 'aigabenga: "Teenei te manaha?" Nguu atu ma'u kinai a Tangagoa, manga sugu mai te tu'aa ba'e o Te- hu'aigabenga i te tobigha o Tanga- goa, o luga ake ki te gege i Nuku- ma'anu o noho ai, o 'ati e ia te ingoa o tona manaha, ko Toho. Kua 'oti.

11. Manga sehu ki Mugaba nei i ana hegegehaki 'anga, ki te matou hiina'i kinai. Uuga to'a. Te hu'aiahi. (Na ingoa ona kunga hakapuu e ki- matou i na ahi i na me'a o 'eha o hai na hu'aiahi.) Namaa gege i te 'ao, pugha; gege i te poo, uga to'a.

went along the settlement and entered Tangagoa's house, and Tehu'aigabenga took down from the hanger the basket [containing] Tangagoa's left-over food, two people who were casualties, one dead and the other twitching; Tehu'aigabenga took [them] out and folded [them] into the tail of his loincloth and drove Tanga- goa away and appeared from the sea above here, came up, came and stopped in the shallows beyond the reef. 8. Tehu- 'aigabenga asked Tangagoa: "Is this the settlement?" [Tangagoa] said: "Yes, this is the settlement." Tehu'aigabenga said: "[This] is where my worshippers will make maahana cooked offerings to me." 9. Tangagoa then went on and went on and stopped at the sea side of the barrier reef, and Tehu'aigabenga said to him: "Is this the settlement?" Tangagoa said: "Yes, this is the settlement." Tehu'aigabenga said again: "This is another place where my worshippers also make maahana offerings to me." 10. Tangagoa then went on, went on and stopped in the lagoon, and Tehu'aigabenga again said: "Is this the settlement?" Tangagoa nodded again to him, and Tehu'aigabenga slipped the top of his foot into Tangagoa's buttocks and booted [him] up to the top of the cliff at Nukuma'anu where [he] stayed, and he called the name of his home Toho. Finished.

11. [Tangagoa] just travels by flying to and from Rennell, and we see him. Very, very red. A huge fire. (The names of places where we make blazing fires for many things, making huge fires.) When flying by day, whitish; flying by night, very red.

NOTES This story was told after I had asked about Tangagoa and had told of the Samoan custom of

breaking off the tip of a taro leaf and throwing it away because Tangagoa had sat on it. Several said they do the same thing because the tip is maga (irritating). The Rennellese missionary teacher said he had seen Tangagoa at Toho, the cliff near the center of Nukuma'anu Bay. Others said they too had seen him and then Tetamoge told this story.

1. Other names for Tangagoa are in parentheses. 2. Labagu: on the south coast near the lake; not the Labagu at Lughu. 3. On the fourth reading I realized that Tehu'aigabenga meant: "Is this where Tangagoa

lives?" Luke said that the unnamed goddess was a friend of Tangagoa's who tried to protect

92

Page 108: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 16, 17(A)

him. (Luke knew few stories, but sat by my work table for hours on end so that he could answer any questions that might arise.) 4. patake: pata ake.

7. e'ake: e'a ake. 8. Luke said that Tangagoa had to find a new place to live. Tehu'aigabenga is teasing him;

the repetition adds to the sadistic humor, and the hearer's gratification at justice being meted out to a cannibal. 1962 informants preferred no object marker after hakaanuanu atu.

11. This came during the discussion following the story. As spoken by Tetamoge, uuga is an emphatic form. To illustrate the whitish quality of Tangagoa by day, Tetamoge pointed to my writing tablet with its cover picture of a cloud on a blue sky. Others said names for shooting stars were ta'e hetu'u (star feces), bulighoba, and tangagoa, listed in order of decreasing size. Most seemed to think that they were not really stars but gods, and especially Tangagoa. Even Tegheta shared this belief.

The following Tangagoa anecdote was told by John Temoa at Bagika'ago on March 10, 1958. He laughed at the girl's foolish wish, which resembles a child's dangerous wish in T185.

Te tautupu'a ki te tau tinana noko ma hiina'i i te manaha. Namaa poo, gege a Tangagoa. Namaa hai atu tena tama- 'ahine: "Kau tata'o ia Tangagoa." Keu atu a te tinana, ke popono te ngutu, kua pau o sopo iho tena kupu ki taha i te ngutu. 'Ika'ika kinai te tinana. Ka ko Ta- ngagoa kua hakagongo mai ki te kupu a tena tama'ahine. Namaa teegaa poo, hiina'i atu kia Tangagoa manga uga a'u i gago. Tu'ia a teegaa tau tinana o ma- tataku kinai. A'u 'ogoti i te 'ugu o tena tama'ahine. O tutahi a Tangagoa o hano, kae mate te hahine. Kogaa na noho kua kakabe e ia. Kua 'oti.

Story of the mother and child who lived in a settlement. At night the [huge shooting star] Tangagoa flew. Her daughter said: "I'm going to follow Tangagoa." The mother turned and put her hand over the [girl's] mouth, but the word had escaped outside the mouth. The moth- er was angry at her. Tangagoa had heard what her daughter said. One night [they] looked at Tangagoa coming down all red. The mother and child were scared and frightened of him. He came and brushed past the head of her daughter. Tangagoa had left for good, the woman was dead. That is how he took [her] with [him]. Finished.

SE

17. Te Pagepage 'anga ia Tangagoa The Banishment of Tangagoa

(A) Tetamoge of Tigoa, RE. January 3, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a kia Tehainga'a-

tua ma Tangagoa ma Tangiteaga, te 'atua tangata, na pa'asi kia Tehai- nga'atua, ke hano i Mugaba nei ka ke hai ma'agaa te 'aamonga, ka na maasaki a Tehainga'atua i te page- page 'anga e Tangagoa ma Tangi- teaga. 2.O maasaki a Tehainga'atua o tu'iho ki tai i Mataagaba (te potu o Kagaba). Teegaa te ingoa o te kunga noko hepagepage'aki ai o pau a Tehainga'atua o maasaki. Pau ke hano i Mugaba nei.

3. Boo te gongo kia te makupu- na, Tehu'aigabenga, hetae atu ki- nai o hakatonu e ia te ngaguenga hano ki Gabenga (manaha i Mugi- ki), manga ti'aki atu te tao haka- sanisani ia Tepou ('atua). Kae a'u a Tehu'aigabenga hetae mai ki Ma- taagaba, ma tu'u ba'e tahi a Tehai- nga'atua i Mugaba nei.

1. The story of Tehainga'atua and Tangagoa and Tangiteaga, a male god, op- ponents of Tehainga'atua who were to come here to Rennell to take the island for themselves, for Tehainga'atua was weak from being driven away by Tanga- goa and Tangiteaga. 2. Tehainga'atua was weak and went down to the coast at Mataagaba (one end of Kagaba). That is the name of the place [he] was driven to, for Tehainga'atua was very, very weak in- deed. He was about to leave Rennell permanently.

3. The news came to the grandson Te- hu'aigabenga, reaching him, and he con- ducted a temple ritual and went to Ga- benga (settlement on Bellona), and then left the ceremonial spear there for Tepou (god). Then Tehu'aigabenga came and reached Mataagaba, and Tehainga'atua was standing on one foot here on Ren- nell.

93

Page 109: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 17(A), 17(B)

4. A'u a te makupuna, a Tehu- 'aigabenga, o hakaanu kinai kia te tupuna, po tehea togaa 'aso he- tae mai. Hai atu a Tehainga'atua kia te makupuna, Tehu'aigabenga, teegaa togaa 'aso te ahiahi. 5. Hii- na'i aano hetae ki te ahiahi, hano a Tehu'aigabenga o mumuni, kae a- 'aki mai a Tangagoa ma Tangite- aga, boo mai aano hetae mai kinai, hegegei kinai a Tangagoa ma Ta- ngiteaga, hetata'i ma'u o toto'a Ta- ngiteaga ma Tangagoa, kae maasaki a Tehainga'atua. 6. loo sopo iho a Tehu'aigabenga, manga gege a Ta- ngagoa, taghaghi 'agu ai te tao a Tehu'aigabenga, tu'u ia Tangagoa, kae taa ia Tangiteaga. Noko hoki a Tehainga'atua i Mataagaba i te kua hakasoi ai a te makupuna, Tehu- 'aigabenga. Kua 'oti.

4. The grandson Tehu'aigabenga came and asked him, the grandfather, when the two would come. And Tehainga'atua told his grandson Tehu'aigabenga that their time was the late afternoon. 5. Then the late afternoon came, and Tehu'aigabenga went away and hid, and then Tangagoa and Tangiteaga appeared, coming, arriv- ing there, Tangagoa and Tangiteaga flying in, fighting, and again Tangagoa and Tangiteaga were strong, and Tehainga- 'atua was weak. 6. Then Tehu'aigabenga came down, and Tangagoa just flew away with Tehu'aigabenga's hurling spear in pursuit [which] hit Tangagoa and struck Tangiteaga. Tehainga'atua came back from Mataagaba because the grandson Tehu'aigabenga had become his ally. Finished.

NOTES Stories were often told in cycles. After finishing the story of Tangagoa's punishment by Te-

hu'aigabenga (T16), Tetamoge rapidly told this tale of the scapegoat Tangagoa's short-lived victory over the god Tehainga'atua, and I asked him to dictate it after a little rest. (I needed the rest, not he!) All the stories about Tangagoa caused considerable laughter. Tetamoge and others present laughed at the mention of Tehainga'atua's weakness (maasaki) in 1, and at his standing on one leg in 3. On the night of January 12, when we had returned to my home in Niupani, a crowd gathered and asked to hear the story, laughing merrily and apparently getting satisfaction out of hearing of the great god's humiliations.

1. Tangagoa's friend Tangiteaga is identified in the notes to variant B. 2. Kagaba on Lughu Bay. The word pau at this stage of my education was causing much

trouble. On the third reading at Niupani, I asked if maasaki ko Tehainga'atua was the same as pau a Tehainga'atua o maasaki. The answer: "Yes, only the second is stronger." I then realized that pau in this context meant "very, a great deal." But in the phrase pau ke hano, pau means "permanently."

3. Tepou was a district god of the Tanga clan. He had been injured by Tangagoa. SE

(B) Isaac Teikahoki and Mathew Tighesua, both of Bagika'ago, RE. March 12, 1958. 1. Noko angai a Tehainga'atua i te

ngaguenga i Mataagaba. Congo ai a Tangiteaga ma Tangagoa, boo mai kinai te kaahinga o huhuti iho ki haho, o hai songo e kigaaua ia Tehainga'atua, taa huhuke kae boo. Hai ke boo a Tangiteaga ma Ta- ngagoa, kae hai atu a kigaaua kia Tehainga'atua: "Temaa ha'itunga teenei." Kae boo.

2. Hakatatae mai, kaunaki e Te- hainga'atua ia tena 'igaamutu a Ti- tikasokaso, o hano te gongo ki Mu- giki ia Tehu'aigabenga. 'Ati gongo

1. Tehainga'atua stayed [as a protec- tor] in the temple at Mataagaba. Tangi- teaga and Tangagoa heard of this and came on a raid and pulled him out, and beat [him] and pulled off [his loincloth] and went away. When Tangiteaga and Tangagoa were about to leave, they said to Tehainga'atua: "This is our sacred house [not yours]!" And [they] left.

2. Tehainga'atua waited a bit and then sent his niece Titikasokaso to take the report to Tehu'aigabenga on Bellona. So Titikasokaso said to Tehu'aigabenga:

94

Page 110: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

atu a Titikasokaso kia Tehu'aiga- benga: "Ko te tupuu te kaa haka- taugagago nei e gua nei masakia'a." Hetapa a Tehu'aigabenga: "Tehai- nga'atua ma te makupuu!"

3. Kae a'u a Tehu'aigabenga o tatae mai ki Mataagaba o haahuna e ia ia te tupuna o kakabe ki hage, o angai o tuku kinai te ga'akautu- 'uti ma te ha'u maeba. 4. Noko ha- kaanu kinai a Tehu'aigabenga kia te tupuna: "Po e gholoba hakaa kia te koe gua nei masakia'a?" Hakatau a Tehainga'atua: "Te taha'ata ma te ahiahi." Kae hano hakagahi o gepo.

5. Namaa ma tatae te gholoba, ina atu Tehu'aigabenga kia Tangi- teaga ma Tangagoa e boo mai te- gaa baka. Boo mai aano tatae mai. Namaa tatae mai hai ake a Tangi- teaga ma Tangagoa: " 'Ai kua hoki ake ki hage." 6. Mataa sopo a Ta- ngagoa o hakakite ake ma'u a Ta- ngagoa kua hai tena ga'akautu'uti ma'u. Ma sopo a Tangagoa i te ba- ka o tege ake ki ga'unga, o sopo a Tehu'aigabenga ke 'autao. 7. Tu'ia a Tangagoa o gege, kae 'agu ia Ta- ngiteaga o labu o 'oso ki te gau 'ugu o saghaghi a babalu te 'ugu. Hai ake a Tangiteaga: "O tupuna te pau, kau tupunaa te hai songo." 'Agoha kinai a Tehu'aigabenga o mau'i ai. Kua 'oti.

TEXT 17(B)

"Your grandfather is about to be hu- miliated by these two wretches!" Tehu- 'aigabenga called out in prayer: "Tehai- nga'atua and grandchild!"

3. Tehu'aigabenga came and reached Mataagaba here and put the loincloth on his grandfather and took him to the house, and [they] sat down, and [he] gave him the priestly staff and flowing turban. 4. Tehu'aigabenga asked his grandfather: "At what times do these two wretches come to you?" Tehainga'atua answered: "Morning and late afternoon." So [Tehu- 'aigabenga] hid and watched.

5. When the time came, Tehu'aigabenga saw Tangiteaga and Tangagoa coining in their canoe, coming, arriving. When Tangiteaga and Tangagoa got here they said: "Oh, [he] has gone back up to the house!" 6. Tangagoa got out first and Tangagoa pointed out that [Tehainga- 'atua] had also his priestly staff.—Tanga- goa got out of the canoe and ran inland, and Tehu'aigabenga came in order to spear [him] with many spears. 7. Tanga- goa was frightened and jumped, and Ta- ngiteaga followed, and [Tehu'aigabenga] caught [him] and held on to his hair and pulled and scalped his head. Tangiteaga said: "[Some] grandfathers protect, but I am a grandfather who does harm." Tehu- 'aigabenga felt sorry for him and let him go. Finished.

NOTES During my week's stay at Bagika'ago village in central Rennell, Headman Solomon Puia, my

host, took me to see his father, Tighesua, the former headman, who lived at the other side of the village. Tighesua and two other old men were mending a fish net, and nearby an old woman was pounding tapa for use as costumes for the dances soon to be held for the High Commis- sioner of the Western Pacific. Tighesua was deaf and I had to shout. He put a red lavalava over his loincloth. Teikahoki knew the stories best but talked very fast. Headman Tahua and Timothy repeated after Teikahoki at my writing speed. This version has more detail than A and uses more difficult language (tupuu, hakataugagango, masakia'a, makupuu, 'autao, saghaghi, babalu), and rare constructions (te kaa, po e gholoba hakaa, pau with meaning "to protect"). This group was less amused at the weakness of the great god, but some laughed on the fourth reading when Tehainga'atua loses his loincloth. The tellers laughed when Tangagoa and Tangi- teaga are speared and when the latter's hair is pulled and his head scalped. The old men ex- plained that Tangiteaga was tupuna hakapigi (foster or adopted or classificatory grandfather) of Tehu'aigabenga, and the god of fire at Teugaimami, a kind of hell where persons incurring the wrath of the gods were sent to burn. An interesting feature of this story is the use of direct quotation. It is Tangiteaga's praise of Tehu'aigabenga and his own self-abasement in 7 that induce Tehu'aigabenga to show mercy.

2. Titikasokaso: See 14 in Genealogy 11. 4. hakaa: haka- (causative) and aa (what). 5. tegaa baka: central Rennellese for togaa baka; see N33:13.

95

Page 111: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 17(B), 18, 19

7. In 1962 Taupongi suggested that the last quotation should be: O tupuna, Tepou! Ko au, tupuna, te hai songo. (Ancestor Tepou! I'm being cruelly treated.)

SE

18. Tehainga'atua ma Tangiteaga Tehainga'atua and Tangiteaga

Timothy Sau'uhi of Baitupu, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 12, 1958. 1. Ko Tehainga'atua ma Tangite-

aga noko hakamamata'aki i ogaa ta- ganga. Mataa moe Tangiteaga o tubi, kae kemo kinai na 'uiga, ma te pisi kinai na hatutigi, oluga tena tu- bi, kae manga he'e mataku a Tangi- teaga, manga moe. 2. Sui a Tehai- nga'atua o moe, kae hano a Tangi- teaga O' to'o te ahi o mene i te aga, e'a hoki mai, o to'o teegaa ahi o mene i teegaa aga. 3. Hahangu te ugaimami, o hahangu a'u kia Tehai- nga'atua hetaiake ke hepootake ki- nai te ahi. Mataku a Tehainga'atua o 'aga o hai atu kia Tangiteaga: "O, poo iho o'ou agaaga e hakama- taku." Hakatu'u te gima o Tangi- teaga o papage ai te ahi. Tu'ia o mate te ahi. Kua 'oti.

1. Tehainga'atua and Tangiteaga were testing each other's magic power. First Tangiteaga went to sleep and covered [himself], and the lightning flashed on him, and the thunder struck him and pulled off his covering, but Tangiteaga was not afraid [and] just slept. 2. Then Tehainga'atua slept, and Tangiteaga went away and carried fire and went down one trail and came back and took another fire and went down the other trail. 3. A huge fireball roared, roared coming up to Te- hainga'atua, and the fire almost reached him. Tehainga'atua was afraid and woke up and said to Tangiteaga: "Oh, stop your searing, it's fearsome!" Tangiteaga raised his arm and stopped the fire with it. The fire was frightened and went out. Finished.

NOTES Timothy laughed at the beginning of 2. During the second reading I asked if anyone had seen

a fireball. Temoa said they had only heard of them from the mediums. Taupongi 1961 said that the term ugaimami is now applied to the Christian hell.

SE

19. Ngata ma 'Isoso Ngata and 'Isoso

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 21, 1959, and written account, May 1959. 1. Ko Ngata noko taa baka kaia'a

i te bao noko tapu kia Mata'u, te tupuna o 'Isoso. 2. Noko kongaa na hai: Hano a Ngata o tua te ghai- menga i te mouku o taa. Nimaa hoki iho o moe. Nimaa 'ao, hoki ake ke taa ma'u i tona baka noko tua. Manga tu'u te nga'akau. Tua hoki ma'u e ia o taa, aano 'oti, ni- rnaa hinaiho o moe i tona manaha. 3. Nimaa 'ao, hoki ake kinai. Kua tu'u hoki te nga'akau. Hinake ia o tua ma'u o taa. Aano 'oti, kaunaki tena lango 'anga o ngiu iho ki mu'a. Kae mumuni i te ngapa o te ghai-

1. Ngata cut a canoe log stolen in the forest which was sacred for Mata'u, the grandfather of 'Isoso. 2. It happened like this: Ngata went and felled the ghaimenga tree in the bush and cut [it]. Then [he] went back down and slept. When it be- came daylight, [he] went back up again to cut on his canoe log that [he] had felled. But the tree was standing. He felled [it] again and cut, and afterwards went down and slept in his settlement. 3. When it became daylight, he went back up to it. Again the tree had risen. He went up and felled [it] again and cut. Then he asked his party to go back down ahead [of him].

96

Page 112: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 19

menga ke ngepo ki te hai 'anga e hai ngoa ki ona baka. 4. Nimaa ina i te kunga e mumuni ai a Ngata, a'u te pengea i te 'ungu o te nga'akau. 5. Nimaa ina atu kinai, sopo mai a 'Isoso o tu'u i te mangamanga o te nga'akau o kongaa ana ngea: "To- na 'ungu kaa tu'u, tona kiiingi kaa pingi. Oi au, oi au, Ngata!" Nimaa ta'ata'aki mai te ghaimenga ke tu'u. 5. Sopo iho a Ngata o hai atu: " 'Ai teenei koe e hai too'onga kia te au!" Ma te tau a Ngata i te 'ungu o tata- ki mai e ia o tootoo e Ngata te 'u- ngu o 'Isoso ki te langi o te ghaime- nga. 7. Ma te hai atu a 'Isoso: "Mau'i ange! O tukua ko koe sia taa baka i te bao nei, hai mai kia te kimaaua ma te tupuu, a Mata'u." Ma te mau'i a Ngata i te 'ungu.

And [he] hid at the buttress of the ghai-menga tree to watch the events happening again and again to his canoe logs. 4. When Ngata looked from the place where he was hiding, a person appeared in the top branches of the [felled] tree. 5. As he looked at him, 'Isoso came and stood on the chips of the tree and talked as follows: "Its top shall stand, its skin shall cling. Oi au, oi au, Ngata!" Then ['Isoso] lifted the ghaimenga tree up to stand. 6. Then Ngata went down and said: "So it is you who are doing me all [this] harm!" And Ngata took hold of the head [of 'Isoso] and he yanked [him] and Ngata chopped 'Isoso's hair at the buttress of the ghai- menga tree. 7. And 'Isoso said: "Let go! If you want to cut canoes in this forest, talk to me and to my grandfather, Ma-ta'u." And Ngata released the head.

NOTES

The version first given by Taupongi on January 21 was slightly less detailed than the version given above, which was mailed to me in May 1959.

1. Ngata was sometimes termed a god, sometimes kakai (culture hero). Mata'u: a deity not worshipped, the owner of all high trees in the forest. When a canoe

was carved, a rite was performed exorcising Mata'u from the hull of the canoe. 'Isoso: te 'apai o te bao, the deity (not worshipped) of the forest.

6. The chopping of 'Isoso's hair was an insult. 'Isoso's hair was taboo, as was the hair of priest-chiefs and second priest-chiefs. By cutting it, Ngata makes 'Isoso less powerful, and, accordingly, 'Isoso thereupon gives Ngata permission to cut his canoe. 'Isoso's hair (te ngau 'ungu o 'Isoso): a hairlike mycelium (rhizanus) of a Coprinus species.

TM

II A variant of this story was given by Samuel Tuhenua at Niupani on December 16, 1957, in

consultation with seven or eight men. In this variant 'Isoso is called Soso and he restores the tree to life (hegau). The ending follows:

Kae hoa ta'ata'aki te 'ugu o te ghai- mega ke tu'u hoki. Gege iho a Gata noko ma mumuni, o logi e ia o gotu ia ke taa. Hai ake: "Noka te taa ia te au; ka kau gosigosi'ia tou baka nei." Ma'ogi o ma- nga tobago na gau 'ugu kae tuku o ma- 'ugi. Hegeu aano hano a Gata, kae ma ina a Soso hakagongo mai ki te ghaimega e tukituki atu e Soso. Hoki mai a Gata kua 'oti te baka. A'u o ina kinai, kua hai gu 'ona potu o hakamami ia potu, kae taa labelabe teegaa potu o haka'agi ai te baka ki te gano ma te baka ki tai. Kua 'oti.

The top branches of the ghaimega tree were just beginning to rise up. Gata jumped down from his hiding place and threw his arms [around Soso] with the intention of killing [him]. [Soso] said: "Don't kill me; I'll fix your canoe here." So [Gata] just cut [Soso's] hair and let [him] go, alive. Gata spoke and went away, and Soso stayed, and [Gata] listened as Soso peeled off the bark of the ghaimega tree. Gata re- turned, and the canoe was finished. [He] came and looked at it and there were two parts: one part had manu spurs and the other was cut smooth, demonstrating thereby the canoe for the ocean. Finished.

This was the first construction of the two types of canoes; according to informants today, lake canoes have the manu spurs at fore and aft ends of the hull. Informants said this was merely the custom and that the manu served no useful purpose. Canoes used in the sea have no manu. (See Haddon, 1937:60.)

97

Page 113: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 19, 20

Another variant was given by Taupongi on Bellona, April 13, 1958, in which Mata'u is the father of Ngata and is a forest god ('atua i mouku). 'Isoso's magic chant is longer than in the version given above:

Singasinga tama'ahine kau kaa sisinga Girl turns from side to side, and I turn and tena titi ma tena ngei. Nganga he ngau outline its core. Plait green coconut leaves niu mata, ke tape ai taku ika te 'otamea. with which to wrap my fish, the 'otamea. Its Tena kingi kaa pingi. Tona 'ungu kaa bark shall cling. Its top shall stand. Oiau oiau. tu'u. Oiau oiau. Kaa ngiu te 'ungu o te The top of the tree shall return, nga'akau.

Taupongi held an animated discussion with four old men as they discussed loudly the rela- tionship of Mata'u and Ngata; they looked angry and eyes flashed, and Taupongi attempted to straighten out the conflicting versions. The 'otamea seemed known to no one in 1962.

SE

20. Soso Soso

Erastus Baiabe. At Bagika'ago, RE, March 17, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a o Soso noko hano

te utunga ki mouku, kae boo mai na tamagiki, o kake te ghai. 2. Kae hano a Soso o 'agu ana me'a i mou- ku, kogaa na noho te hokai, ma na akui, o he'e labu he me'a. 3. Hoki iho ki te manaha, o hai atu ki tona uguugu: "Ko ba'i 'aso e ta'anga ha- no ai au ki mouku, ki te ga'u, ka te 'aso nei e pono i te aa? E iai he hai 'anga i teenei?" 4. Hai atu a tona uguugu: "Si'ai!" Hai atu ma'u a Soso: "E iai he hai 'anga ka manga he'e kitea e koe?" Hai atu a tona uguugu: "Si'ai!"

5. Sehu a Soso i te manaha o li- go, hano ina hakatu'u i te ghai, kite e ia na tamagiki, ma i ga'unga o te ghai. O'io'i e ia, o hetoki iho o he- 'agiko, kae toe tahi. 6. O to'o e ia te lungata, o to'iho o bubughe i te tugi o te ga'akau, kae o'io'i e ia te tama 'iti'iti, o too iho o mene i te lungata. 7. To'o e ia o tau i tona hage, kae hano i te hainga kiki, o noko ma taka, kae haaiho te tama 'iti'iti noko i te lungata ki te uguugu o Soso: "To'o mai ni me'a kakai ona mugi, o tuku ake i gago i te lungata nei, kau tu'iho ai." 8. Na- maa hano te uguugu o Soso, to'o mai na tiaghagha, tuku ake i te gago o te lungata, o takataka iho

1. The story of Soso, who went to the bush to get food, and some children came and climbed a mango [?] tree. 2. Soso went on hunting his things in the bush, such as monitor lizard and coconut crabs, but caught nothing. 3. And [he] came back to the settlement and said to his wife: "Every day whenever I come up here to the bush [I] get much, but today why is there nothing? Is there a reason for this?" 4. His wife said: "No!" Soso also said: "Could there be any reason that you haven't discovered?" His wife said: "No!"

5. Soso walked about the settlement looking, and looked up at the mango [?] tree, and he saw the children on the top of the mango [?]. He shook [it], and [the children] fell down and ran away, but one was left. 6. He [Soso] brought a coconut- leaf basket and brought [it] down and opened [it] at the base of the tree, and he shook the child, who fell down and into the basket. 7. He [Soso] took [the basket] and hung [it] in his house, and went to get supplementary food, and while [he was] staying away the child who was in the basket said to Soso's wife: "Bring something with a sharp end and put [it] below this basket so I can come down on it." 8. Then Soso's wife went and brought some tiaghagha shells and put [them] up

98

Page 114: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

e ia te lungata ki na tiaghagha, o hepu'ipu'i te lungata. 9. O sopo ki tu'a, o taa e ia te uguugu o Soso. 10. To'o e ia te tino o ta'o, kae to'o te 'ugu o tau, o tau i te tahaa bai, kae hoki mai, o to'o na liga, o kake i te niu. 11. E'a hoki iho a Soso, huke e ia te 'umu, kai e ia ia tona uguugu, kai aano, haka'igonga na tenga. Ti'aki, kae ngege ia tona uguugu. Hakatau mai i te tahaa bai. 12. Hinatu kinai te 'ugu, hoki iho o sasaga te tama 'iti'iti. Ina ake ki te niu ma iai. To'o te kaha o kake ai. Kake ake aano, ngatahinga i te niu. 13. Haaiho te tama 'iti'iti: "Puga basabasa mai ka kau na'a'ia, ko koe hakamataku!"

14. Ka manga kake ake, kake ake aano, tatae ki te u'a o te niu. Haiho ma'u te tama 'iti'iti: "Basa- basa ake! Ka kau na'a'ia, ko koe a'u ke taa ia te au." 15. Ma te ina basabasa ake kinai a Soso. Ngingi- ngi e te tama 'iti'iti na liga ki na mata, o bega ai na kanohi mata, too iho, hoki iho ma'u te tama 'iti'iti, o taa e ia, kae tobago na gau 'ugu, o seu ki mouku, o noko ma kena ai. Kua 'oti. Ma koi noho tatae mai ki na 'aso nei na gau 'ugu o Soso.

TEXT 20, 21

below the basket, and he [the child] stamped the basket down on to the tiagha- gha shells and [the shells] made holes in the basket. 9. [The child] went to the back and he killed Soso's wife. 10. He took the body and baked [it], and took the head and hung [it] up, hung [it] beside the pool, and came back, and got some lime and climbed a coconut tree. 11. Soso came down again and he opened the oven, and he ate his wife, and as [he] ate [he] felt the thighs. [He] put [the thighs] down and called for his wife. There was an answer from beside the pool. 12. [Soso] went [to look at] the head, and came back and looked for the child, [He] looked up at the coconut tree and there [he] was. [He] got a sennit cord and climbed with it, climbed halfway up the coconut tree. 13. The child called down: "Shine here with wide staring eyes so I may know, you are so frightening!"

14. But [Soso] kept climbing up, climb- ing up and coming to the top of the coconut tree, and the child called down again: "Open wide and stare! So I may know if you are coming to kill me." 15. And Soso looked up at him with wide staring eyes. The child poured lime into his eyes and so his eyeballs burned, [and Soso] fell down, and the child came down too and he killed [Soso], and cut off his hair and scattered [it] in the bush and [it] lay strewn about there. Finished. And Soso's hair exists to today.

NOTES 1. Taupongi 1961 called mangoes in Honolulu ghai. This is the reconstruction for Proto-

Melanesian by Chowning (Elbert, 1962: 29). SE

21. Mahuike Mahuike

James Puipuia of Matangi, RE. December 3, 1958. 1. Ko Mahuike, noko o'io'i e ia

Nukuahea i ba'i 'aso, kite hakata- ngi ai e Tehu'aigabenga ma tena ha- nau; aano namaa te tahi 'aso, langa- langa a Tehu'aigabenga kia ti tina- na, a Titigau'agaba, e iai na kubi- nga, ka ko Titigau'agaba te hahine

1. As for Mahuike, he shook Nuku- ahea every day, and then Tehu'aigabenga and his offspring complained about it; then one day Tehu'aigabenga wondered about his mother, Titigau'agaba, [who] had nail marks on her body from making love, and Titigau'agaba was a sacred

99

Page 115: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 21

tapu, he'e hano kinai he pegea. 2. Aano hano a Tehu'aigabenga o ha- kahegeu haka'ago kia ti tinana o ko- gaa na to'o: "Na henua ma haka- hua e kimatou ma Tehainga'atua na taganga o na henua, ka konei kunga e tukia hakahanohano i te aa?" 3. Ka ma gaganga a Titigau'agaba. Aano hakahegeu hakahoki kinai a Tehu'aigabenga. 4, loo1 giaki te me'a gaganga, kae hakahegeu kia tena tama o kogaa na to'o: " 'Ai he'e na'a e koe, tama, te kakai 'anga e pata ake nei?" 5. 'Oti tena hakahegeu, kae ta'aki tona kapa kaainga, e iai te aga ki Henuaiho. Te aga ki He- nuaiho e noho pe te kaakenga. 6. O ina kinai a Tehu'aigabenga ki te aga i Henuaiho o hai ake a Tehu'aiga- benga: "Ma hakatonu haka'aagoha goa konei kunga. 'Ai konei na ha- katokanga manga hai to'onga o he'e na'a." Kae hai atu ma'u: " 'Ai he'e 'aonga te hai kinai he hai 'anga?"

7. Hakatau mai a te tinana o hai mai: "E hai taganga to'a te kakai 'anga e patake nei ma te hakahua e kigatou na henua." 8. O hai atu a Tehu'aigabenga: "Ko au e hai ta- ganga to'a ma na pegea ia taku ha- nau. Ma 'Amokese, he'e 'aonga ma'u kinai?" 9. O hai atu a ti tinana: "Mano e 'aonga. Kae hailobo atu ma te na'ana'a kinai, na'e hai ta- ganga to'a." O hai atu ma'u a Titi- gau'agaba: "Manga hinake kia te au ki temaa hemasi'i i na poo, kae hoki o moe i na 'ao. 10. 'Oti te he- geunga a teegaa tau tinana, kae ha- kaputu e Tehu'aigabenga a tena ha- nau ma 'Amokese o puge kia Ma- huike ke taa e kigatou. 'Oti te puge kae boo te tau'a ki Henuaiho. Noko mu'a a 'Amokese kae gago kinai a Tupuimatangi o boo aano tatae ki te hage o Mahuike o hai atu a Te- hu'aigabenga kia 'Amoke&e: "Ma- taa tupe atu kinai he po'ao ke poo- 'ugi." 11. Tupe kinai e 'Amokese te po'ao, kae tupe tata'o e Tupuima-

woman and no person went to her [for intercourse]. 2. Then Tehu'aigabenga went and faced his mother and talked and said as follows: "[In] all lands we and Tehainga'atua are possessing the powers over the lands, but what is the reason that this place is damaged again and again?" 3. But Titigau'agaba just went on plaiting. And then Tehu'aiga- benga talked to her again. 4. Then she wrapped up the thing which she was plaiting and talked to her child and spoke like this: "So you don't know, child, the people who are near here?" 5. Her talk- ing ended and [she] lifted up the mat of her bed, where there was a road to Henua- iho (Land-below). The road to Henua- iho looked like a ladder. 6. And Tehu- 'aigabenga looked at it, at the road to Henuaiho, and Tehu'aigabenga said: "Now it is clear why these places have so long been miserable. So here is the group of people who are doing mischief not known [to us]." And [he] also said: "Isn't there anything suitable to do about it?"

7. The mother answered and said [to him]: "The people living near here have great power of magic, and they govern the lands." 8. And Tehu'aigabenga said: "I [too] have great power of magic, and so have people among my offspring. And 'Amokese, should [he] not be suited for it too?" 9. And the mother said: "Maybe [he] is suited. Try, but be careful about it, because [Mahuike] has great power of magic." And Titigau'agaba also said: "[Mahuike] just comes up to me so that we can be friends in the nights, and [he] returns and sleeps during the days." 10. The conversation of that mother and son ended, and Tehu'aigabenga summoned his offspring and 'Amokese, and they plotted against Mahuike, that they would kill [him]. After the plotting the group of fighters went to Henuaiho. 'Amokese was in front and Tupuimatangi went down to him, and [they] went and arrived at Ma- huike's house, and Tehu'aigabenga said to 'Amokese: "Drop first some mist so as to make darkness." 11. 'Amokese dropped the mist, and after this Tupuima-

100

Page 116: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

tangi te gigi'uiga, kae tupe tata'o ma'u kinai e Tehu'aigabenga te gi- gihatutigi o taa totohi te gima mau'i o Mahuike, o mate. 12. Ka ko Ma- huike te hu'ingaa gima o Tehainga- 'atua. Noko manga unga e Tehai- nga'atua kia Mahuike ki te o'io'i na henua, ki te he'e na'a a Tehu'aiga- benga ma tena hanau. 13. Aano taa e kigatou, ka na hakama'ugi haka- hoki e Tehainga'atua o noko ma o'io'i gima tahi na henua.

TEXTS 21, 22

tangi dropped recurring lightning, and Tehu'aigabenga dropped thereafter recur- ring thunder and [it] hit and fractured Mahuike's right arm, and [he] died. 12. But Mahuike was just the one that exe- cuted Tehainga'atua's orders. Tehainga- 'atua just told Mahuike to shake the lands so that Tehu'aigabenga and his offspring would not know [of it]. 13. Then they [Tehu'aigabenga and his offspring] killed [Mahuike], but Tehainga'atua re- stored [him] to life, and [Mahuike] now just shakes the lands with one hand.

NOTES This was an afternoon session. Togaka sat in my chair, I on the floor. James and Benjamin

Teikagei (the latter, one of the translators of the New Testament) sat on the doorstep. James asked if I knew the story of Mahuike. I didn't. He started dictating, now and then consulting Teikagei and John Ngatonga who had arrived and stood outside. Togaka helped by repeating after James, who talked with his mouth full of crackers and sipped coffee at intervals. James said that the taauga (mediums) had told the story. TM: "How did they know?" James: "They didn't know. The gods possessed them and talked through them." From the narrative it was not obvious why Mahuike caused the ground to tremble. Innocently, and incorrectly, I asked the following leading question: "Did the earth tremble as Mahuike had intercourse with Titigau- 'agaba?" My question resulted in a roar of laughter from the people present, and somebody repeated my question for the benefit of the men and women sitting outside. A cry arose, people continued to laugh, and then they told me that this was not at all the point of the story. To me it had seemed the obvious reason for the earth tremor, but not so to the Rennellese— one must be careful when attempting to explain obscure points in tales from a foreign culture. (For the story of Mautikitiki and Mahuike, see T44.)

1. Nukuahea: the heavenly abode of Tehu'aigabenga (T8). 5. Henuaiho: same as poo'ugi (the underworld).

kaakenga: same as hakaloghuloghu (a ladder). Taupongi 1961 added the following information: 1. kubinga: to pinch the skin. The usual word for scratches on the face made by lovers during

intercourse is tosinga (drawing). 2. tukia: The ground was shaking because the mother violated a taboo by having secret

intercourse. Taupongi 1961 used the modern term hai sini (to sin). This discussion led to a de- tailed listing of words for the parts of the sexual organs, and Taupongi described which words could be mentioned in public, which not. SE asked whether people on Rennell and Bellona would object if these words were included in a future dictionary of the language. Taupongi said they would not. People would just "look and laugh," as this was manga te hakasahe (just reading), a hint that it is the uttering of a word (not the reading of it) that has power.

7. patake: pata ake.

22. Tehanonga Tehanonga

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 10, 1959. 1. Ko Tehanonga na hakao'oue

mai te ongo i Te'aoa, ma te haka- ngongo kinai a Tehu'aingabenga o hano kinai. 2. Nimaa tatae atu, hai atu a Tehu'aingabenga: "Po ko ai te hakao'oue ange?" Ma te hai atu a Tehanonga: "Ko au manga bange!" 3. Ma te hai atu a Tehu'aingabenga:

1. Tehanonga spoke o'oue from the hill in Te'aoa, and Tehu'aingabenga heard it and went to him. 2. When arriving, Tehu'aingabenga said: "Why this saying o'oue?" And Tehanonga said: "I'm just joking!" 3. And Tehu'aingabenga said: "But [these are] the words of worship belonging to me and my ancestor." And

101

Page 117: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 22, 23

" 'Ai omaa ongiongi ma tupuna." Ma te hano kinai te utunga a Teha- nonga. Nimaa lunga atu e Tehu- 'aingabenga te tubi manga tu'u. 4. Manga hengohangoha'aki ai te ta'u ngata. Ma te mataku ai a Tehu'ai- ngabenga o ahe o hano. Nimaa e'a iho a Tehanonga, ko Tehu'ainga- benga e hakangangango. 5. Ma te to'o e Tehanonga na 'uhi o 'angu mai ai. Nimaa tatae mai kinai hai atu a Tehanonga, ke noho kia te ia, ka ma'ana te 'uhi e ingoa te baipua- 'omo.

Tehanonga went there to get food. Then Tehu'aingabenga opened the covering that was hunched up. 4. And there many snakes crept about among each other. And so Tehu'aingabenga became afraid and departed and went away. When Te- hanonga came down [to his settlement] Tehu'aingabenga had gone far away. 5. And Tehanonga took yams and went after him. When he reached him, Tehanonga said that [all yams] would be for him [Tehu'aingabenga], but for himself [he would keep] the yam called baipua'omo.

NOTES Tehanonga was the god of snakes. He was not worshipped. 1. hakao'oue: to say o'oue, a sacred form of 'aue (thank you), an exclamation used in rituals;

sometimes o'ue. 4. ahe: to depart or arrive, of gods. 5. baipua'omo: a type of yam not seen by humans. It stayed in the underworld and belonged

to Tehanonga. TM

23. Tupuimatangi ma Togomatangi Tupuimatangi and Togomatangi

Samuel Tuhena and others, all of Niupani, RE. January 19, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a kia Tupuimatangi

noko ina aano i tona manaha i Nu- kugigi, puge tena tau'a ki Nuku'a- paigua. O boo kinai tegatou tau'a. O boo sosopo kinai o taa e kigatou te manaha, kae tege a Togomatangi. 2. 'Agu e Tupuimatangi, boo aano tatae ki te ba'e gangi. Ta'aki e To- gomatangi, o ugu ai. Ugu tata'o a Tupuimatangi, o he'agumi aano ta- tae ma'u ki teegaa ba'e gangi. 3. Ta'aki ma'u e Togomatangi, o ugu ai, ugu tata'o atu a Tupuimatangi, o he'agumi aano tatae ma'u ki tee- gaa ba'e gangi. 4. Ta'aki e Togo- matangi ke ugu ai. Tau ai a Tupui- matangi, ke hoki mai a Togomata- ngi, o hai ake tena kupu: "Tohi'ia te makagi!" Manga tutu'u o hegeu. 5. Hai atu a Tupuimatangi ke taa e ia; hai atu a Togomatangi: "Ko au namaa taa'ia i te kunga nei ko ki- taaua ka mamate ngatahi." 6. Hai atu a Togomatangi: "Ta'aki atu gaa

1. The story of Tupuimatangi who lived in his home at Nukugigi, and planned his attack on Nuku'apaigua. Their war party went there. Going [and] arriv- ing there, they fought the settlement, and Togomatangi ran away. 2. Tupuimatangi followed, going on and reaching the hori- zon. Togomatangi lifted [it] up and went in. Tupuimatangi followed in, and [the two] raced and came also to another hori- zon. 3. Togomatangi again lifted up [the horizon] and went in, and Tupuimatangi came in and followed, and [he] raced on and came again to the other horizon. 4. Togomatangi lifted [it] to go in. Tupuima- tangi came, and Togomatangi was about to come back and he said his saying: "The makagi tree is broken!" [He] just stood there and spoke. 5. Tupuimatangi said he would kill [him]; and Togoma- tangi said: "If I am killed here then we both will die together." 6. Togomatangi said: "You lift that horizon!" Tupuima- tangi then got up to lift the horizon, but

102

Page 118: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

e koe te ba'e gangina." Tu'u a Tu- puimatangi o ta'aki e ia te ba'e gangi, o haingata'a kia te ia. 7. Sui a Togomatangi; o ta'aki e ia, ina aano kinai a Tupuimatangi, manga hetauga'aki ogaa gima i te ha'u o giu mai, ki te ta'aki a'u e Togoma- tangi te ba'e gangi ki tegaa boo mai ai. 8. Boo mai aano tatae mai ki te manaha noko hakatu'u ai tegaa he- 'agumi 'anga, o taai e Tupuimatangi ia Togomatangi. Kua 'oti.

TEXTS 23, 24

[it was] difficult for him. 7. Togomatangi took his place; he lifted [it] up, and Tu- puimatangi looked at it and bound their hands together with the turban and [they] returned, Togomatangi lifting up the hori- zon so that they could come here. 8. [They] came and arrived at the settlement where they had begun their race, and there Tupuimatangi killed Togomatangi. Finished.

NOTES This story was the result of two long sessions of conversation after Teika'ato told the tangi

that follows (T24). Malachi Tegheta, Tuhenua, Taumata, Jasper Tekobi, Teika'ato, and others were present. Only after prolonged discussion did Tuhenua come to sit on the sugar tin, the narrator's usual seat beside my table. Tupuimatangi (Grow-in-the-east) is a son of Tehu'aiga- benga (Genealogy 13). The whereabouts of Nukugigi is unknown, as is Nuku'apaigua, the home of Togomatangi. Togomatangi is a god not worshipped; he is known only through mediums (Taupongi 1961).

4. makagi: an unidentified tree, perhaps in the underworld. This is a figurative expression meaning that the strong warrior has fallen. Identity of the speaker is not clear, but probably it is Togomatangi.

8. taai: taa ai. SE

24. Te Tangi a Tabihakagau The Tangi by Tabihakagau

Esther Teika'ato of Niupani, RE. January 19, 1958. 1. Singa kau moe i na 'atu Gigi.

Umege: Mai'ee ko gau too ani mai ee.

2. Moe soko i toku hage tahea. 3. Noko ma'u kau tau poo ai. 4. Poo bagu tou haka'ui ai. 5. Na kainanga e si'i ai. 6. Mapu hoki mai Te'aitubabe.

7. Gea mai puge mai ki te au. 8. Gue na 'atu Gigi ke 'osonaki. 9. Tka'ika mataku tagoto ai.

10. Keu ake kau munataugu. 11. Ke noho mu'a ke go ghaghabela.

12. Na ngai'i pe te niu hakasani.

13. Tu'u tau puge ki na nuku gangi.

14. Ko Togomatangi na ganga hetau.

15. Ghaghasau koe te uahenua.

I lie down and muse of the lands Gigi. Chorus: Mai'ee ko gau too ani mai ee.

Sleeping alone in my floating house. Staying long, I count the nights there. Eight nights, your travels there. Your worshippers spellbound there. To rest again, Te'aitubabe (The-swift-

god). Speaks to me, makes plans for me. Food for the lands Gigi is ready. Fearful in anger, in hushed voice. Looking, I say go not [?]. Stay here and grow old like banana

plants. To gurgle like coconuts tied together by

[their own] linked husks. Launch your plans to attack the lands in

the heavens. Armies to fight Togomatangi.

You, active one.

103

Page 119: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 24, 25

16. Seu'ia koe i na 'atu toka.

17. Hoki mai koe ki Nukuahea. 18. Hakamapumapu Te'aitugeba. 19. Hai ke nimo i te hage genga. 20. Tau gaugea i na 'aamonga. 21.Hati mana i te Matakaugona.

22. Ko Nuku'apaigua kua ngago. 23. Ko Hakanauua kua hatutaka. 24. Bolaeke noko ahe sigi ai.

25. Sigi tu'anoa Tupuimatangi. 26. Tou taauga na pea kinai. 27. Haka'aagoha hakasausau. 28. Mapu ai kae tagitagi 'agu. 29. Ko Sagama'ugi te manaba tasi. 30. Ko Inatimu'a te mago hohoga. 31. Hakamotu te hua tuku kinai. 32. Tuku ki te koe ko Aheigoto.

You drive [them] away from peaceful lands of gods.

O come back to Nukuahea. Rest, Te'aitugeba (The-soaring-god). Only to vanish in the house with turmeric. Your prophetic talk amid the islands. Thunder blasting there in the north-

northwest. Nuku'apaigua is lost. Hakanauua is flat as stones. Bolaeke land is passed and [gods]

march by. Passed, the strifing of Tupuimatangi. Your medium bearing hither. Sorrow sad. Resting, waiting, and following. Sagama'ugi, a single breath. Inatimu'a, a spread sarong. Cease the song and leave it. Leave you at Aheigoto.

NOTES For an explanation of a tangi, see N95. This is by no means a certain translation, as the in-

formants could only speculate as to the meanings, and 29 words in the 32 verses required pro- longed discussion. (In the preceding story, only 1 word in about 7 lines needed explanation.) The wife seems to be praising the martial valor and power of her husband Tupuimatangi. Names that honor him are Te'aitubabe (The-swift-god, 6) and Te'aitugeba (The-soaring-god, 18).

1. Gigi: an abode of the gods, sometimes called Nukugigi. 23. Hakanauua: a land of gods and of undesirables such as snakes (ngata), lizards (hokai),

centipedes (agipaipai) and annihilated ancestors. Taupongi 1961 suggested that Tupuimatangi is here likened to the firmness of coral rocks.

29. Sagama'ugi: See N15. 30. Inatimu'a: an unknown deity. 32. Aheigoto: probably related to ahe (to go, of gods). SE

25. Tu'utangaba Tu'utangaba

Paul Sa'engeika of Ghongau, BE. January 5, 1959. Tu'utangaba noko 'ita ki te ma-

hina noko maangama o noho pe te 'ao. Ma te tongi kinai. Ke ngo mate ia o hano o baanehu e ia. Ma te mate o hano o poghi e ia, o mi- 'imaangama.

Tu'utangaba was jealous of the moon that was radiant and looked like daylight. And [he] made a vow concerning this. When he died he would go and make the moon invisible. And he died and went and covered [the moon] and it was radi- ant [but] a little.

NOTES Tu'utangaba: a deity not worshipped. tongi: to promise to do some act of magic when dead, as for instance to say: "When I am

dead I will come and remove the big stone in the middle of this garden." This tale explains why the moon does not shine as brightly as the sun (see T27).

TM

104

Page 120: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

26. Tehu'aingabenga ma Mahungenge ma Mahutoki

TEXTS 26, 27

Tehu'aingabenga and Mahungenge and Mahutoki

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959. Mahungenge ma Mahutoki, ngua

hetu'u noko hungi ngoa ai o tuki ai na 'aamonga. Ma te 'ika'ika kinai a Tehu'aingabenga o tataka e ia o ngapangapa, o manga noho pe ngua momo 'ao. Ma te he'e toto'a ngua hetu'u ke hungi ai ma'u na 'aamo- nga.

Mahungenge and Mahutoki were two [clusters] of stars [Milky Way] from which hurricanes very often blew, and so the islands were damaged. And Tehu'ainga- benga became angry and stepped on them and they became deformed and looked like just two little clouds. And so the two stars were not strong [enough] to make hurricanes in the islands again.

NOTES The Bellonese still believe that the annual disappearence and reappearance of certain stars

for which they have names cause storms. TM

27. Te Ga'aa ma te Mahina The Sun and the Moon

John Temoa. At Bagika'ago, RE, March 12, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a ki te ga'aa ma te

mahina, noko tua te hau, o balu- balu; o hakatu'u kigaa hekakei ai ki te gangi. Mataa kake te ga'aa, kake aano hetae ki te gangi. 2. Kae tata'o ake te mahina; kake aano te mahina, ngatahinga, hakategekia hoki iho ki te tugi, o mene i te tai. 3. O ngii ake aano ai, e'a hoki ake, kua gogohi. 'Ika'ika o hai atu tena kupu ki te ga'aa: "Manga pake e koe ia te au o too iho, ko au kaa noko hano ai he taunga mo'o na 'aamonga, ka ko koe kaa noko ma- nga tutu tobigha!" 4. E kogaa na noho ai; e bebega ai te ga'aa i na tii 'anga i na 'ao, kae gogohi ai te ma- hina i na tii 'anga i na poo. Kua 'oti.

1. The story of the sun and the moon, who cut down a hibiscus tree and stripped off the bark; the two stood [it] up so as to climb up on it to the sky. The sun climbed first, climbing up and reach- ing the sky. 2. Then the moon followed; the moon climbed up halfway and slipped back down to the base [of the tree] and disappeared down into the sea. 3. So [the moon] squealed and came back up and was cold. Angry, he said his words to the sun: "You just tricked me and [I] fell down, but I'll mark the chronology and moons [months] of all the islands, and you'll just set buttocks on fire!" 4. And so [it] has been; so the sun is hot, shining by day; and so the moon is cold, shining by night. Finished.

NOTES Temoa laughed about the moon's ducking in the sea (2), and a great deal at the moon's taunt

to the sun (3). On the second reading he explained that hakategekia (2) was the same as momoge.

Some discussion followed as to the nights of the moon, but the most complete account was given by Taupongi 1961:

Te taunga o te mahina e kongaa na tau. Nimaa sopo ake te sopo ho'ou 'anga kongaa na mate e Mungiki, 'angi'angi.

8*

The moon counting is counted as follows. When the new [moon] appearance appears, the Bellona people say 'angi'angi. After going down

105

Page 121: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 27, 28

and daylight comes, there is said then hakahaa (four); and after daylight comes again, haka- ngima (five); and after daylight comes again, hakaono (six); and after daylight conies again, hakahitu (seven); and after daylight comes again, hakabangu (eight); and after daylight conies again, hakaiba (nine); and after daylight comes again, hakaangahungu (ten); and when daylight comes again, tuuma'a tasi (eleven); and when daylight comes again, tuuma'a ngua (twelve); and after daylight comes again, malango; and after daylight comes again, kaukau; and after daylight comes again, mangiko saasaa; and after daylight comes again, mangiko ngua; and after daylight comes again, hakatongu (three); and on daylight, hakahaa (four); and on day- light, hakangima (five); and on daylight, haka- ono (six); and on daylight, hakahitu (seven); and on daylight, hakabangu (eight); and on daylight, hakaiba (nine); and on daylight, hakaangahungu (ten); and on daylight, there is left poo ngima (five nights); and on daylight, there is left poo haa (four nights); and on daylight, there is left poo tongu (three nights); and on daylight, there is left poo ngua (two nights); and on daylight, there is left poo tasi (one night); and on day- light, asongango; and on daylight again, nga- nguengue; and on daylight, again becomes 'angi'angi.

Nimaa moe o 'ao, hai ake ma'u, haka- haa; nimaa 'aoina ake ma'u, hakangima; nimaa 'ao ma'u, hakaono; nimaa 'aoina ma'u, hakahitu; nimaa 'aoina ma'u, haka-bangu; nimaa 'ao ma'u, hakaiba; nimaa 'ao ma'u, hakaangahungu; ma te 'aoina ma'u, tuuma'a tasi; ma te 'aoina ma'u, tuuma'a ngua; ma te 'aoina ma'u, ma- lango; ma 'aoina ma'u, kaukau; 'aoina ma'u o mangiko saasaa; 'aoina ma'u o mangiko ngua; 'aoina ma'u o hakatongu; 'aoina o hakahaa; 'aoina, hakangima; 'aoina hakano; 'aoina, hakahitu; 'aoina hakabangu; 'aoina, hakakaiba, 'aoina ha-kaangahungu; 'aoina o toe poo ngima; 'aoina o toe poo haa; 'aoina o toe poo tongu; 'aoina o toe poo ngua; 'aoina o toe poo tasi; 'aoina o asongango; ma te 'ao ma'u o nganguengue; 'aoina ma'u hoki o 'angi'angi.

In Honiara, September 14, 1962, Jotham Togaka of Labagu, Rennell, said that according to the Rennellese version hakasumaagie was between malaga (Bellona, malango) and kaukau. In- stead of asongango and nganguengue at the month's end, Rennellese say takoto tugitugi and ngague.

SE

28. Na Tu'unganga Matangi The Wind Directions

Naiham Tamua and Taupongi, both of Sa'aiho, BE. January 16, 1959. Also written account by Taupongi, May 1959.

1. Te Nohotonu noko hakapupungu e Ekeitehua.

2. Te Matakaungo noko hakapu- pungu e Nguatinihenua.

3. Te Nguatu'u to'o Tu'ukiteika.

4. Te Mu'atootonu, to'o Tehainga- 'atua.

5. Te Tonga, to'o Tehu'aingabenga.

6. Te Pungahangaha, to'o Hu'aite- kongo.

7. Te Ngaki, to'o Tupuimatangi.

Ekeitehua claimed the northwest wind.

Nguatinihenua claimed the north- northwest wind.

The northeast wind was that of Tu- 'ukiteika.

The east-southeast wind was that of Tehainga'atua.

The southeast wind was that of Tehu- 'aingabenga.

The southwest wind was that of Hu- 'aitekongo.

The west wind was that of Tupuima- tangi.

NOTES The information given by Tamua and Taupongi was identical with the written account mailed

to me later by Taupongi. For the relationship of these gods, see Genealogies 11-15. Informants

106

Page 122: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 28, 29

said that the wind directions did not all indicate the relative positions of the heavenly abodes of the respective gods. Rennellese spellings: Matakaugo (2), Guatu'u (3), Tehu'aigabenga (5), Hu'aitekogo (6), Gaki (7).

TM

29. Hu'aitemanatapu Hu'aitemanatapu

Puka of Labagu, RE. November 23, 1958. 1. Ko Hu'aitemanatapu noko sopo

i te ika, ka te ingoa o te kaui ko Siatonaki. Ko Hu'aitemanatapu no- ko sopo i te ika, o gosigosi na 'aa- monga, ma te gangi, ma na huaa 'umanga, ma te kege, ma pegea, ma te moana, ma na ika, ma na oko, ma na manu. 2. Noko ina ki ana gosinga; e gaoi; o hakapata kinai. Aano ina kia pegea e kakai ma ma- te, ma te mataku ai a Hu'aitemana- tapu o hakaputu e ia ko ba'i me'a o to'o e ia o hano. 3. Noko to'o e ia na huaa 'umanga gaoi, ma na kege gaoi, ma na ika gaoi, ma na bai gaoi, ma na manu gaoi, o to'o e ia o hano; kae ti'aki e ia na kege mate, ma huaa 'umanga songo, ma na ika songo, ma na bai songo, ma na manu songo. 4. Kae hano, hano, aano tatae ki te launatahi manaha, tona ingoa ko Nukumatangi. Ka te manaha he'e kakai ma mate, ma te he'e poo ka manga 'ao, hakahano- hano. 5. Ka noko hakaanuanu kinai a Hu'aitemanatapu o kogaa na to'o: "Ko teenei e kakai ma mate?" O hakatau kinai te manaha o hai atu: "Si'ai! Na mamate 'anga e he'e na'a e kimatou." 6. O hai atu a Hu'aite- manatapu: "Ko au hai; kau kakai hakapata kia te koutou i teenei." O hai atu te manaha ia te ia: "E gaoi; ke noho e koe i teenei." 7. Kae ka- kai a Hu'aitemanatapu i te manaha o tuku ai te tau me'a gaoi; na huaa 'umanga gaoi, ma na kege gaoi, ma na ika gaoi, ma na manu gaoi, ma na bai gaoi, o pau te tau me'a gaoi o noho i Nukumatangi.

1. Hu'aitemanatapu came out of a fish, and the name of the fish was Sia- tonaki. Hu'aitemanatapu came out of the fish and created the islands, and the sky, and the crops, and the soil, and the peo- ple, and the sea, and the fishes, and the winds, and the animals. 2. He looked at his creations; [they] were good; and [he] stayed with them. Then [he] saw people live and die, and so Hu'aitemanatapu be- came afraid and he collected all things and he took [them] and went away. 3. He took the good crops, and the good soils, and the good fishes, and the good water, and the good animals, and he took [them] and went away; and he left the infertile soils, and the bad crops, and the bad fishes, and the bad water, and the bad animals. 4. And [he] went, went and then came to one settlement; its name was Nukuma- tangi (Eastern-abode). And people of the settlement did not live and die, and there was no night, but only day going on and on. 5. And Hu'aitemanatapu asked them and spoke like this: "Do [people] here live and die?" And the people of the settlement answered him and said: "No! We do not know of deaths." 6. Hu'aite- manatapu said: "I intend to stay with you here." And the people of the settle- ment said to him: "It is good; you stay here." 7. And Hu'aitemanatapu lived in the settlement and deposited there the good things; the good crops, and the good soil, and the good fishes, and the good animals, and the good waters, and the good things now were there forever and stayed in Nukumatangi.

NOTES The informant had heard his tupuna (here, father's father) and his tamana (father), a medium,

tell this story. Nobody else on Rennell seemed to recall having heard it. Even on Bellona it was

107

Page 123: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 29, 30

unknown, although Paul Sa'engeika and Joshua Kaipua said that they remembered previously hearing about Hu'aitemanatapu. None of the men present during the dictation added comments.

1. Hu'aitemanatapu (Big-the-sacred-thunderstorm) was a deity not worshipped. The word mana means thunder in Rennellese. Taupongi 1961 said that he had heard that mediums dis- closed Hu'aitemanatapu as the name given to the Christian God by the old gods during the struggle over Christianity.

Siatonaki: a supernatural creature. 4. People of the settlement: Puka did not know who they were, perhaps deities of some kind. This story seems to reflect the influence of foreign (European?) religious concepts, the idea

of one Creator of all things being alien to Rennellese and Bellonese religion. TM

30. Sikingingangi Sikingingangi

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. December 16, 1958. Ko Sikingingangi, te tamana o

Ekeitehua, noko songo tona toki, aano haka'angi ki te nga'aa. Ma te kemo te 'uinga, ma te tupe e ia te si- mata, noko songo ai te toki, ki 'a- ngunga, ma te makanga te hatutingi. Ma te sopo mai a Tehainga'atua o hai atu kia Sikingingangi: "Po ti aa te hai 'anga?" Ma te hai atu a Siki- ngingangi: "Te me'a manga bange ai au." Ma te hai atu a Tehainga'atua: "Ke tapu kia te au teenaa te hatu- tingi ma te 'uinga!" Te'itoo mate te ingoa o te hatutingi ma te 'uinga.

Sikingingangi, the father of Ekeitehua, sharpened his adze, and then demon- strated [it] to the sun. And lightning flashed, and he threw up the [volcanic rock] file with which [he] sharpened the adze, and the thunder rumbled. And Te- hainga'atua appeared and said to Siki- ngingangi: "What is going on?" And Si- kingingangi said: "The thing, I am just playing with it." And Tehainga'atua said: "Be sacred there for me thunder and lightning!" For the first time were spoken the names thunder and lightning.

NOTES Joshua Kaipua, Paul Sa'engeika, and Headman Haikiu were present at this evening session. Informants said that thunder and lightning on this occasion were named hatutingi and 'uinga for the first time. Taupongi 1961 added this explanation: Te hatutingi ma te 'uinga noko tapu kia Tehainga'atua (The thunder and the lightning were sacred for Tehainga'atua). This story was told only by members of the Iho clan, Ekeitehua being their principal district god.

TM

108

Page 124: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 5. MAUTIKITIKI

Mautikitiki is probably the best known and best liked Polynesian hero. Called Maaui on some Polynesian islands and Mauitikitiki on others, on Rennell he is called Mautikitiki, which has the pleasant meaning, Mau-who-tickles. A culture hero (kakai) rather than a god, he is known to everyone on the two islands as a rascal, comedian, and creator. Yet in spite of Mautikitiki's fame, SE was able to collect at Labagu and at the lake only two fragments of stories about him. Only several months later at central Rennell did a Mautikitiki series gradually come to light, and this during a day's hike on which much of the conversation concerned Mautikitiki. That evening, there was a gigantic meeting at the house of a gray- haired man whose name was actually Maaui (Schadrach Maaui, Chapter 2). The house by Rennellese standards was ablaze with light—five kerosene lanterns were spaced over the surface of the floor; those who couldn't squeeze inside the house (the women) crowded outside by the door. The atmosphere was festive, and the laughter loud.

For TM, stories about Mautikitiki marked his first acquaintance with the lan- guage and culture of Rennell and Bellona, and this was in Honiara, Guadalcanal, while waiting for passage to the two islands (see T37, T47 [A]). TM took down other stories at odd intervals during his stay, some evoked by questions about the origin of the islands (T33, T34 [A]) or the origin of plants (T41 [B]). Mautikitiki stories always called forth great merriment among people present, but they did not seem to be too well known.

Taupongi 1961 expressed this opinion of Mautikitiki:

Ko Mautikitiki te mi'ipengea, hua- 'iti'iti to'a. Teengaa tona kite 'anga: te hetata'i ma te ango, ma te heta- ta'i ma na pangati, ma te hetata'i ma na gomiti, ma te hetata'i ma na kangae, ma te hetata'i ma na mi- 'imanu. Teengaa te hai 'anga e te- ngeu'ake ai au, ko Mautikitiki te pengea boboko. Ko Mautikitiki te pengea bange.

Mautikitiki is a small man, very small. That's its proof: fighting with the land crab, and fighting the pangati beetle, and fighting with the spider, and fighting with the swamp hen, and fighting with small animals. This is the reason why I think that Mautikitiki is a tiny person. Mautikitiki is a trickster.

109

Page 125: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 31(A)

31. Mautikitiki ma 'Ataganga Mautikitiki and 'Ataganga

(A) Michael Moa and others. At Hatagua, RE, March 18, 1958. 1. Ko Mautikitiki noko sopo i te

ta'e o 'Ataganga. O hegegehaki i te haingata'a, ma te to'o mai te kupe- nga o te tama'auge, ioo 'oso kinai, o to'o o hai ai tona hosa. 2. Namaa hua'eha tona hosa—na paunga agaaua, te momoe i te hage agaaua. Hai te hai 'anga 'Ataganga, te hu- huke te huna, o tuku kae mene ki te baka tokihana. Sui a Mautikitiki o huu te hakaagogo o te tamana. Namaa taha'ata poo'ugi, sopo iho a 'Ataganga o sasaga tona hakaa- gogo, o he'e kitea, aano 'aoina tu- tahi o maagama kinai te 'ao, ka he'e kite. Ioo hakatuiaki e Mautikitiki te hakaagogo o te tamana, noko to'o e ia o huu i tona kaainga. 3. Hano huna ai, kae manga 'ika'ika, i te na'ake ia e bage songo kinai a Mau- tikitiki. Gotu ke hano a 'Ataganga ki he kunga, kae manga na'ana'a kia tona hosa a Mautikitiki.

4. Aano moe a Mautikitiki, o tu- bi te malibebe, o ma ge'o ki te ta- mana a 'Ataganga, ina'atu i te hano a 'Ataganga o ta'aki e ia te tugi ka- so o mene ai, o hano.— 5. Hetae ki tena kunga sanga, e iai tena ma- ganga hekau, he'e tau pegea, kae manga hiina'i atu, manga boga, ma te tutu, ma te ganga, ma te saangoi. Ko 'Ataganga noko ngege ia tena tama'ahine, o a'u o hai te 'ugu.— Ma te ina'atu a 'Ataganga ki te maganga hekau e noka.

6. Ma te manga langalanga a 'Ataganga po tehea te hai 'anga e noka ai te maganga hekau. Ma te hematamata'aki a 'Ataganga, aano ina'ake ki 'agunga, o ina kia Mau- tikitiki manga eke iho i te guna. Ma te ngege ake ai, o hinaiho. Namaa hinaiho aano, hetaiake iho, samu iho e ia, o tu'u gua. O noko ma taahoga gu ona potu, kae hano ma'u

1. Mautikitiki came out of the feces of 'Ataganga. [Mautikitiki] leapt back and forth because [it] was hard [to get out], so ['Ataganga] took the toadstool net of a child-of-a-member and caught him [Mau- tikitiki] and took [him] and made him his [own] son. 2. When his son was big—it was their custom to sleep in their house. 'Ataganga used to pull off his loincloth and take [it] and put [it] in the joint of the hard-rock adze. Then Mautikitiki would hide his father's work loincloth. In the dark morning 'Ataganga would come down and look for his work loincloth but would not find [it], and [even] when day came and [it] was light [he] would not find [it]. Then Mautikitiki would show his father's work loincloth that he had taken and hidden in his sleeping place. 3. ['Ata- ganga] would go and put [it] on, but was angry because he knew that Mautikitiki was playing mischievous tricks on him. 'Ataganga wanted to go elsewhere, but was wary as to his son Mautikitiki.

4. Then Mautikitiki lay down and covered [himself] with an old mat and watched his father, 'Ataganga, and saw 'Ataganga go, and he picked up the base of a reed clump and disappeared into it and went away.—5. He ['Ataganga] came to his planting place and his miraculous work was there, no people, and [he] just watched, and there was clearing of brush, and burning, and hilling up, and putting in of poles. 'Ataganga called his daughter, and [she] came and deloused his head.— But 'Ataganga saw that his magic had stopped.

6. 'Ataganga wondered why the magic had stopped. So 'Ataganga looked around and looking up saw Mautikitiki sitting down in a Morinda tree. [He] called up to him to come down. [Mautikitiki] came down and was almost down when he ['Ataganga] pulled [him] down and split [him] in two. His two pieces lay [there], and he ['Ataganga] went to sit down again and told his daughter to delouse his head

110

Page 126: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 31(A)

o noho, o hai atu kia tena tama- 'ahine, o hai ma'u te 'ugu, ma te gongo ake a 'Ataganga ki na go- 'imata manga tutugu iho ki te tu'aa u'a, ma te hakaanu ake a 'Ataga- nga kia tena tama'ahine: "Po ni aa te hetoki iho ki toku tu'aa u'a?"

7. Ka manga he'e muna a tena tama'ahine, namaa ina'ake kinai, manga tangi, ma te hakaanu a 'Ata- ganga kia tena tama'ahine: "Po ko koe tangi i te aa?"

8. O hai atu a tena tama'ahine: "Ko au manga tangi ia Mautikitiki kua taa e koe!" Ma te 'agoha ki- nai a 'Ataganga kia tena tama- 'ahine, o hai ake: "Mau'i iho!" Ma te mau'i a tena tama'ahine i te 'ugu o 'Ataganga, kae tu'u a 'Ataganga o 'oso ki gua potu o Mautikitiki o hetu'utaki'aki, kae tu'u gua e ia te kalogu o hakapigi kia gua kaokao, ma te go'ia te tino o Mautikitiki, ma te 'aga hoki a Mautikitiki o ma'ugi.—

9. O sasaga he hai 'anga ke giu- 'aki kinai tena taa'ia 'anga. Aano toghi e ia te aka 'aoa—te aga manga lango ai,— kae toghi e Mautikitiki o hakatutugu e ia ki te rnoana o ba- gika'ago, aano hati ngagu. Sui o ha- no o to'o hakatutugu i tu'ahenua aano, hati ngagu ma'u. Teenaa te 'oti 'anga.

10. Ko Mautikitiki manga noho i Mugiki. Aano taa tona baka, te ba- ka tabai, o 'amo ki tai, o toto'o, aano 'oti. Boo mai ai te haangota- nga, ma gu ona hai taina. O hai uka aano, o hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Hu- huti ake matatou ni ika, ka kau go hai'ia he kunga ke go tunu ai."

11. Aano taha te 'ao—hai te maunu o gii ki te ghau haangongo, o 'abange o to'o e te mugikaakoni, o to'o e ia o baalau i Mugaba nei. Te kunga noko baalau ai te ghau ko Kagighalou (te utua i Mata'aso). O huhuti a Mautikitiki aano e'a te utua, a Kagighalou, ma te hai atu a gu ana hai taina: "Te baka!" Ma te hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Si'ai!"

again, and 'Ataganga felt tears now trick- ling down the back of his neck, and 'Ata- ganga asked his daughter: "What is this falling down the back of my neck?"

7. And his daughter did not answer, and [he] looked at her and saw [she] was crying and 'Ataganga asked his daughter: "What are you crying about?"

8. His daughter said: "I'm just crying for Mautikitiki whom you have killed!" 'Ataganga felt sorry about this and for his daughter and said: "Let go!" His daughter let go of 'Ataganga's head, and 'Ataganga got up and picked up the two pieces of Mautikitiki and joined [them] together, and he cut in two an epi- phyte filled with ants and stuck [the pieces] on the two sides, and Mautiki- tiki's body was covered with ants, and Mautikitiki got up again alive.—

9. [Mautikitiki] looked for a way to get revenge for his being killed. He cut a banyan root—a trail to walk on—and Mautikitiki cut and he made the [root] drip into the sea to the north, and the waves broke. Then [he] went and made [the root] drip to the south, and the waves broke here too. This is the ending.

10. Mautikitiki was living at Bellona. He built a canoe, a tabai wood canoe, and carried [it] to the sea and lashed [it] and [it] was finished. [He] came fishing with his two younger brothers. [They] put out lines and Mautikitiki said: "Pull us in some fish and I'll make a place to cook them."

11. When daylight came—[he] got some bait and tied [it] to the coconut- shell hook and offered [it], and a sand- piper took [it] and he took [it] and snagged Rennell here. The place where the hook was snagged was Kagighalou (the point at Mata'aso). Mautikitiki pulled and Kagighalou point came up, and his two younger brothers said: "A canoe!" But Mautikitiki said: "No!"

111

Page 127: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 31(A), 31(B)

12. Aano sosopo ma'u te utua, aano tutahi a Mugaba nei o e'a ake o tahea. Ma te mau'i, ma te hai ke mene hoki, ma te logi e Mautikitiki kae hai atu: "Te 'atua ke tu'u na'e kegekege!" Ma te tu'u. Tu'u a Mu- gaba nei o ma'u, ma te tau kinai o hai tegatou 'umu, ki agatou kaui. Teenei te 'otinga.

12. Then the point came out too and then all of Rennell here came up and floated. [He] let go and [it] started to sink again, but Mautikitiki grabbed [it] and said: "O god, let [it] stand since [it] is earth!" And [it] stood. Rennell here stood forth and was firm, and they landed there and made their oven for their fish. This is the ending.

NOTES Short variants of this story were given by Timothy Sau'uhi on November 14, and by Aaron

Taupongi on December 3, 1957. The longer variant B was begun on my last day on Rennell, April 10, but the arrival of the ship prevented the informant from finishing.

1. kupenga o te tama'auge: This name for a toadstool net evoked roars of laughter. There was also much laughter about the hidden loincloth (2); the father disappearing into the reed (4); Mautikitiki spying in the Morinda tree (6); Mautikitiki cut in two and 'Ataganga's wonder- ing about the tears on the back of his neck (6); the sudden appearance of Rennell on the fish- line, and its near sinking again (12).

3. na'ake: na'a ake. 5. maganga hekau: explained by the informant as an act of magic whereby a garden was

worked very quickly without human assistance. This was denied by Taupongi 1961, who said that the term merely meant fast work by many people, and need not involve magic. In this text, however, it really seems to be an act of magic. Anyone watching magic would spoil it, a fact well known to the informants.

6. SE: "Could a girl delouse her father's head?" Taupongi 1961: "A small girl could, but not a grown woman, lest it be thought they were sinning."

9. Much discussion here between three men and a woman. Mautikitiki made big waves so as to damage his father's home (Taupongi 1961).

10. The remainder of the story was dictated after I had read back 1-9, much to the amuse- ment of all listening.

12. Taupongi 1961 suggested a different prayer: Tetupu'a! Ke tu'u ton kengekenge! (Tetupu'a! May your soil rise forth!) (Tetupu'a is Tehainga'atua.) On March 14 Paul Takiika suggested that Mautikitiki fished up his father's settlement in revenge for the latter's killing him. This was before Kaitu'u arrived.

SE

(B) Takiika. At Labagu, RE, April 10, 1958. 1. Te hosa o 'Ataganga ko Mau-

tikitiki. Ko 'Ataganga te pegea noko mu'a o noho i Mugiki. Noko si'ai he hahine ke pipiki e ia; noko ma launatahi. 2. Ka ko ia noko hano titiko, e iai te me'a, he'e na'a e ia; noko gotu'ia ke labu, kae hainga- ta'a. Hano ia o to'o mai te magasi- ghi o tango ai e ia, o to'o e ia o hai ai te pegea, o hakaingoa e ia ko Mautikitiki. Teegaa te tokagua pe- gea, ko 'Ataganga ma tena hosa ko Mautikitiki.

3. Ka na maatu'a hai tena mana- ha o noho'aki ai. Namaa momoe, namaa a'u te 'ao, 'aga a Mautikitiki,

1. 'Ataganga's son was Mautikitiki. 'Ataganga was the first person to live on Bellona. There was no woman [whom] he might marry; [he] was alone. 2. And he went to defecate, [and] there was something [in the feces], he didn't know [what]; [he] wanted to grab [it] but [this] was difficult. He went and brought a toadstool net [?] and he used [it] as a cover, and he got [the thing], and it be- came a human being [to whom] he gave the name Mautikitiki. There were two people, 'Ataganga and his son Mauti- kitiki.

3. When [the son] was mature, he made a settlement and [they] stayed there. After sleeping, and when daylight had come,

112

Page 128: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 31(B), 32

ko te tamana kua he'e kitea; langa- langa a Mautikitiki ia te tamana he'e kitea. 4. Namaa teegaa 'aso, momoe, 'aga Mautikitiki o huu te hakaagogo o te tamana; na- maa maagama te 'ao, hinatu a 'Ataganga i tena hakaagogo kua he'e kitea. 5. Sasaga ai a 'Ataganga, aano tutahi o maagama te 'ao, ma te 'ika'ika a 'Ataganga, ma te hano a Mautikitiki o hai atu: " 'Ai teenei te hakaagogo o te 'agiki manga sa- saga ai!" Ma te pau o 'Ataganga o 'ika'ika kia tena hosa, ma te hano a Mautikitiki o moe o tubi i te ma- libebe. 6. Ma te sokasoka e Mau- tikitiki te malibebe o tagitaginga'a o ina'atu ai kia te tamana kua 'ika- 'ika. 7. Ma te ina mai a 'Ataganga kia tena hosa kua moe, ma te tu'u o huna, i te hakaagogo, hakama'u te siku huna, o 'oti kae hano, na- maa siga mai ko tena hosa manga moe, ta'aki e ia te tugi kaso, o mene ai. Namaa ina mai a Mautikitiki kia te tamana, kua hano sui mai a ia o ta'aki ma'u te tugi kaso o ina iho kinai, manga taginga'a te aga ki te 'aamonga o'ona.

Mautikitiki would get up and the father was not to be seen; Mautikitiki wondered about his father [who was] not to be seen. 4. One day [they] were sleeping, [and] Mautikitiki got up and hid his father's work loincloth; when day had brightened, 'Ataganga went [to find] his work loin- cloth that was not to be seen. 5. 'Ata- ganga then hunted for it, and day had completely brightened, and 'Ataganga was angry, and Mautikitiki came and said: "And here is the work loincloth that the chief has just been looking for!" 'Ata- ganga was furious at his son, and Mautiki- tiki went and lay down and covered up with an old mat. 6. And Mautikitiki punched holes in the old mat so [it] was perforated and [he] looked through at his father who was angry. 7. 'Ataganga saw that his son had fallen asleep, and got up and put on his work loincloth and tucked in the ends of the loincloth, and then went away, and after passing his son who was sleeping, he opened up the base of a reed clump and disappeared into it. When Mautikitiki saw his father, he [Mautiki- tiki] in turn went and also opened up the base of the reed clump and looked down into it, and there the path to his island was open. SE

32. Te Ta'e o 'Atanganga 'Atanganga's Feces

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959. Ko 'Atanganga na titiko, ma te

too iho ai te tama. Ma te pusi aano e ia, matu'a te tama. Hakaingoa e ia ko Mautikitiki. Ina aano a 'Ata- nganga kia Mautikitiki; manga ma- ghitighiti, he'e hehatuhatu'aki na anganga. Ma te kaunaki e ia o kake i te nga'akau o 'utu iho ai. Ma te too iho o ma tohitohi na ba'e ma na ngima, ma te hehatuhatu'aki ai na ngima ma na ba'e.

'Ataganga defecated, and a child fell out therefrom. He raised [it], and the child grew up. He called [him] Mautiki- tiki. 'Ataganga looked at Mautikitiki; [he] was stiff, the body members were not pliant. And he told [Mautikitiki] to climb into a tree and jump down from it. And [Mautikitiki] fell down and his legs and arms broke, and so his arms and legs became pliant.

NOTES This story contained unusual words (maghitighiti, hehatuhatu'aki); it could be translated

exactly only when Taupongi added his explanations in 1961. TM

113

Page 129: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 33

33. Mautikitiki ma 'Atagangahenua Mautikitiki and 'Atagangahenua

John Ngatonga of Matangi, RE. November 28, 1958. 1. Ko 'Atagangahenua noko hai

tena hosa, ia Mautikitiki ka noko iai te hakaa 'aki maase'i i tona hosa, o hai hekau mouto'o ai; kae langa- langa kinai a tona hosa ki na hai 'anga noko hai e te tamana. 2. Ina hano mouto'o 'anga a 'Ataganga- henua, namaa teegaa poo hai too- 'onga a Mautikitiki kia te tamana, o huu tona siusiu. Ma nomaa 'aga 'Atagangahenua o saga tona siusiu. Aano 'ao, kite tona siusiu kogoa o huna ai. 3. Sui a tona hosa o noko ma gepo kinai, kae sehu aano a te tamana, ta'aki te tugi kaso o mene ai, o hano ki tena kunga hai hekau. 4. Tatae o noho o unga te maganga hekau, ma ngaso'i te koso ma te puke me'a ma te ahi ka ma noho a 'Atagangahenua. 5. Nomaa ina atu ki te maganga hekau kua 'oti; langalanga a 'Atagangahenua. Na- maa ina ake a 'Atagangahenua ki te guna ma eke iho ai a Mautikitiki. Namaa tu'ake a 'Atagangahenua o tua te guna o too iho o tobago ia Mautikitiki. 6. Kae hano o noho a 'Atagangahenua, ngege ia tena tama'ahine; o a'u o hai te 'ugu o te tamana. HakagongO' ake ki na go- 'imata e tutugu ki te tu'a o'ona. 7. O hakaanu ake kinai: "Po ni aa te tutugu kia te au?" Siga ake kinai. Ko tena tama'ahine manga tangi, o hakaanu ake kinai: "Po ko< koe e tangi i te aa?" 8. O haiho ko ia manga magepe ia tona tunga'ane, kua taa e ia. Hai ake a te tamana: "Noka, mau'i i te hainga 'ugu." Kae tu'u a 'Atagangahenua o hano. 9. O hano o sa'u mai te kalogu o toghi gua o go'ia; o to'o o hakapipigi ki te toghi gua 'anga a Mautikitiki, kae poghi. Kae hoki o noho o taunga gogoa, ina atu te poghinga e nga- guegue mai o 'aga, e ma'ugi! 'Aga o noho o noko ma tangi ma te ta- hitahi kege ia te ia. Hai aano 'ika-

1. 'Atagangahenua had as his son Mautikitiki, and his behavior to his son was bad, and [he] did mischievous acts to him; and his son wondered about it, about the acts the father did. 2. [Mautikitiki] saw 'Atagangahenua going about doing mischief, and so, next night, Mautikitiki played tricks on his father and hid his work loincloth. Then 'Atagangahenua woke up and looked for his work loin- cloth. When it became morning, [he] found his work loincloth and put it on. 3. His son then watched him in secret, and the father walked about and lifted up the base of a reed clump and went inside [the clump] and went to his working place. 4. [He] arrived and stayed and ordered the magic work to be done fast, and there were many digging sticks and hills made for the tubers and fire, and 'Atagangahenua sat down. 5. And then [he] saw that the magic work had been stopped; 'Atagangahenua wondered. Then 'Atagangahenua looked up at the Morinda tree where Mautikitiki was sitting. Then 'Atagangahenua got up and felled the Mo- rinda tree, and [Mautikitiki] fell down, and ['Atagangahenua] cut Mautikitiki into' pieces. 6. And 'Atagangahenua went, sat down, and called for his daughter; [she] came and looked for lice in her father's hair. [He] felt tears trickle down his back. 7. And [he] asked her: "What [things] are dripping on me?" He turned to her. His daughter was indeed crying, and [he] asked her: "What are you crying for?" 8. [She] said that she was just sad because of her brother whom he had killed. The father said: "Stop [crying], leave the de- lousing." And 'Atagangahenua got up and went away. 9. [He] went and took an epiphyte and cut [it] into two pieces, and [it was] filled with ants; [he] took [the two sections of the log] and put [them] with the two cut halves of Mautikitiki and covered [them] up. And [he] returned and sat down and by and by saw the covering moving, and [Mautikitiki] woke up, alive!

114

Page 130: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 33

'ika kia te tamana: "Ko koe manga hai ta'ea ia te au. Kae go sui au o hai he hai 'anga o go sui o mate kinai koe!"

10. Kae tu'u o hoki o tatae ki te manaha o noho ai, o unga kia gu 'ona hai taina: "Kitatou boo he haa- ngotanga." O siisii ga'u gua hai tai- na. 11. Kae lae a Mautikitiki o hai, hai; 'ao, namaa 'osohia tena ghau, teegaa tona ingoa te ghau haango- ngo; 'oso kinai te 'aamonga o huhu- ti, manga hiina'i kinai a gu 'ona hai taina, huhuti, aano tu'u a Mugaba nei. 12. O pau te baka o eke i te henua nei. Magagaohie ai a Mau- tikitiki ma gu 'ona hai taina i te kua tu'u a Mugaba nei, o hai ahi ki na kaui noko huhuti, o kai. Ma te ha- kagaa gua hai taina kia Mautikitiki i te kua kai i angaa kaui e huhuti ka te kua lae. 13. O sui a Mautiki- tiki o hakagaa kinai i te kua huhuti e ia te 'aamonga o hai ahi ai. 'Oti tegatou hakaga'aki 'anga, sui o hai tegeu'a gua hai taina, o magepe ai gua hai taina i togaa tamana. Kua huhuti e togaa ta'okete te 'aamonga o too iho ai tegaa tamana o mate. Tuku togatou baka o sisia boo-.

14. Aano kite te laginga, o kau- naki e tena ta'okete ia te taina o too kinai, o puku e te laginga ia te ia o mate. Mata aano ai, kaunaki teegaa ona taina o too kinai o puku ma'u e te laginga o mate ma'u. 15. Kae mugi a Mautikitiki o too kinai o puku ma'u e te laginga o hagiu a Mautikitiki i goto i te laginga. 16. O teka ai te laginga, o hinatu o kite ia gu 'ona hai taina, o hai atu ai: "Te me'a nei e haingaohie, kae hai- ngata'a kia te kougua i te aa?" Kae noko he'e mumuna gua hai taina ia te ia, e pau o mamate, o boo ki te

[Mautikitiki] woke up and sat down and cried and brushed the soil off himself. [He] said in anger to his father: "You've made me miserable. Now it's my turn to do something in revenge and you'll die from it!"

10. And [he] got up and returned to the settlement and stayed there and said to his two younger brothers: "Let's go fishing." And the two younger brothers had much success in fishing with line. 11. But Mautikitiki did not get anything and worked, worked; [then] daylight came and then his hook got stuck, its name was the coconut-shell hook; an island fastened to it and [he] pulled, and his two younger brothers just looked at it; [he] pulled on and Rennell here arose. 12. And the ca- noe forever fastened upon this land. Mau- tikitiki and his two younger brothers were happy because Rennell here had risen, and they made fire for the fish which [they] had caught, and ate [them]. And then the two younger brothers criticized Mautikitiki because [he] had eaten their fish that [they] had pulled in, but [Mauti- kitiki] had had none. 13. And Mautikitiki then regretted generosity to them because he had pulled up the island on which they had made the fire [for baking their fish]. Their complaints ended and the two younger brothers mourned because of their father. Thek elder brother [Mautiki- tiki] had pulled up the island and their father had fallen down and died. [They] put their canoe [out to sea] and went away happily.

14. Then [the three] saw a Tridacna, and the elder brother told the younger brother to jump down into it, and the Tridacna swallowed him and [he] died. [Mautiki- tiki] watched [it] and then gave an order to the other one of his younger brothers to jump down to it, and the Tridacna swal- lowed [him] too and [he] died too. 15. And Mautikitiki came afterwards and jumped into it, and the Tridacna swal- lowed [him], too, and Mautikitiki turned around inside the Tridacna. 16. And so the Tridacna fell over, and [Mautikitiki] went outside and he found his two young- er brothers, and said to them: "This

115

Page 131: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 33, 34(A)

gangi o hakapigi ki te tokatogu he- tu'u e hai togatou ingoa ko Togu- ngamaaui.

thing is very easy, why was it so difficult for you two?" But the two brothers did not answer him because [they] had al- ready died, and they went to heaven and stayed with the three stars, and they were named Togungamaaui (Maaui-trio, Ori- on's Belt).

NOTES John Ngatonga, a kind but somewhat taciturn man whose house I had borrowed during my

stay of about 2 weeks in Matangi, was difficult to understand, his speech being rapid and in- distinct Others present had to help explain what he said.

2. siusiu: See N50(A):7. 5. See N31(A):5. 13. togaa tamana ... tegaa tamana: an example of o-gender and a-gender possessives with the

same noun, characteristic of central Rennell. With ta'okete (older brother) the informant used togaa (13) and tena (14), o- and a-genders, respectively.

TM

34. Mautikitiki ma Ngu Ona Hai Taina

Mautikitiki and His Two Younger Brothers

(A) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 5, 1959. 1. Ko Mautikitiki ma ngu ona hai

taina na boo o hiina'i i te ngutu o te hatu ma te hai atu a Mautikitiki kingatou memene kinai. 2. Ma te mene kinai a te taina, 'Anabeka, ma te komi te hatu o mate. Mene ma'u kinai a Maaui, komi ma'u e te hatu, o mate. 3. Ma te mene kinai a Mau- tikitiki ma te komi e te hatu ma te 'akasaki e Mautikitiki o mababa ho- ki. 4. Ma te hai atu a Mautikitiki: " 'Ai ko koe manga haingaohie kia te au, ka ku manga mamate kinai ngu 'oku taina." Tu'u aano a Mau- tikitiki, mene kinai o mate, tata'o ia ngu 'ona hai taina. 5. Hakatahi- 'aki te 'api o boo hakapupungu to- ngatou hetu'u. Hai atu a Mautiki- tiki: "Ke ingoa Tongungamautiki- tiki." Ma te tau maase'i ma te hai atu a 'Anabeka: "Ke ingoa Tongu- nga'anabeka." Ma te tau maase'i, ma te hai atu a Maaui: "Ke ingoa Tongungamaaui." 6. Ma te hai atu a Mautikitiki: "E tau ngaoi teenaa." Ma te noho ai.

1. Mautikitiki and his two younger brothers went and saw the mouth of the stone [hatu: poetic for Tridacna], and Mautikitiki told them to enter inside it. 2. And the younger brother, 'Anabeka, entered into it, and the stone closed and [he] died. Maaui also entered into it, and the stone closed again and [Maaui] died. 3. And Mautikitiki entered into it, and the stone closed, and Mautikitiki pressed the sides [of the stone] and [it] opened again. 4. And Mautikitiki said: "You were easy for me, but my two younger brothers died there." Mautikitiki stood up, went into it, and died, and followed after his two younger brothers. 5. They all gathered together and went and claimed their star. Mautikitiki said: "Let's give the name Tongungamautikitiki (Mautikitiki- trio)." But [this] was incorrect language, and 'Anabeka said: "Let's give the name Tongunga'anabeka ('Anabeka-trio)." But [this] was incorrect language, and Maaui said: "Let's give the name Tongunga- maaui (Maaui-trio, Orion's Belt)." 6. And Mautikitiki said: "That is good language." And so it was.

TM

116

Page 132: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 34(B), 35(A)

(B) Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Hatagua, March 19, 1958. 1. Ko Mautikitiki ma gu 'ona hai

taina noko boo te tautainga. Aano hiina'i ki te laginga ma te too kinai te hai taina, o mene i te laginga, o hepootaki kinai te laginga, o mate. 2. Aano ta'aki hakahoki te laginga, kae asea hoki ake te taina o Mau- tikitiki o tahea, kua mate. 3. Hegeu aano a Mautikitiki ma te taina e toe, too iho ma'u teegaa taina o'ona, o mene i te laginga ma'u, komi ma'u te laginga o mate. Puaghi ha- kahoki ake. 4. Aano too ma'u ki- nai a Mautikitiki o mene ma'u ki- nai, ma te 'akasaki gua gima o Mau- tikitiki o hahanga e ia te laginga. 5. O haingaohie, ma te hai ake a Mau- tikitiki: "Ai ko koe manga haingao- hie, ka manga mamate kinai gu oku taina!" 6. Ma te hakapigi ha- kahoki mai gua gima o Mautikitiki o mate ma'u ki te laginga, o boo ma gu ona hai taina, o heketi mai i te gangi. 7. Ka noko mataa hai te to~ nginga a Mautikitiki ko kigatou na- maa mamate, hai kigatou boo o go heketi ki te gangi. 8. Teegaa te hai 'anga kua boo ai o heketi ki te ga- ngi, e hakaingoa te tokatogu hetu'u ko Togungamaaui. Teenei te 'oti 'anga. Ko Mautikitiki te hai ta'oke- te, ka ko 'Agotokitehoe te tama go- to, ka ko Maaui te hai taina.

1. Mautikitiki and his two younger brothers went fishing. Then [they] saw a Tridacna, and the young brother fell into it and disappeared inside the Tridacna, and the Tridacna closed on him and [he] died. 2. Then the Tridacna opened up again and the younger brother of Mau- tikitiki came out and up and floated, dead. 3. Then Mautikitiki spoke with the remaining younger brother, and that younger brother of his also fell down and disappeared inside the Tridacna too, and the Tridacna clamped shut and [he] died. [But he] was spit back out. 4. Then Mau- tikitiki fell in, too, and disappeared in it, too, and Mautikitiki's two arms shoved and he kept the Tridacna open. 5. [It] was easy and Mautikitiki said: "You are so easy, and yet my two younger brothers have just died there!" 6. And [it] closed again on the two arms of Mautikitiki, and [he] died too in the Tridacna, and went with his two younger brothers and [they] sat down in the sky. 7. For Mauti- kitiki had formerly made the promise that when they died, they would go and sit in the sky. 8. That's the reason [they] went up there and sat in the sky, and gave a name to the three stars, Togungamaaui (Maaui-trio). This is the ending. Mau- tikitiki was the older brother, and 'Ago- tokitehoe the middle boy, and Maaui the youngest brother.

SE

35. Mautikitiki ma na Kaui Mautikitiki and the Fishes

(A) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 4, 1959. 1. Ko Mautikitiki noko hinaiho

ki tai o tu'u o ngenge i na ika o ko- ngaa na ngenge: "E iai he ika i tai neeei, tai neeei, ke hai ai toku oiao?" Ma te hai mai te api: "Tee- nei au." 2. Hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Ti aa ou?" Ma te hai atu te api: "Toku niho ke lobi ai tou 'ungu!" Ma te sa'u ake a Mautikitiki o tupe, kae hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Ko koe

1. Mautikitiki went down to the sea and stood and shouted to the fishes, shouted like this: "Are there any fishes in the sea here, sea here, to fill my stomach with?" The api fish said: "Here I am!" 2. Mautikitiki said: "What [things] have you [got]?" The api fish said: "My tooth to shave your head with!" And Mautiki- tiki took [it] up and threw [it] away, and Mautikitiki said: "You will be caught by

117

Page 133: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 35(A), 35(B)

ke ngo sahe ai te tangata unga- unga." 3. Ma te hai ake ma'u a Mautikitiki: "E iai he ika i tai nei, tai nei, ke hai ai toku oiao?" Ma te hai ake te mangau: "Teenei au." 4. Ma te hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Tou aa?" Ma te hai atu a mangau: "To- ku paa." Tupe ma'u a Mautikitiki kae hai atu: "Ko koe ke ngo sahe ai te hahine punu!" 5. Hai ake ma'u a Mautikitiki: "E iai he ika i tai nei, tai nei, ke hai ai toku oiao?" Ma te hai mai te mangoo: "Teenei au." Hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Tou aa?" 6. Ma te hai atu a mangoo: "Toku niho ke lobi ai tou 'ungu." Ma te hai atu a Mautikitiki: " 'Ai soo mai." Ma te soo mai te mangoo, ma te hai atu ma'u a Mautikitiki: "Soo mai." Soo mai ma'u a mangoo ma te mimi kinai a Mautikitiki, ma te saa'ango maase'i ai te mangoo, ma te samu te mangoo o hano, ma te hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Hinatu, manga tou 'ate ki akau."

the man fishing with a small net." 3. Mautikitiki said again: "Are there any fishes in the sea here, sea here, to fill my stomach with?" The mangau fish said: "Here I am!" 4. Mautikitiki said: "What do you have?" And mangau said: "My belly fin." Again Mautikitiki threw [it] away and said: "You will be caught by the woman fishing with poison!" 5. Mau- tikitiki also said: "Are there any fishes in the sea here, sea here, to fill my stom- ach with?" The shark said: "Here I am!" Mautikitiki said: "What do you have?" 6. Shark said: "My teeth to shave your head with!" Mautikitiki said: "Then come here!" And the shark came, and Mautiki- tiki said again: "Come here!" And the shark came again [closer], and Mautiki- tiki pissed on it and so the shark smelled badly, and the shark drew back and went away, and Mautikitiki said: "Go away, and only your liver will be on the reef."

NOTES

1. oiao: Taupongi 1961 explained this as te ingoa a Mautikitiki ki te tina'e (Mautikitiki's word for the stomach). This word is used only by Mautikitiki, Taupongi said. The theme of this tale is that Mautikitiki is hungry and goes to the sea to get some food "to fill his stomach with." This was a daring thing to do. It is usually considered dangerous to call the fishes of the sea. (See T185[A]:2.)

2. The api is teasing Mautikitiki by offering its small fin to him as a razor. ungaunga: round net with mesh about 50 centimeters in diameter. Used for catching api.

4. mangau: another very small fish. It has a poisonous fin on the belly. punu: to fish with luba (a Derris). It is pounded and inserted in submarine holes in the

coral, a fishing method used by women. (See T41[B]:1.) 6. mangoo: the teeth of the sharks were used as razors until a few years ago. This is an ex-

planatory tale. Because Mautikitiki urinated on the shark its meat smells strongly of urine. Only the liver does not smell and is considered worth eating. For the translation of mimi, see N13:7.

The informant and the audience laughed heartily when this story was told, and especially at its climax: Mautikitiki urinating on the shark.

T M (B) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. April 12, 1958.

1. Te tautupu'a o Mautikitiki, noko hinaiho tu'u i te ba'e tai, o kongaa na hai atu: "E iai he ika i tai nei, i tai nei?" Ma te hai mai te api: "Teenei au!" 2. Hai atu Mau- tikitiki ki te api: "Tou aa?" Ma te hakatau te api: "Toku niho ke lobi ai tou 'ungu!" Hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Ko koe e hai ke manga sahe ai te

1. The story of Mautikitiki, who went and stood on the seashore and spoke thus: "Are there any fishes in the sea here, in the sea here?" The api fish said: "Here I am!" Mautikitiki said to the api: "What do you have?" The api answered: "My tooth to shave your head with!" Mautiki- tiki said: "You will just be caught in a net." 3. Mautikitiki called out again: "Are

118

Page 134: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 35(B), 36

ungaunga." 3. Ma te ngenge ma'u a Mautikitiki: "E iai he ika i tai nei, i tai nei?" Ma te hai atu te mangau: "Teenei au!" Ma te hai atu a Mau- tikitiki: "Tou aa?" Hai atu: "Toku paa!" Ma te hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Ko koe e hai ke ngo sahe ai te punu!" 4. Ma te hai atu a Mautiki- tiki: "E iai he ika i tai nei, i tai nei?" Ma te hai atu te inangoo: "Ko au teenei!" Ma te hai atu a Mautiki- tiki: "Tou aa?" Ma te hai atu te mangoo: "Toku niho!" Ma te hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Soo mai! Soo mai!" 5. Ma te hetaiake te mangoo kia Mautikitiki ma mimi kinai ma te saa'ango maase'i ai te mangoo. Sa- mu te mangoo ohano. Mate hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Hinatu manga tou 'ate ki akau." Teenei te 'oti 'anga.

there any fishes in the sea here, in the sea here?" The mangau fish said: "Here I am!" Mautikitiki said: "What do you have?" [He] said: "My beUy fin!" Mau- tikitiki said: "You will be caught by be- ing poisoned." 4. And Mautikitiki said: "Are there any fishes in the sea here, in the sea here?" The shark said: "I am here!" Mautikitiki said: "What do you have?" The shark said: "My tooth!" Mau- tikitiki said: "Come here! Come here!" 5. The shark came close to Mautikitiki who pissed on him, and so the shark smelled badly. So the shark pulled away and moved on. Mautikitiki said: "Go away and your liver will be on the reef." This is the ending.

SE

36. Mautikitiki Huhuti Kaui Mautikitiki Pulls In Fish

Timotheus Ngatonga, Kemuel Tepai, and Michael Moa. At Hatagua, RE, March 22, 1958.

1. Huhuti kaui a gu ona hai taina, ka manga moe a Mautikitiki i te uso o te baka o mate ona ingoa. 2. Hai mai te hai taina: "Ni aa aku e huhuti nei?" Hai mai a Mautikitiki: "Te ika saukatoa." Huhuti ma'u ta'a teegaa ona taina, hai atu ma'u: "Ni aa aku nei?" Hai atu a Mau- tikitiki: "Te ika hai kogoa." 3. Tosi tao te 'ao, kae 'aga a Mautikitiki o gaho tena ghau, huhuti e ia ia Mu- gaba nei. 4. Teenei te tagatupu'a o te huaa mako a Sangatago ki te ta- gatupu'a o Mautikitiki:

5. Sao baka kau moe,

Kau noko mate me'a e. Ni aa aku nei e? Te ika saukatoa e. Ka ni aa aku nei e? Te ika hai kogoa e, Ke hakatu'u ta'aku e, Kau noko tagisaki e, Huhuti taku hernia e.

1. His two younger brothers were pull- ing in fish, and Mautikitiki just lay in the bottom of the canoe and called out his names. 2. The young brother said: "What [fish] am I pulling in now?" Mautikitiki said: "The saukatoa fish." The other of his younger brothers pulled in his fish too and also asked: "What do I have here?" Mautikitiki said: "The fish who has a tapa cloth." 3. Dawn came in spear streaks, and Mautikitiki got up and dropped in his hook, and pulled up Ren- nell here. 4. This is the story of the huaa mako dance song by Sangatago about the story of Mautikitiki:

5. Take the canoe out to sea and I lie down, And I just name the things. What have I here? The saukatoa fish. What have I here? The fish with a tapa cloth. I begin mine now, I have waited And pull up my land.

119

Page 135: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 36, 37

NOTES 2. saukatoa: a general name for fish with long, round bodies, such as barracuda.

Te ika hai kogoa: the fish who has a tapa cloth. A euphemism for fish with shark's teeth (Jotham Togaka, 1962).

SE

37. Mautikitiki ma te Akui Mautikitiki and the Coconut Crab

Michael Moa and others. At Hatagua, RE, March 22, 1958. 1. Noko taa e Mautikitiki ona

ba'e i te pugu, ka na 'oti, taa aano 'oti, to'o mai te ahi o gaga ai, ma te magigi na ba'e o te akui i te gaga 'anga. 2. Ma te 'ika'ika te akui o hai atu: "E songo te pake e koe oku ba'e o magigi." Hai atu a Mautiki- tiki: "Noka tau 'ika'ika, ke go so- mosomo."

3. Teenei tena tugi. Te 'aso o Mautikitiki noko hano ai ki tai, o ngege i ba'i ika o te tai, o hai atu: "Ko ai e i tai nei? Ko ai e i tai nei?" SopO' mai te magau. Hakaanu a Mautikitiki: "Ni aa ou?" Hai mai: "Toku paa!" Hai atu Mautikitiki: "Ke aa?" "Ke go bego ai tou gima!" Hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Sigi atu!"

4. Hai atu ma'u: "Ko ai e i tai nei? Ko ai e i tai nei?" Sopo' te api. Hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Ni aa ou?" "Toku niho!" "Ke go aa?" "Ke go lobi ai tou 'ugu!" Hai atu: "Sigi atu!"

5. Ngege ma'u: "Ko ai e i tai nei? Ko ai e i tai nei?" Sopo te mangoo. "Ni aa ou?" "Oku niho!" "Ke go aa?" "Kau go u'u'ia ai koe!" Hai atu a Mautikitiki: "A'u!" Na- maa a'u te mangoo, tuatua e ia na kagahau, kae tu'u i te 'ugu o papa. Kae gibai ki tena asa, o sa'ago so- ngo ai, kae tutu e ia tena igi. (Te paghoanikagi, teenei mangoo.) Kua 'oti.

1. Mautikitiki tattooed his legs [the coconut crab's] in soot for tattooing, and then after the tattooing brought a fire to heat by smoking, and the legs of the coconut crab fell off in the smoking. 2. The coconut crab was angry and said: "It's wrong for you to play tricks that make my legs fall off." Mautikitiki said: "Don't be angry, [they] will grow back."

3. This is its [the story's] beginning. The day that Mautikitiki went to sea, [he] called all the fishes of the sea, saying: "Who is in this sea? Who is in this sea?" The magau came. Mautikitiki asked: "What do you have?" [He] said: "I have a belly fin!" Mautikitiki asked: "What for?" "To pierce your hand!" Mautiki- tiki said: "Move on!"

4. Saying again: "Who is in this sea? Who is in this sea?" The api came. Mau- tikitiki said: "What do you have?" "I have a tooth!" "What for?" "To shave your head!" [Mautikitiki] saying: "Move on!"

5. Called again: "Who is in this sea? Who is in this sea?" The shark came. "What do you have?" "I have teeth!" "What for?" "I'm going to bite you with them!" Mautikitiki said: "Come on!" When the shark came, he hacked at his gill plates and hit his head so that [it] flattened out. Then [he] passed water on his gills and they smelled putrid, and then he burned his back fin. (This shark was the paghoanikagi.) Finished.

NOTES Only the first paragraph was told at first. Afterwards the story of the magau, api, and shark

was added on. The story was told with much laughter and enthusiasm, and three informants took turns. Taupongi 1961 was scornful of the euphemism gibai (to pass water), which he called a child's term. Still it was often used in sessions attended by many people. The paghoa- nikagi is a flat-headed shark.

SE

120

Page 136: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 38, 39

38. Na Niho o te Akui The Teeth of the Coconut Crab

Kaipua of Ghongau, BE. September 29, 1958. Ko Mautikitiki na mataku ki na

niho o te akui, ma te pake e ia o taa na tatau ki na ba'e, aano 'oti. Ma te nganga e Mautikitiki na ta- tau o te akui i te ahi, ma te benga o sangingi na ba'e o te akui.

Mautikitiki was afraid of the teeth of the coconut crab, and he played a trick and beat tattooing on all the legs. And Mautikitiki heated the tattooings of the coconut crab in the fire, and the legs of the coconut crab fell off.

NOTES This was my first story in Rennellese and Bellonese. While waiting in Honiara for transport to

Rennell, I worked with Kaipua, a young Bellonese who stayed there. He wrote out a few stories, and we went over them carefully. I did not get much meaning out of this story, and at that time I wondered whether I should ever be able to understand this strange Polynesian language, which to me did not sound much like Polynesian. Actually this text is easy, but one needs explanation to appreciate its macabre humor.

taa na tatau ki na ba'e: Tattooing was a very important culture trait of Rennell and Bellona; the legs were sometimes entirely covered by a stocking-like tattoo.

nganga ... na tatau: When a tattoo pattern had been completed, the tattooed man would heat the palms of his hands over a fire and press them on the tattoo to relieve the pain. Mautikitiki, however, chooses a more radical method. He puts the legs of the coconut crab in the fire; they fall off. After that the coconut crabs had only two large legs instead of four.

TM

39. Te Ghau a Mautikitiki Mautikitiki's Hook

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959. 1. Ko Mautikitiki noko noho i

tona manaha i Tungua (Ahanga), o hai uka i tena ghau paangongo, o hai tana maunu i te kangae. 2. 'Oso kinai te me'a o huhuti aano e ia, e'a ake ai te 'aamonga; ko Munga- ba. Ngotu a Mautikitiki ke 'anga ake te 'ango o te henua, kae mama- ha, aano manga 'anga ake tona tu'a. 3. Nimaa tupe hoki tena uka ki te tai, 'oso kinai te angi o hetau, aano popoghi e te angi tana ghau. 'Ika- 'ika ai a Mautikitiki o 'angu e ia te angi o nunu kinai tana 'uu, kae ta- taka e ia o papapapa. 4. Kae pau ai te angi o sehu hakataha ai; o tatae mai ki na 'aso nei.

1. Mautikitiki lived in his settlement in Tungua (Ahanga) and fished with line with his coconut-shell hook and used the swamp hen as his bait. 2. Something took hold and he pulled, and a land came up; it was Rennell. Mautikitiki wanted to make the front side of the land rise up, but [it was] heavy and only its back rose up. 3. When [he] threw his line into the sea again, the flounder grabbed it and fought, and the flounder then pulled off his hook. So Mautikitiki got angry and he followed the flounder and poked his bundle of arrows into it, and he tread [on it] and [it] became flat. 4. And thus it be- came a habit of the flounder to move about dodging; and so [it] is unto this day.

NOTES 2. 'anga ake te 'ango o te henua: When Mautikitiki pulled up Rennell it came to the surface

upside down. The back was full of rugged corals, not smooth. Mautikitiki wanted to turn it over to bring its smooth front ('ango) to the surface, but it was too heavy for him.

9* 121

Page 137: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 39, 40

Taupongi 1961 said he had forgotten something when writing down the text, and, accordingly, added the following sentences which fit into 2:

Ngotu a Mautikitiki ke 'anga ake i te 'ango te henua, kae mamaha ma te 'ui tana ghau, kae lolongi hoki te potu ma- tangi. Teengaa te hai 'anga e iai te ngano i te potu matangi o Mungaba. Kae manga 'anga ake te tu'a o te henua. Teenei te hai 'anga na hatuhatu ai a Mungaba i tena 'anga ake tona tu'a.

Mautikitiki wanted to raise the front side of the land, but [it] was heavy, and his hook slipped, and the east end sank back down. This is the reason why the lake is in the east end of Rennell. And only the back of the land is raised. This is the reason why Rennell became stony, [namely] from the raising up of its back.

I asked how people know that Mautikitiki had poked his bundle of arrows into the flounder. Taupongi 1961 told the following:

Na angi, nimaa to'ake o tunu, nimaa hai atu na kano ika ke kai, manga tu'u te ibi, te haka'ingonga o te nunu 'anga kinai te 'uu a Mautikitiki.

When flounders are taken up and roasted, and when the meat is removed to be eaten, then only the bones are standing out, a sign of Mautikitiki's poking the bunch of arrows into it [the flounder]. TM

40. Te Nongaa Kai i Tu'aa Gangi The Quest for Food in the Invisible Heaven

Michael Moa and others. At Hatagua, RE. March 18, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a ki te tautainga

mai tu'aa gangi, boo iho o hai aga- tou kaui, o tuku i teegaa kunga, kae manga lango o sasaga ma'agatou ni kaui ma'u. Ma te a'u, a Gosi o me- ne ki te ngutu o te ngataga. O to'o e te lango 'anga mai tu'aa gangi, o giu, ki tu'aa gangi. O kite i na ka- so, e titingi te aga, ma te hai atu na pegea: "Ke hakataha!" Ma te haka- taha na kaso. 2. Kae boo, aano he- tae ki tu'aa gangi, o tuku agatou kaui, kae boo te hainga kiki, ma te sopo iho a Gosi noko i te ngutu o te ngataga, o noko ma sehu i te manaha. Ma te giu mai na pegea mai tu'aa gangi, o hiina'i kinai, o he'ika'ika'aki kinai, ma te kaunaki e kigatou o kake te niu, o hai polo ma te taa gau niu, kae hitagi kiga- tou ke namaa hokiho ke taa.

3. Ma te mataku a Gosi, o taa e ia te gau niu, kae pigi kinai, o too iho. Hiina'i atu na pegea, manga sehu i te kege, ma te sehu, o noko

1. The story about the fishing expedi- tion from the invisible heaven, how the people came down and got some fish, and left [them] at one place and kept traveling about to look for more fish. Gosi came and went into the mouth of the ngataga fish. The travelers from the invisible heaven took [this fish] and went back to the invisible heaven. [They] saw reeds blocking the trail, and the people said: "Get out of the way!" And the reeds got out of the way. 2. [They] con- tinued and reached the invisible heaven and put down their fish and went to get supplementary food, and Gosi who had been in the ngataga's mouth, jumped down and walked about in the settle- ment. The people of the invisible heaven carne back and saw him and were angry at him and they ordered [him] to climb a coconut tree to get nuts and to cut coco- nut fronds, and they waited until he came down to kill [him].

3. Gosi was afraid and he cut the coco- nut leaves and clung to them and fell down. The people watched, and [he] walked about on the dirt [in heaven],

122

Page 138: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 40

ma tuu'ugu ma te tibu ana ugi tago. Ma te too te 'ua, o hakategekia iho ai ki gago nei. O sopo 'ati gongo i tu'aa gangi ma te haka'agi ana ugi tago e too iho i tu'aa gangi. Aano sanga ana tago, o ma'ugi. Ma te a'u a Mautikitiki o ina kinai o haka- anuanu ai: "Po na me'a mai hea?" Hai atu a Gosi: "Na me'a mai tu- 'aa gangi." Puge ke boo he nonga kai e boo na takotonga ki agatou 'atua te nonga kai ki tu'aa gangi.

4. Ma te boo, aano ma te hai ke sosopo ma te gege ma te tangi te mugikaakoni, giu iho noko ma ha- katatae aano giu, ma te gege ma'u te mugikaakoni, o tangi hano, ma te giu iho ma'u, aano giu, kae 'ua ghaeghae, ka kua mene te mugikaa- koni ki te baka toki ha'o o moe ai. Ma te giu ake te lango 'anga o kite ai i te manga moe ma te sa'u iho e Mautikitiki o haamene ki te mugi mago, ma te tangi sasaka ake te mugikaakoni: "Noka te taa ia te au, ka kau tata'o 'aabaki kia te koe ki tu'aa gangi." Ma te kakabe e Mau- tikitiki te mugikaakoni o boo ki tu- 'aa gangi.

5. Namaa hetae—hinake a Mau- tikitiki o taku ki na pegea o te ha- ge, kae nolio te mugikaakoni o ma- ta e ia te ga'aa. Aano haiho a Mau- tikitiki: "Te ga'aa e i hea?" Haka- tau ake te mugikaakoni: "Te ga'aa e kogukogutu'u." Kae manga taku e Mautikitiki na pegea; hakaanu iho ma'u: "Te ga'aa e i hea?" Hakatau hakahoki ake te mugikaakoni: "Te ga'aa e tu'u tonu." Kae manga taku ma'u a Mautikitiki, aano hakaanu iho ma'u: "Po te ga'aa e i hea?" Ma te hai ake ma'u: "Ekeseunga." Ka manga taku o hai ake: "Te ga- 'aa e i hea?" Ma te 'abange taki ta- si na me'a a Mautikitiki, kae ma- nga taku a Mautikitiki, aano haka- anu hakahoki iho ma'u: "Po te ga'aa

walked about and prayed and picked up his taro sprouts. Rain fell and washed down [Gosi and the taro sprouts] to the earth here. So the news came from the invisible heaven, and [the people] saw his taro shoots that had fallen down from the invisible heaven. And [Gosi] then planted his taro and [it] lived. Mautiki- tiki came and saw it and asked: "Where are [these] things from?" Gosi said: "Things from file invisible heaven." [They] decided to go and ask for food and that the ancestral spirits would go to their gods and ask for food in the invis- ible heaven.

4. So [they] went on and were about to come out [in the heaven] and a sand- piper came leaping and singing, and [they] went back down, going on and going back, and the sandpiper leapt again and sang as [he] went, and [they] came back down again, and back down again, and there was rain and sunshine, and the sandpiper disappeared inside the joining of a hard-rock adze and its shaft and lay there. The travelers came back and saw it just lying there, and Mautikitiki took it down and put [it] in the back of his loin- cloth, and the sandpiper cried asking for mercy: "Do not kill me, and I will go along and help you in the invisible heav- en." So Mautikitiki took the sandpiper and [they] went to the invisible heaven.

5. When they got there—Mautikitiki went up and prayed to the people of the house, and the sandpiper stayed and he watched the sun. Then Mautikitiki said: "Where is the sun?" The sandpiper an- swered: "The sun is partially up." And Mautikitiki kept praying [to] the people and asked again: "Where is the sun?" The sandpiper answered again: "The sun is almost directly overhead." Mautikitiki just kept praying and then asked again: "Where is the sun?" [The sandpiper] said again: "Starting to come down." [Mauti- kitiki] kept praying and asked: "Where is the sun?" And all Mautikitiki's things were given away one at a time, and Mau- tikitiki kept praying and asked again: "Where is the sun?" The sandpiper an- swered: "The sun is half-way down, and

123

Page 139: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 40

i hea?" Hakatau ake te mugikaa- koni: "Te ga'aa kua haangota poo o hu'ihu'i kabei, ka—tehea te 'aso?" Ma te haaiho a Mautikitiki: "Ha- kahua iho!"

6. Ma te huhuke na 'ahii kutu mea, o seu ake ki na mata o poghi ai ogatou mata, o he'e hiina'i, kae tutu'u ake kigatou o ase iho te ta'u me'a—ase iho na huaa 'umanga, aano> tupe iho te kape, ma te ma- 'aba ogatou mata, o kite iho te ka- pe, e to'o ma'u ma te he'osohi ki ona gau, o hetau ai. Aano hai atu na pegea ma i tu'aa gangi: "Tautou mugi kae amatou gau." Ma te too iho o sanga o manga kai ai tena mugi kae he'e kai ona gau i tena sa'u hakahoki e tu'aa gangi.

7. Noko tupe iho te saukaba o tu'u, o singa tena hua, kae tupe iho te ghabaghaghi o tu'u tena hua, i te he'e sia hina iho ki gago nei. Teenei tena 'oti 'anga o te nongaa kai i tu'aa gangi.

its tentacles are being dipped [into the sea], and—is this the time?" Mautikitiki said: "Suit [yourself]."

6. [Mautikitiki] opened packages of red leech [red from drinking blood] and threw [them] into the eyes [of the sky people] and their eyes were covered and they couldn't see but they just stood there [and Mautikitiki] cast down things— cast down garden fruits, threw down giant taro, and their eyes opened a bit and they saw the giant taro and took hold of some and grabbed its leaves and fought over them. The people in the invisible heaven said: "You have the lower part and we the leaves." So [the giant taro] fell down and was planted, but only the lower part is eaten and the leaves are not eaten, be- cause these things were taken back by the sky people.

7. The saukaba plantains were also thrown down and stood up and the fruit was crooked, and the ghabaghaghi plan- tain was thrown down and its fruit stood upright as it had not wanted to come down below here. This is the end of the request for food in the sky.

NOTES I

1. tu'aa gangi: invisible heaven, contrasting with gangi (sky), and agohi gangi (visible sky), (Taupongi 1961).

Gosi: a kakai (culture hero). ngataga: probably a wrasse.

5. Taupongi 1961 suggested tongotongotu'u for kogukogutu'u. In the notebook Taupongi brought to Hawaii he had written the Mautikitiki chronology of the sun and of the night, the former told to Mautikitiki by the sandpiper; the teller of the night chronology for fishing is not known. Taupongi's chronology follows, with the hours told by the sandpiper (Rennellese forms that are different follow in parentheses): 6 A.M., tahaatapilupilu; 7 A.M., saa kapa tasi, one side protruding; 8 A.M., 'auhasa manabanaba, breathing sun; 9 A.M., 'auhasa mango (mago), hard sun; 10 A.M., tongotongotu'u (togotogotu'u); 11 A.M., tu'u tonu, truly upright; 12 noon, tu'u tonu maangie (maagie), calm, truly upright; 1 P.M., ekeseunga; 2 P.M., nga'aa pange (ga'aa page), supporting sun; 3 P.M., haangota poo, night fishing; 4 P.M., iho tangunga (tagunga) to go fishing flying fish with a net; 5 P.M., ha'u baka, to lash sennit on a canoe [to go torch fish- ing for flying fish]; 6 P.M., hu'ihu'i kabei, dipping tentacles or sun rays. The night counting follows: 11 P.M., banguaapoo (baguaapoo); 12 midnight, ma tohitu'u te poo, cutting the night; 1 A.M., nui ki te 'ao, near to the day; 2 A.M., hakatutu'u te ata mau'i, rising old clouds; 3 A.M., tongaa ba'e (togaa), footprints [of gods]; 4 A.M., tosi too, spear streaks. One other time, 7 P.M., was given by a culture hero, Sebe, with this explanation by Taupongi 1961:

Ko Sebe, te pengea, noko hai tana soi. O to'o, ki te bai. Ma te poongia, he'e hai, ma te tu'ungu kia te tamana, ke pipiki e ia te nga'aa ke noka te poo'ungi, ka ke hai tena soi. Manga

Sebe, a person, was working his soi tuber. [He] took [it] to the water. At dark, [he] couldn't continue, and prayed to the father so he would hold on to the sun so it wouldn't get dark and so [he] could do his soi. So the sun

124

Page 140: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

noho toka te nga'aa. I te gholoba e mi'ipoo, ma te mi'i'ao, ma te hai aano, te soi a Sebe. 'Oti, kae to'o hano ioo poo'ungi, ma te hai ai te ingoa o te gho- loba, te 'ao a Sebe. soi: See N133:l.

TEXTS 40, 41(A)

stayed still. At the hour partly dark, and partly daylight, Sebe did his soi. Afterwards [Sebe] took away [the soi] before dark, and thus was obtained the name of the hour, Sebe's day.

This may be compared with the stories elsewhere in Polynesia of Maui snaring the sun so that Sina might have time to dry her tapa. During our night sessions at Hatagua, Rennell, I had told the Hawaiian variant, and later heard the Rennellese telling the story to others.

SE II

A similar account of about the same length was obtained from Taupongi 1961. TM

41. Mautikitiki ma te Ngosengose (A) Headman Haikiu of Sa'aiho, and

1. Launatahi 'ao noko boo ai Ko- tu'akotu'a ma te makupuna, noko boo ki tai, ke hai kaui. Hiina'i ki te launatasi me'a te ngosengose.—To- 'ake a kingaaua, o tuku ki te haa- ngongo o pusi e kingaaua. 2. Hua- 'eha o singi i te haangongo, sui o tuku ki te pangepange; hua'eha o singi te pangepange, tuku ki te hata; hua'eha o 'aka e ia te hange. 3. Hai atu te ngosengose, kia Kotu'akotu'a ke 'ati mo'ona he hu'aihange tama- ki, ma te tu'ia Kotu'akotu'a ma te makupuna, i te ngea 'anga te ngo- sengose, o he'angiko i te matataku. 4. Tatae ki te hange o Mautikitiki, hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Koungua e lango aa?" 'Ati ngongo a Kotu- 'akotu'a kia Mautikitiki o hai atu: "Ko kimaaua na boo ki tai o tibu temaa ngosengose, pusi e kimaaua aano namaa matu'a, 'angu e ia ia te kimaaua. Ko kimaaua te boo mai nei." 5. Ioo mungi hakaanu Mauti- kitiki: "E 'ao ki te aa?" Hakatau a Kotu'akotu'a: "E 'ao ki te hungi."

6. 'Oti te 'ati ngongo kia Mau- tikitiki, kae ina'iho a Mautikitiki te ngosengose hinake, tu'ia Mautikiti- ki o 'ati ngongo mai ai kia Kotu'a- kotu'a ma te makupuna, sasanga he kunga ke huu ai e ia; si'ai he kunga, lunga e Mautikitiki te kumete o'ona, o tuku, kinai e ia, ia Kotu'akotu'a ma te makupuna. Tatae ake te ngo-

Mautikitiki and the Ngosengose Paul Sa'engeika of Ghongau, BE. April 13, 1958.

1. On one day Kotu'akotu'a and her grandchild went away, going down to the sea for fish. [They] came on to some- thing, a ngosengose.—They picked [it] up, and put [it] into a coconut-shell dipper and the two raised [it]. 2. Big, [it] didn't fit into the dipper, so [they] put [it] on a shelf; big, not fitting the shelf, [they] put [it] on the rack; big, it made the house fall over. 3. The ngosengose asked Kotu- 'akotu'a to build him an enormous house, but Kotu'akotu'a and the grandchild were frightened by the words of the ngosengose, and ran away in terror. 4. Reaching the house of Mautikitiki, Mautikitiki said: "Why are you two wandering about?" Kotu'akotu'a explained to Mautikitiki, saying: "We two went to the sea and caught a ngosengose, we raised [it], and when [it] was grown it chased us. We have come here." 5. Afterwards Mautikitiki asked: "Power to do what?" Kotu'ako- tu'a answered: "Power to storm."

6. After [they] had told Mautikitiki, Mautikitiki saw the ngosengose coming; Mautikitiki was frightened and told Ko- tu'akotu'a and her grandchild to find a place where he might hide [them]; there was no place, and Mautikitiki opened one of his calabashes and he put them in it, Kotu'akotu'a and her grandchild. The ngosengose came and entered within

125

Page 141: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 41(A)

sengose o tohu ki ngoto o te hange o Mautikitiki, o noho loghoni ki te kumete manga iai. Hengeu te ngose- ngose ma Mautikitiki, hakangongo iho te ngosengose te kumete he- nguti, hakaanu te ngosengose kia Mautikitiki: "Te kumete nei kabe henguti!" Hakatau Mautikitiki o hai atu ki te ngosengose: "Na paa- unga o to'oku kumete te manga henguti!"

7. Ka Kotu'akotu'a ma te maku- puna noko matataku toto'a, o ma heki'i i ngoto i te kumete. 8. Sui a Mautikitiki o hai atu ki te ngose- ngose: "Ko koe sia kai?" Muna atu te ngosengose: " 'Oo!" Hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Hitangi mai, ka ke hano hai ma'au ni utunga." 9. Hano koto e ia te pota buli ngau tango o to'iho hai tena pota. Sa'u ake Mau- tikitiki ngua simata o tuku ki ngoto i te 'ahii pota ngau tango. Tunu aano. 10. Namaa moso te pota, to- 'ake Mautikitiki o tu'ungua e ia te 'ahii, pungipungi e Mautikitiki tee- ngaa potu pota, noko iai te hatu i ngoto, o hai atu ki te ngosengose: "Tanginga ake tou ngutu!" Kae tu- pe kinai Mautikitiki te potu pota.

11. Hakaanu a Mautikitiki: "E mahana?" 12. Hai atu te ngosengo- se: "Manga mi'imahana." Tupe ma'u kinai e ia teengaa potu pota. 'Oti te hongo e te ngosengose kae haka- 'atu'atu ma tanga hengeu, tu'ia te ngosengose e mamae, hetaiake ke mate. 13. Kae hai atu te ngosengose kia Mautikitiki: "Ko koe 'angoha ia te au o haangai, ka ko au te kaa mate nei." Hai atu te ngosengose: "Toku gholoba mate o ngo tanu atu ia te au, o noko ngosingosi toku ta- kotonga. O mata e koe namaa sopo he niu 'ungi, i mu'a i toku tako- tonga, te niu hai 'inati ma'ungi, ni- maa sopo he niu unga i mungi, te niu hakasa'ohie."

14. 'Oti te mate te ngosengose, kae tanu e Mautikitiki. Ngosingosi aano e ia, malubu ake te launatahi

Mautikitiki's house, and [Mautikitiki] was sitting leaning on the calabash where [the two] were. The ngosengose talked with Mautikitiki and the ngosengose heard the calabash rattling, and the ngosengose questioned Mautikitiki: "This calabash is shaking a lot!" Mautikitiki answered, saying to the ngosengose: "It's just the custom of my calabashes to shake!"

7. And Kotu'akotu'a and her grand- child were very much frightened and farted in the calabash. 8. Then Mautiki- tiki said to the ngosengose: "Do you want to eat?" The ngosengose said: "Yes." Mautikitiki said: "Wait and [I'll] go and fix you some food." 9. He went and broke off some baked shoots of taro leaves and brought [them] down to make his baked leaves. Mautikitiki took two volcanic rock files and put [them] into the package of baked taro leaves. [He] cooked [them]. 10. When the baked leaves were cooked, Mautikitiki took the package and broke [it] in two and round- ed up one of the portions of baked leaves in which was a stone and said to the ngosengose: "Open your mouth!" And Mautikitiki threw in the portion of baked leaves.

11. Mautikitiki asked: "Hot?" 12. The ngosengose said: "Just a little hot." Then he threw in the other portion of baked leaves. The ngosengose swallowed [it] whole and gave thanks and after speak- ing [and] talking the ngosengose was frightened and in pain, and on the point of death. 13. The ngosengose said to Mautikitiki: "You have shown love for me and fed me and now here I am dying." The ngosengose said: "[This] is my time for death and you are to bury me and prepare my grave. You watch and a black coconut will be born at the front of my grave, a coconut for making 'inati shares for restoring health, and a red coconut will be born at the foot, a coconut free from taboo."

14. Then the ngosengose died and Mautikitiki buried [it]. He took great care and a black coconut grew at the top of the

126

Page 142: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 41(A), 41(B)

niu 'ungi i honga 'ungu i te takoto- nga, kae malubu te niu unga i mu- ngi. 15. Boo ake aano ngua niu. Hua o anga tasi.—Haki e Mautiki- tiki te polo i te niu, o haha'atu he'e honu o he'e kanohi.—Noho aano haki ma'u teengaa o haha'a, o ma- nga masa. 16. 'Ika'ika a Mautikitiki o hai atu ki te niu: "Ko koe noko anga tasi, ka te 'aso nei hai ke hua ke anga ngima." 'Oti te tongi kinai ki te niu, kake a Mautikitiki i te niu o mimi kinai. Mungi o hua te niu o anga ngima. Haki iho te polo o ha- ha'atu. Kua 'oti te honu te polo o kanohi. Teenei tena 'otinga.

head of the grave, and a red coconut grew at the foot. 15. Then there were two coconuts. The fruit of one flower stalk.— Mautikitiki broke off the coconut from the coconut tree, and split [it] but [it] was not full and had no flesh.—Then [he] picked another and split [it] and [it] was quite empty. 16. Mautikitiki was angry and said to the coconut tree: "You have just born fruit on one flower stalk but today [you] will have fruit on five flower stalks." [After] this promise to the coco- nut, Mautikitiki climbed the coconut and pissed on it. Afterwards the coconut bore fruit on five flower stalks. [Mautikitiki] picked the nuts and split [them]. All the nuts were full and had flesh. This is the ending.

NOTES Much of this story was printed in English in the South Seas Evangelical Mission paper, Mes-

senger (no date). After hearing Haikiu and Paul discuss the story, I asked Haikiu to tell it. He was easier to understand than the older Paul. Haikiu was relaxed and not worrying about his chiefly duties during the coming visit to Bellona of the High Commissioner of the Western Pacific. As he dictated, I counted about 15 men and boys in the house, and 3 women in the doorway. (Seventh Day Adventist people were working on the road in front of the house; this was Sunday and the Evangelical people were not allowed to work. Telling stories was not con- sidered work.)

1. Taupongi 1961 described his conception of the mythical ngosengose as looking like an enormous turtle (noho pe te hu'aihonu), spotted (pungepunge), hairy (hunguhungu), and with many branching feet. Others said the ngosengose was like an enormous sea snake. Kotu'akotu'a and her granddaughter were kakai (culture heroes).

5. This was redictated after the end of the story. Taupongi 1961 said this should be sung, and he demonstrated.

6. henguti: Taupongi said this should have been heki'i (to fart), but that Haikiu was em- barrassed in the presence of his brother-in-law Paul. He mastered this shame in 7, but only after first saying titiko (defecate), a perfectly respectable household word. Flatulence is still considered unspeakably bad manners, and during rituals, blasphemy. (See T127 and T202.) 13. 'inati: portions of food offerings intended for Tehu'aigabenga, the district gods, or the spiritual ancestors, as contrasted with angatonu (N l [A]: 18). 16. tongi: See N25.

mimi: Later I discussed this amusing story privately with Timothy, who was on his way to Honiara to get store goods. Timothy said that Haikiu had been embarrassed by the word mimi. (Timothy had dictated a short variant of the ngosengose story at Labagu on November 21, 1957, but included no names, not even that of Mautikitiki, who was not well known at the lake, nor, apparently, at Matangi or Baitupu.)

haha'atu: haha'a atu. SE

(B) Suseni Sau'eha of Ghongau, BE. At Labagu, RE, November 19, 1958. 1. Kotu'akotu'a ma tena maku-

puna hahine noko iho ki tai, o to'o angaa luba o punu ai angaa kaui i na ngoto. Ma te kite e kingaaua te mi'ikaui; noko kite e te makupuna hahine o labu e ia o somo o labu hakahoki o somo ma'u. 2. Ma te haingata'a, aano ngenge ia te tupuna

1. Kotu'akotu'a and her granddaughter went down and brought their Derris to poison fish with for themselves inside the reef. And they found a small fish; the granddaughter found [it] and she grabbed [it], and [it] grew, and [she] grabbed again, and [it] grew again. 2. [It] was difficult; [she] shouted to the grand-

127

Page 143: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 41(B)

o hai atu: "A'u o labu taku me'a nei." Hinatu a te tupuna o labu e ia ma'u, ma te he'e hai ma'u. 3. Ma te boo ake o ngii'aki te kupenga o ngiu kinai o 'asu ai te kaui o to'ake o pusi. Hai kinai te mi'ihange o tu- ku kinai o haangai.

4. Haangai aano hua'eha o niti ki te hange. Unga iho te ngosengose kia Kotu'akotu'a ma te makupuna o hai atu: "He hu'aihange, o tuku kinai ia te au." 5. Ma te hakatau mai a Kotu'akotu'a ma te makupu- na: "Ko kimaaua e he'e nga'u ki- maa hai hange." Ma te hai atu te ngosengose: "Koungua ma te maku- puna hai kau kai ai!" 6. Ma te tu- 'ia a Kotu'akotu'a ma te makupuna 0 he'angiko'. Ma te e'a iho te ngose- ngose o 'angu ai. Kae he'angiko a Kotu'akotu'a ma te makupuna o si- singa i te manaha o Mautikitiki.

7. Ma te hakaanu kinai a Mautiki- tiki o hai atu: "E aa o ko ia?" O tangi ma te 'ati ngongo o hai ake: "Kotu'akotu'a ma te makupuna, pu- si ngosengose. 'Angu mai kimaaua nei, kai nei." 8. Ma te ta'ald e Mau- tikitiki te kumete o memene a Ko- tu'akotu'a ma te makupuna ki te 'ango o te kumete o tango hakaho- ki, o noho a Mautikitiki i te tu'a o te kumete. 9. Kae mungi o tatae mai te ngosengose, ma te hai atu a Mau- tikitiki: "Ni aa au e sasanga?" Ha- katau mai te ngosengose: "Ko au manga sasanga ia Kotu'akotu'a ma te makupuna." Ma te hai atu a Mautikitiki: "E he'e kitea ke boo mai." Ma te heki'i kingaaua i ngoto 1 te kumete. 10. Ma te hai atu te ngosengose: "Tou kumete na kabe heki'i!" Ma te hakatau a Mautiki- tiki: "Na paaunga o taku kumete nei te heki'i."

11. Ma te sia hai a Mautikitiki te hai nga'a kinai he utunga ke kai e te ngosengose ke mate ai. 12. Ma te unga a Mautikitiki kia tena ungu- ungu o hai atu: "Tunubolu atu he

mother and said: "Come and take hold of my thing here." The grandmother came and she grabbed [for it] but again did not get [it]. 3. And [they] went up and wrapped up a net and brought [it] back to it [the reef] and drove the fish into it and lifted [it] up and took care [of it]. They got a small house for it and put the [ngosengose] in it and fed [it].

4. [They] fed it until [it became] big and filled the house. The ngosengose spoke to Kotu'akotu'a and the grandchild and said: "[Make] a big house and put it there for me." 5. And Kotu'akotu'a and the grandchild answered: "We are not clever at making houses." And the ngo- sengose said: "Then I may want to eat you and your grandchild." 6. And Kotu- 'akotu'a and the grandchild were fright- ened and ran away. And the ngosengose came outside and pursued [them]. But Kotu'akotu'a and the grandchild fled and turned off [the trail] at the settlement of Mautikitiki.

7. And Mautikitiki asked them, saying: "What's the matter?" Crying, they told [the story] and said: "Kotu'akotu'a and the grandchild were feeding ngosengose. [He] chased us here to eat [us] here." 8. Mautikitiki opened the wooden bowl and Kotu'akotu'a and the grandchild hid inside the bowl and covered [it] again, and Mautikitiki sat down on the back of the bowl. 9. And later the ngosengose arrived, and Mautikitiki said: "What are you looking for?" The ngosengose an- swered: "I am just looking for Kotu'ako- tu'a and her grandchild." And Mautiki- tiki said: "They have not been seen to come here." And they farted inside the bowl. 10. And the ngosengose said: "Your bowl there farts a lot!" And Mau- tikitiki answered: "Farting is [among] the habits of my bowl here."

11. And Mautikitiki wanted to give him a present, some food for the ngo- sengose to eat so as to die. 12. And Mau- tikitiki gave orders to his wife and said: "Make a parcel of baked shoots of taro

128

Page 144: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 41(B)

pota buli ngau tango o hakauso ai he tokangua hatu 'ungi." Ma te hai e tena unguungu te pota buli ngau tango o tuku kinai te tokangua hatu 'ungi o tunubolu. 13. Aano moso, sa'u ki taha o ngenge ai a Mautiki- tiki o hai atu: "To'o mai!" Ma te to'o e tena unguungu te tunubolu kia tona matu'a, o 'oso kinai a Mau- tikitiki o huhuke o sa'u ake te hatu noko pengu i na ngau tango. 14. O hai atu a Mautikitiki ki te ngosengo- se: "Baamangamanga ake tou ngu- tu." Ma te ta'aki te ngutu o te ngo- sengose ma te tupe atu kinai e Mau- tikitiki te hatu, kae hai atu: "Hongo ake." 15. Ma te hongo a te ngose- ngose te hatu, kae sa'u ake e Mau- tikitiki teengaa hatu ma na buli ngau tango o hai atu: "Baamanga- manga ake mai tou ngutu." 16. Ma te ta'aki hakahoki te ngutu o te ngosengose, ma te tupe atu kinai e Mautikitiki te hatu ma'u o hai atu: "Hongo ake." Ma te hongo e te ngosengose, ma te hepootaki ngua hatu ki te hinangango o benga ai. 17. Ma te hai atu te ngosengose: "Ko koe 'angoha ia te au, ka ko au te kaa mate ai nei. Ka ko au namaa mate, tanu e koe ia te au, namaa ngo sopo he niu 'ui i toku ha'ito- toka. Te niu ke ngo noko binu ai koe. Namaa sopo he niu mea te haka'inati ma'ungi."

18. Ma te tanu a Mautikitiki te ngosengose o 'oti, kae manga tahi- tahi e Mautikitiki te takotonga o te ngosengose i ba'i 'aso. Ma te e'a ai te niu o hano, aano hua te niu. 19. Kake ai a Mautikitiki o ngubi ai te huaa polo o hoki iho. Tu'uti e Mau- tikitiki te polo o binu, o he'e tau bai te polo. 20. Ma teengaa 'aso ho- ki a Mautikitiki o kake hoki i te niu o ngubi te polo o hoki iho o tu'uti o binu o he'e tau bai ma'u. 21. Ma te kake hoki o sopo ki tona buli o mimi kinai, kae hoki iho o ina aano hoki o kake hoki i te niu o ngubi ma'u te hua polo o hoki iho o tu- 'uti o binu te polo. Kua honu te po-

leaves and wrap up two black stones in it." And his wife prepared the baked shoots of taro leaves and put two< black stones in it and cooked [it]. 13. [She] took it out, and then Mautikitiki shouted to her and said: "Bring [it] here!" And his wife brought the parcel to her hus- band, and Mautikitiki took hold of it and opened [the parcel] and took out the stone that had been wrapped in the taro leaves. 14. Mautikitiki said to the ngosengose: "Open your mouth wide!" And the mouth of the ngosengose opened and Mautikitiki dropped the stone down into it and said: "Swallow!" 15. And the ngosengose swallowed the stone, and Mautikitiki took the other stone up and shoots of taro leaves and said: "Open your mouth wide!" 16. And again the mouth of the ngosengose opened and again Mautikitiki dropped the stone and said: "Swallow!" And the ngosengose swallowed and the two stones collided in his throat and burned it. 17. And the ngosengose said: "You are kind to me but I am going to die from this. And when I am dead you must bury me, and some green coconuts will come out from the front of my grave. The coconut you shall just drink. Then will come a brown coconut to be used for 'inati shares for restoring health."

18. And Mautikitiki buried the ngo- sengose and then afterwards Mautikitiki swept the grave of the ngosengose every day. And the coconut tree came out and after a time the coconut tree bore fruits. 19. So Mautikitiki climbed and twisted off coconuts from it and came back down. Mautikitiki cut off the top of the coconut to drink, but the coconut had no water. 20. And next day Mautikitiki re- turned and climbed up into the coconut tree again and twisted off a coconut and went back down and cut [it] to drink, and there was still no water. 21. And [he] climbed up again and went into its base of fronds and pissed on them, and went back down and stayed for some time and

129

Page 145: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 41(B), 42(A)

lo. 22. Teengaa te 'otinga o te ngo- then returned and climbed up again into sengose, ka ko Kotu'akotu'a ma te the coconut tree and again twisted off a makupuna na hai hekau kia Mau- coconut and went back down and cut tilcitiki. and drank the coconut. The coconut had

become full [with liquid]. 22. That was the end of the ngosengose, and Kotu'ako- tu'a and the granddaughter worked for Mautikitiki.

NOTES 7. Kotu'akotu'a ma te makupuna: Taupongi 1961 said some words were missing in this little

chant. The correct wording would be: Kotu'akotu'a ma te makupuna tibu ngosengose, aano ngo tibua, 'angu ia te kimaaua neei, boo inai nei (Kotu'akotu'a and the grandchild picked up ngo- sengose, pick up, chased us here, [we] come here). The phrase ngo tibua, a poetic form, here means 'oti te tibua 'anga (when it had been picked up). Taupongi 1961 said that even Mautiki- tiki's answer also was' left out: Ma te hai atu a Mautikitiki: " 'Ao ki te aa?" Ma te hai atu a Kotu'akotu'a: "Hungihungi na henua!" (And Mautikitiki said: "Power to do what?" And Ko- tu'akotu'a said: "To storm the lands!")

14. Taupongi 1961 gave a different interpretation of baamangamanga ake: to open the lips while the teeth are shut.

17. ha'itotoka: Taupongi 1961 said that the head of Ngosengose's body was at the front of the grave. Small houses with curved rafters were built over many graves on Rennell and Bellona.

After having heard this story, Taupongi 1961 complained that it did not mention the origin of coconut flesh. He told the following: Te honu 'anga te mimi 'anga kinai a Mautikitiki, ka te kanohi 'anga te piapia 'anga te unge a Mautikitiki (It [the coconut] became filled by Mautikitiki pissing on it, but its meat comes from the mucus of Mautikitiki's penis). The mentioning of the above words made Taupongi giggle with embarrassment. In Honolulu, away from the vigilance of relatives, he seemed to relax into a new verbal freedom.

TM

42. Te Saka a Mautikitiki Saka by Mautikitiki

(A) Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Hatagua, March 20, 1958. 1. Tabaia kau nohoa o 'ui.

Umege: E no'i te ogo kaohoo tena ogo e mohano aiee, e 'ui mohano.

2. E niu ngege ia Sina go toku bako e.

3. O ghaghia ke aga kio abo 'ui. 4. E tu'ugia he tao manu he

go 'ui. 5. Ko Mauatoki ko ta'ohigi

ta'ohigi.

6. Ko Mautikitiki ma tena tuha- hine a Sina; noko hai te giunga abubu a Mautikitiki o ta'o e Sina. Namaa huke te 'umu, o tape na abubu o to'o ki hage. 7. Kae ase e ia kogaa ki te bilongo, o poghi ai noko kaia'a e ia (ko Sina). Namaa 'oti te to'o na abubu ki ha- ge, hoki mai a Sina, o kai ana abu-

I stayed on the tabaia and then departed. Refrain: Stay in the mountain [?] that mountain warm to depart warm.

Sina calls to come back my canoe.

Clear a path away [from] the harbor. Lift a spear canoe spur to go away.

Mautikitiki and his sister sister.

6. Mautikitiki and his sister Sina; Mau- tikitiki made an offering of abubu tu- bers and Sina baked [it]. When [she] opened the oven, [she] packed the abubu and took [it] to the house. 7. She put some in the dirt pile by the oven, and covered them, for she (Sina) was stealing. When [she] had taken the abubu to the house, Sina came back and ate her abubu

130

Page 146: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

bu noko poghi i te bilongo. 8. Kua kona na soi, kae maangago na abu- bu. E haka'igonga i te kaia'a 'anga e Sina te giunga abubu a tena tu- nga'ane a Mautikitiki. Teenei te 'oti- nga o te hegeunga nei.

TEXTS 42(A), 42(B), 43

that had been covered up in the dirt pile. 8. The soi were bitter, and the abubu were sweet. Her brother Mautikitiki knew of Sina's theft of the abubu offering. This is the ending of this account.

NOTES This session, interrupted by many visitors, began when Headman Togaka sang this saka. Af-

terwards he told the story. The two seem to have no connection other than containing the names Mautikitiki and Sina. A wife's stealing oven food is a common motif. This is an account of the origin of the "bitter" soi tubers. Tabai is a wood used for canoes. Some examples of poetic changes: tabaia: tabai; no'i: noho; mohano: mahana; niu: giu; bako: baka; abo: aba; Mauatoki: Mautikitiki; ta'ohigi: tuhahine.

One kind of saka is sung by one person (not by a group) to a person being tattooed in order to divert his mind from the pain of tattooing. If he listens (hakagongo) he will not feel (haka- gongd) the pain. The saka was sung only for large tattooing patterns, as the taukuka on the chest or the hakasapa on the buttocks. There was no posturing of hands or clapping. Taupongi 1961 said that the saka was the name of the shrill crying of the sungatisaka (a small beetle living in waterholes). The sound is similar to that of the cicada. The saka songs are said to be an imitation of this crying. Other saka are entreaties to the gods, as in T185.

SE (B) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959.

1. Tabai a kau noho ao, Ui. Umenge: E no i te ongo, ka ongo e nga ongo

E no hano, Ui e. 2. Komaaua toki ko ta'o hingi,

ta'o, Ui. 3. E ko Tupoki, kau manaba. 4. O niu ngengenge ia Sina

toku baka o Ui. 5. Tabai a matakutia o Ui.

6. O niu ngengengenge ia Sina o toku baka o Ui.

The tabai tree, I, Ui, sit on it. Chorus: [I] sit on the hill, I will [go to]

the roar of the ocean, Ui will go, e.

We two [use] the adze, lash and plait, lash, Ui.

[In] Tupoki I breathe. Sina plaits quickly the coconut fiber [for]

my canoe, Ui. [People] are frightened by Ui's tabai

[canoe.] Sina plaits quickly the coconut fiber [of]

my canoe, Ui.

NOTES The dissimilarities of versions A and B and of the interpretations indicate the informants' un-

certainty of the form and meaning of this saka. 1. Ui: Mautikitiki. Short form used in this song. Mautikitiki is carving a canoe with Sina,

who is sometimes considered his sister, sometimes his mother. Examples of poetic forms used in this saka: E no i te ongo: e noho i te ongo; ka ongo: kau

ngo; E no hano: ka ngo hano. 3. Tupoki: a settlement on another (mythical) island to which Mautikitiki will go in his canoe.

There he will rest and breathe freely after a strenuous trip. 5. matakutia: People are scared by seeing Mautikitiki's big canoe. Traditions say that it was

cut in Ungangaia, Ghongau district, Bellona. TM

43. Te Toki o Mautikitiki Mautikitiki's Adze

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959. Te tama'ahine a Mautikitiki na

hai, manga mangangingangi, he'e The daughter of Mautikitiki was

smooth, had no vagina. Mautikitiki saw

131

Page 147: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 43, 44, 45

tau soni. Ina aano kinai a Mau- tikitiki. Ma te tua e ia na 'ango o tana tama'ahine i tona toki, a te maunu kinai tona toki, ma te hai ai te soni.

it. He cut the front of his daughter with his adze and pulled his adze in it, and so made the vagina.

NOTES The name of Mautikitiki's daughter is not known. An explanatory tale of the origin of the

vagina and clitoris. Taupongi explained that when Mautikitiki pulled quickly on his adze, its head remained, thus forming the tangubi (clitoris).

44. Mautikitiki ma Mahuike Mautikitiki and Mahuike

Malacham Teikanoa of Hatagua, RE. March 21, 1958. l.Te tagatupu'a o Mautikitiki ma

Mahuike. Te 'aso noko1 hai ai te ahi a Mahuike, hano a Mautikitiki, o to'o mai e ia te ahi o Mahuike, gi- bai kinai o mate. 2. Hoki o to'o mai teegaa, ma te malughubei, o gibai ma'u kinai o mate. Hoki o to'o mai teegaa malughubei, o gibai ma'u ki- nai o mate. Ma te hakatangi a Ma- huike, i te to'o goa e Mautikitiki tenahi. 3. Ma te hano kinai a Ma- huike kia Mautikitiki, o poo ki te gima o Mautikitiki, o bagigibogu, o matohi te gima o Mahuike. Manga o'io'i gima tahi ai a Mahuike, i na 'aamonga. Teenei te 'otinga o te ta- gatupu'a o Mahuike ma Mautikiti- ki. Ma o'io'i a Mahuike na 'aamonga i na 'aso nei.

1. The story of Mautikitiki and Ma- huike. One day on which Mahuike made a fire, Mautikitiki came and he took Mahuike's fire, passed water on it, and [it] went out. 2. [Mautikitiki] came back and took another [fire], and a burning faggot, passed water on it, and [it] went out. [He] came again and took another burning faggot, passed water again on it too, and [it] went out. Mahuike com- plained about Mautikitiki taking his fire over and over. 3. Mahuike went up to him, to Mautikitiki, and grabbed Mauti- kitiki's hand and swung [him], and Ma- huike's arm was broken. Mahuike just shakes the islands with one hand. This is the end of the story of Mahuike and Mau- tikitiki. Mahuike shakes the islands to this very day.

NOTES 1. As in N37 Taupongi 1961 was scornful of the euphemism gibai (to pass water) and thought

mimi was not too bad (e he'e hu'aitnaase'i). When asked which was preferable, te ahi a Ma- huike or te ahi o Mahuike, he preferred the former, but seemed to think the other acceptable.

2. tenahi: tena ahi. 3. Taupongi said that the few earthquakes felt today on Bellona are the work of Mahuike.

(See T21.) SE

45. Te 'Umanga a Mautikitiki Mautikitiki's Garden

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 27, 1959. Te ma'anga a Mautikitiki na baa-

kani. Ma te matataku na nga'akau o he'angiko. Tenge te tapaango o too ki te moana o hai ai te tahonga'a. Tenge te heta'u o ngae i te honga

Mautikitiki's overgrown garden was being burned [for clearing]. The trees be- came afraid and fled. The tapaango tree ran and fell into the sea and became a whale there. The heta'u tree ran and

132

Page 148: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

takanga o tu'u ai. Taki he'angiko ko ba'i nga'akau o 'oti. Tenge iho ma'u te bangukango o too ki te moana. Tenge iho ma'u a tona tu- hahine, te longolongo. Ko tona tu- nga'ane kua too ki te tai, ma te too a ia ki te ahi o benga ai.

TEXTS 45, 46(A), 46(B)

turned off at the brink of the cliff and stood there. All the trees fled in different directions. Even the bangukango tree ran down and fell into the sea. Its sister, the longolongo, ran down too. The brother had jumped into the sea, and she jumped into the fire and burned there.

NOTES tapaango: a kind of banyan. (Rennellese, tapaago.') heta'u: a tree, not identified. bangukango: a kind of skipjack or bonito. longolongo: a bluish skink. The bangukango and longolongo were considered brother and

sister because they had the same color. The longolongo is said to jump into a fire when ap- proaching it.

TM

46. Sika Ahi Making Fire by Friction

(A) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959. 1. Ko Mautikitiki ma te beka

noko sika tangaa ahi. Sika e Mau- tikitiki kae tataka e te beka. 2. Nimaa tata e Mautikitiki te ahi, hai mai te beka: "Kua kaa!" Tu'u te beka o tenge; mate te ahi. Hai atu ma'u a Mautikitiki: "Hoki mai o tataka!" Hoki mai ma'u te beka o tataka. Nimaa tata ma'u e Mau- tikitiki ke kaa ma'angaaua he ahi. 3. Hai atu ma'u te beka: "Kua kaa!" Teka ma'u ki taha. Mate ma'u, he'e kaa he ahi. 'Ika'ika a Mautikitiki o suki e ia te linga ki te isu o te beka o makungi, mea ai te isu o te kangae.

1. Mautikitiki and the young swamp hen rubbed fire. Mautikitiki rubbed and the swamp hen stood [on the hearth]. 2. When Mautikitiki rubbed fire, the swamp hen said: "[It] has taken fire!" The swamp hen got up and ran; the fire died. Mautikitiki again said: "Come back and stand [on the hearth]." The swamp hen came back and stood [on the hearth]. Mautikitiki rubbed again to light a fire for them. 3. The swamp hen said again: "[It] has taken fire!" [The swamp hen] fell outside again. [The fire] died again, no fire burned. Mautikitiki got angry and he planted the firestick in the bill of the swamp hen which was seared, and thus the bill of the mature swamp hen became red.

NOTES Taupongi 1961: beka is the name of the punua (young, immature) swamp hen, which does

not have a red bill. The mature bird is called kangae (Rennellese, kagae) and has a red bill. Some persons believe that the beka and the kagae are different species.

The kangae was asked to stand on the fire-plow to keep it in position. Two men are needed to make fire; one holds the plow and the other rubs the firestick (Birket-Smith, 1956: 84).

Another version was obtained from Suseni Sau'eha on November 19, 1958, in Labagu. In this version the swamp hen urinates on the fire to extinguish it.

TM

(B) John Temoa, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 12, 1958. 1. Ko Mautikitiki ma te kagae no-

ko hai aagu utunga. Nomaa 'oti agaa utunga, hai atu a Mautikitiki ki te

1. Mautikitiki and the swamp hen were getting their food. After getting their food, Mautikitiki said to the swamp hen:

133

Page 149: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 46(B), 47(A)

kagae: "Tataka mai te nganiabini nei, ke sika ma'ataa he ahi." 2. So- po atu te kagae o tataka te ngania- bini, kae sika a Mautikitiki te ahi. 3. Sika aano, hai ke tata to'a ke kaa, sopo te kagae ki taha. Kae hai atu te kagae: "Kua kaa!" 4. 'Ika'ika a Mautikitiki ki te kagae, hai atu ma'u: "Tataka hakahoki mai." 5. Sopo hoki te kagae o tataka. Kae sika hakahoki, hai ke tata ke kaa, sopo ki taha te kagae kae hai atu: "Kua kaa!" 6. 'Ika'ika a Mautiki- tiki o bego te liga ki te ngutu o te kagae o bega o makugi o uga. Kua 'oti. O pau ai te ngutu o te kagae o uga.

"Stand on the fire-plow here while I rub us some fire." 2. The swamp hen went and stood on the fire-plow and Mautiki- tiki rubbed to get fire. 3. [He] rubbed and when [he] needed to push very fast to get a light, the swamp hen stepped off. The swamp hen said: "[It] is burning!" 4. Mautikitiki was angry at the swamp hen and said again: "Stand on [it] again!" 5. So the swamp hen again stood [on the plow]. [Mautikitiki] rubbed again, and just as [he] had to work fast to get a light, the swamp hen stepped off, saying: "[It] is burning!" 6. Mautikitiki was angry and struck the short fire-stick on to the bill of the swamp hen and burned and seared [it] red. [It] is just finished. So the bill of the swamp hen has always been red.

NOTES This story and T47(B) were the beginning of the rich collection of Mautikitiki stories that

I got in central Rennell after the fragments gleaned on November 14 and December 3 at Labagu and Niupani. Temoa came to tell this story, and followed it immediately with T47(B). He laughed a great deal, especially after saying: Kua kaa! ([It] is burning!) The swamp hen has a red bill and is disliked by Rennellese because, they say, it steals taro.

SE

47. Mautikitiki ma te Ango Mautikitiki and the Crab

(A) Kaipua of Ghongau, BE. At Honiara, September 29, 1958. 1. Ko Mautikitiki noko hai tana

ahi i tona manaha, ma te a'u te ango, ma te hakaanu kinai a Mautiki- tiki o hai atu: "Ko koe e a'u ke aa?" 2. Ma te hakatau atu a te ango: "E a'u ke to'o ma'aku he ahi." Ma te 'abange a Mautikitiki tena ahi o to'o o hano o mimi kinai o mate te ahi, ma te hoki mai. 3. Ma te hai atu a Mautikitiki: "Ko koe e hoki mai ke aa?" Ma te hai atu te ango: "Ko au e hoki mai ke to'o ma'aku he ahi." 4. Ma te hai atu a Mau- tikitiki: " 'Ai tehea tau ahi noko to'o?" Ma te hakatau mai te ango: "Kua mate!" Ma te 'abange ma'u tena ahi o to'o o hoki. 5. Nimaa mama'o i te manaha o Mautikitiki mimi ma'u te ango ki tena ahi, ma te hoki mai ma'u ki te manaha o

1. Mautikitiki made his fire in his settlement, and the crab came, and Mau- tikitiki asked and said: "Why are you coming?" 2. And the crab answered: "I have come to get some fire for myself." And Mautikitiki gave his fire, and [the crab] took it and went and pissed on it and the fire died, and [the crab] returned. 3. And Mautikitiki said: "Why are you coming back?" And the crab said: "I have come back to get some fire for my- self." 4. And Mautikitiki said: "Where is the fire that you took?" And the crab answered: "Died!" And [Mautikitiki] gave again his fire and [the crab] took [it] and returned. 5. When a little away from Mautikitiki's settlement the crab again pissed on his fire, and again returned to Mautikitiki's settlement. And Mautikitiki asked the crab: "Why are you coming

134

Page 150: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 47(A), 47(B), 48

Mautikitiki. Ma te hakaanu atu a Mautikitiki ki te ango: "Ko koe e hoki mai ma'u ke aa?" 6. Ma te hai atu te ango: "E hoki mai ke to'o ma'aku he ahi." Ma te susungi e Mautikitiki o he'e to'o ma'ana he ahi. Ma te hakapapake te ango aa- no ma te samu e ia te hu'aimalu- ghubei a te ahi a Mautikitiki o te- nge. 7. Ma te 'angu e Mautikitiki te ango o labu e ia o beelunu ma te nguti a Mautikitiki ma te 'angake o tua e ia te tu'a o te ango i tona toki.

back again?" 6. And the crab said: "[I] come back here to get some fire for myself." And Mautikitiki refused and [he] did not get any fire for himself. And the crab fooled [him] and he snatched the big faggot from Mautikitiki's fire and ran away. 7. And Mautikitiki chased the crab and he grabbed and pulled his hair, and Mautikitiki fell [on him], and then got up and he cut the back of the crab with his adze.

NOTES An explanatory tale. According to Taupongi 1961, this is the origin of the furrow (tapi 'anga)

in the center of the crab's carapace. TM

(B) John Temoa. At Bagika'ago, RE, March 12, 1958. 1. The story of how Mautikitiki and

the crab were chewing betel. [They] chewed and Mautildtiki said to the crab: "Let [us] examine our chewing matter here." 2. They spat out their chewing and showed each other. Mautikitiki's was black and the crab's was red. 3. Mautiki- tiki was jealous about this because the crab's chewing was red. [He] jumped [at him] and landed on his head and pulled his hair. Mautikitiki threw the crab about and [they] pulled each other. 4. When the crab let go of Mautikitiki, Mautikitiki jumped and cut the crab's back. Finished. So the break stays on the back of the

1. Te tautupu'a ki te kamu 'angaa Mautikitiki ma te ago. Kamu aano, hai atu a Mautikitiki ki te ago: "Ke haka'agi'aki gu ataa mama nei." 2. Puaghi gu agaa mama, o hehaka- agi'aki. 'Ugi ta'a Mautikitiki, kae uga ta'a te ago. 3. 'Ita kinai a Mau- tikitiki, i te kua uga te mama a te ago. Gege atu o tau i te 'ugu o be- lunu. Tupe te ago a Mautikitiki o hehuhuti'aki. 4. Namaa mau'i te ago ia Mautikitiki, gege ake a Mau- tikitiki o tua te tu'a o te ago. Kua 'oti. O pau o pigi ai te tapinga i te tu'a o te ago.

crab. SE

48. Mautikitiki ma te Agi Mautikitiki and the Flounder

Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 16, 1958. Te tautupu'a kia Mautikitiki, na

hano te tautainga, o to'o tena ghau o siisii ai, 'eha na kaui noko huhuti. Namaa te launatahi kaui, e mate te- na ingoa te agi, na 'oso ki te ghau o Mautikitiki. O huhuti e ia. Ka te kaui nei noko to'a, o totohi e ia te ghau. Ka na 'ika'ika ai Mautikitiki o tu'u i te agi o papa, kae a'aki gua mata o pigi pa'asi tahi ia te ia. Kua 'oti.

The story of Mautikitiki who went fish- ing and took his hook to cast with and pulled in many fish. One fish known by the name of flounder grabbed Mautiki- tiki's hook. He pulled. For this fish was strong and he broke the hook. Mautiki- tiki was angry at him and stood on the flounder so [it] flattened out, and its two eyes came out and stuck on one side of it. Just finished.

135

Page 151: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 48, 49

NOTES Later, Paul gave this song about the flounder, said to be from very ancient times.

Te Huaa Mako ki te Agi Te ika ko te hu'aiika, Na takahia i tena maka, E gago'aki ai te 'one nei, Kae takatakahia, Giu ake teegaa pa'asi, O mata tasi ai taku noko.

Huaa Mako about the Flounder The fish, the big hu'aiika fish, Stepped on and hurt, Buried in this sand, Stepped on, Turned over the other side, And so my buttocks have a single eye.

Taupongi 1961 suggested this was a taunting song (pogipogi), composed with hidden meaning (hatu hakangahi), but he did not specify how. He said that taku noko (my buttocks) refers to buttocks of another person (pegea 'aatea), and toku noko refers to one's own buttocks.

SE

49. Mautikitiki ma te Kamisi Mautikitiki and the Skink

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. June 29, 1961. 1. Ko Mautikitiki noko noho i to-

na hange o taka tana ghau, kae ma- ta e te kamisi. Nimaa sanga te taka 'anga te ghau, hano te kamisi o ho- ngahonga e ia ki te hange o na 'atu. 2. Nimaa hano a Mautikitiki o hai uka, si'ai he 'atu 'oso ki tana ghau, i te ku sanga tona taka. Ho- ki ake a Mautikitiki o bebete te ta- ka o tana ghau, bebete o 'oti, taka hakahoki, mata ma'u e te kamisi. Nimaa tonu te taka 'anga te ghau, hano, hai atu: "Te taka'anga te ghau a Mautikitiki e tonu." 3. Ni- maa hano a Mautikitiki o hai uka 'oso kinai te 'atu. Teengaa te ingoa o te ghau a Mautikitiki, te paa. E he'e na'a e he pengea i na 'aso nei te taka ghau a Mautikitiki. 4. Tee- ngaa te henua e na'a e kingatou te taka ghau a Mautikitiki, ko Sikai- ana, ka he'e na'a a Mungaba ma Mungiki.

1. Mautikitiki stayed in his house and wound sennit round his hook, and the kamisi skink watched. As the winding of sennit round the hook was not right, the kamisi went and he told [about it] to the house of the 'atu fish. 2. When Mautiki- tiki went and fished with line, there was no 'atu fish taking his hook, because its winding of sennit was not right. Mau- tikitiki went back up and took the wound sennit off his hook, took [it] all off, wound again; the kamisi again watched. When the winding of sennit round the hook was good, [the kamisi] went and said: "Mautikitiki's winding of sennit round the hook is good." 3. Then Mau- tikitiki went and fished with line, the 'atu grabbed the hook. This is the name of Mautikitiki's hook: the paa. No people know today the winding of the hook of Mautikitiki. 4. Another land knows about the winding of Mautikitiki's hook, Sikai- ana, but Rennell and Bellona do not know.

NOTES When all our Mautikitiki stories had been read and discussed with Taupongi 1961, he asked

if that was all we had. "There is at least one more tale of Mautikitiki," he said. Then he told the story above.

1. Mautikitiki's hook was of turtle shell. It was named te paa after the pointed dorsal fin of certain fish, such as the mangau. (See T35 [A].)

kamisi: a skink, similar to the kangisi, but the kamisi is tutututuua (dotted). 4. Nobody knows Mautikitiki's special method of winding sennit on the hook. This last sen-

tence was supplied by Taupongi when I asked him more about the method of winding. He had not seen the Sikaiana method, but some people from Sikaiana had told him about it in Honiara.

TM

136

Page 152: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 6. SINA

Rennellese and Bellonese not too familiar with the traditions sometimes confuse Sina the kakai (culture hero) with Sinakibi (Blind-Sina) and Sinageitataki. Sinakibi was the mother of the two sacred gods, Guatupu'a and her brother (Genealogy 11), and her story, with her restored sight, is Tl in Chapter 4. Sinageitataki was a trickster goddess of unknown ancestry who stole the husband of Sina, the culture hero, and she is included in this chapter (T52 [A], [B]). Informants were not clear as to whether there was one Sina or many Sinas. Her adventures were numerous and she was without protecting magic. In T50 (B) her husband is murdered, and she is able to bring him back from the underworld as a result of the help of a mouse (kimoa poto). This story is considered so interesting that three variants are included. Sina again suffers marital infelicities in T51, and finds herself married to a snake. She has painless adventures with birds and gives many of them their bright (or black) plumage (T53, T54).

The Sina stories do not take place in any known localities on the two islands, nor are the great gods (Guatupu'a and her brother, Tehainga'atua, Tehu'aiga- benga) or human beings involved.

50. Sina ma te Kimoa Poto Sina and the Mouse

(A) Suseni Sau'eha, Ghongau, BE. At Labagu, RE. October 19, 1958. 1. Hetu'uamoamo noko taka ma

Sina ma te ma'ina kinai a Baitunu- maea kia Sina. O a'u a Baitunumaea o pake ia Hetu'uamoamo, o hai atu a Baitunumaea kia Hetu'uamoamo: "Kitaa boo o tautai." 2. Hai atu a Hetu'uaamoamo: " 'Oo." Kae na'a e Hetu'uamoamo e pake e Baitu- numaea ia te ia ke taa, ma te hina- ke o tuku kupu kia tona unguungu o hai atu: 3. "Ko au e pake e Bai- tunumaea, manoo ke taa e ia; kae noho iho o noko ina ange ki te moana. Namaa hati ni ngangu su- sungu, ko au he'e taa e ia; namaa hati ni ngangu o hingohingo toto,

1. Hetu'uamoamo married Sina, and Baitunumaea desired her, Sina. Baitu- numaea came and tricked Hetu'uamo- amo, and Baitunumaea said to Hetu- 'uamoamo: "Let's go fishing." 2. Hetu- 'uamoamo said: "Yes." And Hetu'uamo- amo knew that Baitunumaea was tricking him in order to kill [him], and [he] went and made a statement to his wife and said: 3. "Baitunumaea is tricking me, maybe he will kill [me]; but [you] stay and look at the ocean. When white waves break, he has not killed me; when waves mixed with blood break, then you will know that Baitunumaea has killed me." 4. The statement to his wife was

137

Page 153: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 50(A)

na'a ange e koe ko au kua taa e Baitunumaea." 4. 'Oti tena tuku kupu kia tona unguungu, kae boo ma Baitunumaea ke tautai. 'Ui to- ngaa baka o boo ki moana; boo aa- no nimo ki te ba'e gangi, kae mata e Sina te tukunga kupu a tona ma- tu'a. 5. Mata aano hati susungu na ngangu o na'a ake e Sina ko tona matu'a ma ma'ugi. Namaa ina hoki atu ki te moana e hati na ngangu o hingohingo toto, manga na'a ake e ia ko tona matu'a kua taa e Bai- tunumaea. 6. Ma te hinake ki to- ngaa hange ma tona matu'a o ma- ngepe ai.

7. Aano hoki ake te baka; manga launatahi a Baitunumaea. Tau ake a Baitunumaea ki te aba o hinake o ngenge ake kia Sina, noko i te hange o kongaa na to'o: "Tupe iho he kongoa kau mango siusiu ai." 8. Hakatau iho a Sina o kongaa na to'o: "Teenaa te kongoa o siusiu ai." Kae tape iho te kongoa kia Bai- tunumaea; ma te hai atu a Baitunu- maea kia Sina: "E toe te kongoa e hai kau siusiu ai." 9. Ma te hai atu a Sina: "Teenei?" Kae sa'u kongoa o haka'angi kia Baitunumaea. Ma te hai atu a Baitunumaea: "Si'ai." Ma te sa'u ake te kongoa tahi o tona matu'a kua taa'ia. O hai atu a Sina: "Teenei?" Hai atu a Baitunu- maea: " 'Oo, teenaa." Ma te tape atu e Sina te kongoa tahi kia Bai- tunumaea o to'o e ia o hano o huna siusiu ai.

10. Kae ina mai a Baitunumaea kia Sina e to'o tona tanga o hano ki te mangangahu o akuaku e ia, ma te tutuku te mangangahu ki poo'ungi. 11. Tupe kinai tona ta- nga, kae mene tata'o ai. Ma te tenge mai a Baitunumaea o sungi e ia te ngaupata o to'o o tenge mai o suki e ia ki te kunga, kua mene ai a Sina. 12. O tu'u te nga'akau i te 'ungu o Sina. Sa'u hakahoki ake e Baitunumaea te nga'akau o ina ki tona potu, e toto. Ma te pau ai na ngaupata o toto.

completed, and [he] went fishing with Baitunumaea. They pulled the canoe out and went to sea; [they] went and dis- appeared at the horizon, and Sina kept her husband's statement in mind. 5. [She] watched and then the waves broke white, and Sina knew that her husband was alive. When she looked out to sea again, the waves broke and were mixed with blood, then she knew that Baitunumaea had killed her husband. 6. And she went up to the house belonging to her and her husband and mourned there.

7. Then the canoe returned; Baitu- numaea was alone. Baitunumeae landed at the waterfront and [he] went up and shouted to Sina, who was in the house, and [he] said as follows: "Throw down a tapa so that I can put a dry loincloth on." 8. Sina answered and said as follows: "There's the tapa [which you] can put on dry." And [she] threw the tapa down to Baitunumaea; and Baitunumaea said to Sina: "There is [still] a tapa left which I can put on dry." 9. And Sina said: "This [one]?" And [she] took a tapa and showed [it] to Baitunumaea. And Baitunumaea said: "No." And [Ska] took up the tapa dyed with turmeric [which] belonged to her husband who had been killed. And Sina said: "This [one]?" Baitunumaea said: "Yes, that [one]." And Sina threw the tapa dyed with turmeric to Baitunu- maea, and he took [it] and went and put the dry one on.

10. And Baitunumaea saw that Sina took her basket and went to the ashes [at a rock oven], and she scratched, and the ashes fell into the underworld. 11. She threw her basket into it [the under- world], and went down, following it. And Baitunumaea ran, and he cut a ngaupata tree and took [it] and came running, and he planted [it] in the place which Sina had entered. 12. And the tree stood in Sina's head. Baitunumaea took up the tree again and looked at its end, [it] was bleeding. And this is why ngaupata trees always bleed.

138

Page 154: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 50(A)

13. Kae hano a Sina ki poo'ungi 0 kite i te lango 'anga e boo mai te utunga bai. Ma te mumuni a Sina, kae singi te lango 'anga ma te ina- iho a Sina ki te kimoa poto e mungi 1 te lango 'anga. 14. Ma te sopo iho a Sina o tau i te ngima o te kimoa poto, o hai atu a Sina: "Kau taa ia toe." Hakatau te kimoa poto o hai atu: "Noka te taa e koe ia te au, ka kau to'o ia tou tanga." 15. Hai atu a Sina: "Toku tanga manga heto'o- 'aki launatahi e au." Hai atu a Sina: "Hai kau taa ia koe." Hai atu a te kimoa: "Noka te taa ia te au, ka kau hakakite ia te kunga e iai a tou matu'a." 16. Hai atu a Sina: "E ngaoi." Kae 'abange e Sina te taa huti ki te kimoa poto o kai. 'Oti te kai te kimoa poto, kae boo a Sina ma te kimoa poto, boo, boo aano hetae ki te manaha e iai a Hetu'u- amoamo. 17. Ma te hiina'i atu a Sina ma te kimoa poto e hai te papa e uso ai a Hetu'uamoamo. Ma te hai atu te kimoa poto kia Sina: "Teengaa tou matu'a te iai te kunga taungia i te ba'e." 18. Ma te hai atu a Sina ki te kimoa poto: "Hinatu o kakabe mai, kimaa bilaabei i te kunga nei." Hano te kimoa poto o hai atu kia Hetu'uamoamo: "Ko Sina teengaa! Ko Sina teengaa!" 19. Ma te hai atu a Hetu'uamoamo: "Po ni aa te ngea ai koe kia Sina, manga i maangama?" Hai atu te ki- moa poto: "E ma'ongi, ko Sina teengaa." Kae tenge hoki te kimoa poto kia Sina, kae tata'o ai a He- tu'uamoamo. 20. O tatae i te kunga e iai a Sina, o 'oso a Sina ki te ngima o tona matu'a ma te hai atu a Sina kia tona matu'a: "Ko au tee- nei, Sina." Ma te hai 'ungu a ki- ngaaua aano hai ake te hakatahinga: "Koungua e hai kimatou ngo kai- 'ia." 21. Ma te manga noho'aki te takanga, kae hano te kimoa poto o tibu ana ungi tango o tunu i te 'umu a te hakatahinga. Ma te kape e kingatou ki taha. Ma te pingi ai te manganga, ma te to'o te kimoa poto

13. And Sina went to the underworld and saw a party of travelers arriving after having drawn water. And Sina hid and the party of travelers passed by, and Sina looked down at the mouse [walking] be- hind the party of travelers. 14. And Sina went down and took hold of the hand of the mouse and said: "I'll kill you." The mouse answered and said: "Don't you kill me, I will carry your basket." 15. Sina said: "I always carry my basket alone." Sina said: "I intend to kill you." The rat [mouse] said: "Don't you kill me, I will show you the place where your hus- band is." 16. Sina said: "That's good." And Sina gave a hand of bananas to the mouse, and [it] ate [the bananas]. When the mouse had finished eating [they] went, went and reached the settlement where Hetu'uamoamo was. 17. And Sina and the mouse watched [people] making a dance with the sounding board, and He- tu'uamoamo was in the middle [beating the board]. And the mouse said to Sina: "That one is your husband, with the spot that has been hit on his leg." 18. And Sina said to the mouse: "Go and bring [him] here, we will meet in this place." The mouse went and said to Hetu'uamo- amo: "That one is Sina! That one is Sina!" 19. And Hetu'uamoamo said: "Why are you talking about Sina who is in the world of light?" The mouse said: "That one is truly Sina." And the mouse ran back to Sina, and Hetu'uamoamo fol- lowed it. 20. And [they] came to the place where Sina was, and Sina took hold of her huband's hand, and Sina said to her husband: "This is me, Sina." And they deloused each other, and then the people feasting said: "We will eat you two." 21. And the married couple just stayed, and the mouse went and pulled off taro shoots and roasted [them] in the rock oven be- longing to the people feasting. And they threw [the taro shoots] out [of the oven]. And [a piece of] glowing charcoal stuck to [the taro shoots], and the mouse took [it] and put wood on his fire, and roasted his taro shoots in it; when [they] were done [he] took [them] and gave [them] to Sina. 22. Sina said: "If you have kindness

139

Page 155: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 50(A)

o baalau ai tena ahi o tunu ai ana ungi tango; aano moso to'o o 'abange kia Sina. 22. Hai atu a Sina: "O tukua ngaa ko koe e 'ango- ha ia te au, 'abatu kia Hetu'u- amoamo." Ma te to'o e te kimoa poto o 'abange kia Hetu'uamoamo. 23. Hai atu a Hetu'uamoamo: "Ko koe e 'angoha ia te au, to'o atu kia Sina." Nimaa to'o kia Sina, hai atu a Sina: "O tukua ngaa, ko koe 'angoha ia te kimaaua to'ake o 'oso ai o hano o kakabe mai ia tamau ma tinau. E ko1 kimaaua ka ngo kai e te hakatahinga nei." 24. Ma te to'o e te kimoa poto o hano o toso te baka o hano ai o tatae ki te ma- naha noko iai na maatu'a o Sina o 'ati gongo' ia Sina ma Hetu'uamo- amo, kaa taa o kai e te hakatahinga. 25. Ma te ngangue na maatu'a o Sina o boo mai ma te to'o mai te bugho. O boo mai o tatae mai ki te manaha noko iai te hakatahinga, kua momoe a pengea ngatahi i te poo. 26. Ma te hinake te kimoa poto o ba'anga ia Sina ma tona ma- tu'a o hai atu: "Koungua maatu'a kua hetae mai." Ma te boo iho ki- nai o punge ki te hakatahinga kua momoe, kingatou taa'ia. 27. Ma te to'ake tongatou bugho o ngigho ai te hange noko iai te 'apitanga o 'oti, kae suki kinai e te kimoa poto te ahi o benga ai te hange. 28. Ma he'angiko te 'apitanga o pa'anga i te bugho, ma te benga a kingatou o mamate o 'oti. Kae noho'aki a Hetu'uamoamo ma tona unguungu ma ongaa maatu'a ma te kimoa poto o kakai i te manaha o hakahua e kingatou.

for me, give [them] to Hetu'uamoamo." And the mouse took [them] and gave [them] to Hetu'uamoamo. 23. Hetu'uamo- amo said: "You are kind to me, take [the taro shoots] to Sina." When [the mouse] took [them] to Sina, Sina said: "If you have kindness for us, take [them] and hold [them] and go and bring my father and mother here. The people of this party are going to eat us." 24. And the mouse took [the taro shoots] and went and pulled the canoe [to sea] and went away in it and reached the settlement where Sina's parents were, and [the mouse] said that the people of the party were going to eat Sina and Hetu'uamoamo.

25. And Sina's parents made ready to go and bring a net here. [They] came here and reached the settlement, where the people were feasting, and everybody had fallen asleep in the night. 26. And the mouse went and woke up Sina and her husband and said: "The parents of you two have arrived here." And [they] went down to them and made plans about the feasting people who had fallen asleep, whom they would kill. 27. And they took the net and then surrounded the house where all the people were, and the mouse planted the fire in it, and so the house burned. 28. And people fled and ran into the net and they burned and every- body died. And Hetu'uamoamo and his wife and their parents and the mouse stayed and lived in the settlement and they ruled [it].

NOTES 1. Hetu'uamoamo, Sina, and Baitununiaea are all kakai (culture heroes). Sau'eha at the begin-

ning called Sina, Sinakibi. After having dictated a few lines he asked me to change her name to Sina.

7. siusiu: either a dry loincloth or a loincloth used for fishing, swimming, work (N33:2). 10. akuaku: Sina is scratching in the ashes of an old rock oven under which the path to the

underworld is hidden. 12. ngaupata: The ngaupata tree has red sap. 13. kimoa poto, this has been translated mouse," but as yet (1963) no scientific analysis

has been made. Informants state the kimoa poto does not breed with the larger kimoa (rat). They are rare, and only after offering a pound reward was one obtained by Danish scientists in 1962 on Rennell. Later one was obtained on Bellona.

140

Page 156: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 50(A), 50(B)

14. kau taa ia koe: This is an unusual construction. Usually it would be kau taa ia te koe. Taupongi 1961 said that either is correct.

TM

(B) Tetamogi and others. At Tigoa, RE, January 4, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a kia Baetunamaea

ma Hetu'uamoamo. 2. Hiina'i aano i te aba tai, boo te haangota 'anga, kae tuku a Baetunamaea kia tona uguugu a Sina, o hai atu kinai: "Ko au namaa taa'ia, haka'igonga i na ngagu go hati higohigo i na toto, ko au kua taa'ia." 3. Kae boo a Baetunamaea ma Hetu'uamoamo, boo aano te haangota 'anga; bego e Baetunamaea te kaui; noko too kinai a Baetunamaea; too a Baetu- namaea ki te kaui kae bego iho Hetu'uamoamo i te 'ugu'ugu o mate a Baetunamaea. O mate a Baetuna- maea ka hati ngagu te moana o toto, o haka'igonga ai e Sina ko tona matu'a kua taa'ia. 4. Kae hoki a Hetu'uamoamo o hetae ki te aba o hai atu kia Sina: "Mai te kogoa- na kau tatagai." 5. O hai atu a Sina: "Ni aa go a'u teegaa o tata- gai?" 6. "Manga na hai 'anga ke hakamamala to'oku." 7. Kae ma tangi a Sina i te kua goa te haka- 'igonga e Sina ia tona matu'a kua taa'ia. 8. Kae ma tangi a Sina ma te kegikegi te magangahu, kegikegi aano too ki poo'ugi, tape tena ka- benga ki poo'ugi. Kae too tata'o ai a Sina. 9. Kite mai a Hetu'uamo- amo, sugu te siku buna, kae a'u o sugi te gaupatabenua. Tege mai kinai ma e'ake te 'ugu, o bego iho kinai te gaupata o tu'u i te 'ugu. O toto ai te uso o< te gaupatabenua, te ga'akau ma koi toto hetae i te 'aso nei.

10. Kae tutahi—o hano a Sina o kite i te 'utunga bai noko iai te kimoa poto. 11. Hai atu a Sina ki te kimoa poto: "Ko koe kaa taka- taka e au." " 'Agoha iho ia te au, ka kau heto'o'aki'ia ou hakagogo!" Hai atu a Sina: "Si'ai! Oku haka- gogo ma heto'o'aki e au."—" 'Ago- ha iho ia te au, ka kau noko 'utu'ia

1. The story of Baetunamaea and He- tu'uamoamo. 2. [They] went to the ocean pass, going fishing, and Baetunamaea left his wife Sina, saying to her: "If I should be killed, the sign will be the waves breaking mixed with blood, and I will have been killed." 3. Baetunamaea and Hetu'uamoamo went away and went fish- ing; Baetunamaea was spearing fish; Bae- tunamaea jumped in for them; Baetuna- maea jumped for fish and Hetu'uamoamo speared [him] on the reef and Baetuna- maea died. Baetunamaea died and the waves of the sea broke with red blood, and Sina knew by this sign that her hus- band had been killed. 4. Hetu'uamoamo returned and came to the pass and said to Sina: "Give me that tapa so I can change mine." 5. Sina said: "When the other one comes, what will [he] change to?" 6. "This is just so that mine can dry." 7. But Sina was crying because Sina had already been told by signs that her husband had been killed. 8. Sina cried and dug ashes, dug and [the ashes] fell into the underworld, and she threw her burden to the underworld. And Sina fell after it too. 9. Hetu'uamoamo watched, tucked in the tip of his loincloth and came and chopped off a gaupatabenua tree. [He] ran there, [Sina's] head showed, and [he] speared the gaupata tree down to it, and it stood in the head [of Sina]. So the core of the gaupatabenua tree bled, and the tree still bleeds to this day.

10. Sina went straight ahead—and saw a drawing of water, and the mouse was there. 11. Sina said to the mouse: "I'm going to stamp on you!" "Have mercy on me and I'll carry your sarongs!" Sina said: "No! I'll carry my own sarongs."— "Have mercy on me and I'll please fill your water bottle!" "No! I'll fill my own water bottle." "Have mercy on me and

141

Page 157: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 50(B), 50(C)

tou bail" "Si'ai! Toku bai ma 'utua e au." " 'Agoha iho ia te au ka kau tuiaki'ia te aga e hano ai a tou ma- tu'a!" " 'Oo, e gaoi." "Ko koe no- maa hano, teegaa te aga e hano' ai a tou matu'a, te mahana, ka te aga o 'atua te gogohi."—12. Hano a Sina i te aga e mahana—hakagongo ki te tokagua papa.—"Teegaa te papa e iai a tou matu'a te tangi gu- tiguti; ka te papa a 'atua te tangi pakooko."

13. Tutahi o boo a Sina ma te ki- moa poto o mene a Sina i te tugi kie, o hano te kimoa poto o noko ma hakapata iho ki te papa. Noko mako ai a Baetunamaea. Nomaa pata ake a Baetunamaea, tege iho te kimoa o soka ia Baetunamaea, kae tege te kimoa poto ki te tugi kie noko iai a Sina.—14. O ngege mai te kimoa ia Baetunamaea:—"Bae- tunamaea, teenei a Sina!" O haka- tau a Baetunamaea: "Ko ai te mate hakageesaki ia Sina e i maagama." —15. Kae taa hakahoki te huaa mako. Mako hoki a Baetunamaea. Hai atu a Sina: "O go hinatu o soka te maka."—Kae tege hoki ia Sina te kimoa.—Kae tege 'agu a Bae- tunamaea o mene tata'o a Baetuna- maea ki te tugi kie o tau ai a Sina i te gima o noho iho kinai.

I'll show the path your husband went on!" "Yes, that's fine." "When you go, there's the path your husband went on, the warm [one], and the path of gods is the cool [one]."—12. Sina went on the path that was warm—and heard two sounding boards.—"There's the sounding board where your husband is, with the dull thud sound; the board of gods has a shrill beat."

13. Sina and the mouse went right away and Sina got into the base of a kie bush, and the mouse went and stayed down by the sounding board. Baetuna- maea was dancing to it. When Baetuna- maea was near, the mouse ran and hit Baetunamaea, and then the mouse ran to the base of the kie bush where Sina was. —14. The rat [mouse] called to Baetuna- maea:—"Baetunamaea, here's Sina!" And Baetunamaea answered: "Who mentions with affection Sina who is in the abode of light?"—15. The huaa mako dance beat continued again. Baetunamaea danced again. Sina said: "Go and hit the sore."—And the rat [mouse] again ran back to Sina.—Baetunamaea ran after [him], and Baetunamaea went into the base of the kie bush after him, and Sina took the hand [of her husband] and stayed by it.

NOTES There was so much criticism of variant C that I asked Tetamogi for his version. He was not

at all sure of it, so five men and a woman who was outside the house helped with details; there were frequent discussions. The roles of the two men in A are reversed in B and C.

4. tatagai: tataga ai. 8. Sina, like all traveling Rennellese, is carrying a burden.

11. The path of mortals is warm, that of gods cold. This is the reverse of variant C:l and N1(A):11. This is not the only instance in which Tetamogi's details differed from those of others (see N2[A]:2).

12. The husband's sounding board is dull (gutiguti), that of the gods shrill (pakooko). This is the reverse of variant C:2.

SE

(C) Misianga of Niupani, RE. December 10, 1957. 1. O hai atu te kimoa: "Teegaa

te aga e iai a tou matu'a te gogohi, ka teegaa te aga 'atua te bebega." —2. Hai atu te kimoa kia Sina: "Teegaa te papa e iai a tou matu'a

1. The rat said: "That's the path where your husband is, the cold [one], and that's the path of the gods, the hot [one]."— 2. The rat said to Sina: "That's the sounding board where your husband is

142

Page 158: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 50(C)

te tangi pakooko, te papa 'atua te tangi gutiguti." 3. O hano a Sina o taki tuku gua ba'e i gua aga o hano i te me'a e gogohi—o tatae i te manaha e iai a tona matu'a—hano mene ki te kie. 4. O hano te kimoa ki te papa, te kunga ma mako, o soka te maka o Baetunamaea, kae hoki kia Sina. Hoki kinai te kimoa ki te papa, te kunga ma mako, o hai atu te kimoa: "Baetunamaea, ko Sma teenei!" 5. Hai atu a Bae- tunamaea: "Ko ai te mate hakagee- saki ia Sina ma i maagama?" O hano te kimoa kia Sina o tohi'aki kinai a Sina: "Hinatu o soka to'a te maka ke mamae!" Ma'ogi te ki- moa o hano soka to'a e ia o mamae. 6. O 'agu'agu e Baetunamaea o mene ki te kie o tau ai a Sina ia Baetunamaea—o noho kinai a Bae- tunamaea ki tegaa hakagosigosi'aki. 7. A'aki iho i te kie ki taha o hiina'i kinai te manaha o 'ita kinai, o gii e kigatou o taki tuku—kae boo te utunga te kiki kia Baetuna- maea. 8. Ma 'agoha te kimoa kia Baetunamaea o hai tena 'ahii ugi, o hai 'umu te manaha, o 'agoha te kimoa ki te ta'akinga, o hai tena pota ugi, ki te tape sehu i na 'umu ki te luga ki taha, o pigi ai te ma- gaga ki te pota a te kimoa. 9. O hano atikaki tena ahi o kaa tena ahi o tuku kinai tena pota, o moso hano kia Sina o hai ga'a kinai. Hai atu a Sina: "To'atu kia Baetuna- maea!" Hai atu a Baetunamaea: "To'atu kia Sina!"

10. Hai atu a Sina ki te kimoa: "A tukua gaa, ko koe 'agoha to- 'ake o sasaga ai a oku maatu'a." O hano te kimoa o hano toso te baka, o hano te kimoa o tatae ki te henua o Punga, te ingoa o te tamana o Sina, o a'u o baa'aga a'u tena puu. 11. O magaohie a Sina ia te tama- na, hetae mai a Punga ki te henua, o hinake kia Sina, o huhuke o tuku ki taha i te 'aa, o hano kia Baetuna-

with its shrill thump beat; the sounding board of the gods sounds dull and hol- low." 3. Sina went and felt successively with her two feet the two paths and went on the one that was cool—and came to the village where her husband was— going into a kie bush. 4. And the rat went to the sounding board, the place with dancing, and punched Baetuna- maea's sore and came back to Sina. The rat went back there to the place with dancing and the rat said: "Baitunamaea, Sina is here!" 5. Baetunamaea said: "Who mentions with affection Sina who is in the realm of light?" The rat went to Sina, and Sina said to him: "Go and punch the sore hard so as to hurt!" So the rat went and he struck hard and caused pain. 6. Baetunamaea chased [the rat] into the kie bush, and Sina grabbed Baetunamaea.— Baetunamaea stayed wih her and they dressed in their best finery.

7. [They] got down out of the kie, and the people of the place came to them and became jealous of them and tied them up opposite one another—and went to get food to eat with Baetunamaea. 8. The rat felt sorry for Baetunamaea and he made a package of taro shoots, and the people of the settlement were making the oven, and the rat felt sorry for the couple, and he made pudding of coconut cream and taro shoots, and threw [it] about into the ovens and when [he] took [it] out charcoal was stuck on the rat's pudding. 9. He went and started his fire and when the fire burned put his pudding into it and when [it was] cooked went to Sina and made her a present. Sina said: "Take [it] to' Baetunamaea!" Baetunamaea said: "Take [it] to Sina!"

10. Sina said to the rat: "If you have mercy, take [the food] and find my par- ents." The rat went away, dragged out a canoe, and the rat went on and landed at Punga's land, the name of Sina's father, who came and shot his gun while coming. 11. Sina was happy about her father Punga, having arrived at the land, and [he] came to Sina and took [her] out of the enclosure and went to Baetuna- maea and took [him] out, as the people

143

Page 159: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 50(C), 51(A)

maea o huhuke o tuku ki taha, ka kua momoe te manaha i te hage. 12. Hinake a Punga o ghigho i te bugho kaha, kae tutu o tu'ia te hage o a'aga, o hesasaka'aki, ngengege iho Ida Baetunamaea, o he'e maka; ngengege kia Sina, o he'emaka; nge- ngege ki te kimoa, o he'emaka. 13. "Baetunamaea tou ta'e te bega nei!" Hai ake a Baetunamaea: "Tatangi iho ki tautou kiki i te taha'ata." Sasaka iho kia Sina: "Sina tou ta'e te bega nei!" Sasaka iho ki te ki- moa: "Kimoa poto tou ta'e te bega nei!" Hai ake te kimoa: "Tehea te luga 'anga taku pota ugi kae e tu- tahi te hage o bega!" Kua 'oti.

of the place were sleeping in the house. 12. Punga came and surrounded [it] with a sennit net and set [it] on fire, and the people of the house were surprised and woke up and begged for mercy, calling down to Baetunamaea, but a refusal; calling to Sina, but a refusal; calling to the rat, but a refusal. 13. "Baetunamaea, here are your feces being burned!" Bae- tunamaea said: "Just cry out for your own supplementary food in the morning." Begging mercy of Sina: "Sina, here are your feces being burned!" Begging mercy of the rat: "Mouse, here are your feces being burned!" The rat said: "How will I open my taro pudding when the house is all burned up!" Finished.

NOTES Misianga held her naked little girl in her lap as she told the story, frequently consulting her husband, the much older Aaron Taupongi; a young woman grating coconuts on the steps out- side made contributions. A boy of about 8 listened quietly, and two or three times anticipated the narrator. I read the story back that night to a group in my house, and they looked very serious and said a great deal had been omitted. Tuhenua gave a rapid account of omitted por- tions. So at Tigoa I asked for variant B. Comparing the two more than 3 years later, I thought the critics too severe. Once Misianga warmed to her subject, she did well indeed, and with wit (5, 13). A notebook page at the beginning of Misianga's story has not been included here; it is similar to but briefer than B:1-I1. 4. Laughter at punching the sore.

10. Punga: whereabouts unknown. pun: gun. Informants insisted that puu was an old word that belonged in the story, and

that today it means "gun." 13. Calling oneself feces is a term of endearment and self-abasement that is precious to

Rennellese. SE

51. Sina ma te Ngata Sina and the Snake

(A) Malachi Tegheta of Niupani, RE. December 17, 1957. 1. Te tagatupu'a ki te hahine

noko hai tena tama i te ngata. Noko hakahegeu atu a te tinana kia Sina ke tunu he me'a ke hakamahana ai a tena tama. 2. Hai atu te hahine kia Sina, ke tunu he gaugau kia tena tama. Hai atu a Sina: "Tehea te pegea hai ke tunu kinai he gau- gau?" Ma'ogi a Sina o tunu kinai he gaugau, o to'o hinake, hinake o hakaanu: "Tehea te pegea e hai ki- nai te gaugau nei?"

3. E'a mai te ngata i te tugi pou, tupe atu kinai te gaugau, kae hano. Kae hai atu te ngata kia te tinana,

1. The story of the woman who was pregnant with a snake. The mother asked Sina to cook something for her child's morning refreshment. 2. The woman told Sina to cook some baskets of food for her child. Sina said: "Where's the person to cook the baskets of food for?" Sina did indeed cook the baskets of food for him, taking [them] and going on and on and asking: "Where's the person these baskets of food are for?"

3. The snake appeared at the foot of a post, [and she] threw the basket of food at it and went away. And the snake said

144

Page 160: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 51(A)

ke a'u o gosigosi ia te ia. Hinake a te tinana o tobago ki te kumete o poghi. 4. Hinatu kinai o ina kinai, kua hakanoho te tino, na ba'e, ma na gima, ma te 'ugu, kae hano ki- nai te utunga.

5. O hakagongo mai ki te pegea ma tipa, hoki mai a te tinana, ma tipa iho i te hata, tangi a'u kinai a te tinana. Sopo iho ki gago, hai atu: "Ko au ko Tangatategautogo." No ko ma putatai ma ona hai taina, o hai atu kinai a Sina: "Po ko ai te pepese mai te manaha o na ngata?" Kaunaki te kimoa poto o a'u kinai te matanga. 6. O sia hai te kimoa poto kia Tangatategautogo, hoki o 'ati gongo kia Sina: "Te tangata e i koo e gaoi!" Hai atu kinai a Sina: "Ko ai te gaoi i te manaha o na ngata!" 7. Sa'u ake ona 'ota'ota o tuku kinai te hakagaataki kinai, o si'ai he me'a gaoi, o gaataki ki te mahina o hakasi'ai e te kimoa, ha- kagaataki ki te taha o te 'ao, hai atu te kimoa: "Ma mi'iahu kinai." 8. Hai atu a Sina ke boo kinai. Hano a Sina o sia hai kinai, hano 0 mene ki te tugi kie a Sina. Kae ma hai te tika, sigi iho te tika, too 1 na taha o Sina. 9. O pipiki e ia, kaunaki e Tangatategautogo o hi- naiho ai—o he'emaka. Hinaiho ai Tangatategautogo, hinaiho 'oso ki tena tika, mau'i ai a Sina, kae 'oso ki te gima, o huhuti o hai tena ta- 'akinga.

10. O hai 'ugu o he'emaka tee- gaa pa'asi o te 'ugu ke hegiugiu'aki, kae na moe, giugiu ake e Sina te pa'asi noko he'e maka ai, ma e iai na kigi ngata i te kagahau. Tuku haka'ete'ete, kae tege a Sina. 'Aga Tangatategautogo, o sasaga, sasaga o he'e kite, manga guti ki te moana, o hakahoki ai te ngata. Kua 'oti.

to the mother to come and attend to him. The mother came and cut [the snake] to pieces [and put the pieces] in a calabash and put on a cover. 4. [The mother] came up and looked in, and the body, feet, arms, and head had taken shape, and [she] went and got food for him.

5. And hearing a person beating [the sounding board], the mother came back [hearing a] beating time on the shelf, the mother making a rumpus as she came. [The man] came down below [and] said: "I am Tangatategautogo (Sugar-cane- leaf-man)." [He] had fun with his younger brothers, and Sina said to him: "Who is singing there in the settlement of snakes?" [She] asked the mouse to come there and see. 6. The mouse liked Tanga- tategautogo, coming back and saying to Sina: "That man there is so handsome!" Sina said to him: "Who could be hand- some in the settlement of snakes!" 7. [Sina] took out her possesions and gave them to' him to compare them, but there was nothing [as] handsome, and compar- ing to the moon, and the rat [mouse] said no, comparing to the breaking of the day and the rat [mouse] said: "That's some- what closer." 8. Sina said [she] would go to him. Sina went and desired him and went into the base of a kie bush. [Ta- ngatategautogo and his brothers] were playing darts, and a dart missed and fell near Sina. 9. And she took [it], and Tangatategautogo asked her to come down for it—and a refusal. Tangatate- gautogo came down, came down and took hold of his dart and Sina let go of it, and took [her] hand and pulled [it], and they became man and wife.

10. Looking for head lice, but [Tanga- tategautogo] was unwilling [that they] should turn over the other side of his head, but [when he] was asleep Sina turned up the side that [he] had refused and snake skins were there on the temple. Sina carefully put [him] back and ran away. Tangatategautogo woke up and searched, searched but did not find [her], and then jumped into the sea and so made the snake [appearance] come back. Finished.

145

Page 161: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 51(A), 51(B)

NOTES After the morning radio session, my neighbor Tegheta asked if I had the story of the sword-

fish and the hermit crab (not included in this volume). Taumoana said I had. He then proposed this story, and took the informant's seat on the sugar barrel. He spoke with some gestures and animation and quiet laughter, but his voice was quiet and his manner reserved. It was difficult to catch the markers (hegeunga tu'utaki, joining words), which were slurred over. At first Tau- moana and then Luke repeated after him, timing themselves according to my writing, and then Tegheta himself shortened the utterances and timed their dictation.

1. hakamahana: the special morning food of a pregnant woman intended to nourish the child in the womb, literally a "warming." Hai... tama can mean either to be pregnant or to have a child.

5. SE: "Why was Sugar-cane-leaf-man so called?" Informants: "Because the calabash had been covered with sugar-cane leaves."

Laughter at the first appearance of the mouse. 10. Note contrasting hegiugiu'aki, giugiu ake. Considerable laughter here and at the end,

especially on the third reading. SE

(B) Makaleni Tebegi, David Teosi, and Malacham Teikanoa. At Hatagua, RE, March 23, 1958. 1. Teenei te tagatupu'a o te ha-

hine hai tena tama te ngata. Ka na hano o kakabe mai e ia ia Sina tau- po'ou, ke hai ai he uguugu mo'o te ngata, te tama a te hahine. 2. Ka na utu o hai 'umu aano, tunu te huti. Namaa moso, 'ika'ika a Sina o hai ake: "Po ko ai te bega mata kinai au?" Hai atu: "Ma taka te hekau." 3. Namaa te 'aso, na sopo hoki mai ai te ngata. Ka te tinana o te ngata noko manga pake e ia ia Sina, ka noko manga moe i hage. 4. Namaa to'ake a Sina te gaugau, o tuku ki te tugi pou. Seseke iho te 'ugu nga- ta, o hakaeke ki te gaugau huti. Ma te tu'ia a Sina o mataku ma te baa- isaisa. O nga'esu a Sina kae hano, ma te hakatangi te ngata kia te tinana.

5. Ka na hai atu te ngata kia te tinana: "A'u o gosigosi ia te au." Ka na a'u a te tinana o to'o mai te hasi o tobago ai te ngata, o ase ki te kumete o poghi i na gau togo. Ka na hano ki te hai 'umu o noho ai noko ma tangi. 6. Aano gutiguti atu te kumete, ma te tu'u o a'u ki- nai; a'u ia o luga na gau togo noko poghi ai ki te kumete- 7. Kua 'aga ai te tangata gaoi, tena ingoa ko Tangatategautogo.

8. Ka na hiina'i aano hai te ba- bagenga a te manaha. Teegaa te ingoa o te babagenga noko hai te

1. This is the story of the woman who had a snake as her child. She went and fetched unmarried Sina to be a wife for the snake, the woman's son. 2. [She] got food and made an oven and cooked ba- nanas. When [the bananas] were cooked, Sina became angry and said: "[For] whom are my eyes burning?" [The woman] said: "Just to be busy with work." 3. Later the snake came back there again. The mother of the snake, she was just deceiving Sina, and [the snake] was just sleeping in the house. 4. Then Sina took the basket of cooked food and put [it] at the foot of the post. The head of the snake crawled down and lay on the basket of cooked bananas, Sina was startled and frightened and nauseated. Sina spat and went away, and the snake complained to the mother.

5. The snake said to the mother: "Come and take care of me." The mother came and took a pearl shell and with it cut the snake to pieces and put [them] into a wooden bowl and she put on a cover of sugar-cane leaves. [She] went to the oven and sat down there and cried. 6. Then the bowl thudded, and [the mother] got up and went to it; she came and took off the sugar-cane leaves that the bowl was covered with. 7. A hand- some man stood forth, his name Tanga- tategautogo (Sugar-cane-leaf-man).

8. Then the settlement was playing games. That was the name of the game being done, dart-throwing. And Tanga-

146

Page 162: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 51(B)

tika. Ka ko Tangatategautogo noko hakagosigosi i na me'a gaoi o sopo ki te hata o noko ma tipa i te papa. Ma te hai mai a Sina: "Ko ai te kua tipa goa mai i te manaha o Ngata?" 9. Hai atu a Sina kia Ta'epaku- paku: "A hinatu o ina kinai." Na- maa hano kinai a Ta'epakupaku o he'e sopo kinai manga gepo kinai. —10. Ma te tege hoki o 'ati gongo kia Sina ko ia kua ina ki te tangata gaoi to'a. Ma te hai atu a Sina: "E konei na noho toku ngagengage?" Hai mai a Ta'epakupaku: "Si'ai!" Hai atu ma'u a Sina: "E konei na noho taku hasi?" Hai atu a Ta'epa- kupaku: "Si'ai!" 11. Hai atu ma'u a Sina: "E kogaa na noho toku tanga?" Hai atu a Ta'epakupaku: "Si'ai!" Hai atu ma'u a Sina: "Ko- gaa na noho te ga'aa e hai ke mene ki te tai?" Hai atu ma'u a Ta'epa- kupaku: "Teegaa te me'a ma mi'i- ahuahu kinai."

12. Ma te tutu'u a Sina ma tena guard a Ta'epakupaku o boo kinai. O boo aano tatae atu kinai, o noko ma gepo kinai kae ma babage aano>. Sopo iho a Tangatategautogo o 'aabaki te tika. Ka na tape iho e Tangatategautogo te tangi uso hau. Siko e Sina, o to'o e ia o hakagahi ake ki teegaa kunga.

13. Namaa kaunaki Tangatate- gautogo na pegea o boo iho ai, ka na he'emaka ai a Sina, aano hina- iho kinai a Tangatategautogo, o noho kinai o hai 'ugu, o manga hai pa'ahi tahi te 'ugu i te mouto'o i na kigi ngata noko i teegaa pa'asi. 14. Hai atu a Sina: "Giu ake tee- gaa pa'asi ke hai." He'emaka. Aano moe, o he'e gongo ake kae hugi ake e Sina teegaa pa'ahi noko he'e- maka ai. Ma iai na kigi ngata, ma te tuku iho e ia ki te kege, kae tuu o tege. Pau o hano, o too ki te pu- pu'a. 15. Namaa 'aga Tangatate- gautogo o sasaga ia tena uguugu a Sina, aano he'e kitea, 'agu ai ki tai. Namaa tatae ki tai, hano sopo ki te goto o gohia ai o mimingo a

tategautogo arrayed [himself] with fine things and got onto a shelf [in the house] and beat the sounding board with two sticks. Sina said: "Who has been drum- ming so long at Snake's place?"

9. Sina said to Ta'epakupaku (Dry- excrement): "Go and see who." Ta'epa- kupaku went there, not coming out there, just spying there.—10. Then [she] ran back and told Sina that she had seen a very handsome man. Sina said: "Like my brown [turban] here?" Ta'epakupaku said: "No!" Sina said again: "Like my pearl shell here?" Ta'epakupaku said: "No!" 11. Sina said again: "Like my bag?" Ta'epakupaku said: "No!" Sina said again: "Like the sun about to set in the sea?" Ta'epakupaku said again: "Just a little like that!"

12. Then Sina and her servant Ta'epa- kupaku got up and went there. Going on, reaching there, and spying on him and the [people] playing. Tangatategautogo came out and took part in the dart game. Tangatategautogo threw down a stripped hau stalk. Sina caught [the stick] and she took [it] and hid elsewhere.

13. Then Tangatategautogo asked peo- ple to go to her, but Sina did not agree, and Tangatategautogo went there and stayed there for delousing, but only did one side of his head so as to conceal deceitfully the snake skins on the other side. 14. Sina said: "Turn over the other side to do." No agreement. Then sleep- ing, [he] did not feel Sina turning up the other side that was not permitted. The snake skins were there, and she put [him] down on the ground and got up and ran. Went clear off and fell into a pit. 15. When Tangatategautogo woke up, he looked for his wife Sina, but not finding [her], followed [her] down to the sea. Tangatategautogo reached the sea and went into the lagoon and became cold

147

Page 163: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 51(B), 52(A)

Tangatategautogo o hai ai te ngata moana. Kua 'oti.

and shrank and then became a sea snake. Finished.

NOTES This story was written late Sunday afternoon and was a race with darkness. The chief narrator

stopped frequently to consult with the others. I read it back after supper to a crowded house. 7. Laughter at first mention of Tangatategautogo. 8. Taupongi 1961: He arrayed himself as with necklace (tu'u), turban (ha'u), and armlet

(lingo). 12. Much heated discussion about tika; that morning I had been shown a tika course at Hu-

tuna; it was merely a level place. No one had seen the game played. (See N142.) 13, 14. Note variations pa'ahi, pa'asi. 15. Kua 'oti was originally said after 14, and then 15 was recalled. SE

52. Sina ma Tokonangangi Sina and Tokonangangi

(A) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 1, 1959. 1. Ko Tokonangangi ma tona

unguungu, a Sina, na boo i tongaa baka te tautainga. Nimaa uku a To- konangangi ka manga eke a tona unguungu noko tina'e huhunga i tongaa baka. 2. Sopo ake a Sina- ngeitataki, te 'atua hahine, i te moana, o 'aka e ia ia Sina ki taha, kae eke i te baka. Nimaa sopo ake a Tokonangangi, te hahine manga noho i te baka, tengeu'a ake ko tona unguungu. Sopo ake kinai o boo. 3. Ma te 'aaua aano a Sina i te tai sahe ki Nukuhengokingoki, o ina aano ai hai tona tina'e o hai ai tana maasanga tangata. Pusi aano e ia, matutu'a.

4. Ma te tatangi ngua tamangiki i te sia hai tamana. Ma te hai atu a tongaa tinana: "Boo atu O' tamana ki na kanokano!" Ma te hai atu a kingaaua: "Nimaa boo atu kimaaua ma te hengengei." 5. Hai atu ma'u a Sina: "Boo atu ngaa o tamana ki na taba!" Hai atu a kingaaua: "Ni- maa boo atu kimaaua ma te suki ia te kimaaua." 6. Ma te hai atu ma'u a tongaa tinana: "O tukua ngaa koungua e sia hai tamana boo atu ngaa o sasanga ia toungua ta- mana na 'akasia ai au." 7. Ma te hai atu ngua tamangiki: "Nimaa ngo toso e kimaaua he baka o ma- maha ma ti aa?" Hai atu a Sina: "Nimaa toso o mamaha ma te haka-

1. Tokonangangi and his wife Sina went fishing in their canoe. Then Toko- nangangi dived, and Sina, who was preg- nant, just sat in their canoe. 2. Sinangei- tataki, the female deity, came up from the sea, and she pushed Sina overboard and entered the canoe. Tokonangangi came up, a woman was sitting in the canoe and [he] thought that [she] was his wife. [He] came up to it and [they] went [away]. 3. And Sina drifted in the sea, and reached Nukuhengokingoki and stayed there, was pregnant and had twin boys. She raised [them] and [they] grew up.

4. And the two children cried because [they] wanted to have a father. And their mother said: "Go and make the social wasps [your] father." And they said: "If we go, [they] will fly away." 5. Again Sina said: "Go and make the hawks [your] father." They said: "If we go, [they] claw us." 6. And once more their mother said: "If you want a father, go then and look for your father where I was thrown overboard." 7. And the two children said: "When we drag the canoe, and [it] is heavy, what then?" Sina said: "When you drag and [it] is heavy, then you say 'heave ho' and drag." Again they said: "When we, by accident, meet the land of pumice, what then?" 8. Again Sina said: "Then separate [it] and go

148

Page 164: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 52(A)

'ia'ia kae toso." Hai atu ma'u ki- ngaaua: "Nimaa sasa'o kimaaua ki te henua o na manibungo ma ti aa?" 8. Hai atu ma'u a Sina: "Ma te babae kae boo." Hai atu ma'u kingaaua: "Nimaa tatae kimaaua ki te henua o na kanokano ma ti aa?" Hai atu ma'u a Sina: "Ma te hesa- bini'aki koungua kae boo." 9. Ma te boo a ngu 'ana tama o taa tongaa baka siango o boo ai o manga to'o e kingaaua na tongitongiakinga a tongaa tinana.

10. Nimaa tatae ki te manaha o Tokonangangi, hinaiho a Tokona- ngangi o hai atu po kingaaua e lango aa. Ma te hakatau o hai atu kingaaua manga sasanga ia tongaa tamana. 11. Ma te hai atu a To- konangangi ki te hai ta'okete: " 'Ai tangi ake." Ma te tangi o kongaa na tangi: "Tinana maaua koe, sahe sahe booi. 'Akasia e Sinangeitataki, kua 'aaua, 'aaua, sahe ki Nuku- hengokhigoki hanau ai maaua nei boo mai nei."

12. Ma te hai atu a Tokona- ngangi ki te hai taina: " 'Ai tangi ake koe." 13. Ma te tangi ma'u te hai taina: "Tamana maaua koe, Tokonangangi. Kua 'aaua, 'aaua, sahe ki Nukuhengokingoki hanau ai maaua nei boo* mai nei." 14. Ma te hai ake a Tokonangangi: " 'Ai konei aku tama; ka na 'atua mu'a nei ma i hea te ma kumu ai au?" Ma te unga a Tokonangangi ke tunu kinai he tokangua huaa huti. Ma te tunu ngua huaa huti o tunu baamata teengaa kae tunu teengaa o moso o 'abange te me'a mata ki te hai ta'okete. 15. Kae 'abange te me'a moso ki te hai tama. Nimaa totohi atu e te hai ta'okete ta'ana, e mata. Ma te hai atu kia te taina: "Ta'aku nei e mata!" Ma te hai atu te hai taina: "Ti'aki atu ka ke kai ma'ataaua teenei." 16. Ma te ti'aki kae tohi ngua e kingaaua te me'a e moso. Ma te pau e Tokonangangi e ma'ongi ngu ona hosa.

17. Kaunaki ia tona unguungu

through." Again they said: "When we arrive at the land of the social wasps, what then?" Sina said again: "Then you whistle and go." 9. And her two sons went and cut their canoe of siango wood, and went in it, and they took the advice of their mother.

10. When [they] arrived at Tokona- ngangi's settlement, Tokonangangi came down and asked why the two were travel- ing about. And they answered and said they were just looking for their father. 11. And Tokonangangi said to the older brother: "[You] make a tangi then." And [he] sang a tangi and this was the tangi: "You are our mother, reached, reached, went[?]. Sinangeitataki pushed [you] over- board, drifted, drifted, reached Nuku- hengokingoki, gave birth to us two here, [we] come here."

12. And Tokonangangi said to the younger brother: "Now you sing a tangi." 13. And the younger brother also sang a tangi: "You are our father, Tokona- ngangi. [Sina] drifted, drifted, reached Nu- kuhengokingoki, there had offspring, we two here, [we] come here." 14. And To- konangangi said: "So these are my sons; but the deities before, where are [they] from, [the ones] whom I fed?" And Toko- nangangi gave orders to roast two ba- nanas for them. And to cook two banan- as, to half cook one and to roast the other [thoroughly], and [this was] done, and [Tokonangangi] gave the raw fruit to the older brother. 15. And [he] gave the well- done fruit to the younger brother. Then the older brother broke his [banana], [it] was raw. And [he] said to the younger brother: "Mine here is raw." And the younger brother said: "Leave [it], and let us eat this one." 16. And [he] left [it] and they broke the well-done fruit into two pieces. And Tokonangangi concluded that these were truly his two sons.

17. [He] told his wife to make an oven.

149

Page 165: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 52(A), S2(B)

ke hai he 'umu. Ma te hano a Si- nangeitataki o hai baakai o to'o mai o puu ai tana 'umu. Ma te hai atu a Sinangeitataki kia tona matu'a: "Po kohea na me'a ka te kua puu te 'umu?" 18. Ma te hai atu: "'Ai! E haingata'a kia te au. Kaa aano te 'umu." Hai atu ma'u a tona ungu- ungu: "Kohea na me'a ka te abi nei te 'umu?" Ma te tohu iho o Toko- nangangi i tona hange o tua mai te huti i tona toki 'ungi o a'u o hai atu kia tona unguungu: "Noho tau- tike iho na'e te tuangaghi." 19. Ni- maa noho tautike te hahine o abi te 'umu. 'Aka e Tokonangangi ia Sinangeitataki ki te 'umu. 20. Ni- maa ngenge atu te hahine ki taha: " 'Aka mai ma'u e ngua tangata!" O too a Sinangeitataki hoki ki te 'umu. Ma te ma ha'a te tina'e hu- hunga o too iho ai na penu haasua ma na ngata.

21. Ma te kakabe e Tokona- ngangi ngua tama o boo tatae ki Nukuhengokingoki noko iai a Sina o bilaabei ai o taka. Nimaa hai tama ma'u a Sina o hai tana tama- 'ahine. Sa'u mai e Tokonangangi o hakasapai e ia. 22. Ma te mimi te tama 'iti'iti ki te huna. Noho ai te hemi’i na tamangiki ki ongatou tamana

And Sinangeitataki went and got fire- wood and brought [it] here and she put it in her oven. And Sinangeitataki said to her husband: "Where are the things for which the oven has been supplied with fuel?" 18. And [he] said: "Oh! [It] is diffi- cult for me [to get them]. Keep the oven burning." His wife said again: "Where are the things [for which] to take wood and stones from the oven?" And Toko'- nangangi went out of his house and cut off a banana with his adze of volcanic rock, and came and said to his wife: "Squat because of [your] pregnancy." 19. Then the woman squatted and took wood and stones from the oven. Tokonangangi pushed Sinangeitataki into the oven. 20. Then the woman shouted to those out- side: "Push in the two men here too!" And Sinangeitataki again fell back into the oven. And the swollen womb cracked and out of it fell Tridacna shells and snakes.

21. And Tokonangangi took the two sons and went and arrived at Nukuhengo- kingoki, where Sina lived, and [they] met and married. Then Sina became pregnant again and she had a daughter. Tokonangangi took [her] and he put [her] on his lap. 22. And the small child pissed on the loincloth. This is the origin of children pissing on their fathers.

NOTES

I did not have time to make a detailed translation of this text at the time it was written down. Translation was first completed in June 1961, when Taupongi added comments and explained difficult passages.

7. haka'ia'ia: to shout "heave ho" ('ia'ia). manibungo: pumice floating in the sea; often seen near Rennell and Bellona.

8. babae: Sina tells the two boys to swim through the pumice, pushing it aside as they swim. hesabini'aki: to whistle to each other. The social wasps are believed not to sting a person

who whistles. 9. siango: a tree. Its wood is normally not used for canoes. Taupongi 1961 said that if

the leaves are touched they will cause an itch on the hands.

11. tangi: a very common type of song, see N95. 14. na 'atua: Tokonangangi is using the plural when talking about Sinangeitataki. Taupongi

1961: "I do not know why. This is the talk of the kakai." 16. Tokonangangi concludes that they are really his sons because they are generous towards

each other, a virtue much appreciated. 22. It is believed that parents' bodies are weakened by contact with infants' urine.

TM

(B) Timothy Sau'uhi of Baitupu, RE. At Labagu, November 1957.

1. Te nohonga boo ke haangota. Sopo ake te 'atua o 'aka te hahine,

1. The couple went fishing. A deity jumped aboard and threw the woman

150

Page 166: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 52(B)

kae hakakigi kinai ia o noho i te baka. 2. Kae tahea te hahine, ta- hea aano, sahe i te henua ko Sego- kigoki. O matigi ai.—Tatangi gua tamagiki i te sia hai tamana. 3. Hai atu a tena tinana: "Kougua nomaa sia hai tamana, boo atu sasaga ia tougua tamana."

4. Taa tegaa baka sasaga ai. Boo aano tatae i te manaha noko iai a tegaa tamana. Kua sui o nonoho ma te 'atua noko> 'aka ia te tinana. Boo ki tegaa tamana o hai atu: "Ti- nana maaua koe, tamana maaua koe, 'akasia ki Sinageitetoki taohea, taohea sahe ki Nukusegokigoki, haanau ai, haanau ai kimaaua nei. Boo mai nei, boo mai nei."

5. Hai atu tegaa tamana: "Ta'ea augua te tangi 'anga." Hai mai te 'atua: " 'Agogoha ki na 'atua ta- hea." Hai atu gua, tamagiki: "Tee- naa koe, te 'atua tahea."

6. Hano te 'atua hahine o hai baakai, ma te tigi hatu o hai tena 'umu. Namaa hai ke ta'o. Nonoho potu gua a te tamana ma tona ugu- ugu sui, kae hai to'o tegaa hanau potu. 7. Namaa 'oti te ase te 'umu, ugu e tona uguugu te 'umu. Hai aano hai atu a tona matu'a ugu tau- tike ake e te hahine ghaulia ma ugu tautike. Namaa 'oti te ugu, hugi atu e te tamana ogaaua ki te 'umu, o gege ki teegaa potu noko iai gu 'ona hosa, o sui o 'aka hakahoki mai o too ki te bagaa hai 'umu. 8. O bega o ma ha'a te tina'e. Ma iai na hatu ma na baakai ma na gike ma na penu haasua. Noko hai atu ki togaa tamana: "Ina'iho ki na ina- ina o na 'atua e kumu ai koe." Kae boo kakabe mai a togaa tinana no- ko hai tena tama 'iti'iti.

9. Namaa hetae mai ki te kunga noko iai togaa tamana, hano te hai

overboard and she took her [the wife's] shape and sat in the canoe. 2. The woman floated, floated and landed at the land Segokigoki. She had children here.—The two children wept because [they] wanted to have a father. 3. His mother said: "If you two want a father, go and look for your father."

4. They constructed their canoe to search with. [They] went on and arrived at the settlement where their father was. [He] had changed and was living with the god who had pushed the mother over- board. [The children] went to their fa- ther and said: "You are our mother, you are our father, Singageitetoki has been thrown overboard, floated, floated, land at Nukusegokigoki, born there, born there, we two here. Came here, came here."

5. Their father said: "How miserable your weeping." The god said: "Have pity for the drifted gods." The boys said: "You are the one, the drifted god."

6. The goddess went to cut firewood and to break stones to make her oven. [She] was going to do some roasting. [They] stayed in two corners, the father and his substitute wife, and their children had another corner. 7. After the stones had been taken from the oven, his wife was raking the oven stones. [She] was doing this, and her husband said to squat and rake stones, and the woman was pre- occupied, squatting and raking. When the raking was finished, the father of the two threw [the goddess] into the oven, and [she] jumped over to the other end where his two sons were, and [they] did the same and threw [the goddess] again, and [she] fell into the stones of the oven. 8. [She] burned and [her] stomach burst open. There were stones and firewood and tapa beaters and Tridacna shells there. [The children] said to their father: "Look down there at the assortment of things in the god you've been keeping!" And [they] went to get their mother who had had her children.

9. When [they] got back to where their father was, the oldest brother took the

151

Page 167: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 52(B), 53

ta'okete o to'o mai te tama (te hai taina) a te tinana, o pipiki e te ta- mana, aano titiko o ngengege ia togaa tinana ke a'u o hahagi te ta'e. 10. O a'u togaa tinana o noho ma- ma'o ai, o hagoo atu o hahagi te ta'e no 'oso atu kinai, o sogosogo na ta'e i te ba'e, kae e 'oso atu ki- nai a tona matu'a o sosongi ai.

11. 'Oti ka hiina'i aano i te 'ao. 'Oti te 'ao kae hetae mai te poo. Momoe i te hage. O taki hai kaa- inga, to'o togaa tinana kaainga ma to'o gua tama. 12. Ko kigatou noko momoe aano, too te 'ua i te poo, 'a'aga ake gu 'ona hosa, 'a'aga ake ma taki hai kaainga. Na boo gu 'ona hosa o tutu'u hakapata kinai i tona kaainga o soka te hage o tutugu. 13. 'Aga o hano, kae tata'o atu ai ma'u gu 'ona hosa o tutu'u o soka hakapuu ma'u te hage, o tu- tugu iho ki te kaainga o togaa ta- mana. O 'aga ma'u o hano moe atu ki te kaainga o tona uguugu na ti- 'aki. Teegaa te bilaabei giu 'anga. Kua 'oti.

son (the younger brother) of the mother and [they] went close to the father and defecated and called their mother to come and wrap up the excrement. 10. Their mother came and stayed at a distance from them and reached over and wrapped the excrement, and then took it and wiped off the excrement from the leg [of her husband], and then her husband touched her and pressed noses.

11. Then daylight came. After daylight, night came. [Everyone] went to sleep in the house. There were separate beds, their mother's bed and that of the two children. 12. While they were sleeping, the rain fell at night, her two sons awoke, awoke in their separate bed. Her two sons went and stood near her at her bed and punched a hole in the house so [it] leaked. 13. [The mother] awoke and went away, and her two sons went over, too, and stood there and punched holes again in the house so [it] leaked down on the bed of their father. [He] awoke too and went to sleep in the bed of the wife [he] had abandoned. This was their reconciliation. Finished.

NOTES Several days after taking the story, I checked it at the lake with Taumoana, Tuhenua, Job, and

Jasper Tekobi. Tuhenua supplied these names: Tokonagangi (father), Sahepongipongi (mother), Sinageitataki (culture hero).

2. Segokigoki: No one knew where this land was. Taupongi 1961 said this should be Nuku- hengokingoki.

3. tena: probably a mistake for tegaa (their). 4. taohea: poetic for tahea (float). 6-8. Retold and expanded several days later at the lake. 7. Lack of subjects and objects made understanding difficult: Just who was in the oven? 10. no 'oso atu: an error. Taupongi 1961 suggested na, o, or noko before 'oso atu.

SE

53. Sina ma na Manu Huguhugu

Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE, and 1. Te tautupu'a o Sina ma na ma-

nu huguhugu. 2. Ko Sina noko hai ana ango, o nunu, ka na manu na sia hai kinai, ke hai ga'a e Sina, mo'ogatou ni noho. 3. Teegaa te me'a na mu'a kinai te suusuubagu, o he'e hai ga'a e Sina mo'ona he noho, ko ia na manga tu'u hakapigi

Sina and the Feathered Creatures

others. At Bagika'ago, March 15, 1958. 1. The story of Sina and the feathered

creatures. 2. Sina was making her tur- meric, rubbing it, and the birds wanted it and for Sina to give them some colors. 3. The first one there was the Rennell white-eye, but Sina did not give him any colors, so he just stood—close to the tur- meric being rubbed and [some] spilled

152

Page 168: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

—ki te nunu 'anga, a pisipsi kinai, o hegohego na kigi. 4. Namaa hano ke sui ake te baghigho, ka na 'oso kinai a Sina, o sopo i te gima, ko ia kua uga.—5. Hano kae sui mai te gupe, 'oso a Sina ki gua ba'e o uga, kae hano. Sui ake te higi, o 'oso a Sina ki te tina'e, o uga,

6. Namaa 'oti te nunu 'anga, to'o te ukatama o tahi ai te kogoa, ka na sia hai te sibigi o hinake kinai, o tahi e ia te tino, kae 'ui te tu'u lakaa guna o'ona o tau e ia ki te u'a o te sibigi, kae gege.—7. Na- maa 'oti teenei hai 'anga, hoa te pugu, ke taa tatau, o hinake kinai te ligobai, o, o taa ona tatau. Na- maa 'oti, ko ia ka hano. 8. Sia hai te manu tangionge o hinake kinai, o taa ona tatau, namaa 'oti, hano. Hinake te kaageba, o taa ona tatau, namaa 'oti, hano. Sia hai te taba ke taa mo'ona 'isi o taa 'ona. Na- maa 'oti, hano. Sui mai te ghapilu, ka na he'e taa mo'ona 'isi, manga gigingi kinai te pugu o 'ugi ai.

TEXTS 53, 54

on him and made his skin yellow. 4. And then the cardinal honey eater came in turn, and Sina grabbed him and took [him] in her hand and he became red.— 5. Then it was the Pacific dove's turn, and Sina grabbed his two legs and [they] became red, and [he] went away. And then the small fruit dove took a turn, and Sina held the belly and [it] became red.

6. After the turmeric rubbing, [Sina] took the turmeric cord and rubbed a tapa with it, and the yellow-bibbed lory wish- ing [it], came up to her, and she rubbed his body and took off her necklace of Morinda flowers and she put [it] on the neck of the lory and [it] flew away.— 7. After doing this, [she] mixed water with resin for tattooing, and the yellow- eyed gray bird came up to her, and, and [she] tattooed him. Afterward he left. 8. The manu tangionge bird wanted [colors] and came up to her, and she tattooed him, and afterward [he] left. The kaageba dove came, and [she] tattooed him, and afterward [he] left. Then the sparrow hawk wanted to be tattooed too, and he was tattooed. Afterward [he] went away. Then the atoll starling came, but he was not tattooed, and [she] just poured some black on him which made him black.

NOTES On the afternoon of a busy day a man brought in a brightly colored parakeet he had killed with

a slingshot. Its breast was red; its wings were light blue, green, black, and red on the outside, and dark blue, red, and black on the inside; it had a yellow ring below its neck and some black above; its head was red; there was dark blue above each foot. I neglected to record its name, but Taupongi 1961 said it was the sibigi (yellow-bibbed lory, 6), that it is not found on Bellona, and that it is edible. The arrival of the bird called for a great discussion, four men taking leading parts. Then Paul briskly dictated the story. He laughed at the end of 5 and 8.

2. I did not realize that noho here meant "color" until June 21, 1961.1 had previously asked Taupongi for the word for "color" and he seemed unable to answer—an illustration of the dif- ficulty of obtaining words important in our culture but not in Rennellese.

SE

54. Te Store o Sina Sina's Store

Gileiti Tohahenua. At Hatagua, RE, March 22, 1958. 1. The story of Sina's store. The birds

gathered together and traded. The bird that came to buy first was the white ibis, taking white sarongs and his fragrant oil and his spear. 2. The flying

1. Te tagatupu'a o te store o Si-na. Noko hakaputu na manu o tau'i e kigatou. Tenaa temanu noko mu'a kinai te taghoa, o tau'i ai, o to'o na laoa susugu ma tena ueiuei ma tena

153

Page 169: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 54

tao. 2. Hinake ma'u te peka o tau'i o gua ona laoa 'ugi ma tena paula ma ana ghau. Hinake kinai te sibigi o tau'i ma'u tena calico ma tena sou ma tena tu'u. 3. Hinake ma'u kinai te taba o tau'i na laoa puge- puge ma tena toa muugui. Ugu ake ma'u te katogua o tau'i tena laoa sesenga uga. Ugu ake ma'u te ba- ghigho o tau'i tena calico ma tena nila lapui laoa. 4. Ugu ake kinai te ghapilu o tau'i tena laoa 'ugi, kae hakamatemate i te store i te 'eha to'a. Ugu ake kinai te ghisua, o tau'i ma'u te green calico, ma tena sou. 5. Tohu ake ma'u te maghi- ghape o tau'i ma'u tena igi. Tohu ake ma'u te ghou o tau'i ma'u tena laoa 'ugi ma tena tao. Tohu ake te gugu o tau'i tena ghaasi (paina oko). Tohu ake te kapakaumahiti o tau'i ma'u tena ghapaghapa ma tena sou. E 'oti.

fox came too and purchased two black sarongs and his powder and his fishhooks. The yellow-bibbed lory came and also purchased his calico and his canoe adze and his necklace. 3. The sparrow hawk came there too and purchased dotted sa- rongs and his pronged spear [claws]. The brown pheasant dove came in too and purchased his reddish-yellow sarong. The cardinal honey eater came in too and purchased his calico and his needle for sewing sarongs. 4. The starling came in and purchased his black sarong and ex- claimed about how very big the store was. The song parrot came in and also purchased a green calico and his canoe adze. 5. The Rennell fantail entered too and purchased too his fan. The black bittern entered too and also purchased his black sarong and his spear. The owl entered too and purchased his glasses (windbreak). The large sparrow hawk entered and purchased too his small mat and his canoe adze. [It] is finished.

NOTES This acculturated story is an adaptation of T53: Instead of getting turmeric stain on the birds

or tattooing them, Sina sells them the colors in a store. Some of the informants were apprehen- sive about the English words in this story. I tried to assure them that I wanted the story just as they would normally tell it today.

Taupongi 1961 said that the following birds were not accounted for: the Pacific dove (ngupe), glossy swiftlet (pekapeka), reef heron (kangau), large sand dotterel (sibiu), fruit dove (hingi), and the graybird (lingobai). The Rennellese equivalents for these names are gupe, pekapeka, kagau, sibiu, higi, and ligobai.

2, 4, 5. sou: perhaps this is the English "saw." SE

154

Page 170: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 7. OTHER CULTURE HEROES

The culture heroes other than Mautikitiki and Sina are told of in this chapter. They behave strangely and have stranger appetites. Tobaka rides a turtle (T55), Taumosi eats snakes (T56), and 'Angokutumea eats human beings (T60). 'Apa- kunga eats her brother's penis to revenge his killing her two sons, whom he thought had had intercourse with his wife (T59). A harmless old lady is drowned by two children who are culture heroes (T63). An unnamed kakai prefers to remove his head when fishing (T65). Several one-to-ten counting stories that seem to have entertainment value are concerned with trickster culture heroes, sinking canoes, and heavenly constellations. The culture hero stories account not only for stars, but also for coconuts, wood used to hunt turtles, and the first brother-sister incest. Culture heroes differ from mortals in that only a few of them encounter Rennellese gods, they are not possessed by gods, and they have the protection or weapon of magic. They differ from some of the 'atua in that they are not worshipped and they are believed to have lived like human beings in some remote time on the two islands, or in the traditional homeland 'Ubea, or on other islands. They have less power than the gods and do not engage in transformations. As with both men and gods, they are neither idealized nor vilified. They resemble gods in that they are not related to Rennellese and Bellonese. The term kakai might have been translated "demigod," a term rejected because of its emphasis on divinity.

55. Tobaka ma te Honu Tobaka and the Turtle

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. April 13, 1958. l.KoTobaka noko manga tahea

i moana i tona baka, tahea aano, ni- maa tatae ki te ba'e o te ngangi, o tuatua e ia, tahea sehu aano, sasa'o kia Teika'ungua, i tai. 2. Hinaiho kinai Teika'ungua, hai atu a To- baka: "Tehea tou 'ango? Tehea tou tu'a?" 3. Ma te hai atu a Teika- 'ungua: "Teenei toku 'ango te taha atu." 'Oso mai a Tobaka o haahaa e ia a Teika'ungua ma te hai atu a Tobaka: " 'Ai, ko koe ko 'ango ngua?" Te ingoa o Teika'ungua noko 'ati e Tobaka.

1. Tobaka was just drifting on the ocean in his canoe, drifting on and arriv- ing at the horizon, and he chopped [at it], and drifted on and met Teika'ungua (The-crevalle-fish) on the sea. 2. Teika- 'ungua came down to him, [and] Tobaka asked: "Where is your front? Where is your back?" 3. Teika'ungua said: "This is my front, toward you." Tobaka reached and felt Teika'ungua, and Tobaka said: "Oh, you are two fronts?" [This was] Teika'ungua's name that Tobaka said.

155

Page 171: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 55

4. Hoki ake a Teika'ungua ki 'angunga, ma te singi a Tobaka i tena baka, tahea aano i moana, ma te popo tena baka, eke i ngu 'ona pa'asi o manga tahea; aano, momo- momo ona pa'asi ma'u. Eke i ana polo o manga tahea.

5. Sopo kinai te honu, eke i tu'a o te honu, uta ai ona polo. Hai atu te honu kia Tobaka: "Nimaa binu ma'au he polo, hohoatu ki toku ikaamungi. Kae noka te hohoa ki toku ikaamu'a."

6. Binu polo Tobaka, hohoa e ia ki te ikaamungi o te honu. Nimaa binu te polo mungi, hohoa e ia ki te ikaamu'a o te honu, ma te 'ika- 'ika te honu o mene, ma te manga hekakau'aki a Tobaka ma'ana polo. 7. Hano tatae ki te manaha o To- baka, pipiki e Tobaka te honu i tena manaha. 8. Nimaa mate te honu, tanu e Tobaka, tango e ia i te balungagho, suki e ia te tangie ki te takotonga o te honu. 9. Nimaa hai te hosa o Tobaka, hakakite ki- nai e ia te takotonga o te honu. Nimaa mate a Tobaka, boo te he- boo'akinga a Pungaghe ki te ma- naha o te hosa o Tobaka. O hai atu kia te hosa o Tobaka: "E na'a e koe te takotonga o te honu noko uta mai e ia ia te tamau?" 10. Ma te hai atu a te hosa o Tobaka: "He'e na'a e au." Ma te hai atu te lango 'anga a Pungaghe: "Hakakite mai! 'Ai nimaa he'e hakakite e koe ma te taa e kimatou ia te koe!"

11. Ma te tangi te hosa o Toba- ka, e tangi i te 'angoha ki te huu- nanga a te tamana. Ma te hakakite e ia, o hai atu: "Teengaa te tu'u ai te tangie." 12. Ma te boo te lango 'anga a Pungaghe o kegi te tangie o abu, sasa'o ki te balungagho, ngiu mai, o hai atu ki te hosa o Tobaka: "E iai te hatu." 13. Ma te hai atu te hosa o Tobaka: "Boo atu o balu te hatu." Ngiu kinai te lango 'anga a Pungaghe, o balu e kingatou te hatu. Ma te sasa'o ki na 'una o te honu, ma te to'o e kingatou o boo.

4. Teika'ungua went back up ashore, and Tobaka went on in his canoe, drifting on at sea, and his canoe rotted, [and he] got onto two of its pieces and floated on; then his pieces broke to bits also. [He] got onto his coconuts and just drifted.

5. The turtle came up, [and he] got onto the back of the turtle, taking on his coconuts. The turtle said to Tobaka: "When you drink some coconuts, crack [them] on my rear. And don't crack [them] on my head."

6. Tobaka drank coconuts; he broke [them] on the rear of the turtle. When drinking the last coconut, he broke [it] on the head of the turtle, and the turtle became angry and dove, and Tobaka just swam with his coconuts. 7. Then Tobaka reached his home, and Tobaka kept the turtle in his home. 8. When the turtle died, Tobaka buried [him], [and] he cov- ered the [grave] with a flat stone, [and] he planted a tangie tree on the turtle's grave. 9. When Tobaka had a son, he showed him the turtle's grave. When To- baka died, Pungaghe's traveling compan- ions came to the home of Tobaka's son. [Pungaghe] said to Tobaka's son: "Do you know the grave of the turtle who carried your father here?" 10. Tobaka's son said: "I don't know." Pungaghe's travel mates said: "Show us! If you don't show [us] we'll kill you!"

11. Tobaka's son wept, wept with pity for the father's hiding place. But he showed [it], saying: "There were the tangie tree stands." 12. Pungaghe's travel mates went and dug the tangie tree and pulled [it] out, coming to the flat stones, came back and said to Tobaka's son: "A stone is there." 12. Tobaka's son said: "Go and take out the stone." Pungaghe's travel mates went back there and they took out the stone. And they came to the shell of the turtle, and they took [it] and went away. Finished. So [we] use pu- ngaghe wood for killing turtles. Finished.

156

Page 172: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 55, 56(A)

'Oti. Hai ai te nga'akau, taa o na honu, i na pungaghe. Kua 'oti.

NOTES 2. SE: "Why did Tobaka ask such questions?" Taupongi 1961: "He was blind." Taupongi 1961 added this to the story: Teengaa te me'a a Tobaka, noko i tona

baka ma'u, te kangaengangi. Noko ma- nga toghi te maniangima o Tobaka, o manga haahongo kinai; nimaa titiko te manu, sa'u ake e Tobaka o huhu'i i te tai o haahongo hakahoki. Aano nimaa panga te maniangima o Tobaka, noko haangai ai tena manu, sui o haahongo kinai e ia te bunguhatu. Teenaa te kunga na toe.

What Tobaka had in his canoe also, the Nico- bar pigeon. Tobaka broke off his finger, and had [the bird] swallow it; when the bird defe- cated, Tobaka took [the finger] and washed [it] in the sea and had [the bird] swallow [it] again. And when Tobaka's finger that he had fed his bird was rotten, he changed and had it swallow the flat stone. That is the part re- maining.

Informants in 1962 said that "fingernail" is lango gima. 3. This name is apparently a way to honor Teika'ungua; a pun may be involved: ngua (two)

and 'ungua (crevalle). 5. ikaamungi, ikaamu'a: rare terms applicable only to turtles (Taupongi 1961).

SE

56. Taumosi ma Sabana Taumosi and Sabana

(A) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE, January 17, 1959. 1. Ko Taumosi ma Sabana, noko

taa e kingaaua te ngata noko tapu ki Mou'atua o ta'o e kingaaua o kai o kiki i te huti e ingoa te bae- bae. Te baebae noko pulu ona hua kongaa na noho te huti pua. 2. Ni- maa kai e ngu pengea o kiki ai e kingaaua te ngata noko hai ai te 'atua, ma te ngongoa na hua bae- bae. Kai e kingaaua aano 'oti so- ngosongo kae to'o tena penu o tupe. 3. Tangi te penu o te ngata, kongaa na tangi: "Toku 'ungu na ngungu e Taumosi ngungu ange ngoa ngungu, ngangasoki. Tumoosi, Tumoosi." 4. Ngiu e kingaaua o kai e kingaaua te penu, o ngungu te penu ngata, aano 'oti, ma ngiu mai o noho'aki. 5. Tangi ma'u te penu, kongaa na tangi: "Toku 'ungu na ngungu e Sabana, ngungu ange ngoa ngungu ngangasoki Sabaana, Sabaana." 6. Ngiu ma'u e kingaaua o kai te penu ngaukei o ngau, ngau, ngau, ngau; aano 'oti, nimaa songo- songo, boo mai, noho'aki. 7. Ngea mai ma'u te penu o te ngata, ko- ngaa na singi mai ma'u: "Toku

1. Taumosi and Sabana, they killed the snake that was sacred in Mou'atua, and they baked and ate [it], ate it together with the banana named baebae. The fruits of baebae were short like the fruits of the pua banana. 2. Then the two people ate it, and ate it together with the snake which was the deity, and the fruits of the baebae became long. They ate, and then [they] washed hands and took the trash and threw [it] away. 3. The trash of the snake sang a tangi, sang as follows: "My head, Taumosi gnawed, gnawed long time, gnawed [the food of] the nganga- saki ritual. Tumoosi, Tumoosi." 4. They returned, and they ate the trash, and gnawed the trash of the snake, and then returned and stayed. 5. Again the trash sang a tangi, sang as follows: "My head, Sabana gnawed, gnawed long time, gnawed [the food of] the ngangasaki rit- ual. Sabaana, Sabaana." 6. They re- turned again and chewed the trash of [banana] leaves, chewed, chewed, chewed, chewed, and then wiped [hands], came here, stayed. 7. Again the trash of the snake talked, sang again a follows: "My head, Taumosi gnawed, gnawed long

157

Page 173: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 56(A), 56(B)

'ungu na ngungu e Taumosi, ngu- ngu ange ngoa ngungu, ngangasoki. Tumoosi, Tumoosi." 8. Ngiu ma'u e kingaaua o kai aaaaaano pau te penu o'oti. Si'ai he kunga toe. Tee- nei te 'otinga o te tautupu'a o ngua pengea nei.

time, gnawed [the food of] the nganga- saki ritual. Tumoosi, Tumoosi." 8. They returned and then ate the trash complete- ly. Nothing was left. This is the end of the tale of these two persons.

SE

NOTES Taupongi told this tale, and a tape recording was made. The text was written down after the

recording and then translated. In February 1959, Taupongi mailed a version of the same story to me. It is a little shorter than the one given above, but otherwise the two versions are very similar.

In addition to variant B, SE collected a text (not included in this volume) from Henry Hegoga at Niupani, Rennell, on December 15, 1957, in which a similar motif and song are in a tale explaining certain rocks at Apa. See also T65.

1. Taumosi ma Sabana: Taupongi said that these were two kakai (culture heroes) who came to Rennell and Bellona from 'Ubea with Kaitu'u in the double canoe. Mou'atua: place in Matangi district, Bellona. The snake lived there. baebae: a type of banana with fruits about 30 centimeters long. The fruit of this banana became long because Taumosi and Sabana ate it with the snake.

2. songosongo: Taupongi 1961 explained that the two culture heroes washed their hands in sap from the stalk of the banana plant.

penu: the things usually not eaten, such as bones and skin. People of Rennell and Bellona do not eat snakes and find them disgusting creatures. The snake in this tale was the embodi- ment of a god; in 1962 nobody knew which one.

3. ngangasoki: poetic form of ngangasaki (Rennellese, gangasaki), a sanctifying ritual as performed with daily meals.

6. te penu ngaukei: the banana leaves in which the snake was wrapped when baked in the oven. Taupongi 1961 said: Te 'ata o te ngata e i na ngau huti nei (The spiritual self of the snake is in these banana leaves).

7. singi: English "sing."

(B) Rachael Paieke of Hatagua, RE. March 26, 1958. 1. Ko Taumasi ma Tuosi noko

kakai i te 'ana i Taumasi. Ka ko ki- gaaua noko maanatu ki te ngata noko eke i te baebae. 2. Ka na boo a kigaaua o taa te ngata o to'o mai ma tegaa kiki i te baebae. O hai kinai tegaa 'umu o ta'o ai i te 'ana i Taumasi. 3. Ka kigaaua noko kai kiki ai. Namaa 'oti tegaa kainga, to'o tena penu o tupe, ma te tangi mai te penu: "Toku 'ugu na ngungu e Taumasi, ngungu ange goa, ngu- ngu ngangasaki. Tumosi Tuosi boo ngungu ona ibi!" Aano giu mai o noko ma hiina'i, tangi mai ma'u: "Toku 'ugu na ngungu e Taumasi, ngungu ange goa, ngungu nganga- saki, Tumosi Tuosi." 4. Aano na- maa tegaa tangi mai 'anga, boo ki- gaaua o ngau na gaukei, ma te he'e ngongona. Kua 'oti te story o Tau- masi ma Tuosi.

1. Taumasi and Tuosi lived in a cave at Taumasi. And they remembered a snake that had come on to some baebae bananas. 2. And they went and killed the snake and brought [it] to eat with their bananas. So they made their oven and baked them in the cave at Taumasi. 3. And they ate them both. After their eat- ing, [they] took the trash and threw [it] away, and the trash sang a tangi: "Tau- masi is gnawing my head, gnawing for a long time, gnaw food of the ngangasaki ritual. Tumosi Tuosi, go gnaw bones!" [They] came back and stayed, and [the trash] sang again a tangi: "Taumasi is gnawing my head, gnawing for a long time, gnawing [food of] the ngangasaki ritual, Tumosi Tuosi." 4. And while that [trash] was singing a tangi, the two went and chewed green leaves and heard no more. The story of Taumasi and Tuosi is finished.

158

Page 174: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 57(A)

57- Kangokangonga'a Kangokangonga'a

(A) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959. 1. Te baka o Kangokangonga'a

na hai ke taa. Hano o hakaene kia Angahungu ma ona hai taina he toki ke taa ai tona baka. 2. Nimaa hai atu a Kangokangonga'a kia Angahungu: " 'Au mai he toki ke taa ai toku baka." 3. Hai atu a Anga- hungu: "E angahungu oku toki. Ni aa ke 'abatu, ni aa ke noho?" Hai atu a Kangokangonga'a kia Iba: " 'Au mai lie toki ke taa ai toku baka." 4. Hai atu a Iba: "E iba oku toki. Ni aa ke 'abatu, ni aa ke noho?" Hakaene atu ma'u kia Ba- ngu: " 'Au mai he toki ke taa ai toku baka." 5. Hai atu a Bangu: "E bangu oku toki. Ni aa ke 'abatu, ni aa ke noho?" Hakaene ma'u kia Hitu: " 'Au mai he toki ke taa ai toku baka." 6. Hai atu a Hitu: "E hitu oku toki. Ni aa ke noho, ni aa ke 'abatu?" Hai atu ma'u a Kangokangonga'a kia Ono: " 'Au mai he toki ke taa ai toku baka." 7. Hai atu a Ono: "E ono oku toki. Ni aa ke 'abatu ni aa ke noho?" Hai atu ma'u a Kangokangonga'a kia Ngima: " 'Au mai he toki ke taa ai toku baka." "E ngima oku told. Ni aa ke 'abatu, ni aa ke noho?" 8. Sasaka atu ma'u a Kangokango- nga'a kia Haa: '"Au mai he toki ke taa ai toku baka." Hai atu a Haa: "E haa oku toki. Ni aa ke 'abatu, ni aa ke noho?" 9. Hai atu ma'u a Tongu: "E tongu oku toki. Ni aa ke 'abatu, ni aa ke toe?" Hai atu ma'u kia Ngua: " 'Au mai he toki ke taa ai toku baka." Hai atu a Ngua: "E ngua oku toki. Ni aa ke 'abatu, ni aa ke toe?" 10. Nimaa sasaka atu ma'u kia Tasi o hai atu: " 'Au mai he toki ke taa ai toku baka." Ma te hai atu a Tasi: "E tasi oku toki. Ni aa ke 'abatu, ni aa ke toe?" 11. Ma te hai atu ma'u a Tasi: "la teenaa te toki." Ma te to'o mai e Kangokangonga'a o taa

1. Kangokangonga'a was going to cut a canoe. [He] went and asked Ten and his younger brothers for an adze with which to cut his canoe. 2. So Kangokangonga'a said to Ten: "Give [me] an adze to cut my canoe with." 3. Ten said: "I have ten adzes. If [I] give [you] some, what is left?" Kangokangonga'a said to Nine: "Give [me] an adze to cut my canoe with." 4. Nine said: "I have nine adzes. If [I] give [you] some, what is left?" [He] also asked Eight: "Give [me] an adze to cut my canoe with." 5. Eight said: "I have eight adzes. If [I] give [you] some, what is left?" [He] also asked Seven: "Give [me] an adze to cut my canoe with." 6. Seven said: "I have seven adzes. What is left if [I] give [you] some?" Kangokangonga'a also asked Six: "Give [me] an adze to cut my canoe with." 7. Six said: "I have six adzes. If [I] give [you] some, what is left?" Kangokangonga'a also said to Five: "Give [me] an adze to cut my canoe with." "I have five adzes. If [I] give [you] some, what is left?" 8. Kangokangonga'a then also asked Four for help: "Give [me] an adze to cut my canoe with." Four said: "I have four adzes. If [I] give [you] some, what is left?" 9. And Three also said: "I have three adzes. If [I] give [you] some, what is left?" [He] also said to Two: "Give [me] an adze to cut my canoe with." Two said: "I have two adzes. If [I] give [you] some, what is left?" 10. Then [he] also asked One for help and said: "Give [me] an adze to cut my canoe with." And One said: "I have one adze. If [I] give [you] some, what is left?" 11. And One also said: "Here is the adze." And Kangokangonga'a took [it] and cut his canoe with it, and when finished he lashed the canoe with sennit. When finished [he] took bunge vines and lashed [them] afterward [over the sennit].

159

Page 175: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 57(A)

ai tona baka, aano nimaa 'oti, to- to'o tona baka i na kaha. Aano 'oti, hai na bunge O' toto'o tata'o ai.

12. Nimaa boo mat a Anga- hungu ma ona hai taina o hai atu kia Kangokangonga'a: "Ni aa e toto'o ai tou baka?" Hai atu a Kangokangonga'a: "E toto'o bu- nge." Nimaa tuku ongatou baka o boo, nimaa hetae kinai te maase- 'Inga ma te haki a te kaubaka o Angahungu ma ona hai taina o ngoniia. 13. Tu'u mai a Kangoka- ngonga'a o langa bonga na bunge noko toto'o tata'o ai tona baka. Ka ma unga na kaha, noko toto'o ai tona baka. 14. Nimaa kakau mai a Angahungu o sasaka mai kia Ka- ngokangonga'a o hai atu: "Kango- kangonga'a, kau eke?" Hai atu a Kangokangonga'a: "Eke ake i tou toki.1 ' 15. Kakau mai a Iba o hai atu: "Kangokangonga'a, kau eke?" Hai atu a Kangokangonga'a: "Eke ake i tou toki." Kakau mai ma'u a Bangu o sasaka mai kia Kangokangonga'a o hai atu: "Ka- ngokangonga'a kau eke?" 16. Hai atu a Kangokangonga'a: "Eke ake i tou toki." Sasaka mai ma'u a Hitu: "Kangokangonga'a, kau eke?" 17. Hai atu a Kangokangonga'a: "Eke ake i tou toki." Sasaka mai ma'u a Ono: "Kangokangonga'a, kau eke?" Hai atu a Kangokangonga'a: "Eke ake i tou toki." 18. Sasaka mai ma'u a Ngima kia Kangokango- nga'a o hai atu: "Kangokangonga'a, kau eke?" Hai atu: "Eke ake i tou toki." 19. Sasaka mai ma'u a Haa kia Kangokangonga'a o hai atu: "Kangokangonga'a, kau eke?" Hai atu a Kangokangonga'a: "Eke ake i tou toki." 20. Sasaka mai ma'u a Tongu: "Kangokangonga'a, kau eke?" Hai atu: "Eke ake i tou toki." Sasaka mai ma'u a Ngua: "Kango- kangonga'a, kau eke?" Hai atu: "Eke ake i tou toki." 21. Nimaa sasaka mai a Tasi kia Kangoka- ngonga'a ke eke. Hai atu a Kango- kangonga'a: "A'u o eke." Ma te ka-

12. Then Ten and his younger broth- ers came and said to Kangokangonga'a: "What is your canoe lashed with?" Kango- kangonga'a said: "Lashed with bunge vines." They then made their canoes ready and went off, and rough seas reached them, and all the canoes belonging to Ten and his younger brothers broke and sank. 13. Kangokangonga'a then went cutting the bunge vines which were lashed over [the sennit] of his canoe. And the sennit with which his canoe was lashed was red [as fresh sennit]. 14. Ten then came swimming and asked Kangoka- ngonga'a for help and said: "Kangoka- ngonga'a, may I come aboard?" Kango- kangonga'a said: "Board your adze." 15. Nine came swimming and said: "Kango- kangonga'a, may I came aboard?" Ka- ngokangonga'a said: "Board your adze." Eight then also came swimming and asked Kangokangonga'a for help and said: "Kangokangonga'a, may I come aboard?" 16. Kangokangonga'a said: "Board your adze." Then Seven also asked for help: "Kangokangonga'a, may I come aboard?" 17. Kangokangonga'a said: "Board your adze." Then Six also asked for help: "Kangokangonga'a, may I come aboard?" Kangokangonga'a said: "Board your adze." 18. Five then also asked Kangokangonga'a for help and said: "Kangokangonga'a, may I come aboard?" [Kangokangonga'a] said: "Board your adze." 19. Four then also asked Ka- ngokangonga'a for help and said: "Ka- ngokangonga'a, may I come aboard?" Kangokangonga'a said: "Board your adze." 20. Then Three asked for help: "Kangokangonga'a, may I come aboard?" [He] said: "Board your adze." Two then asked for help: "Kangokangonga'a, may I come aboard?" [He] said: "Board your adze." 21. Then One asked Kangoka- ngonga'a for help [and] to come aboard. Kangokangonga'a said: "Come aboard." And One swam and got on board Ka- ngokangonga'a's canoe.

160

Page 176: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 57(A)

kau mai a Tasi o eke i te baka o Kangokangonga'a.

22. Nimaa boo, kae tahea a Angahungu ma ona hai taina. Ni- maa ina hoki mai a Tasi kia ona ta'okete, manga mongi mungi mai i te baka. Ma te 'angoha a Tasi kia ona ta'okete. Ma te too hoki kinai. Tahea aano a Kangokangonga'a i tona baka. Lolongi tona baka o ma tahea i te tai ma ona me'a noko uta ai.

23. Ma te boo iho na hetu'u o te ngangi o to'o hakatau ona me'a. Hinaiho a Tungangupe o to'o te ngupe, o ingoa ai te hetu'u ko Tu- ngangupe. Hinaiho a Matangiki, o to'o e ia te ngaa o te baka. 24. Hi- naiho a Teika o to'o e ia te kaui. Hinaiho a Kaabei, o to'o e ia te ama o te baka. Hinaiho a Kaukupenga, o to'o e ia te kupenga. Hinaiho a Tetoki o to'o te toki. 25. Hinaiho a Maukoma'a, o to'o e ia te bugho. Hinaiho a Tongungamaaui, o to'o e ia te hoe o te baka. Hinaiho a Te- ngika o to'o e ia te haangongo. 26. 'Oti na me'a o te baka ki te ngangi, kae mate a Kangokangonga'a ki te tai.

22. Then [they] went away, and Ten and his younger brothers drifted about. Then One looked back at his older broth- ers who came leaping like porpoises after the canoe. And One pitied his older brothers. And [he] jumped back to them. Kangokangonga'a drifted on in his canoe. His canoe sank and [he] floated about in the sea with the things which he had loaded into [the canoe].

23. And the stars of the sky came down and, one by one, took his things. Tungangupe (Flock-of-doves; Scorpio) came down and took the dove, and so the star got the name Tungangupe. Ma- tangiki (Small-eyes; Pleiades) came down and he took the sail of the canoe. 24. Teika (The-fish) came down and he took the fish. Kaabei (Handle) came down and he took the outrigger of the canoe, Kau- kupenga (Net-handle; Southern Cross) came down and he took the net. Tetoki (The-adze) came down and took the adze. 25. Ma'ukoma'a came down and he took the large net. Tongungamaaui (The-Maaui-trio; Orion's Belt) came down and he took the paddle of the ca- noe. Tengika came down and he took the coconut-shell dipper. 26. All the things of the canoe were now in the sky, and Kangokangonga'a died in the sea.

NOTES

Taupongi 1961 added the following comment to the tale: Ko Angahungu ma ona hai taina na hai ai na tahonga'a, na satnono (Ten and his brothers became whales, porpoises).

The canoes of the ten brothers fall to pieces at sea because Kangokangonga'a has tricked them by pretending to lash his canoe with the weak bunge vines and the brothers imitate him.

TM II

A similar but more elliptic counting tale was given by Timothy Sau'uhi at Labagu, Rennell, on November 15, 1957. The trickster was named Kagokagoga'aa, and he covers the sennit lashing with ghaighi huge vines. There was much laughter during the counting. When the ten brothers' canoes sink, each asks Kagokagoga'aa to be taken aboard, and the latter answers: Eke i te baka o lou toki (Go aboard the baka of your adze). Baka is both canoe and jointure of adze to handle. The ending of Timothy's story follows:

Ka he'e 'oigua Angahugu ma ona hai taina o hai ai na tahoga'a. Namaa sui o gomia Kagokagoga'aa, a'aki na hetu'u o hai tuhanga ai. Sopo a Matagiki o to'o te gaa. Sopo a Mautikitiki o to'o te bugho ma te tao. Sopo a Kaukupenga o to'o te

No attention was paid to Ten and his younger brothers and they turned into porpoises. Then Kagokagoga'aa was drowned; the stars came out and divided his spoils. Matagiki (Small-eyes; Pleiades) came and took the sail. Mautikitiki came and took the large net and spear. Kauku-

161

Page 177: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 57(A), 57(B), 57(C)

kupenga. Sopo a Teika o to'o te ika. Sopo a Tungagupe o to'o te gupe. Kua 'oti.

penga (Net-handle; Southern Cross) came and took the net. Teika (The-fish) took the fish. Tugagupe (Flock-of-doves; Scorpio) came and tooke the pigeon. Finished.

The stars in A and B were tentatively identified in 1962 with the help of Sau'eha of Sa'aiho, Bellona, as follows: Togungagupe, probably three stars in Ursa Major; Teika, Cygnu; Kaabei, Aries; Tetinomanu, three bright stars at the end of Taurus, in Gemeni, and in Cam's Minor; the end stars are called the Northern and Southern Wings of The-bird-body (Kapakau Bagi- ka'ago of Tetinomanu, Kapakau Tu'ahenua o Tetinomanu).

SE

(B) Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 16, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a o Kagokagoga'aa,

na gosigosi te hu'aibaka o uta e ia ba'i me'a, na huaa 'umanga, ma na huaa ga'akau, ma na kaui, ko ba'i me'a 'eha, na uta e ia o 'oti, i te me'a gaa, te baka o'ona noko hua- 'eha to'a. 2. Te bakana, noko ha- kaama. Noko a'u ki Mugaba, o sigi 'agunga, ona kiato. Hano te tino baka i tu'ahenua, kae hano te ama i bagika'ago, ka na kiato noko a'u i te hohonga o Mugaba nei.

3. Te pegea nei na sehu aano i tena baka, ko ia na mate. Kae boo iho te hainga tuhanga, na hetu'u. Ko kigatou na taki to'o, na me'a, a Kagokagoga'aa. 4. Ko Matagild, na hai e ia te gaa. Ko Tetinomanu, na hai tuhanga, i na kaui, ma na huaa 'umanga. Ko Kaukupenga, na hai tuhanga, i te kupenga. Ko Teika, na hai tuhanga, i na kaui, o te baka. Tugagupe, na hai tuhanga, i te gupe. Ko Gaukoma'a, na hai to'ona tuhanga, i te bugho. 'Eha hetu'u, na boo mai kigatou, o to'o ngatahi, na me'a, a Kagokagoga'aa noko uta, i tena baka. Kua 'oti.

1. The story of Kagokagoga'aa who built a huge canoe, and he put all manner of things aboard, crops, and fruits, and fish, all the important things he put aboard as his canoe was very very large. 2. The canoe had an outrigger float. [It] came to Rennell and its booms came over the land. The hull came at the south, and the float came at the north, and the booms came over the surface of Rennell here.

3. This person traveled about in his canoe, [and] he died. Stars came down for the sharing. Each of them took some of Kagokagoga'aa's things. 4. Matagiki (Small-eyes; Pleiades), he took the sail. Te- tinomanu (The-bird-body) took as his share, the fish and food crops. Kauku- penga (Net-handle; Southern Cross) took as his share, the net. Teika (The-fish) took the canoe's fish. Tugagupe (Flock- of-doves; Scorpio) took as his share, the doves. Gaukoma'a took as his share, the large net. Many stars, they came and they all took the things that Kagokagoga'aa had loaded on to his canoe. Finished.

SE

(C) Malachi Tegheta of 1. Noko taa te baka a Angahugu.

Namaa gongo ai a Tasi, o hano ki- nai, o ina kinai. 2. O sia hai kinai, hai atu: " 'Au mai tou tokina ke hano taa mo'oku tahi." 3. He'e- maka hakapata aano kinai, hoki o gosigosi te ghaghi hatu 'ugi o tuai to'ona. 4. Tua aano sagigi tona gau, hokanokano tona 'ugu. 5. Ka koi

Niupani, RE. December 20, 1957. 1. Ten cut a canoe. When One heard

about it [he] came to it and looked at it. 2. [He] liked it and said: "Give me that adze of yours and I'll go and cut myself one." 3. [Ten] did not agree, [and One] stayed with him and then came and worked with a weathered adze of black [volcanic] rock and carved out his own [canoe]. 4. Cutting away, its leaves fell,

162

Page 178: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

tua, tua aano, too; namaa hai atu kia tona uguugu: "Higi atu he kaha, noka te higi haka'agi'agi e koe. Ka noko higi huu." 6. Kae hai tena he- kau, i te taa ba'i mahina. 7. Namaa 'oti, hai aano lakuga, o hano kinai te hainga baakainga, o to'o mai o tunu ai na lakuga. O sa'u ake ana kaha, o ha'u ai, o 'oti, ka tata na huge, o poghi ai.

8. Namaa gongo Angahugu, o hano kinai, o ina kinai, o hai atu: "Tou baka na ha'u i ni aa?" 9. Hai atu a Tasi: "Ma ha'u i na buge." Hoki Angahugu o tata buge, o ha'u ai to'ona. 10. Hai atu Angahugu: "O go hinange, kitaa go boo nga- tahi." Namaa hano kinai, o bilaa- bei, hai atu Angahugu: "Mu'a atu i to'u bakana." Hai atu teegaa: "Mu'a atu!" Ma'ogi o mu'a Anga- hugu. 11. Kae tata'o ai a Tasi, boo aano, he'egahi mai ki te manaha, o huhuke kinai te moana, i na ngagu ma na oko, o'io'i ai te baka o Angahugu, hakateka'ia. O tuugei te baka o Tasi, o hano kinai tatae ki- nai. Tu'u a Tasi o huhuke na buge kae ma uga na kaha noko ha'u ai. 12. Kae sigi Angahugu, ngege mai a Angahugu: "Kau eke!" Hai atu a Tasi: "Eke ake i te pulo o tou to- kina!" Kae hano. Sa'u ake Anga- hugu tena gupe ma tona toki, ma tona kupenga, ma tona bugho, o seu ki te gangi. Kae logilogi Anga- hugu o hai ai te tahoga'a.

TEXT 57(C)

its top branches had wasps [?]. 5. Still cutting, cutting, [the tree] fell; then he said to his wife: "Wind on some sennit; don't you wind so as to show. Just wind in secret." 6. He did his work of cutting for several months. 7. Afterwards [he] made the gunwale poles, going for fire- wood for this, bringing [it] in and thus heating the gunwale poles. He took out his sennit, lashing all of it, and then strip- ping off buge vines and covering it.

8. When Ten heard he came there and looked upon it and said: "What is your canoe lashed with?" 9. One said: "Just lashed with buge." Ten returned and stripped buge and lashed his with it. 10. Ten said: "Let's go, go together." [So they] went and met, and Ten said: "My canoe first!" And the other one said: "Go ahead!" So Ten went first. 11. One then followed, going on, far from the settle- ment, and the open sea stripped off [its vines] with waves and wind, and so Ten's canoe shook and was capsized. One's ca- noe turned and came to it, and reached it. One stopped and untied the buge, and the sennit that had been lashed on was red. 12. [He] passed Ten and Ten called out: "Let me aboard!" One said: "Go aboard the joining of your adze!" And [he] passed on. Ten took out his dove and his adze, and his net, and his seine, and threw [them] into the sky. Ten fell in and thus became a porpoise.

NOTES As Tegheta told this story, his wife and small grandson sat by the door. He asked if I knew his

wife's name, and I confessed that I didn't. They named their three living sons and one daughter, and in answer to my question said that three children had died as crawling infants.

3. turn: tua ai. 4. hokanokano: Taupongi 1961 said that there is no such word, and that perhaps the term

wanted was kanokanoina (to have many wasps). I. lakuga: See Haddon, 1937:61. II. The sennit is red because it has not been exposed to the elements. 12. The three informants said toki (T57[A]:14), te baka o tou toki (N57[A]II), and te pulo

o tou tokina (T57[C]:12). The double meaning of baka (canoe, adze joining) was probably the basis of all three.

Note the contrasting use of tena and tona (his). Tegheta laughed when Ten's boat capsizes, and his wife laughed at the end. Someone else explained that porpoises look like people because of Ten.

SE

163

Page 179: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 58

58. Angahungu ma Pingikoke Ten and Pingikoke

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. April 13, 1958. 1. Te hahine na hai tena tama-

'ahine. E he'e na'a na ingoa. He'e na'a te manaha. A'u Pingikoke, o kakabe e ia te hai tama'ahine, o mama'o ia te tinana (i tai). Ma- ngepe ai te tinana o te hahine. 2. 'Angongoha kinai a Angahungu ma ona hai taina, ma te boo kingatou ke sasanga i te manaha o Pingi- koke, tatae kinai. 3. Hai atu a Angahungu ma ona hai taina: "Ta- tou boo ki tai!" Boo iho ki te aba, hano Pingikoke ke tautai. Tutu'u mai a Angahungu ma ona hai taina o lobikuu te 'ungu o te unguungu o Pingikoke o tango i te baka o Pingikoke. Konge hakahotu e ki- ngatou te baka o Pingikoke. Sao na baka o Angahungu ma ona hai tai- na o boo.

4. Kite mai e Pingikoke, tenge hoki mai, hai atu ki tena unguungu: "Na baka ku boo?" I te kite mai e ia na ngau 'ungu e saasaa ake i tena baka, i te tengeu'a ake ko tona unguungu; ma te he'e muna. Nimaa kape atu e ia na ngau 'ungu, manga pono, he'e kitea he pengea. 5. Ma te sao tona baka, ke 'angu ai ma te lolongi ma te kakau mungi i na baka o Angahungu ma ona hai taina. 6. Nimaa hetae ake i te baka o Tasi, tu'u a Tasi, o hai atu: "Too te 'ua, too mata tasi, too te 'ua too mata tasi, ke 'uaina ai Pingikoke, ke maakeke ke mate!" Ma te too iho te mataa 'ua o pingi ia Pingikoke, ma te mate a Pingikoke.

7. Ma te boo mai na baka o Angahungu ma ona hai taina, tau ake te baka o Angahungu ki te ma- naha o te hahine e hai tena tama- 'ahine. Hai atu te hahine: "Tehea taku tama'ahine?" Hai atu a Anga- hungu: "Hitangi atu i te baka o Iba." 8. Nimaa tau ake te baka o Iba, hai atu te hahine: "Tehea taku tama'ahine?" Hai atu a Iba: "Hi-

1. A woman had a daughter. The names are not known. The place is not known. Pingikoke came and he took the girl far away from the mother (to sea). So the woman's mother mourned. 2. Ten and his younger brothers took pity and they went to search for Pingikoke's home and reached it. 3. Ten and his younger brothers said: "Let's go to the beach!" Going down to the water front, and Pingi- koke had gone fishing. Ten and his younger brothers then shaved the head of Pingikoke's wife and put [the hair] as a cover on Pingikoke's canoe. They pierced and punctured Pingikoke's ca- noe. The canoes of Ten and his younger brothers went out to sea and away.

4. Pingikoke saw and hurried back and said to his wife: "The canoes have gone?" For he had seen the hair protruding from his canoe and thought it was his wife; but there was no answer. Then he pried the hair loose but was unsuccessful, no person was to be seen. 5. He took out his canoe to chase, but [the canoe] sank, and [he] swam after the canoes of Ten and his younger brothers. 6. Reaching One's canoe, One stood up and said: "Let the rain fall, fall in single drops, let the rain fall in single drops so Pingikoke gets rain- drenched, cold, and dies!" Then the rain- drops fell and clung to Pingikoke and [he] died.

7. And the canoes of Ten and his younger brothers came and landed at the place of the woman who had the daugh- ter. The woman said: "Where's my daugh- ter?" Ten said: "Wait for Nine's canoe." 8. When Nine's canoe landed, the woman said: "Where's my daughter?" Nine said: "Wait for Eight's canoe." When Eight's canoe landed, the woman said: "Where's my daughter?" Eight said: "Wait for Sev-

164

Page 180: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

tangi atu i te baka o Bangu." Tau ake te baka o Bangu, hai atu te hahine: "Tehea taku tama'ahine?" Hai atu a Bangu: "Hitangi te baka o Hitu." Nimaa tau ake te baka o Hitu, hai atu te hahine: "Tehea taku tama'ahine?" Hai atu a Hitu: "Hi- tangi te baka o Ono." Nimaa tau ake te baka o Ono, hai atu te ha- hine: "Tehea taku tama'ahine?" Hai atu a Ono: "Hitangi te baka o Ngima." Nimaa tau ake te baka o Ngima, hai atu te hahine: "Tehea taku tama'ahine?" Hai atu a Ngi- ma: "Hitangi te baka o Haa." Ni- maa tau ake te baka o Haa, hai atu te hahine: "Tehea taku tama'ahi- ne?" Hai atu a Haa: "Hitangi te baka o Tongu." Nimaa tau ake te baka o Tongu, hai atu te hahine: "Tehea taku tama'ahine?" Hai atu a Tongu: "Hitangi te baka o Ngua." Nimaa tau ake te baka o Ngua, hai atu te hahine: "Tehea taku tama- 'ahine?" Hai atu a Ngua: "Hitangi te baka o Tasi." 9. Nimaa tau ake te baka o Tasi e iai te hahine. Ma te hakaanu atu te hahine kia Tasi, o hai atu: "Tehea taku tama'ahi- ne?" Ma te hai atu a Tasi: "Tee- nei!" 10. Ma te hai atu a te ha- hine: "Songi tou noko! Te taunga noko hakatu'u ia Angahungu kae hai ke sui! O hakatu'u te taunga ia te koe. Ke kongaa na noho: tasi, ngua, tongu, haa, ngima, ono, hitu, bangu, iba, katoa." Ma te 'oti.

TEXTS 58, 59

en's canoe." When Seven's canoe landed, the woman said: "Where's my daughter?" Seven said: "Wait for Six's canoe." When Six's canoe landed, the woman said: "Where's my daughter?" Six said:"Wait for Five's canoe." When Five's canoe landed, the woman said: "Where's my daughter?" Five said: "Wait for Four's canoe." When Four's canoe landed, the woman said: "Where's my daughter?" Four said: "Wait for Three's canoe." When Three's canoe landed, the woman said: "Where's my daughter?" Three said: "Wait for Two's canoe." When Two's canoe landed, the woman said: "Where's my daughter?" Two said: "Wait for One's canoe." 9. When One's canoe landed, there the woman was. The woman ques- tioned One, saying: "Where's my daugh-ter?" And One said: "Here!" 10. The woman said: "May [I] embrace your en- trails! Counting has [always] begun with Ten but should change. Let counting begin with you. This is the way: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten." And the end.

NOTES 1. In August 1961, Taupongi said that he remembered that the mother was Sina, the culture

hero. 3. Taupongi 1961 laughed at the head-shaving episode. 6. Taupongi 1961 explained that the 'ua a Pingikoke (Rennellese, Pigikoke) is a fine, light

spray; the term comes from this story. SE

59. 'Apakunga 'Apakunga

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, September 1960. 1. Ko Tangoputuputu ma Tango-

siahekaba, noko boo mai kingaaua o ngangaha te hange o tongaa tu- 'aatina a Sangokiahungu, ma te he-

1. As for Tangoputuputu and Tango- siahekaba, they came here and measured the house belonging to their uncle Sango- kiahungu, and [the walls] became brown-

165

Page 181: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 59

ngohengo unga. Ma te a'u a Sa- ngokiahungu a hakaanu kia tona unguungu po tona hange e unga i te aa. Ma te hai atu a tona ungu- ungu: "E ngangaha e ngu 'ou 'ingaa- mutu." 2. Ma te hai atu: "Po ko- hea?" Hai atu a tona unguungu: "Kua boo ki anga tu'u." Ma te hai atu: "E boo ho'ou po si'ai?" Ma te hai atu a tona unguungu: "E boo ho'ou." Ma te 'angu mai ai o taa e ia.

3. Ma te mangepe ai a tongaa tinana, a 'Apakunga, ma te haka- 'amo ai e 'Apakunga ki ba'i 'aamo- nga. Noko henua hitu. Nimaa tatae tona baka ki tengaa 'aamonga o kongaa na tangi ake: 4. "Te baka Tasi i mama tonunga. Ma Kango- kangonga'a ma hehungisakina. Heia. 5. Te mangamanga iho na ngei o ngu aku tama, ko Tangoputuputu ma Tangosiahekaba. Te 'angoha 'uhi tunu te mamae o tama."

6. Ma te haaiho te henua o ko- ngaa na to'o: "Singi ai teenei he- nua, he'e tau manu ba'e u'u." Ko- nei na tangi hano i ba'i 'aamonga. Nimaa tatae ki te henua e hitu ki- nai. Ma te haiho a Ngae e hai tona 'aamonga: " 'Ai tau mai!" 7. Ma te tau ake a 'Apakunga. Ma te hano a Ngae o totoha te baka o taa. Kae hingi e 'Apakunga te kaha. Aano nimaa 'oti mai e Ngae te baka, kae hakama'u mai e 'Apakunga te kaha. 8. Ngosingosi te baka o hingi te hata ki te mataa baka o te baka, hakamatapingi te kaha o hohonga ki te hata e i te mataa baka o ho- honga kinai te takapau o poghi ai te kaha. Kae boo mai a Ngae ma 'Apakunga i te baka ki te henua o Sangokiahungu.

9. Nimaa tatae mai kinai ma te hakakite'aki ai, ma te sopo iho a Sangokiahungu o hakamamata iho. Hinaiho o bengo tana kiakia ki te ngangi, kae tohu hoki O' ma kamu. 10. Ma te mataku a 'Apakunga, keu iho o hai atu kia Ngae o ko- ngaa na to'o: "Ou mata, Ngae, kabe

ish red. And Sangokiahungu came and asked his wife why his house was red. And his wife said: "Your two nephews measured [it]." 2. And [Sangokiahungu] said: "Where are [they]?" His wife said: "Gone to the main trail." And [he] said: "Gone recently or not?" And his wife said: "Gone recently." And so [he] chased them, and he killed [them].

3. And their mother, 'Apakunga, mourned and so went and asked for re- venge in all islands. There were seven lands. When her canoe reached an island, [she] sang a tangi as follows: 4. "One's canoe is good [?]. So many refused to help Kangokangonga'a. Heia [?]. 5. The core of my two sons has branched, Tangoputuputu and Tangosiahekaba. The sorrow, roasted yam, the pain of sons [?]."

6. And the people of the land talked and said the following: "Pass by this land, [here] are no creatures with biting limbs." And thus [she went] traveling and singing tangi in all islands. Then [she] came to the seventh land. And Ngae, who owned the island, said: "All right, land here!" 7. And 'Apakunga landed. And Ngae went and measured a tree for a canoe and cut [it]. And 'Apakunga plaited the sennit. When Ngae had finished the ca- noe, 'Apakunga lashed on the sennit. 8. [They] finished the canoe and lashed the platform to the bow of the canoe, and made a loop of the sennit and laid it out on the platform in the bow and spread a coconut-leaf mat over it, and covered the sennit with it. And Ngae and 'Apakunga came in the canoe to the land belonging to Sangokiahungu.

9. When arriving there [people] pointed to them and Sangokiahungu went down and attempted to attack. Went down and hurled his kiakia club towards the sky, and went back into his house and chewed betel. 10. And 'Apakunga became afraid, turned and talked to Ngae and spoke as follows: "Your eyes are mucus laden,

166

Page 182: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

sangi." Ma te hai atu a Ngae: "Manga ngungua una." Ma te hai ake a Ngae: "Hangaee tu'u mai, tahaainga!" Ma te tenge iho a Sa- ngokiahungu o sopo iho ki te taka- pau e iai te kaha. 11. Ma te lo- longi. Samu e Ngae te uka o niti ki te u'a, ma te tu'u mai a 'Apa- kunga o ngii e ia. Nimaa 'oti, senge e ia te unge o tona tunga'ane ke kai. Kongaa na tangi ake: "Aiauee, 'Apakunga, te mamae!" Ma te haaiho a 'Apakunga: "Konei aku hakangongonga ia ngu 'aku tama." Ma te senge e ia o kai.

TEXTS 59, 60

Ngae." And Ngae said: "Just two turtle shell hooks [?]." And Ngae said: "Ngae stands here. You and I will fight [?]!" And Sangokiahungu ran down, and went on to the mat where the sennit was. 11. And [he] fell down. Ngae grabbed the rope which was fastened round the neck [of Sangokiahungu], and 'Apakunga got up and she tied [the rope round Sango- kiahungu]. Then she cut off the penis of her brother to eat [it]. [Sangokiahunga] cried out a tangi like this: "Woe, 'Apa- kunga, pain!" And 'Apakunga said: "This is how I feel for my two sons." And she cut and ate [the penis].

NOTES Taupongi 1961 explained the many obscure points in this difficult text. 1. ngangaha te hange: The two nephews wanted to know how big their mother's brother's

house was, and measured its interior in fathoms by walking along the sides with outstretched arms.

hengohengo unga: The roof and posts of the house became brownish red because the turmeric of the two men's tapa stained them.

2. Sangokiahungu killed his two nephews because he suspected they had visited his house to have intercourse with his wife, their classificatory mother.

4. Taupongi was not sure of the meaning of the tangi, and this translation is only tentative, based on Taupongi's suggestions. The words are symbolical, and refer to the tale of Kango- kangonga'a, who asked Ten and his brothers for an adze to cut his canoe with (T57[A]). Te baka Tasi is probably a play on baka, which means canoe as well as the jointure of an adze handle. (For tangi, see N95.)

So many refused to help Kangokangonga'a: Taupongi 1961 said that 'Apakunga refers to this as a symbol of her own situation, as she is traveling about asking for help and not obtaining it before she reaches the last island.

5. nge aku: ngu 'aku (Taupongi 1961). 'uhi tunu: Taupongi did not know the meaning of this, but said that the idea probably was:

Ko ai kaa 'angoha i taku mamae 'anga i ngu 'aku tama? (Who will pity me in my pain because of [the loss of] my two sons?)

6. he'e tau manu ba'e u'u: this refers figuratively to a crab's claws, meaning that here are no people strong enough to revenge your sons.

8. hakamatapingi: to make a loop at the end of a rope. Taupongi 1961 explained that the platform was made so light that it would break if anyone stepped on it. The loop of the string was covered with a mat. Anyone stepping on the platform would fall into the loop and be caught. Taupongi laughed at this trick.

9. kiakia: same as tapingoba (a war club; Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 64 a, c). 10. mucus laden: Ngae is afraid.

ngungua: ngua. Ngae refers to himself as a person who is as unbreakable as two turtleshell hooks (ghau

una); these are pliant, not brittle (Taupongi 1961). Hangaee tu'u mai, tahaa'inga: Taupongi 1961 interpreted this to mean: Ko Ngae e tu'u

mai, kitaa hetau. He added: "This is the speech of the kakai. I don't know it." 11. Taupongi 1961 laughed when 'Apakunga cut off the brother's penis.

TM

60. Kai Pengea Eating People

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, February 1959. 1. Te 'aamonga na kai hakatau e

'Angokutume'a. Aano tenge ai a 1. 'Angokutume'a ate people of the

island one after another. So Momo'itooi

167

Page 183: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 60, 61

Momo'itooi o hingi tona hata i te u'a o te nga'akau o ma eke ai. 2. Ma te hakangongo iho te pengea e kongaa na ngenge ake mai te tungi, o kongaa na ngenge: 3. "Momo- 'itooi! Tupe iho he uka kau hinake ai na'e ko 'Angokutume'a e 'angu mai." 4. Hakangongo kinai a Mo^ mo'itooi ma te tengeu'a ake a Mo- mo'itooi te pengea tenge ma'u i te 'aamonga kua kai e 'Angokutu- me'a. Ma te tupe iho kinai e ia te uka o huhuti ake ai e ia. 5. Nimaa e'a taki ake; ko Angokutume'a ka ma toto na siku ngutu. Ma te mau'i a Momo'itooi i te uka o too iho a 'Angokutume'a o suki te tobigha ki te hatu o mate. E 'oti.

then ran [away] and plaited his platform in the crown of the tree and sat down on it. 2. And [he] heard a man shouting as follows from the base of the tree, the shouting was as follows: 3. "Momo'itooi! Throw down a rope, so I can come up on it, because 'Angokutume'a is chasing [me] here." 4. Momo'itooi listened to it, and Momo'itooi thought it was another person running away from the island whose people 'Angokutume'a had eaten. And he threw a rope down to him, and he pulled [him] up with it. 5. So [he] climbed up separately; it was 'Angoku- tume'a, and there was blood on the cor- ners of [his] mouth. And Momo'itooi let the rope go and 'Angokutume'a fell down and pierced his buttocks on a stone and died. Now finished.

NOTES Taupongi 1961 did not know the name of the island whose people 'Angokutume'a ate. He

laughed at 5. TM

61. Hatumanoko Hatumanoko

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, September 1960. 1. Ko Hatumanoko te kakai. Noko

hai tona 'atua ia 'Uinga. Noko hai te hai 'anga te hano i te anga i Ahanga ke hano ki tai. Tuku a 'Uinga, tona ngasuenga ki te ma- nganga'e. Nimaa pata ake i Nga- benga, hai ake kia Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga'ane ke boo iho kingatou, boo ki tai o utu ai. 2. Nimaa boo iho a Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga- 'ane ke tata'o ai ki tai, te ngasu- enga o Hatumanoko ia 'Uinga, manga kemo ai i te 'ungu o Hatu- manoko; ngiu a Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga'ane ki mungi i Ngabe- nga. 3. Nimaa i teengaa 'aso hano a 'Uinga i te 'ungu o Hatumanoko. Nimaa hinatu a Hatumanoko o ngenge ake ma'u ia Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga'ane kingatou boo hai kaui i tai. 4. Nimaa he'engiko iho ma'u a Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga- 'ane. Ko 'Uinga, tona ngasuenga,

1. Hatumanoko was a culture hero. He had Lightning ('Uinga) as his god. What he did was to go on the trail to Ahanga and go to the sea. He put Lightning, his district deity, on his forehead. When close to Ngabenga, [Hatumanoko] said to Ngua- tupu'a and her brother that they should go down, go to the sea and get food there. 2. So when Nguatupu'a and her brother went down in order to follow him out to sea, Lightning, the district god of Hatumanoko, then flashed on the head of Hatumanoko; [and] Nguatupu'a and her brother returned to the back of Nga- benga. 3. Then another day Lightning went to the head of Hatumanoko. Then Hatumanoko went and again shouted for Nguatupu'a and her brother that they should go and get fish from the sea. 4. Again Nguatupu'a and her brother ran down [to Hatumanoko]. Lightning, his district god, could not be seen on his head. And Nguatupu'a and her brother

168

Page 184: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

kua he'e kitea i te 'ungu. Ma te tata'o a Nguatupu'a ma tona tu- nga'ane ia Hatumanoko ki tai. Boo ungaunga a Hatumanoko, ka heta- ta'o'aki a Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga'ane. 5. Nimaa tu'u e Hatu- manoko te aba i te ngoghunga e i Ahanga o haha'o ai e ia na 'angongo (te kaui) o 'abaiho e ia kia Ngua- tupu'a. Ma te 'oso atu a Nguatupu'a ki te ngima o Hatumanoko o samu mai e ia o kai e kingaaua o kiki i na 'angongo noko 'abange kinai e Hatumanoko. 6. Ma te tapu ai na 'angongo kia Nguatupu'a ma tona tunga'ane o he'e kai ai na tama- ngiki i na 'angongo i ngaa 'aso.

TEXTS 61, 62

followed Hatumanoko to the sea. Hatu- manoko went fishing with a net, and Nguatupu'a and her brother went along too. 5. Then Hatumanoko set the net at the opening of the reef at the point at Ahanga, and he pulled some 'angongo fish in, and he gave [them] to Nguatu- pu'a. And Nguatupu'a took hold of Ha- tumanoko's hand and she pulled, and the two of them ate [Hatumanoko] together with the 'angongo fish which Hatumano- ko had given them. 6. And so 'angongo fish were sacred for Nguatupu'a and her brother, and children did not eat 'angongo fish in the old days.

NOTES 2. Nguatupu'a and her brother are afraid when they see Lightning in Hatumanoko's head and they run back to Ngabenga, the place where their two stone embodiments stand. 5. tu'u te aba: to set a net at the opening of the reef. 'angongo: a small fish, similar to the api but striped (Rennellese, 'agongo). kiki: to eat two or more kinds of food, such as taro and fish, at the same meal. The two gods here ate Hatumanoko together with the 'angongo.

TM

62. Tetinomanu Tetinomanu

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, July 19, 1961. 1. Ko Tetinomanu te hetu'u noko

hatu tena huaa mako, haka'eha'eha ki ngua ngima. Nimaa ta'aki tee- ngaa ngima hungi ai na henua. Ni- maa ta'aki teengaa ngima hungi ma'u ai. Ma te hatu kinai tena huaa mako. 2. Ma te 'ika'ika kinai a Tehu'aingabenga o taa totohi e ia te ngima e i bangika'ango o pulu ai te ngima. Ma te maasaki ai a Teti- nomanu o manga he'e hu'aihungi ai, ka manga kangi i na ta'aki 'anga a Tetinomanu.

3. Ka te tautupu'a nei te tautu- pu'a na kakai ma na 'atua, ka he'e te tautupu'a pengea. Teenei te huaa mako a Tetinomanu, na 'ika'ika ai e Tehu'aingabenga:

4. Hakaputu mai ki tou kena, ki tou timu ia na henua.

1. Tetinomanu was the star [group] which composed his huaa mako song honoring his two arms. When [he] lifted the one arm the lands were thereupon blown upon by hurricanes. When he lifted the other arm, there were also hurri- canes. And he composed his huaa mako to them [the arms]. 2. And Tehu'ai- ngabenga became angry with him and he hit and broke the arm which was in the north, and so this arm became short. And Tetinomanu thus became weak and so could not make big hurricanes, and there were storms only when Tetinomanu lifted [his arms].

3. But this story is a story belonging to culture heroes and gods, and not a story belonging to human beings. This is Tetinomanu's huaa mako which made Tehu'aingabenga angry:

4. Gather here to your scattering, to your devastating the lands.

169

Page 185: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 62, 63

'Umenge: Oku ngima tautai sa- 'enge oku ngima sanga 'uhi sa'enge.

Chorus: My hands advance fishing, my hands advance planting yams.

NOTES Taupongi told this story twice, first on Bellona on January 15, 1959, and again in Honolulu

on July 19, 1961. The two variants are exactly alike except that he had not given the huaa mako in the first variant; he mailed it to me in May 1959.

1. Tetinomanu: See N57(A) II. Taupongi said the stars were kakai (culture heroes). 3. Taupongi 1961 said that this story was not told too often; it was favored by gods and cul-

ture heroes, and had been told people on Bellona through a medium many generations ago. 4. hakaputu: Tetinomanu wants the gods to gather together and admire his two arms.

kena: scattered. Here, poetic for "stretched over the lands, one arm in the north and one in the south."

Chorus: Taupongi 1961 explained that Tetinomanu says that his arms are very powerful, the hurricanes being created by them; they extract fish from the sea by blowing, and plant yams on land by blowing on the soil.

TM

63. Te Tokagua Tamagiki The Two Children

Malacham Teikanoa of Hatagua, BE. March 24, 1958.

1. Teenei te tagatupu'a o te toka- gua tamagiki noko boo o huti agaa taaginga, o to'iho o tunubolu. 2. O sopo mai te hai maatu'a hahine, o hai mai ki gua tamagiki: "Ni aa augua e tununa?" 3. Hai atu gua tamagiki: "Na taaginga, ka ni aa kua hai?" Hai atu te tauiku hahine: "Ko au e 'aonga te kai 'aabaki?" 4. Hai atu gua tamagiki: "Ko koe 'aonga te kai 'aabaki." A'u te taui- ku hahine, o kai 'aabaki ai. Hai atu te tauiku: "Kai gaoi!" Hai atu ma'u: "E huti hea?" 5. Hai atu gua tama- giki: "E boo hekakei i te ga'akau pakupaku o huti i ona ga'a." 6. Hano te tauiku hahine o kake ai o biilage i teegaa ga'a, ma tohi te ga'a rne'a o too iho o semu, o teka aano, 'aga o hai mai: "Kau hoki o sasaga'ia kau taaina ke mamate!"

7. Namaa a'u o sopo hoki mai kinai ma tunu ma'u agaa me'a i te- gaa ahi, hai atu te tauiku hahine: "Ni aa agua e tununa?" 8. Hai atu ma'u gua tamagiki: "Na haasua. 'Ai ko 'isi he'e kite i na haasua?" Ma te hai atu te tauiku hahine: "Ko au e 'aonga te kai 'aabaki?" 9. Hai atu gua tamagiki: " 'Aonga te a'u o kai 'aabaki." Namaa kai 'aabaki te hai

1. This is the story of two children who went and picked their mushrooms and brought [some] down and broiled [them] in leaf packets. 2. An old lady came and said to the two children: "What are you two cooking there?" 3. The two children said: "Mushrooms, and what should be done about it?" The old lady said: "May I share eating?" 4. The two children said: "You may share eating." The old lady came and shared eating. The old person said: "Good food!" [She] also said: "Where picked?" 5. The two chil- dren said: "[We] go and climb the dried- up tree and pick from its branches." 6. The old lady went and climbed it and went out on the branches and the branch broke and [she] fell down and fainted and lay there and then got up and said: "I'll go and find [them] and I'll kill [them] dead!"

7. Then [she] came and got back to them, and they were cooking something again on their fire, and the old lady said: "What are you two cooking there?" 8. The two children said again: "Tridacnas. Is there anyone who hasn't seen Tridacnas?" And the old lady said: "May I share eat- ing?" 9. The two children said: "All right to come and share eating." When the old lady had shared eating, [she] said to the

170

Page 186: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 63, 64

maatu'a hahine, hai atu ki gua ta- magiki: "Kai gaoi! E kohea na hai augua haasua nei?" 10. Hai atu gua tamagiki: "E boo ki te tai o haa- mene omaa maninia i na ngutu o na haasua o sa'u ake o to'ake." Sui te tauiku o hano ki te tai, o kite tena haasua, o nao i te maninia, ma te ngau e te haasua te maninia, o noho o hakapata ki te gima kua a'u e te haasua, kae honu kinai te tai. Hano taha te tai i te tina'e, honu ake aano te tai, taha i te ha- tahata te tai. Honu ake aano. Taha i te u'a, hinake aano te tai, taha i te ngutu, hinake aano, tango na isu. Hinake aano tango na mata, hinake aano te tai, o tango te 'ugu o pau o noho ki te tai, o pau ai te punga. Kua 'oti.

two children: "Good food! How do you get these Tridacnas?" 10. The two chil- dren said: "We go to the sea and put our fingers into the mouths of the Tridacnas and bring out [the food] and bring [it] up." Then the old person went to the sea and found her Tridacna and prodded [it] with her finger, and the Tridacna bit her finger, and kept the hand, and the Tridacna bit, and the sea came in upon her. Then the sea came up to the stomach, and the sea kept rising and the sea reached her chest. And kept rising. Reached her neck, and the sea came on and reached her mouth, and kept rising, and covered her nose. Rising, [it] covered her eyes, and the sea kept rising and covered her head, and [she] stayed for- ever in the sea, and so became a round coral. Finished.

SE

64. 'Agohiti 'Agohiti

Malacham Teikanoa of Hatagua, RE. March 23, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o 'Agohiti ma

Higiaotuo. Te tangata ko Higiaotuo, ka te hahine ko 'Agohiti. Noko tokagua agaa kaainga, o hemama- 'o'aki. 2. O taugua baaogo atu a Higiaotuo kia 'Agohiti, te hahine, o hai atu: " 'Agohiti e, kau soosoo atu!"

3. Sui te hahine o tangi baaogo atu kinai, o hai atu: "Hakagata e koe Higiaotuo, moe konaa, moe konei. Ao tukua noko soosoo moi, soosoo moi."

4. Kae moso atu te tangata ki te hahine. Tangi baaogo atu ma'u te tangata ki te hahine: '"Agohiti e, kau soosoo atu!"

5. Sui te hahine o tangi baaogo atu kinai, o hai atu: "Hakagata e koe Higiaotuo, moe konaa, moe konei. Ao tukua noko soosoo moi, soosoo moi."

6. Kae moso atu te tangata ki te hahine aano hakapigi'aki o tahi ogaa kaainga. O pau o hai ai te ta- 'akinga. Kua 'oti.

1. The story of 'Agohiti and Higiao- tuo. The man was Higiaotuo and the woman was 'Agohiti. They had separate sleeping places, far apart. 2. Higiaotuo sang a hint to 'Agohiti, the woman, say- ing: '"Agohiti, I'm moving away!"

3. The woman sang a tangi hint then back to him, saying: "Doesn't matter for you, Higiaotuo, sleep there, sleep here. Never mind just move here-o, move here-o."

4. The man slept and moved over a little towards the woman. The man sang a tangi hint again to the woman: '"Ago- hiti, I'm moving over!"

5. The woman sang a tangi hint then back to him, saying: "Doesn't matter for you, Higiaotuo, sleep there, sleep here. Never mind just move here-o, move here-o."

6. And the man slept and moved over to the woman and then their sleeping places were adjoining and the same. And so [they] became a couple. Finished.

171

Page 187: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 64, 65

NOTES Taupongi 1961 made this story much more meaningful by explaining that the couple were

culture heroes, and brother and sister (or cousins), and that this was the first time that those in the tau relationship had slept together. He called the man, Pingiaotua. Taupongi taped his version. He considered moso (4, 6) a contraction of moe soo.

SE

65. Te Pegea i te 'Ana i Apa The Person in the Cave at Apa

Kagobai of Hutuna, RE. December 13, 1957. 1. Te pegea noko kakai i te 'ana i

Apa. Noko hai tena hai 'anga te ina aano ngague tena ihonga o hano, hano kae unu te 'ugu o tuku i te 'ana. Kae hano noko ma tau- tai te sehu aano. 2. Kae sui te pe- gea ki tona kunga kakai noko ma iai te 'ugu o huu. Hoki kinai te pegea, ka kua sui teegaa o huu te 'ugu. Kae hoki te pegea noko hai te 'ugu, o tootoobaasia aano mate. 3. Kae noho aano te 'ugu noko huu e teegaa sa'u iho kua malubu o hai ai te niu 'ui. Kua 'oti.

1. A person lived in a cave at Apa. It was his custom to go and get ready to go fishing, and to go and take off his head and leave [it] in the cave. Then to go on and go fishing and walk about. 2. But then a man [came] to his living place where the head was and hid [it]. The per- son came back there but the other [per- son] had hidden his head. The person who owned the head came back and was per- plexed and died. 3. The head that the other one had hidden stayed there and [he] took [it] and [it] had sprouted and turned into the green coconut. Finished.

NOTES Kagobai spent some time observing the activities in my house during my first day at Hutuna,

and the second day he came prepared with this story. Teu'a at Niupani asked on January 18 if I had written this story. Apa is between Kagaba and the easternmost point of Lughu Bay.

SE

172

Page 188: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 8. KAITU'U AND TAUPONGI

Thus far, there have been no human beings in the stories of the two islands, only deities and manlike culture heroes. Now man comes, led by Kaitu'u of 'Ubea, known to all the people of Rennell and Bellona and venerated by all of them except those few belonging to the Taupongi clan. Taupongi and six others came with Kaitu'u, but the descendants of all except Kaitu'u and Taupongi have perished, and the descendants of Taupongi live at the west end of tiny Bellona.

Perhaps this history of Rennell and Bellona should have begun with Kaitu'u, inas- much as he brought the gods to the two islands, and they, through their mediums, are said to have revealed much of what has been told in the preceding chapters.

Taupongi 1959 said that Kaitu'u was half man, and half god: Na pengea noko iai a Taupongi ma

Kaitu'u he'e na pengea ma'ongi pe na 'aso nei, ka na pengea e i na pa'asi ngua kia pengea ma na 'atua, ma ongatou ha- nohano, ioo i te hanau a Teika'ungua. loo hakakingi kia pengea o he'e hiina'i pa'asi ngua, ka ongatou 'atu mu'a noko hingohingo te hai ai na pengea ma na 'atua.

Persons such as Taupongi and Kaitu'u were not real human beings like [those] today, but people between human beings and deities, and so was their descent until the offspring of Te- ika'ungua. Then they took shape as human beings and no longer remained with two sides [forms] as had their earlier generations who were mixed, being human beings and deities.

In this chapter the hiti also are introduced. These are the people allegedly found by Kaitu'u on Rennell and Bellona whom he killed and ate. Much will be said about the hiti throughout the history, and Chapter 9 is concerned with stories of their encounters with each other and with the Rennellese and Bellonese.

66. Te Sasanga Henua 'anga The Search for Land

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. December 12-31, 1959. 1. Te sasanga henua 'anga noko

hai e Taupongi ma Tanga ma Ngoha ma Nikatemono ma Puka ma Sau ma To'a ma Suki ma Pua. Kongaa angatou me'a noko to'o mai 'Ubea- ngango: ngua hatu 'ungi ma te nganguenga, noko ingoa Teuse, ma te nganguenga noko ingoa Manga- ma'ubea ma te ma'ungitehenua. 2.

1. Taupongi and Tanga and Ngoha and Nikatemono and Puka and Sau and To'a and Suki and Pua made the search for land. These are the things which they brought from 'Ubeangango (West-'Ubea): two black stones and the temple named Teuse and the temple named Mangama- 'ubea and the life-of-the-land [staff]. 2. [They] came and arrived at the eastern

173

Page 189: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 66

Boo mai o tatae ki te 'Ubea ma- tangi, manga sehu ai te pengea, ma te hai atu a Tanga ma Pua: "Te pengea manga sehu manga ghootoi pe te hainga ahi noko sehu ma te ta'ahine, ma te tau ake kinai." 3. Ma te kongaa na hai atu a Tanga ma Pua: "Tehea tou ingoa?" Ma te hai atu: "Ko au Kaitu'u." Ma te hai atu Tanga ma Pua: "Tehea tou tinana?" 4. Ma hai atu a Kaitu'u: "Ko Ngoto." Hai atu a Tanga ma Pua: "Ngoto aano aa?" Ma te hai atu a Kaitu'u: "Ngotoniniu." Ma te hai atu a Tanga ma Pua: "Kohea ou tu'atinana?" Ma te hai atu a Kaitu'u: "Ko Tanga." 5. Ma te hai atu a Tanga ma Pua: "Tanga aano aa?" Ma te hai atu a Kaitu'u: "Tanga ma Pua." Ma te hai atu a Tanga ma Pua: "Ka kohea?" Ma te hai atu a Kaitu'u: "Na manga boo ngoa." 6. Ma te hai atu a Tanga ma Pua: "Songi tou noko kimaaua konei." Ma te kakabe iho e kingaa kia Tongo, tona tu'aatina haka- pingi, ma te 'ui o boo mai i te 'Ubea matangi.

7. Tatae mai ki Nguahutuna ma te hetaa'aki ai a To'a ma Suki ma te 'aamonga; mata ake e te baka, kae kemo iho ngua punge tahua, aano he'e kitea tasi. 8. Ma te hai atu a Suki: "Te kaa manga lungi nei i na tangipou tau'a a toku tu- puna." Ma te tenge a Suki ki te Hutuna 'angunga; hano hetaa'aki iho, aano nimo ma'u tena punge tahua. 9. Ma te sosopo mai a Tongo ma Kaitu'u ki te tino baka, ma te boo mai o tatae mai ki Henuatai. Ma te tai maase'i, ma te mene te hatu 'ungi, ma te tau te baka ki 'angunga i Henuatai o kini ai te tunguti ghaghae o sui ai te hatu 'ungi, ma te momoe i te manaha.

10. Ma te hai atu a Tongo: "Ke hakapupungu ni 'atua kitatou mangu ai." Ma te tengeu'a a Kaitu'u ki te miti a te tinana, Ngoto, ma te hai atu

'Ubea, where a person was strolling, and Tanga and Pua said: "The person just strolling resembles the fire maker [the pregnant one], [our] sister who went away and landed here." 3. And Tanga and Pua said as follows: "What is your name?" And [he] said: "I am Kaitu'u." And Tanga and Pua said: "Who is your mother?" 4. And Kaitu'u said: "Ngoto." Tanga and Pua said: "Ngoto, and what more?" And Kai- tu'u said: "Ngotoniniu." And Tanga and Pua said: "Who are your uncles (mother's brothers)?" And Kaitu'u said: "Tanga." 5. And Tanga and Pua said: "Tanga, and who more?" And Kaitu'u said: "Tanga and Pua." And Tanga and Pua said: "But where [are they]?" And Kaitu'u said: "Left long ago." 6. And Tanga and Pua said: "May we embrace your entrails here." And they took [him] to Tongo, his classificatory uncle, and they cast off away from the eastern 'Ubea and came this way.

7. [They] reached Nguahutuna (Two- Hutuna), where To'a and Suki fought with the people of the island; and people in the canoe looked up, and two tahua cowries flashed down, and [suddenly] one could not be seen. 8. And Suki said: "[We] will just eat scraps here in the de- serted battlefields of my ancestor." And Suki ran up inland to Hutuna; [he] went and fought, and his tahua cowrie dis- appeared also. 9. And Tongo and Kaitu'u boarded the main hull [of the double] canoe, and came and reached Henuatai (Marine-land). And the sea was rough, and the black stone sank [into the sea], and the people of the canoe came ashore at Henuatai, where [they] hammered and broke a stalactite and replaced the black stone with it, and slept in the neighbor- hood.

10. And Tongo said: "Let's call some deities so that we can be protected." And Kaitu'u thought of the dream of Ngoto, his mother, and Kaitu'u said: "My deity

174

Page 190: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 68

a Kaitu'u: "Toku 'atua ko Tehu'ai- ngabenga, o 'atua ngangi ia Tehai- nga'atua." 11. Ma te hai atu a Tau- pongi kia Kaitu'u: "Puai te kai hingi o niho 'unga!" Ma te hai atu a Taupongi: "To'oku ko Singano, 'atua ngangi ma'u i Tehainga'atua." 12. Ma te hai atu a Tongo: "To'oku ko Hu'aitekongo, 'atua ngangi ma'u ia Tehainga'atua." Hai atu aNgoha: "To'oku ko Singano, 'atua ngangi ma'u ia Tehainga'atua." Hai atu a Tanga: "To'oku ko Tepou, 'atua ngangi ia Nguatupu'a and Tepou- tu'uingangi." 13. Hai atu a Nikate- mono: "To'oku ko Tehu'ainga- benga, 'atua ngangi ia Tehainga- 'atua." Hai atu a Puka: "To'oku ko Tehu'aingabenga, 'atua ngangi ia Sikingimoemoe." Hai atu a Sau: "To'oku ko Baabenga, 'atua ngangi ia Tehainga'atua."

14. Ma te tau ake te baka o 'ati ngongo ko Tu'ataa; kua kaukau e ia Tesukingua i 'Ubea, ka kua mate ai. Ma te tutu'u ko ba'i pengea o sao baka ki te tai, kae hai ake: "Toku hahine ko Tengenga." 15. Sao ma'u teengaa baka o hai ake ma'u: "Toku hahine ko Tengenga." Te kaubaka noko hakapupungu e kingatou ia Tengenga. Noko ngau; kua 'oti ki te tai. Ma te toe te ha'u- ngua i 'angunga o manga haka- pata kinai a Tongo ma Kaitu'u. 16. Ma te toso e Tongo ma Kaitu'u, ma te mamaha ma te tuu'ungu ake a Tongo o kongaa na hai ake: "Tehai- nga'atua ma tou tuhahine, kake'aki mai oungua anga hano ke baalaghe atu ai toungua eketanga." 17. Ma te mu'ake te ngangu a Tehainga- 'atua o sehu, aano hoki iho o manga hakamakuku iho te ha'ungua. Mu- ngi ake te ngangu a Sikingimoemoe o sehu, aano tata iho e ia te ha'u- ngua ki te tai.

18. Nimaa boo iho a Tongo ma Kaitu'u, te kaubaka kua lolongi o 'oti. Ka manga toe to'o Taupongi. Ma te uta e Tongo te tangata ma tona unguungu i teengaa sa'a.

is Tehu'aingabenga, and [my] heavenly deity is Tehainga'atua." 11. And Tau- pongi said to Kaitu'u: "[You] are showing how to select the [best] food and have got hermit-crab teeth!" And Taupongi said: "Mine is Singano, and [my] heav- enly deity is also Tehainga'atua." 12. Tongo said: "Mine is Hu'aitekongo, and [my] heavenly deity is also Tehainga- 'atua." Ngoha said: "Mine is Singano, and [my] heavenly deity is also Tehainga- 'atua." Tanga said: "Mine is Tepou, and [my] heavenly deities are Nguatupu'a and Tepoutu'uingangi." 13. Nikatemono said: "Mine is Tehu'aingabenga, and [my] heavenly deity is Tehainga'atua." Puka said: "Mine is Tehu'aingabenga, and the heavenly deity is Sikingimoemoe." Sau said: "Mine is Baabenga, and [my] heav- enly deity is Tehainga'atua."

14. And a canoe came ashore and told about Tu'ataa; he had poured water [cer- emonially] over Tesukingua in 'Ubea and so had died. And all the people then took the canoes through the reef out to the sea and said: "Tengenga is my wom- an." 15. And another canoe went through the reef, and [the people on board] said once more: "Tengenga is my woman." All the canoes claimed Tengenga as theirs. There were one hundred [people]; all were out to sea. Only the double canoe was left on the shore, and only Tongo and Kaitu'u stayed upon it. 16. Tongo and Kaitu'u pulled, but [it was] heavy, and Tongo prayed and spoke as follows: "Te- hainga'atua and your sister, climb upon your road to travel on and float your resting place." 17. Tehainga'atua's wave came first and moved [over the beach] and returned and barely moved the double canoe down. Then the wave of Sikingi- moemoe came and moved [over the beach], and it dragged the double canoe out to sea.

18. When Tongo and Kaitu'u came out, the whole fleet of canoes had sunk. Only the one belonging to Taupongi was left. And Tongo took on board a man and his wife of another clan.

175

Page 191: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 66

19. Ma te manga konei na uta hano e Tongo ko ba'i sa'a. Ma te hai ake te hahine mai sa'a Tanga: "Baaghabu ko ba'i sa'a, ka to'oku sa'a te kaa hiti nei." 20. Ma te uta e Tongo a sa'a Tanga i te ha'ungua o tokahitu. Ma te boo mai ngua baka, mu'a te ha'ungua, kae mungi to'o Taupongi. Nimaa sasa'o ki te maa- se'inga songo mungi te ha'ungua sui to'o Taupongi o mu'a. 21. Hano a Taupongi o ngakau i te maase- 'inga ngenge mai ki te ha'ungua. Hinatu te ha'ungua o tatae atu ki te baka o Taupongi, ma te sui o manga mu'a te baka o Taupongi o tuiaki anga ki te ha'ungua.

22. Hinake, aano tu'u ki Ahanga i te gano o a'u i te bangika'ango o Mungaba. A'u aano e'a iho i te utua i Kangiata ma te tu'u a Mu- ngiki nei. 23. Ma te hai ake a Ta- hasi, noko1 iai te 'atua: "Ooooho!" Tu'u a Mungiki. Te'itoo mate te ingoa o Mungiki, ka teengaa te ingoa 0 konei mai nga'aso, ko Tenuku- mangongo. 24. Ma te hai ake a Te- hu'aingabenga: " 'Ai tomaa kenge- kenge ma tupuna. Te manga ngoi- ngoi kinai." Ma te boo mai ngua baka ki konei o tatae mai ki Mata- henua ma te too ai a Kaitango ki 'angunga. Ma te hai ake a Kai- tango: "Teenei to'oku kunga i te kengekenge o Semoana." 25. Ma te singi mai ngua baka, tatae mai ki Ma'unga. Hai ake a Sikingimoe- moe: "Teenei to'oku taaunga i te kengekenge o Semoana." Ma te too a Sikingimoemoe ki 'angunga i Ma'unga. 26. Singi mai ngua baka ma'u, tatae mai ki 'One. Too a Ngaumataki'one ki 'angunga. Singi mai ngua baka, nimaa sosopo iho i te utua i 'Onetea. 27. Ma te hii- na'i ake ngua baka, ko Nguatupu'a ma tena tunga'ane, manga lango iho 1 Ahanga. Ma te hai atu a Tongo: "Ta! 'Ai teenei te kunga manga ngongoaa." 28. Ma te tau ngua baka ki 'angunga, boo ake o lango

19. And in this way Tongo went on picking up all the clans. And the woman of the Tanga clan said: "Every clan now survives, each through one couple [baa- ghabu], but my clan will die out." 20. And Tongo picked up the Tanga clan in the double canoe, and [they] were now seven. And then the two canoes came this way, the double canoe in front and, behind, the one belonging to Taupongi. When [they] met rough seas, the double canoe fell astern and so the one belonging to Taupongi was ahead. 21. Taupongi went on and passed the rough sea and shouted to the double canoe. The double canoe went on and reached Taupongi's canoe, but now Taupongi's canoe was in front, and showed the way for the double canoe.

22. [They] came and reached Ahanga at the lake and came to the north side of Rennell. Came on and came out from the point at Kangiata, and Bellona here appeared. 23. Tahasi, in whom was the god, said: "Ooooho!" Bellona appeared. Then was first called the name Mungiki, but the name of this place in ancient times was Tenukumangongo (The-un- known-abode). 24. Tehu'aingabenga said: "This soil belongs to me and my grand- father. [Tahasi] is just telling lies about it." And the two canoes came and ar- rived at Matahen.ua, and Kaitango jumped ashore there. Kaitango said: "This is my place, in the soil of Semoana." 25. The two canoes passed on and reached Ma- 'unga. Sikingimoemoe said: "This is my resting place, in the soil of Semoana." And Sikingimoemoe jumped ashore at Ma'unga. 26. The two canoes passed on again and reached 'One. Ngaumataki'one jumped ashore. The two canoes passed on [and] came out at the point at 'Onetea. 27. And the two canoes saw Nguatupu'a and her brother just walking down from Ahanga. And Tongo said: "Oh! This is the place heard of a long time." 28. And the two canoes came ashore, [people] went up and walked about in Ahanga and danced their suahongi. And Sobiki listened to them and went down and spied on them. When the suahongi was about to end, Sobiki returned [to his settle-

176

Page 192: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 66

aano i Ahanga, ma te hai tangatou suahongi. Ma te hakangongo iho kinai a Sobiki, ma te hinaiho1 o nge- po kinai. Suahongi aano ma 'oti, hoki a Sobiki o 'ati ngongo i te lango 'anga i tai. Ma te momoe ake te la- ngo 'anga i tai. 29. 'Aoina o to'o ngua hatu 'ungi o boo ake o 'amo o boo i te potu. Hinake ai te tai o ta- ta'O' i ngua hatu 'ungi. To'o ngua hatu 'ungi o tanu i Sangungu'eteaki. 30. Ma te hinake te tai o hetaiake ki te manaha noko iai ngua hatu 'ungi; ma te hai ake a Tongo: "Kaa mi'i- me'a te 'aamonga ke noho'aki ai te hakatu'u hitu noko boo* mai." 31. Ma te unuunu e Tongo ngua hatu 'ungi o hoki mai, kae hoki te tai. Tatae ki Ngabenga o sukisuki ai ngua hatu 'ungi. Kae tuha te haka- tu'u hitu o kakai i Mungiki nei. 32. Teengaa te sa'a noko taha ki ngua hatu 'ungi, ko te sa'a Ngoha. Tee- ngaa te hu'aimanaha o te sa'a Ngo- ha, ko Hangebakatapu. 33. Hai te hu'aimanaha o Taupongi i Mata- baingei. Hai te hu'aimanaha o sa'a Puka i Tangika. Hai te hu'aima- naha o sa'a Sau i Tangakitonga. Hai te hu'aimanaha o Tongo i 'Utumaaua. 34. Hai te hu'aimanaha o Mono (Nikatemono) i Hange- mangama. Hai te hu'aimanaha o Tanga i Manga'engua. 35. 'Oti te hakatu'u hitu i na manaha nei. Kae noho a Kaitu'u i Peka.

36. Nimaa hingi te hata seu o Tongo i 'Ungungaia o seu ai tena ngau ngupe, 'abange ma'a hiti te launatasi. Hinaiho o moe o 'aoina o hoki o seu ma'u, seu ma'u ai tena ngau ngupe, 'abange ma'u ma'a hiti te launatasi. Hoki iho ma'u o moe, o 'aoina hinake, tona seu haka- tongu, seu ma'u ai teengaa ngau ngupe, nimaa hoki iho i te hata o 'abange ma'u te me'a e tasi a hiti. 37. Ma te taa e hiti, noko manga nge'o tungi hata, kinai. Ma te ma- ngepe ai a Kaitu'u.

ment] and told about the party of trav- elers at the coast. And the party of trav- elers slept at the coast. 29. Daylight came and [they] took the two black stones and went up and carried [the stones] on shoul- ders and went along the trail. The sea came up and followed the two black stones. [They] took the two black stones and planted them in Sangungu'eteaki. 30. And the sea came up and reached the settlement in which the two black stones were; and Tongo said: "This is- land is becoming too small for the seven originals who came here to stay on." 31. And Tongo pulled up the two black stones and came back here, and the sea retired. [Tongo] arrived at Nga- benga and set up the two black stones there. And the seven originals divided [the island] and lived here on Bellona. 32. The clan living near the two black stones was Ngoha. The large settlement of the Ngoha clan was Hangebakatapu. 33. Taupongi had its large settlement in Matabaingei. The Puka clan had its large settlement in Tangika. The Sau clan had its large settlement in Tangakitonga. Tongo had its large settlement in 'Utu- maaua. 34. Mono (Nikatemono) had its large settlement in Hangemangama. Tanga had its large settlement in Manga'engua. 35. All the seven originals [lived] in these settlements. And Kaitu'u lived in Peka.

36. Tongo's platform for netting doves was lashed [in a tree] in 'Ungungaia, and there he netted his hundred doves, and gave one to the hiti. [He] went down and slept, and daylight came, and [he] re- turned and netted more, netted again his hundred doves and gave again one for the hiti. [He] went down again and slept, and daylight came and [he] climbed up for his third netting, netted again another hundred doves and went down from the platform and again gave one to the hiti. 37. And the hiti who were keeping watch underneath the platform killed him. And Kaitu'u mourned him.

177

Page 193: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 66

38. Hano a Kaitu'u o mene ki te ngua hiti i Sungaghina. Kaunaki e Kaitu'u ia hiti o 'aa i na tino niu. Tau ponga ma'u e hiti o 'oti, kae hai atu a Kaitu'u kia hiti o hai atu: "Boo mai o neneke mai te tino niu 0 hungi mai kia te au, kau mate ai!" 39. Ma te tutu'u mai te tino- ngima hiti o neneke te tino niu, o hungi kinai, ma te nguti i na tino niu, noko mataa tanu O' ngenge hoki mai o lango e ia te tinongima hiti. 40. Ma te hai atu ma'u a Kaitu'u: "Kua tupe maase'i mai e koutou teenei. Kae boo atu o neneke mai teengaa tino niu o mahu mai kia te au." 41. Tutu'u mai te tinongima noko toe o neneke te tino niu o mahu kinai ma'u, ma te nguti ma'u te tino niu i na tino niu noko mataa tanu o ngenge hoki ma'u o lango ma'u teengaa tinongima noko toe. Mamate o 'oti te ngau o hiti noko 1 Sungaghina.

42. Sopo ake a Kaitu'u i te ngua o hano matangi, kite i te tokangua hiti, noko boo mai i te 'ana i Ta- puna, e to'o mai tengaa tunu sasa- be, ma te hai atu a Kaitu'u ki ngua hiti: "Koungua e boo mai hea?" 43. Ma te hai atu ngua hiti: "Kimaaua e boo mai Tapuna." Ma te hai atu ma'u a Kaitu'u: "Koungua e boo ki hea?" 44. Ma te hai atu ngua hiti: "Kimaaua e boo ki Sunga- ghina." Ma te hai atu a Kaitu'u: "Po e hia autou hatu nge'o i Ta- puna?" Ma te pake atu ngua hiti o hai atu: "E tokatongu amatou hatu nge'o." 45. Ma te huu e ki- ngaaua te hatu e tokahaa kinai. Ma te taa e Kaitu'u ngua hiti, kae kai e ia tangaa tunu sasabe.

46. Ma te iho a Kaitu'u i Ma- ngokuna o biilange i tai te tau'a ki Tapuna. Nimaa sopo ake a Kaitu'u ki te tungi anga, ma te hakangongo kake e Kaitu'u manga taungua iho, o kongaa na taungua iho a hiti: "Ki ngoto, ki ngoto, te makongi." 47. Hano te hiti e moe taha o moe ngoto. Ma te hiina'i iho a hiti kia

38. Kaitu'u went and entered the hiti's pit in Sungaghina. Kaitu'u told the hiti to make a fence of coconut trunks. The hiti also covered the whole [fence] with leaves, and Kaitu'u talked to the hiti and said: "Come here and bring a trunk and throw it against me so that I'll die." 39. And then the fifty hiti rose and lifted a coconut trunk up and threw it towards him, and [it] hit the trunks that had first been planted as a fence and flew back and it swept aside the fifty hiti. 40. And Kaitu'u said again: "You threw this badly. But now go and take up another coconut trunk and throw it towards me." 41. The fifty hiti who were left then took a coco- nut trunk and threw [it] again towards him, and again the coconut trunk hit the coconuts that had first been planted [as a fence] and flew back again and once more swept aside the other fifty hiti who were left. All the hundred hiti in Sunga- ghina were dead.

42. Kaitu'u went up from the pit and went eastward and saw two hiti who had come from the cave in Tapuna, bringing their roasted flying fish, and Kaitu'u said to the two hiti: "Where do you come from?" 43. And the two hiti said: "We come from Tapuna." And Kaitu'u said again: "Where are you two going?" 44. And the two hiti said: "We are going to Sungaghina." And Kaitu'u said: "How many are your stones for defense in Ta- puna?" And the two hiti deceitfully said: "We have three stones for defense." 45. And they kept silent about the fourth stone. And Kaitu'u killed the hiti and he ate their roasted flying fish.

46. And Kaitu'u went down to Mango- kuna and walked along the coast to fight against Tapuna. Then Kaitu'u went up to the bottom of the trail [leading from the coast up to Tapuna] and, climbing, Kai- tu'u heard a song coming down, and the hiti sang it as follows: "To the middle, to the middle, the makongi dance." 47. The hiti who lay at the end went and lay

178

Page 194: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 66

Kaitu'u ma te 'a'anga na hiti o hai saka iho kia Kaitu'u o kongaa angatou to'o: "Ko niho 'unga!" 48. Ma te tenge ake kinai a Kaitu'u ma te hungi iho kinai e kingatou te hatu, ma te hakataha kae singi te hatu ma te tenge ake ma'u kinai. 49. Hungi iho ma'u te hatu ma te hakataha ma'u, kae singi. Tenge ake ma'u, hungi iho ma'u te hatu e tongu kinai, ma te hakataha kae singi. 50. Ma te tengeu'ake a Kai- tu'u kua 'oti te tokatongu hatu, noko hongahonga e ngua hiti, na taa e ia. Ma te tenge ake ma'u, ma te ngengema'ungi i te hinaiho ma'u te hatu. 51. Ma te hetapa a Kaitu'u o hai ake: "Tou tokotoko, toku tinana!" Ma te bengo ake tena tapa- nihutu, ma te linganga ai te hatu. 52. Ma te tutu'u a hiti o ebe to- ngatou 'ana, kae tatae ake a Kai- tu'u; kua ebe tongatou 'ana. Kua sue teengaa pa'asi i te 'ana ki Sa- 'amoa, kae tupe teengaa pa'asi ki Tebainu'ia, kae tupe teengaa pa- 'asi ki tai. 53. Ma te toe teengaa pa'asi, ma te tatae ake a Kaitu'u o taa e ia. Ma te he'angiko kongaa, kae too teengaa ki te tai, ma te nganiabi ma tona linga o nono'a ki te u'a. 54. Kae tapa ingoa ake kia Kaitu'u o hai ake: "Niho 'unga! Niho popo!" Ma te hai atu a Kai- tu'u: "Ko koe nimaa tau ki Sa- ngakiniua o sika ma'au he ahi o muumungu ai, ma te hinatu au o sasau ia te koe." 55. Ma te kakau te hiti o tatae ki Mungaba o sika tana ahi i Sangakiniua o muumungu ai. Ma te ngahita te pengea; nimaa sisinga ake ko Kaitu'u manga tu'u, ma te taa e ia.

56. Ma te hoki mai ki Mungiki nei o taa ma'u e ia te kakai 'anga a hiti e i Teahaa o tau ma na hiti i Tetau'aahiti. Hano ia ma'u o taa kongaa noko i Teahaa. 57. Tuku tona sa'a i Peka ma Ghongau, kae hano ki Mungaba o hai ai tona henua. Kae noho a sa'a Taupongi ma na sa'a e ingoa te hakatu'u hitu

down in the middle. And the hiti looked down to Kaitu'u, and the hiti got up and gave an insulting name to Kaitu'u and they spoke as follows: "Hermit-crab teeth!" 48. And Kaitu'u ran up to them, and they threw a stone down towards him, and [he] jumped aside and the stone missed, and he ran farther up to them. 49. [And they] threw down once more a stone, and [he] jumped aside, and [the stone] missed. [He] ran farther up, and [they] threw a stone down again, the third, and [he] stepped aside, and [it] missed. 50. And Kaitu'u thought that the three stones which the two hiti whom he had killed had told [him] about were now used up. And [he] ran up again and was surprised when another stone came down. 51. And Kaitu'u called [his mother] and said: "Your staff, my mother." And his tapanihutu stick speared the stone and it fastened on it. 52. And then the hiti de- stroyed their cave, and Kaitu'u came up; their cave was destroyed. One side was tossed from the cave to Sa'amoa, and another side thrown to Tebainu'ia, and an- other side thrown into the sea. 53. And one side was left, and Kaitu'u came up and he killed [the hiti]. And some ran away, and another jumped into the sea with a fire-plow and its fire stick, and tied [it] to his neck. 54. And [he] gave a nick- name to Kaitu'u and said: "Hermit-crab teeth! Rotten teeth!" And Kaitu'u said: "When you reach Sangakiniua you rub a fire and heat [yourself] by it, and I will come and hit you." 55. And the hiti swam and reached Rennell and he rubbed fire in Sangakiniua and heated [himself] by it. And [he] caught a glimpse of a man; when [he] turned his head Kaitu'u was just standing there, and he [Kaitu'u] killed [the hiti].

56. And [Kaitu'u] returned here to Bellona and again he killed, [this time] the hiti people in Teahaa, and [he and] the hiti fought in Tetau'aahiti. He went again and killed some staying in Teahaa. 57. He started his clan in Peka and Gho- ngau, and went to Rennell and obtained land there. And the Taupongi clan and [all] the clans called the seven originals

179

Page 195: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 66

i Mungiki nei. 58. Aano tuku te sa'a Taupongi o noho i Mungiki nei, kae hano o tuku ma'u tona sa'a i TaumakO', noko songi ngatahi ai a sa'a Iho ma Taumako kia Ekei- tehua, te ngasuenga o Taupongi.

59. Namaa mating! te hanohano o te hakatu'u hitu ma te hanohano o Kui. Nimaa hai te hanau a Tau- pongi, te pengea o te sa'a Kaitu'u, 0 tokahitu ke angai ai te hakatu'u hitu. 60. Ma te pangepange e te hakatu'u hitu ia Taupongi ma tena hanau o boo ki Mungaba. 61. Hii- na'i aano hai ake a Manu ma Tau- ngangisi i Mungaba, hai ake: "Tee- ngaa kunga kenge ko Mungiki, ka taka ma te hakatu'u hitu."

62. Ma te ngiu mai a Manu ma Taungangisi ki Mungiki nei o hai tongaa manaha i Kongopeko. Hii- na'i aano ai, nimaa hai tena ta'u polo, hakamatakutaku a te haka- tu'u hitu ia Manu o kake launatasi 1 te tupu te ngau niu. 63. O ma- kungikungi te tina'e i te tupu ngima; kae hai te ngau niu o hakahingi- hingi ai te tina'e o kake i teengaa tupu ngima. Nimaa 'oka tena ta'u polo, tutu'u mai te hakatu'u hitu o 'oka hungi e kingatou, kae 'oka hakakangibi e ia o hai tena mano.

64. Nimaa taa e sa'a Nikatemano te taukuka, hoo e kingatou te pungu o hakatutungu kinai e kingatou ma to to ghapoli ma na toto samabuti o taa ai e sa'a Nikatemono te tau- kuka o Manu. Nimaa kobia te tau- kuka o Manu, bengati ai aano ma te mate ai. 65. 'Oti te mam ate a Manu ma Taungangisi, noho'aki tongaa hanohano o 'eha.

66. Punge ma'u kinai te tau'a a te hakatu'u hitu o naha ngima o boo kingatou o taa na hakahua o te sa'a Kaitu'u. Kongaa na ingoa o na hakahua, noko taa e kingatou: ko Tengangi, te pengea o Ghongau; ko Temangu'aamonga, te pengea o Ghongau; ko Tangata, te pengea o

stayed here on Bellona. 58. And Tau- pongi made a clan and stayed here on Bellona, but went also and started his clan in Taumako, and so both the Iho [Taupongi] clan and Taumako worshipped Ekeitehua, the district god of Taupongi.

59. And then the lines of the seven originals produced offspring and [also] the line of Kui. When Taupongi, a man of the Kaitu'u clan, had offspring, he had seven [sons] as counterparts to the seven originals. 60. And the seven originals drove Taupongi and his offspring away, and [they] went to Rennell. 61. They lived there and Manu and Taungangisi con- versed on Rennell and said: "Another place that has soil is Bellona, but the seven originals have claimed that it is theirs."

62. And Manu and Taungangisi re- turned here to Bellona and made their settlement in Kongopeko. Stayed there, and when having many coconuts, the seven originals frightened Manu into climbing alone a hundred coconut trees. 63. [And he] tore [his] belly from [climb- ing] fifty [trees]; and [he] took a coconut leaf and plaited it round his stomach and climbed up into another fifty. When he husked many nuts, the seven originals started and they husked them completely, but he [Manu] husked so that some of the husk was left and got his thousand [nuts on strings].

64. When the Nikatemono clan beat the taukuka tattoo, they made the dye and they dropped into it some ghapoli tree sap and some samabuti tree sap, and with this the Nikatemonoi clan made Manu's taukuka tattoo. When Manu's taukuka had healed [he] itched from it, and then died from it. 65. So Manu and Taungangisi were dead, but their line lived and flourished.

66. The seven originals again planned an attack with five victims and they went and killed the chiefs of the Kaitu'u clan. These are the names of the chiefs whom they killed: Tengangi, a man from Gho- ngau; Temangu'aamonga, a man from Ghongau; Tangata, a man from Nukui- tu'a. 67. Teikangongo ran away, and Ma-

180

Page 196: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 66

Nukuitu'a. 67. Tenge a Teika- ngongo, kae sui a Makiu, te pengea ma'u o te sa'a Kaitu'u. Tenge ma'u te naha, ia Ngongotaka, noko i 'Angohi, kae ta'ia a Teika'ungua o sui ai. 68. Ma te matataku o he'angiko tona toe ki mouku o Tema'ungaohiti o mating! ai. Ma te he'e tau me'a kai, manga taa anga- tou puli i na 'ana o kai. Ma te haka- ingoa atu e te sa'a Taupongi a Ghongau, ko Ghopuli. 69. A'u a Teikangongo na tenge i te tau'a o hai atu: "Ke hakanoka te taunga, noko to'o mai 'Ubea, ka ke taka na tau tuhahine, ke 'eha hold ai te sa'a Kaitu'u." 70. Ma te taka ai na tau tuhahine, ke 'eha hoki ai te sa'a Kaitu'u, koi hano i na 'aso nei te taka na tania a na hai tuhahine ma na tama'ahine a na hai tunga'ane. 71. Teenei te taunga mai 'Ubea, na hakanoka e Teikangongo i Tema- 'ungaohiti, o 'eha hold ai te sa'a Kaitu'u. 'Oti i te 'eha, kae hakahoki o kakai i te tino henua o hano- hano ai.

72. Nimaa ko Te'ungutiange ma te taina, a Taupongi, hetata'i. Ko- ngu e Taupongi ia tona ta'okete o 'ui mai ai mai Ghongau o hai tona manaha i Hangekumi o hai tona hosa ia Teikangongo. 73. O hai te hosa o Teikangongo ia Saungongo. Hai tona manaha i Tongaba, o hai ai tena hanau ia Sanga'eha ma Te- 'ungutiange ma Takiika ma Taai- kangongo ma Tangaibasa ma Sa- 'engeahe. 74. Namaa 'oti i te hiti hano na sa'a, kae toe 'iti'iti te sa'a Taupongi. Kakahi mai a Saungongo kia Baiango o hetata'i. Hano a Bi- ako o kaia'a e ia te ta'u 'uhi a Bai- ango, a'u o hongahonga e ia kia Saungongo. Ngiu ma'u kinai, si- singa ake i Matabaingei, ko Bai- ango he'e kitea. 75. Nimaa boo atu ki Nukungango, he'e kitea. Ma te boo ake ke kaia'a te ta'u 'uhi;

kiu, also a member of the Kaitu'u clan, was [killed] instead. And the victim, Ngo- ngotaka, who lived in 'Angohi, also ran away, and Teika'ungua was killed, and in this way replaced him. 68. And the rest became friglitened and ran away to the bush at Tema'ungaohiti and had children there. But there was nothing to eat, so they killed barebacked fruit bats in the caves and ate. And the Taupongi clan gave the name Ghopuli to Ghongau. 69. Teikangongo, who had run away [to the bush] during the fight, came and said: "Let us put an end to the ban on mar- riage of tau relatives [which] was brought from 'Ubea, and let us marry [classifica- tory] sisters so as to make the Kaitu'u clan large again." 70. And so males mar- ried their [classificatory] sisters so as to enlarge once more the Kaitu'u clan, and marriages between sons of the [male's] sisters and the daughters of the [female's] brothers go on even today. 71. This was the marriage restriction from 'Ubea to which Teikangongo put an end in Tema- 'ungaohiti, and in this way the Kaitu'u clan became large again. After becoming large, the clan returned [from the bush] to the cultivated interior of the island and carried on the line.

72. Then Te'ungutiange and his younger brother Taupongi quarreled. Tau- pongi beat his older brother and [Tau- pongi] accordingly broke away from Gho- ngau and made his settlement, Hange- kumi, and had a son, Teikangongo. 73. And Teikangongo had a son, Saungongo. He made his settlement in Tongaba and there had his offspring, namely Sanga'eha and Te'ungutiange and Takiika and Ta- aikangongo and Tangaibasa and Sa- 'engeahe. 74. Then all the clans had died out, and there was little left of the Tau- pongi clan. Saungongo went on a raid against Baiango [of the Taupongi clan] and they fought a duel [with words]. Bia- ko [from Ghongau] went away and he stole the yams [of the garden] belonging to Baiango, and he [Biako] came and told Saungongo about it. [Saungongo] also went back to it [the yam garden] and passed Matabaingei, [but] Baiango was

181

Page 197: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 66

nirnaa tatae ake kinai, hai atu a Biako: "Konei nga aku ngesu 'uhi." 76. Nimaa kengi iho e kingatou, totongo mai kinai a Baiango, ma te tao e tasi, ke suki & ia kia Sau- ngongo. Ma te kite e Tukungei ia Baiango. Ma te hakatapa mai kia Saungongo o hai mai: "Bape ko koe!" Ma te ngenge a Saungongo o ngakau i te 'aa o tenge. 77. He- 'angiko ngatahi, kae too a Tukungei ma te nunu e Baiango te tao ki te mungi hu'ainoko, ma te hai iho a Baiango: "Teenei tou mii 'anga, Teu'uhi." 78. Nimaa kakabe atu ki Tongaba. E'a iho a Teikangongo o hai atu kia tona hosa, a Saungongo: "Te tao kia te koe, ka ku manga singi ki teenei matu'a. 'Ai e ma- 'ongi te tao kinai." Ma te senge aano te hangoo, he'e labu, mate ai.

79. Na'a makau aano a Baiango kia Biako; nimaa boo ake ma te taina mai tai, sasa'o kia Biako i mu'a Matabaingei. Kae to'ake te- ngaa kengemalungui ma te hai atu a Baiango kia Biako: "Po ko koe e a'u mai hea?" 80. Ma te hai atu a Biako: "Ko au manga noho aano i te potu ma i bangiaghe ma te a'u ke sasanga ma'aku he hungu aka i he kunga." 81. Ma te hai atu a Baiango kia te taina, a Sepunge: '"Ai kakabe ake ngaa teenei maa- tu'a ke ta'o kinai te ngagha nei." 82. 'Ai e pake ke taa e ia, ma te kakabe ake o ta'o kinai te kenge- malungui o 'abange o kai launatasi. Aano nimaa hiu, tuku tena haka- taaunga. Ma te hai atu a Baiango kia te taina: '"Ai kakabe ake teenei maatu'a o sasanga ma'ana he ngesu aka i Tekengemea." 83. Ma te ka- kabe e Sepunge ia Biako o boo kite aka i Tekengemea. Ma te kengi aka aano haaiho a Baiango mai te akenga i Tekengemea: "Sepunge!" 84. Ma te ngengema'ungi a Biako

not seen. 75. And [Saungongo] went to Nukungango, but [Baiango] was not to be seen. And [they] went up to steal the crop of the yam [garden belonging to Baiango]; when arriving there Biako said: "The up- per ends of the yam here belong to me." 76. When they were digging, Baiango sneaked up to them with one spear, he wanted to spear Saungongo. And Tuku- ngei saw Baiango. And [he] called Sau- ngongo and said: "Bape, you!" And Sau- ngongo shouted and jumped over the [gar- den] fence and ran away. 77. Everybody ran away, but Tukungei fell, and Baiango stabbed the spear into the cheeks of [his] buttocks, and Baiango said: "This is the place for you to piss, Teu'uhi." 78. And [Saungongo] took him [Tukungei] to To- ngaba. Teikangongo came down and said to his son Saungongo: "This spear was [meant] for you, but [it] just missed [and hit] this elderly gentleman [Tukungei]. It is good that [it] speared him." And [they] operated but did not get the splinter of the spear, and so [he] died.

79. Baiango kept his enmity toward Biako in mind; and [one day] as [he] went up from the sea with his younger brother, [he] met Biako [on the road] in front of Matabaingei. He took their kengemalungui fish along, and Baiango said to Biako: "Where do you come from?" 80. And Biako said: "I have been staying in the east end and have come to get myself some aka hairs somewhere." 81. And Baiango said to the younger brother Se- punge: "Take this elderly gentleman with you on the cliff trail to cook this [poor] ngagha fish for him." 82. In this way he was deceitful in order to kill [him], and [Sepunge] took [Biako] and cooked the kengemalungui fish and gave [it to him] to eat alone. When [Biako] was satiated [he] left the rest to take home. And Bai- ango said to his younger brother: "Now take this elderly gentleman and find him some aka root tops in Tekengemea." 83. And Sepunge took Biako and went look- ing for aka roots at Tekengemea. And they dug aka roots, and Baiango spoke from the cliff trail at Tekengemea: "Se- punge!" 84. And Biako was surprised

182

Page 198: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 66

o ma langalanga mai kia Sepunge. Ma te ngenge mai ia o ta'ota'o ki te ngua ki aka o taa e ia o ta'ota'o ai.

and wondered what Sepunge [was about to do]. And he [Sepunge] jumped and weighed [Biako] down in the aka root hole, and he killed [Biako] and covered him [with earth] there.

NOTES The first part of this account (1-32) was dictated on December 12, 1958, in Haikiu's house in

Ngotokanaba, Bellona. Six or seven men were present at this session, among them were Tamua, Headman Haikiu, Tapuika, and Jotham Togaka (Rennell). Everybody listened to the dictation, recognizing Taupongi as the principal narrator. Taupongi would sometimes stop and ask for an expression or detail, and a discussion would follow. Although, in this version, Taupongi pro- fesses that the Taupongi clan was superior to the Kaitu'u clan in many ways, he was not met with open objections from the members of the Kaitu'u clan present. (Later, Togaka told me that this would have been bad manners. He said that as I had already been given the Kaitu'u variant of this story (see below) it was for me to judge which of the two was the "true" one.) After 2 hours of narration, Taupongi got tired (it was about 11:00 P.M.) and said he would like to discuss the details with his father and others and write down the rest of the story before presenting it to me. On December 31 he completed his manuscript and dictated it to me. During the following days I read it back, translated it, and had some of the obscure points explained.

This was a long and sometimes tedious process. We went over this lengthy account twice on Bellona after the first rough translation had been completed. Taupongi patiently explained and explained. And as the work went on we both got more and more excited because, for Taupongi, this obviously was one of the most precious and important parts of the islands' lore, and be- cause, for myself, I realized this and very quickly became completely absorbed in the dramatic events in the story.

In his memoirs written in Honolulu, 1961, Taupongi gives some information on how he came to dictate the immigration story:

... ina aano au i Mungiki. Tu'u te M. V. Kovala, e boo mai ai a Torben ma Sten mai Mungaba ki Mungiki ke hai hekau i na tautupu'a. Kae tata'o mai ai a Tongaka, te pengea mai Mungaba, ma te hongahonga e ia ki sa'a Iho, ko Ta- puika e tautupu'a maase'i ki sa'a Iho i Labangu. Ma te he'ika'ika'aki ai a sa'a Iho. Ma te hai ake te 'apitanga o sa'a Iho kau sui o tautupu'a ki te sa'a Kai- tu'u, "na'e 'aonga te ngea a Taupongi." Ma te tautupu'a au ki na hai 'anga o te sa'a Kaitu'u. Ma te he'ika'ika'aki nga- tahi a Ghongau kia te au.

... so I stayed on Bellona. The motor vessel "Kovala" came, on it came Torben and Sten from Rennell to Bellona to work on the stories. And with them came Tongaka, a man from Rennell, and he disclosed to the Iho clan that Tapuika told a bad story about the Iho clan in Labangu [Rennell]. And so the Iho clan became angry. And people of the Iho clan said that I should take revenge and tell about the Kaitu'u clan "because the talk of Taupongi is ade- quate." And I told stories about the doings of the Kaitu'u clan. And the whole of Ghongau [district] became angry with me.

In 1961 I went over T66 with Taupongi for the last time, and it was obvious that his excite- ment over the events told in the story had not abated.

Another account, as mentioned in Taupongi's memoir, had been dictated to me in Labagu, Rennell, on October 27, 1958, by Tapuika and Timothy Sau'uhi. Tapuika took the lead in telling the story. It was hard for me to follow him, as he spoke the Bellona dialect which at that time I did not know too well. lotham Togaka and Timothy Sau'eha acted as intermediaries, "translating" into Rennellese. Tapuika seemed to know the story very well, remembering all the names and never hesitating. I asked him how he, a young man, came to know this story. He said he had heard it from his former father-in-law, Mathew Sa'omoana Taupongi, the former headman of Bellona, and from Paul Sa'engeika. After dictating to me, Tapuika read the account to the tape recorder. The Tapuika-Timothy account is somewhat shorter than the one given above, and in some ways it differs from it. Major variations are given in the notes.

1. 'Ubeangango: All informants agreed that people knew that there were two 'Ubea's, even before hearing it from Europeans. Taupongi 1961 explained that Taupongi, Tanga, Ngoha, Nikatemono, Puka, Sau, To'a, Suki, and Pua were all people from 'Ubeangango (West-'Ubea), whereas Kaitu'u was from 'Ubeamatangi (East-'Ubea). This, according to Taupongi, was what made Kaitu'u an outsider from the point of view of the other immigrants. The Tapuika-Timothy version begins:

13 183

Page 199: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 66

Ko Gotoniniu noko moe o hai tena miti i te ina ki te mi'i'aamonga noko mu- gheghi ai te 'one. Ma te 'aga o noko ma maanatu e ia launatahi. Kae ko ia noko ma tina'e huhuga. Ma te ina, aano haa tena tina'e te tangata, tona ingoa ko Kaitu'u. Pusi aano e ia ia Kaitu'u huaa- "eha. loo, hogahoga kinai tena miti o hai atu: "Ko au na moe o ina ki te mi'i- 'aamonga noko ma mugheghi ai te' one." O maanatu ake a Kaitu'u ke sasaga e ia te 'aamonga, noko ina kinai a te ti- nana i tena miti. Ma te 'ati gongo a Kaitu'u kia te tu'atinana, a Togo. O go- sigosi togatou baka ke sasaga ai te 'aa- monga. -

Gotoniniu slept and had her dream, seeing a small land which sand encircled. Waking up, she just thought by herself [kept the dream a secret]. But she was pregnant. [She stayed on] and her womb gave birth to a male; his name, Kaitu'u. She nursed the very important Kaitu'u. Later she revealed her dream to him and said: "I slept and saw a small island which sand en- circled." Kaitu'u decided that he would look for the island that the mother had seen in her dream. Kaitu'u told [about it] to his mother's brother, Togo. And they made a canoe to go and look for the island. -

The Tapuika-Timothy variant recognizes only one island as the traditional homeland. Ta- puika said it was 'Ubeamatangi. This variant contains no information about the meeting of Tanga and Pua with Kaitu'u. Taupongi 1961 did not approve of this variant and gave T68.

Mangama'ubea: Taupongi 1961 said he had been mistaken when telling the story. Manga- ma'ubea was the temple belonging to Kaitu'u in 'Ubeamatangi. It was not brought from 'Ubea- ngango.

ma'ungitehenua: a sacred stick kept in chiefs' houses; it was the center of worship in the hai ngangoisi ritual, in which it was considered the embodiment of Tehainga'atua. (See Birket- Smith, 1956: figure 23.)

2. Taupongi 1961 explained the rare words in this passage in the same way as earlier, adding: "We do not talk like this now."

ghootoi: te ingoa o te pengea sui kia te tinana po Ma te tamana po ki he pengea i ona pengea (the word for a person resembling the mother or the father or some of his relatives).

hainga ahi: a figurative expression for a pregnant woman; she makes the fire to roast food every morning and eats the first meal of the day alone or with her husband. Taupongi 1961 explained that if other men eat with the couple, the woman will be served last and not get the hot food which would hakamahana (heat) the child she is expecting.

ta'ahine: tau tuhahine. It is taboo to mention the name of one's sister. The sister of Tanga and Pua went from 'Ubeangango to 'Ubeamatangi, and there she gave birth to a boy, Kaitu'u.

6. Songi tou noko: [We] press noses against your buttocks. A salutation showing that the speaker is humiliating himself. See Figure 10.

7. punge tahua: To'a and Suki tied tahua (spotted cowries) to their foreheads to make them- selves visible to their allies waiting at the coast. The cowries flashed when reflecting the sun's rays. Cowries were said to have been used in this way only on this occasion.

8. Te kaa manga lungi: Taupongi 1961 explained that the ancestors of To'a and Suki had been to Nguahutuna in former days and had killed people there. Suki complains that there are not many people for him to kill in Nguahutuna because his ancestors have already been there before him.

9. tino baka: the main hull of a double canoe. The two hulls were said to be identical in shape and size, but the one in which the captain sat was called tino baka, the other ama (out- rigger hull).

Henuatai: Taupongi said that this is a very small island. The name suggests that it might have been an atoll. The Tapuika-Timothy variant does not mention Henuatai. In this variant the events that follow all took place at Nguahutuna (i.e., the claiming of Tengenga and of deities, the wreckage of the fleet of canoes, the dragging of the canoe at the beach).

sui ai te hatu 'ungi: The two stone embodiments of the deities Nguatupu'a (female) and Tepoutu'uingangi (male) were later installed at Bellona (verse 29). Nguatupu'a was of black volcanic rock, Tepoutu'uingangi a stalactite. Upon the acceptance of Christianity the two stones were destroyed by Moa (T235 [A]:93). During a visit to the site at Ngabenga, I obtained speci- mens of both stones.

10. 'atua ngangi: See discussion at the beginning of Chapter 4. 11. Puai te kai hingi: obsolete (Taupongi). Puai may be related to puu (issue forth). Tau-

pongi suggested it meant "to show." See T99:7. Kai hingi literally means to choose or select the best food. Here it is used as a general term for greediness. The insulting epithet niho 'unga is applied frequently to Kaitu'u. His teeth (niho) were said to have been black, of the same color as the body of the hermit crab ('unga). The ancestor Taupongi in this way complains that Kaitu'u has shown greediness by claiming the more powerful deities of the pantheon as his protectors. This is the first example of the rivalry between the Kaitu'u and Taupongi clans.

Singano: same as Ekeitehua (Genealogy 12).

184

Page 200: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 66

14. Ma te tail ake te baka: Taupongi said that the canoe came from 'Ubea with news about Tu'ataa.

kaukau: to perform the ritual of removing sacredness from a thing or a place by pouring water over it. None of the informants knew what Tesukingua in 'Ubea was, but they all as- sumed that it was a place name. Tu'ataa died because he had made a mistake in the ritual, and so he was kangohia (punished) by the gods (Taupongi 1961).

Tengenga: the wife of Tu'ataa. She was said to be very pretty. This incident is mentioned only briefly in the Tapuika-Timothy variant.

16. Tehainga'atua ma ton tuhohine: Sikingimoemoe is the sister of Tehainga'atua referred to here. In the Tapuika-Timothy version Tongo prays to Nguatupu'a and Tepoutu'uingangi: Tepoutu'uigangi ma tou tuhohine! Ou aga hano ke balaghe ai tou ga'akau. (Tepoutu'uigangi and your sister! Let your road to travel on [the sea] lift up your log [the canoe]).

17. mu'ake: mu'a ake. 18. te kaubaka kua lolongi: The canoes sank as the big wave of the deities approached the

shore (Taupongi). 21. The account of the canoe race is not included in the Tapuika-Timothy variant. 23. Tahasi: He was a medium (taauga) possessed by the gods. It was his duty to tell when

the canoes had reached their destination. Taupongi 1961 said that it was Tahasi who in 'Ubea had told the people about Rennell and Bellona: Ko Tahasi noko taaunga o tangangongo e ia: "Te henua manga kongaa na tenge te huaa samabuti; e ngigho e te 'one o hepootaki" (Tahasi was a medium and he said as a medium: "The land is revolving like the samabuti fruit; sand surrounds [it] and presses [upon it]"). Taupongi did not know the meaning of this, but suggested that the people on 'Ubea interpreted it as a comparison of the samabuti fruit to the two islands they were to look for. Taupongi demonstrated how the fruit revolved by revolving a coin on its edge.

24. 'Ai tomaa kengekenge: Taupongi 1961 explained that Tehu'aingabenga was implying that Tahasi lied when he said that Rennell and Bellona were the two islands the voyagers were searching for. Tehu'aingabenga wanted them for himself and his children. (See T67:9.)

Kaitango: See list of unrelated deities at the beginning of Chapter 4. Semoana: another name for Tehainga'atua (see Genealogy 11).

25. Sikingimoemoe: See Genealogy 11. 26. Ngaumataki'one: See list of unrelated deities at the beginning of Chapter 4. 27. Ahanga: here, the settlement on the cliff above the beach on western Bellona.

ngongoaa: the Tapuika-Timothy variant has mogiaa. All informants were uncertain as to the meaning of this sentence, but they believed that although the two sacred stones were still in the canoes the two gods who had embodied themselves in these stones had already found their way to Bellona, having known the island for so long a time.

28. suahongi: a dance of ritual importance. Sobiki: a hiti, one of the original inhabitants of Rennell and Bellona. (See Chapter 9.)

29. The Tapuika-Timothy variant had the following remark: Ki tegatou hemasi'i ma na hiti (They [the settlers] made friends with the hiti).

30. hakatu'u hitu: the seven originals, a general name used for the seven clans, Taupongi, Tongo, Tanga, Sau, Ngoha, Puka, and Nikatemono. These clans are considered a group which was opposed to the Kaitu'u clan. (See N66:l above.)

37. Ma te taa e hiti: The hiti killed Tongo because he had teased them by giving them only 1 dove every time he had caught 100.

42. Tapuna: a cave at the top of the cliff, northeast coast of Bellona. 44. hatu nge'o: stones used in defense, thrown down on enemies approaching the cave from

the seaside. 46. Ki ngoto, ki ngoto, te makongi: The informants explained that this was a hiti dance

called makongi. The hiti lay in a row on the trail, one beside another. When the cry "To the middle!" was heard, the hiti at the end of the row hurried to the middle and lay there. This dance was considered silly by the informants and they laughed when telling about it. The story about the dance of the hiti is not included in other variants of the immigration myth.

47. mho 'unga: See N66:ll above. 51. Tou tokotoko, toku tinana: Kaitu'u invoked his mother, who was dead and was wor-

shipped by Kaitu'u as takotonga, one of the sa'a maatu'a (deified ancestors). The staff referred to was a tapanihutu (Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 18); it was used during the kanongoto rituals in the temples. In the Tapuika-Timothy variant the tapanihutu is called gangosuki.

53. ma te nganiabi: The hiti used the fire-plow and the stick as a swimming belt. 54. Sangakiniua: a place near Magautu on Rennell.

56. Teahaa: a cave in the forest near the southwest coast of Bellona, Matangi district. Near the surface at the bottom of the cave are considerable quantities of charcoal and human bones. Tetau'aahiti: Informants state that the rocks in the water at the bottom of the trail are those with which Kaitu'u and the hiti fought.

13* 185

Page 201: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 66

58. Taumako: perhaps Taumako in the Duff Islands, another Polynesian outlier. sa'a Iho: same as sa'a Taupongi (Taupongi clan).

59. Namaa matingi: The informants explained that Taupongi of the fifth generation of the Kaitu'u clan (Plate 3, Rennell and Bellona, G5) started seven branches of his clan, so that his offspring might gain the same influences as had the other seven clans (Taupongi, Tanga, Sau, Tongo, Puka, Ngoha, Nikatemono). This incident is not included in the Tapuika-Timothy variant.

Kui: Kaitu'u's second name. (See T68.) The Tapuika-Timothy variant has an account of the death of Kaitu'u: Kae hoki [a Kaitu'u] ki Mungiki o hai

tona manaha o ingoa ma'u ko Peka, ma tena ngaguenga ko Teuse. O noho ai o noko ma giu 'atua ai, aano ma te mate i Mungiki o tanu i tena manaha i Peka. Ma nomaa te tahi 'aso, pulia na niu o Tegano; ma te pongoaki a Tegano ki Mungiki i te ma'ugi o Kaitu'u o to'o mai ki Tegano o hai te potu ga'akau o tuku kinai te ma'ugi o Kaitu'u o suki i na manaha noko pulia. Ma te he'e pulia ai na niu. Ka na sasau sehu te hahine i te tahataha o te manaha, ma te sigi tena sasau o tuki hakamomomomo e ia te ma'ugi o Kaitu'u.

[Kaitu'u] returned to Bellona and made his settlement, which [he] also called Peka, and his temple, Teuse. [He] lived there and wor- shipped there and died on Bellona and was buried in his village, Peka. Then one day the coconut trees at the Lake were eaten by bare- backed fruit bats; and the people of the Lake sent for the skull of Kaitu'u and brought [it] to the Lake, and took a pole and put Kaitu'u's skull on it and planted [it] in settlements with coconut trees which the fruit bats had eaten. And so the coconut trees were not eaten by fruit bats. And a woman was walking and weeding at the outskirts of the settlement, but her weeding was not right and she hit and broke Kaitu'u's skull into pieces.

Following 59 the teller added some extremely insulting sentences about Kaitu'u. The uttering of deprecatory remarks about ancestors of an opponent lineage group is still grounds for fighting on Bellona. Fearing that, when read on Bellona, these sentences might cause our informant a considerable amount of trouble, we decided to leave them out of this book. Copies of deleted verses can be obtained from the compilers.

61. Manu: Plate 3, Ghongau line, G6. Taungangisi: Plate 3, Tehatumanga line, G6. Teengaa kunga kenge: The sons of Taupongi had found Rennell comparatively barren,

whereas Bellona was very fertile. Accordingly, they wanted to go back to Bellona. This was difficult, however, as the seven originals (clans) had already taken possession of the whole island. (Taupongi and Jotham Togaka.)

63. 'oka hungi: The members of the other clan teased Manu by stripping off all the husks of his coconuts ('oka hungi). Nuts to be used for rituals are stripped in a special way ('oka hakakangibi), leaving a strip of husk through which a string can be passed to tie the nuts to- gether. This method (according to Taupongi) was tapu kia Tehu'aingabenga (sacred for Tehu- 'aingabenga).

64. taukuka: solid black tattoo (N1[A]:14). toto ghapoli, toto samabuti: The sap (toto) of these two trees is said to cause a severe itch

when applied to the skin. 65. Manu, Taungangisi: The informants did not know when and where Taungangisi died,

except that he died before Manu. 67. Makiu: a (younger?) brother of Teikangongo (Plate 3, Mataki'ubea line, G12). 68. Ghopuli: a portmanteau name derived from Ghongau and puli (the barebacked fruit

bat), which was considered poor eating; a derogatory nickname sometimes still used for the people of Ghongau district by members of the Taupongi clan.

69. Teikangongo na tenge i te tau'a: Teikangongo had fled to the bush during the fight. (See N66:67 above.)

te taunga: a ban on the intermarriage of tau relatives (a man and his mother, his mother's sister, his mother's father's sister, his own sister, his parallel cousins, his cross- cousins).

70. taka ai na tail tuhahine: Marriage between cross-cousins was considered taboo in 'Ubea and on Rennell and Bellona until permitted by mutual agreement of the people of the Kaitu'u clan, 12th generation.

71. kae hakahoki: People returned from the forest, where they had been hiding for years. 72. Te'ungutiange: Plate 3, Ghongau line, G15.

Text from 72 to the end is an account of additional important events in the later history of Bellona. The informant included it in the account of the immigrations, and therefore it is retained here. The remainder of Taupongi's account of the traditional history of Bellona was given a few days later; it is given as a separate text in Chapter 13 (T133).

186

Page 202: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 66. 67

Kongu e Taupongi ia tona ta'okete: Taupongi, Plate 3, Hangekumi line, G15. This was an act of violation towards one's own line, and was considered bad (maase'i). (Taupongi.)

73. The five sons mentioned are called the hange ngima (five households). Each of these established a new line. The sixth son, Sanga'eha, took over Saungongo's settlement of Tongaba and so carried this line on. (See Genealogy 5, G18.)

74. 'oti i te hiti hano na sa'a: The clans which died out were Puka, Sau, Tanga, Ngoha, Tongo, and Nikatemono.

Saungongo: Genealogy 5, G17. Baiango: Genealogy 9, G17. Biako: of Ghongau district; genealogy not known. Matabaingei: settlement of the Taupongi clan

75. Nukungango: same as the settlement Patonu. 76. Tukungei: a man of Saungongo's line, but of inferior status, here acting as a servant.

Bape ko koe: Tukungei is warning Saungongo. Bape is another of Saungongo's names. 77. Teenei tou mil 'anga, Teu'uhi: Baiango is calling the female deity, Teu'uhi (a sister of

Ekeitehua), to poison the wound with her urine. 78. teenei matu'a: By using this honorary name, Baiango makes Biako believe that he

has forgotten his enmity towards him, thus giving Biako a feeling of confidence which will make it easier for Baiango to kill him.

79. kengemalungui: a large taha'ungi fish considered very good eating. 80. 82, 83. aka: a vine whose root is eaten in time of famine. 81. 'Ai kakabe ake: Baiango is tricking Biako by showing hospitality towards him.

ngagha: a fish of poor quality. Baiango humiliates himself by calling his fine gift of kengemalungui fish a ngagha.

The Tapuika-Timothy variant ends with the account of Hu'aingupe's voyage to Bellona (T140). This is not included in the Taupongi version.

A short Kaitu'u story dictated by Aaron Taupongi at the lake on Rennell, November 7, 1958, is of no particular interest except that it stresses that Kaitu'u landed at Ahanga (east end of Rennell) and founded several settlements along the shores of the lake before going to Bellona.

TM

67. Kaitu'u Kaitu'u

Tetamogi of Tigoa, and Headman Tegheta of Hutuna, RE. At Tigoa, RE, January 6, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a kia Hu'aitekumi-

gogo, noko hano tena maata'unga o utu i na ika, sosopo kinai gua 'atua ko Tehainga'atua ma Tehu- 'aigabenga. 2. O hai atu Tehai- nga'atua kia Tehu'aigabenga: "Aku 'aamonga." 3. Hai atu a Tehu'aiga- benga kia te tupuna Tehainga'atua: "Oku kainanga." 4. Gea atu a Tehu'aigabenga kia Hu'aitekumi- gogo: "To'atu o sakeaki mai kia te au." 5. Hoki ake ki te manaha o hai te 'umu ki te maata'unga. Ta'o, aano, moso, huke, to'ake, o sake- aki a Hu'aitekumigogo kia Tehu'ai- gabenga.—

6. Kae hano 'ati gongo a Hu'ai- tekumigogo kia pegea ngatahi. 7. Gongo ai a Kaitu'u, hakapupugu e ia, hai ake: "Gu 'oku 'aitu." 8. 'Oti

1. The story of Hu'aitekumigogo who went fishing with a line [beyond the reef], and two gods appeared to him, Tehainga- 'atua and Tehu'aigabenga. 2. Tehainga- 'atua said to Tehu'aigabenga: "The islands are to be subject to me." 3. Tehu'aiga- benga said to the grandparent, Tehainga- 'atua: "The worshippers are mine." 4. Tehu'aigabenga said to Hu'aitekumigogo: "Take [the fish you have caught] and make an offering to me." 5. [Hu'aite- kumigogo] went back to the settlement and made the oven for the fish caught. Baked, cooked, removed from the oven, and Hu'aitekumigogo made an offering to Tehu'aigabenga.—

6. And Hu'aitekumigogo went and told all the people. 7. Kaitu'u heard and he put in a claim [for the gods], saying: "I want the two deities." 8. Then night

187

Page 203: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 67

kae a'u te poo- o moe o hai tena miti o ina ki gua 'atua noko haka- pupugu e ia. 9. Te gaataki o te miti, noko sia hai Tehu'aigabenga ma Tehainga'atua ki Mugaba. 10. Namaa 'oti tena miti, 'aga i te 'ao o ngague o sopo ki te guagua o Tahasi ma To'a ma Suki (tokagua hakahua o te baka). Te uguugu o Kaitu'u he'e na'a. 11. O uta'ia te tinana, tona ingoa ko Nautaga. Ngague a Togo. Teegaa ia tangata te tau tu'aatina, ko Togo ma Kai- tu'u. 12. O sopo iho a Togo ki te baka ma gu 'ana 'atua, na hatu gua na ingoa ko Tepoutapu, te 'atua tangata, ka ko Guatupu'a ma Gau'e- teaki (tokagua na ingoa), te 'atua hahine. 13. O sosopo ki te baka o gosigosi ai; o noho a Kaitu'u ma te tinana ma gu 'ana 'atua, ma Togo, ma gu 'ana 'atua, i te ama. 14. Kae noho a Tahasi ma To'a ma Suki i te tino baka. 15. O 'ui 'Ubea o boo rnai, o tau boo mai i ba'i 'aamonga. 16. O boo mai aano tau lei te henua, he'e na'a te ingoa o te henua, o taa'ia a To'a ma Suki a na pegea 0 te henua. 17. Kae 'ui te baka o boo mai, aano tau ki teegaa henua. Taa'ia ma'u ai a Tahasi. 'Oti gua pegea noko hakahua i te baka. 18. Toe a Kaitu'u ma Togo, o sosopo 1 te tino baka, kae ti'aki te ama.

19. O boo mai o tau ki te henua o Tongagegeba (te pegea), sopo ake kinai a Kaitu'u. Hinake o tatae ake ki te tangata noko ma moe, haka- tutu'u ba'e, te 'ugu o te mata henua, ka na ba'e i mugi te henua. 20. O ina kinai a Kaitu'u. Noho a Kaitu'u o ngangaha te kapaa tapungao o goha hitu, kae hakagongo kinai a Tongagegeba o 'aga o sa'u mai te ga'akau. Tu'ia a Kaitu'u o tege o sopo ki te baka o 'ui, baapisi iho e Tongagegeba te ga'akau o eke i te mugi 'ugu o tobago te gaganga 'anga o te 'ugu o motumotu te tu'agima kae toe teegaa tu'agima. 21. 'Oti kae a'u, a'u aano tau ki Ahanga.

came, and [he] slept and had a dream and saw the two gods for whom he had put in a claim. 9. The significance of the dream: Tehu'aigabenga and Tehainga- 'atua wanted Rennell. 10. After his dream, [Kaitu'u] awoke at daylight and made pre- parations and boarded the double canoe of Tahasi and To'a and Suki (the two chiefs and owners of the canoe). Kaitu'u's wife is not known. 11. The mother was taken aboard, her name being Nautaga. Togo made preparations. These people were uncle and nephew, Togo and Kai- tu'u. 12. Togo boarded the canoe with Ms two gods, two stones named Tepoutapu (The-sacred-post), a male god, and Guatu- pu'a and Gau'eteaki (two names), a god- dess. 13. [They all] boarded the canoe and got settled there; Kaitu'u and the mother, and his two gods, and Togo and his two gods sat in the lesser hull. 14. And Tahasi and To'a and Suki sat in the main hull. 15. Casting off from 'Ubea, coming this way, going and landing at many islands. 16. Coming this way, landing at a land, not knowing the name of the land, To'a and Suki were killed by the people of the land. 17. Casting off the canoe, coming this way, landing at another land. So Tahasi was also killed. The two people who had been chiefs and owners of the canos were no more. 18. Kaitu'u and Togo were left, and [they] got into the main canoe and left the other hull.

19. Coming this way and landing at the land of Tongagegeba (a person) and Kai- tu'u went ashore there. He went on and came up to the man who was sleeping with his knees bent up, his head at the east end of the island and his feet at the west end. 20. Kaitu'u looked at him. Kaitu'u sat down and measured the side of his foot and it was seven fathoms, and Tongagegeba felt him and awoke and picked up a club. Kaitu'u was frightened and ran and got aboard the canoe and cast off, and Tongagegeba struck his club down on the back of the head [of Kaitu'u] and cut the binding of his hair, breaking five strands but leaving five other strands. 21. Then coming on, coming and landing at Ahanga.

188

Page 204: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 67

22. Tau ki Ahanga o sopo ake a Togo ma gu 'ana 'atua i gua hatu, 0 hakatutu'u i Kagobi, kae hoki iho ki te baka, ma iai gu 'ana 'atua, to'iho gu 'ana 'atua o na 'ata o gua hatu. 23. Hai atu te maanatu a Togo, he'e sia hiina'i gu 'ana 'atua 1 Kagobi. Hinake o to'o hakahoki ki te baka. O hano ki Temanu- 'aatea o tau ki Puguali. O to'ake gu 'ana 'atua o hakatu'u i Puguali. Kae hoki iho ki te baka. Ma iai gu 'ana 'atua. Hoki ake o to'o o hano tau ki Agaikaga. 24. O to'ake, haka- tutu'u i Tegaga. Kae hoki iho ki te baka. Ma iai te baka. Hoki ake o to'iho o uta o hano tau Hutunama- 'ubea. 25. O to'ake gu 'ana 'atua gua hatu o tuku i te 'one. Kae hoki iho ki te baka. Ma iai gu 'ana 'atua. Hoki ake to'iho o uta o hano. O hano tau ki Tenukumanongi (Bagi- ka'ago) o to'ake o hakatutu'u, hoki iho ki te baka, ma iai, o hoki ake o to'iho o uta o 'ui o hano tau ki Paputugi (Bagika'ago), o to'ake, o hakatutu'u, o hoki iho, ma iai, hoki ake o to'iho, o uta o hano tau ki Tu'uga. Kua 'oti a Mugaba nei. Si'ai he kunga ke sia hiina'i ai gu 'ana 'atua.

26. Maanatu a Togo ke hano ki Mugiki. Uta gu 'ana 'atua o hano te hogau ki Mugiki o hano tatae ki Mugiki o tau mai Ahanga.—27. O noho gu 'ana 'atua i te baka, kae sopo a Togo hakaneke ki ga'unga o hano ki Gabenga o kite gu 'ana 'atua gua hatu ma tutu'u i Gabenga. loo hai atu a Togo: "Teenei te kunga e sia hai kinai. Ke noho ai."

28. Kae sopo ake a Kaitu'u ma gu 'ana 'atua (he'e ina kinai manga hakapapata), o sopo ake ki 'agunga nei o toghi tona manaha, o haka- ingoa ki 'Ubea o ingoa ko 'Ubea, o noho ai ki te giu gu 'ana 'atua.

22. Landing at Ahanga, Togo went up [ashore] with his two gods [who were embodied] in the two stones, and set them up at Kagobi and went back down to the canoe, and there the two gods were, [the gods] had taken down his two gods, the spirits of the two stones. 23. Togo ex- pressed his thought: his two gods did not want to stay at Kagobi. [He] went up and took [the stones] back to the canoe. [They] went to Temanu'aatea and landed at Pu- guali. Taking ashore his two gods, setting them up at Puguali. And returning to the canoe. His two gods were there. Going back up and taking [the stones] and going to Agaikaga. 24. Taking [them] up, setting up in Tegaga, and going back down to the canoe. [The spirits] were in the canoe. Going back up, bringing down, putting aboard, going to land at Hutunama'ubea [Hutuna-and-'Ubea]. 25. Taking his two gods up, the two stones, putting on the beach. Going back down to the canoe. His two gods were there. Going back up and bringing down, putting aboard, and going. Going and landing at Tenuku- manongi (Bagika'ago), taking up, setting up, going back down to the canoe, being there, going back up, taking down, putting aboard, casting off, going and landing at Paputugi, taking up, setting up, going back down, being there, going back up, taking down, putting aboard, going to Tu'uga. Rennell here was finished. There was no place there where his two gods wanted to stay.

26. Togo thought of going to Bellona. He put aboard his two gods, and the ca- noes sailed to Bellona and reached Bel- lona and landed at Ahanga.—27. His two gods were in the canoe, and Togo went ashore and climbed to the top and went to Gabenga and saw his two gods, the two stones, set up at Gabenga. So Togo said: "This is the place wanted. Let [them] stay."

28. [Back on Rennell] Kaitu'u got out with his two gods (not seen, just an asso- ciation), went up inland here and cleared off his settlement, naming [it] after 'Ubea, naming 'Ubea, and staying there and making offerings to his two gods. 29.

189

Page 205: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 67

29. 'Oti teenei ona manaha kae to'o gu 'ana 'atua o 'ui o hano o toghi teegaa ona manaha o hakaingoa ko 'Ubea. 30. O 'oti kae hano o toghi ma'u teegaa ona manaha o ingoa ma'u ko 'Ubea. 31. 'Oti kae hano toghi ma'u teegaa ona manaha, o hakaingoa ko Honga'ubea. 32. 'Oti kae hano toghi teegaa ona manaha ko Magama'ubea, o noho ai o giu ai gu 'ana 'atua. 33. 'Oti kae hano o toghi teegaa ona manaha o ingoa ma'u a 'Ubea (i Mugibai), o tuku ai a te tinana, kae hano ki Lughu o hano i te koko, hano aano ki te kunga, o toghi o hakaingoa ko 'Ubea, o suki ai tona tohi pai- pai.—

34. Kae hakaneke o hano ki te uso o Kanaba; he'e na'a po noko hai e ia, he manaha po noko manga hano. 35. O hano aano sopo i Magautu. O hano te hogau ki Mu- giki, o bilaabei ma te tu'aatina a Togo ki te giu 'ana 'atua. 36. O ina Kaitu'u ki na giu 'atua 'anga a Togo ki 'ana 'atua. Noko hai tena ngaguenga i Te'atumatangi. 37. 'Oti kae hoki mai a Kaitu'u o hoki mai ki Mugaba nei o tatae mai ki Mugi- henua, o a'u i tai, o hatu a'u tena pese suahogi. O a'u o tatae mai ki Manupisu o hakaneke ake ki 'Ubea noko iai te tinana Nautaga. O kaka- be o boo ngatahi mai ki Magama- 'ubea, te manaha o gosigosi o hai ai tena ngaguenga, o hakaingoa ko Magama'ubea. 38. loo noho ai o giu ai gu 'ana 'aitu o hai te 'aitu ia Tehu'aigabenga i hage, kae hai te 'atua i haho ia Tehainga'atua.

39. Namaa 'oti na giu 'atua i tena ngaguenga, kae hoki o hogau ki Mugiki o bilaabei ma te tu'a- tinana Togo. 40. O hegeu ki gu 'agaa ngaguenga o hai atu a Togo: "Taku ngaguenga e hakangatahi." Hai atu a Kaitu'u: "Ta'aku e tau- tahi." 41. 'Oti te hegeunga a Kai- tu'u ma te tu'atinana Togo, kae gosigosi a Togo o giu 'atua i tena ngaguenga. O ina kinai a Kaitu'u,

Finishing here his settlements, and taking his two gods, and casting off and going on and clearing another of his settlements, and giving the name 'Ubea. 30. Then going and clearing another of his settle- ments too, also named 'Ubea. 31. Then going, clearing another of his settlements and giving the name Honga'ubea. 32. Then going, clearing another of his settle- ments, Magama'ubea (Light-of-'Ubea), staying there and worshipping his two gods. 33. Then going, clearing another of his settlements, naming also 'Ubea (at Mugibai), leaving the mother there and going to Lughu, going to the bay, going to a place, clearing and giving the name 'Ubea, and planting his paipai tree-fern cuttings.—

34. [Kaitu'u] climbed up and went to the interior of Kanaba; [it] is not known whether he made a settlement or just traveled. 35. Going on and on, coming to Magautu. A canoe sailed to Bellona, meeting his uncle Togo, and worshipped his gods. 36. Kaitu'u watched Togo's services to his gods. He built a temple at Te'atumatangi. 37. Then Kaitu'u re- turned here, returned here to Rennell, and landed at Mugihenua, going along the coast, composing his clapping song (pese) as he went, his suahogi dance. [He] came and reached Manupisu and climbed up to 'Ubea where his mother, Nautaga, was. Taking [her] and coming together to Magama'ubea, the settlement, and worked and built his temple, giving it the name Magama'ubea. 38. Staying there and wor- shipping his two deities, making Tehu- 'aigabenga the deity of the house, and making Tehainga'atua the god of the out- side.

39. After finishing worshipping the gods in his temple, returning and sailing to Bellona and meeting his uncle Togo. 40. [They] spoke of their two temples and Togo said: "My temple is complete." Kaitu'u said: "Mine is single." 41. After the conversation between Kaitu'u and his uncle Togo, Togo made preparations and worshipped in his temple. Kaitu'u watched him and Kaitu'u said: "The ways of wor- ship of the uncle Togo are excellent."

190

Page 206: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 67

o hai ake a Kaitu'u: "E gaoi te giu 'atua 'anga a te tu'atinana Togo." 42. O hai ake ke hold mai hai tena ngaguenga ke hakangatahi. Te ingoa Tehu'aingaguenga. 'Oti kae ngague a Kaitu'u kae hogau o hoki mai. O a'u—o hakaneke ake ki Mugibai o a'u ki Magama'ubea ki tena ngaguenga. 43. O giugiu o hakangatahi o hai ai Tema'ugi'eha o giu ai gu 'ana 'atua. O hai te 'atua o haho Tehainga'atua, kae hai te 'aitu o hage Tehu'aigabenga. 44. Kae to'o mai e ia gua 'atua a Togo, te hahine ko Guatupu'a, ka te tangata ko Tepoutapu. O hai ai gua 'atua bae kinai o hai tena ingoa hakangatahi ko Magama'ubea.

45. 'Oti kae ngague o hano ki 'Ubea i Mugibai, o iho ki Manupisu 0 hano i Bagika'ago, hano aano o tatae ki Mugihenua o hogau ma'u ki Mugiki o tatae atu o hano tena hogau hano aano, tau atu ki Mu- giki, hakaneke ake ki te uso o Mugiki.

46. Ko Togo kua taa'ia e hiti. Magepe ai a Kaitu'u ia te tu'aatina kua taa e hiti. 'Oti kae hai ake a Kaitu'u: "Po ko Togo e taa e te aa?" Hai ake a hiti: "E taa i te beka, i ana hainga hata i na gupe, 1 te noko seu ana gau i na gupe, tuuma'a tinoangahugu. Namaa hoki iho i tona hata, hai ana tuhanga, o hai e ia te gau. Kae hai ga'a ma'a hiti te tinoangahugu. Namaa hoki ki te seu, eke, seu ma'u te gau tumaa'a tinoangahugu. 47. Namaa ahiahi, tuku iho tona hata gupe kia hiti noko ma ge'o te tugi hata. Kae hoki iho o hai ma'u ai tena tuhanga, o 'abange ma'u te tinoangahugu kia hiti, kae hai e ia te gau. 48. Tutu'u a hiti ma Togo ke hai kabenga na gupe. Manga tutu'u a hiti o he'osohi kia Togo, o taa, kae to'o e kigatou te gau ma te tinoangahugu. 49. O hai ake a Kaitu'u: " 'Ai teenei te hai 'anga e taai e koutou ia Togo."

42. [Kaitu'u] said he would return and make his temple a combined [one]. Its name Tehu'aingaguenga (The-great-tem- ple). Then Kaitu'u made ready to sail and came back here. He came—and climbed up at Mugibai and came to Magama- 'ubea, to his temple. 43. [He] worshipped with combined [rituals], and constructed there Tema'ugi'eha (Trie-great-life-prin- ciple) and worshipped his two gods there. [He] made Tehainga'atua the outside god, and Tehu'aigabenga the deity of the house. 44. And [he] brought the two gods of Togo, the female Guatupu'a and the male Tepoutapu. And made the ritual of separation for the two gods, and giving the name for the complete [temple] Ma- gama'ubea.

45. Then making ready and going to 'Ubea at Mugibai, going down to Manu- pisu, going along the north, and reaching Mugihenua and sailing again to Bellona and arriving, and he and his people going on and landing at Bellona and climbing up to the center of Bellona.

46. Togo had been killed by the hiti. Kaitu'u wept for him, for the uncle felled by the hiti. Then Kaitu'u asked: "Why was Togo killed?" The hiti said: "Killed for being stingy in his netting doves, hav- ing netted one hundred and ten doves. Then he came down from his perch and made his division, and he took a hundred. Giving ten for the hiti. Returning to net, netting again one hundred and ten. 47. And in the late afternoon coming down from the dove perch to the hiti who had been watching at the base of the perch. [He] came down and again made his divi- sion, again giving ten to the hiti and keep- ing a hundred. 48. The hiti and Togo began carrying their loads of doves. The hiti stopped and grabbed Togo and killed [him] and they took the one hundred and ten. 49. Kaitu'u said: "That's why you killed Togo." Then Kaitu'u stayed with the hiti and then thought he would re- venge his uncle Togo, so Kaitu'u stood and fought the hiti, and Kaitu'u killed the

191

Page 207: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 67

Kae 'oti, kae noho'aki a Kaitu'u ma hiti ma hano hai te maanatu a Kai- tu'u ke giu'aki ia te tu'aatina ia Togo, o tu'u a Kaitu'u o hai tau'a kia hiti, o taa e Kaitu'u ia hiti te giu'aki o Togo o taa'ia o kai. 50. O hiina'i ki gu 'ana 'atua o kai 'aabaki a Tehainga'atua kae baa- isaisa Tehu'aigabenga, o he'e kai 'aabaki.

51. Taa aano a Kaitu'u ia hiti 'oti, noho tona toe, o he'agiko ki te 'ana i Tapuna, o ngaga ai ma tega- tou utu i te ika i na sasabe i te gagama. 52. Boo iho na pegea ki Tapuna o hai ga'a kinai a hiti i na sasabe, kae ma te to'o o tatae ake kia Kaitu'u. 53. Hakaanu a Kaitu'u: "Po na me'aa konei?" O hai atu na pegea: "Na me'a gagama, e i te 'ana i Tapuna." loo na'a e Kaitu'u te toe o hiti e i Tapuna. O hakaanu atu ki na pegea noko giu ake i Tapuna, po ehia hatu? Hai atu na pegea tokagua, kae he'e hogahoga te tahi hatu. 54. Na'a Kaitu'u o ngague tena tau'a ma gu 'ana 'atua ma tona tokotoko hatu 'ugi, te masahu o gu 'ana 'atua. Namaa tatae te 'ao noko ngague kinai. Hano, tatae ki Tapuna o hakaneke kinai. 55. Hugi iho kinai te hatu o hakataha a Kaitu'u, kae sigi te hatu. Kae hinake hugi iho kinai teegaa hatu, o sigi. Tokagua hatu o boo iho kinai o sigi. Kae manga hinake.

56. Kae launatahi hatu noko he'e na'a e ia ma noho, hinake aano, hakae'a ake te mangaga'e i te ake- nga he'osohi a hiti ki te hatu noko he'e hogahoga, o hugi mai kinai, manga maanatu ake e Kaitu'u ko ia kaa mate. Hetapa ia te tinana. Hai ake a Kaitu'u: "Toku tinana!" Kae taghaghi ake kinai te tokotoko hatu 'ugi o ma'u te hatu, ma koi noho ai i Tapuna.

57. Sopo ake a Kaitu'u Id te 'ana o taa ia hiti o 'oti, kae he'agiko te tokagua, hakamahoga ake teegaa, tona ingoa ko Sagakiniu. Hai ake: "Noho gaa Kaitu'u niho 'unga."

hiti, and in revenge for Togo, killed and ate [the hiti\. 50. [He] saw his two gods and Tehainga'atua was participating in the eating, but Tehu'aigabenga was nau- seated and did not participate in the eating.

51. Kaitu'u killed all the hiti except for a remainder who fled to the cave at Tapuna and hid and fished for flying fish by torchlight. 52. The people went down to Tapuna and the hiti gave them flying fish, and [they] took [them] up to Kaitu'u. 53. Kaitu'u asked: "What are these?" The people said: "Things [caught by] torch- light, there in the cave at Tapuna." So Kaitu'u knew that the rest of the hiti were at Tapuna. [He] asked of the people who had come back up from Tapuna, how many stones? The people said two, and did not mention another stone. 54. Kai- tu'u understood and prepared his fight with his two gods and his staff of black [volcanic] rock, the sacred object of his two gods, When daylight came [he] was ready for it. [He] went, came to Tapuna and climbed up towards it [the cave]. 55. [The hiti\ hurled down a stone upon him, and Kaitu'u dodged and the stone missed. And climbing up, another stone was hurled down at him and missed. Two stones falling down on him and missing. [He] just went on up.

56. But one stone he didn't know about was left, and as he went up, his forehead projected from the ascent, and the hiti grabbed the stone not told about and hurled [it] down on him, and Kaitu'u thought indeed he was going to die. He called in prayer to his mother. Kaitu'u said: "My mother!" And [he] thrust out at it the staff of black [volcanic] rock, and the rock was made fast and is still there at Tapuna.

57. Kaitu'u went up to the cave and killed all the hiti; and two fled, and one, whose name was Sagakiniu, said fare- well. Said: "Good-by, Kaitu'u, hermit- crab tooth." Sagakiniu's younger brother,

192

Page 208: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 67

Hakamahoga ake ma'u te taina o Sagakiniu, he'e na'a tona ingoa: "Noho gaa Kaitu'u niho 'unga. Ko kimaaua te boo nei."

58. Nguu iho kinai a Kaitu'u: " 'Oo, kougua te boona. Namaa te mahina tu'u, kougua ka go noko hakatu'u 'auahi ma i Bogatapia (Mugihenua i Mugaba)." Namaa 'oti, boo mai ki Mugaba nei gua pegea. 59. Noho aano a Kaitu'u i Mugiki. Too te maginonga. Tegeu'a a Kaitu'u ki gua pegea noko babage kia te ia. A'u tena hogau; ina mai ki te 'auahi Bogatapia o a'u kinai o sopo ake kinai, gua pegea noko babage kia te ia, te ma hai tegahi kaui. O hakaeke taa kinai o 'oti ai te taa e Kaitu'u ia hiti i te giu'aki o te tu'atinana Togo.

whose name is not known, also said fare- well: "Good-by, Kaitu'u, hermit-crab tooth. We are going now."

58. Kaitu'u raised his head in assent: "Yes, go on, you two. When there is a new moon, you will indeed make a smoke at Bogatapia (Mugihenua at Rennell)." Then the two people came here to Ren- nell. 59. Kaitu'u stayed at Bellona. It was very calm. Kaitu'u thought of the two people who had deceived him. His canoe came here [Rennell], and [he] saw smoke at Bogatapia and came there and went up ashore, and two people who had deceived him were making a fire for fish. [Kaitu'u] raised [his club] and hit them both and thus Kaitu'u killed the hiti to revenge his uncle Togo.

Timothy Sau'uhi of Baitupu, RE. At Niupani, January 10, 1958. 60. Namaa 'oti te taa e Kaitu'u a

hiti, he'agiko tena toe o kakai i te 'ana i Tapuna. Gongo ai a Kaitu'u i te pake hiti, o hai atu a hiti e taa he agatou hatu. Hano kinai a Kai- tu'u ke taa haka'oti. Tatae kinai. Hakaneke ake a Kaitu'u. Tutu'u a hiti o hugi iho kinai te hatu. Haka- taha a Kaitu'u kae sigi. 61. Tege soo ake a Kaitu'u, hugi iho teegaa hatu, hakataha kae sigi. Tege soo ake, hugi iho teegaa hatu, o poi eke ia Kaitu'u, taghaghi ake e ia te tapanihutu o kogaa na to'o a Kai- tu'u—: "Teenei tou tokotoko toku tinana." O ma'u ai te hatu, kae tatae ake e ia ki te 'ana, o taa haka- 'oti e ia ia hiti. Ma koi noho te hatu i Tapuna o tatae mai ki na 'aso nei.

60. After Kaitu'u had finished killing the hiti, the survivors fled and stayed in the cave at Tapuna. Kaitu'u heard there of the hiti strategy, that the hiti would cut some stones. Kaitu'u went to put a stop to the cutting. He came there. Kai- tu'u climbed up. The hiti immediately hurled down a rock on him. Kaitu'u dodged and [the stone] missed. 61. And Kaitu'u hurried up, and another stone was hurled down, and [Kaitu'u] dodged and [the stone] missed. [Kaitu'u] hurried up, and another stone was hurled down and was about to hit Kaitu'u, and he thrust his tapanihutu club out and Kai- tu'u said this—: "This is your staff, my mother." The stone was made fast by this [prayer], and he got to the cave and he killed all the hiti. The stone is still at Tapuna to this day.

NOTES For the difficulties of my first session with Tetamogi, see his sketch in Chapter 2. I. Hu'aitekumigogo was a man who lived at the homeland 'Ubea (informants).

2-3. Note aku 'aamonga and oku kainanga, the a-gender apparantly indicating an acquisition, the ogender a birthright. 9. This important information was in answer to my question.

11. SE: "Was Togo the brother of Nautaga?" Tetamogi: "I don't know."

193

Page 209: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 67

Interruption: An old lady brought in a succulent, sweet-smelling coconut crab on a leaf platter, which we all ate gluttonously.

13. ama: See N66:9, tino baka. 20. gaganga: No one at Tigoa or later at Niupani was certain of this word. Taupongi 1961

with little hesitation gave the present translation (binding). He had not heard 20-25, and laughed at 22.

22. Taumoana and I walked to Ahanga, about 45 minutes from Tigoa through rock-strewn forests to the two cliff walls and the sea. Taumoana said that the narrow strip of rocks at the base of the coastal cliff is completely awash in rough weather. Some informants stated that the souls of the dead Rennellese come here to find their way back to Kaitu'u. (Elsewhere in Poly- nesia they go west.)

'atua o na 'ata: o may have been garbled. 22-27. This portion was redictated by Tegheta in the evening, frequently consulting Teta-

mogi, especially for place names. Tegheta remembered the story in general, but made no effort to retain small details. He had been dissatisfied with the first brief account that Tetamogi had dictated alone. Kagobi is the name of the very steep cliff at Ahanga. Reference to the 'ata was in answer to my question. This passage with its succession of bases used verbally without sub- jects or objects was not at all clear to me at first. It seemed obvious to informants that Togo took the stones inland, returned to the canoe to find the spirits of the stones already there; then he went back to fetch the stones. The stones were only the vessels of the two gods.

28. 'Ubea was a short distance inland from the lake at Tigoa, partially in a coconut grove. Taupongi 1961 said that hakaingoa and ingoa can both mean "to give a name."

29-33. Informants located the settlements at, respectively, Tuguagaba (the second 'Ubea), Nukumaguiho (the third 'Ubea), Giumata (Honga'ubea), Niupani (Magama'ubea and, later, Honga'ubea). 'Ubea in 33 is at the northwest end of the lake.

34. Informants suggested that later I ask Paul Takiika of Kanaba for further details of Kai- tu'u's trip through Kanaba. Paul could supply no further information.

35. Taupongi 1961 preferred bilaabei ma te tifatinana. -na is a demonstrative clitic meaning "there," used here for the third person (tena tu'aatina or te tu'atinana).

36. Taupongi 1961 said that Kaitu'u's first temple on Bellona was Teuse. (See T66:l.) 40. hakangatahi ... tautahi: "complete" and "single" temples. The hakangatahi are considered

more sacred because the two gods, Guatupu'a and Tepoutu'uigangi, are worshipped here. 43. Taupongi 1961 said that Tema'ugi'eha referred to the life principle (ma'ugi) of the gods. 44. The spirits of the two gods, not the stones.

bae: the ritual of separation. Offerings to the two gods, Guatupu'a and Tepoutu'uigangi, are placed close together on the cult grounds. Later in the rituals they are separated (bae). 46. e taa e te aa: less common than e taa i te aa (Taupongi 1961).

49. taai: taa ai. 50. Each god is true to character.

53. me'aa: me'a aa. Stones to throw down on an invader. 54. tokotoko hatu 'ugi: Tegheta on January 13 asked that this be changed to tapanihutu, the

name for Kaitu'u's favorite war club, a name well known on Rennell. On Christmas morning I had been presented with a tapanihutu. Three old men put on tapa kilts and did a war dance in my house, Togaka acting as leader and brandishing the tapanihutu and shouting oo woo oo •wo uaua! The crowd that collected inside, outside, and under my house shouted and laughed. When I returned from Tigoa on January 9 (we sailed the entire distance with a strong tail wind in about 4 hours, using my blanket and sarong as sails), I found Timothy Sau'uhi and a group of 23 hymn singers from Kanaba. Each one silently shook hands with me, each usually smiling but saying nothing. Timothy examined my collection of war clubs with great interest. He picked up the tapanihutu and said that it was the club used by Kaitu'u to block the hiti's rock at Bellona. He then told his variant (60-61) of this portion of the tale.

56. Kaitu'u called in prayer to his mother, who had apparently died and been deified. Informants said the stone is at about the middle of the cliff trail, and about 1 fathom

in length. 57. niho 'unga: See N66:ll for Taupongi's explanation in 1961. Repeated questioning on

Rennell got only the answers that the teeth were "black," "yellow," or "rotten," as the result of betel chewing. They assumed (wrongly) that I associated 'unga with hermit crab ('unga).

59. tegahi: teegaa ahi. Kaitu'u thought they were hiding the smoke of their fires, presumably so they would not be found.

60. e taa he agatou hatu. Perhaps this should read: e tahi agatou hatu. The second English sentence would then read: Kaitu'u heard of the hiti strategy, and the hiti said they had [only] a single stone.

60-61. See note 54. Timothy's tena toe contrasts with Tetamogi's tona toe (51). The Kanaba people do not distinguish the two types of possession in the third person, a dialectal difference I did not realize until later.

194

Page 210: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 67, 68, 69

Fragments of the immigration story were told at various times by different informants. They agreed in essentials. Timothy Sau'uhi, Aaron Taupongi, and Paul Sa'engeika on three occasions told of Togo and the doves. Paul Takiika and Headman Togaka gave a short account of He- nuatai. Basiana of Bellona told of Sobiki, the hiti, watching the dancers at Ahanga. He also gave an account of approximately 1,200 words that was similar to T67. Sanga'eha gave a short account of Kaitu'u's mother, Goto, who dreamed of Tehu'aigabenga.

SE

68. Ko Ngoto noko Moe Ngoto Slept

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, June 16, 1961. 1. Ko Ngoto noko moe ma te

ina ki te tama 'iti'iti e sopo i te bai ango, tona ingoa ko Tupuitengenga. Ma te 'anga i tena moe 'anga o hongahonga e ia ki tena tama, tona ingoa ko Kui. Ma te he'e honga- honga e Kui ki he pengea, manga na'a launatahi e ia. 2. loo i te haka- pupungu 'atua 'anga te boo mai 'anga maatu'a i Henuatai, ioo mate e Kaitu'u te ingoa o te ngasuenga noko hongahonga e te tinana, ko Tupuitengenga. Ma te 'oti. 3. Te ingoa Kaitu'u, teengaa tona ngaa- taki: te tu'u o kai. Ka te ingoa ki te taa 'anga e ia na hiti o kai.

1. Ngoto slept and saw a small child coming out of the turmeric liquid, his name was Tupuitengenga (Growing-from- the-turmeric). Waking from her sleep, she told [about it] to her son, his name was Kui. And Kui did not tell about it to any- body, he just knew [it] himself. 2. Then, during the claiming of deities at the com- ing here of the ancestors from Henuatai, Kaitu'u called out the name of the district god, whom the mother had told about: Tupuitengenga. The end. 3. The name Kaitu'u, this is its meaning: to stand and eat. The name was due to his killing and eating the hiti.

NOTES Taupongi 1961 had glanced at the Tapuika-Timothy variant of the account of the immigra-

tion (N66). He said he believed the beginning (N66:l) was wrong. Ngotoniniu's dream was not about seeing a land, but of seeing Tehu'aingabenga being born out of the turmeric. He then gave the version above. When asked about the name Kui for Kaitu'u, Taupongi said that his name in 'Ubea was Kui. The name Kaitu'u was given to him on Rennell and Bellona, as explained in 3.

TM

69. Kaitu'u ma na Hiti Kaitu'u and the Hiti

Kaipua of Ghongau, BE. At Honiara, September 29, 1958. 1. Ko Kaitu'u na hano ki tai, ma

te sasa'o ki te hiti, ma te hakaanu kinai a Kaitu'u o hai atu: "Tehea tou ingoa?" Ma te hai mai te hiti: "Ko au Kangani." 2. Hai atu a Kaitu'u: "Koutou ma ai?" Hai mai a te hiti: "Kimatou ma Tihitihi ma Anaminga." 3. Hai atu a Kaitu'u: "Kohea?" Hai mai a te hiti: "Kua boo te hainga mangoo." Ma te hai

1. Kaitu'u went to the sea and met a hiti, and Kaitu'u questioned him and said: "What is your name?" And the hiti an- swered: "I am Kangani." 2. Kaitu'u said: "You and who more?" The hiti said: "We are me and Tihitihi and Anaminga." 3. Kaitu'u said: "Where?" The hiti said: "Gone to catch sharks." Kaitu'u said: "Have you water?" The hiti said: "We have water." 4. Kaitu'u said: "Show me

195

Page 211: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 69, 70

atu a Kaitu'u: "E iai mo'outou he bai?" Hai mai te hiti: "E hai toma- tou bai." 4. Ma te hai atu a Kai- tu'u: "Hakakite mai ke utu ai oku bai." Ma te kakabe e te hiti ia Kaitu'u o hakakite kinai te bai i 'Ongoba. 5. Ma te hai atu a Kai- tu'u: "Lungake tona titingi ka ke utu oku bai." Ma te lunga e te hiti te titingi o te bai o utu ai te ngima- nga heeniu bai o Kaitu'u. 6. Nimaa 'oti te utu na bai o Kaitu'u ma te taa e ia ia Kangani o tape ki ona bai o to'o hano i te 'one. 7. Ma te ina atu ko Tihitihi ma Anaminga e ngiu mai i tongaa baka, e to'o mai tengaa mangoo, tona ingoa te ngo- kea. Ma te hiina'i ake a Tihitihi ma Anaminga kia Kaitu'u e hinatu i te 'one ma te taungua ake: "Tihitihi ma Anaminga kaa mataku." 8. Ma te hakangongo iho kinai a Kaitu'u ki tengaa taungua 'anga, ma te ngenge iho kinai a Kaitu'u: "To'ake taungua ngokeana o kai, ka ke kai taku momo Kangani." 9. Ma te hai ake ngu hiti: "Kangani hoki." Ma te hano a Kaitu'u kae singi mai ngu hiti i tongaa baka o tatae atu ki 'Ongoba; ko Kangani kua taa e Kaitu'u. Ma te tatangi aano to'o tangaa ngokea o boo.

so that [I can] get my water." The hiti took Kaitu'u and showed him the water in 'Ongoba. 5. And Kaitu'u said: "Open its cover, and I'll get my water." And the hiti opened the cover of the pool and filled Kaitu'u's fifty coconut containers with water. 6. After Kaitu'u had taken his water, he killed Kangani and packed him in with his coconut-shell bottles and took [them] along and went along the beach. 7. And [he] saw there Tihitihi and Anaminga returning in their canoe bring- ing their shark; its name was ngokea. Tihitihi and Anaminga saw Kaitu'u com- ing down along the sand beach and [they] chanted: "Tihitihi and Anaminga will be afraid." 8. And Kaitu'u listened to their chanting and Kaitu'u shouted down to them: "Take your ngokea shark up there, and eat, and I'll eat the bit belonging to Kangani." 9. The two hiti said: "Kangani has gone back." And Kaitu'u went on and the two hiti passed on in their canoe and came to 'Ongoba; Kaitu'u had killed Kangani. And [they] wept, and took their ngokea shark and went away.

NOTES Apart from the incidents told in the accounts of the immigration, this is the only story I got

about Kaitu'u's encounter with the hiti. Drawing of fresh water plays an important part in a number of stories connected with the hiti.

4. te bai i 'Ongoba: a cave with fresh water near the trail leading from 'One to Ngotokanaba, Bellona. Its water is still used by Bellonese.

7. ngokea: said to be an enormous shark. An old Bellonese man later gave me a fossilized shark tooth which he said he had found in one of his gardens. It was of considerable size, measuring about 7 centimeters from base to tip. The old man said that this was a tooth from the ngokea which Tihitihi and Anaminga had caught.

8. Note taungua (chanting) and taungua (your, dual, a-form). TM

70. Te Pese a Kaitu'u Kaitu'u's Clapping Song

Paul Sa'sngeika of Ghongau, BE. December 13, 1958. 1. E hatiu 'ungu le ngakei noko The thunder of the southwest wind [you]

u tu'ua. sent is roaring. Umenge: 'Ao uoi penei toaa ua. Chorus: 'Ao uoi penei toaa ua.

196

Page 212: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 70

2. Ma ke manamana, ma ke ngasu taaungua.

Ouououooa. 3. Te mata utua ngangu sa'a kaa

tutu'ua. 4. Ngangu sa'akina kae haka-

pu'umua. Ouououooa.

5. Hongi tou baka ngo 'ui bangi- takungua.

6. Te hoe tangisi te 'atu ia tou utua.

7. Sopo ki Ma'unga, haka'angahia hitia.

8. Noko tanu ai ona niu hakatu'ua.

9. Noko tongongia ki ngango noko sa'ua.

10. Noko bangusia ki Kumete ka u'ungua.

11. A ke ngiu mai ma pani, ngatou u'ungua.

12. Te ngongongo nei mongia ngo tu'ua.

13. Tuku ki te ngano, makupuu Kaitu'ua.

14. Tuku ki te bai Sinama mangu tu'utu'ua.

15. Umenge: 'Ao uoi penei toaa ua. Ui ai penei ta ua neingeiaaa,

And the big thunder and the singing of the god.

Ouououooa. At the cape the wave breaks and [you]

will rise from it. A sickening wave, but [it] will blow up-

wards. Ouououooa. Take your canoe to go southwards.

Paddle held close, your row of land points.

Go to Ma'unga, the hiti are awakened.

There he planted his coconut trees to stand.

Thundering in the west, far away [?].

Approached Kumete, that will complain.

Return here and fell trees, their com- plaint. This report is correct and will stand.

Proceeded to the lake, descendant of Kaitu'u.

Proceeded to the pleasant pool Sinama, standing.

Chorus: 'Ao uoi penei....

ke mei taoo uooi. 'Ooho. 'Aue. 'Ooho. 'Aue. NOTES

The translation of this pese (like that of 171) is only tentative, based on suggestions of Paul Sa'engeika and Taupongi 1961. Neither was certain of the meaning of a number of the words.

1. u tu'ua: kua tu'u ai koe (Taupongi 1961). The umenge (chorus) was considered unintel- ligible by all informants.

2. ma ke ngasu taaungua: ma te ngasuenga taungua. 3. sa'a: sa'aki.

tutu'ua: tu'una (you will stand). 4. hakapu'umua: huhu ki te ngangi. 5. Hongi: kakabe.

7. hitia: hiti. Sa'engeika said that this refers to the incident in T66:46. 8. ona niu: refers to Kaitu'u's fight with the coconut trunks (T66:38). 10. bangusia: banguaghi.

Kumete: settlement at coast of Mugihenua, Rennell. u'ungua: te nganangana i te mangengepe (complaining noisily) (Taupongi 1961). Paul

Sa'egeika said he thought that it was the same as tatatangi (to cry). 14. te bai Sinama: a water hole. Informants did not know where this was, but they thought

it was at the lake on Rennell. 15. The first part is intelligible. 'Ooho seems to be the usual ngibau (call to attention). 'Aue

is the word signifying gratitude. These two words are sung with pauses between them. 'Aue is subdued.

TM

197

Page 213: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 71

71. Na Hua a na Sa'a Songs of the Clans

Joshua Kaipua and others. At BE, April 16, 1958. 1. Te hua a Kaitua:

Kau huatia te baa ke 'ati pana.

Na'e au e hua ki Sanibaghi, Te motu i Sangusangu e moe

Sanibaghi Ma te hakaeke.

2. Umenge: Oiae, boi, eiai boa. 'Ai hinangango hinangango e ia Hai pe se ngupe tau hinangango

ue. 3. Sui a Tongo e hai ta'ana:

Te anga i Sanibaghi e maatanga Ki te tai ngo songo oiau Soa kingikingi kia Togona Ke mangu te Tokengau (Umenge)

4. Sui a Tanga(?): Te mainge i Sanibaghi e

maatanga Ki te tai noheoouui ia Te angohi ango ma'a ebaia e hid Hai sinata (Umenge)

5. Sui a Puka: Tau 'anga'anga ma ngua ta henua Ngua ngoto mai sesee Tau e ngua ma utua tou

hakapoo'unginga Ngongotu ki Mungiki ke go

ma'ungi Kae tangi taangata soa make.

Informants had only vague ideas as to supplied the following background:

Na sa'a ma Kaitu'u noko boo ki Mu- ngaba ma te 'ua ka ku tau ki Mungihenua te baka. Boo ake o momoe i na 'ana, ma te hakaingoa ai na 'ana e i te mugi te henua o Mungaba, na 'ana o Tongo. Teengaa te anga noko hakaneke ai i Mu- ngihenua te anga i Kala. O hai boo angatou hua i Mungaba, aano sosopo i Kala e i Lughu; e ingoa ai te anga, te anga o maatu'a. Ma te kakai aano i Mu- ngaba, hakahold na sa'a ki Mungiki, kae hai te manaha o Kaitu'u i Peka e i te ngano o kakai ai. Kakai ai aano a Kai- tu'u hoki ki Mungiki o sui o noho i Peka i Mungiki.

The song by Kaitua: I sing of the open sea and the paddle

[I] raise, And I sing of Sanibaghi Islet, The islet at Sangusangu and sleeping

Sanibaghi And entering. Chorus: Oiae, boi, eiai boa. He is a heart, heart, Acts like the dove upon the heart.

Togo in turn made his: The path at Sanibaghi looks Upon the sea on which I will drift [?] And go upon the pebbles to Tongona And find shelter [from] the north wind. (Chorus) Tanga(?) took a turn: The mainge vine at Sanibaghi looks

Upon the sea on which I live [?] Face to face, opened by the hiti Going on. (Chorus) Puka took a turn: Sing [?] two lands, Two hearts astray, Sing two living and capes your [?]

darkness To long for [?] Bellona to find

life [there] And men weep [?].

NOTES the meaning of these ancient songs. Taupongi 1961

The clans and Kaitu'u went to Rennell, and it rained, but the canoe landed at Mungihenua. Went up and slept in the caves, and so [people] called the caves in the west end of Rennell, Tongo's caves. That is the trail on which they went up to Mungihenua, the trail in Kala. Went round singing on Rennell, and then went to Kala in Lughu Bay; the road is therefore called the road of the elders (ancestors). And [they] lived on Rennell, and the clans returned to Bellona, but Kaitu'u made a settlement in Peka at the lake to live in. Kaitu'u lived there, and returned to Bellona and changed and lived in Peka on Bellona.

1. pana: believed to be an 'Ubea word for paddle.

198

Page 214: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 71, 72

Sanibaghi: an islet in the lake, perhaps a symbol of praise for the lake. 2. Hai pe se: poetic for hai pe he. The dove is a symbol of wisdom. 4. noheoouui: perhaps poetic for noho ai a au.

angohi ango ma'a ebaia: perhaps poetic for 'ago i 'ago ma'aba. sinata: perhaps hinatu.

SE

72. Ko Kaitu'u noko mate Kaitu'u Died

Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 14, 1958. Ko Kaitu'u noko mate i te tauiku Kaitu'u died of old age on Bellona,

i Mugiki, o tanu i Peka, te manaha and was buried at Peka, his settlement, o'ona, e i Matangi i Mugiki. O to'o there at Matangi on Bellona. The head te 'ugu o hai teegaa takotonga i was taken and another grave made at the Tegano. Teegaa te manaha noko Lake. The settlement where [it] was is iai ko Peka, e i te pa'asi matangi o Peka, at the east side of Niupani. Then Niupani. Kae to'o te 'ugu o tuku the head was taken and deposited at i Kagibi. Kagibi.

NOTES The head was just placed on the ground at Peka, near Niupani. Kagibi is the east end of the

lake; a specific location was not known. For a more detailed account, see N66:59. SE

14 199

Page 215: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 9. THE HITI

The hiti according to Rennellese belief were the aborigines of the two islands. There is as yet, however, no scholarly proof that there actually was a hiti popula- tion on Rennell and Bellona before the arrival of the ancestors of the present inhabitants. Archaeological surveys may some day attest the existence of an earlier stratum, and SE has suggested (Elbert, 1962) the possibility that Rennellese words containing the /gh/ and /l/ phonemes are a legacy of the hiti, since no cognates of words containing these sounds have been noted elsewhere in Polynesia, and since contacts of Rennellese with their Melanesian neighbors appear to have been so few (Chapter 18).

The many hiti stories have certain identifying characteristics, and sometimes the tellers did not bother to label their characters hiti. The hiti lived in caves or in the depths of forests. They were seldom dangerous. They played tricks on each other and sometimes harmlessly on the Rennellese, pelting fishermen with garbage (T84), or making off with a woman (T85), or, more frequently, disappearing. They were clever and created portions of the landscape, and showed the Rennellese how to tap longicorns and cook gemugi. They had drinking water and beautiful gardens. They frequently came in twos, sometimes as man and wife (she was cranky), and sometimes one was from the north side of the island and the other from the south, or one was fat and the other thin. They were seen so rarely by Rennellese and Bellonese that each encounter has become a story.

In this chapter, adventures of one hiti with another hiti precede stories of encounters of Rennellese and Bellonese with hiti. In Chapter 8, accounts were given of the meetings of Kaitu'u and Togo with hiti (T66: 36-56).

When Taupongi went to the Honolulu zoo in 1961 he was fascinated by two baby gorillas, whom he straightway called "two hiti." This is what he said of the hiti: Ka na hiti na mi'ipengea pupuku, ngongoa ongatou 'ungu o tatae ki ongatou tapungao, hunguhungu ongatou kingi, noko kongaa na hunguhungu na peka, ka noko unga ongatou kingi. (And the hiti are short people, their hair is very long and reaches the soles of their feet, their skin is hairy, hairy like the flying fox, but their skin is light brown.)

73. Te Ngua o Hiti The Pit of the Hiti

Tapuika of Ghongau, BE. Written account, October, 1960. 1. Te tautupu'a o te sia hai 'anga 1. The tale of the wish of the hiti to dig

a hiti ke kengi e kingatou a Mungiki for themselves here on Bellona so as to nei ke hai ai he ngano. Ka na kengi get a lake. And they dug a pit and called e kingatou te ngua o mate tona it the hiti's pit. 2. And they dug the pit ingoa te ngua o hiti. 2. Ka te ngua and spit in it, and [it] filled to the brim.

200

Page 216: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 73, 74

na kengi e kingatou o henga'esu'aki kinai, o homi. Ma te ina a Tehu'ai- ngabenga ki Mungiki nei, kaa hai e hiti honu o 'oti o he'e tau kunga kakai'aki ai a pengea. Ma te soka e ia i te masahu o masa. Te 'otinga.

And Tehu'aingabenga looked at [Bellona] here, and the hiti were about to fill [the island] completely, and there [would be] no place where people could live. And he pierced [the pit] with his sacred spear, and [it] dried out. The end.

NOTES See Plate 2, Te Ngua o Hiti, a depression in the ground about 20 meters long and 5 meters

wide. A cross-section map of Bellona prepared by the Geological Survey Department in Honia- ra (Roberts, 1958: map) indicates that this depression lies at the lowest point of Bellona, al- most at sea level. When asked about the origin of this depression, which apparently had been dug by humans, Headman Haikiu and Puia said that it had been dug by the hiti, and then gave this tale. I had no opportunity of taking the story down as we were hiking, and forgot about it later. In September 1960, Taupongi mailed an account to me, and, in October 1960, Tapuika sent one. The accounts are similar, except that in Taupongi's account Tehu'aingabenga pierces the waterhole with an 'amosi (betel stick).

TM

74. Tu'ahenua ma Bagika'ago North and South

Timothy Sau'uhi of Baitupu, RE. At Matahenua, March 12, 1958. 1. Gua hiti noko gosigosi e teegaa

bagika'ago, kae gosigosi e teegaa tu'ahenua. Namaa 'oti te gosigosi e teegaa bagika'ago, 'oti kae maa- taki e ia tu'ahenua. 2. Hano ina kinai; e gaoi. O goi kinai, o hai atu: "Bagika'ago, kua poghi e au, kae poghi iho ma'u to'ou nei." 3. Hoki teegaa ki bagika'ago. Kae poghi aano to'ona ngaatai, kae tata'o ki bagika'ago. Tatae atu ki bagika'ago, manga noho ona ngaatai. 'Ika'ika, to'ake na baghu ma na ghasigho ma na laghoghe o noho i tu'ahenua kae lae ai a bagika'ago.

1. Two hiti, one created the north and the other the south. When the one creat- ing the north had finished he visited the south. 2. He went and looked at it; [it] was fine. But [he] lied about it, saying: "I covered up the north and you should cover yours here too." 3. He went back to the north. And the other one covered up his sea area, and went on to the north. [He] got to the north and the lagoons were still there. Angry, [he] pulled up all the baghu and the ghasigho and the laghoghe, and [these plants] remained in the south but the north had none of them.

NOTES This story was told at Matahenua, where I spent a few hours on the way from Matangi to

Bagika'ago. I was escorted to the best house in the village, and all the people came to see me, most of them bringing gifts of food. Some of the men wore tapa, which they wrapped between the legs and five or six times about the waist. They were practising dances in honor of the coming visit of the High Commissioner of the Western Pacific. We talked of various things, and then Timothy told this story, and it provoked much laughter. It had an appealing motif: tricked outwits trickster. Also, it explained the lack of lagoons on the south coast, and, on the north, the lack of baghu palms (whose leaves are used for common mats) and edible ghasigho and laghoghe vines.

SE 14*

201

Page 217: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 75

75. Ngua Hiti ma na Akau Hatu Two Hiti and the Stone Walls

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, June 1961. 1. Two hiti, one hiti made the west [end],

and the other worked in the east [end] of Bellona. There they piled up stone walls. After finishing, the hiti at the west [end] went to the hiti in the east [end], and he played tricks and said: "Cover your trail section up again, because mine has been covered up." 2. And the hiti who was at the east [end] covered all his [section] up. Then [he] came to the west [end] to look at that of the other hiti who had said that [his section] had been covered up. [It] was still there. 3. And he got angry and took the fertile soil which was in the west [end] and ran to the district at the east [end]. The hiti who stayed in the west [end] chased [him], and [they] ran and he spilled [the fertile earth] in Tetau'aahiti; [they] ran on, [he] also spilled [earth] in Tenamo, and [they] just ran; then [he] spilled earth in front of Hange- mangama. 4. [They] ran on, and when arriving at the east [end, the hiti] there opened his package with earth, which [he] had taken and had run with. The hiti, he who chased [the other] this way from the west [end], grabbed [the package of soil]. He [the hiti from the east] snatched (ha- 'ao) the package with soil and he took [it] and took [it] back. 5. And thus was obtained the soil of the east [end], called fertile granules, and the other [type of] soil in the west is called fertile sand. And so it was, and there were hills of it on the main trail of the east, because the hiti in the west played tricks [on the other hiti] and the hiti who was in the east covered up his trail section.

1. Ngua hiti noko ngosingosi eteengaa hiti a ngango, kae ngosi- ngosi e teengaa matangi i Mungiki. 'Ati ai angaa akau hatu. Nimaa 'oti, hano te hiti noko i ngango ki te hiti noko i matangi o pake e ia o hai atu: "Poghi ake mu'a to'ou nei potu anga, 'ai to'oku ku poghi." 2. Ma te poghi e te hiti noko i matangi to'ona, o 'oti. Nimaa a'u ki ngango ke ina ki to'o teengaa hiti, noko 'ati ngongo kua poghi. Manga noho. 3. Ma te 'ika'ika o to'o e ia te kenge malanga noko i ngango, tenge i te potu ki matangi. 'Angu e te hiti noko i ngango o he'angumi, aano tutuku i Tetau'aahiti; he'angumi aano, tutuku ma'u i Tenamo, ka manga he'angumi; aano tutuku i mu'a Hangemangama. 4. He'angumi aano nimaa tatae ki matangi o labi ai tena ahii kenge, noko to'o o tenge. Labu e te hiti noko 'angu mai e ia mai ngango. Ha'ao e ia te ahii kenge, noko to'o mai e ia o to'o hakahoki. 5. Ma te hai ai te kenge i matangi o ingoa te malanga hatu, kae ingoa teengaa kenge i ngango te malanga 'one. Ma te pau 0 tutu'u ongo ai te anga tu'u o matangi i te pake 'anga i te hiti noko i ngango o poghi e te hiti noko 1 matangi to'ona potu anga.

NOTES Along some parts of the main trail on Bellona at both the west and east ends are low walls

built of coral rock. People said that they were built by the hiti before the immigrants came to the island from 'Ubea. On Bellona, I did not ask if there were traditions of their origin. Tau- pongi 1961 told this explanatory tale.

1. Poghi ake mu'a: The hiti covers up his districts with layers of soil. Taupongi 1961 did not know why, but he said that the east end of Bellona is much higher than the west end (Roberts, 1958: map), and the ground there consists of coral rock and granulated soil, ap- parently rich in phosphate. The granulated soil is also found in Tetau'aahiti and Tenamo, the places where the hiti spilled the soil from the west end. Taupongi said that the soil of the west end of Bellona is of a finer texture and not so fertile.

202

Page 218: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 75, 76(A)

This may possibly be another example of the mild boasting by people of the Sa'aiho district- that the fertile soil originally came from their district in the west end of Bellona. 3. Tenamo: Perhaps this is the tika course at Namo (see Plate 2).

TM

76. Gua Hiti i Te'anahotu Two Hiti at Te'anahotu

(A) Isaac Teikahoki, Tekiou, and John Temoa. At Bagika'ago, RE, March 13, 1958. 1. Gua hiti noko kakai i gege

Buge. O noko mamata polo tahea ki Buge.—Boo mai o momoe i Te- 'anahotu. Moemiti ai teegaa. 'Aoina teegaa 'ao, hano te utunga a te tangata, o to'iho te kautaba. 2. Hakaanu kinai te hahine: "Tetaa kautaba e tata i hea?" Noko he'e muna, hano hakatau hakahoki ki- nai—o hai atu: "Tetaa kautaba e tata i hea?"—3. Namaa hakatau 'ika'ika kinai, o hai atu: "E tata i koo, e tata i koo, gabu i te sua."— Hai atu te hahine: " 'Ai ko koe manga 'ika'ika kia te au. Kae aa te hai kitaa boo?"

4. Ma'ogi o boo mai o hetae mai ki Temalasoi—o noko ma hiina'i ai.—Kae sehu te tangata o haka- anga ke gosigosi ai mo'ogaa he manaha kigaa kakai ai. Namaa sopo hoki iho te tangata hai atu a tona uguugu—"Tege hakageesaki mai goa na kunga kua giti tu'a kinai." Hai atu te tangata: "Kitaa boo!"

5. Namaa iho giu ki tai o boo, boo aano poongia, o boo i te poo— namaa boo aano i te poo tatae ki Nukugohia. Tu'u e te tangata te aba kae hano a tena uguugu o age iho mai 'agunga, 'aoina o pau gua hiti o taki tutu'u ai, tu'u teegaa i te aba, kae tu'u teegaa i ga'unga. Kua 'oti. Manga tutu'u gua hiti o tatae mai ki na 'aso nei.

1. Two hiti lived at the top of the cliff at Buge. They watched for coconuts to drift to Buge.— They came to sleep at Te'anahotu. One of them urinated in his sleep. When day dawned the man went for food and got some of the kau- taba vine. 2. The woman asked him: "Where was our kautaba pulled from?" But [he] did not speak and [she] answered again—and said: "Where was our kau- taba pulled from?"—3. Then [he] an- swered her hi anger, saying: "Pulled from there, pulled from there, entwining about the sua tree."— The woman said: "So be angry with me. Why don't we both go away?"

4. So they came and reached Tema- lasoi— and stayed there.—And the man looked over the countryside in order to search [for a place] for them to stay. When the man returned, his wife said— "How [I] long for the places left behind." The man said: "Let's go!"

5. So they went down to the sea and on, and night fell and they continued at night—going on at night and coming to Nukugohia. The man stood at the pass, and his wife went to drive fish from the shore, and it became daylight and the two hiti stayed there always, one at the pass and the other on the shore. [It] is just finished. The two hiti stand there until today [as coral rocks].

NOTES Aged Teikahoki stood in the doorway and told the story. I asked him to come in and dictate.

Two young men (Tekiou and John Temoa) wanted to dictate, so they asked the old man and repeated to me nearly verbatim. Discussions occurred at places marked with dashes. Eight words needed explanation.

1. Buge: at the west side of Lughughi Bay, southwest Rennell. Te'anahotu is on the inland trail. Taupongi 1961 suggested i te gege i Gebuge.

203

Page 219: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 76(A), 76(B), 77

3. sua: the Hiti mispronunciation of suaso. Is this the only indication of hiti linguistic diffi- culties?

4. Temalasoi: on the trail to Lughughi. 5. Nukugohia: near Tuhugago near the lake; many, many miles to the east.

SE

(B) At Hatagua, RE, March 19, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a ki gua hiti noko

kakai i Te'anahotu. Hai a gu agaa kaainga o momoe ai. O moemiti tahi, kae moe tinosie teegaa. Te hiti noko moemiti o uga tona kaainga kae te pegea noko moe tinosie noko susugu to'ona. 2. Namaa teegaa 'aso boo iho, boo ake tegaa hekau, ki Maga'egau, o luga teegaa te titingi o te bai, o binu ai, hoki kae he'e titingi te bai. O pau o noko ma noho te bai ki na 'aso nei, o noko ma bibinu ai. 3. Ka te 'aso noko hoki ai ki Te'anahotu, kae hano teegaa o to'o mai tena kautaba, o gaga. Kae hakaanuanu kinai teegaa: "Tau kautabana e tata i hea?" Kae manga he'e muna teegaa, hakaanu hakahoki teegaa: "Tau kautabana e tata i hea?" 4. Ka na hakatau 'ika'ika o hai atu: "E tata i koo, tata i te sua." Namaa 'oti tegaa kainga, kae momoe. 'Aoina, o boo, boo aano, hakaneke i Lughughi, o hai tegaa kunga kakai i Malasoi. O hiina'i giu ki Te'anahotu, manga noho atu, iho giu mai o boo i tai, o boo hakaneke ki te gano, o boo 'aoina i Temala i Temagama'asoa.

1. The story of two hiti who lived at Te- 'anahotu. They made their beds and went to sleep there. One urinated in his sleep and the other slept clean. The bed of the hiti who urinated in his sleep was red, and that of the one who slept clean was white. 2. One day, coming for their work at Maga'egau, one took off the cover of the water and drank of it, and went back without covering the water. The water remains to this day and is drunk from. 3. When [the hiti] returned to Te'anahotu, one went and got his kautaba vine and smoked [it over a fire]. And the other asked him: "Where was your kautaba pulled from?" But the other didn't speak and the other asked again: "Where was your kautaba pulled from?" 4. And [he] answered angrily, saying: "Pulled from there, pulled from the sacred paddle." After their meal was finished [they] slept. Day came, went, went, climbed to Lughughi and made their place to live at Malasoi. Then going back to Te'anahotu, staying a little, returning down to the sea, going, climbing up to the lake, going at daylight at Temala at Temagama'asoa.

NOTES This story was dictated at 10 P.M., and I was tired after a long day during which I had taken

17 closely written pages of notes and dictation. For the Rennellese it was not late and they were not tired. I forgot to write the informant's name, but previous stories had been told by Headman Togaka; his enthusiasm was endless.

1. Taupongi 1961 suggested gu 'ogaa kaainga. moemiti: laughter.

2. Maga'egau: near Hatagua. Note contrasting teegaa (the other) and tegaa (their, dual). 4. sua: here interpreted as sacred paddle, quite different from that in A. It is not clear. Te-

mala is a tributary to the lake, probably near Magama'asoa, on the north shore towards the west. The continual traveling about is characteristic of today's Rennellese.

SE

77. Gua Hiti noko Laghaghi Two Hiti Who Climbed with Climbers

John Temoa. At Bagika'ago, RE, March 12, 1961. 1. Te tautupu'a ki gua hiti noko

laghaghi te ga'akau ahato. Mu'a 1. The story of two hiti who climbed a

longicorn tree with vine climbers [on their

204

Page 220: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 77, 78

teegaa ma to'ona laghaghi o lapa hano ki 'agunga. Kae mugi ake teegaa ma to'ona laghaghi lapa hina- ke ai mai gago. Namaa hai ake te hiti noko taha ki gago: "Ni aa te tungu'ia ai au?" 2. Haiho te hiti noko taha lei 'agunga: "Te haka- penu e ngungu e au." Kaimeo te hiti noko taha ki gago; o toghi ake e ia te laghaghi o te hiti noko taha ki 'agunga, o too iho o matohitohi. E kogaa na noho o hitoki iho ai a pegea i na ga'akau o ma tohitohi. Kua 'oti.

feet]. First, one of them with his climber tapped [beat the bark with a stick so as to dislodge the larva], going towards the top. Then the other one with his climber tapped upwards from the bottom. Then the hiti who was at the bottom called up: "What fragrance do I smell?" 2. The hiti who was on top said: "I'm just munching the refuse." The hiti who was below was angry and greedy with hunger; he cut the climber of the hiti on top who fell down and broke his bones. And so when people fall from trees they break their bones. Just finished. SE

78. Hiti Tohi ma Hiti Ika ma Hiti Too

Hiti Tohi and Hiti Ika and Hiti Too

Gilead Moa. At Hatagua, RE, March 21, 1958. 1. Teenei te tagatupu'a o Hiti

Tohi ma Hiti Ika, noko hakahua i te tohi paipai, hakahua i te tai. 2. Noko' hiina'i aano i Lughu, ko Hiti Tohi ma Hiti Ika ke ngau ma'a- gaaua ningagoa. Boo mai o sobi a gaaua, o gaga, o ngau. 3. Hai atu teegaa: "E maase'i na ningagoa nei. Ke boo sasaga na mango a Hiti Too." Hai atu teegaa: "Kitaa boo ke kaia'a ma'ataaua "isi." 4. Namaa boo o tatae ki te mouku, o hiina'i ki te ga'akau mango, aano kake teegaa o sobi kaia'a, ta'agaaua ga'akau mango. O gua agaa ka- benga noko to'o, o boo i aga tu'u, o boo aano boo i te aga i Onepaba, o boo i te agaa paga i Agahoa. 5. Namaa hai atu teegaa: "Ke gaga ataa mango e kua mama'o." Hai tegaa ahi, gaga kogaa o moso, kae gaga kogaa o ngage, kae noho mata kogaa. 6. Ma te sopo tata'o atu a Hiti Too, ha'ao na me'a noko moso ma na me'a noko mata, kae seu e ia na me'a ngage, ki te mouku. Teenei te 'otinga o te tagatupu'a o Hiti Tohi ma Hiti Ika ma Hiti Too.

1. This is the story of Hiti Tohi (Grove- hiti) and Hiti Ika (Fish-hiti), chief of pai- pai tree-fern groves and chief of the sea. 2. Hiti Tohi and Hiti Ika lived at Lughu, came this way to chew some ningagoa vine for themselves. They came and cut, smoked, and chewed. 3. One said: "These ningagoa are bad. Let's go and look for some of Hiti Too's mango vines." The other said: "Let's go and steal some for us." 4. Then going and getting to the forest and seeing a tree with mango vines, and then one climbed up and unlawfully chopped off their mango vines. They took two burdens and went on the main trail and went on the trail at Onepaba and went on a small trail at Agahoa. 5. Then one said: "Let's smoke our mango, it's far." Making their fire and smoking, some that was well done, and smoked other that turned brownish [but was only par- tially cooked], and some remained raw. 6. And Hiti Too appeared, having followed, and grabbed the ones that were cooked and the ones that were raw, and he threw away the brownish ones into the bush. This is the end of the story of Hiti Tohi and Hiti Ika and Hiti Too.

NOTES 2. gaga: to dry in smoke. 4. sobi: to chop off vines formerly eaten in famines, as mango, ghasigho, beghini.

Onepaba, Agahoa: east of Lughu Bay, Rennell.

205

Page 221: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 78, 79

6. SE: "Why didn't Hiti Too seek revenge?" Informants: "Afraid." SE: "Didn't the hiti kill people?" Maaui: "They killed Togo, Kaitu'u's uncle, but afterwards they didn't kill people."

SE

79. Hakaanuanu Pake Dissembling Questions

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 27, 1959. 1. Ngua hiti na noho'aki i bangi-

ka'ango ma tu'ahenua. Hai nge- mungi teegaa e i tu'ahenua, o tio. Kae hai ngemungi teengaa e i bangi- ka'ango o kanga o tata'o ona lala i na bai o kai i te he'e na'a e ia na tio 'anga na ngemungi. 2. Nimaa bilaabei ngua hiti. Ina atu te hiti e i tu'ahenua e hepopo'i na hiti e boo iho mai bangika'ango. 3. Kae ina mai teengaa hiti na hiti e boo iho mai tu'ahenua e pepeti. Ma te ina atu te hiti e hinaiho mai bangika- 'ango te maninia o te tama 'iti'iti hiti mai tu'ahenua e benga i te ahi. 4. Ma te hai atu te hiti mai bangi- ka'ango ki te tama 'iti'iti mai tu'ahe- nua: "Tou ngima e aa?" Ma te hai atu: "E benga i te ghaisa...." 5. He'e 'oti tena hakatau 'anga, kae popono mai te tupuna te ngutu kua e'a te ghaisanga ki taha. Ma te hano te hiti noko hinaiho mai bangika- 'ango o hai na ngemungi o ngi- ngingi ki te bai o taani na hatu i te ahi o tio ai te bai kua ngingingi kinai e ia na ngemungi. 6. Ma te ma hesomoki na ngemungi, ma te na'a e ia na tio ngemungi 'anga.

1. Two hiti lived in the north and the south. The one in the south got ngemungi and cooked [the pulp] in water with hot stones. And the other one in the north got ngemungi and cracked the seeds with his teeth and weighted [them] down in water and ate [them] because he did not know about cooking ngemungi [pulp] with hot stones. 2. Then the two hiti met. The hiti from the south saw that the hiti that came from the north were thin. 3. And the other hiti saw that the hiti coming down from the south were well nourished. And the hiti that came down from the north saw that the finger of a hiti child coming from the south was burned by fire. 4. And the hiti from the north said to the child from the south: "What has happened to your finger?" And [the child] said: "[It] was burned in the fire for heating sto...." 5. His answer was not completed, and the grandfather covered with his hands his mouth, from which had come out [the words about] heating stones for water. And the hiti who had come down from the north took ngemungi and poured them into the water and put stones into the fire and in this way heated the water into which he had poured the ngemungi. 6. And the skin loosened on the ngemungi, and [now] he knew how to cook ngemungi.

NOTES Many people were present when this story was told, and it caused much laughter, especially

the mentioning of the thin and fat hiti (2), and the child talking too much (4). 1. Taupongi explained that the hiti lived in pits and caves in the forest (moukii) on the

northern and southern rims of Bellona. ngemungi: a much-esteemed forest tree (Gnetum gnemonl', Rennellese, gemugt). Its olive-

sized fruit have a thin layer of bluish-black pulp around the seeds. The fruit are cooked by placing hot stones in a bowl (kumete), a process called tio. This makes the pulp soft enough to be taken off with the teeth and lips; the fruit are spit out in a heap on a mat and kneaded into a paste. The paste is then wrapped in leaves and stored. Every second or third day it is baked again in the oven to prevent fermenting. The large seeds are deposited in water, some- times for several months, before being cracked, baked, and eaten, either as they come out of the oven or as a paste. The seeds are not highly esteemed. Elaborate rituals are involved in the picking, preparing, and eating of ngemungi.

206

Page 222: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 79, 80(A)

In this story, the hiti living on the northern side of the island did not know how to utilize ngemungi fruit and therefore starved.

2. Singular te hiti becomes plural na hiti. Taupongi 1962 explained that ngua hiti (two hiti) meant two groups of hiti, each group having a single spokesman.

4. ghaisa ...: Taupongi 1961 explained that the child meant to say ghaisanga, but the grand- father covered his mouth before the word was finished. He did not want the hiti living in the north to learn from the grandchild how to prepare ngemungi.

TM

So. Tagie ma Tugeika Tagie and Tugeika

(A) Samuel Tuhenua and Togaka, both of the lake, RE. At Niupani, December 2, 1957. 1. Ko Tugeika te tangata. Noko

noho i Kagibi. Aano hinaiho to'iho tena 'uhi. Ki te sanga. 2. Hinaiho i na nga'uta, noko mataa sanga i Lalube o kai, kae to'iho o sanga i Gigika o kai, kae to'iho o sanga i Kagikagau o kai. 3. Kae to'iho o tatae iho ki Teaba.

4. Noko iai te hahine, tona ingoa ko Tagie. 5. Noko tatae iho, ka noko he'e kitea a Tagie i tona manaha. Hai aano, e'a iho o haka- langalanga po na lango 'anga o he'e muna. 6. Hai aano hemasi'i o nonoho, kae tahi hai 'anga noko he'e haka'agi kinai, na hai 'anga a Tagie, ana utu 'anga ma na sanga 'anga. Manga tangani hai e Tagie, ki te kai ai a Tugeika i na utunga, ka he'e na'a e ia. 7. Hai aano haka- anu a Tugeika, po e kohea na hai na paghabu. Hai atu manga togo. Hakaanu ma'u i na upo, po e kohea ona hai. Manga tibu. 8. Hakaanu ma'u i na sanga 'anga. Hai atu manga maganga.

9. O 'oti teegaa hegeunga nei, kae sui a Tugeika o manga gepo e ia. Poo iho hinaiho a Tagie ki aba ka ta'o iho a Tugeika o gepo. Ma Una ma te hakatu'u paghabu i tona kupenga 'eha. 10. O na'a iho e ia kae hoki o noko ma ina haka- pakepake i togaa manaha. Kua 'oti te na'a e ia na utu 'anga i te tai.

11. Hano ma'u te hekau sanga, tata'o ma'u o gepo na sanga 'anga.

1. Tugeika was a man. [He] lived at Ka- gibi. Then he went westward taking yams. Then [he] planted. 2. Then [he] went westward to a planting place where [he] had first planted at Lalube and ate [the harvest], and took [more yams] westward and planted at Gigika and ate, and took [more yams] westward and planted at Kagikagau and ate. 3. Then [he] took [more yams] westward and reached Te- aba.

4. A woman was there, her name Tagie. 5. [He] arrived, but Tagie was not to be seen in her settlement. Then [she] appeared and wondered what this arrival was but didn't speak. 6. They then be- came friends and lived together, but one thing was not shown him, Tagie's getting of food and planting. Tagie just made [food] without explaining, and Tugeika just ate the food but he didn't understand. 7. Then Tugeika asked how to get lake goby fish. [She] said just by netting. [He] asked about eels, how they were gotten. Just picked up. 8. [He] asked also about planting. [She] said just magic.

9. After their conversation, Tugeika changed [tactics] and he set to spying. Night fell and Tagie went down to the waterfront and Tugeika followed down and spied. [She] used torches and set her big net for lake goby. 10. [He] under- stood and went back and waited deceit- fully in their place. He now understood about getting food from water.

11. [Tagie] went also for her planting work, [and he] followed too and spied on

207

Page 223: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 80(A), 80(B)

Hinatu rna hai tena maganga hekau, ma tutu ma te ganga ma te sanga. Noko he'e hai hekau ai na gima, ka noko manga gea kinai te ngutu o hai na hekau. 12. Kae ma ina, mano ma tu'ia i te mate te maganga hekau. Manga na'a ake e ia ko Tugeika ma gepo. Kua 'oti.

the planting. [She] went and did her mag- ic, burning, and hilling up, and planting. Her hands did no work, but her mouth just spoke there and the work was done. 12. [He] just stayed, and perhaps [she] was surprised because the magic work stopped. She now knew that Tugeika was spying. Just finished.

NOTES This story was written early in my stay at Niupani. Tuhenua was immediately a splendid dic-

tator, timing his speaking to my writing. Before beginning this story and before saying the place names, he questioned Togaka, a young man. Togaka watched me write and made two spelling corrections. They and others present enjoyed the story and laughed at Tugeika's deceit (hakapakepake) and at the end. They explained that magic did not work if watched. (See N31 [A]:5.) The entire action takes place at the far east end of the lake and as far west as Teaba, famous for eel fishing. Taupongi 1961 said that the two people were hiti. This probably had seemed too obvious to my informants to mention. (The hiti often came in pairs, with con- trasting skills or physical characteristics; they played tricks on each other; they were highly skilled in gardening and fishing.)

SE

(B) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959. 1. Ko Tungeika noko noho i

Kangibi o sanga ai tana 'uhi. Nimaa matu'a o kai. To'o sui o sanga i Tautuna. 'Oti kae to'o ma'u o sui o sanga i Lalube. 2. 'Oti sui ma'u o sanga i Belaghui. 'Oti ma'u, sui ma'u o sanga i Bangasingana. To'o ma'u ki Tesasatakinga. 'Oti kae to'o ma'u ki Langikangau, o sanga ai. 3. 'Oti kae to'o ma'u o hano o tatae ki Teaba, te rnanaha o Tangie. Ko Tangie he'e kitea ai. 4. Nimaa sopo mai a Tangie ki tona manaha; manga iai a Tungeika, ma te langa- langa po te pengea aa i te manaha, o he'e muna kinai. Ka manga ina a Tungeika i te manaha, aano hemasi'i o hai tangaa nohonga. 5. Ka noko he'e ako kinai na haaiba o te hahine. Manga tangani kai ai, ka he'e na'a e Tungeika po e kohea na hai e Tangie na paghabu ma na upo. 6. Ma te hai atu a Tungeika: "Po e kohea na hai?" Ma te hai atu a Tangie: "Manga tango." Nimaa i teengaa 'aso hano ma'u a Tangie te utunga. Ma te mungi ai a Tungeika o ngepo kinai, o na'a e ia ona hai 'anga. Kae toe tena

1. Tungeika stayed in Kangibi where he planted his yams. When [they] became fully grown, [he] ate [them]. Then [he] took [them], changed and planted [them] in Tautuna. Then [he] took [them] again and changed and planted [them] in La- lube. 2. Then [he] changed and planted them at Belaghui. Then again he changed again and planted [them] in Bangasingana. Took [them] again to Tesasatakinga. Then took [them] again to Langikangau and planted there. 3. Then took [them] again and went to Teaba, the settlement of Tangie. Tangie was not there. 4. Then Tangie came down to her settlement; Tungeika was there and [Tangie] won- dered why the man was in the settlement, and [she] did not talk to [him]. Tungeika just stayed in the settlement and then [they] became friends and lived together. 5. But he did not learn the woman's fish- ing methods. He just ate without know- ing [from where the food came], and Tungeika did not know how Tangie got the lake goby and the eels. 6. And Tu- ngeika said: "How do [you] get [them]?" Tangie said: "[I] just drive [them] into a net." Then one day Tangie again went to get food. Tungeika followed after her and

208

Page 224: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 80(B), 81

manganga hekau, he'e na'a e Tu- ngeika.

hid and spied upon her, and he under- stood her methods. But her magic Tu- ngeika still did not know.

NOTES Taupongi 1961 said that this story had been told to him in Honiara, 1959, by Samuel Tuhenua,

who had told the same story to SE in 1959 (variant A). Taupongi was not too happy about his own variant and would have preferred that it be excluded from this collection of texts. He said that he had not quite understood what the story was about. This will easily be seen if one compares 6 here with 9-10 in variant A. It is my hope that Taupongi will forgive the inclusion of this story here. It is of interest in that it shows the difference in Taupongi's style when giving a story he knows well, and when rather mechanically retelling a story that is not usually in- cluded in his own repertoire.

TM

81. Gua Hiti ma te Launatahi Bai Two Hiti and a Single Water

John Temoa. At Matahenua, RE. March 12, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a ki te tokagua

hiti noko kakai i te 'ana. Hai te bai o teegaa, kae he'e tau bai teegaa. Ka noko poghi te bai o teegaa i te mouto'o ai ke noko binu launatahi ai. Kai teegaa ma te binu.—Kae manga kai utunga o he'e binu teegaa. 2. Hai atu te pegea noko he'e binu ki teegaa: "Ko au te kaa semu nei te sia binu." Hai atu te pegea noko manga huu tena bai: "Ko au ma'u." 3. Hai aano maghe- ghe te pegea noko he'e binu. Kae peti te pegea noku binu i tena bai noko huu. Ina aano kinai te hiti noko magheghe i te sia binu, hai kinai tena tegeu'a: "Manoo e hai mo'ona he bai o noko manga binu ai, kae ma pake ai."

4. Namaa teegaa 'aso ngague kigaa, boo ki mouku ma'agaa ni utunga. Mataa hano te hiti noko he'e binu i te aga. Hano o singa i te aga o noko ma gepo mai i te hiti noko hai tena bai noko pake ai. 5. Ka ma kai mai aano, luga mai tena bai noko manga poghi i tena kapa kaainga, o punou o binu. Namaa 'oti tena binu 'anga, kae poghi ona kope, kae tata'o atu i te aga, hinatu o sigi. 6. Kae e'a iho o hoki mai ki teegaa kunga kakai, hinatu o lugatu te kapa. Manga su'a gaoi tena bai noko pake ai. Punou o binu ai ma'u. Binu aano

1. The story of the two hiti who lived in a cave. One had water and the other had none. The one deceitfully covered his water so as to drink it alone. He ate and drank.—The other one just ate food but didn't drink. 2. The one who did not drink said to the other: "I'm about to faint with thirst." The one who had hidden his water said: "Me too!" 3. So the one who didn't drink became thin. And the one who drank the hidden water became fat. The hiti thin from not drinking looked at the other and expressed his thought about it: "Maybe he has water and drinks it, but lies about it."

4. One day they got ready to go to the bush for their food. The hiti who didn't drink went first on the trail. [He] crossed the trail and spied on the hiti who had water but had lied about it. 5. And [he] ate and then uncovered his water that had been covered with the side of his sleeping mat, bending down and drinking. When his drinking had finished, [he] covered up [the water] with the bed mats and fol- lowed [the other] on the trail, going on but passing by. 6. [The other one] came back down to their dwelling place, went and picked up the mat. The water that had been lied about was clear. [He] knelt down and drank of it too. [He] drank and then

209

Page 225: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 81, 82, 83

ai o gosigosi tena kabenga. 7. 'Oti term kabenga hano titiko ki te bai, kae hano. E'a mai te hiti noko hai tena bai, tuku tena kabenga, kae hinatu o luga tena bai, kua titiko kinai te hiti kua hano. Kua 'oti.

prepared his load. 7. When his load was ready he went and defecated into the water, and went away. The hiti who owned the water came, put down his load, went and opened up the water that the hiti who had gone had defecated into. Just finished.

NOTES Temoa and others laughed at the thirst of the one hiti (2), his suspicions of the other (3), and

his defecating into the clear water (7). No one was embarrassed by this. Lugatu (6): luga atu. A variant of this tale was dictated at Niupani by Te'ota on December 28, 1957. In that

version, the thin hiti didn't drink because he was loghogho (wild). The work of the hiti was lapanga (hunting for longicorns), a task for which hiti were famous. The water that was de- fecated into became ghebu (murky).

Another variant was given TM by Taupongi at Bellona on January 27, 1959. The thin hiti in it is called pakupaku (dried up), as well as magheghe. The last sentence follows: Ma te ma langa ai na katikati i na bai i te titiko 'anga te hiti pakupaku ki te bai o teengaa hiti. (And mosquito larvae developed in the waters as a result of the thin hiti's defecation in the other hiti's water.) Taupongi laughed at the defecation and remarked that it was a terrible thing to do. (Water is scarce on Bellona.) Taupongi explained laughingly that larvae of mosquitoes developed from the feces of the hiti.

SE

82. Gua Hiti noko i Gemaula ma Gholi

Two Hiti Who Were at Gemaula and Gholi

'Oea. At Hatagua, RE. March 22, 1958. Te tagatupu'a a gua hiti noko i

Gemaula ma Gholi. Ka na a'u te hiti noko i Gemaula, o a'u e ia o gotu ke pagepage te hiti noko i Gholi, ka na hetata'i ai, ma te tua haha'a te 'ugu o te hiti noko i Gholi. Kae hoki te hiti ki Gemaula, o noko ma ina ai, ma te tata'o te hiti noko i Gholi. O hugi e ia te hiti noko i Gemaula, o hugi e ia ki te pupu'a o ma tohitohi o mate. E 'oti.

The story of two hiti who were at Ge- maula and Gholi. The hiti who was at Gemaula, he came and wanted to drive out the hiti who was at Gholi, and fought him and cut off the head of the hiti who was at Gholi. And the hiti returned to Gemaula and stayed there, and the hiti who was at Gholi followed. He threw down the hiti who was at Gemaula, threw [him] into a hole, and [he] was broken into pieces and died. Now finished.

NOTES This was the first story of a busy Saturday. The people had been preparing food for Sunday.

By 9 A.M. about fifteen people were in the house and the children had been driven out. The informant laughed at the end of the story. Gemaula is an overgrown garden (ma'aga), and Gholi is a place north of Hatagua near the sea.

SE

83. Gua Hiti noko Hoa te Hatu Haga

Two Hiti Who Cracked Pandanus Keys

Malacham Teikanoa and others. At Hatagua, RE, March 23, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o gua hiti noko

noho'aki aano i tegaa manaha, ma te boo te utunga, boo aano sasa'o

1. The story of two hiti who lived to- gether in their settlement and went for food, going on and coming upon pan-

210

Page 226: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 83, 84

ki te haga, kua gegeu ona hua o tutuku iho ki gago. 2. Ma te mataa noho teegaa, o hoa tena hatu haga. —Namaa 'oti te hoa 'anga a teegaa, tu'u kae sui teegaa, o hoa ta'ana penu. Namaa poongia, giu ki tegaa manaha, o momoe ai. 3. Namaa 'ao giu mai ma'u ki te haga, o mataa hoa teegaa, kae tu'u teegaa, o hitagi aano. Hai atu teegaa: "Hitagi mai, kaa ke hoa he penu haga, ke hai ai toku ngutu!" O hai aano poo ma'u, he'e boo te utunga, noko ma konaa na hai ba'i 'ao, o hai aano ma te maghegheghe o mamate. Teenei te 'oti 'anga.

danus whose fruits were ripe and had fallen down. 2. One first stopped and cracked his pandanus key.—After he had finished cracking [he] got up, and the other in turn then cracked his trash. When night fell, [they] went back to their settlement and slept there. 3. At day- light [they] went back again to the pan- danus, and one first cracked and the other stood waiting. The one said: "Wait until I crack the pandanus trash so I'll have my mouthful." And so on and it was night again and [they] didn't go for food. It was this way every day and finally [they] were emaciated and died. This is the ending.

84. Kaihuti Kaihuti Samuel Tuhenua of Niupani, RE. December 6, 1957.

1. Te tautupu'a ia Kaihuti, te tangata noko kakai i te 'ana i te gege i Toho. 2. Noko hai tena hai 'anga te hai songo na ihonga. Boo atu kogaa lango 'anga, haiho: "He'e tau me'a kai i te tukutaina, ka ke noko 'abatu ni utunga e na kakai 'anga ma tangani hakapusia i na gege."

3. 'Oti ana gea 'anga nei, kae seu iho na penu o ana kainga kaui, ma na kainga paipai, ma na kainga huaa 'umanga. Hakatangi kinai ba'i pegea ki tena hai 'anga noko hai goa, o puge kinai tegatou tau'a.

4. Hiina'i aano narnaa teegaa 'aso sa'ege kinai te tau'a. Teegaa te tuginga o te tau'a kia Kaihuti, ko Teseu. Boo atu o a'aki atu ki tai. Ma begobego kaui. Ma i ma- tangi i tona manaha he'egahi mai kinai. 5. A'aki te tau'a o he'agiko ki te aga o tona 'ana. Kite mai o tege mai ma'u kinai. Tege mai aano ti'aki tena tui kaui kae manga tege mai ma tona tao ma te toki. 6. A'u aano ti'aki haka'oti te tao— kae manga tege mai ma tona toki. A'u aano tighe ake i te aga ki tona 'ana. Gege ake a Teseu o tau i te mugi kaubaga, noko sugu i te huna

1. The story of Kaihuti (Banana-eater), a man who lived in the cave at the upper part of the cliff at Toho. 2. What he did was to harm fishing parties. A group of travelers would go along, [and he] would call down: "There is no food on that shore, but the people who are just harm- lessly taking the breeze on the upper part of the cliff will give [you] some food,"

3. After speaking this he would throw down garbage from his fish foods and paipai tree-fern foods and vegetable foods. The people all complained about such conduct that he did so often and they planned an attack on him.

4. Then one day the war party ad- vanced upon him. The leader of the attack on Kaihuti was Teseu. [They] went on and came to the sea. [Kaihuti] was spear- ing fish. There at the east at his place far away. 5. The raiders appeared and ran to the path of his cave. [Kaihuti] saw and ran at them too. [He] ran and left his string of fish behind and just ran with his spear and adze. 6. As [he] came [he] left his spear also—and just ran with his adze. [He] came, climbed hand-over- hand upon the path to his cave. Teseu jumped up and grabbed hold of the end of the axe handle that he had slipped into his loin cloth with its end protuding

211

Page 227: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 84, 85

o e'a tona potu i gago. 7. O ghotoi hakahoki iho ai ki gago. O hehaka- sani'aki gua gima ki tu'a o kakabe. —8. O hakaneke i te takaga, he'e tau, i te me'a gaa kua gii gua gima. Hai atu: "Te mata utua nei kaa hai atu u'u ake." O ma'ogi o u'u kae usu ake e te tau'a ia te ia. Boo ake aano a'aki ake ki ga'unga.—9. O uta i te baka o boo o hai baakai kinai o tutu ai. Hai ai te ingoa o te kakai 'anga noko tutu e kigatou ia Kaihuti te sa'a bega.

down below. 7. [Teseu] pulled [him] down again. [He] tied two hands at his back and took him along.—8. Climbing the cliff trail, [Kaihuti] did not hold on because his two hands were tied. [Teseu] said: "Just bite the projecting rocks here." So [Kaihuti] held on by biting until the raiders came up to him. [They] went on up and came inland [to the lake].—9. [They] boarded canoes and went to get firewood for him and ignited it. The name of the people who burned Kaihuti was the burning clan. Just finished.

NOTES Tuhenua did not state that Kaihuti was a hiti, and I did not think to ask him. Taupongi 1961,

however, called him a hiti. The tale follows the pattern of the cliff-dwelling hiti who runs away from the Rennellese. But Kaihuti (not a Rennellese name) was unusual in that he teased the Rennellese by pelting them with garbage. Tuhenua was not sure of this story, and consulted others at 6, 7, and at the end of 8.

1. Taupongi 1961 preferred tautupu'a kia Kaihuti, but said that both are acceptable. 4. Subjects are not indicated even when they change. 8. Laughter at the biting of the cliff. 9. sa'a bega: See TWO: 14. SE

85. Ti Tinana kua Kakabe e te Hiti

The Mother Escorted by a Hiti

Temoa of Labagu, RE. November 21, 1957. 1. Te tau tinana noko hai togaa

manaha. Boo ki tai. Hano mu'a te tangata. Kae mugi a te tinana. Hano, e'a ki tai. 2. O hoa ana baghu ma te hitagi'aki ia te tinana. Hano 'ao 'aatea, tu'uti hoki ake ai ma te tangi. . . . Ma noho tena kabenga, ngege: "Tinau, tinau!" Tangi. 3. Hakagongo kinai a ti tinana kua kakabe e te hiti. Hoki iho te hahine, ka ma taka te hiti. E'a hoki mai te hiti o sasaga aano ngege. He'e hakatau. Ina mai i te aga e hano ai ma 'aatea, kua poghi i te ta'u hatu. 4. Kae hoki iho- te hahine o 'ati gongo ia tena tama: "Ko au kua kakabe e te hiti!" Hai atu a tena tama: "Kitaa boo hiina'i i te manaha!" 5. Boo atu maa gangi na ogo. Giu iho boo ki tai. Moe te tangata o ina i te hiti e'a atu ki te manaha, o hakaanu: "Tehea taku tama'ahine?" 6. 'Aga te tama, baa-

1. The mother and son had their home. [They] went to the sea. The boy went ahead. The mother followed. Going on, reaching the sea. 2. He was breaking baghu nuts and waiting for his mother. Noon came, and [he]. went back for her, crying.... [He] put down his burden [and] called: "Mother, mother!" Weeping. 3. The mother heard him, being escorted by a hiti. The woman came back down, while the hiti waited behind. The hiti ap- peared again and looked and called. No answer. [He] looked at the path that had been traveled on and had been clear, now covered with stones. 4. The woman re- turned and said to her son: "I've been escorted by a hiti!" Her son said: "Let's go and see the settlement!" 5. Going on and many mountains. Returned and went back to the sea. The boy went to sleep and [in a dream] saw the hiti coming to the place and asked: "Where is my daughter?" 6. The boy awoke and woke

212

Page 228: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

'anga ia te tinana. " 'Oo, boo ki ga'unga." Hano aano te hahine, tatae i te kunga noko okioki ai. Too te 'ua, moe hakatu'u ba'e, logi ma'u e te hiti, ngege ia tena tama, tege hoki mai kinai. Te ma tau nei te hiti i te gima o ti tinana. Tege mai kinai ke taa, nimo te hiti. Kua 'oti.

TEXTS 85, 86, 87

up the mother. "Yes, let's go on up." The woman went and reached the place where [one] rested. Rain fell, [she] lay down with flexed knees, the hiti grabbed again, she called her son, [he] ran coming back to her. The hiti held the mother's arm. [The son] ran to her to strike, but the hiti vanished. Just finished.

NOTES This was my first hiti story, and I had trouble with such words as kakabe, tau tinana, e'a,

words that I knew later to be common ones. 4. Taupongi 1961 preferred 'ati gongo kia tena tama. 6. I had trouble with omitted subjects throughout the story, but especially here where the

unmentioned actors changed. SE

86. Sa'omoana noko Kite i te Hiti Sa'omoana Who Saw the Hiti

Paul Sa'engeika of Ghongau, BE. January 15, 1959. 1. Ko Sa'omoana noko> tautupu'a

ki tena tautainga. Noko hano o kite i te hiti i Ngangaka, noko ma bengobengo kaui. Totongo kinai a Sa'omoana ke labu. 2. Ma nimaa kite e te hiti ia Sa'omoana ma te songo mungi te hiti. Ma te tenge kinai a Sa'omoana, ma te nimo te hiti ki te lunga, ka manga takoto tena tui kaui. Hekeukeu'aki a Sa'o- moana i te sasanga te hiti. 3. Keu hoki iho ki te tui kaui; kua nimo ma'u.

1. Sa'omoana told a story about his going out fishing. He went and saw the hiti in Ngangaka, [the hiti] was spearing fish. Sa- 'omoana crept up to him to catch [him]. 2. And then the hiti discovered Sa'omo- ana and went behind [a rock]. And Sa- 'omoana ran to him, and the hiti disap- peared at the rocky coast and only his fish string lay there. Sa'omoana turned to all sides, looking for the hiti. 3. [He] turned back again to the fish string; [it] had disappeared too.

NOTES Paul Sa'engeika did not know many tales, his field of interest being rituals and dancing. This

and T87 were among the few stories he told. 1. Sa'omoana: the older brother of Paul Sa'engeika's father, Saungongo (Genealogies 4 and

5, G20). Sa'engeika said he had himself heard Sa'omoana tell about his experiences when re- turning from the fishing trip. Having told this story, he remarked that before the acceptance of Christianity people used to lay an offering for the hiti on a rock in the bush when they returned from a successful fishing trip.

According to SE, even Christian people on Rennell place miniature leaf houses with tiny leaf puzzles in them (all known as loghoghi, Bellona loghongi), on rocks (known as hiti) on trails leading to the sea. The tiny supernaturals (also known as loghoghi and loghongi) would be pre- occupied with these toys and not spoil the fishing.

TM

87. Ko Maumau noko Kite e ia te Hiti

Maumau Who Saw the Hiti

Paul Sa'engeika of Ghongau, BE. January 15, 1959. 1. Ko Maumau te pengea o sa'a

Tongo. Noko kite e ia te hiti noko 1. Maumau was a man of the Tongo clan.

He saw the hiti who lived in Nama'unga.

213

Page 229: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 87, 88

ma noho i Nama'unga. 2. O haka- hengeu kinai a Maumau; kingaa noko he'angongoha'aki. Ka noko he'emaka te hiti; aano maangao te hiti kia Maumau. 3. Noko hai tongaa manaha ki te heutu'aki. Utu te hiti kia Maumau, kae utu ma'u a Maumau ki te hiti. 4. Noko kakai te hiti i te 'ana, kae kakai a Mau- mau i te manaha. Te hiti noko utu 0 to'o mai ia Maumau o hai baa- ngongo iho ia Maumau i tona 'ana 1 na utunga noko to'o mai e ia. 5. Noko baghobu iho i te tina'e. Haka- ngongo ake a Maumau o to'o utunga o hinake kinai o sopo ake ki te 'ana o hainga'a'aki 'abange e te hiti na akui ma na peka ma na kaui kia Maumau. 6. Kae 'abange e Maumau na utunga me'a ki te hiti, kae hai atu a Maumau: "Totaa tongitongi ke noko hai heutu'aki i ba'i 'aso." 7. Aano namaa teengaa 'aso utu ma'u te hiti kia Maumau, hoki mai tena utunga i tona kunga kakai i te 'ana o baghobu iho i te tina'e kia Maumau. 8. He'e ghali kinai a Maumau, ma te 'ika'ika te hiti o nimo. Hinake kinai a Mau- mau, manga noho na utunga. 9. Ka te hiti kua he'e kitea. Ma te ngehu aano a Maumau, to'o e ia na utunga, kae noka.

2. And Maumau talked to him; they were kind to each other. But the hiti [first] refused; and afterwards the hiti obeyed Maumau. 3. [They] made their settlement [together] to get food for each other. The hiti got food for Maumau, and Maumau also got food for the hiti. 4. The hiti lived in the cave, and Maumau lived in the settlement. The hiti got food to bring to Maumau and made a loud sound in his cave for Maumau about the food which he had brought. 5. [He] drummed on his abdomen. Maumau heard and took food and went there, and entered the cave and exchanged gifts, and the hiti gave coconut crabs and flying fox and fish for Maumau. 6. And Maumau gave culti- vated foods to the hiti and Maumau said: "Let's have the custom of always ex- changing food." 7. Then one day the hiti again got food for Maumau and came back with his food at the place he lived, the cave, and drummed on his abdomen for Maumau. 8. Maumau did not come quickly to him, and the hiti became angry and disappeared. Maumau went up there, and only the food was there. 9. And the hiti was not to be seen. Maumau scolded and he took the food, and [the exchange of food] was ended.

NOTES This story was dictated immediately after T86. For Maumau, see Genealogy 10.

TM

88. Te Manaha o te Hiti Home of the Hiti

Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Niupani, February 18, 1958. 1. Te ingoa o te aba ko Niupani.

Noko hano ai a Temoa, hano te ihonga ki te tai. Ma te too te 'ua, ma te gae ki te luga o hakamagu i te noko 'ua i na 'ana, ma te ina iho ki te hiti e a'u i te 'ugu'ugu. 2. Hano hakatau ma tena tao, bego tena kaui, o too kinai, to'o tena kaui o hoki ake, o hetae ake ki 'agunga; o tu'u te hiti hemata- mata'aki, ka kua kite iho e Temoa,

1. The name of the coastal settlement was Niupani. Temoa went there to go fish- ing in the sea. Rain fell and [he] turned off to the coastal ledge to find shelter in the caves from the heavy rain, and looked out and saw a hiti coming on the reef. 2. The hiti came and aimed his spear and speared his fish, jumped in for it, took his fish and went back up and reached the shore; the hiti stopped and looked about, and Temoa looked down at him

214

Page 230: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 88

o tege iho kinai. 3. Kite te hiti ko Temoa kua hetaiake mai kinai, ma te tege te hiti, 'agu ai e Temoa. 4. Gae ki 'agunga i te goto, hetae ki te luga, sopo ake te hiti ki na hatu ke tege ki 'agunga, 'oso ake a Temoa ki te ba'e o te hiti, o hai atu a Temoa: "Hai taa'ia ia te koe!" 5. Ma te mataku te hiti o hai ake: "Noka te taa ia te au, ka ke kakabe ia te koe ki toku manaha."

6. Ma te helogha'aki ogaa siku huna, o hakaneke ki 'agunga, soso- po ake ki te manaha o te hiti. 7. E gaoi to'a te manaha, iai na 'umanga ma na huti, 'eha me'a noko iai, ka manga iai a tena uguugu o manga i tena hage, ma te 'ika'ika te hahine, te uguugu o te hiti, o hai atu: "Sehu songo—aano kitea!"

8. Hai atu te hiti: "Temaa hema- si'inga." Hano te hiti tangata ki te hai 'umu o to'o mai e ia na kaui, ma na akui, ma te pota kimoa, o 'abange kia Temoa. 9. Kai te kaui e Temoa, ina iho a Temoa ki te pota e'a iho ai te siku kimoa ma te hai atu a Temoa: "Na me'a nei he'e kai e kimatou!" 10. 'Abange hakahoki e ia ki te hiti. 'Oso mai te hiti o sa'u e ia, 'oti kae hai atu a Temoa: "Ko au hai kau hoki." 11. Kae hai atu a Temoa: "Tetaa hemasi'inga hai ke noko hai." Hai atu a te hiti: " 'Oo." Gosigosi te kabenga a Temoa, o tua ma'u e te hiti ana huti ma na 'uhi, ma na boiato, 'eha me'a. 12. 'Oti to'o te kabenga a Temoa o hano. Hai atu te hiti: "Ko koe hai ke hano." O sopo i te ogo Saniula, ma te hano a Temoa o tohitohi hano e ia na ga'akau. 13. Aano hetae ki te aga kae tata'o atu te hiti o hakatutu'u hakahoki e ia na ga'akau noko lage e Temoa. 14. Kae hano a Temoa ki tai, o hetae ki Niupani noko a'u ai, 'ati gongo ki te 'apitanga o pegea, i te hiti kua kite ai ia, kae tuha ana utunga o kai ngatahi ai te manaha. 15. 'Oti kae momoe,

15

and ran down towards him. 3. The hiti saw that Temoa was near him and the hiti ran and Temoa chased him. 4. [They] crossed in the lagoon and came to the coastal rocks, and the hiti got onto a rock to escape to shore, but Temoa grabbed the hiti's feet and Temoa said: "[I'm] going to kill you!" 5. The hiti was frightened and said: "Don't kill me, and [I] will take you to my home."

6. They bound the ends of their loin- cloths and climbed inland and came to the home of the hiti. 7. The home was very fine, with a garden and bananas, and many things were there, and his wife was there right in his house, and the woman, the wife of the hiti, was angry and said: "What foolish loitering—so [you] were seen!"

8. The hiti said: "He and I are friends." The male hiti went to the cookhouse and he got some fish and coconut crabs and baked taro leaves stuffed with rats and gave [them] to Temoa. 9. Temoa ate the fish, but Temoa looked at the taro leaves and the rat's tail sticking out and Temoa said: "We don't eat these things!" 10. He returned [it] to the hiti. The hiti grabbed [it] and he took [it] away, and then Te- moa said: "I must go back." 11. And Temoa said: "We must continue our friendship." The hiti said: "Yes." Temoa prepared his burden, and the hiti also cut some bananas and some yams and boiato tubers, many things. 12. Then Temoa took his load and left. The hiti said: "Well, you are going." Going to Saniula hill and Temoa went on, break- ing off branches as he went. 13. Then [he] came to the trail and the hiti went with him and made the branches broken by Temoa stand up again. 14. Temoa went to the sea and reached Niupani where he had come from, and told all the people about the hiti he had seen, and he divided his food and the entire village ate of it. 15. Then [they] slept, and at daylight [he] went back and came to Saniula hill, and turned off at the place [he] had gone down. 16. The path he had

215

Page 231: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 88, 89

'aoina o hoki, hetae ki te ogo Sani- ula, gae i te kunga noko sopo iho ai. 16. Kua he'e kitea tena aga noko hinaiho ai, he'e kitea ni ga'akau tohitohi. Hano o sasaga aano pau o he'e kitea, ma te hoki iho. Kua 'oti.

come down on was not to be seen, nor were the broken branches to be seen. [He] went searching but [they] were lost for- ever, and [he] went back down. Just finished.

NOTES Headman Togaka told this story during an extended visit at Niupani, where he had come to

send a message on my radio. A shorter and less dramatic version was written in my notebook on March 8 by Paul Takiika upon the request of Headman Tahua. Paul added the important information that the Temoa of the story was the chief of that name (Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line, G15).

1. Niupani: the village on the southwest coast of Rennell. 8. Note inclusive-exclusive distinction in temaa hemasi'inga and, in 11, tetaa hemasi'inga. 9. Much laughter about the rat's tail. 12. Temoa wants to find the village again. 14. At Niupani, food was ordinarily shared. 16. Togaka said that the hiti had wonderful settlements, but they were never seen more

than once. SE

89. Tausia ma Saugogo Tausia and Saugogo

Panio and Job Topue, both of Niupani, RE. February 16, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a teenei ki te

ihonga a Ligoaka. Noko boo o ka- kabe e kigatou te kaubaka o Sau- gogo ma tena tu'uganga, o boo ai tegatou haangotanga ki Tetuhu— te hainga 'ugua.—2. Ka ko Sau- gogo noko maanatu ma'u, tena ihonga o iho atu ki tai, kua kakabe e Ligoaka ogatou baka. Manga hakatangi aano giu ake, o pali i togatou aga, pali aano, 'a'aki ake— a Tausia ma tena tu'uganga ma tau kabenga ake i na 'ugua agatou.— 3. Noko hai kabenga o 'oti, kae manga hinake a Tausia noko ma- nga hakagosigosi, o ha'usoko, kae 'amo ake te ga'akau. Boo ake aano pata ake i te kunga noko pali ai Saugogo ma tena tu'uganga. 4. Gege iho a Saugogo o logi ia Tausia o heta'i aano'. Baakogikogi atu e Tausia ia Saugogo, ke tuku ia te ia ke ma'ugi, ka ke kakabe ki tona kunga henua. 5. Ma'ogi a Saugogo o saunoa kinai, kae kakabe e Tau- sia o boo i togatou aga i poo'ugi o—o mataa sosopo ki te husi, boo aano 'oti te husi, kae sosopo ma'u

l.The story of Ligoaka's fishing party. They went and took the canoes of Saugo- go and his people and they went to fish for 'ugua—at Tetuhu.—2. But Saugogo thought he would go fishing also, going to the sea andLigoaka had taken their canoes. [He] became angry and went back up and stood watch on their trail, watching until there appeared—Tausia and his gang and their many burdens of their 'ugua fish.— 3. [They] were all carrying burdens, but Tausia came up dressed in his best with a tapa turban of several pieces and carry- ing a club on the shoulder. [They] went on and reached the place where Saugogo and his group were standing guard. 4. Saugogo jumped down and grabbed Tau- sia and hit [him]. Tausia pleaded with Saugogo to let him live and [he] would take him to his part of the land. 5. So Saugogo spared him and Tausia took [him], going on their path to the under- world and—and first came to a taro patch and after the taro swamp came again to a beach. Going on past the beach and coming again to the taro swamp.—Leaving the taro swamp and coming again to the beach and Saugogo

216

Page 232: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 89, 90

ki te 'one. Boo aano i te 'one, 'oti kae sosopo ma'u ki te husi.—Boo ano i te husi 'oti kae sosopo ma'u, ki te 'one, hakaanu a Saugogo: "Po konei na kunga—henua?" 6. Hai atu a Tausia: "Koi toe." Boo aano tatae ki te manaha o Tausia noko iai tona hage—noko 'eha ona loa— noko boo atu luga teegaa loa, o boo ai, boo aano luga ma'u teegaa titingi—o boo ma'u hetae ki teegaa titingi o luga ma'u kae hetae, noko boo aano hetae ki te manaha o hakaanu a Saugogo: "Ko teenei te manaha e boo mai kinai?" 7. Nguu atu kinai a Tausia kae nonoho i te manaha, o hai utunga kinai a Tau- sia ma tena kakai 'anga.—O kai aano 'oti kae hai utunga ma'u kinai o to'o o giu—i togatou aga noko boo mai ai. Kua 'oti.

asked: "Are these the places—land?" 6. Tausia said: "Still a little more." Going on and reaching Tausia's home where his house was—there were many doors— [they] would go and open that door and go in, on, on and open another barrier— going on again and reaching another bar- rier, opening [that] too and going in and going to the settlement and Saugogo asked: "Is this the settlement [we] have been coming to?" 7. Tausia raised his head in assent and [they] stayed in the settlement and Tausia made food foi him and his people.—After eating every- thing [he] made food for him to take and [they] returned—on the path they had come on. It is just finished.

NOTES Neither informant knew the story well, as is shown by the dashes indicating their pauses. Tetuhu is on north coast opposite Teaba on the lake. Tausia is a hiti. 6. The informants switched from English loa (door) to Rennellese titingi. Taupongi 1961 strongly objected to the English word.

SE

90. Puia ma Gua Hiti Puia and Two Hiti

Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 8, 1958. 1. Teenei tasi pegea na kite a ia

te hiti, ko Puia, noko hano te 'ago- hanga o tahea aano, ina ake ki te hiti ma eke iho i te ga'akau. Teegaa te ingoa o te ga'akau te ghaghaga. 2. Ka ko Puia na hoki ake o tuku tena baka, kae hinake kinai o> gepo, ka na hoki iho te hiti. Namaa tu'u ki te tugi o te ga'akau, tu'u ai te logi e Puia. 3. Ka na kakabe e te hiti a Puia ki tena manaha, tena ingoa ko Tagi'ua. Noko ma iai tona uguugu. Ka na 'ika'ika te hahine o hakahegeu ki na ogo o< tutuku iho na hatu i te ogo. Ka na tu'u atu a Puia o taa e ia gua hiti o mamate, kae hai e ia tegaa manaha. 4. Na me'a noko sanga i Tagi'ua na be- taape, te me'a mataa hai i Mugaba nei.

1. This is one person who has seen the hiti, Puia, who went shark fishing and was drifting and saw a hiti who was in a tree. The name of the tree was the gha- ghaga. 2. Then Puia came back up and he left his canoe and went up to the hiti and watched, and the hiti came back down. [He] stood by the trunk of the tree, standing there and Puia grabbed [him]. 3. The hiti took Puia to his home, its name Tagi'ua. His wife was there. The woman was very angry and spoke to the mountain, and the stones of the mountain fell down. Puia then stood up and he killed the two hiti and he assumed owner- ship of their place. 4. The things planted at Tagi'ua are betaape yams, the first things done here on Rennell.

15* 217

Page 233: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 90, 91

NOTES This story was written by Paul in a notebook. He added the information in 4 when we went

over the story orally. Taupongi 1961 suggested in 3, kakabe ... ia Puia. (In this version, perhaps hiti ia assimilates to hiti a).

SE

91. Tausapa ma na Hiti Tausapa and the Hiti

Jotham Togaka of Kanaba, RE. At BE, January 15, 1959. 1. Ko Tausapa te pegea i Tegano.

Noko hakaneke i tona aga i Pasiba o singa ki mouku o hakagongo ki gua pegea ma hegeu. 2. Hano kinai a Tausapa o tatae kinai. Gua hiti ma sika tegaa ahi i te 'ana. 3. Hano kinai a Tausapa o tu'u i ogaa taha; he'e kite gua hiti kia Tausapa, ka ma ina kinai a Tausapa kia te kigaaua. Aano kite e gua hiti ia Tausapa, o manga baanimo a te kigaaua ki gua hatu huahuagaoi. 4. Ko Tausapa noko 'oso kinai o amoamo gua hiti ma te hai atu kinai: "Kougua gu 'aku hakama- si'inga." 5. Tuku kupu kinai a Tau- sapa ke go to'o mai ma'agaa ni utunga i he 'aso. Noko hai ga'a e gua hiti tena gau akui ma tena gau heke. Noko 'eha ga'a o gua hiti kia Tausapa.

1. Tausapa was a man at the Lake. [He] climbed up to his trail at Pasiba, went to the bush and heard two persons talking. 2. Tausapa went there and arrived there. Two hiti were making their fire by fric- tion in the cave. 3. Tausapa went to it and stood near them; the two hiti did not discover Tausapa, but Tausapa looked there at the two. Then the two hiti dis- covered Tausapa and made themselves disappear into two round stones. 4. Tau- sapa touched them [the stones] and ca- ressed the two hiti and said to them: "You two are to become my friends." 5. Tausapa promised to bring some food here for them some day. The two hiti gave [him] 100 coconut crabs and 100 octopus. Many were the presents the two hiti [gave] to Tausapa.

NOTES Jotham Togaka was not sure when this meeting of Tausapa and the hiti took place. He said

that he thought Tausapa had lived at the same time as Aaron Taupongi's father (Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line, G19).

TM

218

Page 234: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 10. TINOPAUMATU'A

The Rennellese reckon that Tinopaumatu'a (Elder-Tinopau) lived in the eighth generation (Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line). He lived at both the lake and at Mugi-henua. He is well remembered on Rennell but not much talked of on Bellona; hence, all the texts in this chapter were collected by SE. He is remembered for his encounters with the Hu'aigupe clan and their champion, Taamogi (T92); for his awful revenge on Maku (T93), one of the few instances of torture; for his lack of amatory success (T94); as author of a beautiful love song (T95); for a happening unique in the traditions, rejuvenation (T97).

At the water front at Tigoa my informant Tetamogi pointed with some pride to an open place and said that it was Tinopau's grave, and that they had worshipped there. It was a beautiful spot, from which one could look west along the even north shore of the lake, which extended farther than the eye could see.

Data not shown above: Tauniu's wife was Sikogeitu'u. Tinopaumatu'a's sister was Haka-

maguge. Sagani's father was Teika'ungua. Gepusi was of the Kaighoi (?) clan. Other sons by Tinopaumatu'a and Kaibangamatu'a were Tegautangata, Tau'iakisegei, Hu'aitemanongi. A daughter, Kaibanga, married Tagomaha (G9, So'amagogenga line). Data by Tetamogi, Tigoa, January 7, 1958.

92. Sa'a Hu'aigupe ma Tinopau Hu'aigupe Clan and Tinopau

Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 15, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a o sa'a Hu'aigupe 1. The story of Hu'aigupe clan and

ma Tinopau ma tena hanau. Ko Tinopau and his sons. The Hu'aigupe sa'a Hu'aigupe noko kakai i Kagibi. clan lived at Kagibi. Tinopau and his

219

Page 235: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 92

Ka na boo a Tinopau ma tena ha- nau o pagepage i togatou manaha. O boo iho o kakai i Mugibai. O tata'o iho ai a Tinopau ma tena ka- kai 'anga, o pagepage ma'u. 2. O boo mai ki Lughu, tata'o mai ai, o pagepage. Boo mai ki Temagabai o kakai ai i togatou manaha, tona ingoa ko Kupougu. Noko 'ati ai te 'atinga o ma'u'agunga to'a. 3. loo mugi o a'u a Tinopau ma tena ha- nau o pagepage ma'u. Tutu'u o boo ki Tetaungagoto o kakai ai. Tega- tou manaha i Nukusautia, o 'ati ai ma'u te 'atinga o ma'u'agunga. Na- maa tatae mai kinai a Tinopau ma tena kakai 'anga o pagepage ma'u. 4. Ko kigatou na tutu'u o boo, o kakai i Niteni. Boo ma'u o page- page. Ko kigatou na tutu'u o boo ma'u ki Mugihenua. Tegatou ma- naha noko kakai ai, ko Segenga. 5. Tatae atu a Tinopau ma tena ha- nau, o pagepage ma'u. Ko kigatou na tutu'u o boo ki tu'ahenua, o kakai ai. Ka na hai te kupu a Taa- mogi: "Tuku mai te pulo ghasigho nei ki kimatou pakia kinai." 6. Ko Tinopau na gongo hakatau haka- hoki, o hai ake: "Kaa ke tee ki hea?" To'o hakahoki o gongo a Taamogi, o puge tena tau'a ma te kakai o'ona o giu ake ki 'agunga, o taa ia te gau tangata i Tematiga. 7. Kae boo ki Niteni, noko iai a Tinopau ma tena hanau, ko Kai- tu'umatu'a ma Togakamatu'a. O ta- tae kinai, o heuguhi ki hage a Taa- mogi ma te taina, a Kokoge, o baghi gua ia Tinopau ma tena hanau. 8. 0 taki 'oso kinai, ka na taa ta'a Kokoge o mate. Tena ingoa Hu'ai- temanongi. Kae tege a Tinopau noko taa a Taamogi. Ko ia na'u o noho i Tetaungagoto.

9. Ko Taamogi noko to'a. Noko tata tena tini kete kege, o bae gua 1 gua gima o hano. Teegaa tahi ana hai 'anga: Te hu'aitu'u hatu titingi te aga i Matanibotua, ka na keu ange a Taamogi o tugei 'aatea i te aga.

sons went and drove [them] from their home. [They] went westward to live at Mugibai. Tinopau followed west with his people and again drove [them] away. 2. [They] came to Lughu, [and he] followed them and drove [them] away. [They] came to Temagabai and lived in their home, its name being Kupougu. [They] piled up there a very high embankment. 3. Then Tinopau and his sons came and again drove [them] away. So [they] went to Te- taungagoto and lived there. Their settle- ment was at Nukusautia, and [they] again built up a high embankment. Then Tino- pau came there with his people and again drove [them] away. 4. Then they went and lived at Niteni. [Tinopau and his people] went again and drove [them] away. So they went again to Mugihenua. The settlement they stayed was Segenga. 5. Tinopau arrived with his sons and again drove [them] away. So they went to the south and stayed there. And Taamogi said these words: "Let us have some ghasigho vine stems and depend on them." 6. Tinopau heard and answered back, saying: "Where to move?" [This statement] was carried back and Taamogi heard, and planned an attack with his people and [they] went back up, and he [Taamogi] killed a hundred men at Tema- tiga. 7. Then [they] went to Niteni, where Tinopau was with his sons Kaitu'uma- tu'a and Togakamatu'a. Taamogi and his younger brother, Kokoge, reached there and went into the house and separated Tinopau and his sons. 8. [A man] picked them [Taamogi and Kokoge] up one at a time and killed Kokoge. His name was Hu'aitemanongi. Tinopau ran away and Taamogi struck [him]. He [Taamogi] came and stayed at Tetaungagoto.

9. Taamogi was strong. He could fill ten sacks with dirt and break [them] in two in his two hands and go. This is the something else he did: A great heap of rocks blocked the trail at Matanibotua and Taamogi turned aside and showed [them] far from the trail.

220

Page 236: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 92, 93

NOTES 1. Kagibi: east end of the lake.

Mugibai: west end of the lake. 5. ghasigho: a vine with coarse leaves eaten during famine. 6. Taamogi, a strong man of the Hu'aigupe clan.

8. na'u: na a'u (did come). 9. This paragraph was added as an afterthought and illustrates the comparative lack of the

marvellous in semihistorical accounts. The remainder of this text is not given here; it is a shorter variant of T93 which follows.

SE

93. Maku ma Tinopau Maku and Tinopau

Teu'a and Malachi Tegheta, both of Niupani, RE. January 10, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a kia Maku, noko

kakai i tona 'ana; teegaa tona ingoa ko Togungasue, i bagika'ago. 2. Ka na tau kinai te hogau tokahitu tau- kuka, te haka'igonga o na hakahua. Boo ake kia Maku noko ma i 'agunga o hiina'i ki tena nganiabi ga'akau ma tena liga o sogo kinai a kigatou, ma tena gike tutu kogoa, ka na hakatangi ai te uso o'ona.

3. Namaa ahiahi gosigosi ana gama ke linga ai ma'ana ni 'uga; namaa poo mai, hina'iho o ngege ake ki 'agunga: "Hina'iho he pegea o hakataaugu he baka (4) ke sasaga ai he beibei 'uga." Hai aano hi- na'iho te pegea i hakataaugu te baka, kae hano ai te lina ai 'anga a Maku hano noko ma utu i na 'uga. 5. Kae hoki mai ki te aba o ngege ake ki ga'unga ke hina'iho he pegea o to'atu na 'uga ke ta'o. He'e gongona, si'ai he pegea gea. Hai aano hinake kinai a Maku o 'oso atu ki te hakahua o te hogau o baa'aga o hai atu kinai: "Baa'aga atu he pegea ke 'aga ke ta'o gua 'uga ke hakatu'u manaba ai."

6. Si'ai he pegea 'aga. Kua tutahi o momoe o he'e gongo ake. Hoki iho ki te baka o beegaba te tabaa- sugu o 'uga to'a o hoki ake o tuku te tabaasugu kae 'oso ki te gike—o pe'epe'e ogatou 'ugu ma te tuki ogatou hatu ba'e, kae toe te hahine

1. The story of Maku, who lived in his cave; that was its name, Togungasue, at the north. 2. There arrived there a sailing canoe with seven men with chest tattoos, a symbol of chieftainship. They went up to Maku who was ashore and looked at his fire hearth and his rubbing stick and joked about them, and also his tapa beater, and his [Maku's] heart felt very bitter.

3. In the late afternoon [Maku] pre- pared torches to provide himself with light for lobsters; when night came, [Ma- ku] went down and called upon those above: "Come on down someone and give the prayer [to Tehainga'atua] releas- ing the taboo on the canoe (4) so as to go and get some lobster claws." Then someone came down and released the taboo on the canoe, and Maku went on with his torch fishing to get lobsters. 5. When [he] came back to the pass he called up to those ashore for someone to come down and take up the lobsters for baking. [They] did not hear, and no one spoke. So Maku went ashore to them and took hold of the chief of the sailing party and woke him and said: "Wake up some- one to get up and bake a couple of lob- sters so as to start up the stomach."

6. No one woke up. All were asleep and did not hear. [Maku] went back down to the canoe and picked up a torch that was all aflame and went back up and put down the torch and grabbed the tapa beater—and beat their heads and pound- ed the ankle bones, and only the woman

221

Page 237: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 93

o hakamatakutaku ke ta'o ana utunga, o he'emaka o taa haka'oti e ia, o ase ki te baka o to'o ki te tagitagi (7) i Togungasue, kae ha- kaneka o ngaga.

8. Kae sasaga e Tinopau i te me'a gaa ona ma'aa te taa'ia. Na- maa sopo ki te manaha hahine o ina ki agatou ngaunga kala. Hai atu a Tinopau ki te manaha hahine: "A'ai konei ngaunga kala?" Hai atu na haahine: "Amatou." Hai atu a Tinopau: "Konei autou te maseu- seu, ka na penu kala tangata te niti nei."

9. Namaa hano a Tinopau o mi'itaunga gogoa ngege pake a Ti- nopau, o tangi pe te hahine, kogaa na ngege: "Maku!" Hakatau a Maku: "Te oo!" A'u kinai a Ma- ku. 10. Hetae mai kia Tinopau o tu'u o 'oso kinai kae unu te ha'u noko i te 'ugu o Tinopau o logha ki te gima o Maku, kakabe iho ki te manaha o tutahi o boo ki te ha- katahinga i Maga'e o sisingake ai o hinake a Tinopau o 'aka atu a Maku kia Tagomaha o sui ia o gii na ba'e o noko ma takoto kae hai baakai kinai ke ta'o ai a Maku.

11. Kakabe e ia ki te manaha, o tuku tena hekau o kake te niu, kake aano, hai ke binu ma'ana tahi, hai ake a Tinopau: "Kake ake ioo 'oti binu ma'au tahi." Kake i te niu noko toe, haaiho aano 'oti, kae hoki iho. Kae siko hinatu e Tinopau te uka. Namaa tu'u ki te tugi o te niu, ki te tahitahi goo ia te ia. Tupe atu e Tinopau te uka ki te u'a o Maku, o gii ai gua gima ma te tino ma gua ba'e, o noko mabugi.

12. O hai baakai kae aku e tona uguugu te hai 'umu ma te tagi hatu, kae sosopo mai te hainga baakainga o puu te 'umu, o taani, o noho aano kaatia te 'umu. Hano a Kaibanga o ase te 'umu, aano 'oti kae ugu o to'o mai a Maku o tuku ki te 'umu

was left, and he frightened [her] so [she] would bake his food, but [she] refused, and [he] killed [her] too and took out the canoe and took [the bodies] to the reef suction pits (7) at Togungasue and climbed up [the shore cliff] and hid as a fugitive.

8. And Tinopau looked [for him] be- cause it was his brother-in-law who had been killed. Then [Tinopau] came to a group of women and watched their kala chewing. Tinopau said to the group of women: "Whose kala chewing is this?" The women said: "Ours." Tinopau said: "This is what you have scattered in fine bits, but this kala refuse [was spit out] in wads by a man."

9. After Tinopau had been gone a short time Tinopau called craftily, crying out like a woman, calling: "Maku!" Maku answered: "Yes!" Maku came up to him. 10. [Maku] reached Tinopau, and [Tino- pau] grabbed him and pulled off the tur- ban from Tinopau's head and tied it to Maku's hands and took him to the vil- lage, and they went together to a gather- ing at Maga'e, and Tinopau passed by there and went on inland and pushed Maku over to Tagomaha, who then tied [Maku's] feet and laid him down so as to get firewood and bake Maku.

11. He [Tinopau] took [Maku] to the village and gave him the task of climbing coconut trees, climbing and climbing, and he wanted to drink one himself, and Tino- pau said: "Climb up, and after finishing, drink one for yourself." [Maku] climbed the rest of the coconut trees, then called down that [he] had finished and was com- ing down. Tinopau threw up the cord. Then [Maku] stood at the bottom of the coconut tree, and brushed the ants off himself. Tinopau dropped a cord around Maku's neck, tied his two arms and body and two feet, and laid [him] down bound.

12. [They] got firewood and his [Tago- maha's] wife dug up the oven and brought in stones, and the fuel gatherers came and [they] put on wood and stones and then the oven burned. Then Kaibanga came and cleared off the stones, and put the stones in order and brought Maku in and

222

Page 238: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 93

i'te me'a gaa te sui makau, o taani te tino, ma te 'ugu, na gima, ma na ba'e, kae taani taha'aki te ngutu. 13. Kae hai tena hekau te pusi na hatu. Namaa hakatangi to'a a Maku hai ake kia Kaibanga: "Kai ma'au na tobigha o tunga'ane na ase ki te tagitagi i Togungasue."

14. Keu ki tu'a a Kaibanga o tangi kae sa'u te hu'aipotu hatu o tuku ki te ngutu o Maku kae tao te 'umu, o tanu, o magu te 'umu, teegaa tona hai te ghaaghe te hina- ngago, mai goto i te 'umu namaa he'e gongona to ghaaghe hinangago, teegaa tona moso 'anga.

15. Noho aano te umu huke o to'o seuseu ia Maku, noko ma mata te hinangago noko ma popoge. O sa'u e Tagomaha te hinangago o Maku o kai te makau a Tagomaha. Teenei te 'oti 'anga i te hakatangi 'anga kia Maku. Kua 'oti.

put him in the oven to pay back an enemy, and put hot stones on the body and the head, arms, legs, and last of all put stones on the mouth. 13. And then she busied herself blowing on the stones. Then Maku cried out loudly, saying to Kaibanga: "Eat the buttocks of your brothers that [I] tossed away in the deep waters at Togungasue!"

14. Kaibanga looked back and wept and took up a big piece of rock and put it over Maku's mouth, and laid the oven and buried the oven, and [it] was covered, and then there was a rasping sound from the throat from inside the oven, and when the rasping sound of the throat was heard no more, then [Maku] was cooked.

15. After a time the oven was opened and Maku thrown away, but the heart was uncooked and quivering. So Tago- maha took out Maku's heart, and Tago- maha ate the enemy. This was the end of the complaints about Maku. Just finished.

NOTES A thin, tattooed man of about 50 was listening quietly as a group of us went over another

story. He made several suggestions in a subdued voice, and then asked if I had written the story of Sinageitataki (T47). I said that I had, and then he asked if I knew the story of Maku. He narrated quite clearly, but I seemed to confuse his velars and labials; the main character's name often sounded as if it were Mapu. Three small boys fell asleep while listening on the floor, and I, too, was sleepy after a heavy lunch. The new informant's name was Teu'a. He came often and told several dramatic stories.

On January 14, I spent about 3 hours going over the story. My neighbor Malachi Tegheta came in, eager to hear. He offered additions, which were inserted as 4, 5, 6, 10, and 15.

1. Togungasue: in Labena Bay, north of Bagika'ago. 5. ... a couple of lobsters so as to start up the stomach: Taupongi 1961 explained that this

was gea hakagahi (figurative language) and a polite way of minimizing one's gift. A great deal of food might be offered in the same way. TM stated that many ritual formulas contain similar deprecatory remarks.

10. sisingake: sisinga ake. 12. Kaibanga: wife of Tagomaha and daughter of Tinopau and Kaibangamatu'a, for whom

she was named. This was a cross-cousin marriage. The technical oven terms here were difficult (aku, tagi, puu, taani, ase, ugu).

13. Taupongi 1961 said that the real expression was unge (penis), instead of tobigha (but- tocks). Some of the horror of the curse comes from mention of the woman's brother (tunga'ane).

14. 15. Hinangago is first translated throat, and then heart, on the recommendation of Tau- pongi 1961.

15. On March 14, 1958, Paul Takiika gave a resume version of the story, with this sequel: Namaa 'oti tena kainga, boo a gua Sa'uika i te ago tu'u i matangi o sisinga i Tagi'ua, ma iai a Ngani o hai tena manaha. Ka kua taa'ia tona ta'okete. Ka gua pegea nei noko hu'u o taa e Ngani o giu'aki a tona ta'okete. (After eating [Maku], [the] two Sa'uikas [relatives of Tagomaha] went on the main trail at the east and passed Tagi'ua [settlement], where Ngani had his home. His older brother [Maku] had been killed. The two people here were crazy, and Ngani killed them to revenge his older brother.) Paul laughed on the second reading.

A variant dictated by Taupongi 1961 differed in a few details: Tagomaha is replaced by Sa'ohenua, termed a son of Tinopau (perhaps another name for one of the sons listed in the

223

Page 239: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 93, 94, 95

introduction of this chapter). The woman Kaibanga is Tinopau's wife. At the end is the state- ment that Sa'ohenua was the last cannibal.

SE

94. Tokagima Uguugu o Tinopau Tinopau Had Five Wives

Tetamogi of Tigoa, RE. January 7, 1958. 1. Tokagima uguugu o Tinopau.

Tokagua uguugu he'e mate. Noko he'e sia hai ki teegaa ona uguugu, ioo te 'abange 'anga kinai te bogo kala o ngau e Tinopau, ioo pipiki tona uguugu noko he'e sia hai ki- nai. 2. Ma teegaa ona uguugu noko sia hai kinai Tinopau, kae he'e sia hai kinai a tona uguugu. Gotu aano ke momoe. Pau e he'emaka te ha- hine ia Tinopau. 3. Namaa te tahi poo, moe te uguugu o Tinopau i te poo, hai te tegeu'a a Tinopau o hano kagu ake te haangongo o to'ake o gigingi ki na hakaagogo o tona uguugu, noko he'e sia hai kinai. O suu'ia ai na hakaagogo o te uguugu o Tinopau noko he'e sia hai kia tona matu'a a Tinopau. 'Aga o pa'a i na hakaagogo kua suu'ia, ioo noho ia tona matu'a Tinopau.

1. Tinopau had five wives. The names of two wives are not told. [He] did not like any of his wives unless [they] gave him a package of kala nuts for Tinopau to chew, then he would stay with his wife whom he had not desired. 2. But one of his wives was desired by Tinopau, but his wife did not desire him. [He] wanted to sleep [with her]. But the woman con- stantly refused Tinopau. 3. One night Tinopau's wife was sleeping at night, and Tinopau thought of a plan and went and dipped water from a coconut shell and took and poured [it] on the tapa of his wife who did not like him. The tapa of Tinopau's wife who did not love her hus- band Tinopau was soaked. [She] awoke and was ashamed of the drenched tapa, and stayed with her husband, Tinopau.

NOTES SE: "Why was the wife ashamed?" Taupongi 1961: "Because she thought that her husband

believed she had urinated on the tapa." SE

95. Te Tangi a Tinopau The Tangi by Tinopau

Malachi Tegheta of Niupani, RE. January 12, 1958. 1. Tako suki kaa tu'u ki Kanaba.

Umege: Sausabe maagama. 2. E iai te gau haahine tama 3. Manga tuku atu kia Nautaga. 4. 'Amutinange ko au te tama 5. Kau noko tangi hai taahanga. 6. 'Amutinange kau te me'a

gaganga,

My darts will reach Kanaba. Chorus: Flying-fish torch. There are a hundred young women But [I] stay with Nautaga. Would that I were her child That I might cry and tease for things. Would that I were her plaiting,

224

Page 240: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

7. Kau noko maaebe ioo taha.

8. 'Amutinange kau te tu'u 9. Kau noko tege tagia te 'ago.

10. 'Amutinange ko au te kaso.

11. 'Amutinange tau ahi sanga, 12. Noko teka te 'au i ou mata.

13. 'Amutinange kau te mago 14. Kau noko paa ki ni gabagaba.

TEXTS 95, 96

That I were the fluttering string ends at her side.

Would that I were her tattooing lines That I be that close to her bosom. Would that I were the tattooing on

her arms. Would that I were your planting fire, To stop the smoke coming to your

eyes. Would that I were her sarong That I might cling to the inner folds.

NOTES This tangi (beautiful to Euro-Americans) is Tinopau's praise of a wife, Nautaga. The infor-

mants did not know who she was. SE: "Was this an ancient song?" Taupongi 1961: "Yes, it was composed by Tinopau, when

he was alive, in honor of his wife. She taught it to others, and so on down to us today." This is in keeping with the idea that tangi are the speciality of women; all the male in-

formants readily admitted feminine superiority in this area. Most final verses in a tangi end in a single vowel, in this case -a. (The singer, however, seems free to change to o if he wishes.) One person chants each verse, after which the entire group chants the chorus. Every- one beats out the rhythm with the hands on a sounding board or other object.

1. Tako: taku. 4. 'Amutinange: Tegheta first dictated 'amuti in the various verses, and later came back to

say that 'amutinange was preferable, a form difficult to analyze, but perhaps 'amuti na (there) ange (away).

After this volume went to press, lament seemed a good translation of tangi (also meaning "weep").

SE

96. Te Pese a Moeabagua The Clapping Song by Moeabagua

Malachi Tegheta of Niupani, RE. January 19, 1958. 1. Ko Tepoga hebaaisaisa'aki ai

(i te mageoina po te masaki 'atua kaho) a gaa 'aso. Namaa ko Tino- paumatu'a tau kinai o susugi e Moeabagua ke noka te hinake ki tona manaha e maase'i. 2. He'ema- ka a Tinopau, kae hinake kinai o hai teegaa kakai 'anga, o he'e baai- saTsa a Tinopau, o sui a Moeabagua 0 tuku kinai tona aba ki tena utu ai 1 na upo. Noko giu'aki e Moeaba- gua i tena pese ma te tuku kinai te aba. Ko 'Umu te uguugu o Moea- bagua. 3. Manga hua e na tunihe- nua te pese nei i na kanogoto i na ngaguenga. Te 'apitanga manga umege kinai. Noko hai Aaron Tau- pongi.

4. Aiaba ke noko pakotia Umege: Toku manaha.

1. People of old days were nauseated by Tepoga (because of the sores of the frightful disease, yaws). When Tinopau- matu'a went there, [Tepoga] had been quarantined by Moeabagua and no one might go to his settlement as fit] was bad. 2. Tinopau paid no attention and went there and [thus] had another place to live, for Tinopau was not disgusted, and Moeabagua in compensation permitted him to fish eels in his channel. Moeaba- gua rewarded [him] with his clapping song and by giving him access to the channel. 'Umu was the wife of Moeaba- gua. 3. The song was sung only by the priest-chiefs at the kanogoto rituals in the temples. The crowd merely sang the chorus. Aaron Taupongi has done [this].

4. Paddle-beating at Aiaba. Chorus: My home.

225

Page 241: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 96, 97

5. Te gongo Nika hatutigia.

6. Aiaba haanguna ie 'Umu.

7. Te 'agiki magu e tau maina. 8. Kau 'aga go oho ia Nika. 9. Aiaba make hakapaua.

10. 'Umanga manaha ko manga maatiba.

11. Aiaba tagi ake ma ke kai. 12. Tagia ake uta kau gakina.

13. Aiaba te ga'akau te bao. 14. Tagaki gogo mona gosinga. 15. Aiaba na too kia 'aitu.

16. Ka tuku te kai kimaaua. 17. Aiaba omei hakagongo. 18. Ou hua 'anga hakihakia.

19. Aiaba hu'ai te upo gaba. 20. Gaki te matangi tona moginga.

5. To hear the thunder of the honored one.

6. 'Umu's beating sound [of paddles] at Aiaba.

7. Chiefly splendor comes. 8.1 rise and welcome the honored one. 9. Aiaba, caution.

10. Garden settlement wretched.

11. Aiaba bringing food. 12. Bring and put aboard and I bring an

offering. 13. Aiaba, the plants [of] the forest. 14. Take ,[?] fat [of tree fern] made. 15. Aiaba that took a ceremonial bite for

the deity. 16. And we leave the food. 17. Aiaba [?], hearken. 18. Your words spoken syllable by

syllable. 19. Aiaba giant eel. 20. South wind its trueness.

NOTES Tepoga is an islet at Teaba on the lake. Its chief was Moeabagua of the now extinct Tapu

clan. His grave is said to be now at Tepoga. 2. SE: "Why was Moeabagua so grateful to Tinopau?" Taupongi 1961: "Because he did not

show disgust about his home." 4. The song is very difficult even for the Renellese and Bellonese. Teaba is called Aiaba in

this pese, which is an -a rhyme scheme. Teaba is the most famous place in the lake for fishing giant upo eels. The time for fishing is the stormy season of the northwest winds, usually January to March, when the eels take refuge from the rough lake waters in the quiet estuaries at Teaba, which extend a distance inland. The men fish at night with torches and long-handled scoop nets, which they wield with swift dexterity, and may net as many as 40 or 50 in a single night—the stormier the weather, the more upo. Afterwards, there is great rejoicing over this rich, oily food, except by the Seventh Day Adventists, who may not eat upo. Pakotia should be pakuutia (Taupongi 1962).

5. Nika is a polite title for men, usually in the vocative. 10. 'Umanga: the "garden" of Teaba was the water where upo were caught. 13. te bao: the "forest" are edible tree ferns. 16. kimaaua: Moeabagua and his wife. 19. gaba: perhaps large ('uhigaba, Mugaba). Taupongi 1961 suggested that this is aba (chan-

nel) or Teaba. 20. Eels may be caught when the Gaki wind blows. The remainder of the pese is not included here because of the vagueness and uncertainty of

the translation. There are 46 verses in all. With the exception of 8 above, every other verse begins with Aiaba. Of the 46 verses, 30 end in -a, the most common phoneme; 6 end in -i; 5 in -o; 4 in -u; 1 in -e.

SE

97. Te Saka a Tinopau The Saka by Tinopau

Malachi Tegheta of Niupani, RE. February 15, 1958. 1. Ahiahi na pakuu te mana mai 1. Evening blasts thunder from the east,

matangi, 2. Tetupu'a gea kau hakagongo, 2. Tetupu'a speaks and I listen,

226

Page 242: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 97

3. E kaaganga i te gangi tu'aono, 4. E ata 'uiga ata noko togho, ata

noko togho. 5. Tetupu'a ko koe kaa baagongo. 6. Kæ oku manaba e potopoto. 7. Giu oku mata mou page noko,

8. Tutu toku 'ugu mou sogosogo. 9. Toka sosogo sigi toku magu

kua semu nei. 10. Toku hakatu'u ka magu

ma'opo, 11. Sikitia ma'u te tata'o nei ka-

gohia, te tata'o nei kagohia. 12. Ko Mugaba takoto noko tu'u

tapu he'e hegongo. 13. Sae'ia te moa, ke moa bogo.

14. Te ba'ihenua kua go takoto. 15. Tu'u ki Ahanga noko hono-

hono, 16. Sogo Mata'aso te ahenga noho,

te ahenga noho.

17. Tou ha'ugua noko hakagongo 18. Kua seu e te goto konokono 19. Tonu bebege ko Nukuapai 20. Manga hakagongo ko Manu-

katu'u, 21. Tahetahe gogo ko henua 'usi. 22. E toka gogongo, Tetupu'a gea

kau hakagongo 23. Mana ki te niu taka tona

gongo, 24. Kago ki te 'uhi noko mei noho, 25. Kua soga hoki nei o gongo, 26. E sopo te maagama, tonu te

gogongo.

27. Namaa 'oti te saka, tu'u a Tehainga'atua o haka'aue kinai, kae 'oso atu ki te 'ugu o Tinopau o tau ai o baagigibogu ia Tinopau, baa- gigibogu'aki aano ma unu a Tino- pau o hano tu'u mai teegaa kunga, kae ma pipiki a Tehainga'atua te kigi o Tinopau, ka kua tamatama hoki a Tinopau, i te me'a gaa na hai ke maangi a Tinopau kae ha- ka'agi tena me'a ki tena 'atua, o 'agoha o hai o tamatama hoki.

28. Te maangi te me'a kua he'e tau tegeu'a, kua manga hai hakaa-

3. Shouting in the heaven with six layers, 4. Lightning reflecting red, reflecting

red. 5. Tetupu'a you will hear 6. How my breath is short. 7. My eyes return to uphold [your]

buttocks, 8. My hair set on fire, cleansing you. 9. Well-being lost, my shade departed,

so faint here. 10. My family line, protection, numerous,

11. Exterminated too, with this punish- ment, with this punishment.

12. Rennell lies prostrate, that once stood in sacredness, not any farne.

13. The turbulent sea comes from afar, the bursting, turbulent sea.

14. The far sea has long there lain. 15. Start at Ahanga at the end,

16. Come [to] Mata'aso, the parade of gods, to stay, the parade of gods to stay.

17. Your canoe shrine hears 18. Sent to [your] great heart 19. [?] Nukuapai 20. And Manukatu'u hears,

21. Flowing oil, green land. 22. Song well put, Tetupu'a speaks

and I listen 23. Thundering to the coconuts with

drying meat, taking its farne, 24. Striking the yams still there, 25. Gone, come here and listen, 26. Light comes, song of gods is true.

27. When the saka was finished, Te- hainga'atua rose and thanked him, and grabbed Tinopau's hair, and held on to it and swung Tinopau about, swinging him and yanking Tinopau out of that place, and Tehainga'atua held on to Tino- pau's skin, and Tinopau was young again, as Tinopau had been a senseless denizen of Hakanaua (maangi), and he had showed his thing [saka] to his god, who had pity and made him young again.

28. The maangi is a thing without thinking and is as one crazy. [He] has

227

Page 243: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 97, 98

munoa. Na boo ki Hakanaua o sege gone to Hakanaua, and Teusemanu cuts e Teusemanu te hinangago o sa'u out his heart, and [he] just remains as kae manga ina hakaamunoa. Kua one crazy. And [he] has no fear of all he'e mataku ki te kakano ba'i me'a manner of abominations. [He] just clings hakaisaisa. Kua manga hakapigi ki- to them; for such people merely exist and nai, i te me'a gaa kua tangani ina [they] have no heart. Snakes, lizards, te pegea i te kua he'e tau hinanga- slinks, centipedes—many fearful things, go. Na ngata, ma na hokai, ma na the person becomes friends with them logologo, ma na 'agipaepae—'eha because [he] has no intelligence, me'a hakamataku kua hakamasi'i kinai te pegea i te kua he'e tau te- geu'a.

NOTES This tattooing saka (see N42[A]) is Tinopau's prayerful entreaty (saka) to Tehainga'atua (Te-

tupu'a, 2) that he be rejuvenated and released from the underworld. More than six men were present for the third reading on February 20. We were concentrating so intensely that I hardly noticed an influx of 15 to 20 dancers from Hutuna. I felt secure with so many informants, as they corrected one another. Twenty new words were noted in 26 lines. In 1962, N7 and N8 were added from suggestions by Taupongi and his father, Temoa, and also the translation of 13.

2. Tetupu'a: Tehainga'atua. 3. tu'aono: Taupongi 1961 says this is merely a poetic phrase.

6. 9. Signs of old age? 7. Tinopau is humiliating himself and thus honoring Tehainga'atua. See N66:6. 8. Tinopau has perhaps set his hair on fire to arouse the great god's pity. This was done

sometimes in mourning. 12. Rennell is prostrate because Tinopau has died. 15. Ahanga: where Kaitu'u landed at northeast Rennell (T67:22). 16. Mata'aso: site of a famous temple on north Rennell (T4). 17. ha'ugua: see N4 (I). 20. Manukatu'u: home of Tehainga'atua (T3).

28. This was in answer to my questions about maangi. Taupongi 1961 added the following: te ingoa o te pengea mate o hai ai te sa'a maatu'a, hano o mate ma'u te 'ata o'ona i na nuku o na 'atua (the name of dead persons who become ancestral spirits, who go and whose souls ['ata] die too in the abode of gods). Taupongi said this saka was composed in the underworld. Hakanaua: island home of loathsome creatures. Teusemanu: younger brother of Tehainga'atua (name not known to Taupongi 1961).

SE

98. Te Mate o Tinopau The Death of Tinopau

Isaac Teikahoki of Bagika'ago, RE. March 14, 1958. Noko huna i te me'a tahi, biilage [He] put on a turmeric-dyed tapa and

mai i te 'ugu'ugu i tu'ahenua o Te- walked along the reef south of the Lake gano, ma hati mai te ngagu; ma [district], and waves were breaking; a hinake te matapuu o to'o ki te blowhole came and took him to the sky, gangi, noko kagohia, o too iho o a punishment, and [he] fell down and mate. O gosigosi. Magepe kinai o died. [People] cared for [the body]. [They] 'amo ki 'agunga nei, o tanu i Tigoa. mourned for him and carried him ashore

here and buried [him] at Tigoa.

NOTES Old Teikahoki stood in the doorway, and I asked if he knew any more stories. He said he

would have to think. SE: "How did Tinopau die?" Teikahoki: "I just know a fragment." He told it rapidly and I asked him to come in and dictate. Paul Takiika said afterwards that Tino- pau was killed by the gods, but no one knows why. SE

228

Page 244: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 11. ANCESTORS OF MUGIHENUA AND THE LAKE

The texts in this chapter are extremely diverse. None of them are tales; all are semihistorical and all have been dated. They include accounts of things as diverse as raid, siege, lament, a god's snatching of the life principle, and lampoon. The stories are in the order of the generations of the protagonists (G11, 15, 16, 18, 19), counting Kaitu'u as generation 1 (see Plate 3).

99. Hu'aitegaa e Mate ki te Moana Hu'aitegaa, Who Died at Sea [Generation 11]

Malacham Teikanoa of Hatagua, RE. March 22, 1958. 1. Teenei te tagatupu'a o Hu'ai-

tegaa. Namaa teegaa 'aso masaki te uguugu o Hu'aitegaa, he'e mate tona ingoa, o sogi ai a Hu'aitegaa ki tena 'atua, o he'e ma'ugi ghali. 2. Namaa teegaa 'aso, hai teegaa na paaninga, ma te 'agoha ake kinai a tena uguugu noko masaki, o hoga- hoga ake kinai, te hai 'anga songo e hai e te tamana ki tena uguugu. 3. O hai ake te hahine noko masa- ki: "Hakamamae ngutu i na songo 'anga a te manaha nei." Ma te ha- kaanu atu kinai a tena matu'a a Hu'aitegaa kia tona uguugu noko 'ati gongo ake kinai i te hai 'anga songo—a te tamana hakapigi te hungabai. 4. Ma te hakatangi to'a ai a Hu'aitegaa kia te tamana e kaia'a e ia tena uguugu, o ngague ai o hano ai tena sogatanga ki Mu- giki. 5. Ina aano noho goa i Mugiki, maanatu hoki ke hoki mai ki Mu- gaba nei, ngague.— 6. O hoki mai ke ina ki te ho'ou o tena hosa a Masoga. Ma te huguna o hano ki na baa babage, ma te hoki mai ki Mugaba nei. 7. O a'u o hakatu'u ake ki Magino. Namaa hai ke tau ake ki 'agunga, hai te kupu a tena uguugu, o hai ake: "Puai te giu

1. This is the story of Hu'aitegaa. One day Hu'aitegaa's wife was sick, her name is not known, and Hu'aitegaa prayed to his god, but there was no quick cure. 2. One day he blackened his face with charcoal and conducted curing cere- monies, and the wife who was sick felt compassion for him, and told him of the sinful acts of his father to his wife. 3. The woman who was sick said: "This settle- ment is wearing its mouth out with prayers." And her husband, Hu'aitegaa, questioned her, his wife, who had told him of the sinful acts of— the classi- ficatory father, the father-in-law. 4. And Hu'aitegaa complained bitterly to his fa- ther, who had stolen his wife, and made preparations to go in exile to Bellona. 5. After staying long at Bellona [he] again thought of coming back here to Rennell, and made preparations.— 6. [He] came to see the inauguration of his son Masoga as priest-chief. But [he] was swept away and went far, far out to sea, and then came back here to Rennell. 7. [He] came and approached Magino. About to come ashore, his wife said this word, saying: "There comes forth the wise ceremory of Tehatubi, drifting to the heart of the Sol- omons, and now scraping here at Ma- gino." 8. And the vine attached to the

229

Page 245: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 99

adze fell, and Hu'aitegaa turned down to look for the tied adze that had fallen into the sea. 9. Lifting up again his eyes, [he] saw that the land was far, far off, and again [they] were blown far off course to the horizon and then back.— 10. Near to the coast here of Rennell his canoe sank—and Hu'aitegaa realized that they were about to die. 11. [He] spoke— to the couple in the canoe with their in- fant— and said: "Take my story back to the land." 12. When it was tune, and [he] knew [they] were to die, Hu'aitegaa stood up and he cut off the outrigger platform of the canoe and jumped in and gave [it to the couple] who swam with it to the shore. They got aboard it with their child and took turns—with their child. 13. Then their child was not to be seen, and the man said to his wife: "Where is my son?" His wife said: "Just gave [him]." The father tore his ears and swam on. 14. When [they] came to the shore at Ka- naba'eha, the man came ashore with his loincloth, and the woman had no sarong, and her husband had pity for his wife who could not come ashore from the pass. 15. Her husband took off his loin- cloth and tore off a portion of the loin- cloth and gave [it] her, and [she] put it on, and came ashore too. 16. And that was the last wish of Hu'aitegaa who died at sea, that a grave should be made for him at Gotomoana. The story of Hu'aite- gaa who stayed at sea is ended.

maahoga o Tehatubi, te tahea aano i te 'ago o Kega, te sogo nei i Ma- gino nei." 8. Ma te hiti iho te gha- ghi hakatau toki, ma te keu iho ki- nai a Hu'aitegaa ki te hakatau toki o too ki te tai. 9. Ta'aki hoki ake na mata, o ina'ake ki te henua, kua mama'o tamaki e huguna hoki ki te ba'e gangi o giu ake.—10. O he- taiake'aki ki te 'ago o Mugaba nei, kae mene tena baka—namaa pau iho a Hu'aitegaa, o kigatou e pau o mamate. 11. Hakahegeu—ki te ta'akinga noko i te baka ma tegaa tama 'iti'iti—o hai atu: "To'atu e kougua toku gongo ki te henua." 12. Namaa te 'aso, e pau ke ma- mate ai, tu'atu a Hu'aitegaa o toba- go e ia te kauhata matu'a o te baka e mene o 'abange o pekau ai ki 'agunga. Noko heketi ai ma tegaa tama 'iti'iti o to'o hesui e kigaaua —tegaa tama 'iti'iti. 13. Aano he'e kitea tegaa tama 'iti'iti, ma te hai atu te tangata ki tona uguugu: "Tehea toku hosa?" Hai atu a tena uguugu: "Te 'abatu 'anga." Ma te toghi te taginga o te tamana kae kakau ake. 14. Namaa tutu'ake ki 'agunga i Kana- ba'eha, te tangata noko tau ki 'agunga ma te huna, ka te hahine he'e tau mago, o 'agoha iho a tena matu'a kia tena uguugu noko he'e tu'ake ki 'agunga i te aba. 15. Hu- huke te huna o tena matu'a, o toghi tegaa potu i te huna o 'abange ki- nai, o mago ai, o tu'u ma'u ki 'agunga. 16. Teegaa te tukunga a Hu'aitegaa e mate ki te moana, ke hai mo'ona he takotonga i Goto- moana. Kua 'oti te tagatupu'a o Hu'aitegaa na noho i te moana.

NOTES This was not easy to translate, and my admiration for young, vibrant Malakamu increased. He

spoke so readily, yet he had a wonderful memory for picturesque quotations, as in 3 and 7, and used unusual words that needed much explanation, even in 1961, such as paaninga, haka- mamae ngutu, sogatanga, huguna, baa babage, puai, maahoga, sogo.

5. Much discussion by three men and one woman. 7. Magino: at Mangautu, northwest Rennell.

Puai: See N66:ll. Tehatubi: another name for Hu'aitegaa. Taupongi 1961 called this Tehaatubii.

8. In 1964 Taupongi said ghaighi hakatau toki was a kind of very small adze. SE

230

Page 246: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 100

ioo. Temoa ma Gu Ana Tahoga'a Temoa and His Two Whales [Generation 15]

Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Hatagua, March 21, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o te tahoga'a a

Temoa noko tuku e Tehainga'atua ma Tehu'aigabenga ma Tupuima- tangi. Te ingoa o te tahoga'a ko Ta'ane. 2. Noko singa i Asaba. Ina ano a Temoa. Boo mai na pegea o kite i te tahoga'a e tu'u i Asaba. Kae kite ma'u teegaa ana me'a e tu'u i Buge. Te ingoa o teegaa noko tu'u i Buge te 'utagei. 3. Gongo tee- gaa noko i Asaba, o kakabe pegea 0 boo kinai. Aano hetaiaki kinai, hiina'i atu i te ma tu'u mai, o ha- kaanu atu a Temoa, o hai atu— "Tehea te henua? Tehea te ika?" 1 te me'a gaa te tahoga'a noko sigi ki 'agunga kae ma'u'agunga te he- nua. 4. O hakatau a Tagitonga, o hai atu: "Teegaa te henua, te soga- go. Ka teegaa te ika, te sepu." 5. Ma te hakamaakuku a Temoa, o hai atu: "Ke giu!" Ma te hai atu a Tu- henua tona hosa: "Sagagoa ke kai, he ika mata !eha!" 6. Ma te boo hetae kinai, o hano a Temoa o bo- go e ia, kae ngangaha e ia o kumi, kae bogo hano kake ai, o kake ai ki 'agunga. Aano namaa ngatahinga hakaseketia a Temoa o too iho, ma te siko ake e tena tu'uganga, o ta- pai te ingoa o Temoa ko Tookumi, kae sege te tahoga'a, o to'ake o tuha i Magateika—o 'oti kae maseu ogiu.

7. O gongo ma'u a Temoa i tee- gaa ana tahoga'a e sogona i Buge, ka kua saa'ago, o he'e kai. Kogaa gua takotonga, noko taku e kigaaua gua tahoga'a a Temoa, o to'o mai, noko boo kigaaua o taku kia Tu- paukiu i Oa, teegaa te kunga noko to'o mai ai gua tahoga'a. 8. O kite ta'a Hu'aitekiuniu o kai, kae he'e kite ta'a Togakamatu'a. Ka gua ta- hoga'a nei, noko taku ta'a Togaka- matu'a, noko 'abange Tupaukiu, kae manga sa'u ta'a Hu'aitekiuniu.

1. The story of Temoa's whale that was brought by Tehainga'atua and Tehu- 'aigabenga and Tupuimatangi. The name of the whale was Giant Fish. 2. [He] came to Asaba. Temoa watched. The people came and saw the whale stopping at Asaba. Another one was seen also at Buge. The name of the one that stopped at Buge was the 'utagei. 3. The one at Asaba was talked about, [the news] being brought by people going there. Getting near, [they] saw the [thing] rising up, and Temoa asked, saying—"Where's the land? Where's the fish?" Because the whale had gone ashore and was higher [than] the land. 4. Tagitonga answered, saying: "That's the land, the low [thing]. And that's the fish, the big [thing]." 5. Temoa was afraid and said: "Let [us] go back!" And Tuhenua, his son, said: "All right to eat an enormous fish!" 6. And [they] went up to it, and Temoa went and he chopped, and he measured ten fath- oms, and cut as [he] climbed up, and climbed up to the top. And when Temoa was halfway [up he] slipped and fell down, and his people caught [him] and gave Temoa the name Tookumi [Fall-ten] and [he] cut the whale, and took and divided [it] at Magateika— and after- wards [the people] dispersed and went back.

7. Temoa heard, too, of his other whale that had been beached at Buge, but [it] was rotten and not edible. And two an- cestors there, they asked in prayer for Te- moa's two whales, and took [their request], and they went to ask in prayer of Tupau- kiu at Oa, which was the place to [which the ancestors] took [the request] for the two whales. 8. That of Hu'aitekiuniu was found and eaten, and that of Togakama- tu'a was not found. And as for these two whales, that of Togakamatu'a was asked for, and Tupaukiu gave [it], but that of

231

Page 247: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 100, 101

Hu'aitekiunui was just taken [without being requested]. 9. That is the story of Temoa's two whales, one being eaten, and the other was hexed and not found and was rotten. 10. This is the end of the story of Temoa and his two whales; the two names of the two whales: the 'utagei the name of one, and the ngutukao (long-beak) the other.

9. Kogaa te tagatupu'a o gua ta- hoga'a a Temoa, na kai teegaa, kae hakaheokaina teegaa o he'e kite o sa'ago. 10. Teenei te 'otinga o te tagatupu'a o Temoa ma gu ana ta- hoga'a; gua ingoa o gua tahoga'a: te 'utagei te ingoa o teegaa, ka te ngutukao teegaa.

NOTES 1. tahoga'a is both whale and porpoise. Dead whales so rarely beached on Rennell and Bel-

lona that this event has been remembered for generations. 2. Asaba, according to Taupongi 1961, is on the northwest coast of Rennell. Buge is west

of Lughughi Bay. 'utagei: gei is a whale-tooth pendant. (See T53.)

3. I had originally written gongo i tegano; Taupongi 1961 said the lake was far away and suggested gongo teegaa, which made sense.

4. Tagitonga: a son of Temoa.

6. tapai: tapa ai. 7. This elliptic passage with the unexpected entry of the two ancestors and of Tupaukiu was

difficult. Taupongi 1961 explained that Tupaukiu was a man who became a god after his death; he lived at Oa on Bellona.

8. The two ancestors were Hu'aitekiuniu and Togakamatu'a; Taupongi 1961 thinks the latter was a son of Tinopaumatu'a (Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line, G8).

For another story about Temoa, see T176. SE

101. Te Tau'a a na 'Atua War of the Gods [Generation 15]

Malacham Teikanoa of Hatagua and Malaki of Matangi, RE. At Matangi, March 24, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a ki te tau'a a na

'atua. Teenei te tagatupu'a o te pake 'Ubea a na 'atua. 2. Namaa teegaa 'aso, hai te hu'ailaunatahi hakatahinga, o hakaputu ai na 'atua i puge, ke boo mai o heketi i na pegea i te hakatahinga. 3. Namaa te 'aso na 'oti ai te pugenga a na 'atua, kae boo mai o taauga i na pegea o te hakatahinga. Noko to- katogu pegea noko taauga, o taa e kigatou te tokatogu pegea o ma- mate. 4. Taa'ia ai a Tagosia ma Ta- gitonga ma Manugei a pau o ma- mate tokogua, ko Tagitonga ma Manugei.

5. Ka te launatahi 'atua, tena ingoa ko Tupuimatangi, noko eke kia Temahana o taa e ia ia Tagosia. O 'aabaki kinai te launatahi 'atua ma'u ko Tahakigangi, o he'e mate ghali Tagosia. 6. Namaa te 'aso noko taai e te taaunga ia Tagosia o teka, sanru e Tahakigangi o tege.

1. The story of the war of the gods. This is the story of how the gods deceived the people of 'Ubea feast of Hatagua]. 2. One day a single, large meeting was held and the gods assembled and plotted to come and possess the people at the meeting. 3. After finishing their plots, the gods came and entered people of the as- sembly as mediums. Three people be- came mediums and they beat three people to death. 4. Tagosia and Tagitonga and Manugei were beaten, two being killed, Tagitonga and Manugei.

5. And one god, his name Tupuima- tangi, possessed Temahana who beat Ta- gosia. Another god, Tahakigangi, was also there, and Tagosia did not die quick- ly. 6. When the medium beat Tagosia [he] fell down, [but] Tahakigangi grabbed [him] and [enabled him] to escape. 7. The medium in whom was Tupuimatangi

232

Page 248: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 101,102

chased Tagosia and grabbed him too, and struck blows, and [he] fell, but Tahaki- gangi pulled [him] away; [he] escaped again. The god who was in Temahana also gave chase to Tagosia and grabbed [him] and struck blows, and Tahakigangi snatched Tagosia. [He] was caught and beaten seven times. 8. Tahakigangi grabbed him on his head, but [it] was com- pletely broken into pieces, and so [he] let him go, and Tagosia was dead. This was the end of Tagosia who was beaten and chopped to bits seven times.

7. 'Agu ma'u ai te taauga, noko iaiTupuimatangi, o labu ma'u ia Ta- gosia o taa, o teka, o samu ma'u e Tahakigangi; o tege ma'u. 'Agu ma'u e te 'atua noko ia Temahana ia Tagosia, o labu ma'u o taa, samu ma'u e Tahakigangi ia Tagosia. O labu hakahitu o taa. 8. 'Oso hoki kinai a Tahakigangi ki te 'ugu kua momomomo o tutahi ma te mau'i ai o pau a Tagosia o mate. Teenei te 'otinga o Tagosia na taa'ia o ma- gamaga hitu.

9. Te tagamagie a Tahakigangi kia Tagosia i te hai 'anga tena ma- ga'e o tuku ai te putu o Tahakiga- ngi. Namaa hetae te tau'a kia Tago- sia, 'agoha ai a Tahakigangi kia Ta- gosia, ki te hakama'ugi i na taa 'anga a na 'atua, o hai e ia o ma'ugi hakahitu. 10. Ka na he'e 'ao'ao a Tahakigangi i te 'eha 'atua hai aano. 'Oso taha'aki kinai a Ta- hakigangi kia Tagosia kua maguu te tino ma te mau'i ai o pau o mate.

9. Tahakigangi had been grateful to Tagosia for the way he made ceremonial offerings and offered a share for Tahaki- gangi. When the fighters came to Tagosia, Tahakigangi felt pity for Tagosia and brought him back to life after being beaten by the gods, and made him live seven times. 10. But Tahakigangi was not powerful vis-a-vis the multitude of gods in action. [When] Tahakigangi grabbed at Tagosia for the last time his body was soft, and, when released, dead.

NOTES This story was dictated a.t Matangi at about 9 P.M., after I had walked about 15 miles from

Hatagua. I had had supper, and my bearers, waiting for the night oven, insisted on telling stories. I had been working the past week with one of them, Malacham, and did not expect new information. Yet this proved to be a valuable and interesting account (moral: the field worker can never be too tired, or out of mood). Parts 4, 9 and 10 were in answer to my questions. I then asked if the story could be dated. This provoked an animated discussion between three men on the floor of the house and three women in the doorway, all as excited as though this episode were of recent occurrence, and all apparently considering it to be true. It was finally agreed that Tagitonga in 4 was a younger brother of Temoa in generation 15 (Plate 3).

5. Tupuimatangi was a son of Tehu'aigabenga (Genealogy 13). Tahakigangi was a son of Tehainga'atua (Genealogy 11).

6. taai: taa ai. SE

102. Tegei Tokahitu Tegei Tokahitu [Generation 15]

Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Hatagua, March 19, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o Tegei Toka-

hitu. Noko hinatu e Tupuimatangi, noko eke kia Temoa i te ogo i Te- potuhenua, o sopo iho ki haho i te hage ma te 'uu o unu e ia te ngasau i te 'uu, o hakakaso i te kauhutu, o tu'u o nga'ago bagibo. 2. Aano haagiu o nga'ago matangi, o mau'i te ngasau ki te gangi, kae tohu hoki ki hage o noko ma noho ai, kae

16*

1. The story of Tegei Tokahitu. Tupui- matangi came and possessed Temoa who was on the hill at Tepotuhenua, and [Te- moa] went out of the house with a bundle of arrows, and he drew an arrow from the bundle, and drew the bow and stood facing west. 2. Then [he] turned and faced east, and released the arrow towards the sky, and then went back to the house and stayed there, and the people of the settle-

233

Page 249: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 102, 103

manga sogi kinai na pegea o te manaha. 3. Aano mi'itaunga gogoa, ma te hai mai a Tupuimatangi noko eke kia Temoa: " 'I! Taugia!" 4. O he'e na'a e te 'apitanga o pegea, aano sigi na poo, boo mai na pegea mai Kanaba, o 'ati gongo ia Tegei kua hano te kabaghinga paipai i 'Ubea. 5. O kake i te paipai, ma te gege mai te kanokano o pigi te hata- hata, ma te gegema'ugi o 'oso ake o migimigi e ia te kanokano noko pigi i te hatahata, o hai aano motu te 'ugu o te kanokano o too iho, kae manga pigi te tobigha o te kano- kano, ma te hoki iho a Tegei ki ga- go o hoki ki te aba o tata'aki aano mate. Teenei te 'oti 'anga.

ment prayed to him. 3. After a while Tu- puimatangi, who had entered Temoa, said: "Oh! Hit!" 4. The group of people did not understand, and after several nights had passed, the people from Ka- naba came, and told Tegei that the pai- pai tree-fern pickers at 'Ubea had gone. 5. [Tegei] climbed the paipai tree fern, and a wasp flew there and stung his chest, and fhe] was startled and he grabbed and rubbed the wasp that had stung his chest, and then broke off the wasp's head, and [it] fell down, but the back end of the wasp stayed, and Tegei went back down and went back to the waterfront and groaned and died. This is the ending.

NOTES 1. Tauppngi 1961 was surprised at the double name for the single person. He seems to have

nothing to do with the story. 3. SE: "What was hit?" Taupongi 1961: "The wasp, by Tupuimatangi's arrow." 5. SE: "Why was Tupuimatangi angry at Tegei? What had Tegei done?" Taupongi: "I

don't know." SE

103. Temoa ma Tena 'Atua Temoa and His God [Generation 15]

Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Hatagua, March 21, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o Temoa. Na

oko, noko pipiki e Tupuimatangi i ba'i aso aano, namaa teegaa 'aso, soka e te manu te niho o mamae. 2. Aano to'o mai te potu uka o hakaaho ki te niho, o samu, popo- ghi, o to'o mai te haangongo, o ha- kasahu kinai. Aano to'o mai teegaa, o hakasinga ma'u kinai. 3. Kae manga moe o tata'aki, ma te ina mai kinai a Tupuimatangi, o hai mai: "Ina'ange gaa ki teenei kaina- nga e haki hakamamata te niho kia te au." 4. Ma te hai ake a Tupuima- tangi: "E hai kau go tuku'ia ke oko." O ma'ogi o noho aano a Te- moa, tutahi o hai maatu'a. Aano manga kegi te gua, o tanu ai. Tee- nei te 'oti 'anga o te tagatupu'a o Temoa ma tena 'atua a Tupuima- tangi.

1. The story of Temoa. When very aged, Tupuimatangi was with him all the time, and one day a germ bored a hole in his tooth and [it] hurt. 2. So [he] took a portion of cord and tied [it] to the tooth, pulled, broke [it] off, and brought a coco- nut-shell container, and dripped [blood] into it. Then [he] took another [shell] and trickled [blood] into it too. 3. [He] just lay down and groaned, and Tupuimatangi watched him, and said: "Just look at this worshipper who is breaking his tooth [as though] in anger at me." 4. Tupuimatangi said: "I'm going to let [him] grow old." So in fact Temoa lived to be a very old man. Then the grave was dug and [he] was buried there. This is the end of the story of Temoa and his god Tupuima- tangi.

234

Page 250: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 103, 104

NOTES SE: "Why was not Tupuimatangi annoyed at Temoa for his anger?" Taupongi 1961: "Manga

'agoha kinai I te me'a gaa tona kainanga (He had mercy on him because [he] was his wor- shipper)."

SE

104. Na Pegea e Taa e Tegano The People Killed by the Lake People [Generation 16]

Tetamogi of Tigoa, RE. January 8, 1958. 1. Kua ngague a Tuhenua ma

tena tu'uganga o koti ogatou 'ugu. 2. O 'oti kae hai te maga'e, o tuha e Tagosia, tuha ano 'oti, hegeu ke hakatau he papa. 3. Haiho a Mugi- henua, ke hakatau he papa ma'a Tegano nei, o he'e mamaka, ma hai atu a Tegano nei ki Mugihenua ke papa tahi, na'e te kogoa tahi, ko Tinopaumatu'a. 4. Hengu'i a Mugi- henua, o ma'ogi o papa tahi, taa te 'ugu o mako ai a Mugihenua ma Tegano nei, mako aano te papa. 5. Sui a Tuhenua te hakahua o te usunga o Tegano nei, o taa e ia te huaa mako, o hakatapa ake ai kia Baiabe i te kupu o te huaa mako noko taa e Tuhenua, noko kogaa na to'o: "Tauika, tau gaoi!" 6. Gege a Baiabe o manga 'oso kia Tagosia, te hakahua ma tona hosa, Taigoa, ma Banini; kogaa na pegea e taa e Tegano nei i te papa i Tamana.-Kua 'oti.

1. Tuhenua and his followers made prep- arations and cut their hair. 2. Then the maga'e offerings were made, and Tagosia made the distribution, and after the dis- tribution said that a sounding board should be brought forth [by the Lake]. 3. Mugi- henua said that the Lake here should bring forth its board, but the Lake was not willing and said to Mugihenua that there should be but one board as there was but a single loincloth, Tinopauma- tu'a. 4. Mugihenua people raised heads in assent, and so the same board was used, and the opening chant was beaten out and Mugihenua and the Lake here danced to it, danced to the board. 5. Then Tu- henua, chief of the visitors from the Lake here took a turn and he beat out a huaa mako song and dance, and called out in the words of the huaa mako song that Tuhenua beat to Baiabe, saying: "Tauika, sounds good!" 6. Baiabe jumped in and grabbed Tagosia, the chief, and his son Taigoa, and Banini; these were the people killed by the Lake people at the sounding board at Tamana. [It] is just finished.

NOTES The first part of this long story is not given here. It tells how Tuhenua (Plate 3, Mugihenua-

Lake line, G16) took his people to a feast at Tamana, Mugihenua. Both sides were secretly planning attacks. The Mugihenua people found Baipango, a spy from the lake, hiding under a basket in the taro patch. He was allowed to go free as he said he was looking for twine.

1. Hair was cut so that the enemy could not grab and pull it (beelunu) in the coming fights. 2. Tagosia: a chief of Mugihenua. He was polite and allowed the visitors to play the sounding

board first. 3. Tinopaumatu'a: the single loincloth (ancestor) of both the Lake and Mugihenua lines. 5. This portion was added by Samuel Tuhenua when I read the story back a few evenings

later at Niupani to a crowd that had gathered to hear some of the stories collected at Tigoa. This addition gives the closest approximation of the date for the famous warrior Baiabe who figures in T105 and T106. (Tauika was a name for Baiabe.)

I asked Taupongi 1961 if the repetition of tau (Tauika, tau ngaoi) was for artistic effect; he seemed astonished at such a question.

SE

235

Page 251: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 105, 106

105. 'Agogua ma Baiabe 'Agogua and Baiabe [Generation 16]

Moa of Hutuna, RE. January 1, 1958. 1. Te launatahi pegea noko noho

i Mugiki i gaa 'aso, tona ingoa ko 'Agogua, ka te haihenua. 2. Namaa te tasi 'aso, puge kinai te tau'a a te sa'a Taga, o boo kinai tegatou tau'a 0 taa i te poo, kae giu ki togatou manaha. 3. Ka na tobago e kigatou 1 te momo, na mate. Tu'u gua poo, hano kinai tena 'atua o hakaputu e ia, tona ingoa ko Tehu'aigabenga. 4. Na hehakatau'aki hakahoki e ia o hakama'ugi, ka na toe ai te tasi kunga o'ona, hakaingoa te potu kau- ba'e. 5. Namaa 'aoina ange boo mai kinai te ta'u pegea tegatou mataa- kinga, kua ma'ugi hoki, kua gaoi o 'oti te tino, ma na gima, ma na ba'e, ma te 'ugu, ma na taungaa mata, kae ma taginga'a te potu kauba'e.

6. Namaa te tahi ghapu, a'u tena hogau kia Baiabe, te hu'aihakahua o Tegano nei, tomatou tupuna. 7. Te 'aso noko hetae mai ai te hogau a 'Agogua, na oho e Baiabe, o manga hakatau ake kinai a 'Ago- gua, kae ma ina 'aatea, he'e ina ake na mata kia Baiabe i te pa'a, manga tangani hai ake tena taku- nga, kae ma ina 'aatea. 8. Namaa haaiho kinai a Baiabe: "Keu mai mu'a 'agiki tonu e, ma gaoi." Na- maa keu ake ma taginga'a ake te pupu'a i te tasi potu kauba'e. Na- maa hoki a 'Agogua ki Mugiki kae too te hatutigi kia Baiabe o mate.

1. A person lived at Bellona long ago, his name 'Agogua, and [he] was a second priest-chief. 2. One day the Taga clan planned an attack on him, and the raiders came on a night raid and returned to their settlement. 3. And they cut ['Ago- gua] into bits, and [he] died. In the middle of the night his god came to him and he put [him] together, his name being Te- hu'aigabenga. 4. He joined [the pieces] together again and brought [him] back to life, but one part was omitted, that called the jaw. 5. When daylight came, many people, came to visit [because] of the re- surrection, and the entire body was good, the arms and feet, and head, and face, but the jaw was just open.

6. One year he ['Agogua] came on a trip to Baiabe, the great chief of the Lake here, our ancestor. 7. The day that 'Ago- gua's sailing party arrived here Baiabe gave a great shout, and 'Agogua answered but stayed at a distance, and his eyes did not look up at Baiabe because of shame, and he just said his entreaty and stayed at a distance. 8. Then Baiabe said to him: "Just look to the front, excellent chief who, who, is so fine." When ['Agogua] turned, the hole in the one side of the jaw was wide open. When 'Agogua went back to Bellona, thunder fell on Baiabe and killed [him].

NOTES This story was laboriously printed by Moa. For the /h/ phoneme, he consistently wrote "v"

except that he spelled the name as Baiave, and the word "foot" as bae. At the end of the story, Moa wrote in English: "How Length times of Them Baiave and Agogua they six generation over and make seven to us now." I failed to get a clarification of this until 10 days later when going over T104 with Tuhenua. I asked Moa and others if 'Agogua had anything to do with Baiabe's death, and they agreed that his death just then was coincidental.

SE

106. Baiabe Baiabe [Generation 16]

Tetamogi of Tigoa, RE. January 5, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a kia Baiabe, no- 1. The story of Baiabe, who lived at

236

Page 252: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

ko hiina'i aano i Baigau, ngague te hanonga, o hai 'uhi, to'iho ki Agai- kaga. Hetae iho kinai. 2. Tu'u te 'ao, too te 'ua, tau ki te 'ana a Baiabe o hakamagu ai. Ma te kemo te 'uiga, pisi te hatutigi, hinaiho sigi a Baiabe. Kemo ma'u ia 'uiga, pisi te hatutigi, o hinaiho o eke ia Baiabe, o teka ki te tai. 3. Haka- putu a gago, heukuhi ai, kae mata- taku. Launatahi pegea na uku o hetae kinai, ko Tekehu. 4. Hano e noho goto a Te'ugumouku, e gua 'atua, hano haahaa e ia o rnomoge, 'oso kia Te'ugumouku o pugu. loo logha kinai te uka ki te uma, hoki ake e'a ake ki 'agunga o sopo ki te baka, o huhuti ake, kua mate. 5. Iho tanu i Gakepa. Kua 'oti.

TEXTS 106, 107

Baigau, and was getting food to carry, and getting yams, which [he] took down to Agaikaga. [He] got down there. 2. Clouds came out, rain fell, and Baiabe went to a cave and found shelter there. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and came down but missed Baiabe. Lightning flashed again, and thunder roared and came down and struck Baiabe, and [he] fell into the sea. 3. The people of the west end [of the lake] gathered together and dove for him, and were frightened. One person dove and reached him, Tekehu. 4. Te'ugumouku [Baiabe] was between two gods, and he [Tekehu] felt [of him] but [he] slipped, and he took hold of Te'ugumouku but [he] was rough. Then [he] tied a string to his shoulder, and came back up and got into the canoe, and pulled [him] up, and [he] was dead. 5. [They] took [him] down and buried [him] at Gakepa. Just finished.

NOTES The terse, compact style caused difficulties, and I was glad to have the help of Tuhenua and

Teika'ato during the third reading later at Niupani. 1. Baigau, just west of Niupani, was the former home of Aaron Taupongi and an important

place. Agaikaga is on the north coast. 2. That thunder strikes trees and kills people is still believed.

4. Te'ugumouku, I learned later, is another name for Baiabe. Logha is the word constantly heard for noisy. When I was puzzled, Teika'ato supplied the exact phrase (logha kinai te uka ki te uma) without having heard the text, perhaps an indication that the story is well known.

5. Baiabe's grave is at Gakepa, near Niupani. He was an ancestor of Aaron Taupongi, but no one seemed to know the connection.

The same story had been outlined by Aaron Taupongi on December 2 at a very difficult session with many distractions, such as a crying infant and other noise, mosquitoes, and flies hovering over open sores; also, the informant spoke very fast in a faint voice, and constantly interrupted himself to ask questions. The last sentence was different: Ko Maniho ma Hatutigi hai a gu ana guani (Maniho and Hatutigi [gods of thunder] became his [Baiabe's] servants).

SE

107. Sa'obaa ma Tena Hosa Sa'obaa and His Son [Generation 16]

Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 15, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a o Sa'obaa ma

tena hosa a Tagosia, gua tangata o Tegano. Tegaa hai 'anga te boo ki Mugihenua i togaa kunga henua i Te'ana. 2. Namaa teegaa 'aso, ko kigaaua ma te kakai 'anga ogaaua, noko boo ki te kunga henua i Te'a- na, i togaa manaha i Sa'apai. 3. No- ko iai tegaa 'umanga, na 'uhi, ka

1. The story of Sa'obaa and his son Tagosia, two men of the Lake. What they did was to go to Mugihenua to [their] utilized land at Te'ana. 2. Then one day the two with their people went to the utilized land at Te'ana, at their settlement at Sa'apai. 3. Their garden was there, yams, which they gathered to make a feast, working fast. Then [they] went

237

Page 253: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 107

noko utu o hai ai te hakatahinga agatou, na hai hegiko. Namaa 'oti, kae giu ki tai. Ko kigatou noko ma- tataku tau'a. 4. Namaa sosopo ki Te'ana, o toso ogatou baka, o boo ai, ka na boo na baka mumu'a, o tau ki te manaha, teegaa tena ingoa, ko Paputugi. 5. Ka ko Tagosia ma te tamana, ma koi mugi mai i na goto o bagibo. 6. Namaa boo mai, 0 mataa tatae mai te baka o Sa'o- baa. Namaa tuugei ake ke tau ki ga'unga i Paputugi, tu'u kinai te hakahii te tau'a a Mugihenua ma Tetaimgagoto. 7. 'Ui iho te baka noko mumu'a, o noko ma hiina'i 1 te manaha, ka na labu a te baka noko mumu'a ki te ma- naha, o taa gua pegea noko iai. 8. Kae hoki a Sa'obaa kia tena hosa noko mugi mai. Ko kigaaua, na tau gu ogaa baka ki te hatu i te uso o te goto. Teegaa te ingoa o te kunga, Lapaghoa. 9. Kae boo mai te tau'a, o ge'o e kigatou ke taa, ka noko hai tegaa 'uu o pa'unga ai a te kigaaua, o he'e boo kinai te tau'a okigatou kaa hetau. 10. Hehana'aki na ngasau i agaatou 'uu, ka na si'ai he pegea taugia.

11. Namaa 'oti tegatou hetau, gosigosi na tanu a Tagosia, o haka- to'o ki te tau'a, i ba'i hakahua. Ko kigatou noko hakatangi, o he'ema- maka ki na tanu a Tagosia. Noko to'o e tena uguugu, tena ingoa Kai- sa'unga; to'o hakahoki iho tc tanu o Tagosia, kua he'emamaka kinai. 13. To'o hakahoki e tena uguugu kia Tegaugemugi, te malikope, ma te tu'u, kae koti te 'ugu, o tuku ki tena tanu, o to'o kia Tegaugemugi. Namaa ina kinai a ia, hai atu ki tena tau'a, kigatou boo, ka ke ma'u- gi Tagosia ma te tamana. 14. Ma- ngangao kinai te tau'a. Ko kigatou noko boo bagibo, kae 'ui gua baka o Sa'obaa ma tena hosa, o boo ma- tangi. Ko kigaaua kua ma'ugi. Kua 'oti.

back to the sea. They were afraid of war. 4. After reaching Te'ana and dragging out their canoes, and going on, and the first canoes went and landed at a settle- ment, its name being Paputugi. 5. And Tagosia and his father were still behind in the lagoon to the west. 6. Then they came, and Sa'obaa's canoe landed first. After turning to go ashore at Paputugi, there arose the war cry of the fighters of Mugihenua and Tetaungagoto. 7. The canoe that was first [Sa'obaa's] cast off, and [the other canoe] stayed at that place, and the canoe that was first [Mugihenua] attacked the place and killed two people who were there. 8. Sa'obaa went back to his son, who was behind. They attached their two canoes to rocks in the center of the lagoon. The name of the place was Lapaghoa. 9. The fighters came, and they watched in order to strike, but the two had their arrow bundles to protect them- selves with, and the fighters did not come up to them and fight. 10. They shot ar- rows from their arrow bundles, but no one was hit.

11. After their fighting, Tagosia pre- pared peace offerings and took [them] to the fighters, to every chief. They were angry and did not accept Tagosia's peace offerings. His wife had taken [the of- ferings], her name being Kaisa'unga; [she] took Tagosia's peace offering again, but [it] was not accepted. 13. His wife again took a mat and necklace to Tegaugemugi, and cut her hair and put [it] with her peace offering, and took [them] to Te- gaugemugi. He looked at it, and told his fighters that they should go, and Tagosia and the father should live. 14. The fighters agreed. They went to the west, and Sa'obaa and his son took their two canoes and went eastward. The two lived. Just finished.

NOTES This story illustrates the constant fighting and one of the roles of women. Informants said

238

Page 254: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 107, 108

that women were not killed during fights. In 14, however, the wife was not regarded as worthy of mention. This story also demonstrates Paul's careful documentation of the names of persons and places and the lack of picturesque and difficult direct quotations and technical vocabulary. 2. kunga henua: general name for land that is or has been used, as manaha, 'umanga, ma'aga, ngaohie.

SE

108. Te Taa'ia Agaitai The Agaitai Battle [Generation 18]

Samuel Tuhenua of Niupani, RE. December 9, 1957. 1. Te hegeunga ki Tegano nei,

noko tahi ona hu'aihakahua, ko Sa'obaa. 2. Ka ko Sa'obaa noko sia hai ki Tegano nei ke manga 'aabaki kia te ia ngatahi. Ka na sia hai tee- gaa tangata i te kaukau bagitakugu ke hakahua ma'u. 3. Toha tena ngaguenga o songo kia Sa'obaa. Puge kinai kigatou ke taa. Ma'ogi o boo te tau'a o taa te launatahi kakai 'anga i bagitakugu. 4. Tuku ma'u teegaa tu'uganga o boo iho o taa a gago. Sui a bagitakugu o puge te tau'a o boo iho o pake e kigatou te kakai 'anga i Teaba o sui kigatou o taa. 5. Boo mai teegaa agatou tau'a o taa teegaa kakai 'anga i Sa'atupa. Mataku a Sa'obaa o ngege ki Kanaba o boo mai o 'aabaki kia te kigatou i te noko na'a ake kaa sepu a bagitakugu. 6. Congo ai a bagitakugu kua 'api te tau'a o teegaa pa'asi. He'agiko ai a bagitakugu o tu'u ogo i te ogo, tona ingoa ko Agaitai. O he'e na'a e te tau'a a bagika'ago.

7. Namaa boo iho te baka haa- hine mai bagitakugu o bilaabei ma na haahine o bagika'ago, o hai ke 'ati gongo te hahine mai bagika'ago kia te taina kae mataku ki tegatou lango 'anga. 8. Hai aano ioo hai kigatou bae gua, hinake te hahine kia te taina o hesongi i ogaa isu, manga 'ati gongo atu kinai ko ba- gitakugu kua tu'u ogo i Agaitai. 9. To'o e kigatou te gongo nei o boo 'ati gongo ai ki te tau'a a ba- gika'ago. Ko kigatou noko sisia to- to'a. 10. Momoe 'aoina o hakaneke tegatou tau'a ki te ogo kua gongo ai. Boo atu kinai, e ma'ogi e kakai.

1. In the account of the Lake here, there was one great chief, Sa'obaa. 2. Sa'obaa wanted the Lake people here to serve only him. And another man on the south side also wanted to be chief. 3. [He] constructed his temple and [this] seemed bad to Sa'obaa. They planned to attack. So the fighters went and attacked a people at the south. 4. Another group at the west also went and attacked. Then the southern peoples plotted a war, going west and they enticed the people at Teaba and they also attacked. 5. Some of their fighters came and struck the people at Sa'atupa. Sa'obaa was afraid and called on Kanaba to come and help them, as [he] knew that the south would win. 6. The south heard that there were many fighters on the other side. The south fled and took a stand in the hill, its name Agatai. The fighters at the north did not know [this].

7. Then a women's canoe from the south went to the west and met some women of the north, and the woman from the north told her younger sister that [they] were afraid of the travelers. 8. Then they separated, and the woman went up to her younger sister and they pressed noses, and [she] told her that the southern people were on the hill at Agaitai. 9. They took this report and went and told it to the fighters in the north. They were very happy. 10. [They] slept, and after daylight their fighters climbed up to the hill that had been reported on. [They] went there, and indeed [people] were there. They raised a war cry. Then they surrounded

239

Page 255: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 108

Guti kinai tegatou hakahii. Boo mugheghi ai o boga tona gago ma te hai hage, kae tuku te gongo o giu iho na haahine ma na tamagiki, o boo ake o kakai i tona gago o te ogo o ge'o e kigatou. 11. Hai ake ke ge'o, ke go 'oti agatou utunga mo gatou bai. Ma'ogi o ge'o aano e kigatou, o katoa e tuuma'a e hitu ogatou 'ao kae heongea'aki ma te sia bibinu. 12. O tanu iho ki te gua ki te taa'ia ma te tuku na piikinga i gaa o he'agiko, kae kake'aki te tau'a te gua o taa e kigatou, i te me'a gaa kua he'e toto'a i tegatou he'ongea'aki 'anga, ma tegatou sia bibinu 'anga. 13. Teegaa te hai 'anga na he'e toto'a tegatou haka- hetata'i ai ki na makau ogatou. Kua 'oti. 14. Te sanga tau'a nei noko taa'ia forty-four e bagika'ago ia taangata ma haahine two, kae taa e bagitakugu te tinoangahugu i ba- gika'ago. Kua 'oti. 15. Namaa 'oti te taa'ia Agaitai, boo iho te tau'a o tata te mugi tau'a i bagika'ago.

16. Namaa 'oti i te taa'ia, tuha te kaukau bagika'ago i ogatou ma- naha, ma agatou ma'aga, ma aga- tou husi, ma na 'aga ki tai, ma na 'one, i te me'a gaa ko kigatou na 'oti i te taa'ia, kae to'o ai e bagi- ka'ago ogatou kege o noko ma hai e kigatou o tatae mai ki na 'aso nei. Kua 'oti.

the hill and cleared out below it and made houses, and sent word for women and children to come down, and [they] went and stayed below the hill and they stood watch. 11. Being watched, their food and their water were almost finished. So they stood guard for seventeen days, and [they] were hungry and thirsty. 12. [They] sent peace messengers down to the bottom, and [they] were killed and some of them were released and fled, and the fighters at the bottom climbed up and they brought attack, as [the enemy] was not strong because of their hunger and their thirst. 13. That is why their struggle against their enemy was not strong. Just finished. 14. In this fighting the north people killed forty-four men and two women, and the south people killed ten from the north. Just finished. 15. After the Agaitai battle, the fighters went west- ward and performed the dance of victory in the north.

16. After the battle, the northern side distributed their [people of the south's] lands, their gardens, their wet-land taro patches, the trails to the sea, and beaches, because they [the south people] had been defeated in the battle, and the north took their land and they kept [it], and [this] continues up to today. Just finished.

NOTES A large crowd gathered in my house after church, and I put a map of Rennell on the floor

and asked about fights (tau'a) and alliances, and a long discussion followed. Next day Tuhenua dictated this story. Afterwards, I attempted to date the fight. Aaron Taupongi, son of Sa'obaa, had played a leading part and had been wounded in the shoulder and still bore the scar. Tu- henua, who looked about 41, thought that he was about 6 at the time of Agaitai, and about 14 at the time of Dr. Lambert's visits, which were in 1928 and 1933. If he were born in 1916, Agaitai would have been in about 1922. Later I talked with an old man at Hutuna who had fought with the losers and who had escaped; he was then mi'itauiku (approaching middle age); he was still vigorous and looked about 65. He had eight or nine new long spears with points of sharp human bone attached which he said were used in the fighting.

1. Sa'obaa, also called Kagobai, father of Aaron Taupongi (Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line, G18), is probably the "Kungivai" described in the anonymous Geographical Journal article of 1921 (taken from notes by the missionary Northcote Deck) as "a dignified, powerfully built man, six feet high and broad in proportion." He received the mission party (before 1910) "with an eager welcome."

2. Later informants, including Taupongi 1961, said that the "other man" was Sa'omangoo, the chief of the south, near Hutuna.

6. Agaitai: in the mountains south of Niupani. An interested listener to the story was To- faka, who had fought in the struggle, but he was not a story teller and had little to say. Tuhenua asked him how long the siege lasted, but he did not remember.

SE

240

Page 256: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 109

109. Tebagugu ma Tugihono Tebagugu and Sea Snake [Generation 18]

Job Topue and Samuel Tuhenua, both of Niupani, RE. January 16, 1958. 1. Te hegeunga kia Tebagugu,

te tangata noko noho i Tehakaga- ba.— 2. Noko ina aano, 'ui tona baka noko iai ma'u na pegea, boo iho o tahea i te gano, gege te ama, o pegu hakahao'o te baka. Hekaui ake na pegea noko tata'o ai, kae toe ia i tona baka o eke i tona tu'a. 3. O 'aaua iho i te uso o te gano, ki tena tangi ai i tena 'aaua 'anga ma tona baka.— 4. 'Aaua iho aano i te uso o te gano mataa sigi iho i na motu o Teaba. 5. Hinaiho aano pata i Halogu, kae ganga kinai a Tugi- hono, o eke i te potu o tona baka. Tu'ia a Tebagugu o mataku o he- tapa ia Tuhaite'agaba, too hoki o mene, kae 'aaua iho o sahe i Maga- ma'asoa. 6. Noko mate songo e ia 0 hai ake o "Paka'asoa," i te me'a gaa te pegea gapa.— 7. O inano ai, hoki ki Tehakagaba o 'ati gongo ai 1 tena 'aaua 'anga, ko ia na 'aaua iho aano i te gano, pata i Halogu, "Kae ganga a Tugihono kia te au, noko ma kogaa na noho na hakaghaagha- lobo 'anga te iai na baghu tui gua, ka te tino ma konaa na noho te bii i te hua'eha to'a." Kua 'oti.

8. Manga ina aano i Tehakagaba, taa e Kagobai (tamana o Taupongi) i te hai gongo songo ia te ia moona hai matu'a. 9. Hai atu a Tebagugu kua kaia'a e Kagobai ia ti tinana a Temota. Teegaa te hai 'anga na taa ai e Kagobai ia Tebagugu, i te pa'a i te gongo songo nei.

1. The report of Tebagugu, a person who lived at Tehakagaba.— 2. Once he took out his canoe with other people also and went westerly, drifting on the lake, and the outrigger tipped up and over and capsized the canoe. The people who had come along swam toward land, but he stayed with the canoe and got on the back of it. 3. Drifting west in the center of the lake, he wept over his drifting in his canoe.— 4. Drifting west in the center of the lake, and first passing west of the islands at Teaba. 5. [He] went then close to Halogu, and Sea Snake came up from the depths and got onto the end of his canoe. Tebagugu was shocked and fright- ened and called on Tuhaite'agaba, and [Sea Snake] fell back and sank, and [Te- bagugu] drifted westward and came to Magama'asoa. 6. But he pronounced badly, saying "Paka'asoa" because he was a person who stuttered [or made frequent slips of tongue or errors].— 7. [He] stayed there and returned to Tehaka- gaba and told of his drifting, how he had drifted west in the lake near Halogu, "And Sea Snake came up from the depths towards me, the stripes like a baghu mat of four sewed leaves, and the body like the bii tree, very large." Just finished.

8. [Tebagugu] just lived at Tehakagaba, and Kagobai (father of Taupongi) killed [him] because he spread vicious stories about him and his parent. 9. Tebagugu said that Kagobai had abducted his own mother, Temota. That was the reason Kagobai killed Tebagugu, because he was ashamed about this evil report.

NOTES Job first told the story rapidly, and Tuhenua then dictated it slowly, stopping often to ask

for details. 1. Tehakagaba: southeast lake. 5. Halogu: one of two islets in the center of the lake.

Job corrected Tuhenua, who first said te tugihono (the sea snake); this was the king ’agiki of the sea snakes and so a proper noun.

Tuhaite'agaba: the eldest son of Tehu'aigabenga (Genealogy 13). 1. inano: ina aano.

The enormous bii tree is still at Tehakagaba.

241

Page 257: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 109, 110

8. This interesting addition came after I asked about when Tebagugu lived. Job, in his fifties, said he had seen both Tebagugu and Kagobai. Tebagugu was Kagobai's servant (guanf).

moona: mo'ona. 9. This came when I asked what the vicious stories were. SE: "Do you think the stories were

true?" Informants: "We think so, or Kagobai would not have killed him." SE: "Could Teba- gugu have lied about the snake and also about Kagobai?" Informants: "We don't think so. We think both are true." SE: "Was incest common?" Informants: "It was sometimes done." (The informants seemed surprised that I could doubt either story.)

SE

no. Tahua, na Him te Ma'ugi Talma, Whose Life Principle Was Hidden [Generation 18]

Samuel Tuhenua of Niupani, RE. February 15, 1958. 1. Te hegeunga kia Tahua (tama-

na o Malachi Tegheta), na huu e Angabagu te ma'ugi i Tuhugago. 2. Noko ina aano a Tahua, iho ki Tuhugago o kakai ai, o a'ago aano, taa mate tena mangoo, o to'ake ki Tuhugago. Tau ake o tuku tena mangoo i te 'one, kae hinake o maamala i te me'a tahi. 3. Ma'ina kinai te haagiki, o sa'u e ia, o huna ma'u ai, o to'o ai e ia te ma'ugi, o Tahua, o masaki ai. 4. Sasaga e na 'atua ma na takotonga te kunga e hai too'onga kia Tahua. O he'e kite, ina aano a tona ta'okete a Tegheta e takoto i Hanakaba, iho ke gepo ki te kakai 'anga haagiki i Tuhugago. 5. E'a atu e taka te haangotanga, mumuni a Tegheta, o hitagi ai, taka aano, ahiahi, kae giu mai, sopo ake a Angabagu o taga siusiu i te me'a tahi. 6. Manga ina iho a Tegheta te kogoa noko hu- na'aki e Tahua te hunake ai te ta- ma'auge. Sopo iho a Tegheta, o tau kinai te tu'u niho peka. 7. Sa'u ake e Angabagu te ma'ugi o Tahua noko ma sugu e ia ki na gaba huna, o 'abange, o to'o e Tegheta, o hoki ake, o hai ga'a kia Tahua, o ma'ugi ai a Tahua.

8. Kae puge te tau'a a Tegheta ma na 'atua o giu kinai. Hano a

1. The story of Tahua (father of Ma- lachi Tegheta), whose life principle was hidden by Angabagu at Tuhugago. 2. One day Tahua went down to Tuhugago to stay there and fish for sharks, and he killed his shark and took [it] to Tuhu- gago. [He] landed and took his shark onto the beach and went up to change his loincloth for one scented with turmeric. 3. A mischievous supernatural coveted it [the loincloth] and he [the supernatural] took [the loincloth] and put it on too, and in this way he took the life principle of Tahua, who as a result became sick. 4. The gods and ancestors [of Tahua] looked for the place where Tahua had been harmed. Not finding [the place], his older brother, Tegheta, who had been buried at Hanakaba, then went down to spy on the mischievous supernaturals living at Tuhugago. 5 [Tegheta] arrived, and there was a fishing party staying [there], and Tegheta hid, waiting, delaying until late afternoon, and Angabagu came back and came ashore and changed his work loin- cloth to one scented with turmeric. 6. Tegheta saw that the tapa Tahua had worn as a loincloth had been put on by the child-of-a-member. Tegheta went down and put on him a flying fox tooth necklace. 7. Angabagu took Tahua's life principle that he had stuck into the folds of his loincloth and gave [it back], and Tegheta took [it] and went back and gave [it] to Tahua and it made Tahua well.

8. Tegheta and the gods planned an attack as revenge on him [Angabagu].

242

Page 258: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

Tegheta o pake e ia i na utunga. Sanome'a te haagiki o hai ake: "Na kunga nei noko he'e monomono ai—a Gebaika ka kua tu'u goa ai i te aa?" 9. 'Oti te gea 'anga a te haagiki nei kae pisi te hatutigi, so- sopo te tau'a a na 'atua, 'oso a Tegheta kia Angabagu o taa e ki- gatou te giu'aki tau'a i te hai to'o- nga 'anga o huu te ma'ugi o Tahua, o masaki ai, o poi ngago. Kua 'oti.

TEXTS 110, 111

Tegheta went and made enticements with food. The supernatural was suspicious and said: "These places are usually not frequented— but why does Gebaika stay so long there?" 9. After this mischievous supernatural had spoken, thunder struck and the god fighters came, and Tegheta grabbed Angabagu and they killed [him], an attack of revenge for taking and hiding the life principle of Tahua so that he be- came sick and almost died. Just finished.

NOTES Tuhenua had proved such a valuable informant and food provider (much appreciated ears of

corn and papayas, in particular), that one day I gave him a small bottle of perfume. He seemed touched by the gift and commented on the high price of perfume in Honiara (the equivalent of 2 days' work). I was writing my diary, and he sat down on the sugar barrel; he watched me intently, and so I switched to translating, thinking that I might consult him when questions arose. "I've got a story from the underworld," he said finally. "Fine," I said, and took out my notebook.

3. Malachi Tegheta (Chapter 2 and Genealogy 2, G19), my neighbor and valued informant. Tahua died when Tegheta was small, which must have been somewhere between 1910 and 1915. Angabagu was a haagiki (mischievous supernatural).

4. Tegheta, also called Teikagei and Gebaika (8), was the grandfather of the present head- man, Tegheta; he had died long before the episode in this story.

Hanakaba: inland of Tigoa at the eastern end of the lake. tama'auge: a term for mischievous supernatural rarely heard in legends, but constantly

used in a joking fashion, similar to English "rascal." Literally, child-of-penis. 6. huna'aki: to be wearing a loincloth; hunake (huna ake), to pick up and put on a loincloth.

Tuhenua explained that the necklace was a tanu (peace offering or ransom). He said that before Christianity life-principle snatching had been common, with resulting sickness or death of the victim. Prayers to the takotonga (ancestors) might retrieve the stolen life principle.

SE

in. Tahua ma Tema'ungaika Tahua and Tema'ungaika [Generation 18]

Samuel Tuhenua of Niupani, RE. December 14, 1957. 1. Te hegeunga kia Tahua ma

Tema'ungaika. Noko ina ano a Te- ma'ungaika i Mugiki. 2. A'u tena hogau ia Tagosia, te tamana o Ta- hua. A'u aano tau i Manupisu, o hakaneke ake i te aga, hinake aano, iho mai i te ogo i Baieke. 3. Sa'u ake tona toki o huu, kae hinaiho o bilaabei o hiina'i aano ma te hai utunga kinai. 4. 'Oti kae giu, hano o sa'u iho tona toki noko huu. Gongo ai a Tahua o hatu kinai tena pogipogi i te beka. 5. Gongo ai a Tema'ungaika, o giu'aki hatu me- 'ano. Tangi a Tema'ungaika i na me'a a Tahua noko hai kia te ia, ma na kagohia 'anga. 6. Mataa hai

1. The account of Tahua and Tema- 'ungaika. Tema'ungaika lived at Bellona. 2. He came on a trip to Tagosia, the father of Tahua. [He] came and landed at Manupisu, and climbed up the trail, coming on up, and then down from the mountain at Baieke. 3. He took out his adze and hid [it], and came down and met [the people] and stayed on, and food was given him. 4. Then [he] returned, and took down his adze that had been hidden. Tahua heard of this and composed a song attack on this stinginess. 5. Tema- 'ungaika heard of this and composed something in revenge. Tema'ungaika complained of the things that Tahua had made about him, and the retaliation. 6.

243

Page 259: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 111, 112

mai te me'a a Tema'ungaika kia Tahua: "Ke 'oti tetaa hepogipogi- 'aki 'anga nei!" O ma'ogi o 'oti.

7. Teenei te huaa mako a Tahua noko mataa hatu kia Tema'ungai- ka: "Hoki te hogau beka mouhai 'anga i ana me'a teegaa masa he'e tupe gima, manga tangani eke i te 'agoha."

8. Te giu'aki a Tema'ungaika: "Teenaa ia te beka manga mahu ana me'a. Teenaa masa he'e mako sua manga tangani taha ki te ahe- nga."

Then Tema'ungaika first said to Tahua: "Let's quit our song fighting!" And so [it] was finished.

7. This is the huaa mako song that Tahua first made about Tema'ungaika: "Let the stingy, disliked traveler take back his things, that master who doesn't extend a hand, doesn't give any generos- ity."

8. Tema'ungaika's retaliation: "Things of the stingy one just rot. That master can't do the hop in the dance, and just stands around uselessly when the deities arrive."

NOTES Tahua (Genealogy 2, G18; and T110) was the father of Malachi Tegheta. Informants said that this pogipogi (fight of songs) went on for years. Travelers would take

the latest verses to the enemy. The foes did not meet face to face or they would have fought. Tema'ungaika was a famous composer. He indicated in 8 that Tahua may have been handsome but was not a good dancer. The word masa is pidgin English for "master," the term for white man, employer, boss.

5. me'ano: me'a aano. SE

112. Te Mako Noho a Sa'obaa The Sitting Dance of Sa'obaa [Generation 18]

Samuel Tuhenua of Niupani, RE. January 16, 1958. 1. Maagama na henua kua hano

ai Hu'aitebai ee. Umege: Suki o sei ouaa moe ai

ko kaobao uee. 2. Hano ma te ngaguenga o tata'o

atuna te hakakena ee. 3. Gigo ki Nukuahea o he'igo

mou 'aitu sapai ee.

4. Hano a Sautahea te pokesi mai na 'atu henua ee.

5. Kua hano i te saga kua sa'u atu e te ma'inga ee.

6. Te 'asoa 'agiki ko kitaaua kua bae gua ee.

7. Gingi ai toku tangi noho au ki te toobaasi'a ee.

8. Kau hakagau'ia oku tonu i gu 'ataa ngaguenga ee.

9. Hua taku gemugi te 'agoha o Tehainga'atua ee.

10. Pipiki i Matahenua tahe gogo ai gua kaukau ee.

The lands are light which Hu'aitebai (The-great-waters) has gone to.

Chorus: Suki o sei ouaa moe ai ko kaobao uee.

[He] departs and the temple and the subjects follow after.

Gone to Nukuahea and greeting the deities carried on the laps [of an- cestors and gods].

Sautahea goes, red cloth from foreign lands.

Gone in sickness taken by desire.

We, two chiefs, have separated.

My tears for him flow, and I remain in doubt.

Do I count my gifts from deities in both our temples.

My gemugi fruit, the compassion of Tehainga'atua.

Staying in Matahenua, sweet oil flowing on both sides.

244

Page 260: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

11. Toku sau gemugi ke noko sa- mu ai toku henua ee.

12. Toku sa'o makogu ke noko malubu ma te niu mata ee.

13. Toku sau 'uhigaba noko iho'aki i oku 'umanga ee.

14. Gigi taku pegapugu na goku'a- ki ai taku ahenga ee.

TEXTS 112, 113

My abundance of gemugi, my land to feast upon.

My soft offering [coconuts] that will sprout, and young coconuts,

My abundance of pana come down to my garden.

My schools of pogo fish that ripple, to whom my gods do turn.

NOTES The sitting dance, also known as the crazy song (te mako sasa), is sometimes referred to to-

day by the pidgin English term "market." During the singing, persons one at a time leave gifts in front of others, and the recipient has to make a return gift of equal value. In the old days, sitting dances were occasions of great excitement, and land, canoes, and infants are said to have been exchanged. Two sessions were held for me, and I had to find return gifts for things as diverse as fine mats, a live duck, a walking stick, and pearl-shell spoons. The mako noho was a time of festivity, excitement, merriment, and food—but the songs (melodies and words) were dirges.

This song was believed composed by Sa'obaa, father of Aaron Taupongi, upon the death of his older brother Teikagei, who was also known as Hu'aitebai (The-great-waters) in honor of the lake, and as Sautahea. During a 2-hour session, a great many religious terms were explained ('aitu sapai, tonu, sa'o), as well as terms concerned with gemugi, coconuts, 'uhigaba, and pogo fish.

1. The chorus (umege) has no meaning. 3. Nukuahea: the home of Tehu'aigabenga (T8). 4. pokesi: no one was of this word, or whether it was English or Rennellese. 5. ma'inga: ma'ina (to desire, covet). The gods desired to take Teikagei. 12. te niu mata: Taupongi 1961 said that it sounded bad (tautau maase'i) to say polo mata.

The every-day word for coconut (polo) is apparently not considered appropriate for religious formulas and songs.

14. pegapugu: informants said this was the black thing in the stomach of pogo fish, but Taupongi 1961 had no idea of what this was.

SE

113. Tetuha, noko To'o te Ma'ugi Tetuha, Whose Life Principle Was Taken [Generation 19]

Samuel Tuhenua of Niupani, RE. At Mata'aso, January 27, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a kia Tugiaba, te

tama'auge o Teaba. 2. Noko sia hai ke huu e ia te ma'ugi o Tetuha, i te me'a gaa, noko sia hai Tugiaba kia Tetuha mai 'Ubea i te logi 'anga te 'ugu i te potu uka. 3. O to'o ai e ia te ma'ugi o Tetuha o masaki ai. Sasaga e na 'atua a'ana ma te tamana. Aano hinatu a te tamana a Tuhenua, o kite e ia togatou kunga kakai, ma noho pe te pupuni kapia (tona 'umuti). 4. Hinaiho o 'ati gongo ai ki te 'atua a Tegano nei o hano o pali e ia. Aano noho mai gago te ga'aa, kae haka'io'io ake e kigatou te titingi o togatou

1. The story of Tugiaba, a child-of-a- member of Teaba. 2. He wanted to hide the life principle of Tetuha because Tu- giaba desired Tetuha of 'Ubea because [of the way he] tied his hair up with a piece of cord. 3. He took away the life prin- ciple of Tetuha who thereupon became sick. His gods and his father searched. The father, Tuhenua, went on and he found the place they lived and [its en- trance] was like the top of a lime con- tainer (its stopper). 4. [Tuhenua] went westward and told the god of the Lake here, and he came and stood guard. When the sun was lowering towards the west, they [children-of-members in the under-

245

Page 261: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 113

inanaha kakai. E'ake a Tugiaba ma noho pe Tetuha e logi te 'ugu i te potu uka, o tungu'ia i na genga noko hugu ai a Tonga'aitu, te hosa o Tehu'aigabenga, o hematamata- 'aki o hai—ke hoki ki poo'ugi. 5. Manga gege atu te 'atua noko pali & ia, o tau i te 'ugu, o huhuti ake, kae tau a gago i na ba'e o huhuti hakahoki e kigatou ki poo'ugi, he- ha'ao aano ai, manga toghi kunga goto e te 'atua, te 'ugu o Tugiaba. 6. O tupe 'ange kia Tuhenua, te tamana o Tetuha, kae hai tautau atu kinai. Too iho e Tuhenua o hai ga'a hakahoki e ia te ma'ugi o tona hosa na huu e Tugiaba, ioo ma'ugi a Tetuha. Kua 'oti.

world] gave shouts of "heave ho" as they [shoved] the gateway of their dwel- ling place. Tugiaba came up in the guise of Tetuha, with hair tied with a piece of cord and smelling of the saffron that was used as ointment by Tonga'aitu, the son of Tehu'aigabenga, and [he] looked all about him and was just about—to return to the underworld. 5. The god [Tonga- 'aitu], who had been standing guard, flew and landed on his head and pulled up, and those beneath held on to his feet, and they pulled back towards the under- world, yanking him back and forth, and the gods finally broke Tugiaba's head in the center. 6. And [the children-of- members] threw [the head or life prin- ciple] to Tuhenua, the father of Tetuha, and spoke inelegantly to him. Tuhenua jumped down [to this earth], and he gave back the life principle of his son that had been hidden by Tugiaba, and Tetuha was cured. Just finished.

NOTES We had gone for at 2-night fishing expedition to Mata'aso on the north coast. (This was

the site of a temple to Tehainga'atua; see T4.) The second morning we had had two breakfasts and were waiting for the oven to bake a third fish breakfast, everyone lying about relaxed, often joking and laughing; only Tinopau was out with a spear on the reef. Tuhenua had been telling about the strict taboo on this place, and I asked for a story. "My stories are all gone," he said. Then he began a discussion with the others, which I could only partially follow. Then he came over to where I sat on my mat and dictated this tale, which I recopied the next day at Niupani and read aloud to a full house. Then the informants told me that Tetuha, the main character, was the taina of Aaron Taupongi; taina in this instance was a remote younger male cousin. Stephen, who had known Tetuha, decribed him as gaoi (handsome) of face, hair, and body.

1. Teaba: See N96:4. 2. 'Ubea: on the south shore of the easternmost extension of the lake. The long hair of males

was greatly admired. 3. SE: "Was Tetuha sick long?" Informants: "Yes, for many months." SE: "Was the father

still living?" Informants: "No, he was dead. It was just his spiritual self ('ata) in the under- world." (This knowledge was assumed on the part of hearers.)

4. Hinaiho: downward; here, meaning westward. The last few words in 4 were added by Stephen and others after a discussion on the third

reading. 5. i na ba'e: pronounced inamba'e. 6. Samuel Tuhenua: "Tautau atu is a good expression. I have used this expression because

this story is to be a part of your large collection. People would be embarrassed (pa'a) if we had said pissed in his mouth (mimi i te ngutu)." SE: "How did you know all this?" Tuhenua: "Told by the medium".

SE

246

Page 262: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 12. ANCESTORS OF KANABA

The texts in this chapter concern activities of ancestors in the Kanaba line in generations 6, 10, 11, 17, and 18; in addition an account is given of a last period of fighting in about 1936 (T123). Of special interest is the lake picture of Tau- pongimatu'a as too cowardly to get tattooed or to challenge a tyrant (T1l5) versus the Kanaba variant that glosses over any defects in its ancestor (T1l6, T1l7). Of interest, too, is the humiliation of Hu'aitebai by being served last in the kaba ki gangi ritual (T118). Lack of kindness and disinheritance are highlighted in T121.

114. Ngatonga Ngatonga [Generation 6]

Tetamogi of Tigoa, RE. January 5, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a kia Ngatonga,

na taa'ia i Tuhugago. Na taa e te tau'a a Lughu. Togohaki kinai o kite ia tona uguugu, manga hai atu ki te tau'a: "Koutou e matataku ki te 'uu a Ngatonga ma nono'a ki te ghapoli i poo'ugi." 2. Kae sosopo o taa ia Ngatonga. Hegeu aano te tau'a ki te hahine, tu'u mai te haka- hua o sabisabi na taginga i te ua, kae giu ki Lughu kae mate te ha- hine. Teenaa te tuginga o Kanaba.

1. The story of Ngatonga, who was killed at Tuhugago. Killed by a Lughu group of fighters. [They] crawled towards him and found his wife, who then said to the fighters: "You all are afraid of Nga- tonga's bundle of arrows tied to the gha- poli tree in the dark." 2. And [they] ap- peared and killed Ngatonga. The fighters spoke to the woman, and the chief came and slashed off her ears with the ua club, and went back to Lughu and the woman died. That is the origin of Kanaba.

NOTES 1. Ngatonga, fourth son of Taupongimatu'a, and founder of the Kanaba line (Plate 3).

Tuhugago: the anchorage for the trail to the lake. poo'ugi: in most contexts, the name of the underworld; here, the meaning is that Ngatonga

was hiding in the dark shade of the tree. This fight made the people of Kanaba form a separate kanomanaha (district).

SE

115. Taupongimatu'a Taupongimatu'a [Generation 10]

Samuel Tuhenua and Teu'a, both of Niupani, RE. February 15, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a kia Taupongi-

matu'a noko he'e tau tatau. Noko tahi ona tatau te tino 'aha. 2.

1. The story of Taupongimatu'a who had no tattooing. He had only one of the three rectangular tattooing pieces, the tino

247

Page 263: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 115, 116

Umauma ai a tona hosa a Teikagei (Moa), o taa ia te ia o 'oti; noko taano te tino, hakatetege te 'agego, ke taa haka'oti kapi atu i te au, ghotoi hakahoki i te mamae o noka. 3. Giu ma'u na tapungao ke taa, ma tohitohi kinai na au o noka ma'u. Konei gua kunga na toe ia Teikagei noko kanu, te 'agego ma gua tapungao, kae taa o 'oti te tino ma te 'ugu, si'ai he kunga toe; te hakaumauma 'anga ia te tamana noko he'e tau tatau.

4. Noko ina aano a Teikagei, noko kanu, hano i te aga tu'u o singa, o mumuni o hakatetege iho te gima i te pa'asi o hakatakoto sa'asa'a i te aga. 5. Kae boo atu gu 'ona hosa o mataku ai te 'ugu ma- tu'a o gege i te tegeu'a ake te ngata 'ugi. 6. Kae hinatu tona hosa hai taina, o ina kinai o manga 'oso ki- nai o hai ake: "Te gima o tamau teenei." 7. Hai ake a te tamana: " 'Ai teenei koe go takoto kinai au." I te me'a gaa noko he'e mataku i te gima o te tamana noko hakatakoto sa'asa'a i te aga, ma haka'igonga e ia. Kua 'oti.

'aha. 2. His son, Teikagei (Moa), felt disgraced by this and had himself com- pletely tattooed; having tattooed his body, he put out his tongue to be completely tattooed, but when the mallet tapped, [he] pulled [his tongue] back again because of the pain and [this tattooing] stopped. 3. [He] also turned up the soles of his feet, and the mallets broke and [this] was stopped too. These were the two places that Teikagei did not tattoo, the tongue and the two soles of the feet, and the entire body was finished, and the head, no place omitted; the feeling of disgrace be- cause of the father who had no tattooing. 4. Then after Teikagei was tattooed, [he] went to the main trail and went on and hid and stretched out his arm on one side and laid it down to block the trail. 5. Two of his sons came along, and the oldest was afraid and ran away, thinking [this] was a black snake. 6. The youngest son came along, looked at it and just grabbed it, and said: "This is father's arm." 7. The father said: "Ah, it is you whom I'm going to depend on." Because [he] wasn't afraid of the father's arm lying down blocking the trail, but he re- cognized [it]. Just finished.

NOTES Tuhenua told 1-3 after finishing T1l6, which follows. Teu'a was listening and told 4-7,

which Tuhenua dictated. Malachi Tegheta, lying on the floor, objected to certain passages in 4-7, but Tuhenua said judiciously it was just a slightly different version. There was laughter on the third reading after 3. Taupongi 1961 laughed at the end of 5.

1. A drawing showing the location of Taupongimatu'a's grave near Matangi is at the end of Section 3.1 in Chapter 1. Informants explained that because of his cowardice Taupongimatu'a was tattooed like a servant (guanf).

2. taano: taa ano. SE

116. Gabagu te Kai Pegea Gabagu, the Cannibal [Generation 10] Samuel Tuhenua of Niupani, RE. February 15, 1958.

1. Te tautupu'a kia Gabagu, te pegea noko kakai i Tagikitai noko hai tena hai 'anga te kai pegea.— 2. O mataku ai a Taupongimatu'a o sa'u ai tona aga sehu i te aga tu'u

1. The story of Gabagu, a person who lived in Tagikitai and who had the custom of eating men.— 2. Taupongimatu'a was afraid of him and changed the hiking trail from the main trail when he came east

248

Page 264: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 116

ki tena a'u ai matangi nei, ma tena hano ai gago. 3. Kae ma haangai tona hosa aano tauiku a Pugeba, boo ma te tamana i te aga, boo aano, maanatu a Pugeba ke hano hailobo e ia a Gabagu e kai pegea goa. 4. Boo aano hetae ki te kunga noko giu ai te aga tu'u, singa a te tamana, ke hano ai, kae ma tu'u a Pugeba i te aga kua goa. 5. Haiho a te tamana ke a'u, hai ake a tona hosa: "Hinatu, e hai kau hano i te aga nei." 6. Ma'ogi o hano a te ta- mana i tona aga noko sui, kae a'u a Pugeba i te aga tu'u mai gaa 'aso, a'u aano hetaiaki mai ki te manaha o Gabagu, kae sasau a'u i te aga. 7. Sopo mai o tu'u i te aga singa, kae hakagongo iho a Gabagu o hinaiho ma gu 'ana ga'akau taa pegea o kai, te potu ue ma te ua. 8. E'a iho ko Pugeba ma tu'u ma- gaohie, o kata, hinaiho a'u aano hetae mai kia Pugeba, tango mai e ia i tena potu ue; ghotoi e Pugeba o tupe kae poo atu ki te 'ugu o huhuti. 9. O too, huhuti ake i tee- gaa kainanga i tona manaha o hetae ki mugi, huhuti hakahoki iho i teegaa kainanga, o hetae iho ki mu'a, o huhuti gago i te aga tu'u. 10. Hano aano he'egahi mai ki tona manaha, huhuti hakahoki mai aano, tatae mai ki tona manaha, o huhuti matangi i te aga tu'u, aano he'egahi mai tona manaha. 11. Huhuti haka- hoki aano hetae hoki ki tona ma- naha, o tuku ai, kae hai kinai tena tiginga i ana kai pegea 'anga. 12. Gehu aano kinai ma te hakamata- kutaku ke noka tena hai 'anga te kai pegea. Ma'ogi o noka, kae manga hai ai te sa'ohia o Pugeba. Kua 'oti.

and went west. 3. He raised his son Pu- geba to maturity, and [he] and his father went on the trail, going on, and Pugeba thought he would challenge Gabagu who was eating so many people. 4. Going on and coming to the place [where the father] turned off the main trail, going on but Pugeba stopped on the former trail. 5. The father said to come, but his son said: "Go on, but I'm going on this trail." 6. So the father went on the changed trail, and Pugeba came on the traditional main trail, coming on he was near Gabagu's home, walking on the trail and clearing the way with a stick as he came. 7. [Pu- geba] came out and stood on the cross- trail, and Gabagu heard and came with his two clubs with which he killed people for eating, a wicker stick and an ua club. 8. When Pugeba came, [Gabagu] stood there content, laughing, and came down to Pugeba, and he put his wicker vine over [him]; Pugeba pulled and tossed [him] and grabbed his hair and yanked. 9. [Gabagu] fell, and [Pugeba] dragged [him] from one side of the settlement, and arriving in the rear, dragged [him] again on the other side, and when he got in the front, pulled [him] westward on the main trail. 10. Going on far from his settle- ment, then pulled him again, and getting to his settlement pulled [him] to the east on the main trail far from his settlement. 11. Then pulled him back, reaching his settlement again and then left him, but upbraided him for his cannibalism. 12. Scolded him and frightened [him] so he would stop his cannibalistic custom. So [he] stopped and then became Pugeba's servant. Just finished.

NOTES 1. Tuhenua, Luke, and Malachi Tegheta did not know the name of the cannibal; Luke ran

and asked his mother at the other side of the village; he soon came back and said it was Gabagu.

Tagikitai: between Bagjka'ago and Henuageba. 3. Pugeba: Moa, Teikagei. 7. ga'akau taa pegea o kai: an unusual construction.

SE 17*

249

Page 265: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 117, 118

117. Teguu Teguu Generations [10]

Timothy Sau'uhi of Baitupu, RE. At Labagu, March 31, 1961. 1. Boo ma'u a Taupongi ma tena

hosa, boo aano tatae Id Tagikitai, noko iai a Teguu noko kai pegea. Sasau hano a Moa, hakagongo ki- nai a Teguu o to'o tena kaha o tege iho kinai. 2. Ka noko he'e ina kinai a Moa, noko ma tangani gutiguti, i te me'a gaa noko tege i tu'a kai- nanga. 3. Tu'ia a Moa i te manga e'a ake a Teguu i ana taha. Tupe atu kinai e ia te kaha, o tango ia Moa. Ghali a Moa o poo ki te 'ugu o Teguu, o huhuti'aki. 4. Huhuti ki mugi, ma te huhuti ki mu'a, ma te gehu kinai, ma te hai atu: "Noka tau kai pegea." O matataku a gua pegea o 'oti kinai te kai pegea o Mugaba nei. Kua 'oti.

1. Taupongi and his son [Moa] came and reached Tagikitai, where Teguu the cannibal was. Moa was clearing brush as [he] came, and Teguu heard him and got his noose and ran down to him. 2. And Moa didn't see him; [he] was running noisily, foolishly behind the side of the village. 3. Moa was surprised when Teguu appeared beside him. He [Teguu] threw the noose and put [it] over Moa. Moa quickly grabbed Teguu's hair and pulled. 4. [He] pulled backwards and pulled for- wards and scolded, saying: "Don't you eat people." The two people were afraid, and thus was ended cannibalism here on Rennell. Just finished.

NOTES This was written in Labagu while waiting for the ship that was to take me back to Honiara.

Timothy called one evening and asked if I had the stories of the abandoned child (probably T206), Maku (T93), and a tangi by Gepusi. Then he gave this variant of T116, which he said took place at Maga'epua, between Matahenua and Matangi, not far from his village. Then he told this story, but he did not make Taupongimatu'a a coward. SE: "Any explanation of the difference in the stories by Tuhenua and Timothy about Taupongimatu'a? Tuhenua makes him a coward, whereas Timothy does not." Taupongi 1961: "It's just that some places remember certain portions of the story, and other places remember other portions." SE: "The people at the Lake and at Kanaba were not friendly. Would the Lake people be apt to belittle the Kanaba chief?" Taupongi 1961: "No. They just don't remember the same things." (Perhaps this in- formant did not wish to admit that a teller's attitude and clan affiliations might affect the tenor of his story. See N66.)

SE

118. Te Ngaguenga a Hu'aitebai Hu'aitebai's Temple [Generation n]

Headman Tegheta of Hutuna, RE. At Niupani, January 21, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o te ngaguenga

a Kaitu'u a Magama'ubea. Ko Te- gano ma Temagabai ma Bagika'ago ma Tepotuhage ma Tetu'aakoi ma Tetaungagoto ma Mugihenua, noko tahi agatou ngaguenga ko Maga- ma'ubea, o hesui ona tunihenua i ba'i ghapu. 2. Namaa te tahi ghapu tunihenua ai a Panio, o hai tena

1. The story of Kaitu'u's temple, Ma- gama'ubea. The Lake and Temagabai, and Bagika'ago and Tepotuhage and Tetu- 'aakoi and Tetaungagoto and Mugihenua, each had the same temple, Magama'ubea, and changed their priest-chiefs every year. 2. One year Panio was priest-chief and called a gathering and all the people gathered together. 3. When daylight came

250

Page 266: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 118

hakaputunga o hakaputu kinai a pegea kaatoa. 3. Namaa tatae te 'ao tuha o te kaba ki gangi, o tuha e Panic te kaba ki gangi, o haka'inati ai ba'i hakahua o tuku aano 'oti. 4. Toe te launatahi hakahua tona ingoa ko Hu'aitebai, o manga giu- 'aki kinai te putu sa'a maatu'a. O to'o e ia o haiteke to'ai a Hu'aite- bai. 5. O umauma ai o hano i Magama'ubea o noho i Pa'angate- gaki o maanatu ki te 'inati sa'a maatu'a na giu'aki kinai i Maga- ma'ubea. 6. Hai ake a Hu'aitebai ke abu tena tago, o boo te utunga o utu te tago hai te utunga. 7. O hai aano langalanga atu a Tau- pongimatu'a kia tona hosa a Hu'ai- tebai: "Po konei kua 'aonga e hai ke aa?" O hai atu a Hu'aitebai: "Hai atu mu'a ai na me'a heki hai te mata ngutu." 8. O hai ake ma'u a tona uguugu, hai ake: "Hai 'o ko ia ke hakalangalanga ai te me'a heki hai te mata ngutu." 'Oti kae gosigosi o toha te ngaguenga o ha- kaingoa ko Gotokanaba. Kua 'oti.

the kaba ki gangi food was distributed, and Panio gave a kaba ki gangi share to each chief, and everything was distributed. 4. One chief was left, his name Hu'aitebai [Moa], and he was given only the ancestors' share. Hu'aitebai took this but was very angry about it. 5. [He] felt humiliated and left Magama'ubea and stayed at Pa'anga- tegaki, thinking about the ancestors' share allotted to him at Magama'ubea. 6. Hu- 'aitebai told [the people] to dig his taro, and a food party went to get much taro and prepare food. 7. Taupongimatu'a was puzzled by his son Hu'aitebai: "What is all this going to be for?" Hu'aitebai said: "Must be finished first, not yet may mouths watch [greedily]." 8. His wife also spoke, saying: "Why this wondering, not yet may mouths watch [greedily]." Then [he] made preparations for constructing a temple that was named Gotokanaba (Heart-of-Kanaba). Just finished.

NOTES Headman Tegheta called on me with this story all written out, terming it a tagatupu'a haka-

kata (amusing story), presumably because it tells of the humiliation suffered by an ancestor of a rival line.

2. Panio: Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line, Gil. 4. to'ai: to'a ai.

Hu'aitebai: another name for Moa (Plate 3, Kanaba line, G1l). 5. Pa'angategaki: a settlement at the site of Taupongimatu'a's grave near Matangi. 7, 8. Hu'aitebai's humiliation at being served last suggests that of Hu'aitegaa (T128), of the

same generation, who was insulted by having to sit at the end position in the ritual line. 8. Tegheta dictated the following huaa mako after finishing the story. He laughed very hard

over the song, which he called a pogipogi (bantering song). Tegheta sang the song several times in a falsetto, beating time with a pencil on the table.

Te Huaa Mako a Teikanoa mai Hongamugaba

Tusi'ia kia Hu'aitebai te putu sa'a maatu'a kinai.

E tukua kua si'ai gaa giu he 'inati ke 'eha na babae i Magama'ubeo na hano i tona umaomo.

Te tagatupu'a ka he'e noka - tou hage ma tou anga 'eha

Kua poghi tatau i te koe, kua gaho tatau i te koe.

Huaa Mako Song by Teikanoa from Hongamugaba

Hu'aitebai, he was awarded the ancestor's share.

He was not given much booty, so left Magama'ubeo and went off in his humilation.

The story does not end—your color and your great chest

You are covered with tattooing, designed tattooing for you.

The composer, Teikanoa, was the brother of former Headman Tighesua (Plate 3, Kanaba line, G21). His song is making fun of Hu'aitebai (famous for his tattooing), who was humiliated.

251

Page 267: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 118, 119, 120

Some of Headman Tegheta's roars of laughter may have been pleasure in a Kanaba chiefs humiliation—nine generations before. (I was aware of the jealousy of the two lines; each wanted me to stay with it exclusively.)

SE

119. Ngangitapu Ngangitapu (Sacred-Heaven) [Generation II]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, July 10, 1961. 1. Ko Hu'aitebai, noko toha tana

nganguenga, o hakaingoa e Hu'aite- bai ko Ngangitapu. Ka te ingoa Ngangitapu, te ingoa o te ngangue- nga a Tu'utihenua, te pengea o sa'a Iho i Mungiki. 2. Ma te boo mai na pengea mai Mungaba o honga- honga te nganguenga a Hu'aitebai, e hakaingoa, ko Ngangitapu. Ma te ngongo ai a Tu'utihenua, o hai ake: "Ngongo ake a Hu'aitebai o ha- kaingoa tana nganguenga koNgoto- kanaba, na'e te ingoa o teenei ta- kunga ma'ungi ko Ngangitapu." 3. Ma te to'ongia o ngongo ai a Hu'aitebai i na ngea 'anga a Tu'uti- henua, ma te tata'o kinai a Hu'aite- bai, ke ingoa Ngotokanaba, tana nganguenga. Ma te pau o ingoa Ngotokanaba.

1. Hu'aitebai established his temple; Hu'aitebai gave the name Ngangitapu (Sacred Heaven). But the name Ngangita- pu was the name of Tu'utihenua's temple, a man of the Iho clan at Bellona. 2. The people from Rennell went there and told about Hu'aitebai's temple named Ngangi- tapu. Tu'utihenua heard and said: "Hu- 'aitebai should listen "and name his tem- ple Ngotokanaba (Heart-of-Kanaba), the name of this life sanctuary is Ngangita- pu." 3. And [the message] was taken, and Hu'aitebai heard what Tu'utihenua had said, and Hu'aitebai agreed with this, and named his temple Ngotokanaba. And it was permanently named Ngotokanaba.

NOTES This was given as a correction to T1l8: Hu'aitebai first named his temple Ngangitapu. It is

also of interest in showing the contemporaneity of Tu'utihenua of the Iho clan on Bellona and Hu'aitebai of Kanaba on Bellona, each in the llth generation. A new phrase was takunga ma'ungi (2); literally, prayer for life. After 3, Taupongi dictated a long and almost incom- prehensible sentence about the Te'atumatangi temple. This has not been included.

SE

120. Tekiou

Headman Togaka of Kaagua, Te tagatupu'a o Tekiou, te hai-

henua o Maga'e, noko hano i te aga o kite te tagie o noko noho o hoa na hua tagie, ma te hegegei mai gua gagango o kakata sigi i te 'ugu. Ma te tu'u a Tekiou, o hano, i te aga, ma te too te 'ua. Ma te tu'u ki gua baasi'a lagi ga'akau, o noko ma

Tekiou [Generation I7]

RE. At Hatagua, March 20, 1958. The story of Tekiou, the second priest-

chief of Maga'e, who went on the path and saw a tagie tree and sat down and cracked tagie nuts, and two thrushes laughed and passed by over the top [of the tree]. Tekiou got up and went on the trail, and rain fell. [He] stood between two tree buttresses and dozed and the two

252

Page 268: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 120, 121

tugemoe, ma te niti kinai gua lagi ga'akau, o mate ai. Teenei te 'oti 'anga.

tree buttresses knit together and [Tekiou] died. This is the ending.

NOTES Tekiou: Plate 3, Kanaba line, G17. Maga'e: west of Hatagua. This story evoked much laughter.

SE

121. Tuhenua Tuhenua [Generation 18]

Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 15, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a o Tuhenua, te

tangata nei, te tupuna omatou; na boo mai kinai te tau'a a Mugihenua, o sosopo kinai i Namalaga. 2. O 'agu e kigatou, o labu e te tangata, tena ingoa ko Manugei. Ka na ma- gepe ai na pegea, ma te puge tega- tou tau'a ke giu'aki tegatou 'atima- 'ogi. 3. Ka na a'u te 'atua a Mugi- henua, o puge 'aabaki ki te tau'a, o hai atu ke taa na kainanga o'ona ke giu'aki kinai a Tuhenua. 4. Na- maa hai te hakatahinga a Mugi- henua, o a'u te gongo, o boo kinai te tau'a noko puge o tatae ki te manaha, tona ingoa ko 'Ubea. Tee- nei te manaha noko hai ai te haka- tahinga. 5. Namaa ta'o te giunga o hai o 'oti, hinaiho te tangata, noko hai tena hakatahinga, o taa te papa, teegaa tona ingoa, ko Tagosia. 6. Ka na boo iho tena manaha, o eba ngatahi i te 'ugu. Namaa taa te huaa mako, sa'aki o mako; gae atu te tangata, tena ingoa ko Temaa- hana, o samu te ghoghaabalo o tege ki te uso o te papa, o baapisi kia Tagosia, ka he'agumi te papa. 7. Teegaa te ingoa o te 'atua, ko Tu- puimatangi, te 'atua o Tagosia e soi ia Tuhenua, noko eke ia Temaa- hana o taa ia Tagosia. 8. Kae eke ma'u teegaa 'atua kia Tetuha, tee- gaa te ingoa o te 'atua, Tu'ukiteika. Kae eke ma'u teegaa 'atua kia No- 'atago, teegaa te ingoa o te atua, ko Taki'agohanga. O taa e ia ia Tehaangota. 9. Kae taa ta'a Giu-

1. The story of Tuhenua, this person being our ancestor; the fighters of Mugi- henua came at him, came out at Nama- laga. 2. They followed [him] and a man grabbed [and killed him], his name being Manugei. The people mourned him, and planned an attack to avenge their relative. 3. The Mugihenua god came and helped plan an attack, saying they should attack his own worshippers as revenge for Tu- henua. 4. When the Mugihenua people were gathered in a celebration, word came, and the plotting fighters went there and reached the settlement, its name being 'Ubea. This was the settlement that was having the celebration. 5. After the food offerings had been baked and finished, the man who was conducting the celebration came down and beat the sounding board; his name was Tagosia. 6. The people of his settlement came, and all of them were gesturing and singing the opening chant ('ugu). When the huaa mako song and dance was beaten, every- body danced; a man stepped out, his name being Temaahana, and grabbed a gho- ghaabalo club and ran to the center of the dancers and hit Tagosia, and the dan- cers ran away. 7. The name of the god was Tupuimatangi, Tagosia's god who was taking the side of Tuhenua and had possessed Temaahana and struck Tago- sia. 8. And another god then possessed Tetuha, the name of the god being Tu- 'ukiteika. And another god possessed No'atago, the name of this god being Taki'agohanga. He struck Tehaangota. 9. And Giuhenua struck, not as a medium

253

Page 269: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 121, 122

hernia, noko he'e taauga, te pegea sao; teegaa tana ingoa, ko Nasiu. Konei na pegea noko taa'ia i pake a na 'atua. 'Oti.

[but] as a normal person; his [victim's] name was Nasiu. These are the people who were beaten by the treachery of the gods. Finished.

te

NOTES 1. Tuhenua: Plate 3, Kanaba line, G18. 8. Tu'ukiteika: Paul said he was a son of Tehu'aingabenga (Genealogy 13). Taupongi 1961

insisted he was a son of Baeika, who was the son of Ekeitehua, brother of Tehainga'atua (Genealogy 15). This is the tradition of the Iho clan, Bellona.

SE

122. Gesia Gesia [Generation 18]

Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 17, 1958. 1. E maanatu e au te mi'itautu-

pu'a kau hogahogaina. Ko Gesia ma te 'apitanga o pegea na momoe i te launatasi manaha, tena ingoa ko Tebaipuke. 2. Ka noko iai ma'u ona hosa ma'ogi. Ka te poo na mo- moe ai noko 'ua, ka ko Gesia te hai maatu'a, ka ko ia he'e tau baghu. Namaa too te 'ua, hakai'igo ki ona hosa ke hakamagu ia te ia, ka na he'emamaka. 3. Noko hano ki tee- gaa ona hosa o he'emaka. Namaa hano ma'u ki teegaa ona hosa o he'emaka. 4. Ka te launatahi ta- ngata, teegaa tona ingoa ko Tetuha, na hai atu: "Ko ai te hai kinai?" 5. Hai atu na pegea: "Koutou hai maatu'a a Gesia, he'e ghabulu." 6. O hai atu a Tetuha: "A'u! Konaa autou hakataaga'a kinai i na 'aso noko tamatama ai?" 7. Ka ko Gesia na hano kia Tetuha, o hakamagu e ia, ko kigaaua na momoe, namaa hoa maagama mai te 'ao, ko ki- gaaua na 'a'aga o hegeu, o hai atu a Gesia kia Tetuha: "Hai atu mo'ou toku manaha." 8. Hai atu a Tetuha: " 'Oo." I te me'a gaa, ko Gesia kua 'ika'ika ki ona hosa o tuku 'aatea te manaha ogatou ki te pegea 'aatea. 9. Ko ia e tagamagie kia Tetuha, kua baghabulu ia te ia. Teegaa te ingoa o te manaha noko hai ga'a e ia, ko Tenukumanongi. Kua 'oti.

1. I remember a little story that I'll tell. Gesia and most of the people slept in a settlement, Tebaipuke by name. 2. And [two] of his real sons were there too. And the night [they] were sleeping was rainy, and the old gentleman, Gesia, he had no mat. When rain fell, [he] signified to his sons to shield him, but [they] wouldn't consent. 3. [He] went to one of his sons, and [he] didn't consent. And [he] went to another of his sons also, and [he] didn't consent. 4. But one person, Tetuha by name [younger brother of Tu- henua, Plate 3, Kanaba line, G18], said: "Who speaks here?" 5. The people said: "Your old gentleman, Gesia, has no head cover." 6. Tetuha said: "Come! Did you speak that rudely to him when [you] were young?" 7. And Gesia went to Tetuha and he covered [him], and the two slept, and when daylight began to bring light, the two woke up and spoke, and Gesia said to Tetuha: "You are going to have my land." 8. Tetuha said: "All right." Because Gesia was angry at his sons and put aside their land for an unrelated person. 9. He was grateful to Tetuha for protecting him. The name of the land that he gave away was Tenukumanongi. Just finished.

SE

254

Page 270: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 123

123. Te Taa'ia 'anga a Sa'obaa The Killing of Sa'obaa [One generation ago?]

Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Hatagua, March 20, 1958.

1. Te tagatupu'a o te sanga tau'a ia Tagabai na taa e Sa'obaa. O sui a Tagei ma tena tau'a, o taa ia Sa'obaa.— 2. Noko boo o hepu'i kinai i Panibala, a tege atu a Tagei ma te 'uu tao, ki te kunga noko ma iai a Sa'obaa, o ina'atu kinai, o baaligo atu kinai. Ko Sa'obaa ma- nga noho o kopi tena ghoghaabalo. 3. Ma te siko kinai e ia te tao ha- kasee ibi, ma te ina mai o mataku, o tu'u, o tege. 'Agu atu ai a Tegei ma te tao, aano taunga gogoa, kae bego e ia i te tao, o tu'u i te tu'a o Sa- 'obaa, o tege ma'u soosoo atu, bego ma'u e ia. O teegaa te gua tao kua tu'u ai.

4. E'a mai ma'u te pegea o te tau'a a Tagei, tena ingoa ko Tekiou, o bego ma'u e Tekiou ia Sa'obaa. Teegaa te togu o na tao. 5. Sui a Tagei o bego ma'u e ia, kae 'oso kinai o logi. Ma te samu a Sa'obaa o tege. 6. Sesege ake a Tekiou, bego ake ia te tao o tu'u i te ago u'a o Sa'obaa, kae logi e Tagei. 7. Hetae atu a Tekiou o upi e ia te 'ugu o Sa'obaa i te ghoghaabalo, o haka- gua kinai, kae unu ake te tamihoki a Tagei, o sugi e ia te tu'a, o matohi gua, o maino hakahaao'o o noko mateka. 8. Ka ma tutu'u a Tagei ma Tekiou, o noko ma hiina'i kinai, kae hepu'i mai te ta'u pegea o te tau'a, o manga tobago e kigatou ia Sa'obaa kua mate. 9. O sisi na ba'e ma na gima, o to'o na ibi o giu o hetae ki te manaha o neepugu ai, ma te hai te papa, o hai tena ingoa te mugi tau'a. Teenei te 'oti 'anga o te taa'ia 'anga a Sa'obaa.

10. Sui mai a Tagosia ma ta'ana tau'a, o taa te tinoangahugu tuma'a 'e gua pegea (na taangata). Na pegea nei noko taa i te poo. Noko

1. The story of the fighting caused by Tagabai who was killed by Sa'obaa. Tagei then with his fighters killed Sa- 'obaa.— 2. [They] went and jumped on him at Panibala, and Tagei ran with the spear bundle to the place where Sa'obaa was, and looked at him, and peered at him. Sa'obaa was just sitting and holding his ghoghaabalo club. 3. He [Tagei] brandished his spear with bone point, and [Sa'obaa] looked and was frightened and got up and ran. Tagei chased with his spear, and shortly he hurled the spear, which hit Sa'obaa in the back, who ran again, and he [Tagei] moved up and threw the spear again. That was the second spear that hit him [Sa'obaa].

4. One of Tagei's fighters came, his name being Tekiou, and Tekiou also threw a spear at Sa'obaa. That was the third spear. 5. Then Tagei had a turn and he threw the spear again, and grabbed him [Sa'obaa] and threw his arms [about him]. And Sa'obaa wrested free and ran away. 6. Tekiou took a short cut and he threw a spear which hit the front of Sa'obaa's neck, and Tagei grabbed [him]. 7. Tekiou came up and he hit Sa'obaa's head with the ghoghaabalo club, [and hit] him a second time, and Tagei raised up a tomahawk and chopped his back, and broke [it] in two, and [he] fell over, and just lay [there]. 8. And Tagei and Tekiou stood and looked at him, and people of the raiders jumped out, and they cut up Sa'obaa who had died. 9. [They] flayed the legs and arms and took the bones and went back and came to the settlement and made the dance of victory, and beat the sounding board, and had what is called the victory celebration. This is the ending of the killing of Sa- 'obaa.

10. Then Tagosia and his fighters took a turn, and killed twelve people [men]. The people were killed at night. The Ka- naba people came and made torches of

255

Page 271: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 123

boo mai a Kanaba o hai pugu o peba ai te manaha noko momoe ai, taa e kigatou, na taangata o 'oti.

11. Hiina'i aano, hehakaiho'aki, boo mai te tanu a Tagosia ma tena tau'a, kia Noah Nasiu ma Tagei, o tanu kinai. Aano giu kae sui a Nasiu ma Tagei o boo tanu giu'aki ia Tagosia ma ta'ana tau'a. Noko to'o te tu'u ma te kogoa ma te mali- kope ma te sua.

gemugi sap and illuminated the settlement that was asleep, and they killed all the men.

11. Then peace was to be made, and Tagosia and his fighters came with a peace offering for Noah Nasiu and Tagei, and presented it. Then [they] went back and Nasiu and Tagei went with the of- fering and went back to Tagosia and his fighters. [They] took a necklace and tapa and mats and ceremonial paddles.

NOTES After dictating this savage account, Togaka pointed out an old man sitting on the floor a

short distance away quietly practicing a tangi. "That's Tagei," he said. "He killed Sa'pbaa." Togaka thought the fight was just before the adoption of Christianity, which occurred in late 1938. He remembers the fight and thinks he was about 18 at that time; Togaka was tattooed and looked about 40.

Taupongi 1961 dictated a story of how Sa'obaa killed Tagabai (Bellonese, Tangabai) and was wounded so severely that he was near death when Tagei found him (2). (Taupongi's memory of details of a Rennellese fight was impressive. Ngughaabalo is Bellonese for ghoghaa- balo.)

Ko Tangabai noko eke kinai te 'atua. Ma te paa e Sa'obaa te 'ungu o Tanga- bai i te ngughaabalo, o ngenge te 'ungu o Tangabai, kae too a Tangabai o manga teka. Ma te tenge mai a Temoa, te hosa 0 Tangabai, o tokagua pengea e bengo e ia, i te lango 'anga a Sa'obaa. Ma te 'angu e Sa'obaa. Ma te bengo ma'u e Temoa ia Sa'obaa, kae tenge, ma te boo a Sa'obaa ma tena lango 'anga. Nimaa taunga ngongoa, ma te kai te hangoo a Temoa noko ia Sa'obaa. Ma te a'u a Sa'obaa o kakai i Tetaungangoto, ke taa he pengea i te ia. Na'e ko ia kaa mate 1 te hangoo a Temoa. Ma te ma'ongi, o boo te tau'a a Tangei o taa e kingatou.

Tangabai was possessed by a god. Sa'obaa struck Tangabai's head with the ngughaabalo club, and Tangabai's head flew off, and Tanga- bai fell and just lay prone. Temoa, the son of Tangabai, ran in, and he speared two persons in Sa'obaa's crowd. Sa'obaa gave chase. And Temoa also speared Sa'obaa, and ran, and Sa'pbaa went away with his crowd. After a while Temoa's splinter that was in Sa'obaa eroded. Sa'obaa came and stayed at Tetau- ngangoto, as people might kill him. But he was about to die from Temoa's splinter. And, in- deed, Tangei's fighters came and they killed [him].

SE

256

Page 272: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 13. ANCESTORS OF THE KAITU'U CLAN, BELLONA

In this chapter, Bellonese tellers relate events from the traditional history of the Kaitu'u clan of their island. The vast majority of the people belong to this clan, and they live in Matangi and Ghongau districts. What is told here cannot be claimed to be an exhaustive account of the traditional history of the clan. The collectors may not have been able to collect all that the informants knew about their traditional history.

Much of the information about the Kaitu'u clan presented here has been obtained from a member of the Iho clan. There are several reasons for this. One is that Taupongi, of that clan, was our most assiduous informant and came to Honolulu in 1961 in order to check and supplement our material. Another reason is that Tau- pongi was steeped in the lore of his people, and was often more capable of telling about the events of the rival Kaitu'u clan than were members of that clan them- selves. Examples of this will be found in N66 and N126, the latter story having been evoked by Taupongi's account. Some of the stories told by the Taupongi (Iho) clan about Kaitu'u are not very flattering to the people of the Kaitu'u clan (T127), and this may have made this chapter somewhat one-sided.

The traditional history of Bellona island in this volume has been divided into three chapters: the Kaitu'u clan, the Iho (Taupongi) clan, and the six extinct clans. This is our invention. The history of the island should be considered as a whole.

124. Te Lango 'anga Maatu'a The Voyage of the Ancients [Generation 3,4]

Basiana of BE. April 13, 1958. 1. Te boo mai 'anga a te lango

'anga maatu'a, o tatae mai ki Mu- ngaba ma Mungiki nei. Ko kingatou noko he'e hai ma'angatou ni mana- ha, noko manga mataa lango i Mungiki nei ma Mungaba o hiina'i kinai. 2. loo mungi kingatou o hai ongatou manaha, hai tengatou to- kangua nganguenga noko to'o mai 'Ubea. Te ingoa o te hu'ainga- nguenga noko to'o mai e Tongo, ko Teuse ma Mangama'ubea. 3. O kengi e kingatou te kenge o hai ai te manaha o na 'atua, o hakatu'u ai te hange. Te hange noko tapu to'a.—

4. Te hekau a na tokatongu Nga- tonga te boo ki 'Ubea, ma te ngiu

1. The coming of the voyage of the ancients, that reached Rennell and Bellona here. They made no settlement, but first just traveled about on Bellona here and on Rennell and looked about. 2. After- wards they made their settlements, and made their two temples brought from 'Ubea. The name of the great temple that Tongo brought was Teuse and Manga- ma'ubea. 3. They dug up the earth and made the settlement of the gods there, and erected the house there. The house was very sacred.—

4. The activity of the three Ngatonga was to go to 'Ubea, and to return to Bel-

257

Page 273: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 124

mai ki Mungiki nei ma Mungaba. Nimaa sia hai ke songi kia Semoana ma Tehu'aingabenga, boo na pe- ngea i na baka ki Ubea ke to'o mai ai ni ngenga, ke ama ai na pengea e hai e kingatou ia Tehu'ainga- benga, ke songi kinai. 5. Tengatou hekau noko manga hai te ngiu ki 'Ubea, o to'o mai na ngenga, ka na hihiu e kingatou i te boo ki 'Ubea. Namaa sia hai a Ngatonga- boibangu, ke songi, ka na si'ai he ngenga, hano a tona hosa, a Nga- tongamatu'a ki 'Ubea ke to'o mai he ngenga ke songi ai a te tamana kia Semoana ma Tehu'aingabenga. 6. Ka na he'e ghali mai a Ngatonga- matu'a, koi taka i 'Ubea. Hitangi aano te tamana, Ngatongaboibangu. Hai tena songinga kia Semoana ma Tehu'aingabenga i tangatou nga- nguenga i Teuse. Honga e ia te takapau, hakasahe e ia o hohonga poopoo e ia kae songi kia Semoana ma Tehu'aingabenga. 7. Taungia 'angohi ngima i te su'aa niu o hu- hunga te ngima, o mate a Ngatonga- boibangu taka ngoa, kua mate.

8. Nimaa mungi o a'u a Nga- tongamatu'a noko i 'Ubea, ko te tamana kua mate. Kae to'o mai e ia te hu'aingenga ke songi ai a te ta- mana ku mate. Mangepe ai a Nga- tongamatu'a, to'o e ia te hu'ainge- nga o hano ki te manaha, ku tanu ai e te ta'u pengea, noko ma i Mu- ngiki nei ia te tamana. 9. Tuki e ia te hu'aingenga noko to'o mai 'Ubea, o ngingingi ki te takotonga o te tamana, kae to'o mai e ia na ango, ke tanu, ke ngo hai ai ni ngenga i Mungiki nei ma Mungaba, ke songi ai kia Semoana ma Tehu- 'aingabenga. 10. Tokangua ango noko to'o mai e ia; te angonikiua, ma te angotehenua, noko to'o mai ke hai ai ni ngenga. Ka te angote- henua noko to'o mai ke ngo tahi ai ni kongoa, ke ngo huhuna ai. Ma te haha'u ai Mungiki nei ma Mu- ngaba. Kae pau o 'oti te boo ki 'Ubea. Kua 'oti.

lona here and to Rennell. When people wanted to worship Semoana and Tehu'ai- ngabenga, they went in canoes to 'Ubea and brought back turmeric in them, so that people might use it for anointing as they worshipped Tehu'aingabenga. 5. Their activity was to go back to 'Ubea and bring turmeric, and they got tired of going to 'Ubea. When Ngatongaboibangu wanted to worship, and there was no turmeric, his son Ngatongamatu'a went to 'Ubea to bring back turmeric so that the father might worship Semoana and Tehu- 'aingabenga. 6. But Ngatongamatu'a did not come back quickly, and stayed long at 'Ubea. The father, Ngatongaboibangu, waited on. [He] conducted his worship of Semoana and Tehu'aingabenga in their temple at Teuse. He spread out a coconut- leaf mat, and he recited and he spread out and flattened [the mat] and prayed to Semoana and Tehu'aingabenga. 7. The palm of his hand was pierced by a coco- nut-leaf midrib, and the hand swelled up, and after a while Ngatongaboibangu was sick and died.

8. Later Ngatongamatu'a who had been at 'Ubea arrived, and the father had died. He had brought back a large turmeric [container] so that the father who had died might worship. Ngatongamatu'a mourned him, and he took the large turmeric [con- tainer] and went to the settlement [where] the people of Bellona had buried the father. 9. He pounded the large turmeric [container] brought from 'Ubea, and poured on the father's grave, and he took the plant and planted [it], so as to make turmeric for Bellona here and Rennell for the worship of Semoana and Tehu'ainga- benga. 10. He brought back two turmeric plants, the angonikiua and the angote- henua, brought back to make turmeric with. The angotehenua was brought back to dye loincloths that were to be worn. And the people of Bellona here and of Rennell just stayed at home. And no longer were there trips to 'Ubea. Just finished.

258

Page 274: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

11. Noho aano te ngenga na ngi- ngingi a Ngatongamatu'a ki te tako- tonga o te tamana. Pongoaki na pengea o Mungiki nei ke boo mai, ke tata te ngenga, ke ngosingosi ni mi'ingenga i Mungiki nei. Nimaa tanu na ango o noho, aano matu'a, kengi o hai ai na ngenga o ngiki- ngiki. Ti'aki na hu'aingenga, noko ta'anga to'o mai 'Ubea. Kae pau o hai angatou o ngingiki. Ma te 'oti.

TEXTS 124, 125(A)

11. So the turmeric that Ngatonga- matu'a poured upon his father's grave re- mained. The people of Bellona here told [others] to come and fill [containers] with turmeric, and to prepare the small tur- meric [containers] at Bellona here. So tur- meric plants were planted, and when mature, the [plants] were dug and small turmeric [containers] were made. Large turmeric [containers] were abandoned, such as had been brought from 'Ubea. And always theirs were small. The ending.

NOTES Basiana's full, repetitious style contrasts with the more common elliptic style in which sub-

jects of verbs are omitted. About seven repetitious lines of the original were omitted above; they followed 3 and 4. This was the only time that either collector heard of trips back to 'Ubea. For the three Ngatonga, see Plate 3, G2, 3, 4. Teuse is on Bellona, Mangama'ubea on Rennell. SE

125. Tehoakimatu'a Tehoakimatu'a [Generation 9]

(A) Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 17, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a o te tokagua hai

hanau, ko Taamogi ma te taina ko Kokoge, ma Tehoakimatu'a, ma te taina a Taugabea. Ko kigatou noko gue te hogau. Ko kigatou boo ki Mugiki, ka na boo i na baka, o tau ki Gagoiaba. 2. Ko Taamogi ma Tehoakimatu'a na sosopo ki 'agunga, kigaa bibinu. Ka ko Ko- koge ma Taugabea, e toe i te baka. Ko Taugabea, e taa e ia a Kokoge, ka gua pegea na boo ki 'agunga. Ka Taamogi mataa binu i te bai. Namaa hetae gua gaa i te baka, tu'ia Tehoakimatu'a, o toghi e ia te u'a o Taamogi. Gua pegea nei na niamate, a Taamogi ma te taina. 3. Ka ko Tehoakimatu'a, ma te taina, ma ogaa pegea, ko kigatou e boo ki moana, ke boo ki Mugiki, ka ko Taamogi na mate, o hano te 'ata o'ona, o sogi ki te 'atua, tena ingoa ko Tehainga'atua. Ka te baka o Tehoakimatu'a koi boo i moana, te baka nei kua ma poghipoghi tona 'atu hakatu'u. 4. Ko Teho- akimatu'a ka too kinai, o hano, o gosigosi, namaa 'oti te gosigosi,

1. The story of two sets of brothers, Taamogi and his younger brother Kokoge, and Tehoakimatu'a and his younger brother Taugabea. They prepared a canoe for a trip. They went to Bellona, going by canoe and landing at Gagoiaba [northwest Rennell]. 2. And Taamogi and Tehoakimatu'a went ashore and drank. Kokoge and Taugabea remained in the canoe. As for Taugabea, he killed Kokoge while the other two were ashore. Taamogi drank water first. When the two returned to the canoe Tehoakimatu'a was surprised and he cut off Taamogi's neck. These two people had died, Taamogi and his younger brother. 3. Tehoakimatu'a and his young- er brother and their people went out to sea to go to Bellona, but the spiritual self of the dead Taamogi then prayed to its god, his name Tehainga'atua. When Te- hoakimatu'a's canoe went to sea, the con- nectives fell apart. 4. Tehoakimatu'a jumped overboard and went to fix [the connectives] and after fixing [then] came back to the hull of the canoe to come aboard, but a shark came and cut off Tehoakimatu'a's leg. His people stood up and pulled [him] aboard, but he was dead.

259

Page 275: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 125(A), 125(B)

hoki mai ki te tino o te baka, ke sopo, namaa e'a mai te mangoo, o toghi te ba'e o Tehoakimatu'a. Tutu'atu ona pegea, o huhuti ake, o uta, ko ia kua mate. Te mangoo nei e tino kinai a Taamogi, o giu'aki ia te ia. Ko Tehoakimatu'a na uta ki Mugiki, o tanu ai. Taku tegeu'a mano teenei tena 'otinga.

Taamogi had taken the form of this shark and was taking revenge on him. Tehoaki- matu'a was taken to Bellona and buried there. I think this is probably the ending.

NOTES 3. 'atu hakatu'u: connectives (Haddon, 1937: 61). SE

(B) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, June 29, 1961. 1. Sosopo a Tehoakimatu'a ma

Taamongi, mu'a Tehoakimatu'a o mataa binu, kae mungi ake a Taa- mongi. Nimaa, 'oti te binu a Teho- akimatu'a, hoki iho ki te baka, ko Kokonge ma Taungabea, e hetata'i, o manga belunu, ma te to'o te hatu a Tehoakimatu'a o tenge hoki ake kia Taamongi. 2. Kae tu'ungu a Tehoakimatu'a, o kongaa na to'o: "Hai atu e koe, Sikingimoemoe, te sia binu o Taamongi ke noko1 binu ngoa." 3. Ma te tatae ake a Tehoa- kimatu'a koi binu. Ma te hohoa ai te 'ungu i te hatu o mate. Ma te tenge hoki iho ki te baka o taa ma'u e ia Kokonge. Kae hai atu kia te taina: "Ei tau unge! E sao ai au ia Taamongi."

4. O toghi te ba'e, ma te ngenge ake a Tehoakimatu'a ki te baka o 'ui mai tena hatuu, noko i te hataa o te bakaa, o logha, ki te kauhata tasi, o te bakaa, o tuku ki te tai, ke hano sahe i Mungiki tana hatuu. 5. Kae sa'u mai e Tehoakimatu'a te kongoa tahi o huna ai, 'oti kae songongi a Tehoakimatu'a ki te tai, kae ma mate te bakaa ma Tehoaki- matu'a. 6. Hano te hatuu noko logha ki te nga'akau, o sahe i Na- mungaba. Boo iho a Mungiki, o hiina'i ki te hatu o Tehoakimatu'a e sahe ake. Na'a e kingatou, ko Tehoakimaiu'a kua mate ki moana.

1. Tehoakimatua and Taamongi jumped out, and Tehoakimatu'a was first and drank first, and Taamongi followed. Then after Tehoakimatu'a had finished drink- ing, [and] returned down to the canoe, Kokonge and Taungabea were fighting, and pulling hair, and Tehoakimatu'a took a stone and ran back to Taamongi. 2. And Tehoakimatu'a prayed, saying: "May you bring thirst, O Sikingimoemoe, that Taa- mongi will drink long." 3. And Tehoaki- matu'a came and [Taamongi] was still drinking. [Tehoakimatu'a] cracked the head [of Taamongi] with a rock, and [he] died. And [Tehoakimatu'a] ran back down to the canoe and he also struck Kokonge. And [he] said to his younger brother: "There's the penis for you to have inter- course with! I'm free now of Taamongi."

4. [The shark] cut off his leg, and Te- hoakimatu'a called to the people in the canoe to untie his stone that was on the canoe platform and tie [it] to the weather platform of the canoe, and put [it] into the sea, so that [it] might take his stone to Bellona. 5. Tehoakimatu'a took a tapa dyed with turmeric and put it on, and then Tehoakimatu'a sat softly on the sea, and the canoe people and Tehoakimatu'a died. 6. The stone tied to the stick went on and reached Namungaba [southwest Bellona]. The Bellona people came and looked at Tehoakimatu'a's stone that had come in. They knew that Tehoakimatu'a had died at sea. The Bellona people took

260

Page 276: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

Ma te to'o e Mungiki te hatuu, o hakaingoa te tino o Tehoakimatu'a o tanu i Ghongau.

TEXTS 125(B), 126

the stone and called it Tehoakimatu'a's body and buried [it] at Ghongau.

NOTES I

Taupongi 1961, when hearing variant A, casually mentioned that Tehoakimatu'a was in the Manu line, which proved to be the ninth generation beginning with Kaitu'u. (Informants rarely told the generation unless requested.) Taupongi added 1-3 in further explanation of the killing of Taamongi, and 4 of Tehoakimatu'a's death.

3. Tehoakimatu'a curses his younger brother. Taupongi 1961 explains his anger thus: Ko Tehoakimatu'a noko 'ika'ika kia te taina, i te noko hetata'i ma te taina o Taamongi. Poi mataa ina a Taamonge ki tona taina hetata'i ma te taina o Tehoakimatu'a kua mataa taa e Taamongi ia Tehoakimatu'a ma te taina. (Tehoakimatu'a was angry at his younger brother because [he] was fighting with Taamongi's younger brother. If Taamongi had first seen his younger brother fighting with Tehoakimatu'a's younger brother, Taamongi would have first killed Tehoakima- tu'a and the younger brother.)

SE II

4. When Paul Sa'engeika dictated the genealogies of the Kaitu'u clan, he added the following about Tehoakimatu'a, beginning with the latter's statement to his crew before dying:

"Take my son back to Rennell." And the father [Tehoakimatu'a] said to his son: "When you are grown up, gather many girls to your settlement, and I will go and come to Tehu'ai- ngabenga [and ask him to enlarge] this, our single strip." And he broke a stick [to make] a small weather platform in the canoe, and tied his baukianga club to it and put it into the sea and said: "Go, my reputation [the club] and reach Bellona." And [he] sank into the sea and died. And the canoe went to Rennell and reached shore there, and the stone [club] came and reached shore at Namungaba [Bellona].

"Kakabe hakahoki atu toku hosa kiMungaba." Kae hai atu a te tamana kia tona hosa: "Ko koe nimaa matu'a, ngo hakaputu atu ni haahine ki tou manaha, ka kau hano o oko ki Tehu'aingabenga i to'otatou tenge huka tasi." Kae toghi e ia te potu i te kauhata tasi i te baka o ngii kinai tena baukianga o tuku ki te tai o hai atu: "Hinatu toku ngongo o sahe i Mungiki." Kae songpngi ki te tai o mate. Kae hano te baka ki Mungaba o sahe ai, kae a'u te hatu o sahe i Namungaba.

tenge huka tasi: a very small settlement, or a man having only one son; literally, extension single plaiting strip.

baukianga: a war club usually with a star-shaped stone head (Birket-Smith, 1956: 125). Tehoakimatu'a makes a float for it so that it will not sink.

Sa'engeika added that Tehoakimatu'a's only son, Teika'ungua, was said to have had 20 wives and 50 children (20 boys and 30 girls). He was the founder of Kaangua settlement in Ghongau district.

TM

126. Tau'a Naha Ngima Raid with Five Victims [Generations II, I2]

Daniel Tuhanuku of Ghongau, BE. January 10, 1959. 1. Te hu'aitau'a. Noko tengeu'a

e sa'a Tanga ke punge ma'angatou he tau'a ke naha ngima. Ka na bilaabei ba'i sa'a o punge tangatou tau'a o hakanaha.

2. Kongaa ona naha: ko Tenga- ngi ki Tengokika, te potu hange ki Ghongau: kae hakanaha ia Tangata

1. The big raid. The Tanga clan planned a raid by themselves to get five victims. And all the clans met and they planned the raid and appointed victims.

2. These were their victims: Tengangi for Tengokika, the settlement independent of Ghongau; and [they] appointed Tanga-

261

Page 277: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 126

ki Nukuitu'a; kae hakanaha ia Ngongotaka ki 'Angohi. 3. Kae hakanaha ia Teikangongo ki Ma- tangi, kae hakanaha ia Temangu- 'aamonga ki sa'a Tongo. 4. 'Oti te punge te tau'a o mata. Nimaa pau e kingatou te 'aso o tutu'u ai o boo ke taa na pengea nei, o tuha o boo teengaa naha ki 'Angohi o hakapata kia Temangu'aamonga i Tabeibango. 5. Kae boo teengaa naha ki 'Angohi ia Ngongotaka. Kae boo teengaa naha ki Tengokika ia Tengangi. Kae boo teengaa naha ki Hakatiu ia Tangata. Kae boo teengaa naha ki Taumako ia Teika- ngongo. 6. Nimaa hohonga kinai o 'oti i te ahiahi, nimaa tu'u ngua poo, he'osohi kingatou o taa te tokangima hakahua nei. Ka na taa'ia Temangu'aamonga i Tabei- bango, kae taa'ia Tengangi i Tengo- kika. Kae taa'ia Tangata i Haka- tiu. 7. Kae hakasuihaki ia Ngongo- taka ia tona hosa, a Teika'ungua, kae hakasuihaki ia Teikangongo ia tona ta'okete, a Makiu. 8. Nimaa 'oti te taa e kingatou, kae 'aoina; te hakatu'u hitu o hakahua e kingatou te anga tu'u, o he'e lango ai te toe o sa'a Kaitu'u i te mata- taku. 9. O hakaputu kingatou ki te launatasi kunga i mouku, tona ingoa ko Tema'ungaohiti o kakai ai kingatou. 10. Kongaa na hakahua noko iai: ko Tuiakihenua ma Ngongotaka ma Teikangongo ma ba'i pengea noko iai. Nimaa hiina'i ai kingatou o 'eha ongatou ghapu. 11. Aano ngangama tongatou baka i Tabangabe; kae kite ma'u e kingatou, ko kingatou kua tenge huka tasi, ko kingatou kitai hiti, ma hai tangatou hengeunga. 12. Aano hai atu a Teikangongo te hakahua o Matangi: "Ke tuku te taunga hakahua ke tapu ki Tehu- 'aingabenga, ka kitatou taka na'e ko kitatou kitai hiti." 13. Ma te ma'ongi o hai te hai 'anga nei o taka te sa'a Kaitu'u o matingi o 'api to'a.

ta as the Nukuitu'a victim, and appointed Ngongotaka as the 'Angohi victim. 3. And [they] appointed Teikangongo as the Matangi victim, and appointed Temangu- 'aamonga as the Tongo clan victim. 4. After planning the raid [they] waited. Then they decided the day to start and went to kill these people, and made a ceremonial distribution (tuha), and went for a victim in 'Angohi and stayed with Temangu'aamonga in Tabeibango. 5. And went for another victim in 'Angohi, name- ly Ngongotaka. And went for another victim in Tengokika, namely Tengangi. And went for another victim in Hakatiu, namely Tangata. And went for another victim in Taumako, namely Teikangongo. 6. Then [they] all lay down in the late afternoon, and when midnight came they grabbed [the victims] and killed these five chiefs, Temangu'aamonga was killed in Tabeibango, and Tengangi was killed in Tengokika. And Tangata was killed in Hakatiu. 7. And for Ngongotaka [they] substituted his son Teika'ungua, and for Teikangongo [they] substituted his older brother Makiu. 8. When they had finished killing, daylight came; the seven original [clans] dominated (hakahua) the main trail, and the remainder of the Kaitu'u clan did not walk on it, being afraid. 9. And they [the Kaitu'u clan] gathered in one place in the bush, its name Tema- 'ungaohiti, and there they lived. 10. These are the chiefs there: Tuiakihenua and Ngongotaka and Teikangongo; and all the people were there. Then they lived there, and their years were many.

11. [In] their canoes they fished [flying fish] with torches in Tabangabe; and again they found that they had become a single strip, that they might die out, and they talked [about it]. 12. Then Teika- ngongo, the chief of Matangi, said: "Let's keep the marriage ban between the re- latives of the immediate family (taunga hakahua) as a sacred [law] of Tehu'ainga- benga, but we marry our cross cousins because we are about to die out." 13. And so this thing was done, and the Kaitu'u clan married and became many.

262

Page 278: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 126, 127

14. Ma te sui kingatou o hai ake: "Kitatou hai tau'a ki na sa'a!" Ma te ma'oQgi kingatou ki te haka- tu'u hitu i ba'i 'atu tangata. 15. Aano 'oti te tokaono sa'a, kae tu'u- taki te sa'a Kaitu'u ki sa'a Iho o hakamasi'i kinai, o kakabe e kinga- tou na haahine i sa'a Iho o hai unguungu ai, o hebaabaa'aki o he'e taa iai a sa'a Iho, o manga hano- hano o tatae mai ki na 'aso nei. 16. Kae 'oti te tokaono sa'a.

14. And then they said: "Let's make a raid against the clans!" And so they did [fight] against the seven original [clans] in every generation. 15. Then the six clans were finished, and the Kaitu'u clan cooper- ated with the Iho clan and made friends with it, and they took their women from the Iho clan and got wives there, and lived in peace [because of the intermarriages], and did not kill people of the Iho clan and had successions, and this goes on until these days. 16. But the [other] six clans were finished.

NOTES When Taupongi told the Taupongi (Iho) clan version of the immigration story he also in-

cluded the story about the five victims (T66:66-71) and the Kaitu'u clan's escape to Tema- 'ungaohiti. Tapuika, who was in the house when Taupongi told the story, told some people of the Kaitu'u clan about Taupongi's version, which was not too flattering. They became angry with Taupongi, but politely tried to conceal their anger from me. On January 10, Daniel Tuhanuku (see Chapter 2) from Tepoongima settlement came to my house and said that he wanted to tell the story about the five victims which I had asked the Ghongau people for some days before. There were many people present in my house in Ngotokanaba when Daniel dictated his story. It was meant to be an answer to Taupongi's version of the incident, and is certainly in a less offensive tone than Taupongi's account and seems to be almost conciliatory. There are two possible reasons for this. One is that the Kaitu'u clan is by far the largest on the island and its members seem to have less reason for being on the defensive than the small Taupongi clan. The other reason is that Daniel Tuhanuku is the brother-in-law of Taupongi, Taupongi being married to his sister. This ma'aa (brother-in-law) relationship between the two informants may have made it impossible for Daniel to make statements directly contradicting those by Taupongi. Apparently he wanted to stress the good relationships between the mem- bers of the two clans.

2. Each of the settlements was to have a victim. Tengangi: genealogy not known. Tangata: genealogy not known. Ngongotaka: Plate 3, Tehatumanga line, Gil. 'Angohi settlement was started by Ngango-

taka's father, Tauasi. 3. Teikangongo: Plate 3, Mataki'ubea line, G12.

Temangu'aamonga: of the Tongo clan. 5. Tengokika: Daniel said that this was a small settlement belonging to the people of Nukui-

tu'a and had made itself independent of Ghongau. 7. Teika'ungua: Plate 3, Tehatumanga line, G12.

Makiu: Plate 3, Taumako line, G12. 8. te hakatu'u hitu: See N66:57. 9. Cf. T66:66-72.

10. Tuiakihenua: genealogy not known. 11. tenge huka tasi: See N125(B)II:4. 12. Cf. N66:69-70. T M

127. Te Kii The Fart [Generation 12]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959. Ko Hu'aitengaa te pengea o Nu- Hu'aitengaa was a man from Nukui-

kuitu'a o te sa'a Kaitu'u. Na sa'u tu'a, of the Kaitu'u clan. He took his tena hainga 'atua, ma te nguti tona hainga 'atua food offering and his fart kii, ma te hai mai a tona hosa: sounded, and his son said: "I farted!"

263

Page 279: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 127, 128

"Kii au!" Ma te tangamangie kia tona hosa. Nimaa 'oti i te sa'u tena hainga 'atua, tungi e ia kia tona hosa, i te tangamangie kinai, i te kii 'anga, o hungi e tona hosa kia te ia.

And [Hu'aitengaa] was grateful to his son. After he had taken out the hainga 'atua food offering, he gave the first share to his son because of his gratitude to him for the farting, for which the son took the responsibility.

NOTES Hu'aitengaa: genealogy not known (see T128). hainga 'atua or hai 'atua: a ritual with food distributed in private houses. The food was

first presented ceremonially (sa'u) to persons in whom the gods ('aitu) were embodied. The gods sanctified the food by taking bites from it. Later it was distributed among the guests present, the most honored guest receiving the first share. It was considered blasphemous to let wind or to laugh during a ritual, especially for the person in charge of the ritual. This is why Hu'aitengaa was so grateful to his son. This is an example of an account in which the main character is not remembered for his great deeds, but because of a less flattering event. This story is known among the people of the Iho clan, who like to tell such things about members of the Kaitu'u clan.

TM

128. Hu'aitengaa Hu'aitengaa [Generation 12]

Sa'obaa of Sa'aiho, BE. April 16, 1958. 1. Ko Hu'aitengaa te hakahua i

Nukuitu'a (Mungiki). Hano te ta- 'akinga o kakai i Tengano. 'Eha ona ghapu noho ai i Tengano. 2. Hai te hengiu'akinga a Tengano i Mangama'ubea, o tuku ai tena haka'aitu, hungi hano ki bangiaghe, hano aano taha ki to'o Baabenga haka'aitu, te 'atua hahine. 3. Ma te maase'i kia Hu'aitengaa. Namaa 'oti te hakauu, sa'u iho tena haka- 'aitu, o tape i tena kete, kae taa tena baka, o 'amo ki tai, o hoki mai ai ki Mungiki nei. 4. A'u o tatae mai ki Matahenua, a'u i tu'a- henua, a'u o hiti i Mungiutua. 5. O sopo mai ki Ahanga ma hakatoka ai te hakatu'u hitu. Ma te ngenge ake a Hu'aitengaa: "Te baka nei kaa aa?" Haiho a Tesui: "Tau mai o bilaabei o hemasi'i."

6. Aano a'u ki tena manaha i Nukuitu'a, o bilaabei ma tena hosa, o hakakite kinai tena taghubi 'uhi- ngaba, o aku, o 'oti kae bonga tona ma'anga o sanga ai tena taghubi 'uhingaba, kae sanga ma'u ai tena 'uhi noko to'o mai Tengano. 7. Kae kongaa na noho tena hakatinginga,

1. Hu'aitengaa was the chief at Nu- kuitu'a (Bellona). [He] went on an ex- cursion and lived at the Lake. He stayed many years at the Lake. 2. The Lake people gave their ceremonial offerings at Mangama'ubea, and he brought his con- tribution, [and it] was pushed eastward, and then on until [it] was beside the god- dess Baabenga's contribution. 3. This im- pressed Hu'aitengaa as very bad. After the ceremonial offerings were finished, he took out his contribution, packed [it] in his bag, and constructed a canoe, carried [it] to the water, and came back with it here to Bellona. 4. [He] came and reached Matahenua, coming then at the south, coming on and ending at Mungiutua. 5. Coming then to Ahanga, and there the seven [originals] were seated. Hu'aitengaa called: "What can this canoe do?" Tesui said: "Land and meet [us] and be friends."

6. [He] came then to his settlement at Nukuitu'a, and met his son, and showed him his planted pana, and dug and then cleared off his abandoned garden and planted his pana planting, and planted also his yams brought from the lake. 7. And the increase was of such a nature that he planted an enormous garden and

264

Page 280: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 128, 129

aano sanga ai tena hu'ai'umanga o hai ai tena kauhusi 'uhi o ta'o, ka ko Hu'aitengaa noko inano ki na 'umu o tena ta'u me'a, ma te haiho: "Ai ngua 'uhi mea hoki moso." 8. Tutu'u te hakatahinga o huke na 'umu o te ta'u me'a a Hu'aitengaa. 9. Te 'uhi nei noko to'o mai mai Tengano i te haka'aitu o Baabenga. Te ingoa o te 'uhi te 'uhi mea, e unga te uso. 10. Mataa to'o mai e Hu'aitengaa mai Tengano ki Mu- ngiki nei. E hai te 'aso nei.

had a hundred pairs of yams and baked [them], and Hu'aitengaa looked at the oven of his things, and said: "These two red yams are not yet cooked." 8. Then the feasters opened the oven with Hu- 'aitengaa's things. 9. The yams brought from the Lake that had been Baabenga's pile of sacred food (haka'aitu). The name of the yams was red yams, as the meat was red. 10. Hu'aitengaa first brought [them] here to Bellona from the Lake. [They] exist today.

NOTES 3. Hu'aitengaa's displeasure was due to haka'aasungi (lowering in rank) or hai ke ma'unga-

ngo (humbling; Taupongi 1961). His position in the row of worshippers was progressively lowered as he was pushed eastward from the head ('ugu) of the line to the tail (siku).

5. Hu'aitengaa, of the Kaitu'u clan, was afraid of the seven originals, the other clans. Tesiu was chief of the Tanga clan, and killed Ngiuika, in the twelfth generation of the Iho clan (Tau- pongi 1961).

7. Hu'aitengaa modestly referred to his 100 pairs of yams as a couple, as a hakami'ime'a (belittle).

SE

129. Hange Ta'ane The Frenzied Household [Generation 12]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 4, 1959. The frenzied household was in Taki-

tonu. [The people] did not sleep nights, but just slept in the daytime. When they had softened all their bundles of pandanus thatch leaves, [they] pulled [them] apart again. Then they thatched their houses during the nights. When daylight came, they had pulled out their coconut midribs [with which the thatching was sewn] and the sticks [over which the thatch had been folded]. Then one day they pulled down their house. These people were awake at night like owls.

Te hange ta'ane noko i Takitonu.He'e momoe i na poo, manga mo- moe i na 'ao. Nimaa songo angatou kapita o 'oti, huhuke hakahoki. Nimaa 'ato tengatou hange i na poo. Nimaa 'ao, kua unuunu ona su'ai [su'aa?] niu ma ona ngaho. Nimaa i tengaa 'ao, ebeebe tonga- tou hange. Na pengea nei noko manga kongaa na 'anga i na poo na ngungu.

NOTES On Bellona 1958-59 there was a lunatic man who had been in the hospital in Honiara but

was still sick. In 1961 Taupongi said that he had been completely cured. The doctors had assured the people on Bellona that he was not possessed by an ancestral spirit, which the Bellonese feared, but was just "sick." He was the source of much teasing, but was otherwise treated well. I asked whether there had been mad people in pre-Christian times. Informants said there had been, but at that time such people had either been driven to the bush or tied up and left to starve to death. The people were convinced that such persons were possessed either by malevolent ancestral spirits or by 'apai (gods not worshipped). Paul Sa'engeika told of a person possessed by Baabenga. People present laughed during Taupongi's account. Taupongi 1961 gave the following definition of the difficult term ta'ane: Te ingoa o na me'a maase'i, na huaa 'umanga maase'i. Tuku ma'u ki na pengea ko pe i te 'ika'ika. (The name of bad things, bad crops. Also used about people who are like angry [persons].)

The names of the people in this story are net known. Taupongi 1961 said they were of the same generation as Hu'aitengaa (T127).

18* 265

Page 281: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 130, 131

130. Boo i te Hahine, Teata Going for the Woman, Teata [Generation 14]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, September 1960, 1. Ko Kautasi ma Kangebu, ngua

pengea o te sa'a Kaitu'u, noko boo ia Teata, te tama'ahine a Huei, te pengea o Matangi. Boo te nga'a a Kangebu ma Kautasi kia Huei, kae kakabe mai e kingaaua ia Teata o haamu'a ngoto e kingaaua te ha- hine o boo mai. 2. Nimaa tatae mai ki mu'a Hatangua ma Hataangenga, tootoobasi'a te hahine po ko ai ke tata'o ai. Ma te hai atu a Kangebu: "Tata'o atu ia Kaipua." 3. Ma te sa'u alee e Kautasi te tu'u niho peka o 'abange kia Kangebu. Kae tata'o te hahine ia Kautasi.

1. Kautasi and Kangebu, two people of the Kaitu'u clan, went to Teata, the daughter of Huei, a man from Matangi. Kangebu and Kautasi went with presents to Huei, and they brought Teata and went ahead with the woman between them, and came here. 2. When [they] came here in front of Hatangua and Hataangenga, the girl was uncertain whom to follow. And Kangebu said: "Go with Kaipua." 3. And Kautasi took up a necklace of flying fox teeth and gave [it] to Kangebu. And the woman went with Kautasi.

NOTES 1. Kautasi: Taupongi 1961 said that he was from Hataangenga in Ghongau district.

Kangebu: from Hatangua, Ghongau district. Huei: Plate 3, Taumako line, G14.

2. Kaipua: Kautasi. This is an impressive example of an unexplained shift to a variant name of a character.

3. Kautasi shows his gratitude by giving Kangebu a necklace of flying fox teeth. TM

131. Ngii o Ta'o Tie and Cook [Generation 15?]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959. 1. Ko Sibote te tangata kaia'a,

te pengea o te sa'a Kaitu'u. Noko singa ake i Nguaniua, e huna i te bengo o tana nganguenga, o toko- toko i te nga'akau ma'u o te nga- nguenga. 2. Hinake e ia o huke e ia te 'umu kaui (te ngatanga) noko manga tu'u. To'o e ia o sopo ki te hata i Nguaniua o kai aano e ia. Nimaa 'oti ngungu e ia te puso o te kaui, o pusipusi mai ona penu kia Temae noko manga moe. 3. Nimaa 'anga ake a Temae, tenge ki anga tu'u. Nimaa 'angu iho e ia, tenge to'a a Sibote. Ma te tu'ungu ake a Temae kia Tehainga'atua o kongaa na tu'ungu ake: "Aiauee! Tehainga'atua! Te tata baangenge

1. Sibote was a thief, a man of the Kaitu'u clan. He went up to Nguaniua wearing the sacred loincloth of his temple, and [he] also walked with the staff of the temple. 2. He went up [to the house] and opened the oven with fish (ngatanga fish) which had just started. He took [the fish] and got onto the platform [in the house] in Nguaniua and then he ate. Having fin- ished, he gnawed the skull of the fish and blew: its refuse onto' Temae, who was then sleeping. 3. When Temae then got up, [Sibote] ran to the main trail. When he [Temae] chased him, Sibote ran very fast. And Temae prayed to Tehainga'atua and prayed as follows: "Woe! Tehainga- 'atua! Sibote is nagging for things, even from your temple." 4. When Temae

266

Page 282: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

e Sibote ma tou takapau." 4. Nimaa keu a Temae ke singa hoki haka- ngongo atu e hahangu mai. Nimaa tenge hoki atu; kua lautia i te ma- tu'aa huna o too. 5. Ma te eke ai a Temae o ngenge ake ki ngua pa'asi 0 hai ake: "Bangikaangona, to'iho he uka ke ngii ai a Sibote!" Kongaa na hakatau ake a Sibote: "Ngii ai 1 te koe." Sopo iho te pengea ma te uka o ngii ai. Hai ake ma'u a Temae: "Tu'ahenuana to'iho he uka ke ngii ai a Sibote!" 6. Hakatau ake a Sibote: "Ngii ai i te koe!" Sopo iho te pengea mai te kaukau tu'a- henua ma te uka o ngii ma'u ai ia Sibote. 'Oti i te ngii e kingatou, to'o e kingatou o puu te 'umu i Tepune ke ta'o ai e kingatou. 7. Ongi aano a Sibote. Nimaa ungu te 'umu o hungi kinai o ta'o. Koi tu'u tona 'umu i na 'aso nei. Na pengea nei na pengea o sa'a Kaitu'u.

TEXTS 131, 132

turned to go back a loud sound came. Then [he] ran back; [Sibote] had become entangled in the front tail of the loincloth and had fallen. 5. And Temae held him and shouted to two sides and said: "North, bring down a rope to tie Sibote with." Sibote answered in the same way: "To tie you with." A man came down with a rope and tied him. Temae said again: "South, send down a rope to tie Sibote with!" 6. Sibote answered: "To tie you with." A man came from the south with a rope and tied Sibote with it. When they had tied [him], they took [him] and made an oven in Tepune to bake him in. 7. Sibote asked for mercy. Then [the stones of] the oven were spread out, and [they ]threw [Sibote] in it and baked [him]. Even today the oven exists. These people were the people of the Kaitu'u clan.

NOTES 1. Sibote: genealogy not known.

bengo: the sacred tapa of the temple. 2. ngatanga: a large-mouthed fish which may be 1 meter in length (Rennell, ngataga).

te hata i Nguaniua: Private houses had shelves or floors under the entire roof, with only a small square hole in the middle. Food, fishing utensils, and other objects lay on this shelf. Sibote climbs up there, and blows the fish refuse down through the hole onto Temae, who sleeps on the ground below.

Temae: Genealogy 8, the Hu'aingupe clan. 3. tu'ungu: an invocation without ritual. 4. matu'aa huna: when worn, the bengo hangs loosely in front as an apron. 7. Ongi: to ask for mercy, as by saying ou ta'e ([I am as worthless as] your feces), or ou

tobigha ([I am as worthless as] your entrails). Taupongi said that no one has seen the oven because it is underground (i poo'ungi) in

Tepune, Ghongau district, but that everyone knows it is there. TM

132. Tangahau

Tangahau [Generation 16]

Basiana of BE. April 16, 1958.

1. Te tangatupu'a o Tangahau, te mokupuna o Mu'akitangata, te tangata ma'u o Mataki'ubea. 2. Noko hano tena pakenga kia Tei- kaangau, te tangata o sa'a Tanga. To'o e ia te kupenga hakangoangoa, ma te potu, ma te moenga honga, o hano kinai ke pake e ia, ke taa ma'ana. 3. Hano aano tatae ki Su-

1. The story of Tangahau, The

descendant of Mu'akitangata, a man also of Mataki'ubea. 2. He went to deceive Tei-kaangau, a man of the Tanga clan. He took a long net, a small ceremonial paddle (potu), and a small mat [used in cere-monies for Sikingimoemoe], and went to him so that he might deceive and kill [him] for himself. 3. Going on [he] came

267

Page 283: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 132, 133

bongo i te ahiahi, ina'iho kinai a Teikaangau. Ko Tangahau ma noho ake ma i mu'a. 4. Sa'u ake a Ta- ngahau te moenga honga, ma te potu, ma te kupenga hakangoa- ngoa, o hinake ke tanu kia Teikaa- ngau. 5. Ka ko Teikaangau noko ma noho i tona hange, o he'e ina to'a kia Tangahau, noko pa'a kinai, i te me'a ngaa kingaua te'itoo bilaa- bei, i te me'a ngaa tena makau ko Tangahau. 6. Kae a'u kingaa hema- si'i, tuku atu a Tangahau te potu, ma te moenga honga, kae sa'u ake e ia te kupenga hakangoangoa. 7. Ka noko he'e na'a Teikaangau te kupenga hakangoangoa. E munange e ia te tu'u, 'ai te kupenga. Tango e Tangahau i te u'a o Teikangau kae longi e ia o taa o mate.

to Subongo in the late afternoon, and Tei- kaangau saw him. Tangahau stayed in front [of the settlement]. 4. Tangahau took out the mat and the paddle and the long net, and went to offer peace gifts to Tei- kaangau. 5. Teikaangau just stayed in his house and did not look directly at Tanga- hau, because of embarrassment in his presence, as they had just met, and be- cause Tangahau was his enemy. 6. And Tangahau came [as though] the two were to be friends, and proferred the cere- monial paddle, and the small mat, and he took out the long net. 7. But Tei- kaangau did not know about the long net. He said a necklace, but [it] was a net. Tangahau put [it] about Teikaangau's neck and he tied [it] about and beat [him] and [he] died.

NOTES 1. Tangahau: Plate 3, Mataki'ubea line, G16, the great-grandson of Mu'akitangata. 7. Informant laughed at the words e ia (he) and mate (die).

SE

133. Kaia'a Theft [Generation 18]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 1, 1959. 1. Kaia'a ma'u e te hanau a

Saungongo te soi a Taukiu ma tena hanau, e kaia'a i te bai i Ongoba, o to'o ki te bai i Tehakanganoa. Sasanga ai aano a Taukiu ma tena hanau, kapitia ai a Taukiu i te siku o te bai Ongoba.

2. Ma te kakahi mai ai a Taukiu ma tena hanau kia Sanga'eha ma ona hai taina o hetata'i, aano kongu ai ia ia Tongohanga, ma te kongu ai e Ma'itaki ia Sanga'eha.

3. Teenei te hai 'anga na ha'a ngua ai e Tehaibakiu te sa'a Kaitu'u o hai Tengutuangabangika'ango, kae hai Tengutuangabangitakungu.

4. Boo ma'u te 'api o Sanga'eha o kaia'a te kape o Hakangaunoa, te pengea o te sa'a Taupongi, noko

1. The offspring of Saungongo stole also the soi tuber belonging to Taukiu and his offspring, stole [it] in the water hole in Ongoba and brought [it] to the water hole in Tehakanganoa. Taukiu and his son looked [for the soi], and Taukiu got stuck in the end of the water hole in Ongoba.

2. And Taukiu and his son attacked Sanga'eha and his younger brothers and they fought, and he [Te'ungutiange] struck Tongohanga, and Ma'itaki struck Sanga- 'eha.

3. This is the event because of which Tehaibakiu divided the Kaitu'u clan in two, and made Tengutuangabangika'ango (North-side-of-the-trail) and Tengutua- ngabangitakungu (South-side-of-the-trail).

4. Again, the brothers of Sanga'eha went and stole the giant dry-land taro in Angiangi belonging to Hakangaunoa, a

268

Page 284: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 133

i Angiangi. 5. To'o e Takiika o boo i tu'ahenua o pisikia ma te bengati ai. Koi hakahano i na 'aso nei. 6. A'u ma'u a Taaikangongo, te taina 0 Sanga'eha, o tabi e ia te pua o Tesaukiu i Tepotuhenua o to'o hakakamu ia Tehu'aingabenga. E'a ai te masaki niho, koi hanohano ai 1 na 'aso nei. 'Oti i te ngaoi a Mu- ngiki nei.

7. Pipiki e Sanga'eha ia Sopo- taha, te tama'ahine a Utakiu. Boo mai te 'api o Sanga'eha o kakabe ia Utakiu, te pengea o te sa'a Tau- pongi, o taa e kingatou ia Tangahau noko i Matangi. 8. 'Oti kae kakabe mai e Te'ungutiange ma ona hai taina ia Teikanoa, te hosa o Tanga- hau. Na taa e kingatou ia Utakiu. Kae hai tuhanga a Te'ungutiange ma Takiika i te kenge o te sa'a Taupongi, e hakatu'u i Manibagha e iai te tunga nganguenga o Ngangi- tapu, o tatae mai ki Ngotokanaba. 9. Kae si'ai he tuhanga mo'o Sanga- 'eha i te noko pipiki e ia te tama- 'ahine a Utakiu. Ka na 'asona na pipiki ai e te sa'a Kaitu'u te kenge o te sa'a Taupongi. Noko toe launa- tasi ai a Tesaukiu i Sa'aiho. E 'atu haa te sui 'anga a te sa'a Kaitu'u ki te kenge o te sa'a Taupongi. O tatae mai ki na 'aso nei.

10. Ka te hanohano a Kaitu'u noko kakai i Tema'ungaohiti, noko manga ngangama i Tebangabi. Boo o kaia'a tengatou pulo iha i Tenga- tae o haangai bae, aano 'oti te ta'u ika. Ka noko he'e ngangama i 'One po i Ahanga po i Tingoa i te 'angu- 'angu e te hakatu'u hitu.

man of the Taupongi clan. 5. Takiika took [the giant dry-land taro] and went to the south [coast], and he got soaked and [his skin] itched because of this. And so it is unto these days. 6. Teikangongo, the younger brother of Sanga'eha, came and he plucked the betel nuts belonging to Tesaukiu in Tepotuhenua, and [he] brought [them home] and made an offer- ing of betel nuts to Tehu'aingabenga. And a toothache came from this, and so it is unto these days. Then [there were] good times here on Bellona.

7. Sanga'eha married Sopotaha, the daughter of Utakiu. Sanga'eha's brothers came and took Utakiu, the man of the Taupongi clan, with them [as an ally], and they killed Tangahau who was in Matangi. 8. Then Te'ungutiange and his younger brothers took Teikanoa, the son of Tangahau, with them. They killed Utakiu. And Te'ungutiange and Takiika divided the ground of the Taupongi clan, beginning in Manibagha where the rem- nants of the temple Ngangitapu are, reaching Ngotokanaba. 9. But there was no share for Sanga'eha because he had married the daughter of Utakiu. And in those days the Kaitu'u clan kept the ground of the Taupongi clan. Only Te- saukiu was left in Sa'aiho. Through four generations the Kaitu'u clan inherited the ground belonging to the Taupongi clan. And so it is these days.

10. And the line of Kaitu'u lived in Tema'ungaohiti and went fishing with torches [for flying fish] only in Tebangabi. They went and stole the butt end of a coconut sheath faggot in Tengatae and fed [set fire to] bae canes until the flying- fish season ended. But [they] did not fish with torches in 'One or Ahanga or Tingoa because the seven originals had chased them away.

NOTES This text was given immediately following the immigration story (T66) and tells how the

district of Ghongau was split into two kanomanaha (districts). 1. te hanau a Saungongo: the five households (hange ngima); see Genealogy 5, G18, and

N66:73.

269

Page 285: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 133, 134

soi: a tuber resembling abubu; deposited in brackish or salt water for some time to re- move its acid taste.

Taukiu: Genealogy 4, G18. Ongoba: water hole near 'One, north coast of Bellona. Tehakanganoa: place northwest of Ongoba.

2. Sanga'eha: See note 1 above, and Genealogy 5, G18. Tongohanga: younger brother of Taukiu; Genealogy 4, G18. Ma'itaki: younger brother of Taukiu and Tongohanga; Genealogy 4, G18.

3. Tehaibakiu: of the Hangekumi line and son of Sau'eha (Genealogy 4, G18). Taupongi said that the sons of Sanga'eha were still living when he grew up.

Tengutuangabangika'ango, Tengutuangabangitakungu: These names of the two new districts into which Ghongau was divided were figurative, as the settlements of the districts were scattered haphazardly and not separated by a trail. Tengutuangabangika'ango (North-side-of- the-trail) included .Tongaba and the settlements of the hange ngima (five households; Gene- alogy 5): Mata'ubea, Baitanga, Ngikobaka, Tongomainge (or Sabesabea), Nuku'angoha, and all settlements founded later by members of these lines. The Tengutuangabangitakungu district in- cluded the rest of the settlements in Ghongau district.

4. Hakangaunoa: Genealogy 9, G18. 5. Takiika: Genealogy 5, Mata'ubea line, G18.

bengati: Contact with wet dry-land taro may cause a skin itch. It is believed that later generations of Ngutuangabangika'ango have inherited this itch. Taupongi 1961 said that people in the Taupongi clan did not suffer from this itching until they began marrying people of the other district.

6. Tesaukiu: Genealogy 9, G18. hakakamu: to offer betel nuts to Tehu'aingabenga. masaki niho: toothache. Taupongi said that Tehu'aingabenga punished Teikangongo, his

brothers, and their children by sending toothaches to their district. Taupongi: "There is much toothache in Ngutuangabangika'ango, and we got it when we intermarried with their people."

7. Utakiu: Genealogy 9, G17. te 'apt o Sanga'eha: The younger brothers allied with Sanga'eha's father-in-law went to

kill Tangahau, chief of the Mataki'ubea line, Matangi district (Plate 3, G16). Taupongi said he was a very old man.

8. Te'ungutiange: one of Sanga'eha's younger brothers (Genealogy 5, G18), allied with Tei- kanoa (Plate 3, Mataki'ubea line, G17), the son of Tangahau, in order to kill Utakiu (see note 7 above), father-in-law of Sanga'eha. Taupongi 1961 said that Sanga'eha did not know this, and that Te'ungutiange thus became an enemy of his own brother, Sanga'eha, Te'ungutiange and his brother Takiika killed all the people of the Iho clan; only Tesaukiu of Tongomainge and a few of his relatives survived.

10. Te'ungutiange and Takiika took over all the ground of the Taupongi clan between Mani- bagha and Ngotokanaba. The ownership of this land is still a matter of dispute between the Taupongi and Kaitu'u clans. te hanohano o Kaitu'u: this refers to the fight of the five victims (T66:67 and T126). Tebangabi: a place on the north coast of Bellona where there is no beach, only rocks, and canoes cannot be dragged ashore. Taupongi: "The Kaitu'u clan fished here, as all their fishing grounds had been taken by others." Tengatae: near 'One.

hangai bae: Taupongi said that they used bae vines as faggots and torches because they lived in the bush and had no coconut trees from which to take leaves and sheaths. Sentence containing insulting statements deleted at end of text. See N66:59.

TM

134. Ngua Sasa Two Madmen [Generation 18]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, February 1959. 1. Ko 'Aasia ma Tohihenua ngua 1. 'Aasia and Tohihenua were two

pengea sasa. Na umi tengaa hongau madmen. They wanted to go on a voyage id Mungaba. Nimaa i teengaa 'aso to Rennell. Then, one day, they went and boo kingaaua o kaia'a e kingaaua they stole the turmeric belonging to Ma- na ngenga o Mangiengoa, o boo sao ngiengoa, and went and took their canoe tongaa baka i Tingoa, kingaa boo over the reef at Tingoa, so that they ai ki Mungaba. 2. Noko hoe mu'a might go to Rennell in it. 2. 'Aasia pad-

270

Page 286: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

a 'Aasia, kae hoe mungi a Tohi- henua. Nimaa sao tongaa baka a'ango te hoe mu'a ki 'angunga kae a'ango te hoe mungi ki tai. 3. Nimaa tu'u tongaa baka ki te ku- ngaa angaa ngibau: "Ooooho, tu'u ki Lughu!"

4. Hai atu a Tohihenua kia 'Aasia: " 'Ai tu'atu ki 'angunga o saangongo ai." Ma te tu'u a 'Aasia ki 'angunga o sehu iho aano ngenge iho: '"Ai akena a i koo te kalaghi ngoa!" 5. Hakatau ake a Tohi- henua: "Haibaka hu'u." Tu'ake ma'u a Tohihenua ki 'angunga ma na ngenga o haangota kinai, aano nimaa 'oti to'ake o tau, kae hai tangaa ahi. 6. Kae kake a Tohi- henua i te tiha o ma eke iho ai. Ma te sopo iho kinai a Mangiengoa o taa tohitohi e ia ia 'Aasia kae sa- sanga teengaa. Hakakoo iho tee- ngaa. 7. Nimaa keu ake a Mangie- ngoa, manga eke iho i te tiha, manga huhu ake aano kinai, nimaa 'oso mai ki te ngenga manga tau manga mamaha. Nimaa lunga iho e ia manga tu'u ai te ta'u 'angingi.

TEXTS 134, 135

dled forward, Tohihenua paddled aft. When their canoe had come over the reef, the forward paddler paddled towards land, and the after paddler paddled to- wards the sea. 3. Then their canoe reached a place, and they shouted as fol- lows: "Ooooho, [we] have landed at Lu- ghu!"

4. Tohihenua said to 'Aasia: "Well, go up inland and look around." And 'Aasia went ashore and walked and shouted: "There is a long cave there." ,,5. Tohi- henua answered: "[You are] a stupid captain." Tohihenua also went ashore with the turmeric, and fished there and then took [the shells and crabs he had caught] and hung [them on a cliff] and they made a fire. 6. And Tohihenua climbed the high coastal cliffs and sat down on them. And Mangiengoa came down to him and he hit and crushed 'Aasia and looked for the other one [Tohi- henua]. And the other one said: "Boo!" 7. When Mangiengoa turned round, [Tohi- henua] was just sitting down on the high coastal cliffs, and [Mangiengoa] just scolded him, and then took the turmeric which was just hanging, but [it] was heavy. When he opened [the parcel] it was just full of turban shells.

NOTES I had heard this story told on Bellona, where it was a source of merriment. Everybody

laughed at it. When working it over with Taupongi 1961, we had a very amusing and gay session. Taupongi said that nobody knew the genealogies of these two crazy persons. Taupongi had the story from his father. 1. ngenga: Parcels of turmeric were taken by Bellonese when they went to Rennell, the manufacture of turmeric being a Bellonese specialty. Mangiengoa: Plate 3, Pangangiu line, (318.

3. Lughu: 'Aasia and Tohihenua think they have reached Lughu Bay on the south coast of Rennell.

4. kalaghi ngoa: long cave at Tingoa (Grover, 1958:120). When 'Aasia sees them, he knows that they are still on Bellona.

5. haangota: Taupongi 1961 explained that Tohihenua fished 'angingi (turban shells) and kamakama (rock crabs), and put them into the parcels with turmeric. TM: "Why?" Taupongi 1961: "Because he was crazy."

TM

135. Tauiku Old Age [Generation 19]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 1, 1959. 1. Ko Mau'eha, te pengea o Nu- 1. Mau'eha, a man from Nukuitu'a

kuitu'a (sa'a Kaitu'u), te tangata toa. (Kaitu'u clan), was a strong man. Then

271

Page 287: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 135, 136(A)

Aano nimaa tauiku o ma hetoto- ngo'aki. 2. Ma te hano kinai te nga'a o Utahenua, noko i Tongaba. Ma te hakakite iho ai a tona ungu- ungu i te nga'a e hinake. Nimaa 'angake ke hakamuna kinai, he'e- makamaka. Manga toko i te 'ungu o 'anga o hakamuna kinai. 3. Ma te ngongo ai a Huei, te pengea o te sa'a Hu'aingupe, o puutai mai kinai o hai ake: "Teengaa nga'a kinga 'anga. Kabee tapaani i he mangibu tea i te munange te ika e ingoa te mangibu, manga labu e na tama- tama, kae he'e hai e na tauiku."

[he] became old and always crawled on all fours. 2. And Utahenua from Tongaba went to him with a present [of food]. And his wife pointed out the donor coming. Then [she] made him rise to answer [but] without success. [Mau'eha] just stood on his head and got up and answered him [Utahenua]. 3. And Huei, a man from the Hu'aingupe clan, heard about it and joked about it and said: "This present is a penis. [Mau'eha] can't pay with white mangibu fish because only young people catch the fish called mangibu, but old persons do not get [it]."

NOTES Taupongi laughed very much when he told this story. He gave a very funny demonstration

of how Mau'eha, standing on his head, received the visitor and then could not get up. 1. Mau'eha: genealogy not known. Nukuitu'a is in Ghongau district. 2. 'angake: 'anga ake. Taupongi 1961 said that it was Mau'eha's wife who tried to make her

husband get up. From the text it could just as well be Mau'eha himself who 'anga ake (got up). 3. Huei: Genealogy 8, Hu'aingupe clan. Paul Sa'engeika said that Huei had been killed by

Tangaibasa (Genealogy 5, Nuku'angoha line, G18). Teengaa nga'a kinga 'anga: Taupongi explained that kinga 'anga was the same as unge

(penis), and that it was an expression used for a present which the receiver did not pay back. On Rennell, Jotham Togaka had told me that kinga 'anga meant a penis of which the foreskin was worn off from frequent intercourse.

Kabee tapaani: probably emphatic for Kabe tapani. Taupongi regarded the quotation as very amusing and he laughed heartily.

TM

136. He'atua'aki Fight among Close Relatives [Generation 21]

(A) Puia of Ghongau, BE. January 9, 1959. 1. Taa e Mangakenga ia Puipui-

henua i te me'a ngaa, noko he'e sia hai a Puipuihenua kia Mangakenga ke hakahua, ke noho pe ia. Kae he'emaka a Mangakenga, manga sia hai ke hakahua ma'u. 2. Aano taa e Mangakenga ia Puipuihenua, ma te boo a Mangakenga ma Saaunga ki Tongaba ma Hangekumi, o noho- 'aki hakapata kinai. Aano ngiu mai o hai tongatou manaha ho'ou i Mata'ubea.

3.Ma te boo mai a Mungaba o hakatahi ki Matangi ma Ghongau ma Nuku'angoha ma Tongaba ma Baitanga, o boo kingatou o nge'o te ongo noko kakai ai a Manga-

1. Mangakenga killed Puipuihenua be- cause Puipuihenua did not want Manga- kenga to be chief, to be like him. But Mangakenga disagreed and wanted to be chief too. 2. Then Mangakenga killed Puipuihenua, and Mangakenga and Saau- nga went to Tongaba and Hangekumi and lived together with them [the in- habitants]. Then, later, [Mangakenga and Saaunga] returned and they made a new settlement in Mata'ubea.

3. And people from Rennell came here and united with Matangi and Ghongau and Nuku'angoha and Tongaba and Bai- tanga, and they went and kept watch at the hill where Mangakenga lived, and they

272

Page 288: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

kenga, o taa e kingatou ia Manga- kenga, kae ngiu a Mungaba.

TEXTS 136(A) 136(B)

killed Mangakenga, and the people from Rennell went home.

NOTES This is the first of three different stories about the same events: the fight that was the result

of the jealousy and anger between two men of the same line, Namona (Puipuihenua) and Mangakenga (Teikanoa), the son of Namona's father's brother Tangitonga.

This first version was told by Puia (Genealogy 7, G22), the grandson of Puipuihenua. It does not give the interesting details about this strife inside his line. Later, Taupongi told variant B about the same events, not knowing Puia's version. In July 1961, when hearing variants A and B, Taupongi said that he had more to tell about one of the characters in this story, Tehaibakiu, who was famous for his strength and skills. This story, C, gives an account of what happened when the two groups opposed each other at the hillocks in Nama'unga.

A brief genealogy showing the relationships of the characters in the three stories is given here:

2. Tongaba ma Hangekumi: When Mangakenga had killed his father's brother's son, Puipui- henua, he fled with his younger brother to Tongaba and Hangekumi. Hangekumi settlement belonged to Sangoihenua, who was married to a sister of Mangakenga.

Mata'ubea: a small subsettlement of Nuku'angoha. 3. Mungaba: Puia said that the leader of the people coming from Rennell was Maaui from

Tepotuhange district. Taupongi 1961 added that his second name was Tepeau, and that the group of people were dancers who brought a mako sa'u dance.

TM

(B) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 21, 1959. 1. Ko Namona te pengea o Nuku-

'angoha (sa'a Kaitu'u). Na hai tona unguungu huu ia Telanga, te ungu- ungu o te tamana, Tangitonga. Nimaa hinake a Tangitonga i tee- ngaa 'aso mai tai, o ngenge ake kia tona unguungu he me'a ke huna ai. 2. Tohu te pengea ki haho i te ha'itotoka o tona hange o hano. Nimaa ina tata'o iho ai. Ko Na- mona. Ma te 'ika'ika ai.

1. Namona was a man from Nuku- 'angoha (Kaitu'u clan). He had a secret wife, namely Telanga, the wife of his [classificatory] father, Tangitonga. One day Tangitonga came up from the sea- shore, and shouted up to his wife for a loincloth to wear. 2. A man came out at the front side of his house and left. Then [Tangitonga] followed after to observe. [It] was Namona. And [Tangitonga] be- came angry because of this.

273

Page 289: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 136(B)

3. Nimaa hai te ta'u tango a Tangitonga o tenge ngongo iho ai, ma te he'emaka i te kua pa'a. Nimaa kai te 'ungu 'ungua a Na- mona, aano nimaa 'oti hai atu kia ona unguungu: "To'atu o ngingingi tona penu ki te ngutu o Teikanoa, te hosa o Tangitonga." Ma te 'ika- 'ika ai a Teikanoa o boo kingatou ma tona ma'aa o taa.

4. Nimaa boo mai te mako sa'u mai Mungaba kia Namona kua ta'ia. Ma te boo mai o hakapingi ki Mungiki o boo o sui tau'a. Taa e kingatou ia Tangitonga ma tona hosa. Kae nge'o e kingatou ia Sa- ngoihenua ma ngu 'ona hai taina ki te ongo i Nama'unga. 5. Tu'iho a Tesengu, te taina o Sangoihenua, o tapa ingoa ki te tau'a noko i te tungi o te ongo. Kae hakaoko te sangu a Sangoihenua kia Nguatini- henua, na malikope ma na ngenga.

6. Nimaa poo tongu, tuku a Nguatinihenua tana paumatangi o anga ki te kanume, o iho ai a Sa- ngoihenua ma ona hai taina o boo. Kae 'ua to'a o momoe ai te tau'a noko i te tungi o te ongo.

3. Then Tangitonga made a taro feast and sent for [Namona], but he refused to come, being ashamed. Then Namona ate the head of an 'ungua fish, and then said to his wives: "Take its refuse and pour into the mouth of Teikanoa, the son of Tangitonga." And Teikanoa became angry because of this, and went with his brother-in-law [Sangoihenua] and killed [Namona].

4. Then the mako sa'u dancers came here from Rennell to Namona who had been killed. And they came here and stayed on Bellona, and came here and avenged [Namona's death] by a fight. They killed Tangitonga and his son [Tei- kanoa]. And they kept watch over Sangoi- henua and his two younger brothers at the hill in Nama'unga. 5. Tesengu, the younger brother of Sangoihenua, went down and insulted the fighters, who were at the bottom of the hill. And Sangoi- henua fulfilled the promise of a sangu offering to Nguatinihenua, mats and parcels of turmeric.

6. When three nights had gone, Ngua- tinihenua sent his rainbow portion, and it embodied itself in the kanume tree, and so Sangoihenua and his younger brothers came down and went away. And it rained very much and therefore the fighters who were at the bottom of the hill slept.

NOTES Of the people whom Taupongi tells about in variants B and C, some belong to his own

hohonga 'anga (maternal line):

274

Page 290: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 136(B), 136(C)

A similar account was mailed to me by Taupongi, September 1960. 5. tapa ingoa: See N136(C).

sangu: offering to the deities of 'ota'ota (material belongings such as mats, tapa, and turmeric), promised when people are in danger (Rennell, sagu). Nguatinihenua: See Genealogy 14.

6. paumatangi: a rainbow of which only the base is visible, called the staff of the god Ngua- tinihenua (Genealogy 14).

anga: to embody. The staff of Nguatinihenua embodied itself in the kanume tree growing from the base of the hill to the top, enabling the people on the hill to escape by climbing down it.

kanume: a tree, cf. T136(C):11. TM

(C) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, July 1961. 1. Ko Tehaibakiu te pengea to'a.

Noko hakaoko te sangu a tona ta'okete, a Sangoihenua, i te ho- honga o te ongo i te nge'o 'anga e te tau'a a Mungiki ma Mungaba. 2. Ma te ina'iho a Tehaibakiu ki te tungi o te ongo, noko ma tu'u ai te tau'a a Mungiki ma Mungaba, ma te ta'u haahine o Mungaba ma Mungiki. Ma te haiho a Tehai- bakiu: "Koutou he'iti ake!" Hai ake te tungi o te ongo: "Baalogha- logha atu!" 3. Tutu'ake te ta'u pengea o te tau'a o baaloghalogha e kingatou i te hakangongo ongatou ma'aa ma ongatou tuhaahine ma na haahine mai Mungaba ki ongatou ingoa tapa ingoa, o kongaa angatou to'o: "Uee uee uee uee uee!" 4. Manga noho a Tehaibakiu o haka- tatae, aano nimaa 'oti te baalogha- logha 'anga, haiho a Tehaibakiu: "Hekai'aki ake outou kano unge!" Hai ake te tungi o te ongo: "Uee uee uee uee uee!" Hakatatae a Te- haibakiu; nimaa 'oti uee uee 'anga, haiho ma'u a Tehaibakiu: "Hekai- 'aki ake outou kano unge ma outou kano soni!" 5. Ma te papa'a te tungi o te ongo, ka manga tapa ingoa iho a Tehaibakiu, ma te haiho a Sangoihenua kia te taina: "Noka!" Ma te hai ake a te taina: " 'Ai konei ma'u na 'aso hesusungi'aki?" Ma te 'oso a Tehaibakiu ki tena 'uu o siko te hana mungi kaso, kae sungu tena ghinama i te huna, o

1. Tehaibakiu was a strong man. His older brother Sangoihenua fulfilled the promise of making a sangu offering on the top of the hill while being watched by the fighters of Bellona and Rennell. 2. And Tehaibakiu looked down to> the bot- tom of the hill where the fighters from Bellona and Rennell and many women from Bellona and Rennell stood. And Tehaibakiu called down: "You are [all] copulating!" People at the bottom of the hill said: "Make noises!" 3. All the people in the group of fighters, they immediately made a din because their brothers-in-law and their sisters and the women from Rennell were hearing the insult about them, and they said as follows: "Uee uee uee uee uee!" 4. Tehaibakiu just sat and waited, and when the din had ended Te- haibakiu said: "Eat the flesh of each other's penises!" People at the bottom of the hill said: "Uee uee uee uee uee!" Tehaibakiu waited, and when the shouting "uee" had ended, Tehaibakiu again said: "Eat the flesh of each other's penises and each other's vaginas!" 5. And the people at the bottom of the hill became ashamed, but Tehaibakiu just [went on] insulting, and Sangoihenua said to the younger brother: "Stop it!" And the younger brother said: "So this is again the time for prohibitions?" And Tehaibakiu took to his bundle of arrows and aimed one arrow, having another ready, and stuck his ghinama steel axe in his loincloth and ran down to the bottom [of the hill]. 6. And the people at the bottom jumped

275

Page 291: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 136(C)

tenge iho ki te tungi. 6. Ma te haka- tapatapa'aki ai a te tungi. Matua- tua te tau'a i te matataku kia Te- haibakiu. Manga tenge iho a Tehai- bakiu, aano manga sungi e ia te mamiapu o siko e ia i te ngima o to'o tenge hoki ki te ongo o tuku. Bubulu te hua mamiapu o 'abange kia tona ta'okete. 7. Kae bubulu teengaa o 'abange kia te taina, a Sau'eha. Kae bubulu ta'ana o libi o kai. Hihia'i ake kinai te tau'a ma te hakakiki ake e kingatou o ko- ngaa angatou to'o: "Oku ta'e, oku ta'e, oku ta'e autou mamiapu e kaina." 8. Ma te he'e kai ta'a Sangoihenua. Noko umauma i te me'a ngaa te hakahua, ka manga kai ta'a Tehaibakiu. Ma te haiho a Tehaibakiu: "Koutou he'iti ake, 'ai aku mamiapu kaa pingi kinai ni ta'e."

9. Nimaa 'oti te hakaoko te sangu, e'a mai te kataha o noko tino kinai a Nguatinihenua o tahea ki te ongo. Aano tu'u ki te tao hakasanisani, noko suki e Sangoi- henua i te hohonga o te ongo. O haha'u maeba e Sangoihenua te tao hakasanisani, noko hakaingoa te tino o Tahakingangi. 10. Ma te tu'ungu a Sangoihenua ki te kataha manga tu'u ki te tao hakasanisani, ma te ngenge te kataha o hano. Kae 'ua. Tu'u te 'umata noko hakaingoa te paumatangi o Nguatinihenua, ka manga sehu a Tehaibakiu o tibu hatu o manga tau iho ki te tungi o te ongo, noko iai te tau'a.

11. Ma te kite e ia te kanume e tu'u i te hakapaia o te ongo, o tatae ake ki te hohonga o te ongo. Ma te hinatu a Tehaibakiu o ina kinai. Ma te sopo kinai a Tehaibakiu o iho ki te tungi o toghi kau luba o to'o e ia o kake hoki. O taungaki ai e ia te kanume ki te ongo. 12. Kae hinake o hongahonga e ia kia tona ta'okete. Hai atu a Tehai- bakiu: "Noka te tatou ngengea i te poo nei, ka ke tengeu'a ake te tungi, ko kitatou kua momoe." Ma te

out at him. And the fighters scattered in fear of Tehaibakiu. And Tehaibakiu ran down and he cut down a papaya tree and brandished [it] in his hands and took [it] and ran back to the hill and put [it] there. [He] picked a papaya fruit and gave [it] to his older brother. 7. And picked an- other and gave [it] to his younger brother Sau'eha. And picked his own and peeled [it] and ate. The fighters [at the bottom of the hill] watched it and they cursed the food and said the following: "My feces, my feces, my feces are the papayas you are eating." 8. And Sangoihenua did not eat his. Being a high chief he was humiliated, but Tehaibakiu ate his. And Tehaibakiu said: "You are [all] copu- lating, and my faeces will stick to my papayas."

9. When the promise of making a sangu offering was carried out, a frigate bird came, and Nguatinihenua had embodied himself in it, and soared towards the hill. Then [he] landed at the ceremonial spear, which Sangoihenua had thrust in at the top of the hill. And Sangoihenua put a flowing turban on the sacred spear, which was named the body of Tahakingangi. 10. And Sangoihenua prayed to the frigate bird which was sitting on the sacred spear, and the frigate bird flew and went away. And [it] rained. The rainbow that is called the staff of Nguatinihenua appeared, and Tehaibakiu just walked and gathered stones and threw [them] down to the bot- tom of the hill where the fighters were.

11. And he saw a kanume tree stand- ing at the bottom of the hill and reaching up to the top of the hill. And Tehaibakiu went and looked at it. And Tehaibakiu went on to it and down to the base and cut Derris vines, and he took [them] and climbed back. And he tied the kanume closer to the hill with them. 12. And he went up and reported to his older brother. Tehaibakiu said: "Let us not talk tonight, so the people at the bottom will think we have fallen asleep." And [they] agreed and did not talk. And Tehaibakiu went

276

Page 292: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

ma'ongi o he'e ngengea. Kae hinai- ho a Tehaibakiu o tibu hatu o mata e ia te anga.

13. Ma te hai ake te tungi: "Kohea ko he'e ngongona?" Ma te kake ake kinai te hahine ke saa- ngongo ai. Nimaa hetaiaki ake ki- nai, mahu iho kinai e Tehaibakiu te hatu. Tenge hoki te hahine o hai atu ki te tau'a: "Manga i te ongo ka manga he'e ngengea!" 14. Ma te pau te tau'a o na'ake e kingatou manga i te ongo. Momoe te tau'a i te hu'ai'ua. Ma te tu'u mai a Tehaibakiu o ngosingosi e ia na tubi pengea i na malikope i te hange noko i te ongo, o hakapapata ki tongatou 'api. 15. Kae iho i te nga'akau noko ngosingosi e ia. Nimaa tatae ki te tungi o te ongo, hai atu a Sangoihenua kia te taina: "Kohea mu'a, kohea 'angunga?" Hai atu a te taina: "Teenei te anga ki mu'a, ka te anga ki te kunga e iai te tau'a, teenei." 16. Hai atu a tona ta'okete: "Si'ai, teenei." Ma te hai atu a te taina: "Ke boo ai." Nimaa boo ake ai. Manga tutu'u na tubi. Nimaa lungatu e Tehaibakiu teengaa tubi mate e ia ko Ngi- bauika. Nimaa lungatu e ia teengaa; ko Tongaka. Ma te hai atu a Tehai- bakiu: "Kau taa tenge'ia i te ngu- ghaabalo, ka ke mungi koe ia te au ma te 'aakisi." 17. Ma te hai atu a tona ta'okete: "Te ou tobigha! Mano kitatou kaa manga ma'u'ungi i te manga boo." Ma te boo te 'api i te mouku tu'ahenua. Nimaa sosopo ake ki te ongo i te matangi, e'a te ahi i te ongo e iho ai o kongaa na ngenge iho: "Oo, te ongo nei ku iho."

TEXT 136(C)

and gathered stones and he watched the trail.

13. And people at the bottom said: "Why is nothing heard?" And a woman climbed up to seek news. When close to it [the top] Tehaibakiu threw a stone down towards her. The woman ran back and said to the fighters: "[They] are on the hill, but just don't talk!" 14. And then the fighters were sure, and they knew that [Sangoihenua and his people] were on the hill. The fighters slept because [it] rained heavily. And Tehaibakiu got up and he made mat coverings for people in the house which was on the hill and gathered together their people. 15. And [they] went down on the tree which he had made ready. After reaching the bottom of the hill, Sangoihenua said to his younger brother: "Where ahead, where upwards [towards the hill]?" The younger brother said: "This is the road [leading] ahead, but the road to the place where the fighters are is here." 16. His older brother said: "No, here." And the younger brother said: "Let us go on it." And [they] went up it. There the coverings [mats] stood up. Tehaibakiu opened up one covering and he said: "Ngibauika." Then he opened another; it was Tongaka. And Tehaibakiu said: "I'll strike with the ngughaabalo club as [I] run, and you follow me with the axe!" 17. And his older brother said: "[I eat] your entrails! Perhaps we will survive if [we] leave." And the brothers went to the bush in the south. When they went to the hill in the east, a fire appeared on the hill which [they] had gone down from, and [the fighters] shouted: "Oo! The people of this hill have gone down."

NOTES See notes to A and B. I asked Taupongi why he or others had not told this story on Bellona. Taupongi said that he

feared that a brother-in-law or a woman might hear the frightful words of swearing in 2-9. TM: "Then what happens when they read them in a printed book?" Taupongi: "That is just writing; it is all right."

Only the first of Taupongi's long narrative is given here. The last ten numbers that have been omitted tell how Tehaibakiu, due to his skill and strength, manages to elude his pursuers for a long time until he is killed during a ritual at the temple.

1. Tehaibakiu and his brothers had taken refuge on a hill in Nama'unga, and the fighters

277

Page 293: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 136(C), 137

chasing them surrounded the hill and tried to make them surrender from lack of food and water.

5. hana mungi kaso: this technical term (literally, to shoot [with] reed behind) was demon- strated by Taupongi 1961. It means to put one arrow on the bowstring while holding another arrow as a reserve in the same hand that releases the first arrow.

ghinama: the name of a special type of steel axe brought to Bellona by the Bellonese who worked on the Queensland plantations at the end of the last century (Taupongi).

6. sungi e ia te mamiapu: an example of Tehaibakiu's strength. Bubulu te hua mamiapu: this tells about Tehaibakiu's generosity.

9. Nguatinihenua: The brothers on the hill had given sangu offerings of mats and other uten- sils to the god, Nguatinihenua (Genealogy 14), in the hope that he might help them to escape from the hill.

14. Tehaibakiu placed the sleeping mats so as to look as if people were sleeping under them. 16. Ngibauika: father of Puipuihenua (Namona). See N136(A).

Tongaka: Genealogy 7, G21. Kau faa tenge'ia: Taupongi explained that all the fighters were sleeping in a row, covered

by their mats. Tehaibakiu wanted to run down the row, hitting one after another. The brother was to follow killing the ones that had not already died.

17. Te ou tobigha: a salutation of respect. Taupongi said that Sangoihenua was of a more timid disposition than Tehaibakiu, and wanted to flee rather than kill the people at the bottom of the hill.

TM

137. Hakahitu Seven Times [Generation 21]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 15, 1959, and at Honolulu, July 1961. 1. Ko Nausu, te pengea o sa'a

Iho, ma Muia na taki na'a makau ki Matangi. Na'a makau a Nausu i te taa 'anga e Mu'akitangata, te pengea o Matangi, ia Tangokona ma tena hanau. 2. Kae na'a makau a Muia i te taa 'anga e Bibao, te pengea ma'u o Matangi, ia te ta- mana, a Taupongi. BUaabei ai a Nausu ma Muia o pa'asi o taa aano ki Matangi. 3. Hakahitu kinai ma te tao e tasi. Nimaa bengo ai taha- 'aki ai e Muia te pengea o totohi; ngiu te potu o te tao o pepe'e ai te 'ungu, i te kua pulu te tao.

4. Nimaa noho ake a Namona o sia hai ki te ngongo nei. Ma te tengeu'a ke 'angu e ia, nimaa to- kangua ana pengea e taa i Ghongau, ko Ngakei ma Namona. 5. Ma te boo ngatahi a Ghongau o taa ia Namona, ma te ta'u pengea noko ta'ia i Matangi. Kae eke a Nguatini- henua kia Pongi O1 taa e ia ia Tema- 'unga'uhi, ka te ma'aa o Pongi ma Sa'engeika, ka na manga e te 'atua noko eke kia Pongi.

1. Nausu, a man of the Iho clan, and Muia, each was at enmity with Matangi. Nausu was at enmity [with Matangi] be- cause Mu'akitangata, a man from Ma- tangi, killed Tangokona and his offspring. 2. And Muia was at enmity [with Mata- ngi] because Bibao, also a man from Ma- tangi, killed [his] father, Taupongi. Nausu and Muia met and united and [went] to kill in Matangi. 3. Seven times there with the same spear. Then Muia speared the last man with it, and broke [the spear]; [he] extracted the end of the spear and cracked the head [of the victim] with it, because the spear was short.

4. When Namona grew up [he] liked this story. And he planned to follow [it] up, and [accordingly] he killed two people in Ghongau, Ngakei and Namona. 5. And all of Ghongau went and killed Namona, and many people in Matangi were killed. And Nguatinihenua possessed Pongi and he [Pongi] killed Tema'unga- 'uhi, although [he] was the brother-in-law of Pongi and Sa'engeika, but it was the deity possessing Pongi [that killed Tema- 'unga'uhi].

278

Page 294: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

6. Nimaa hai ke sui tau'a a Ma- tangi, a sa'a Iho ma na pengea i Ghongau i ongatou pengea na taa e Ghongau. Ma te a'u a Moa o to'o mai e ia te mission. Ma te he'e ngiu'aki. Manga taa e Ngibauika ia Tingi'ia noko tungi tau'a ki Ma- tangi o sui kinai a tona 'ingaamutu Namona ma tona ma'aa, a Tema- 'unga'uhi. 7. Teenei te hai 'anga, he'e hengeu ai ni pengea i Matangi ma ni pengea i sa'a Iho, i te kaa he'ika'ika'aki ai i te me'a ngaa na pa'ahi tahi te tau'a a Ghongau ki Matangi i te a'u 'anga te mission.

TEXT 137

6. Then Matangi and the Iho clan and people of Ghongau were about to make a raid of revenge for their relatives whom the people of Ghongau had killed. And Moa came and he brought the mission. And [there was] no retaliation. Only Ngi- bauika killed Tingi'ia, who was leader of the raid against Matangi, and in this way revenged his nephew Namona and his brother-in-law Tema'unga'uhi. 7. This is the event which no one in Matangi and no one in the Iho clan talks about, as they will become angry, because the raid of Ghongau against Matangi was one- sided [not revenged] at the arrival of the mission.

NOTES 1-4 was given by Taupongi in 1959 and the remainder in 1961. The interest in this com-

plicated description lies mostly in the consequences of these successive raids. The story explains (1) why all the people of Bellona were hiding in the bush when Moa came with the news of Christianity in 1939 (T235[A]:78-99), and (2) the ill feelings of the people of the Iho clan and of the people of Matangi against Ghongau. This is still an important feature of the culture of Bellona. The reason for these ill feelings is that the Ghongau raid against Matangi was never avenged.

1. Nausu: Genealogy 9, G16. Muia: Plate 3, Hangekumi line, G16. Mu'akitangata: see Plate 3, Mataki'ubea line, G13. Tangokona: Genealogy 9, G13.

2. Bibao: Plate 3, Mataki'ubea line, G15. Taupongi: father of Muia, above; Plate 3, Hangekumi line, G15.

3. Hakahitu: seven times, or seven raids. te tao e tasi: they used the same spear every time. Like all spears used in fighting, it was

tipped with a human bone taken from an enemy. 4. Namona: Plate 3, Pangangiu line, G21.

Ngakei: Genealogy 4, Hangekumi line, G22. Namona: from Baitanga.

5. Taupongi said that not all the people were killed, only the more important ones. Nguatinihenua: or Nguatunihenua, a district god, son of Tehu'aingabenga. See Genea- logy 14.

279

Page 295: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 137, 138

Pongi: Genealogy 6, G21. Tema'unga'uhi: Plate 3, Mataki'ubea line, G20. Sa'engeika: Paul Sa'engeika (Genealogy 6, G21, and chapter 2). His sister Tebaisongo was

married to Tema'unga'uhi above. 6. Moa: See T235(A). Moa brought Christianity to Bellona in 1939.

Ngibauika: Genealogy 7, G21. Tingi'ia: Genealogy 5, Baitanga line, G21, TM

138. Taauga Medium [Generation 22?]

Gaamutu at Hutuna, RE. December 12, 1957. 1. Launatahi tamana o'oku noko

taauga. Hai te launatahi hakata- hinga ki te manaha te 'aso noko taauga. Launatahi 'atua tona ingoa Tehu'aigabenga. 2. Na pua i te launatahi manaha 'ona, noko hai e ia o sosopo, o hai o sosopo. O hiina'i kinai te 'apitanga o pegea; tu'ia ai na me'a noko he'e i te ma- naha omatou. A te paunga a te 'atua o hai o hiina'i kinai a kigatou, o kai 'aabaki a kimatou. 3. Namaa teegaa 'aso he'e kitea, kua baanimo e ia. Te 'aso ona haiteke ai, sa'u mai e ia te launatahi ga'akau o hakaiho i te me'a o sepe e ia. Te 'aso na hakatangi ai ko ia na nge- ngege, hakatau mai kimatou konei, he'e na pegea ka na haagiki ko ia na kago. 4. Te 'apitanga na masa- saki. Ko ia na magaohie. Te 'api- tanga na ma'ugi i te kua hetauaki e ia o gaoi. Te 'apitanga kigatou noko mangaongaohie ia te ia kua 'agoha. Te 'aso na 'agoha ai, ko kimatou na boo, ka hai ma'angatou kaui. Noko te gau tuuma'a i te matahitu.

1. One of my classificatory fathers was a medium. The settlement had a celebra- tion the day [he] acted as medium. A god, his name Tehu'aigabenga. 2. He made a betel nut tree appear in one of his settlements, made appear. All the people saw it; and so were astonished at these things that had not been before in our settlement. The power of the gods enabled them to look upon it, and we shared eating [of the betel]. 3. But one day [the betel tree] was not visible for he had made it vanish. So the day he [the god] was angry, he [medium] took a club and made [it] fall on a thing and he cut [it]. This time when [he] was angry he called, and we answered here, but there were no people, and malicious supernaturals had struck. 4. Most of the people became sick. He [the medium] was well. The people got well because he [medium] gave treatments [so they] were well. Most of them were grateful to him for [his] mercy. The day of mercy we went and caught them fish. There were one hundred and seventy.

NOTES I was visiting Hutuna and staying at District Headman Tegheta's new house, perched

on a hillock with a magnificent view of the lake. Gaamutu, wearing a tattered lavalava, came in and sat on the floor beside me. Taumoana suggested he tell a story. He spoke very fast and elliptically, using Bellonese ng often for Rennellese g. Taumoana helped with the difficult translation on December 14.

Later I discovered that the "classificatory father" of the story was Pongi of Bellona. (See T137.) Taupongi 1962 said that Sanga'eha, one of the most frequent visitors in the house, had as a medium also produced a betel tree, and that he had seen it. Taupongi had not seen the tree mentioned in this story.

2.'aabaki a kimatou: fast pronunciation of 'aabaki ia kimatou. 3. I had neglected to ask what thing had been cut down. Taumoana suggested a coconut tree

or banana; it was the god who did this, not the medium, and it showed the power of the god. 4. Taupongi 1961 thought the fish may have been flying fish. Ma'angatou (for them) should

probably be ma'amatou (for us). SE

280

Page 296: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 14. ANCESTORS OF THE IHO CLAN, BELLONA

The views and traditions of the small Iho clan are well represented in this volume because of the considerable number of stories given by Taupongi of Sa'aiho. This chapter, like the preceding ones, cannot claim to be a complete traditional history, and contains only those stories considered by the tellers to be of special importance. As elsewhere, it will be noted that stories about ancestors are often remembered because they served a social purpose in the society as it was until 1939 when Chris- tianity was introduced and the process of acculturation began. Examples of this are shown by T141 which establishes a special relationship between the people of Lu- ghu, Rennell, and the people of the Iho clan on Bellona; T142 stresses the superi- ority of the Iho clan in building tika. T143, T144, T145, and T146 emphasize the noble qualities of the great ancestor Tangokona and his six sons. T144 establishes the traditional ownership of a certain land. (In Tl33, in the previous chapter, rights to land are also justified by reference to events in the traditional history.)

139. Iho Iho [Generation 4]

Taupongi and Sanga'eha, both of Sa'aiho, BE. January 2, 1959. 1. Ko Iho, te pengea o sa'a Tau-

pongi. Na hai tena ta'u 'uhi o mata aano ke hai he hengiu'akinga ki Teuse; he'e ghali ke sa'u kinai te ngaguenga. Noko he'e ghali i te me'a ngaa noko tasi ngaguenga i konei, te ngaguenga noko to'o mai 'Ubea, tona ingoa ko Teuse. 2. Kae ghanga malubu te ta'u 'uhi a Iho. Hinake o sa'u iho ngu 'ana bengo ma ngu ana sua o hano ki Teuse. 3. Nimaa hinatu, e iai te tohanga a Ho'imata. Nimaa hakakite'aki ia Iho e singa ake, sa'u inai ngu 'ana bengo o hatuhatu, kae totohu atu i te kainanga o te nganguenga o hano. 4. Hinake a Iho o haka- tungou, aano kongaa na hakatu- ngou: "Ao, ko Teuse te ingoa o tou manga'e." Hakatungou ake ma'u: "Ao, ko Te'atumatangi, te ingoa o tou manga'e." Te'itoo 'ati e Iho te ingoa, o tonu kia Tehainga-

19*

1. Iho was a man of the Taupongi clan. He had many yams and waited to make the rituals at Teuse; [others] were not quick in handing over the temple to him. [They] were not quick because there was only one temple here, the temple brought from 'Ubea, its name being Teuse. 2. And the yams belonging to Iho started sprout- ing. [Iho] went and took down his two sacred tapas and two sacred paddles and went to Teuse. 3. When [he] came there Ho'imata was starting worship. When [he] saw Iho coming he took his two sacred tapas up and rolled [them] up and went out at the side of the temple grounds and went away. 4. Iho went in and started reciting the formula requesting permission to begin the ritual, and the formula was as follows: "Ao, Teuse is the name of your food offering [temple]." Recited also: "Ao, Te'atumatangi is the name of your food offering [temple]." Iho just gave the name, and [this] seemed proper to Te-

281

Page 297: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 139

'atua. Ma te hai ake a Tehainga- 'atua: "Ke noho i teengaa tomaa ha'itunga ma tupuna, ko Te'atuma- tangi."

5. A'u a Iho o kengi tena ta'u 'uhi o hai ai tana ahe 'uhi. Ngongo ai a Hu'aingupe i Mungaba, o tuku ongatou tobigha kia Kaitahitahi. 6. Kae boo mai te kainga, boo mai o kai aano ai, ngiu ki Mungaba. Noho ai te pengea i Sa'aiho. 7. Aano nimaa mimi ki te bai i mu'a Buni- pao, tutu'u mai na pengea o sa'a Iho o 'aatikitiki aano seseke iho te 'angengo o mate ai. Hai ai te sa'a Hu'aingupe te hakataakoto o sa'a Iho: te kakai 'anga he'e takatangia.

8. Nimaa sui a Ngongomangie te hosa o Iho o hai ma'u tena ta'u 'uhi noko ahe ma'u, noko hai ma'u tana sikiika. Noko kongaa na hai te sikiika: "U oko tuha! E ahe i te tinongahungu. E ahe i te tinonga- hungu. Mei bae i te tinongima, e ahe i te tinongima. Siki ma sau- ngaaaaa!"

9. Boo mai ma'u kinai te kainga mai te sa'a Kaitu'u ma Mungaba. Aano 'oti, maseu, kae noho a Puka, te hosa o Hu'aingupe, ma te taa e Iho i te tu'utu'u i Mananighapu. Ma te boo mai ai te sa'a Hu'aingupe mai Mungaba o haahaa e kingatou te sa'a Taupongi, o tenge ai a Sokoa ma tona unguungu o kakai ai i Angu o matingi ai. Aano 'eha hoki te sa'a Taupongi.

10. Nimaa 'atu iba te hanohano o Sokoa kia Hakatu'ukiu, te hosa o Tangokona. Punge aano tengatou tau'a. Hai 'atu a Tekape ke hohoa te 'ungu ke hano ia o pake a Ngua- niua, e kakai ai te sa'a Hu'aingupe. 11. Ma te tutu'u mai te tau'a o ha'a ngua te 'ungu, kae tuki tena

hainga'atua. And Tehainga'atua said: "Let this be [the name of] that house be- longing to me and the ancestors: Te'atu- matangi."

5. Iho came and he dug many yams and had a thousand pairs of yams. Hu'ai- ngupe [and his people] on Rennell heard about it and dedicated their buttocks to Kaitahitahi. 6. And the eaters [Hu'aingupe and his people] came, came and ate and then returned to Rennell. One person [of the Hu'aingupe clan] stayed in Sa'aiho. 7. When he pissed in the water hole in front of Bunipao [at Ahanga] the people of the Iho clan then tickled [him], and then his tongue came out and so he died. So then the Hu'aingupe clan made an insulting name for the Iho clan: the district where [strangers] do not come and stay.

8. Then Ngongomangie, the son of Iho, also had many yams, and there were again a thousand pairs of yams, and he also made his sikiika formula [to conclude a part of the harvest ritual]. The sikiika formula was as follows: "U oko sorted out! There are a hundred pairs of tens [100 baskets with ten pairs of yams in each]. There are a hundred pairs of tens. Take away fifty pairs, there are a hundred pairs with the [other] fifty pairs. Con- cluded and ah!"

9. Again the eaters [guests] from the Kaitu'u clan [on Bellona] and from Ren- nell came. Afterwards [they] left, but Puka, the son of Hu'aingupe, stayed, and Iho killed [him] at the small hill in Ma- nanighapu. And so the people of the Hu- 'aingupe clan came here from Rennell and grabbed [and killed] people of the Taupongi clan in the night, and Sokoa and his wife ran away and so lived in Angu and had children there. Then the Taupongi clan grew large again.

10. Then nine generations in Sokoa's line passed until [the time of] Hakatu'u- kiu, the son of Tangokona. They planned a fight. Tekape said that [they] should wound his [Tekape's] head so that he could go and play a trick upon the people of Nguaniua, where the Hu'aingupe clan lived. 11. And then the fighters came and

282

Page 298: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 139

'uu. Ma te mangepe hano ki Ngua- niua. Nimaa tatae kinai ma te hai 'atu te manaha: "Te pakenga!" Ma te haka'angi atu te 'ungu, ma tena 'uu kua tuki'ia. 12. Ma te too kinai. Nimaa poo haa te hano o Tekape, sa'ango pake, o hano ki mungi ai, manga sasanga he anga mo'o te tau'a. 13. Nimaa hinake sasa'o ki- nai. Ma te hai atu a Tekape: "Teengaa te anga o'outou. Te niu e too i Nguaniua ki Saukapoi." Hoki iho a Tekape o moe hakapingi ki te hakahua o te manaha. 14. Nimaa tatae iho te tau'a a Hakatu- 'ukiu, ma ona hai taina o taa te manaha. Tapatapa a Tekape o taa e ia te pengea noko moe kinai. 15. Boo te tau'a kae penapena e te toe o te manaha, aano 'oti. Kae tuku iho ko Tongonga, noko taukuka kua tenge. 16. Nimaa boo ake manga matohitohi te taukuka, i te anga ki 'angunga. Manga hai te ngau niu o hihingi kinai o tanu i te kua sa'ango.

split [Tekape's] head, and broke his bundle of spears. And [Tekape] went crying to Nguaniua. Then [he] came there, and people of the settlement said: "A trick!" And [he] showed his head and his bundle of spears that had been broken. 12. And [they] believed it. Then four nights after Tekape came, [he] pretended to have dysentery, and so went behind [to the place for defecation behind the settle- ment], and [he] just looked for a trail for the fighters. 13. Then [they] came and happened to meet. Tekape said: "There is your trail. The coconut tree has fallen in Nguaniua towards Saukapoi." Tekape went back down and slept near the chief of the settlement. 14. Then the fighters of Hakatu'ukui and his younger brothers came down and killed the people of the settlement. Tekape got up quickly and he killed the man sleeping near him. 15. The fighters went away, but the rest of the settlement [the survivors] wrapped up all [the corpses]. And [they] assumed that Tongonga, who was being tattooed with the taukuka [as the fighters attacked], had run away. 16. When [they] went [they found Tongonga], but the man with the taukuka had broken [bones and lay] on the road upland. [They] just took a coco- nut leaf and plaited [about] him and buried [him] because he was smelling.

NOTES The events in this story are regarded as some of the highlights of the history of the Taupongi

(Iho) clan; informants from this clan would very often refer to them. The last part of the story was told again by Taupongi 1961. This last version is given as T168. Although the wording is slightly different, the two accounts match very well and do not contain any inconsistencies.

1. Iho: Genealogy 9, G4. 2. ghanga malubu: the yams were ready for digging, but as people of another settlement

were using the temple for the harvest ceremonies, Iho could not start his own cycle of harvest rituals, which had to begin with the digging of the tubers. Iho had to wait and therefore his yams started sprouting.

hano ki Teuse: Teuse was at that time the only temple on Bellona shared by the people of all the clans.

3. Ho'imata: Genealogy 10, Tongo clan, G4. 4. Te'atumatangi: Iho here gave the new name Te'atumatangi to the temple Teuse that had

been brought from 'Ubea by Kaitu'u. This name was to be used forever after. Tu'utihenua, also called Baiango (Genealogy 9, Gil), first started a new temple, Ngangitapu, that was to be used exclusively by the Iho clan.

5. Hu'aingupe: Genealogy 8. Kaitahitahi: a Rennellese deity heard of only in this text. He helped worshippers empty

their bowels completely so that they would be able to eat more when they came to Bellona (Taupongi).

7. mimi: See N13:7. To pollute a waterhole by urinating in it was considered hu'aimaase'i (terribly bad; Taupongi). As a punishment, he was apparently tickled to death.

283

Page 299: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 139, 140

he'e takatangia: Taupongi 1961 explained this as figurative speech. The translation is uncertain.

8. Ngongomangie: Genealogy 9, G5. 9. Sokoa ma tona unguungu: See T140:3 and T141:l. Genealogy 9, G6. 10. Hakatu'ukiu: Genealogy 9, G14.

Tekape: Genealogy 10, Ngoha clan; see T168. 13. Te niu: See N272:5. TM

140. Hu'aingupe ina te Sa'a Taupongi

Hu'aingupe and the Taupongi Clan [Generation 6]

Tapuika of Ghongau, BE. January 7, 1959. 1. Ko Hu'aingupe, te pengea o te

sa'a Kaitu'u. Noko hai tona kano- manaha o mate tona ingoa ko sa'a Hu'aingupe. Te pengea o Mungaba. Ko Hu'aingupe na noho aano i Mungaba, ma te hai tena maanatu ke a'u te tau'a ki te sa'a Taupongi ma te sa'a Ngoha, noko i Mungiki nei, ke taa e ia. 2. Ka ko ia na kakabe tena tau'a o boo mai i na baka, o boo mai aano tatae mai ki Mungiki nei; o sahe i Tingoa, o boo mai i te anga tu'u o Mungiki o tatae ki Sa'aiho, o taa e kingatou te sa'a Taupongi o 'oti, i te me'a ngaa noko taa taangata ma te taa haahine ma te taa tamangiki o pau o 'oti.

3. Kae taa ma'u e kingatou a sa'a Ngoha; tongatou manaha ko Hange- bakatapu, o 'oti. Ka na tenge ai te hahine, tona ingoa ko 'Ungubai, o mumuni i te 'angopae.

4. Ka te tau'a a sa'a Hu'aingupe na iho ma'u ki Ahanga, o taa ma'u e kingatou te ngamanga. Ma te tenge ai te pengea, tona ingoa ko Sokoa. Ka te tau'a a sa'a Hu'aingu- pe na ngiu mai o sisinga ma'u i Hangebakatapu, o tutu ai e kinga- tou tongatou hange 'eha. 5. Kae mate e kingatou te ingoa o sa'a Iho, ko sa'a benga, ka ngiu mai ki Gho- ngau nei o he'e ngiu ki Mungaba, manga hai tongatou manaha o hakaingoa ko Nguaniua o kakai iai.

6. Ka tangatou tengeu'a ko sa'a Taupongi ma sa'a Ngoha kua taa

1. Hu'aingupe was a man of the Kaitu'u clan. He founded his district and called its people the Hu'aingupe clan. [He] was a Rennellese man. Hu'aingupe lived on Rennell but decided to come and fight against the Taupongi clan and the Ngoha clan who were here on Bellona, so that he could kill. 2. And he collected his warriors and [they] came in canoes, came and reached Bellona here; they went ashore at Tingoa and walked this way along the main trail of Bellona and reached Sa'aiho, and exterminated the Taupongi clan by killing men and killing women and killing children, and [the clan was] completely finished.

3. And they also killed the Ngoha clan; their settlement was Hangebakatapu. But a woman ran away from it, her name was 'Ungubai, and [she] hid in the bush behind the settlement [where women defecate].

4. And warriors of the Hu'aingupe clan went down to Ahanga again, and there they killed the people torch fishing. But a man there ran away, his name was Sokoa. And the warriors from the Hu'ai- ngupe clan returned and went again to Hangebakatapu where they set fire to their main house. 5. And they gave the Iho clan the name of the burned clan, and went into Ghongau district here and did not return to Rennell but made their settlement [in Ghongau] and called it Nguaniua, and lived there.

6. And their thought was that they had killed all the people of Taupongi [Iho]

284

Page 300: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 140

e kingatou o 'oti; 'ai kua 'oti a sa'a Taupongi, kae he'angiko te takanga i sa'a Ngoha, ko Sokoa ma tona unguungu a 'Ungubai. 7. Ka ko kingaaua na he'angiko o mumuni i te 'ana o mating! ai o hai te tama tangata ma tengaa tama'ahine, o kaunaki o nonoho, kae hai ma'u ngu angaa tama o nonoho ma'u, kae tau tama angaa tamangiki o taka ma'u. 8. Ka ko kingatou na 'eha ma te sosopo iho o kakai i Hangebakatapu i te me'a ngaa te manaha o te sa'a Ngoha. Ma te ngongo ai a sa'a Kaitu'u, o mate atu e kingatou te ingoa o te 'ana, noko mumuni ai Tekangingungu i te me'a ngaa kua taka ai na tau tuhahine. 9. O tatae mai ki na 'aso nei te taka na tau tuhahine o sa'a Ngoha, i te me'a ngaa ko sa'a Tau- pongi na taa e sa'a Hu'aingupe o 'oti. Ka te sa'a Ngoha te manga hanohano o tatae mai ki na 'aso nei, ka ko kingatou na mating! o hu'ai'eha to'a. 10. Ma te uhi i te ingoa sa'a Ngoha o ti'aki e kinga- tou, kae ngongoi ake ko kingatou ko sa'a Taupongi, ka ko sa'a Tau- pongi na hiti. Teengaa te hai 'anga he'e na'a ai he pengea tongatou hanohano.

11. Ka te sa'a Kaitu'u na hiina'i ki tangatou 'eha 'anga; ma te sia hai te tangata i Matangi, tona ingoa ko Hakasoaika, ke hai tau'a ma'u kinai. Ma te a'u o kakabe tena tau'a i Ghongau nei, o boo kingatou; taa'ia ma'u a sa'a Ngoha. 12. Ma te he'engiko ma'u ki mouku o mu- muni ai, ma te manga hai songo e te tau'a angatou me'a, noko i tonga- tou manaha i Matabaingei. 13. Kengi e kingatou ongatou tako- tonga kae tutu ona hange tanuma o tunu huti ai o kai, kae hitiko'i ma'u ki na takotonga kae hunge niu, ma te pani huti, ma te pani mamiapu kae pani tututahi ma te abu ango ma te abu 'umanga ma te tuki hange ma te tuki paito, kae hai tuhanga i ba'i me'a. 14. Kae mate

clan and Ngoha clan; and the Taupongi clan was, true enough, exterminated, but a married couple of Ngoha clan escaped, namely Sokoa and his wife, 'Ungubai. 7. They had run away and hidden in a cave and had children, had a boy and then a daughter, and [they] ordered them to mar- ry, and they had their two children, and [they] married too, and their children had children, and [they] also married. 8. And they became many and went down and lived in Hangebakatapu because [this] was the settlement of the Ngoha clan. And the Kaitu'u clan heard about it, and they called the cave in which they had been dwelling Tekangingungu (The- crevice-of-the-owl) because brothers and sisters had married each other there. 9. And the marriage of true brothers and sisters of the Ngoha clan goes on even today, because the Hu'aingupe clan had killed the whole Taupongi clan. And [it was] only the Ngoha clan that started a line that continues today, and they had offspring and became very many. 10. And they were ashamed of the name Ngoha clan, and they gave [it] up, and they pre- tended to be the Taupongi clan, but the Taupongi clan had died out. This is the reason why no one knows their genealogy.

11. And the Kaitu'u clan saw their increasing [the Ngoha clan], and a man from Matangi, his name was Hakasoaika, wanted to fight against them again. And [he] came and collected his warriors here in Ghongau, and they went off, and people of the Ngoha clan were killed again. 12. And [some] fled again into the bush where [they] hid, and the fighters then destroyed their belongings that were in their settlement, Matabaingei. 13. They dug out their graves and set fire to the houses over the graves and roasted ba- nanas there, and ate and defecated too on the graves and felled coconut trees and cut down banana trees and felled papaya trees and felled tututahi trees [used to make tapa], and pulled up turmeric roots and pulled up gardens and destroyed houses and destroyed kitchen

285

Page 301: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 140, 141

ake ma'u e kingatou a ngango ko sa'a benga.

houses and divided everything [among themselves]. 14. And again they called the west [end] the burned clan.

NOTES When Taupongi dictated the immigration story (T66), Tapuika was present (see N126). He

seemed offended by Taupongi's account. This had several effects. One of them is mentioned in N126. The other was that he, aided by Paul Sa'engeika, told this story, in which it is claimed that the people of the Taupongi clan were really descendants of Ngoha, another of the immi- grants, and that all the members of the Taupongi clan had been killed by Hu'aingupe.

When telling the immigration story (see N66), Tapuika also included the story about Sokoa and 'Ungubai, but did not mention that they belonged to the Ngoha clan. When questioned about this, Tapuika said that he did not know this at that time, but Paul Sa'engeika had told him later. Paul verified this, and said that this was the tradition of old (mai ngaa 'aso) among the people of Ghongau.

This text was the only one not worked over with Taupongi 1961 for fear that it might make him angry at the Kaitu'u clan.

I. Hu'aingupe: Genealogy 8. Ngoha: Genealogy 10.

3. Hangebakatapu: now in the district of the Iho clan. 'Ungubai: See T141.

4. Sokoa: Genealogy 9, G6.

7. See T66:69 and N66:69. 8. Tekangingungu: Sokoa, 'Ungubai, and their descendants stayed in the cave all day and

went out only at night, as owls do, for fear of being seen by people of the Kaitu'u clan (Ta- puika).

II. Hakasoaika: Plate 3, Pangangiu line, G17. 13. mamiapu: The English mammy apple (papaya) was first brought to Bellona from Queens-

land (or New Zealand) by two men, Teaghoa and Maukumi. The latter was an old man when Paul Sa'engeika's father was a boy. This means that he probably lived some time in the second half of the 19th century. Apparently there is a minor inconsistency in Tapuika's account. There were probably no papayas on Bellona at the time of Hakasoaika. I jokingly made a remark to this effect to Tapuika, and he laughed and asked me to delete the sentence.

TM

141. Tekingingongo Tekingingongo [Generation 6]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, July 1961. 1. Ko Tekingingongo, te tama

'ungu matu'a a 'Ungubai, te hahine mai Lughu, noko pipiki e Sokoa. Na hano a Tekingingongo ki tona tau pengea noko i Lughu. Teengaa te kunga noko iai tona tau pengea, ko Laningaghi, te kunga o Tehaka- tu'u. 2. Noko hano a Tekingingo- ngo o noho ai, aano hai ai tona unguungu, hai tona hosa o haka- ingoa Tengoghamatu'a. 3. Noko tokangua ona hosa noko hai. Noho- 'aki aano i Lughu, mate ai a Te- kingingongo. Tuku e tona tau pe- ngea ma ngu 'ona hosa ki te tai.

1. Tekingingongo was the first-born child of 'Ungubai, the woman of Lughu [Rennell] whom Sokoa married. Teki- ngingongo went to the people of his mother's line in Lughu. This is the place where his mother's line lived, Laningaghi, the place belonging to Tehakatu'u. 2. Tekingingongo went and stayed there and took his wife there, had his son named Tengoghamatu'a. 3. He had two sons. [They] grew up in Lughu, and there Teki- ngingongo died. His mother's line and his two sons set [him] to sea. And the wrapped corpse went and landed at Ahanga on Bellona. When the younger brothers of

286

Page 302: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 141

Ma te hano te peenanga o sahe i Ahanga i Mungiki. Nimaa boo iho na taina o Tekingingongo ki Aha- nga, te peenanga e sahe ake.

4. Nimaa huhuke ake e kingatou ke hiina'i ki te tino a te pengea. Ko tongatou ta'okete noko i Lughu. Ma te mangengepe ai ma te tauhaa'i ai. Ma te penapena hakahoki e kingatou o uta i te baka o to'o e kingatou o tuku ki te tai.

5. Kae ngiu ake, nimaa tau te baka sosopo ki taha i te baka, kae ha'a ngua kingatou te baka, ma te hakaneke ake ki ongatou manaha o hunge ma te hakatauhaa'i ongatou hange. Hiina'i aano; nimaa eke te matakitaki, tau te hongau mai Lu- ghu, ko ngua hosa o Tekingingongo ma na pengea mai Lughu. 6. E boo mai te piikinga ki sa'a Iho ia Te- kingingongo kua mate. Nimaa tatae mai te hongau ki sa'a Iho, manga tu'u ai te ta'u pengea tauhaa'i, ma te bilaabei te 'api o Tekingingongo ma ngu hosa o Tekingingongo, noko boo mai mai Lughu o hetuku'ango- ngoha'aki. 7. Ma te hai atu ngua hosa o Tekingingongo ko tongaa tamana kua mate, o tuku e kingaaua ki te tai. Ma te hai atu na taina o Tekingingongo: "Songi oungua to- bigha. Ko toungua tamana ku a'u o hakakite te tino kia te kimatou. Kae to'o e kimatou o tuku haka- hoki ki te tai. Ko kimatou te ma noho'aki mangangepe ai nei." 8. Ma te na'a e ngu hosa o Tekingingongo ko tongaa tamana kua a'u o sahe i Ahanga. Ma te ngiu te hongau mai Mungaba, kae noho'aki a Tengo^ ghamatu'a ma te taina i sa'a Iho. Teenei te hetu'utaki'akinga a sa'a Iho ma Lughu, noko hai.

9. Aano to'o mai ai e sa'a Iho te toko ghau mai Lughu o manga a'ango soko ai a sa'a Iho, ka he'e a'ango he pengea i Mungiki.

10. To'o mai ma'u ai e kingatou te ingoa Kaitu'u mai Lughu o ingoa kinai a Kaitu'u, e takoto i Temanu.

Tekingingongo went down to Ahanga, the wrapped corpse drifted up.

4. Then they opened [it] to examine the body of the person. It was their older brother who had been at Lughu. And so [they] mourned and shaved their heads. And they wrapped [the corpse] again and put [it] in a canoe and they took [it] and set to sea.

5. And [they] returned, and when the canoe landed [they] got out of the canoe, and they cut the canoe in two, and went up to their settlement and felled [trees] and cut a hole in the roof of their house. [They] stayed; and when the [calm] mata- kitaki months came, a group of voyagers from Lughu landed, the two sons of Teki- ngingongo and the people from Lughu. 6. [They] came to bring the news to the Iho clan that Tekingingongo had died. When the voyagers reached the Iho clan, there the people were with heads shaved [in mourning], and Tekingingongo's broth- ers and the two sons of Tekingingongo who had come here from Lughu met and [embraced, wailed, and pressed noses]. 7. And the two sons of Tekingingongo said that their father had died and they had set [him] to sea. And the younger brothers of Tekingingongo said: "[We] press noses against the entrails of you two. Your father came and showed [his] body to us. We took [him] and set him to sea again. We remain mourning for him." 8. And the two sons of Tekingingongo knew that their father had gone and landed at Ahanga. And the voyagers from Rennell returned, but Tengoghamatu'a and his younger brother stayed in the Iho clan. This is the point of connection between the Iho clan and the people of Lughu.

9. Then the Iho clan brought the bent stick [shark hook] from Lughu, and only the Iho clan caught sharks with it, and [other] people on Bellona did not catch sharks.

10. They also brought the name Kai- tu'u from Lughu, and gave the name to Kaitu'u, who is buried in Temanu. The

287

Page 303: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 141, 142

Teengaa te ingoa, noko to'o mai e kingatou te Kaitu'umatu'a noko i Laningaghi.

11. Ko 'Ungubai e he'e na'a e he pengea, po tehea te ingoa o tona tamana, ka manga na'a e sa'a Iho te hahine mai Lughu. Teengaa taku tengeu'a e hai kinai, te tama'ahine a Kaitu'umatu'a, i te noko to'o mai e kingatou te ingoa Kaitu'u ki sa'a Iho. Ka ko Kaitu'umatu'a ma So- koa, noko pipiki e ia a 'Ungubai; e 'atu ma na Ngatonga. Teenei te hai 'anga e tengeu'ake ai au, te tama'ahine a Kaitu'umatu'a, ko 'Ungubai.

12. Ko Ngiungata'a ma Soama- ngongenga noko he'e na'a ongatou ingoa. Ka na manga eke te ngasue- nga o hongahonga ongaa ingoa. loo na'a e Mungiki ngu ingoa o ngua pengea.

other name they brought is Kaitu'umatu'a, who lived in Laningaghi.

11. As for 'Ungubai, no people know what the name of her father was, and the Iho clan just knows [she was] a woman from Lughu. These are my thoughts about it, [that she was] the daughter of Kaitu- 'umatu'a, because they brought the name Kaitu'u to the Iho clan. As for Kaitu'u- matu'a and Sokoa, he [Sokoa] married 'Ungubai; [they] are in generation [close to] the Ngatonga. This is the reason why I think that 'Ungubai was the daughter of Kaitu'umatu'a.

12. As for Ngiungata'a and Soama- ngongenga, their names were not known. And then the district deity possessed [individuals] and revealed their names. Then Bellona knew the two names of the two persons.

NOTES This tale was given during a discussion of genealogies with Taupongi 1961. Members of the

Iho clan had told me on Bellona that the corpse of Tekingingongo had floated to Bellona from Rennell.

I. Sokoa: Genealogy 9, G6. Laningaghi: settlement in the bush near Lughu Bay, between Kagaba and Labagu, Rennell;

Rennellese, Lanighaghi. 3. The term "brother" herein includes male cousins. 4. tauhaa'i: to shave the hair, when in mourning, from the forehead upwards to the middle

of the scalp, leaving the hair long at the back. 5. hunge ma te hakatauhaa'i ongatou hange: The trees in front of the settlement were felled

and a semicircular hole cut in the roof of the house, above the baenga (front), as a sign of mourning.

eke te matakitaki: The months with the name matakitaki (November—February) are the season with calm spells and therefore the period when voyages between Rennell and Bellona took place.

7. entrails: N136(C):17. 9. Many people of the Iho clan were experts in shark fishing (a'ango, Rennell a'ago); I

obtained the best account of shark rituals from a member of this clan. 10. Kaitu'u: Taupongi 1961 firmly denied that the Iho people named Kaitu'u had been

named for Kaitu'u the first immigrant, whom they despised. II. This is an example of Taupongi's honesty as an informant. He always stated when his

account reflected his own thoughts, so as to distinguish them from beliefs generally accepted by other people on Bellona.

12. This paragraph was added when I asked about the first people of the Iho clan. Taupongi said that nobody knew anything about them, and that their names were only told people by mediums. Compare this with the account of Hu'aingupe (T140).

Ngiungata'a: Genealogy 9, G2. Soamangongenga: Genealogy 9, G3. TM

142. Te Tika The Tika [Generation II]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, September 1960. 1. Te tika babange a tamangiki 1. Children played the tika; [they] dug

na kengi i te ha'itotoka i Ngeke- [the playing ground] in front of [the settle-

288

Page 304: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 142, 143

ngeke. Ma te hinaiho a Tamama'o, te pengea o te sa'a Taupongi, o ina aano kinai. Ma te ngibau e ia ma te hai iho a te tamana: "loo te maatu'a manga sia tika!" 2. Ma te boo te sa'a Taupongi o kengi tengatou tika o hakaingoa te tika i Tangiu. Noko manga ngiu 'atua ai ma'u kia Tehainga'atua, ka kua he'e na'a ona kupu ngiu 'atua.

3. Te tika i Namo ta'a Tangubai, te pengea o sa'a Tongo. Noko tukua ai tana sasabe mea.

4. Ka te tika i Telaunga ta'a Te- bai, te pengea o Matangi (sa'a Kai- tu'u).

ment] Ngekengeke. And Tamama'o, a man of the Taupongi clan, went down and looked at it. And he shouted "Ooooho" in pleasure, and [his] father said: "So the grownup likes tika!" 2. And the Taupongi clan went and dug their tika course and called the tika course Tangiu. They also worshipped Tehainga'atua there, but the words of worship are not known.

3. The tika in Namo was that belonging to Tangubai, a man of the Tongo clan. He was there promised his golden flying fish.

4. But the tika in Telaunga was that belonging to Tebai, a man from Matangi (Kaitu'u clan).

NOTES There are three places on the main trail through Bellona where informants said that a game

named tika was played in former days. Unlike other tika games of Polynesia, the one on Bellona was said to be part of a certain ritual and was played with bows and arrows. After an invo- cation to Tehainga'atua, one man shot an arrow along the path, and another man raced the arrow, which would stop in the middle of the air and wait for the man if the praying had been successful. If not, the arrow would fall to the ground. This information was furnished by various informants on Bellona and confirmed by Taupongi 1961. The game was played for only two or three generations after Tamama'o and then forgotten. This account credits the Taupongi clan with having made the first tika for grownups. Such information was not given by members of the Kaitu'u clan.

1. Tamama'o: Genealogy 9, Gil. 3. Tangubai received a large catch of sasabe mea (flying fish with golden scales) as a reward

for a well-conducted ritual for Sikingimoemoe at the tika. The golden flying fish is commonly caught at Rennell.

4. Tebai: same as Mu'akitangata. Plate 3, Mataki'ubea line, G13. TM

143. 'Utangei Whale 'Utangei [Generation 13]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. February 1959. 1. Ko Tangokona ma tena hanau

na pengea o te sa'a Taupongi. Na taukuka ngatahi. Singa ai aano a Tangokona ia tena hanau, ku ma sinu ngatahi pe na tahonga'a. 2. Ma te hatu kinai tana 'ungu. E kongaa na hai te 'ungu:

3. Aku tama ko 'asoa 'utangei hange ki he ika i te bao. Eie ie oo. Hengue ngukuina.

4. Kua maaua i te nuku nei, maa- ngama na henua poo e.

5. Kua sikitia i te nuku nei, maa- ngama na henua poo eee.

1. Tangokona and his descendants were people of the Taupongi clan. All had the taukuka tattoo. Tangokona was proud of his offspring, who were completely bluish- black and shining like whales. 2. And [he] composed his opening chant and dance. The opening chant and dance were as fol- lows:

3. My sons are two 'utangei whales, a sort of fish in the vast sea. Eie ie oo. [I] created, collected [many descendants]!

4. Passed away in this abode, radiant were the lands with the [shining] darkness.

5. Finished in this abode, radiant were the lands with the [shining] darkness.

289

Page 305: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 143, 144

NOTES Taupongi gave this account just before we were to leave Bellona. We worked it over in

July 1961. 1. Tangokona (Taaikangongo, Genealogy 9, G13) had six sons, five of whom were killed in

wars. They were all said to have been completely covered with tattooing; even their faces were black like the tongahiti (Melanesians). The color of the skin was like that of a whale or por- poise.

3. 'utangei: a type of large whale. Not seen by Taupongi. bao: poetic for baa. Eie ie oo. Hengue ngukuina: A sort of umenge (chorus), here not repeated after each

tautau (verse). Hengue is poetic for ngangue (make ready, prepare). Nguku is to go and collect food or wood in the bush; here, figuratively, creating a great number of descendants (Tau- pongi).

4. maaua: to die after a long sickness; figuratively, any death. nuku: abode; here, Bellona. maangama na henua poo: Tangokona says that the black tattoo of his sons was shining,

spreading radiance and fame over Rennell and Bellona. TM

144. Noho Ngua Two Spouses [Generation 14]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 4, 1959. Ko Teaai te tama'ahine a Hu-

'aitengaa, noko i Temanu. Noko pipiki e Sau'eha ma te tamana, a Tangokona (sa'a Taupongi). Noko boo te usunga ki te ta'u me'a a te sa'a Kaitu'u i 'Angohi. Nimaa 'oti, ngiu mai. Nimaa hetae mai ki mu'a Matabaingei, singa a Sau'eha i tona manaha i Teutua. Kae hai atu a Sau'eha kia Teaai: "Singa tata'o atu ia Tangokona ki Matabaingei." Ma te sa'u ake e Tangokona te tu'u niho peka o 'abatu kia Sau'eha. Kae tu'u ngua ma'u e ia a mu'a Mata- baingei o noho iho ki mu'a Teutua, te manaha o Sau'eha.

Teaai was the daughter of Hu'aitengaa, who was from Temanu. Sau'eha and his father, Tangokona (Taupongi clan), mar- ried her. [They] went as guests to the ritual feast of the Kaitu'u clan in 'Angohi. After having finished, [they] returned. When [they] arrived here at the front [part] of Matabaingei, Sau'eha went up to his settlement in Teutua. And Sau'eha said to Teaai: "Go on, follow Tangokona to Matabaingei." And Tangokona took off the necklace of flying fox teeth and gave [it] to Sau'eha. And, further, he divided his front [part] of Matabaingei in two, and [it] belonged to the front [part] of Teutua, Sau'eha's settlement.

NOTES This story was told as a supplement to genealogies given by Tamua and others of the Tau-

pongi clan. It explains the fact that the land between the main trail and Matabaingei settle- ment is owned by Teutua, the settlement on the other side of the trail. Taupongi said it was unusual to give land to others as a sign of gratitude, and that this is why this incident is re- membered.

Hu'aitengaa: Genealogy 9, G13. His father, Kaitu'u, was of the Taupongi clan but broke away and founded his own small district (kanomanaha) in Temanu settlement inside the district of the Taupongi clan.

The Taupongi clan was exogamous, but as Temanu had established itself as a separate district, members of the two districts could intermarry.

Tangokona: N143:l. Sau'eha: one of the six sons of Tangokona.

TM

290

Page 306: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 145, 146(A)

145. Mango Tahi Dyed Loincloth [Generations 13, 14]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959.

Te hengiu'akinga noko hai i Ba- ghani, te manaha o te sa'a Kaitu'u, o tenge ngongo i te sa'a Taupongi. Usu mai kinai a Tangokona ma tena hanau, noko huhuna me'a tahi ngatahi. Mousongonga ai. Aano nimaa maseu te hakatahinga, ka hakahoki te usunga me'a tahi, noko boo mai sa'a Iho. Tatanga te me'a tahi o Tangokona, o tuku i Ba- ghani, kae ngiu ma tena hanau.

Baghani, the settlement belonging to the Kaitu'u clan, performed rituals and sent for the Taupongi clan. Tangokona and his sons came as guests, all dressed in loincloths dyed with turmeric. And there was great merriment because of this. Then the guests of the feast left, and the guests who had come from the Iho clan with dyed garments returned. Tangokona took off the dyed garments and left [them] in Baghani, and returned with his sons.

NOTES Tangokona and his six sons (Genealogy 9, G13, G14 and T143—147) were famous for their tattooing. One son, Tamua, was especially handsome (T146). In this story they dress better than others, and give a fine gift of loincloths dyed with turmeric to the people of Baghani settlement in Ghongau district.

TM 146. Tamua Tamua [Generation 14]

(A) Taupongi, Naiham Tamua, and others of Sa'aiho, BE. January 4, 1959.

1. Ko Tamua noko kaukau i te bai 'angiki. Nimaa haa ai o ngaoi O ngongosia ki Mungaba. Boo mai kinai te maatanga mai Tengano, ma te hai ake te hahine, tona ingoa ko Pita: "Kau tata'o mai o kite i te mangu o Tamua." Nimaa boo mai te lango 'anga o sisinga ake i Mata- baingei. 2. Sosopo hakatau mai te hanau a Tangokona. Kae hakaanu- anu te lango 'anga o hai ake: "Tee- ngaa Tamua?" 3. Hai ake na pe- ngea: "Si'ai." Nimaa sopo mai a Tamua, kua 'ui'ui na tanginga, ma te tatanga te kongoa tahi nokohuna ai, kae unuunu ona lingo, ma te manga hai te ha'u kie o sopo mai. 4. Ma te hakakite'aki ia Tamua ma te boo iho te hongau o ngigho e kingatou o hiina'i kinai, ma te kake a Pita i te nga'akau o ina iho kinai, i te kua he'e tau kunga ke inai. 5.Ma te tau'i e Tamua a Pita i te tu'u ngagho.

1. Tamua bathed in the water of the chiefs. [He] was then born and was hand-some, and the fame spread to Rennell. Spectators from the Lake came to him, and a woman, her name was Pita, said: "I'm coming too and shall look at Ta-mua's splendor." Then the travelers arrived here and went up to Matabaingei. Tangokona's sons came out one by one. And the travelers asked and said: "Is that one Tamua?" 3. The people said: "No." Then Tamua came, and he had taken off his turtle-shell earrings and had changed the tapa dyed with turmeric which he had been wearing, and had taken off his armlets and had put on merely a turban of kie leaves and came forth. 4. [People] discovered Tamua, and the travelers went down [to him] and gathered round him, and they looked upon him, and Pita climbed up into a tree and looked down at him, because there was no place from which to look at him. 5. And Tamua paid Pita a shell necklace.

291

Page 307: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 146(A), 146(B), 147

NOTES Tamua was, as were all the sons of Tangokona, tattooed with the taukuka pattern (see T143). 1. te bai 'angiki: See T162. 3. Taupongi explained that Tamua took off his finery because he did not want to be re-

cognized. The richness of the language is shown by three words meaning "take off." 4. inai: ina ai. 5. Ma te tau'i: Tamua showed his appreciation of Pita's eagerness to see him by presenting

her with a necklace. He did not want to marry her, Taupongi 1961 said, but added dryly, as an afterthought: Kae mono e hai sini (But perhaps [they] sinned).

TM

(B) Sengeika of BE. April 16, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a kia Tamua, te

pengea o te sa'a Taupongi, noko ngaoi, ka noko 'eha pengea i Mu- ngaba noko sia hai ke boo mai o hiina'i kinai. 2. Ka noko sia hai ma'u te hahine ke a'u o ina kinai. Te ingoa o te hahine ko Pita. Boo mai o tau i Tingoa, ma te boo mai o hetae mai ki te manaha, o Tane- ka. 3. Ma te ngongo a Tamua i na pengea e boo mai ke hiina'i kia te ia, ma te nguka oname'a ngaoi noko huna ai, kae huna i te me'a mease'i, o hano ki te hakaputunga. 4. Hano hetae ki te manaha, ma te sa'aki te hakaputunga o tutu'u o hiina'i kinai. 5. Ma te he'e tau kunga te hahine ke ina ai kia Tamua, ma te kake te nga'akau, o ina mai ia Tamua, ma te 'ika'ika te unguungu o Tamua. Hai atu te unguungu o Tamua: "Ke noho'aki, 'ai e tutumata na tobi- gha!" 6. Ma te 'oti, kae hano huu a Tamua o to'o e ia te tu'u ngagho o 'abange huu kia Pita. Kua 'oti.

1. The story of Tamua, a person of the Taupongi clan who was handsome, and many people on Rennell wanted to come and look at him. 2. A woman also wanted to come and look at him. The name of the woman was Pita. [She] came and landed at Tingoa, and came and reached Taneka settlement. 3. Tamua heard of the people who had come to see him, and took off his fine loincloth that he was wearing, and put on a bad one, and went to the assembly. 4. [He] came and reached the settlement, and everyone in the as- sembly stood looking at him. 5. There was no place to look at Tamua, and [Pita] climbed a tree and looked at Ta- mua, and Tamua's wife became angry. Tamua's wife said [to Pita]: "Stay there and [everyone] will stare at your but- tocks!" 6. After [this], Tamua went away secretly and he got a shell necklace and secretly gave to Pita. Just finished.

NOTES 1. SE: "What was handsome about him?" Sengeika: "Good-looking face, body, and hair."

SE: "Why did he put on the bad loincloth?" Sengeika: "He was embarrassed by so many people coming to look at him."

SE

147. Te Hange Mangu The House of Refuge [Generations 13,14]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 25, 1959. 1. Te hange mangu noko i Mata-

baingei, te hange mangu o Tango- kona ma tena hanau, na pengea o

1. The house of refuge was in Mata- baingei, the house of refuge belonging to Tangokona and his descendants, the peo-

292

Page 308: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 147

te sa'a Taupongi. Noko taa'ia na manaha aano hetae ki na manaha e pata ai. Boo he'e sosopo mai ki Matabaingei; nimaa taa'ia te mana- ha, tenge ai te pengea ki Mata- baingei, he'e taa'ia.

2. Nimaa ko Mu'akitangata, te pengea o Matangi, hakagongo ki te kupu a te hahine i Mungaba noko kongaa na to'o: "Ko ai ngaa kaa ngo ebe e ia te hange mangu i Ma- tabaingei e ngongosia, ko pengea po ko 'atua?"

3. Ma te hakangongo kinai a Mu'akitangata. Hoki mai mai Mu- ngaba ki Mungiki, o toghi ona ingi, 0 to'o mai kia Hakatu'ukiu te hakasoko, o hihingi e ia o 'abange kia tona unguungu, o to'ake o baalui. 4. Hai ake a Hakatu'ukiu kia tona unguungu: "Nganganga iho ki na ingi o Tebai, na'e kitai benga." 'Ai manga ngepo ake kinai a Mu'akitangata, o hakangongo ake kinai. Nimaa momoe a Hakatu'ukiu ma te taina a Binanga i Teghaighai, hinake ia o taa. 5. Te'itoo ngepe'ia te hange mangu o taa'ia. Noko he'e taa e ia i he hai 'anga ka noko sia hai ngongo, ma te 'ita o taa e ia ia ona hai taina. Tongatou 'api, i te me'a ngaa na pengea tutu'u ngatahi 1 Hatangua.

ple of the Taupongi clan. The people of the settlements were killed, even those of the settlement next to it. [Killers] came but not to Matabaingei; when a settlement was attacked and a person fled from it to Matabaingei, he was not killed.

2. But then Mu'akitangata, a man from Matangi, heard the words of a woman on Rennell, which were as follows: "Who is he that will destroy the famous house of refuge in Matabaingei, man or god?"

3. And Mu'akitangata heard it. [He] returned from Rennell to Bellona, and cut [coconut leaves for] his fans and brought [them] to Hakatu'ukiu as a thing for preparation, and he plaited and handed over [the fans] to his wife, and [she] took them up and dried [them]. 4. Hakatu'ukiu said to his wife: "Be careful with the fans belonging to Tebai, or [they] might burn." But Mu'akitangata just hid nearby and listened to them. When Hakatu'ukiu and his younger brother Binanga slept in Te- ghaighai, he [Mu'akitangata] went up and killed [them]. 5. In this moment the house of refuge was destroyed, and [the people] were killed. He [Mu'akitangata] did not kill for any [specific] reason, but wanted to become famous, and was jealous, and he killed his [two] younger brothers. [He] was their brother in their mother's line, as [the mother's] people had a common origin at Hatangua.

NOTES I

Taupongi dictated this account but was interrupted, and he was not able to explain the text until 1961 in Honolulu.

1. Te hange mangu: Taupongi said that this house of refuge was not a specific house in Matabaingei settlement, but a name given to the whole settlement and its people because none of them had been killed in fights for generations. This created a tradition that peace prevailed in Matabaingei. This tradition was so strong that people from other settlements in Sa'aiho fled to Matabaingei to seek protection.

Tangokona ma tena hanau: Genealogy 9, G13, G14. 2. Mu'akitangata: variant name, Tebai; Plate 3, Mataki'ubea line G13. 3. Hakatu'ukiu: Genealogy 9, G14.

hakasoko: to give a thing to another person for preparation. When visiting other settle- ments it was a sign of friendship to bring coconut leaves, pieces of wood, or other items, and ask one's host to make, for instance, a comb or a fan. The finished objects would then be given to the guest (Taupongi 1961).

4. Mu'akitangata hears what Hakatu'ukiu says and knows that the wife will watch the fire drying the fans all night, and that Hakatu'ukiu will give him the fans the next day, and so he

293

Page 309: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 147, 148(A), 148(B)

will have to return to Matangi district. He therefore decides to kill Hakaiu'ukiu that very night (Taupongi 1961).

Binanga: Genealogy 9, G14. 5. na pengea tutu'u ngatahi i Hatangua: Taupongi 1961 said that Hakatu'ukiu's mother was

the older sister of Mu'akitangata's mother. Both women came from Hatangua settlement in Ghongau district. Their names and genealogies were not known.

TM II

Basiana, on Bellona, April 16, 1958, gave a one-page description of how Mu'akitangata, a fighter (tangata hai tau'a), met an unnamed woman of the Tanga clan gathering oven leaves near Taneka, Bellona. Ngiu kinai e Mu'akitangata te too ki te hahine o mimigo, kae sigi a Mu'akitangata ki te manaha (Mu'akitangata turned his spear on her, on the woman, and the woman was frightened and shrank back, and Mu'akitangata passed by and on to the settlement). He then killed seven men in the settlement in a single day.

SE

148. Tahaki Tahaki [Generation 14]

(A) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. April 12, 1958. Ko Tahaki noko hai uka, huhuti

tena bangukango o tenge hakahitu, ka manga tahea a Kongoata, he'e 'aabaki kinai. Ma te hano te kaui, ma te hakatangi a Tahaki, o hinake o kakahi hakahitu ki Kongoata i te ngaghi i te tenge hakahitu 'anga te kaui, ka manga tahehea a Kongoa- ta. Kua 'oti.

Tahaki was letting out line and pulling in his skipjack fish, and let out [the line] seven times, and the Kongoata people just drifted and didn't help him. The fish got away and Tahaki complained, and went and challenged and fought the Kongoata people seven times because of the letting the fish run out seven times, and the Kongoata people just drifted. Just finished.

NOTES In 1961 Taupongi wanted to change the tahea in the first sentence to tahehea as a more re-

spectable indicator of continued drifting by several persons. He located Tahaki as being in the 14th generation of the Taupongi line (Genealogy 9).

SE

(B) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, February 1959. Ko Tahaki te pengea o Temanu,

na boo ma na pengea mai Kongoata o ma'anu aano i ongatou baka o hakatu'u ongatou uka 'eha. Ma te 'osohia te uka 'eha o Tahaki, huhu- ti, aano tenge hakahitu, kae hano. He'e 'aabaki kinai he pengea mai Kongoata. Tka'ika a Tahaki o hina- ke o kakahi hakahitu ai ki Kongoa- ta, o ngiu'aki ai tana kaui kua hano.

Tahaki, a man of Temanu [settlement], went with people from Kongoata, and they drifted in their canoes, and dropped their long lines. And the long line be- longing to Tahaki was taken [by a fish, and Tahaki] pulled and [the fish] ran seven times [with the hook and line] and got away. And nobody from Kongoata helped him. Tahaki became angry and went and challenged the people of Kongoata seven times to fight, and in this way paid back for the fish that got away.

294

Page 310: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 148(B), 149

NOTES This story was dictated to Taupongi by his father, Temoa. It is an example of the elliptic

style used by some tellers, a style that makes the tales difficult for outsiders to understand, and calls for many bracketed insertions in its translation.

Here Taupongi, as he so often did, chose a single abstract word as the story title, rather than the name of the principal character (others referred to the story in this way); his choice here was kakahi (to challenge a people to verbal duels, wrestling, boxing, fighting with sticks, but not killing; Taupongi 1961).

Temanu: a small kanomanaha (district) in Sa'aiho. See N144. Kongoata: a settlement in Sa'aiho. Its chief was Ba'ia (Genealogy 9, G14).

T M

149. Ngua Tau'a Two Fighters [Generation 16]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, August 3, 1961. 1. Ko Nausu te pengea o sa'a

Iho, ma Teosi te pengea o te sa'a Hu'aingupe. Na hesosopo'aki ngu 'angaa tau'a i Hataangenga o tau ai ngua tau'a. Kae hakangahi a Nausu i te siisaki hange o te hange noko i te manaha. 2. Nimaa hakae'a iho te ngima o Nausu, te ngima sema; noko siko ai tona tao, ke bengo ai ia Teosi. Hinake te tao o Teosi, hakangahi hoki a Nausu. Nimaa hakae'a hoki iho e bengo ake ma'u te tao o Teosi. Hakangahi hoki, singi te tao o Teosi. Nimaa hakae'a hoki te ngima o Nausu, tu'u te tao o Teosi i te ngima sema o Nausu. 3. Ma te tiketike a Nausu o 'oso ki te nguna kua taungia. Hakaangatonu te pengea. Nimaa ina'iho a Nausu ki anga tu'u, e longi e Singenge ia Teosi, kae ngenge ake kia tona ta'okete a Nausu. 4. Ma te siko te baukianga a Nausu o tenge iho kinai. Nimaa tatae iho kinai, eke a Nausu ia Teosi, o tuki e ia na ngutu o Teosi i te baukianga. Ma te nganangana na pengea, ma te hai atu a Singenge kia Nausu: "Te hakamaangoo!" 5. Ma te hai atu a Nausu, hai atu ke he'engiko. Nimaa he'engiko, noho te 'uu a Nausu. Ma te hai atu a Nausu kia Singenge: "Hoki atu ai."

6. Nimaa hoki a Singenge i te 'uu te 'anga nei a Teosi o mange ngingingi na toto i te ngutu ma na tanginga. Ka he'e kitea na pengea noko nganangana o hakangongo

1. Nausu was a man from Iho clan, and Teosi a man of the Hu'aingupe clan. Their two groups of fighters approached one another at Hataangenga, and the two groups of fighters hurled [spears] towards one another. And Nausu took shelter under the end eaves of the house in the settlement. 2. Then Nausu's hand showed, the left hand; he held in it the spear with which [he] was going to spear Teosi. Teosi's spear came, Nausu again took shelter. When shown again, Teosi again hurled the spear. [Nausu] took shelter again, Teosi's spear missed. When Nau- su's hand was show again, Teosi's spear hit Nausu's left hand. 3. And Nausu squatted and grabbed the pierced hand. The man [Teosi] dedicated [Nausu] to the gods. Then Nausu looked down to the main trail, Singenge was wrestling with Teosi, and shouted up to his older brother, Nausu. 4. And Nausu took hold of his baukianga club and ran down to them. When arriving down there, Nausu jumped on to Teosi, and he crushed Teosi's mouth with the baukianga club. The people shouted, and Singenge said to Nausu: "Union and vengeance!" 5. And Nausu said, said that [they] should run away. When [they] ran away, Nausu's bundle of arrows was left behind. And Nausu said to Singenge: "Go back for it."

6. When Singenge returned for the bundle of arrows, Teosi stood up, and blood ran from his mouth and ears. But the people who had made the noise and whom Nausu and Singenge had heard had

295

Page 311: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 149

kinai a Nausu ma Singenge o he'angiko. 7. 'Ai na 'atua, ka he'e na pengea. Ma te to'o e Singenge te 'uu a Nausu o tenge hoki o boo ma Nausu. Ko Singenge te tangata seu, te pengea mai sa'a Sau, ka te taina hakapingi o Nausu.

8. Hano a Nausu o takoto i te ngima kua bengo e Teosi, kae hano a Teosi o takoto ma'u i te ngutu kua tuki e Nausu. Ma te huu e Sikingimoemoe ngua ma'ungi o Nausu ma Teosi ke mamate.

9. Ma te hai te hengiu'akinga a Nguaniua ia Teosi kaa mate. Tee- ngaa te 'atua noko hai kinai te hengiu'akinga o hetauaki ai a Teosi, ko Tehu'aingabenga. Ma te sehu a Tehu'aingabenga i ongatou nuku o sasanga e ia te ma'ungi o Teosi, kae hetata'o'aki ai tona to'omango, ia Hakakamu'eha. Nimaa sosopo atu ki te manaha o Sikingimoemoe, hai atu a Tehu'aingabenga kia Sikingi- moemoe: "Tehea te ma'ungi o Teosi e sasanga ai au?" 10. Ma te tuiaki e Sikingimoemoe te kunga e huu ai e ia. Nimaa hinatu a Tehu'ainga- benga o lunga e ia, ka manga tutu'u a Sikingimoemoe ma Hakakamu'eha o hiina'i kinai. Ta'aki ake e Tehu- 'aingabenga te hatu e tatango ai, manga iai ngua ma'ungi o Nausu ma Teosi. 11. E poponge te ma'ungi o Teosi, kae ngo'ia te ma'ungi o Nausu. Sa'u ake e Tehu'ainga- benga te ma'ungi o Teosi, ka ta- tango hakahoki eia te hatu ki te ma'ungi o Nausu. Ma te 'oso mai a Hakakamu'eha o lunga e ia te hatu o sa'u ake e ia te ma'ungi o Nausu, kae hai ake a Hakakamu- 'eha: "Manga na ta'akinga ki to'oku sa'a, ka te pengea na beibei e ia i ti au." 12. Te kupu a Hakakamu- 'eha kia Nausu i te noko eke ki te hahine, ma te poghi te ngutu o Nausu i te ngima, o mea kinai te 'angengo. Ka ko Teosi ma Nausu na he'e mamate, na ma'u'ungi o hiina'i aano.

13. Nimaa hakaiho'aki a te haka-

run away. 7. They were gods, not humans. And Singenge took Nausu's bundle of arrows and ran back and went away with Nausu. Singenge was a man with a club- foot, a man from the Sau clan, and the classificatory younger brother of Nausu.

8. Nausu went and lay down because of the hand which Teosi had speared, and Teosi went and lay down because of the mouth which Nausu had crushed. And Sikingimoemoe hid the two life principles of Nausu and Teosi, so as to bring death.

9. And the people of Nguaniua made a ritual for Teosi who was about to die. The god whom they made a ritual for so that [he] would cure Teosi was Tehu'ai- ngabenga. And Tehu'aingabenga walked in their [the gods'] abodes and he searched for Teosi's life principle, and his wife Hakakamu'eha followed him. After ar- riving at Sikingimoemoe's settlement, Tehu'aingabenga said to Sikingimoemoe: "Where is the Mfe principle of Teosi which I am looking for?" 10. And Sikingimoe- moe showed the place where she had hidden it. Then Tehu'aingabenga went up and he uncovered [the life principle], and Sikingimoemoe and Hakakamu'eha just stood and looked at it. Tehu'aingabenga lifted the stone up with which [the life principle] was covered, and the two Mfe principles of Nausu and Teosi were there. 11. The life principle of Teosi was quiv- ering, but the life principle of Nausu was covered with ants. Tehainga'atua took up the life principle of Teosi, and he covered the life principle of Nausu again with the stone. And Hakakamu'eha took hold of [the stone], and she removed the stone and took out Nausu's life principle, and Hakakamu'eha said: "Just packages for my clan; but that man there swore against me." 12. Hakakamu'eha's words were about Nausu, because [once] when [she] possessed a woman, Nausu covered his mouth with his hand and stuck out his tongue at her [at Hakaka- mu'eha, who had embodied herself in the woman]. And Teosi and Nausu did not die, they lived on and stayed on.

13. Then the seven originals [the seven

296

Page 312: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

tu'u hitu ma te sa'a Kaitu'u ki te manaha, te ingoa o te manaha ko Sa'amoa, te manaha o te sa'a Ngoha. Teengaa te ingoa o te pengea noko niu tohutohu e ia, te hakaihonga, ko Ngasia, te pengea o Nukungango.

14. Nimaa hakaiho'aki o hemasi'i ai a Teosi ma Nausu, ma te taa e Nausu te taukuka o Teosi. Nimaa moe a Teosi i te hai ai 'anga e Nausu te taa 'anga i te taukuka, ma te baalingo a Nausu ki te ngutu o Teosi na tuki e ia. E hesingihaki ngua potu kauba'e i te tuki 'anga e ia i te baukianga.

TEXTS 149, 150

clans] bid for peace with the Kaitu'u clan in a settlement, the name of the settle- ment being Sa'amoa, a settlement be- longing to the Ngoha clan. This was the man who walked back and forth sprink- ling coconut water at the settling of peace, Ngasia, a man from Nukungango.

14. Then Teosi and Nausu made peace and became friends, and Nausu beat Teosi's taukuka tattoo. Teosi lay down as Nausu was making the taukuka, and Nausu looked into Teosi's mouth, which he had splintered. Two parts of the jaw passed each other [did not mesh] because he had splintered [the jaw] with the bau- kianga club.

NOTES Taupongi told this story after we had gone over the genealogy of the Hu'aingupe clan. 1. Nausu: Genealogy 9, G16.

Teosi: genealogy not known by Taupongi 1961. Hataangenga: a settlement in the Ghongau district (Taupongi 1961).

3. Hakaangatonu: to dedicate an enemy to Tehainga'atua as an offering by saying "Tootu- pu'a," a name for Tehainga'atua.

4. baukianga: See Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 69f. 9. to'omango: wife of a god.

Hakakamu'eha: variant name for Koginuku, wife of Tehu'aingabenga (Genealogy 13). 12. mea kinai te 'angengo: to redden the tongue at her, an idiom meaning to stick out the

tongue between the fingers of the hand, as demonstrated by Taupongi 1961. It was an insult. 13. niu tohutohu: Ngasia pierced a drinking coconut with an 'amosi (lime stick; Birket-

Smith, 1956: figure 46) and poured the water over the cult grounds, saying: Tungou! Teenei kia te hoe te 'angiki o 'atua! (Permission! This is for you, chief of deities!)

Taupongi 1961 stated that this was not common at peace settlements and was probably done only on this occasion.

14. hai ai 'anga: an unusual construction. TM

150. Teu'uhi Teu'uhi [Generation 20]

Paul Sa'engeika of Ghongau and Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 15, 1959. 1. Ko Tehu'ata na baakani te

'umanga o Sa'obaa, kae pusi kohe. Aano hakangongo mai kinai a Teu- 'uhi, ma te kaunaki e Teu'uhi ia tena tama'ahine, a Tesikubai, o a'u kinai. 2. Nimaa pusi kohe aano a Tehu'ata, makangakanga te pengea. Nimaa tengeu'ake a Tehu'ata, te pengea hinake kinai. Nimaa sopo ake te hokai, e pulu te siku; manga ngagha e ia te kamakama, ma te ngengema'ungi a Tehu'ata. Teengaa te ungu ai a Teu'uhi, ma te mate.

1. Tehu'ata was burning trees for clearing the garden for Sa'obaa, and blew a stalk flute. Then Teu'uhi [the goddess] heard it, and Teu'uhi told her daughter Tesikubai to come there. 2. While Tehu'a- ta was still blowing the stalk flute, a person rustled. So Tehu'ata thought a person was approaching her. Then a monitor lizard with a short tail appeared; it was holding a crab in its mouth, and Tehu'ata was frightened. Teu'uhi possessed her, and [she] died.

297

Page 313: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 150, 151

3. Ma te ungu ma'u ia Sikohuti, te tama'ahine a Tangaibasa, te pengea o Nuku'angoha. Ma te hakaanuanu pake e Sa'o'angiki po ko ai. Ma te hai atu a Sikohuti: "Ko au Teu'uhi." Ma te boo mai kinai te tau'a ki Tetu'asibi o to'o tao hakasanisani ma te to'o tapani- liutu o tutu ngama o boo mai kinai. 4. Ma te matataku o he'angiko a Teu'uhi ma tena hanau o sisinga ake i Mungingangi. Ma te hai atu a Ekeitehua po kingatou e aa. Ma te hai atu a Teu'uhi kingatou e tuungia. Ma te hai atu e Ekeitehua: "Ka hai tautou noho'aki te baabaa- lingo ki Ghongau.

3. Then [the goddess] also possessed Sikohuti, the daughter of Tangaibasa, a man from Nuku'angoha. And Sa'o'angiki asked [her] teasingly who [she was]. And Sikohuti said: "I am Teu'uhi." And fighters came to Tetu'asibi for her and brought ceremonial spears and brought tapanihutu clubs and lit torches and came here for her. 4. And Teu'uhi and her daughter became afraid and ran and turned off to Mungingangi. And Ekeite- hua asked what was the matter with them. And Teu'uhi said that they had been burned. And Ekeitehua said: "You just remain [in the west end of Bellona] and look to Ghongau."

NOTES Headman Haikiu, Takiika, Paul Sa'engeika, and Taupongi were present at this early morning

session. We discussed the relations of certain animals to deities. Haikiu said that before Chris- tianity it was forbidden to kill the kangisi (skink) because it gave new sets of teeth to children losing their milk teeth. Taupongi contributed to the discussion with this story about two people of Ghongau district who were possessed by one of the deities of the Iho clan appearing in the shape of a monitor lizard. Sa'engeika furnished additional information. For a similar story of possession by Teu'uhi, see T190.

1. Tehu'ata: genealogy not known. Sa'obaa: younger brother of Tango'eha, Genealogy 9, G20. kohe: flute, as made of a hollow papaya stalk. TM: "Is this an old thing on Bellona?"

Sa'engeika: "No, we learned from Japanese fishermen coming here a long time before Chris- tianity. Before that we made flutes of kohe (bamboo)."

Teu'uhi: Genealogy 11. 2. hokai: Teu'uhi embodied herself in a monitor lizard. Her daughter Tesikubai embodied

herself in a crab (kamakamd). 3. Sikohuti: daughter of Tangaibasa, Nuku'angoha, Genealogy 7, G18.

Sa'o'angiki: Genealogy 6, G19; grandfather of the informant, Paul Sa'engeika. te tau'a: People went to Tetu'asibi, a pool near Angu, western Bellona, sacred to Teu'uhi and her family, to punish the goddess because she had possessed the girls. tapanihuti: See Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 18.

4. Mungingangi: the abode of Ekeitehua, lying in the western sky. A distinction is made between two types of possession: Eke (to rest on, sit on) refers to the

possession of a medium by a worshipped god; ungu (entering) refers to possession by an unwor- shipped god during which the vehicle becomes mad and performs insane acts.

In this text, Ekeitehua orders his sister and her family to remain in the district of the Iho clan but do no more than look from a distance (baabaalingo) into Ghongau district. Ekeitehua did not want his family to possess the people of Ghongau even if they had the power to do so. Sa'engeika added: "People of Ghongau did not worship Ekeitehua and Teu'uhi. This is the reason that Teu'uhi had the power to possess people and make them mad." ;

TM

151. Tango'eha ma Tu'ukiteika Tango'eha and Tu'ukiteika [Generation 20]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, 1961. 1. Ko Tango'eha noko boo tanga-

tou mako sa'u ki Mungaba. Nimaa 1. Tango'eha [and his relatives] went

with their mako sa'u dance to Rennell.

298

Page 314: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 151

ngiu mai, pingitia te baka o Tango- 'eha, o tahea i te moana, aano poo ngua. Kae tuu 'unga ngoa a Tango- 'eha kia Ekeitehua ma tena hanau ke 'aabaki kia te ia kaa mate. 2. Ma te tuu'ungu ma'u ke hano te ma- tangi ki te Nohotonu, te tu'unganga matangi o Ekeitehua, ke hano ai tona baka ki Mungiki. Nimaa 'oti tena tu'ungu 'anga, ma te hia mai ko te tamana a Sauhonu, manga noho i te mataa baka o manga hakahu'ihu'i ngua ba'e ki te tai. 3. Ma te he'e ina hoki ma'u kinai, aano manga baa'anga e tona ungu- ungu noko i te baka ia Tango'eha i te manga moe ki te lia o tona baka. Nimaa 'anga ake a Tango'eha, tona baka manga tahea i mu'a Tingoa. 4. Ma te hai atu a Tango'eha: "Te baka nei ee aa?" Ma te hai atu a te taina, a Kaihuei: "Ko Tu'uki- teika, ku eke ki te koe o a'ango mai e ia te baka nei o tatae mai ki te kunga nei, kae mapu." 5. Ma te haka'aue a Tango'eha, kae tau tona baka ki Tingoa. Ma te hatu kinai tana huaa mako; teengaa tena huaa mako:

6. Tuku atu te baka kau eke ki moana e moutanganga e.

7. Tauha te Nguatu'u ki mu'a. Sasaka kia Tu'ukiteika ke 'angu, ke noho ki tu'a.

8. 'Aka te poghila ki te Toke- ngau na tu'unganga; he'e hano ia kitatou, Ngaki Mungaba.

9. Na nganu te tu'u, kau ngaeke ia te ma'ungi mai ngangi e. Taku hoe te 'ao ma te ika.

When returning, Tango'eha's canoe was caught [in rough waters] and drifted on the ocean for two nights. And Tango'eha prayed and prayed to Ekeitehua and his sons to help him [who] was about to die. 2. And prayed also for the wind to come from the west northwest, the group of winds of Ekeitehua, so that his canoe could go by them to Bellona. Then he ended his praying and saw his father, Sauhonu, sitting at the canoe bow dipping his two legs into the sea. 3. And [he] did not look back at him again, but his wife who was in the canoe woke up Tango'eha, as he was just lying on the lashings of his canoe. When Tango'eha woke up, his canoe was drifting off Tingoa. 4. And Tango'eha said: "What about this canoe?" The younger brother, Kaihuei, answered: "It was Tu'ukiteika who possessed you, and he paddled this canoe and [it] reached this place, and [the god] left." 5. And Tango'eha gave thanks, and his canoe landed at Tingoa. And he composed for him his huaa mako song; this is his huaa mako song:

6. Dedicating the canoe I sit on a sea full of power.

7. The east wind is a black cloud. [I] ask Tu'ukiteika to follow [and make] it stay after.

8. Push aside the black clouds to the north, the groups; we do not go, the west wind blows [us to] Rennell.

9. The prayer is swelling [in me], I am breathless with the life principle of the sky [Tu'ukiteika]. My paddle is the cloud and the fish.

NOTES This story was evoked by our discussion of Tango'eha (Genealogy 9, G20) and his abilities

as a poet. See N152. 1. Ekeitehua: Genealogy 15. Chief district god of the Iho clan. 2. Sauhonu: Genealogy 9, G19. He had been dead for many years and came as a messenger

from Ekeitehua, the god, and Tango'eha saw him in his trance (Taupongi 1961). 6—9. Taupongi was not sure that his interpretation of the song was entirely correct. Com-

pare the names of winds in this song with those in T28. TM

299

Page 315: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 152

152. Ko Tango'eha noko Eke Kinai te 'Atua

The God Possessed Tango'eha [Generation 20]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, 1961. 1. Ko Ekeitehua noko eke haka-

tasi kia Tango'eha i te hai 'anga te hainga 'atua a Temoa i Tebaitahe. Noko sa'u e Tango'eha te hainga 'atua ma te eke kinai a Ekeitehua o sa'u e ia te hainga 'atua. 2. Kae songo'aki a Tango'eha, noko eke kinai te 'atua, o ngungu ki te hange. Nimaa 'oti te sa'u e ia te hainga 'atua, ma te mapu te 'atua, kae songongi hoki a Tango'eha o puku- puku. 3. Noko hai mai a Tango- 'eha, noko kongaa na ina ki te 'atua: Te hu'aai'ataa pengea. Ma te poo'ungi na mata ai e eke kinai a Ekeitehua.

1. Ekeitehua possessed Tango'eha once during the performance of the hainga 'atua ritual of Temoa in Tebaitahe. Ta- ngo'eha took up [the ritual food] of the hainga 'atua, and Ekeitehua possessed him and he took the hainga 'atua food away. 2. And Tango'eha, whom the god possessed, grew larger and pressed against [the shelf of] the house. After he had taken [and distributed] the hainga'atua, the god left, and Tango'eha shrank and became short. 3. Tango'eha said that the god looked as follows: An enormous model of a person. And Tango'eha's sight darkened when Ekeitehua possessed him.

NOTES Taupongi 1961 told this story about his classificatory father, Tango'eha (Genealogy 9, G20),

who was, Taupongi said, the only medium who had been possessed by the clan deity of the Iho clan, Ekeitehua. Tango'eha was still alive in 1962, probably the oldest person on Bellona, a wizened, picturesque figure with the taukuka chest tattoo who spent most of his time sitting or lying down under a house in Matahenua village. Taupongi as a frightened boy had seen Tango'eha become possessed and grow very large. This was in the house of Temoa, Taupongi's father. Taupongi watched from the back of the house.

1. hainga 'atua: See N127. 3. hu'aai'ataa: long vowels for emphasis.

TM

300

Page 316: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 15. THE EXTINCT CLANS

This chapter contains the sorry fragments remembered about the clans that were extinct, and like so much of the history concerns fighting, its motives, methods, and results, The texts are arranged by clans in this order: Puka, Sau, Tanga, Togo, Goha, and Tini. Within each section the stories are in chronological order as far as it is known. Study of Genealogy 10, however, shows that dating these texts is not possible, even by generations. Most of the stories end in death or flight. A few, however, concern nonmilitaristic incidents that somehow achieved an immortality, such as a generous payment of land for a tattoo (T154), the excellence of a man's marksmanship (T163), admiration for a large house (T165), or a beauty's ignominy upon attaining old age (T169).

153. Te Hakatu'u Hitu The Seven Originals

Tupe'uhi of BE. At Hatagua, RE, March 19, 1958. 1. Te hakatu'u hitu noko to'o

mai i 'Ubea, hai ogaatou 'atua soko, kae hai gu 'o Kaitu'u. Te sa'a Tau- pongi ko Ekeitehua; ka te sa'a Sau to'ogaatou ko Baabenga. 2. Ka to'o sa'a Tanga, ko Guatupu'a ma Te- poutu'uigangi. Te sa'a Taupongi noko taa'ia o 'oti, kae sui o haka- hano i te sa'a Goha. Ko Sikigimoe- moe te 'atua o te sa'a Nikatemono. 3. Ko sa'a Puka ma sa'a Togo noko hai agatou 'atua kae manga he'e na'a ogatou ingoa. Te sa'a Taga e hiti ia Tesui e taa e Puagogo, te pegea o te sa'a Taupongi. 4. Kae 'oti a sa'a Sau ia Temae, manga mate i te masaki. E 'oti ai te sa'a Togo noko taa e Saugogo, te pegea o te sa'a Kaitu'u. Te sa'a Taupongi te mi'isa'a i Mugiki.

1. The seven originals were brought here from 'Ubea, and had different gods, and Kaitu'u had two. The Taupongi clan, Ekeitehua; and the Sau clan, theirs was Baabenga. 2. The Tanga clan's were Gua- tupu'a and Tepoutu'igangi. The Taupongi clan was all killed, and changed and had progeny with the Goha clan [see T140]. Sikigimoemoe was the god of the Nikate- mono clan. 3. The Puka clan and the Togo clan had their gods but their names are not known. The Taga clan became extinct when Teusi was killed by Pua- gogo, a person of the Taupongi clan. 4. Sau clan was ended with Temae, who just died of sickness. The Togo clan was then ended by being killed by Saugogo, a person of the Kaitu'u clan. The Tau- pongi clan is the small clan on Bellona.

SE

154. Pootua Pootua [Puka clan]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, 1961.

Ko Pootua te pengea o sa'a Puka, na pengea noko kakai i Te-

Pootua was a man of Puka clan, people who lived in Tesungu. Ngiuika, a

301

Page 317: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 154, 155

sungu. Na taa e Ngiuika, te pengea man from Tongomainge, made the but- 0 Tongomainge, na hakasapa o tocks tattoos on Pootua. And Pootua paid Pootua. Ma te tusi tatau kinai a Ngiuika for the tattoo with Nga'ia and Pootua kia Ngiuika i te 'atu Nga'ia. surrounding settlements. Pootua gave Noko tuku kinai e Pootua i te [this] to him in exchange for his buttocks ngiu'aki o 'ona hakasapa, noko taa tattoo which Ngiuika had made. e Ngiuika.

NOTES Pootua: Genealogy 10. Tesungu: the land along the south side of the main trail on Bellona, from Mangama'ubea

temple to Manga'etapu temple. The trail was so sacred for the Puka clan that there were no settlements on its land, even after the extinction of the clan, until the acceptance of Christianity.

Ngiuika: Genealogy 9, Iho clan, G12. Nga'ia: a settlement of the Puka clan. This clan had settlements also in Matangi. Usually people paid for tattooing with 'ota'ota (goods) or utunga (food). Taupongi knew that

someone else had once paid with a settlement, but did not remember who. hakasapa: a black tattoo on the buttocks, covering the sides and shaped like two semicircles. Jn January 1959, Paul Sa'engeika said that Pootua was an extremely sacred person (te pengea

tapu to' a). Nobody knew why. He was killed in the following way: Seven men armed with ngoghabalo (Rennell, ghoghabalo) and baukianga clubs (Birket-Smith, 1956: figure 69b, f) ap- proached him. As he was very sacred, each warrior before striking him poured coconut water on him, saying Tungou! (Permission!). This incident was known as the niu hitu (seven coconuts).

TM

155. Tongiki Tongiki [Puka clan]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, 1961. 1. Ko Tongiki, te pengea o sa'a 1. Tongiki was a man of Puka clan.

Puka. Tengatou 'atua ko Sikingi- Their deity was Sikingimoemoe. And Si- moemoe. Ka na ungu a Sikingimoe- kingimoemoe possessed Tongiki's daugh- moe i te tama'ahine a Tongiki o ter and accordingly this happened: The hai aano ai: Kake te hahine noko possessed woman climbed to the shelf in unguhia ki te hata o Tongiki o mi- Tongiki's [house] and pissed down from miho ai. 2. Ma te mangepe a it. 2. And Tongiki grieved and said: "Aaa, Tongiki o hai ake: "Aaa, Tehai- Tehainga'atua eee. Hearken, the worship- nga'atua eee. Na'a mai, na'e na pers of your parents are stepping over to kainanga o'ou maatu'a e ngaka atu you." Sikingimoemoe heard this; she kia te koe." Hakangongo kinai a hammered on the roof of the house so Sikingimoemoe, nguti iho tena taa that the sound would frighten Tongiki. 1 te tu'a hange, ke mataku a Tongi- But Tongiki was not afraid. 3. And then ki. Ka manga he'e mataku a Tongi- Tongiki decided to go and live in Tangi- ki. 3. Ma te pau a Tongiki o hano ka, and he left Tesungu. kakai i Tangika, kae ti'aki e ia a Tesungu.

NOTES After finishing all the other stories about the extinct clans, Taupongi told T154 and this one. 1. Sikingimoemoe: Cf. T66:13.

2. o'ou maatu'a: Nguatupu'a and Tepoutu'uingangi, parents of both Tehainga'atua and Siki- ngimoemoe.

e ngaka atu kia te koe: Tongiki is angry because his deity has possessed his daughter and brought disgrace upon him, and therefore he turns to worship Tehainga'atua instead of his sister, Sikingimoemoe.

3. Tangika: settlement south of tika Tangiu (See N142). Tesungu: See N154.

TM

302

Page 318: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 156(A), 156(B)

156. Sa'a Tapu The Tapu Clan

(A) Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Hatagua, March 20, 1958. 1. Sa'a Tapu noko i Mugaba i

Tegano, he'e to'o mai e Kaitu'u. Ko sa'a Tapu togatou 'atua ko Baa- benga, ka te hakahua o te kakai 'anga ko Kogohogau. 2. Noko boo o hati agatou gemugi, o to'iho, o tuku, o tio e gaa pegea, kae sigi ki te motu i Abamako o mamate ai. 3. Te boo 'anga o pegea noko boo mamate ai, te tongitongi ogatou i ba'i 'aso, te boo i teegaa 'ao, o hati, o to'iho, o tio, kae sigi kogaa ma- mate i te motu. 4. Momoe 'aoina o giu kogaa, manga kogaa na hai ba'i 'aso, aano taha'aki te hakahua, ko Kogohogau, te boo 'anga a pe- gea, o mamate hakagonga'a i te motu, te sughu o te gemugi. Teenei te motunga.

1. The Tapu clan was at Rennell at the Lake, and was not brought here by Kaitu'u. The god of Tapu clan was Baa- benga, and the chief of the district was Kogohogau. 2. They went to pick gemugi fruits and brought them down and left [them], and some people heated [them] with hot rocks, and went to the islet Abamako and died there. 3. So people went and went and died there, their custom every day, to go one day and pick [gemugi fruits], take [them] down and heat, and some would go and die on the islet. 4. Sleeping until daylight and some would come back, and so it was done every day, and then the chief, Kogohogau, was the last, as the people kept going and ever dying on the islet, sick from gemugi. This is the ending.

NOTES Taupongi 1961 explained that the ancestor of the clan who came with Kaitu'u was Puka;

later the clan was called Tapu on Rennell. This story evoked lively discussion at Hatagua, especially after I asked why the god exterminated the line. Some said that it was because proper offerings were not made to the god who gave them the gemugi (see N79:2).

SE

(B) Jasper Tekobi at Niupani, RE. December 29, 1957. 1. Te tautupu'a ki te sa'a Tapu,

noko kakai i Teaba. Tona hakahua ko Kaiahato'eha. 2. Noko inano i Teaba. Sisinga ai te lango 'anga a Hu'aitepoohitu, manga mata kinai, kae boo ake ina kinai a Kaiahato- 'eha i te maa momogi ake kinai. Haiho kinai tena kupu: "Teenei te kunga e hano'ia."

3. Sopo ake kinai a Hu'aitepoo- hitu o beelunu aano, logho a Kaia- hato'eha, o too o kagu ake e ia te aba, kae hai ake ki tena 'atua, tee- nei te kupu a Kaiahato'eha noko hai: "Ta'aki ake Tehahinetaugangi, tou hanonga kitaa boo." 4. O boo ai te sa'a Tapu i Teaba, o sui o noho'aki i Atagau, o kago kinai tegatou 'atua, o mamate i te gho-

1. The story of the Tapu clan that lived at Teaba. Its chief was Kaiahato'eha. 2. [He] lived at Teaba. Hu'aitepoohitu's excursion party came along and looked in and then came along, and Kaiahato'eha watched them as they came directly in. He said this word to them: "This is the place that is visited."

3. Hu'aitepoohitu came at him and pulled hair, and Kaiahato'eha became tired and jumped in, and he dipped up [water] at the pass and spoke to his god, this being the word that Kaiahato'eha said: "May Tehahinetaugangi arise, your departure and may we both go." 4. And so the Tapu clan left Teaba and changed to stay at Atagau, and their god punished them, and [they] died at the same time,

303

Page 319: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 156(B), 157

loba e tahi, noko mamate ki tegatou gemugi. O si'ai he me'a toe ai, na tutahi o 'oti. Kua 'oti.

dying in their gemugi tree. And none were left, all were finished. Just finished.

NOTES Neither Tekobi, Tetamogi on January 5, nor Taupongi 1961 could explain why or seemed to

think it necessary to explain why Tehahinetaugangi (Sikingimoemoe, Genealogy 11) wanted to exterminate the clan, except for Tetamogi's: "She just liked to eat people! She was a fearsome goddess ('atua hakamataku)\"

SE

157. Tapae Tapae [Puka clan]

Jasper Tekobi of Niupani, RE. December 16, 1957. 1. Te tautupu'a kia Tapae. Ko ia

noko hai tona motu i Sakea, noko iai tona launatahi niu, noko 'eha ona hua; noko hai ai tena mano. 2. O 'ita kinai te 'apitanga, o puge ake kigatou taaina, ka noko hainga- ta'a i te baasiko e tena 'atua. 3. Namaa teegaa 'aso, iho ai ki tai, te hainga kaui. Teegaa te kunga noko hano o noho ai, ko Teghaghipo, te 'ana. 4. Namaa tege ki te ahiahi, sosopo kinai te tokagua tau'a. Teegaa tona kunga ke taai, ka na he'e taa'ia. I tena sosopo gua tau'a manga tu'u o tootoobaasi'a, manga keu ake te tunguti 'aoa, e hinaiho mai 'agunga, tona aga tuku e tena 'atua ke tege ai. 5. Namaa hoki ake ki tona motu, hetae na 'aso upo, hakaputu a Teaba o lina, kae ma lina launatahi a Tapae i tona ma- 'anunga i Ngataihage. 6. Noko hai tena hai 'anga, te lina ma te mataki e ia te tabaasugu hitu noko i Teaba, 'ai te ta'u haahine, ka te tau'a na hekaui ke taa'ia Tapae, manga lina ano a Tapae, manga tu'ia i te tau'a, e he'osohi ake mai te tai, o taa ia te ia.

l.The story of Tapae. He had his islet at Sakea, where he had a single coconut palm with many nuts; it had a hundred strings of ten. 2. Most of the people were jealous about this, and they planned to kill him, but it was difficult because of the protection of his god. 3. One day [he] went to the sea to fish. The place [he] used to go and stay was Teghaghipo, a cave. 4. When evening was at hand, two fighters came there. This was the place they were to kill him, but there was no killing. When he came, the two fighters just came out and stood hesitating, and [Tapae] looked up to one side to an aerial banyan root hanging down from above, his path provided by his god for escape. 5. Then he returned to his islet, and the eel season came, and the Teaba people gathered together for torch-light netting, and Tapae torch netted by him- self at his place for drifting at Ngataihage. 6. Torch netting was going on, and he watched seven torches that were at Teaba, and the women, and the fighters swam in order to kill Tapae, and Tapae was torch netting, and was surprised by the fighters who grabbed him from the sea and killed him.

NOTES This story was written out by Tekobi and was legible, but word division slowed down my

comprehension: kano kohai ngataa for ka noko haingata'a (2). On the third reading, I was told that Tapae was in the now extinct Tapu clan.

1. Sakea: near Teaba, at the lake. Note possessives tona (singular, o-form), ona (plural, o- form), tena (singular, a-form).

2. An example of Taupongi's alertness: He corrected the hazy glottal stop in my pronoun- ciation of 'ita.

3. Teghaghipo: near Kagikagau, on the ocean coast north of the lake. SE

304

Page 320: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

158. Sa'a Sau

TEXTS 158, 159(A)

Sau Clan

Headman Togaka of Kaagua, and others, RE. At Hatagua, March 20, 1958. 1. Gua manaha o sa'a Sau, ko

Taghoghe ma Tonga. Te launatahi 'aso, noko hai ai agatou hakata- hinga i te 'ana i Tonga. 2. Na be- taape noko hai agatou giunga. Namaa ta'o te giunga, o hakagau- gau o hakatege, kae hakatakoto tena bakagoa'au, kae hai na 'ugu akui o hugu ai, te 'aso noko ta'o ai na 'umu. 3. Kae hano te hainga tau teegaa hahine, ke tau ai na 'umu, ma te matohi iho te 'ana, o tanu e ia te 'apitanga o pegea, o mamate 0 'oti, kae ma'ugi te hahine noko hano te hainga tau. 4. Te 'ana noko matohi i te kago kinai a Tehu'aiga- benga ma Baabenga i te hugu 'anga 1 na 'ugu akui. Teenei tena mo- tunga o te mamate 'anga o sa'a Sau.

1. The two settlements of the Sau clan were Taghoghe and Tonga [in Mugi- henua]. One day they had a gathering at the cave at Tonga. 2. Betaape tuber served as their ceremonial offering. After the offering was baked, [it] was placed in small temporary baskets and put in lines, and the worshippers sat in line and anointed [themselves] with coconut crab tails that had been baked that day in the oven. 3. And a woman went to get leaves to cover the ovens with, and the cave fell down and it buried all the people, all died, and the woman who had gone for leaves survived. The cave fell in as the punishment of Tehu'aigabenga and Baa- benga for anointing with tails of coconut crabs. This is the ending of the death of the Sau clan.

NOTES This came after much talk and my questioning about why so many of the clans had died out.

Betaape is a kind of yam. SE: "Why was it bad to anoint with tails of coconut crabs?" Togaka: "It should be turmeric." SE: "Do you ever anoint now with tails of coconut crabs?" Informant: "No, it is taboo."

'Ugu 'akui (lobster tail) is literally lobster head. Long final sentences, as in this tale, were a speciality of Headman Togaka.

SE

159. Tesaukiu Tesaukiu [Sau clan]

(A) Daniel Tuhanuku of Ghongau, BE. April 16, 1958. 1. Te tangata tona ingoa ko Ni-

kamatu'a, te pengea mai Tengano. Noko a'u ki Mungiki o noho i te manaha o hai ai tena unguungu, te ingoa o tena unguungu ko Ngoto, i te manaha tena ingoa ko Tanga- kitonga. 2. Te tamana o te hahine ko Tesaukiu, ka noko hakapata kinai. Boo ki tai o ngangama, ma te hai na sasabe noko 'eha. O tape i te kete o honu, ma te tuku e ona ma'aa, ke to'ake e ia ki te manaha, ke ta'o ai na sasabe. 3. Kae boo kingatou ke hai uka. Ma te to'o e ia o ake i te anga. Ma te too te

1. The man's name was Nikamatu'a, a person from the Lake. He came to Bel- lona and stayed in a settlement and took a wife there, the name of his wife being Ngoto, the name of the settlement being Tangakitonga. 2. The woman's father was Tesaukiu, who stayed with them. [They] went to the sea to fish flying fish with torches, and they had many flying fish. [They] wrapped [them] in a bag that was filled, and his brothers-in-law gave [them to him] that he should take the flying fish to the settlement and bake them. 3. And they went to fish with lines. And he [Nikamatu'a] took [them] and went up

305

Page 321: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 159(A)

'ua, ma te tuku e ia i te taha ba'e o te anga. Kae hano i te 'ana o hakamangu ai, ka noko hu'aisia- moe. Ma te moe e ia o moe mate.

4. Boo mai a ona ma'aa noko hai uka, o boo ake ma'u i te anga manga noho te kete kaui i te anga, ka ku sa'ango, ma te he'ika'aki, ma te taa e kingatou ia te ia.

5. Kae boo ake o tatae ake ki Tangakitonga, ma te boo ake o kai angatou me'a noko ta'o e ongatou unguungu. 6. Ma te hakaanu a Ngoto po tehea a tona matu'a. Ma te si'ai he pengea hakatau kinai. Ma te hakaanu atu ma'u ai tehea a tona matu'a, ma te hai atu a te tamana: "Ku taa e ou tunga'ane."

7. Ma te mangepe, o hu'aima- ngepe, ma te baakongikongi e te tamana: "Ke hai ni polo, po ni 'uhi, ke hai ai he 'oso ia tou matu'a." 8. Ma te hai atu a Ngoto: "Autou polo moto, ma autou 'uhi moto, ka he'e pata ki toku matu'a kua taa e koutou."

9. Ka noko baakongikongi haka- ngua e te tamana i te ngea 'anga e tasi ka manga hu'aimangepe, ma te hai atu a te tamana: "Ko koe nimaa hu'ai'ika'ika, hinatu ngaa o kaunaki ni makau ke boo mai o taa ia te kimatou ma ou tunga'ane."

10. Ma te tu'u o hano, o hano te haka'amo. Ka noko 'eha manaha noko hano o tangi kinai i tana haka- soko ia te tamana ma ona tunga- 'ane. 11. Ka noko 'eha pengea noko matataku, o he'e mangangao kinai kingatou hai tau'a.

12. Ma te hano ki te launatahi manaha, tana ingoa ko Nguaniua, noko iai te launatahi tangata to'a, tona ingoa ko Taangungu. 13. Na 'angoha kinai ki te hahine, ka na pongo'aki ai ke a'u ki tona manaha, ma te hinake te hahine, ma te ha- kaanu kinai, o hai atu po ko ia e mangepe sehu ke aa. 14. Ma te hai atu a Ngoto: "Ko au e sia hai ke taa e ni pengea na pengea ku taa toku matu'a."

the trail. Rain fell and he put [them] be- side the foot of the trail. And [he] went into a cave so as to dry off and was very sleepy. And he slept as though dead.

4. His brothers-in-law who had been fishing with a line came, also came up the trail, and there was the fish bag on the trail, and smelling bad, and they were angry and killed him.

5. And [they] went up and came to Tangakitonga, and went up and ate their things cooked by their wives. 6. And Ngoto asked where her husband was. But no one answered her. And she asked again where her husband was, and the father said: "Killed by your brothers."

7. And [she] mourned, mourned very much, and the father gave comfort: "Get some coconuts or yams, and make an 'oso ritual of them for your husband." 8. And Ngoto said: "Your green coco- nuts and your green yams do not compen- sate for my husband whom you killed."

9. And the father gave comfort a second time with the same words, for the sorrow was great, and the father said: "If your sorrow is so great, then go and get an enemy to come and kill your brothers and me."

10. So [she] straightway went away, went to incite fighters. And there were many settlements to which she went and wept for revenge for her father and brothers. 11. And there were many peo- ple afraid, and they were unwilling to make a raid.

12. And [she] went to a settlement, its name Nguaniua, where there was a strong man, his name Taangungu. 13. [He] felt sorry for the woman, and [he] asked [her] to come to his settlement, and the woman went up, and [he] asked her questions, asking why she was wandering about so sadly. 14. Ngoto said: "I want someone to kill the people who killed my husband."

306

Page 322: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 159(A)

15. Ma te hai atu te tangata to'a nei ke hano he pengea ia te tu'ati- nana a Ngoha. 16. Ma te hano te pengea o kakabe mai ia Ngoha, o bilaabei ma Taangungu, o hengeu ki te hakasoko a Ngoto, ma te ngoto tasi kingaaua ki na kakabe'ia ki Tengano, ma te ngangue tangaa hongau, o uta kingaaua ia Ngoto, 0 boo ki Tengano. 17. Nimaa hetae ki Tengano, tau ongatou baka i te aba, tona ingoa ko Tughunu, o hakaneke kingaaua ki te ngano o tatae ki te manaha, tona ingoa ko Nukungango, te manaha o te haka- hua, tona ingoa ko Teikatu'a. 18. O ngongo ai a Teikatu'a, o pongo'aki 1 te 'apitanga o pengea i Tengano o boo ngatahi mai ki Nukungango. 19. Ma te punge a Teikatu'a ma ona pengea ke nimaa he'e boo atu ke 'aabaki tau'a kingatou taa'ia ia te kingaaua. 20. Ka na oho e Teikatu'a ia Taangungu. Ma te pongo kinai a Taangungu, o hai atu ko kingaaua ma te tu'atinana e ka- kabe atu ia Ngoto ku taa'ia tona matu'a ke kakabe mai a Tengano ke taa na pengea kua taa'ia Nika- matu'a.

21. Ma te siasia to'a a Teikatu'a, o hakaputu na polo, ma na tango, o hai ai te songo, o hai ai te haka- putunga, ke kai ai a Taangungu ma Ngoha. 22. Nimaa 'oti te hakapu- tunga, kae ngangue te tau'a mai Tengano, o boo mai o tau ki Mu- ngiki nei.

23. Ma te noho'aki i Tingoa, ma te mu'a mai a Ngoto, ki Tahaki- tonga, o bilaabei ma te tamana, o hetuku'angoha'aki, o kongaa na tangitangisaki kia te tamana, o hai atu: " 'Aiauee tamau! Hitangi atu i te hakamaangie e boo mai nei."

24. Ka na 'oti tangaa tatangi 'anga kae hano a Tesaukiu ki hange o noho ai. Ka noko ina'iho kia Ngoto, manga noho sa'asa'a o anga tu'a ake ki mungi. 25. Ka na hai atu a Tesaukiu: "Ai te 'ika'ika o te ta'ahine a i hoki singi."

15. This strong man then said that someone must go to the uncle, Ngoha. 16. And someone went and got Ngoha, who met with Taangungu, and they spoke of Ngoto's revenge and agreed to go [with her] to the Lake, and made pre- parations for their voyage, and they took Ngoto aboard and went to the Lake. 17. On reaching the lake, their canoe landed at a pass, its name Tughunu, and they climbed up to the Lake and came to a settlement, its name Nukungango, the settlement of the chief, his name Teika- tu'a. 18. Teikatu'a listened to them, and asked all the people of the Lake to come to Nukungango. 19. And Teikatu'a and his people planned that if anyone would not go and take part in the raid, they would kill the two. 20. For Teikatu'a shouted oho to Taangungu [to honor him]. And Taangungu spoke to him, saying that he and the uncle should take Ngoto whose husband had been killed, and that the people of the Lake should kill the murderers of Nikamatu'a.

21. Teikatu'a was overjoyed, and col- lected coconuts and taro and made pud- ding of them, and made a gathering, so that Taangungu and Ngoha might eat of it. 22. After the gathering, the fighters from the Lake made preparations and came here and landed here at Bellona.

23. [They] stayed at Tingoa, and Ngoto came ahead to Tahakitonga, and met her father, and [they] embraced and pressed noses; and [she] wailed to her father, saying this: "Woe, woe, my father! Wait for the consolation that is coming now."

24. After their weeping, Tesaukiu [the father] went to the house and stayed there. [He] watched Ngoto, [she] just sat blocking the way, facing her back to the rear. 25. Tesaukiu said: "The anger of the sister will pass by."

307

Page 323: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 159(A)

26. Ma te ngangue a kingatou ma tena hanau o kengi 'uhi ma te hai polo, ma te hai tango, o hai ai te hakaputunga ki te hongau. 27. Ka he'e na'a e ia 'ai te tau'a, ma te hai ko ba'i me'a o singi, kae tuba te manga'e o hai ai te 'inati kese, o tuku kia Teikatu'a. 28. Ka noko tuha e te hongau te 'inati ka noko iai te hu'ai'uhi noko kengi o haka- toghitoghi ona ghaingi, o manga noho ki te 'uhi, i te me'a ngaa noko hua'eha te 'uhi, ma te hainga'a'aki e te hongau, ka noko he'e na'a e Tesaukiu ai ko ia te manga hehai- nga'a'aki e te hongau, o hakatino ki te 'uhi. Ka noko 'abange ki teengaa ka noko mataku, o 'ainoa. 29. Sui 0 'abange ki teengaa, 'ainoa ma'u 1 te mataku ma'u. Ka na hainga'a ki te pengea, tona ingoa ko Nangiu, ma te 'oso kinai i te me'a gaa, te pengea to'a, ke ngo 'oso kia Tesau- kiu.

30. Ka na hai ake kongaa i te tau'a kingatou taa'ia ki te papa, ka na hai atu a Taangungu: "Ke ngo taa i te mako hakapaungo." Na'e teenaa te me'a sa'usa'u nga'akau kaatoa ai a pengea. 31. Ka ngoto tasi ke hai te pungenga nei na'e ngaoi, ma te ngangue ke hai te ma- ko hakapaungo.

32. He'e 'aabaki ai a Tesaukiu, ma noko manga tu'u o baba ia te makupuna, ka na ina ake kinai a Nangiu, ma te mataku kinai, o ma- mae te tina'e, ma te hano o tata'o te tina'e noko mamae i Manubagha. Nimaa totoka te tina'e, 'anga o hoki mai. 33. Ko Tesaukiu te mange tu'u nei o ina ki te mako hakapaungo. Ma te hai atu a Nangiu kia Tesau- kiu: "Tau tama 'iti'iti teenei?" Ka noko hakatau a Tesaukiu, o hai atu: "Si'ai, toku makupuna." 34. Ma te hai atu: "E ngaoi tou maku- puna nei; tuku iho kau kite ai." Nimaa tuku iho e Tesaukiu ia tona makupuna, ma te mau'i ai a Nangiu i te tama 'iti'iti, kae longi e ia ia Tesaukiu, o kongaa na hakatapa:

26. He and his children made prepara- tions and dug yams and prepared coco- nuts, and prepared taro, and made a gathering for the travelers. 27. For he did not know the fighters were there, and everything was then made, and the food offering of great variety was distributed, given to Teikatu'a. 28. And the travelers distributed an 'inati share in which was a giant yam that had been dug and its vine stripped off, with only the yam left, as the yam was so big, and the travelers presented [it], for Tesaukiu did not know that he, embodied in the yam, was being given away by the travelers. [It] was given to one [man], but [he] was afraid, and did not agree. 29. Then given to another, [he] too did not agree, also be- cause of fear. And it was presented to a person, his name Nangiu, who took it, as he was a strong person who would take Tesaukiu.

30. And that one [Tesaukiu] said to the fighters that they would beat the sounding board, and Taangungu said: "Beat out the hakapaungo dance of war clubs." That was the one [dance] in which everyone raised high a club. 31. [They] agreed to have a discussion, and it was fine, and [they] got ready for the haka- paungo dance of war clubs.

32. Tesaukiu did not take part in it, but just stood, and he held his grand- child on his shoulders, and Nangiu looked at him, and was afraid of him, and was sick in his stomach, and he went away at Manubagha and lay down on the stomach that pained. When his stomach quieted, [he] got up and came back again. 33. Te- saukiu was just standing watching the hakapaungo dance of war clubs. Nangiu said to Tesaukiu: "Is this your child?" And Tesaukiu answered, saying: "No, my grandchild." 34. And [Nangiu] said: "Your grandchild here is handsome; put [him] down so I can see him." Tesaukiu put his grandchild down, and Nangiu let go of the grandchild and he wrestled with Tesaukiu, and cried a taunt like this: "Caught and here we are!" 35. The haka-

308

Page 324: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 159(A), 159(B)

"Ku ma'u kohea kitatou!" 35. Ka na tu'ia te mako hakapaungo o manga taki he'osohi kia pengea o pipiki o taki taa e kingatou.

36. 'Oti te tau'a nei, ngiu te tau'a a Tengano, o tata i Tengano, kae noho'aki a Taangungu ma te tu'atinana o tata i Mungiki nei. E konei na noho te tangatupu'a nei.

paungo dancers with the war clubs were surprised, and they then attacked every- one and held on and killed.

36. After this fighting, the fighters from the Lake returned and beat out a dance of triumph at the Lake, and Taa- ngungu and his uncle stayed and beat out a dance of triumph here on Bellona. And this is the way of this story.

NOTES I was standing watching the dances at about 9 P.M., and Tuhanuka came up and said he had

a story, but that kua poo (it is late). I said there was plenty of time, and we returned to Haikiu's house. Tuhanuku was wearing a red sarong and a T shirt. He knew the story very well, and dictated immediately, with little hesitation, and clearly, despite a bad cough (as during 28). The dictation took 80 or 90 minutes, and 10 or more minutes were taken up with the second reading, and Tuhanuku insisted that I make no mistakes. He said that he had first heard the story from his father, Takiika; afterwards Pongi (N138), a medium who had died about 1956 (he said), added portions. Tuhanuku said that the killer, Taangungu (12), was in the fifth generation of the Hu'aigupe clan (Genealogy 11). Tuhanuku's full style (evidenced by the paucity of brackets in the translation) contrasted strikingly with the elliptic style of so many tellers, especially older persons. Words that caused difficulties were hakasoko (10), oho (20), and hakamaagie (23). Baba ia (32) should probably be baba'ia, the passive-transitive form.

SE

(B) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, September 1960. 1. Ko Ngoto, te tama'ahine a Te-

saukiu, te pengea o sa'a Sau. Noko pipiki e Nikamatu'a, te pengea o te sa'a Tangaibasa, noko i Tengano (sa'a Kaitu'u). 2. Nimaa boo a Te- saukiu ma tena hanau ki tongatou baka ke ngangama, ma te tata'o ai a Nikamatu'a. Nimaa hetae ki 'One o ngangama ai, hai ai tengatou matatengau. 3. Ma te 'abange e Te- saukiu ma tena hanau te saahenga kia Nikamatu'a o to'o, hinake, kae boo a Tesaukiu ma tena hanau o hai uka. 'Oti te hai uka, kae mungi ake a Tesaukiu ma ona hosa, ko Nikamatu'a noko to'o e ia te sa- henga; kua gholigholi 'ua, ma te moe i te mi'i'ana, ma te pau o moe. Ma te taa e na hosa o Tesaukiu, kae to'o e kingatou na sasabe o boo iho ki Tangakitonga.

4. Ma te hakaanu a Ngoto kia te tamana po tehea a tona matu'a. Ma te hai atu a Tesaukiu manga mungi ake i tai. Hiina'i aano ma'u hai atu

1. Ngoto was the daughter of Tesau- kiu, a man of Sau clan. Nikamatu'a, a man of the Tangaibasa clan at the Lake (Kaitu'u clan), married [her]. 2. Then Tesaukiu and his sons went to their canoe to catch [flying fish] with torches, and Nikamatu'a followed them. Then they came to 'One and fished with torches and got one hundred. 3. And Tesaukiu and his sons gave the rich catch to Nika- matu'a to take, and [he] went up and Tesaukiu and his sons went to fish with lines. After having fished with lines, Te- saukiu and his sons followed after, and as for Nikamatu'a, he had taken the rich catch; [it] had started raining a little (gholigholi 'ua), and [he] decided to sleep in a small cave. And Tesaukiu's sons killed [Nikamatu'a] and they took the flying fish and went down [inland] to Tangakitonga.

4. And Ngoto asked her father where her husband was. And Tesaukiu said [that he] would come later from the sea- shore. [They] waited and again Ngoto

309

Page 325: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 159(B)

a Ngoto: " 'Ai tehea a toku matu'a?" 5. Ma te hai atu a te tamana: "Kua taa e ou tunga'ane." Ma te mangepe a Ngoto, ma te baakongikongi atu e Tesaukiu ia tena tama'ahine o hai atu: "Kongukongu, Ngoto! Ka ke hai he hakamasa ngo'imata ia tou matu'a!" Ma te kongaa na tangisaki ake a Ngoto: " 'Aiauee! 'Ai kaa pata mu'a nei Ida toku matu'a."

6. Nimaa tau mai te hongau mai Mungaba Id Mungiki. Aano nimaa ngiu, eke ai a Ngoto o hano te haka'amo ki Tengano.

7. Nimaa boo mai te hongau, pake kia Tesaukiu ma tena hanau, kae tata'o mai ma'u a Ngoto. Nimaa tatae mai ki Tangakitonga, hai kinai te ta'u 'uhi ki te hongau. Hesa'u taki e te hongau te hu'ai'uhi, ke nimaa 'oso kinai he pengea, te pengea ke ngo longi e ia ia Tesau- kiu. 8. Ma te 'oso kinai a Mangi- ngi, te pengea songo. Nimaa hai te mako hakapaungo, a'u a Mangingi

0 hakapungu na ngima i te tobeabu 1 Manibagha o tenge hoki atu. Ko Tesaukiu manga baba ia tana tama- 'ahine o manga tu'u o mata e ia te mako hakapaungo. 9. Ma te hai atu a Mangingi: "Punua ngaoi ange mu'a nei tau tama'ahineena, 'ai a'u mai kau kite ai." Nimaa 'abatu kinai e Tesaukiu. Samu mai e ia o mau'i ai, kae longi e ia ia Tesaukiu o taa. 10. Kae ngenge mai a Te- tongahiti o sabi te uma. To'o te uma o tenge; aano nimaa tatae ki Henuaghebu, keu mai a Tesaukiu ki te tau'a o hai atu: "Babea. Teengaa mu'anga to'oku 'aso; hai ai au pe te hingi ka teke." Ma te taa. Kae taa'ia ngatahi a tena hanau, noko mako hakapaungo. 11. Te hongau nei noko sano e Tesaukiu o hai atu kia tena hanau: "Te hakateke o te ta- 'ahine hoki singi."

said: "Where is my husband?" 5. And the father said: "Your brothers have killed [him]." And Ngoto mourned, and Tesau- kiu comforted his daughter and said: "Calm down, Ngoto! [Let us] dry the tears for your husband [with a food of- fering]!" And Ngoto wailed as follows: "Woe! [A food offering] will not serve as substitute for my husband after this."

6. Then a canoe with people from Rennell landed at Bellona. When [it] re- turned, Ngoto went on board and went to ask for revenge at the Lake.

7. Then the voyagers [from the lake] arrived here, [and] fooled Tesaukiu and his sons, and Ngoto again accompanied [them]. When [they] reached Tangaki- tonga, [the settlement] made a yam feast for the voyagers. The voyagers one by one took the big yam [but quickly passed it on] for if one man held it he would be the one to wrestle with Tesaukiu. 8. And Mangingi, an ugly man, took it. When they danced the hakapaungo dance of war clubs, Mangingi came and rubbed his hands with dust in Manibagha, and ran back again. Tesaukiu stood with his daughter [not Ngoto] on his shoulders and she watched the hakapaungo dance. 9. And Mangingi said: "This youngster, your daughter there, is going to be beautiful. So come here so I can look [at her]." Then Tesaukiu handed [the daughter] over to him. He quickly put her aside and he wrestled with Tesaukiu, and hit [him]. 10. And Tetongahiti jumped forward and chopped [Tesaukiu's] shoulder [and arm] off. [Tesaukiu] took his shoulder [and arm] and ran away; when he came to Henuangebu, Tesaukiu turned to the fighters and said: "[Kill me] quickly! My earlier days were different (teengaa); then I was like the jealous fruit dove." And [they] killed [him]. And all his sons dancing the hakapaungo dance of war clubs were killed. 11. Tesaukiu had suspected these travelers and had said to his sons: "The sister's anger is not yet over."

310

Page 326: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 159(B), 160

NOTES Taupongi had first given this story the title Haka'amo (to seek revenge), but in Honolulu he

asked to have it changed to Manaba 'atua (of rough disposition). These exemplify Taupongi's preference for short, abstract words as titles.

1. Tesaukiu: of Tangakitonga settlement, Bellona. Nikamatu'a: a Rennellese who lived with Tesaukiu and his family in Tangakitonga. Tau-

pongi did not know the genealogy of the Tangaibasa clan, but said that this was not one of the clans that had come from 'Ubea, but a new line founded by some people at the lake.

5. Kongukongu, Ngoto: Taupongi 1961 explained that Tesaukiu's words meant: Ke hai ni utunga ke hai ai he 'oso ia tou matu'a (Let [us] get some food to make a ritual [of mourning] with it for your husband). She refuses the offering and goes to Rennell to get people to avenge her husband.

7. Hesa'u taki e te hongau te hu'ai'uhi: The travelers from Rennell had decided that the one of them who was willing to kill Tesaukiu should accept the largest yam presented to them by their hosts in Tangakitonga. This would be the sign by which the others would know who would perform the act (Taupongi 1961). (See T159[B]:28.)

8. The words songo and ngaoi (Rennellese, gaoi) cover wide semantic ranges including moral- ity, health, and physique. Here and in 9 they are in the last category and may be translated, respectively, as ugly and beautiful or handsome.

hakapungu na ngima: He rubbed his hands to prevent them from becoming slippery during the wrestling.

Manibagha: a place near Tangakitonga. Mangingi goes there so that nobody in Tanga- kitonga may discover his intention to fight with Tesaukiu.

10. Tetongahiti: another member of the visiting Rennellese group. Henuaghebu: a place in the bush behind Matekana. mu'anga: probably fast pronounciation of mu'a ngaa (first there). hai ai au pe te hingi ka teke: Tesaukiu says that when he was young he was as swift in

running and escaping as is the fruit dove when it jumps and flies about its rival or its mate. TM

160. Te Sa'a Tanga The Tanga Clan

Timothy Sau'uhi of Baitupu, RE. At Labagu, April 1, 1958. 1. Te sa'a Kaitu'u noko page-

page te sa'a Tanga, noko ma taka ai i mouku, ma te eke ogo (i Mugiki). 2. Namaa te tahi 'aso, hano a Kau- tasi (he'e te hakah.ua, manga te guani), hano te tau'a, hano hetae ki te 'umanga, o sehu aano ai, kae hakagongo ai te bogoghai abubu, he hua to'a. 3. Gosigosi e ia te kunga o pali, kae ghaghi tena aga kaa go tege ai. 4. Namaa te taha- 'ata, boo iho te hakatahinga a sa'a Tanga i tegatou 'umanga, tatae iho kinai, o siki boo te tohitohitu'u, kae sigi mai a te hu'aihakahua a Henua- 'eha, o a'u ki te bogoghai abubu noko hua to'a. 5. Noko ma pali ai a Kautasi, a'u aano o tatae mai kinai, ina hakatu'u aano ai, 'oso ki te bogoghai, o o'io'i, kae hakatetege iho te tao o Tautasi o taghaghi ki te maganga'e o Henua'eha. 6. Kae ghotoi hakahoki e Kautasi tena tao; tu'ia a Henua'eha o pohenua, kae

1. The Kaitu'u clan drove out the Tanga clan, which stayed in the bush on the top of a hill (on Bellona). Then one day Kautasi (not a chief, just a person of low rank), went fighting, went out and came to a garden and walked about it and listened there [near] the abubu climbing poles with many tubers. 3. He prepared a place to watch and cleared out his path- way for escaping. 4. In the morning the participants in a ceremonial feast from Tanga clan came down to their garden; the diggers arrived there, shouting a harvest song as they came, and the great chief, Henua'eha, passed by and came to the abubu climbing poles with [their] giant tubers. 5. Kautasi watched as [they] came, and when they got there [they] stood, looked upwards and then took hold of the climbing poles and shook [them], and Kautasi stabbed his spear downward and struck Henua'eha's forehead. 6. Kau- tasi pulled back his spear; Henua'eha ex- claimed in dismay and touched his fore-

311

Page 327: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 160, 161

paa te maganga'e, o migimigi, kae ina hakatu'u ki te bogoghai i te tegeu'a ake a Henua'eha, mano te ga'a me'a too iho ke tu'u i te ma- ganga'e, i te me'a gaa kua he'e ina ki te tao o Kautasi. 7. Giu iho te utunga ki Tagikitonga, masaki a Henua'eha, ki te sogi ai tena kakai 'anga, i te tegeu'a ake te masaki, kae 'aina'ia te hagoo.

8. To'o tena gongo ki sa'a Kai- tu'u, o gongo ai kigatou, ko Henua- 'eha te hakahua o sa'a Tanga e ma- saki, ma tata pe te hagoo. 9. Namaa teegaa 'aso, kua 'oti te gongo o Henua'eha; kua mate. Tu'ia a sa'a Kaitu'u o langalanga ake. Hai atu a Kautasi: "E sao po te hua'a na tupe kinai e au." Tutu'atu a sa'a Kaitu'u o haka'eha'eha ia Kautasi, o hai ai tegatou hu'aihakahua. Boo iho ki te aga tu'u o noko ma neepugu, ma te sisia lango, kae sui a sa'a Tanga o matataku o he'agiko. Kua 'oti.

head and rubbed and looked up at the climbing poles, for Henua'eha was thinking that a tree branch had fallen and touched his forehead, as [he] hadn't seen Kautasi's spear. 7. The food gatherers went back down to Tagikitonga, and Henua'eha became sick, and then his people, thinking that [Henua'eha] was sick, conducted religious rituals, but it was really a splinter.

8. His news came to Kaitu'u clan, and they heard that Henua'eha, the chief of Tanga clan, was sick, and was groaning as though with a splinter. 9. Then one day there was no more news of Henua- 'eha; [he] had died. The people of Kaitu'u clan were surprised and puzzled. Kautasi said: "Escape but for the rat I threw at him." Straightway the people of Kaitu'u clan paid honors to Kautasi and made him their great chief. [They] came down the main trail, singing a dance of triumph, rejoicing as [they] came, and in turn the Tanga clan was frightened and ran away. Just finished.

NOTES Timothy, who had given so many stories, excelled in this vivid account with its enigmatic

dialogue and technical vocabulary (bogoghai, siki, tohitohitu'u, pohenua, hua'a, neepugu). The story is also interesting for its indication that a guani (one of low rank) could become

a great chief. Taupongi 1961 thought that the story must have been about the Sau clan, as this clan lived at Tagikitonga.

SE

161. Te Hogau o Sa'a Tanga The Tanga Clan Travelers

Kemuel Tepai. At Hutuna, Kanaba, RE, March 23, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o te hogau o

sa'a Tanga, boo mai i Mugiki, na kainanga o Guatupu'a, noko boo mai tegatou hogau, o tau mai ki Te'ana, o hakaneke ake ai. 2. Ka ko kigatou na tutahi te matekaga, ka noko he'e kitea kigatou he bai. Boo ake aano o tatae ake ki Ma- lunu, o noko ma taahoga ai i te sia bibinu. 3. Sopo mai te manu hogau, noko hakatino kinai a Gua- tupu'a, o mene ki te bai, o kaukau ai, sopo hoki mai o guhugu, kae

1. The story of Tanga clan travelers who came from Bellona, worshippers of Guatupu'a who came on their trip and landed at Te'ana and climbed up there. 2. But they were all very thirsty and they found no water. [They] went up and, reaching Malunu, lay down, so great was their thirst. 3. A dragonfly came, Gua- tupu'a having assumed this shape, and dived into a pool and bathed, and then came out and shook, and went back again to the pool, but they hadn't yet seen the pool. 4. Then the dragonfly came back

312

Page 328: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 161, 162, 163

hoki ki te bai, ka koi he'e kitea kigatou te bai. 4. Hoki mai te manu hogau o tu'u ki te hakahua o te lango 'anga, o suu ai na ba'e, kae hoki ki te bai. Tata'o atu ai na pegea, o kite kigatou te bai, o bi- bimi ai. Kua 'oti te tagatupu'a o te manu hogau.

162. Te Bai 'Angiki

and came to the chief of the travelers, and wet his feet, and then went back to the pool. The people followed, and they found the pool and drank of it. The story of the dragonfly is ended.

SE

The Water of Chiefs [Tanga clan]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, 1961. 1. Te tautupu'a ki te bai 'angiki,

noko hakasinga e Kaina kia tona tunga'ane, a Tupaukiu, i Tonga- 'aatea. Te manaha o maangama nei ko Tonga'aatea, ka te ngano e ingoa te bai 'angiki, te bai o poo- 'ungi. 2. Noko manga kaukau ai na pengea o na hakatu'u, ka noko he'e kaukau ai na pengea o te noho 'anga. Teengaa te tangata noko tangangongo i na 'atua e kaukau ai, ko Tamua, ma te hahine mai sa'a Tanga, ka he'e na'a ngaoi e au tona ingoa.

3. Te tama 'iti'iti nimaa tuku mai e na 'atua ke a'u o hakakingi kia pengea, kaukau i te bai 'angiki, kae a'u te tama 'iti'iti o hakakingi kia pengea.

1. The story about the water of chiefs, which Kaina poured over her brother Tu- paukiu in Tonga'aatea. Tonga'aatea is a settlement in this world of light, but the lake called the water of chiefs is water in the underworld. 2. Only the people of the original [clans] bathed there, but the peo- ple of the residence did not bathe there. The man who was said by the gods to have bathed there was Tamua, and a woman from Tanga clan, but I do not exactly know her name.

3. The child whom the gods sent to come and assume the appearance of human beings bathed in the water of chiefs, and the child came and assumed the appearance of human beings.

NOTES This story was evoked by my question about the water of chiefs mentioned in T146(A):1. 1. Tupaukiu: of the Tanga clan: he lived in the settlement Tonga'aatea, now in Ghongau

district, apparently at the time of Ngakei (Plate 3, Ghongau line, G8), whom he killed (N227 [A]:5). He is also called Sau'eha. Tupaukiu's grave is in Oa, Matangi district, and was a center of rituals, Tupaukiu being considered a deified ancestor. On December 30, 1958, Paul Sa'e- ngeika told the following about him: Ko Tupaukiu te hakatu'unga. Ko Tupaukiu te pengea o te sa'a Tanga, ka na mate o hano ki Manukatu'u o hakapata kia Tehainga'atua, aano hai ai te 'atua. (Tupaukiu is a deified ancestor. Tupaukiu was a man of the Tanga clan, and [he] died and went to Manukatu'u [see T3] and stayed with Tehainga'atua, and so became a god.) Taupongi 1961 said that he became a deified ancestor because Kaina, his dead sister, whose grave was in Tonga'aatea, had poured the water of chiefs over him.

2. noho 'anga: the name for the Kaitu'u clan, used in contrast to te hakatu'u hitu (the seven original [clans]).

Tamua: Genealogy 9, G14. TM

163. Sa'o'angaba Sa'o'angaba [Tongo clan]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, 1961. Ko Sa'o'angaba, teengaa te tau-

tupu'a e hai kinai: te pengea hana As for Sa'o'angaba, that is the story

about him: a person who was a good

313 21*

Page 329: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 163, 164, 165

tu'u i na ngasau. Noko usu te hakauu i Te'atumatangi, ma te singi te taghoa, ma te hai ake te pengea: "Kohea na pengea e hana tu'u i te hanange te taghoa e singi nei?" Ma te sopo iho a Sa'o'angaba o tu'u i te ngoto manga'e o te nga- nguenga, o unu te ngasau i tana 'uu o hana 'angu ai e ia. Nimaa 'oti te hakau o ma seu, nimaa boo atu na pengea i te potu ki matangi, manga teka te taghoa i te anga tu'u. Manga tu'u ai te ngasau a Sa'o- 'angaba.

shot with arrows. [He] performed the temple rituals at Te'atumatangi, and a white ibis passed, and a man said: "Where are the men that shoot and hit when shooting the white ibis passing here?" And Sa'o'angaba came down and stood in the cult grounds of the temple, and pulled an arrow out of his bundle and he shot after it. When the temple ritual was completed and people went to the eastern end, the white ibis lay there on the main trail. Sa'o'angaba's arrow had hit it.

NOTES While going over the traditions about the extinct clans with Taupongi 1961, I asked whether

he knew more stories about them, and he then told this one, an illustration of Sa'o'angaba's qualities as a shot.

Sa'o'angaba: Genealogy 10, Tongo clan. usu te hakauu: Taupongi 1961 defined this term as te ingoa o te boo 'anga ke songi i te

nganguenga (the term for going and praying at the temple). Te'atumatangi: the most important temple on Bellona.

TM

164. Ho'imata Ho'imata [Tongo clan]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, 1961. Ko Ho'imata, teengaa te tautu-

pu'a e hai kinai: noko usu tena hakau i Teuse. Ma te hakakite'aki ia Iho, e sopo iho ki te mu'a nga- nguenga ma tena sua, e usu mai ma'u tena hakau ki Teuse. Ma te mene a Ho'imata i te kainanga o te nganguenga o hano. Kae hinake a Iho o hakatungou i te ngangue- nga; aano mate ai e ia te ingoa Te- 'atumatangi, o pau o manga noho ai te ingoa o te nganguenga i tena tonu kia Tehainga'atua te ingoa Te- 'atumatangi.

As for Ho'imata, that is the story about him: he performed his rituals at Teuse. [He] saw Iho coming down to the front of the temple with his sacred paddle and also perform his temple rituals at Teuse. And Ho'imata disappeared at the side of the temple and went away. And Iho went up and asked permission at the temple; and then he gave [the temple] the name Te'atumatangi, and then this remained the name of the temple, as the name Te'atumatangi was pleasing to Tehainga- 'atua.

NOTES

For a longer account by Taupongi in 1959, see T139:l-5. Ho'imata: Genealogy 10, Tongo clan.

TM

165. Te Hange o Tematangi Tematangi's House [Tongo clan]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959. Ko Tematangi te pengea o sa'a

Tongo. Na hai tona hange, noko Tematangi was a man of Tongo

clan. He made his house ten fathoms

314

Page 330: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 165, 166

kumi, kae taki ngoha ngima ona huahua. Ngongo ai te sa'a Taupongi o punge kinai, po kohea na kite ai, po kingatou taa'ia. Ma te hai atu a Nunubaiau: "Ka eea 'o ko ia." Kae tuu iho e ia te papa, ma te hena'ina'i'aki o mongi mai kinai tengatou mako sa'u, kae kite i te hange noko ngutua. Noko haka'ia hakaiba i te anga singa i 'Utumaaua 1 te ngoa tona anga singa; kae tatae ki mungi.

long, and each of its curved vertical rafters was five fathoms. The Taupongi clan heard about it and discussed it, how it could be seen, and if [they] would be killed [if they went there]. And Nunubaiau said: "This is it." And he put down the sounding board and [they] agreed [to go there], and they danced the mongi ges- tures of the mako sa'u dance and saw the house that was famous. [They] made nine shouts 'ia on the bypath leading up to 'Utumaaua, for the bypath was long; and [they] arrived in the rear.

NOTES The name of this house was Tehange'eha (The-big-house). It was in 'Utumaaua settlement

and was a house with curved rafters (hange hakahuahua). (See T167.) TM: "Why were members of the Taupongi clan afraid to go and look at the house?" Tau-

pongi: Ko ngaa 'aso, noko he'e lango maasoko, i te me'a ngaa, noko hematataku'aki, I te kitai taa'ia he pegea, po a hakataaunga'ia he pengea o masaki o mate. (In former days [people] did not just walk freely about, because of fear that perhaps the person would be killed, or the person would be possessed and get sick and die.)

Nunubaiau: of the Tanga clan. He suggested that they visit 'Utumaaua and honor the people with a mako sa'u dance. When the Tematangi people saw the mako sa'u dancers, they knew that the visitors had come with peaceful intentions.

The visitors shouted 'ia and danced the mako sa'u nine times, an indication of the length of the trail leading from the main trail up to the settlement.

TM

166. Te Taki o te Mako Sa'u The Song of the Mako Sa'u

Naiham Tamua of Sa'aiho, BE. December 1959. 1. Tutue moi toio, ka tutue moi

toio. 2. Tutue moi toio, ka tutue moi

toio. 3. Tutue moi toio, ka tutue moi

toio. 4. Takina mai tobaa, tobaa. Ko ba

henua ko mai 'io.

5. Ka tutue moi toio. 'loooooooooaa.

Bang-bang falls here, bang-bang falls here.

Bang-bang falls here, bang-bang falls here.

Bang-bang falls here, bang-bang falls here.

The sounding board, the sounding board is beaten here. The whole land shouts 'io here.

Bang-bang falls here. 'loooooooooaa.

NOTES Translation of this mako sa'u danced in 'Utumaaua (T165) can be only approximate, and

needs explanation, as given by Taupongi 1961: 1. Tutue: dull, vibrating beats on the sounding board, onomatopoeic.

toio: toiho (fall). Refers to the beating sticks falling on the sounding board. 4. tobaa, tobaa: te papa, te papa.

ba henua: ba'i henua (the whole land). 'io: sometimes 'ia; the shout that ends the mako sa'u.

T M

315

Page 331: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 167, 168

167. Tehu'aingabenga ma Tematangi

Tehu'aingabenga and Tematangi [Tongo clan]

Headman Haikiu and Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 15, 1959. 1. Te hange o Tematangi, noko

kumi ki te potu, kae ngoha ngima na huahua o teengaa pa'asi, kae ngoha ngima na huahua ma'u tee- ngaa pa'asi. 2. Noko tu'u i 'Utu- maaua. Noko hai hekau ai aano nimaa 'oti, hohonga takapau te hange hepootaki. Ahe ake kinai a Tehu'aingabenga ma te 'ita ki te hange o hai ake po tona ha'itunga. Ma te keu iho a Tehu'aingabenga kia Tehanonga, noko manga noho, o hai atu ke a'u kinai. 3. Nimaa poo mai o 'aoina ake, te hange, kua he- pootaki tona 'ango i te ngata. Taa aano ai i te 'ao; nimaa poo mai ma'u, o 'aoina ake, manga tu'u ma'u te ngata i te hange.

1. Tematangi's house was ten fathoms to the ends, and the curved rafters on one side five fathoms, and the curved rafters on the other side five fathoms also. 2. [The house] stood in 'Utumaaua. [The house] was worked on, and, when finished coconut-leaf mats were spread connecting the house [covering the entire floor]. Te- hu'aingabenga came up to it and was jealous of the house and asked if this sacred house was his. And Tehu'aingabe- nga turned down to Tehanonga, who was just sitting there, and said to come into it. 3. Then night came and then daylight, and the interior of the house was covered with snakes. During the day they were killed; then night came again and then daylight, and again snakes were heaped up in the house.

NOTES 1. Te hange o Tematangi: See T165. 2. hohonga takapau: mats were spread over the floor during rituals. Tehu'aingabenga was

jealous because the worshippers of Hu'aitekongo had so many mats. 'ita ki te hange: TM: "Why was Tehu'aingebenga jealous?" Taupongi: "Because the To-

ngo clan would worship Hu'aitekongo, their district god (T66:12), in this big house, and not Tehu'aingabenga."

Tehanonga: god of snakes. See T193. When telling this story Taupongi was visibly disgusted at the thought of snakes creeping all

over the floor of the house. He and all other informants very often talked about snakes, always with a certain horror in their voices.

TM

168. Tekape Tekape [Ngoha clan]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, 1961. 1. Ko Tekape, teengaa te tautu-

pu'a e hai kinai: Na punge te tau'a a Hakatu'ukiu ki Nguaniua; kinga- tou sui tau'a i te haahaa a te sa'a Hu'aingupe, na taa e kingatou a sa'a Iho. 2. Ma te hengeu po ke kohea na tutu'u te tau'a ki Ngua- niua. Ma te hai atu a Tekape ke ha'a ngua e he pengea te 'ungu, ke hano ki Nguaniua ke pake e ia. Ma te ma'ongi o ha'a ngua te 'ungu,

1. As for Tekape, that is the story about him: Hakatu'ukiu planned an at- tack on Nguaniua; they would make an attack of revenge because the Hu'aingupe clan had attacked at night and they killed Iho clan. 2. And [they] talked about how to begin the attack against Nguaniua. And Tekape said that a man should split [Tekape's] head, and he [Tekape] would go to Nguaniua and play a trick. [They] agreed and [a man] split [Tekape's] head

316

Page 332: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

tuki tana 'uu, ma te to'o e ia o mangepe hano ki Nguaniua. 3. Nimaa boo iho na pengea o hiina'i kinai, i te manga noho i te mu'a manaha o manga mangepe. Ngiu ake na pengea o 'ati ngongo ai kia Temae. Ma te hai atu a Temae te pake, ma te hai atu na pengea noko hiina'i kinai: "E ha'a ngua te 'ungu, kae tukima'u tana 'uu." 4.Ma te pongoaki iho a Temae o singa ake ki Nguaniua o hengau ai tona maka. Nimaa poo haa, ai te 'aso e na'a e ia e hai ke boo atu ai te tau'a a Hakatu'ukiu, sa'ango pake ma'u a Tekape o manga tu'u ngoa ki mungi. 'Ai manga sasanga e ia he anga kengo sosopo mai ai te tau'a. 5. Ma te kite e ia te tino niu e too i Nguaniua o takoto ki Sauhakapoi. Kite ma'u e ia te tau'a o honga- honga kinai te anga e kite e ia i te tino niu. 'Oti kae hoki iho ki te manaha o moe o tubi; lalangi tona baghu, noko tubi ai o mata iho e ia te tau'a. Nimaa boo ake te tau'a o he'osohi ki te manaha o taa e kingatou. 'Anga a Tekape o eke i ngua pengea noko moe hakapingi kinai o taa e ia.

TEXTS 168, 169

and broke his bundle of arrows, and he [Tekape] took the [bundle of arrows] and went crying to Nguaniua. 3. People went and looked at him, as [he] was just sitting in front of the settlement, crying. The people returned and reported about it to Temae. And Temae said it was a trick, and the people who had seen him said: "His head is split and his bundle of ar- rows is broken." 4. And so Temae told him to come, and [he] went up to Ngua- niua, where his injury was treated. Then, on the fourth night, which he knew was the tune when Hakatu'ukiu's fighters would come, Temae faked dysentery and stayed a long time behind [the settlement]. And so he looked for a trail along which the fighters could enter [the settlement]. 5. And he saw a coconut tree trunk fallen over in Nguaniua and lying [pointing] to wards Sauhakapoi. He also saw the fighters and he told them about the path- way he had found on the coconut tree trunk. Then [he] returned to the settle- ment and lay down and covered himself [with a mat]; he tore [a hole] in his mat of baghu leaves with which he had cov- ered himself, and watched the fighters. Then the fighters came and grabbed the people of the settlement, and they killed [them]. Tekape got up and jumped upon two people lying close to him, and he killed [them].

NOTES Taupongi gave this incident on Bellona (T139:10-15). Luckily he had forgotten that he had, so here was an opportunity to get the same story from an informant twice. Tekape: Genealogy 10, Ngoha clan.

1. Hakatu'ukiu: Genealogy 9, G14. Nguaniua: settlement of the Hu'aingupe clan. Hu'aingupe: Genealogy 9. For the story of the extermination of the Iho clan, compare T140.

2. ha'a ngua: I neglected to inquire how serious the injury was. 3. Temae: Genealogy 8, Hu'aingupe clan. 5. te tino niu: The fighters used the fallen coconut tree trunk as a pathway when entering

the settlement. In this way they could approach quietly (Taupongi). TM

169. Mi'ia Pissed On [Ngoha clan]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959. 1. Ko Tengeihonu te hahine o te 1. Tengeihonu was a woman of the

sa'a Ngoha, te tama'ahine a Natiu. Ngoha clan, the daughter of Natiu. A

317

Page 333: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 169, 170

Te hahine noko ngaoi. Noko pipiki e Tebai, te pengea o Matangi. 2. Noko boo te ihonga a Tebai ki tai. Kae boo a ona unguungu o hai 'umu i 'One. Kae singi a Tengei- honu ki ngango (Sa'aiho). Nimaa tatae mai a Tebai o hai atu kia ona unguungu: " 'Ai tehea tasi?" Hai atu a ona unguungu: "Kua singi ki ngango." Hai atu a Tebai: "Ebe atu te 'umu, na'e teengaa te kua singi." Ma te ebeebe tengatou 'umu.

4. Hano aano nimaa tauiku a Tengeihonu. Hinatu a Tebakato'a, manga tu'u tona tubi. Kake a Te- bakato'a i te nga'akau o mimi kinai.

woman who was pretty. Tebai, a man from Matangi, married her. 2. Tebai went to sea to fish. His wives went to prepare an oven at 'One. But Tengeihonu went west (Sa'aiho). Then Tebai came and said to his wives: "Where is the other one?" His wives said: "Gone west." Tebai said: "Scatter the oven as she has left." They scattered the oven.

4. Time went and Tengeihonu became old. Tebakato'a came along and her cov- ering was raised [Tengeihonu was sleeping under a mat]. Tebakato'a climbed a tree and pissed on her.

NOTES 1. Natiu: Genealogy 10, Ngoha clan.

Tebai: Mu'akitangata, Plate 3, Mataki'ubea line, G13. He had many wives. 2. Tengeihonu did not like Tebai and went back to stay in her father's village (Taupongi

1961). 4. Tebakato'a: of either the Tongo or the Tanga clan. I asked Taupongi why this incident was remembered. He said (1961) that it was because

Tengeihonu had been very beautiful and because Tebakato'a noko bange songo kinai i te me'a ngaa ku tauiku a Tengeihonu (Tebakato'a was playing a foul trick on her because Tengeihonu had become old).

TM

170. Te Mamate 'anga a Sa'a Tini The Death of Tini Clan

Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Hakagua, March 20, 1958. 1. Tegatou manaha ko Tapaago,

noko hai tegatou 'atua i te ubiubi 0 Ogoba, e i Niupani i Tetu'aakoi. Tegatou tongitongi noko hai, te hiina'i aano, namaa gea mai te ubiubi, tutu'u te tokagima pegea, boo memene ki te 'ana, o mamate ai. Hiina'i aano tena toe. 2. Namaa gea hoki mai ma'u te ubiubi, tutu'u ma'u te tokagima pegea, o boo o memene ma'u i te 'ana o mamate ma'u kinai. 3. Manga kogaa na hai 1 ba'i 'aso, te gea te ubiubi, boo hakatau mamate i te 'ana. 4. Aano mamate te gau te ubiubi noko gea goa, tegatou 'atua, na 'aso he'e gea e he'e kago. Namaa gea mai e kago, boo ona kainanga o mamate i te 'ana i Tapaago. Teenei te 'oti 'anga o te mamate 'anga o sa'a

1. Their settlement was at Tapaago, and they had a god in the Ogoba blowhole at Niupani at Tetu'aakoi. The custom they followed was whenever the blowhole spoke, five people stood up and went and disappeared in the cave and died there. The remainder just stayed. 2. When the blowhole spoke again too, another five people stood up and went and disappeared too in the cave and also died there. 3. And so on every day that the blowhole spoke, they went successively and died in the cave. 4. When a hundred died, the blowhole spoke loudly, their god, and when he didn't speak there was no punish- ment. When he called there was punish- ment, and his worshippers went and died in the cave at Tapaago. This is the ending of the death of Tini clan. 5. Bones still remain, and skulls. We went there

318

Page 334: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 170

Tini. 5. Ma koi noho na ibi, na (Moa, Malacham, and I), and brought puso 'ugu. Noko boo kimatou back bones and played with them and (Moa, Malakamu) o to'o mai na ibi buried [them] in the garden. o babage kinai o tanu i te 'umanga.

NOTES Taupongi 1961 believed that this must be another Niupani and not the one in Mugihenua.

He had not heard of the Tini clan, and suggested that it might be an offshoot of the Kaitu'u clan.

SE

319

Page 335: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 16. MEN AND GODS

All manner of gods play a part in this chapter: great gods who seek mortals in marriage (T178, T179, T183), little gods who plague mortals by making strange sounds (T181, T182), and deified ancestors who restore life and procure food (T194). The stories in this chapter differ from those in chapters 4 and 10-15; in chapter 4 there are gods and no humans, and in 10-15 there are ancestors with names, some of whom have dealings with gods. In the present chapter, some of the people are nameless, and those who bear names have not been located in the genealogies. The first and largest group of stories concerns gods who tease or harm men; the most powerful gods are given first, in order of seniority. Baabenga as the daugter of Tehainga'atua has considerable seniority; as in previous chapters, she acts the part of a trickster (T174, T175, T176). Then there are three tales of men who break taboos but who are saved through rites. In four accounts, men defy the gods. In the last three, the supernaturals help men or bring food.

171. Tehugi Tehugi

James Puipuia of Matangi, RE. December 4, 1958. Te launatahi pegea noko i gaa

'aso, tona ingoa ko Tehugi, noko igho to'a ki na 'atua. Aano mate o tuungia, noko hano ki Manukatu'u o mang& hai ai te pugu ki na 'umu huke, ma na kai 'anga i na hage o Tehainga'atua. Noko poo'ugi te hage o Tehainga'atua; ngege a Tehainga'atua ia Tehugi ke tutu te 'ugu ke uga ke peba ai ana kai 'anga. Noko poo'ugi te hage o Te- hainga'atua, ngege a Tehainga'atua o kogaa na to'o: "Tehea koe, Te- hugi, ma tou 'ugu? Ke tutu, ke peba ai toku hage nei."

One man [living] in former times, his name was Tehugi, cursed the deities violently. Then [he] died and was burned, went to Manukatu'u and became there a torch when the ovens were opened and during the meals in Tehainga'atua's houses. Tehainga'atua's house was dark; Tehainga'atua shouted to Tehugi to light his [own] head so that it would flame and illuminate his meals. When Tehainga- 'atua's house was dark, Tehainga'atua shouted, speaking thus: "Where are you, Tehugi, with your head? Light it and il- luminate with it my house here."

NOTES During this session, James, Togaka, and I discussed how the gods would punish people who

did not perform the rituals correctly or did not perform them at all. Both informants said that the person in question would either be struck by sickness or death or that his garden would not grow properly. Punishment after death was very unusual they said, and James had heard of only one case. TM: "Who told you about it?" James: "The mediums. They had heard about it from the gods."

Manukatu'u: see T3. TM

320

Page 336: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 172, 173

172. Te Angito The Firefly

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Labagu, RE, February 1959. 1. Haibangonga'a noko hai tana

hai 'anga te taa angito, ka na angito noko hai ai te 'ata o Sikingimoe- moe. Nimaa i teengaa 'aso, hinatu a Haibangonga'a i te tu'utu'u i Ma- nanighapu. 2. Sopo mai te angito. Paa iho e ia ki te kenge. Ngea ake te angito o hai ake: "Ka hai tau kite i te au!" Ma te ngenge hoki ake te angito, o taa e ia mate. O hatu ake tana 'ungu mai poo'ungi, o tanga ngongo e na taaunga.

Teenei tena 'ungu: 3. Toku moki kua hakaoho ina

oke, kua hakaponge tino. 4. Ngaona, kua hakaoho kina oke,

kau te pongo'akina. 5. Ngaona, kua hakahuo ina oke

oke, kau te pongo'aki na, toni. Kau sae aoke eio.

6. Kau te matakutia, toni, Kau sae aoke eio, kau te mata-

kutia.

1. Haibangonga'a had the habit of killing fireflies, and in the fireflies was the spiritual self of Sikingimoemoe. Then one day Haibangonga'a went to the slope in Mananighapu. 2. The firefly came. He slapped [it] to the ground. The firefly talked and said: "You always find me." And the firefly flew up again, and he hit [Haibangonga'a] dead. And [Haibango- nga'a] composed his opening chant from the underworld, and the mediums revealed [the song].

This is his opening chant: 3. My death was sudden, [I] look up-

wards, [my] body is quivering. 4. Dead, died suddenly, [I] look upwards.

I am ordered. I want to rise. 5. Dead, died suddenly, [I] look upwards,

upwards, I am ordered, toni, I want to rise.

6. I am frightened, toni, I want to rise, I am frightened.

NOTES Taupongi told this story during a few days' stopover in Labagu, Rennell, on our way to

Honiara. 1. Haibangonga'a: Informants remembered only his name. "He lived a very long time ago."

Mananighapu: the name of the beginning of the slope in Matangi district, Bellona. 2. Ka hai tau kite: Taupongi said this was not the talk of human beings, and that only gods

talked like this. Sikingimoemoe embodied herself in all fireflies. It was taboo to kill them. Here, the goddess means that Haibangonga'a was always killing fireflies and thereby menacing the spiritual self of the goddess.

3. Taupongi said that this song was haingata'a (difficult), and that his explanations could be suggestive only.

Toku moki: poetic for taku mate, ina oke: ina ake.

4. Ngaona: ngango. 5. pongo'aki: Sikingimoemoe gave the firefly orders to kill Haibangonga'a.

toni: meaning unknown. Kau sae aoke: Taupongi 1961 explained this as meaning: Ko au e sia hai ke sae ake

(I want to rise from the dead). TM

173. Lobikuu Shaving the Head

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, September 1960. Ko Tengeia, te pengea o te sa'a

Kaitu'u, te tinihenua o Te'atuma- tangi. Noko hano o baloaghi i mou-

Tengeia [genealogy not known], a man of the Kaitu'u clan, was priest-chief of Te'atumatangi [temple]. [He] went and

321

Page 337: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 173, 174

ku. Nimaa hai tana 'ahi o tunu ai ana akui. 'Oti, moe o 'ungunga i tana toe ngama, ma te lobikuu e Sikingimoemoe te 'ungu. 'Ao, o hoki ki tona manaha. Nimaa tatae iho, hai atu a tona unguungu: "Ko koe e aa?" Hai atu: "I te aa?" Hai atu ma'u a tona unguungu: " 'Ai poo ake ki tou 'ungu!" Nimaa 'oso ake kinai, manga mongemonge te 'ungu, ma te ngengema'ungi ma te mate ai. Noko tapu ki na tinihenua o na nganguenga te hai ahi.

caught coconut crabs in the bush with dead mollusks as bait. Then he made his fire and roasted his coconut crabs in it. Then [he] slept and used the remainder of his torch as a head rest, and Sikingi- moemoe shaved off his hair [laughter]. Daylight came, and [he] returned to his settlement. When [he] came down, his wife said: "What happened to you?" [He] said: "In what way?" His wife said again: "Then touch your head!" Then he touched it, and his head was smooth, and [he] was surprised and died because of this. It was taboo for priest-chiefs of the temples to make fires.

TM

174. Taheta'u ma Baabenga Taheta'u and Baabenga

Shadrach Maaui of Hatagua, and Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Hatagua, March 17, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a o Taheta'u

moona taina. Ko kigatou na baka- tasi o te ngaguenga, e hai tona ingoa ko Maga'e. Na boo i te aga, tona ingoa ko 'Oneaghugha. Boo aano tatae ki Temalaga, o kegi tua 0 hai ai tegatou ahi i te ahiahi. 2. Aano momoe o 'ugunga hakatege 1 te potu ga'akau goa, kae momoe o 'ugunga i te potu me'a e tasi o hai tegatou miti e tasi, i te a'u o Baa- benga o hai tangi: "O 'ai konei baka o'oku po o toku tamana?" 3. 'A'a- gake manga tangi te ligho e tino kinai a Baabenga.

4. Namaa 'aoina ko kigatou na boo ki tai, o boo ki Mugihenua, o tatae ki te motu i Henuagiki, o ka- kai ai o tautai kinai, o hai agatou ga'ea; noko 'eha, o to'o mai ki togatou kunga kakai o gosigosi ai agatou kaui o hai tegatou kohu i na tina'e ga'ea. 5. Ka na a'u a Baa- benga o tatau kinai te kohu genga o kai e kigatou o konaea ai o mamate kogaa, kae hoki mai te launatasi, o 'ati gongo ki te manaha o'ona noko

1. The story of Taheta'u and his younger brothers. They were priest as- sistants at the temple that had the name Maga'e. Going on the trail, its name 'Oneaghugha. Going on [they] reached Temalaga and dug tua yams and made their fire in the evening. 2. When sleeping [they] used a portion of a long log as a head rest, sleeping in a row, using the same log as a head rest, and they had the same dream, that Baabenga came and sang a tangi song: "Is this my em- bodiment or my father's?" 3. [They] woke and only the white-collared kingfisher was singing, Baabenga having taken this form.

4. When it was light they went down to the sea and on to Mugihenua, and reached the island at Henuagiki, and stayed there to fish, and caught their ga'ea fish [perhaps a Thalassoma]; there were many, [which they] took to the place they were staying, and prepared their fish there and made their baked dish with the innards of the ga'ea. 5. And Baabenga came and wrung out into it some turmeric mixture, and they ate and became poisoned by it and some died, and one

322

Page 338: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

ma noho'aki ai ogatou pegea, o hai atu: "Oku ta'okete kua konaea ka ko kimatou o mamate ka ko au te ma'ugi e a'u nei."

TEXTS 174, 175

returned and told his village where their people were, saying: "My older brothers were poisoned and we died, except I re- covered and have come here."

NOTES 1. Maga'e: near Hatagua. 3. Baabenga is regarded here as a daughter of Tehainga'atua. See 13 in Genealogy 11. 5. SE: "Who returned?" Informants: "Taheta'u."

SE

175. Te Taa'ia 'anga a Baabenga Baabenga Is Killed

Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Hatagua, March 19, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o Baabenga ma

Huei. Te launatahi 'aso, hano a Huei ki tai. Tuku ia tona uguugu o hano i te aga, kae hano e ia i mou- ku. Namaa hetae te uguugu o Huei ki tai, o noko ma noho ai, aano taunga gogoa, ma te makaga iho te hatu hakatau, ma te sopo iho a Baabenga. Kua hakagigiu ia te ia, o noko manga noho mai ko Huei. 2. Ina'iho, hai atu ki te uguugu o Huei: "Hai atu he 'umu." Kae hano ki tai ka noko to'iho tena kautaba ma te 'ahii ahato. 3. Hano te ugu- ugu o Huei te hainga baakai, o to'o mai ana baakai, ma te tata ana ghasigho, o hakapigi ki ana baakai, o hoki mai ki te aba. Te ingoa o te aba ko Tebaipuke, o tuku ana baakai. 4. Kae sopo hoki ake a Baabenga, o hai atu ke hai he 'umu. Ma te hai te 'umu a te hahine aano ta'o. Namaa taunga gogoa, tata'o te 'umu, hai atu a Baabenga ke huke te 'umu, na'e kua goa te ta'o. 5. Kae tu'u o iho atu ki aba; pakoo iho ma'u te hatu hakatau. Sopo ihoma'u a Huei, manga to'iho tena kautaba ma tena 'ahii ahato, ma te gegema- 'ugi a tona uguugu, o hai atu: '"Ai ko koe o ko ia teenaa? Ka na 'atua mai hea te bega mata kinai au?" 6. Ma te hakaanu kinai a Huei o 'ati gongo kinai a tona uguugu i tena sopo 'anga, e to'iho tena kautaba ma tena 'ahii ahato, o unga kia te ia, ke hai ma'ana he 'umu, kae

1. The story of Baabenga and Huei. One day Huei went to the sea. He left his wife to go on the trail, and he went into the bush. Then Huei's wife went to the sea and stayed there, and after a while there was a clatter of hurled stones, and Baabenga appeared. [She] had trans- formed herself and looked like Huei. 2. [She] looked down and said to Huei's wife: "Make the oven." [The wife] went to the sea and took her edible kautaba vines and leaf package of longicorns. 3. Huei's wife went to get wood and brought her wood and picked some ghasigho vines attached to her wood, and went back to the waterfront. The name of the waterfront was Tebaipuke, and [she] put down her wood. 4. And Baabenga ap- peared again and told [her] to make the oven. And the woman made the oven and cooked [the food]. After a while the oven was cooked, and Baabenga said to open the oven, since it had just been cooked. 5. Then [she] went to the water- front; the hurled stones clattered again. Huei appeared, carrying his kautaba vines and his leaf package of longicorns, and his wife was astonished and said: "What are you up to? From where are the gods for whom I'm burning my eyes?" 6. Huei questioned her, and his wife told him about his coming and bringing down his kautaba vines and his leaf package of longicorns, and telling her to make an oven while [he] went to the sea, and then [how] he came back with fish, but dry and not wet. This is what Huei's

323

Page 339: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 175

hano ki tai, aano sopo hoki ake ma na kaui, ka manga mamala, he'e suu'ia. Konei te noho o te 'ati gongo 'anga a te uguugu o Huei. 7. Ma te hai atu a Huei: "Poe haka- langalanga i te aa? Ka ko Baabe- nga!" Gege atu a Huei o kegi e ia te 'umu, kua he'e kitea ana kaui, ka manga na ghasigho a te uguugu o Huei noko iai te manga noho. Gege mai ki te kautaba, noko gaga o tuku atu ki teegaa kunga, kua he'e kitea ma'u. Aano misimisi kinai a Huei, hai kaa go taa'ia. Teenei te 'otinga o teegaa hai 'anga.

8. Namaa teegaa 'aso, hinaiho a Huei i te aga i Tebaipuke, bilaabei ma Baabenga, bilaabei i Tesauma, o hegeu, o hai atu: "Kitai go bilaa- bei." 9. Hano a Huei i te aga i Te- baipuke, kae iho a Baabenga i te aga o maatu'a. Hano a Huei o tua tena gama, o to'o hano ki tai, hetae ki Tebaipuke. Namaa te ahiahi, ha'a gua e ia te gama, o semai teegaa pa'asi o kakai, o hakatakoto e ia, kae manga sae tena gama pa- 'asi, ka kua hakamasahu e ia kia Tehu'aigabenga. 10. Namaa te ahi- ahi, ka te magikogua o te mahina, ina'atu kia Baabenga e a'u mai ma- tangi i tena baka. A'u o tau mai ki Tebaipuke, o tau tena baka, kae hinake ki 'agunga, o noho mai i te kunga noko manga iai a Huei. 11. Noko ma hegeu ma te sa'u ake Huei te pa'asi gama, o toghi ai e ia te u'a o Baabenga o teka, kae taa e ia te tino ma te 'ugu. Ka manga hakasuki ake a Baabenga: " 'Ai e aa te taa iho e kaa mate?" Kae manga taa iho e Huei. 12. Aano gege ma te tangi te kagau tea. Kua tino kinai a Baabenga, o hano te kagau. Teenei te 'otinga o te taa'ia 'anga a Baabenga.

wife said. 7. Huei said: "Why are you surprised? That was Baabenga!" Huei jumped up and he dug up the oven, but her fish were not there, and only the ghasigho vine of his wife resting there. [He] then jumped over to the kautaba vines that had been smoked and put in their place, but [they] were not found either. Then Huei threatened her [Baa- benga], that he would murder [her]. This is the end of that affair.

8. Another day Huei went west along the trail at Tebaipuke, met Baabenga, meeting at Tesauma, and spoke saying: "Probably meet again." 9. Huei went along the Tebaipuke trail and Baabenga went down on the trail of the ancients. Huei went and cut his torch, and took it on to the sea, coming to Tebaipuke. In the evening, he broke the torch in two, sharpening the end so it was sharp and he laid [it] down, but broke the other end of his torch and he dedicated [it] to Te- hu'aigabenga. 10. In the evening, the fourteenth night of the moon, [he] saw Baabenga coming in her canoe from the east. [She] came and landed at Tebai- puke, landing her canoe and going ashore and went to stay at the place where Huei was. 11. [They] spoke, and Huei picked up his piece of torch and he cut off Baa- benga's neck and put [it] down and struck the body and head. Baabenga was un- afraid, [and said]: "Why the beating, to kill?" But Huei just beat down. 12. Then a white reef heron flew up, crying. Baa- benga had assumed this form and the reef heron went away. This is the end of the story of Baabenga's killing.

NOTES Togaka often referred to this story as the killing of Baabenga, apparently enjoying this dis-

play of the goddess's power. 3. ghasigho: a vine whose leaves were baked and chewed and spit out in times of famine. 5. bega mata: burning eyes from tending the oven. 9. aga o maatu'a: see N71.

semai: sema ai. SE

324

Page 340: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 176

176. Baabenga ma Huei ma Temoa Baabenga and Huei and Temoa

Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 15, 1958. 1. Noko hai tegaa hetaunga ma

Huei i Tebaipuke. Namaa teegaa 'aso, uguhia te tama'ahine a Huei, o sopo ki te hata, o nofao haka- sanga i te mataa hata. 2. Tu'ia a Huei o tangi , ma te hai a tu : " 'Amutia kitaa bilaabei o heina- haki." Hai atu a Baabenga: "Ka- kuai kitai go bilaabei!" 3. Namaa hano a Huei ki tai. Tua tena gama o to'o, o tatae ki tai o sae, namaa 'oti kae ma noho teegaa pa'asi. Ina'atu kia Baabenga e a'u. Hinai- ho o mumuni o hitagi ai, namaa tatae mai, e'a iho a Huei o taa, i te pa'asi gama; taa e ia ke mate; ka na tino o te kagau o gege. Na 'oti 'anga.

4. Teenei tahi tagatupu'a kia Baabenga. Ko Temoa na hano ki mouku, o kite te ga'akau ahato, o lapa, o gua na 'ahii, na me'a ke go ta'o, ma te 'ahii utunga. 5. Noko ma koi taka mai a Temoa, kae to'o e Baabenga o e'a ki te manaha, e soge gua 'ahii ahato, i te toki 'ugi. Tatae iho o tuku, kae ma ina. 6. 'Ai ko Temoa hetaiaki he'e kitea te pegea, noko mataa e'a mai, namaa sopo mai a Temoa, e tokagua 'ahii ahato o soge i te toki 'ugi. Kua 'oti.

7. Teegaa ia te tautupu'a kia Baabenga. Ko Huei noko hano te haangotanga, o hai ana kaui. Noko ma koi taka mai, kae tatae mai a Baabenga, ma kogaa na noho ko Huei. O ta'o hakapigi kinai na gha- sigho. Ka kua huna i te siusiu o Huei. Namaa tatae mai a Huei, to'o mai ana kaui. Noko 'eha. 8. O hai kinai te 'umu a te uguugu o Huei, manga tu'u i te 'umu, ka kua he'e kitea te pegea noko mataa tatae mai. Namaa huke te 'umu, kua he'e kitea na kaui, ka manga na ghasi- gho te manga noho ai. Kua 'oti.

1. She [Baabenga] and Huei fought at Tebaipuke. On that day Huei's daughter was possessed, and she jumped up on the shelf and squatted at the front of it with spread legs. 2. Huei was shocked and wept, saying: "I wish we [Baabenga and I] might meet face to face." Baabenga said: "Certainly there will be a meeting!" 3. Huei then went to the beach. He cut a torch and took [it] to the beach and split [it] and kept one piece. [Huei] saw Baabenga coming. [He] watched and hid, waited for her, and when [she] got there Huei jumped down and hit [her] with the piece of torch; he hit to kill; and then a reef heron's body flew away. The endings.

4. This is another story about Baa- benga. Temoa went to the bush and saw a tree with longicorns and tapped [it], getting two bundles which [he] was going to bake with food packages. 5. Temoa was still away when Baabenga assumed [his form] and came to the settlement carrying two bundles of longicorns on a black [volcanic] rock adze over the shoulder. [She] came in and put [the burden] down and stayed. 6. As for Temoa, [he] was near but no one saw [him] come when he first came, when Temoa appeared with two bundles of longicorns carried over his shoulder on the handle of the black [volcanic] rock adze. Just finished.

7. This is another story of Baabenga. Huei had gone fishing to get his fish. [He] was still away when Baabenga came, looking just like Huei. [The wife] baked [the fish] with ghasigho vines. [Baabenga] wore Huei's work tapa. Then Huei came bringing his fish. Many. 8. Huei's wife made an oven for them, and [he] stood by the oven, and the person who had first come was not to be seen. When the oven was opened there were no fish, but only ghasigho vines. Just finished.

325

Page 341: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 176, 177

NOTES I. Tebaipuke: at Mugihenua.

Women sit with knees folded together; only crazy women sit or stand with knees apart (Paul).

4. Temoa: said to be in G15, Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line. 5. I asked how Baabenga could substitute for Temoa. Paul: "She made herself look like

(noho pe) Temoa." 8. ghasigho: See N175:3. The poorness of ghasigho as food explains Paul's laugh at the de-

nouement. SE

177. Tangipua Tangipua

Esther Teika'ato of Niupani, RE. February 4, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a kia Tangipua, te

hahine noko hinaiho tena kaukau- nga i Mugiki i te ahiahi, ka na 'atua noko hakaahe giu i ogatou manaha, kite ia Tangipua noko kaukau. O kakabe e kigatou, kae ma noho te tino i Mugiki; kakabe ki ogatou nuku o noho ai. 2. Kae hakaputu a Nukuahea, aano 'oti hai 'umu. Hinaiho a Tangipua tena haingaa tau. Ina kinai a Geipau, o ngege ai o a'u kinai o gehu hakaeke ai ki ona pegea ma i Mugiki. Kae ma noho a Tangipua o tangi, ma te hakagongo ki te tiginga a Geipau ki ona pegea noko toe i Mugiki. 3. Aano haka'agi kinai na 'agoba'e o hai atu: "Konei ona noho na 'ago- ba'e o Kapiika, te iai o'oku?" Kae 'oso iho ki te mago o tatahi ake te mago, kae hai atu kia Tangipua: "Ma konei na noho na 'agoba'e o tou ta'okete (Kapiika), te iai oku?" 4. Ta'aki te 'ugu o Tangipua, o ina atu ki na 'agoba'e o Geipau, ma kogaa ona 'aatanga na kete ghaba- ghaghi. Manga ina atu kinai kae punou hoki. 'Ika'ika a Koginuku i tona pegea o ngege ai, hoki ake o noho i te hage, kae tosi hau a Kogi- nuku ke gosigosi ai a Tangipua.—

5. Hakagongo ki Mugiki e mage- pe; singake te tama 'iti'iti e mate te tangi atu ai, ma soge ake tona tanga i te ga'akautu'uti. 6, Hai atu kia Tangipua: "Hoki atu ki Mugiki,

1. The story of Tangipua, a woman who went bathing at Bellona one evening, and the gods parading back to their home saw Tangipua taking a bath. They took [her], but her body remained at Bellona; they took [her] to their home to stay. 2. The Nukuahea people gathered together and were making ovens. Tangipua came down as they were looking for oven leaves. Geipau saw her and called her to come to her, and she gave a scolding directed at her relatives on Bellona. Tangipua just sat there crying, listening to Geipau scolding about her relatives still on Bellona. 3. Then [Geipau] showed her the tattooing on the back of her calves, saying: "Is the tattooing on the calves of Kapiika like mine?" And she grasped her sarong and pulled the sarong up and said to Tangipua: "Is the tattooing on the calves of your older sister (Kapii- ka) like mine?" 4. Tangipua raised her head and looked at the tattooing on the calves of Geipau as bright as a bag plaited with black ghabaghaghi plantain bark strips. [She] just looked and hung her head again. And Koginuku became angry at her people and called her [Tangipua] to come and stay in the house, and Kogi- nuku cut strips of hibiscus bark so that Tangipua might adorn herself with them.—

5. [Tangipua] heard that the people of Bellona were in mourning; a child that had died came weeping, carrying his container on a priestly staff. 6. [The child] said to Tangipua: "Go back to Bel-

326

Page 342: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

manga ngege mai ia te koe." Tu'u a Tangipua, tu'ia ia te ia ma i Mu- giki. Hoki 'ati gongo ki ona pegea: "Ko au manga noho te 'ata i Mugiki nei, ka ko au na kakabe e te ahe- nga, ka ko au kua kaunaki e te tama tape e hinange o hoki mai." 7. Tu'ia ona pegea o hoa kinai ki tegatou tatangi kinai. Aano 'oti, kae noho a Tangipua o 'ati gongo i na hai 'anga e hai e Nukuahea, ma te gehu hakaeke 'anga a Geipau ia te ia, kia Kapiika, o sui a Kapiika o gehu kia Geipau, i te me'a gaa, ko Kapiika ma Geipau noko hebaa'aki i te ghaghi i ogatou tatau. Kua 'oti. 8. Noho aano a Kapiika tatae tona 'aso mate, o hano o bilaabei ma te 'atua hahine; o heta'i o beelunu o too te 'atua hahine kae to'a a Ka- piika. Kua 'oti.

TEXTS 177, 178

lona, they are now calling you." Tangipua stood up and was surprised to find her- self on Bellona. [She] went back and said to her family: "Only my spiritual self. stays here on Bellona, for I was taken away by the parading gods, but I was told by a swaddled infant to come up and re- turn hither." 7. Her relatives were aston- ished and beat their foreheads and wept for her. So then Tangipua stayed and related what the people of Nukuahea were doing, and how Geipau was directing a scolding at her because of Kapiika, and in turn Kapiika had scolded Geipau, because Kapiika and Geipau had exchanged taunts at the beginning of their tattooing. Just finished. 8. When Kapiika's day of death came, she went on and met the goddess; they fought and pulled hair and the god- dess was defeated and Kapiika won. Just finished.

NOTES Women's stories often concern women, as does this one and those by Te'ota. Teika'ato

shows considerable aesthetic sense, as in 3 and 4, and in her songs and comments. 2. Nukuahea: home of the gods (T8).

Geipau; a goddess (Bellonese, Ngeipau; Genealogy 15). 3. Kapiika: added after ta'okete (older sister) on the third reading. She has already died. 4. Koginuku: wife of Tehu'aigabenga, said by Stephen Saugogo to be very beautiful. She

befriends Tangipua. 8. This was told several hours later when I questioned Teika'ato about the significance of the

tattooing taunts. SE

178. Tehu'aigabenga ma Kaukaugogo

Tehu'aigabenga and Kaukaugogo

Headman Tegheta of Hutuna, and Tetamogi of Tigoa, RE. At Tigoa, January 6, 1958. 1. Tehu'aigabenga he'e tau ugu-

ugu. 2. Ka na ngangago a Kagebu ma tona uguugu a Teatamatu'a o ngangago i Mugiki, o boo ki poo'ugi o gosigosi togaa manaha, o haka- ingoa ko Tahaakigoto. 3. O noho- 'aki a kigaaua, hai tama Teata- matu'a, o hiina'i aano haa te hahine, o hakaingoa ko Kaukaugogo, o pi- piki tegaa tama'ahine i Tahaakigoto. 4. Ki te ako o hohoga na takapau, ki te sehu ai ma te haakaukau i na bai polo, o hai ai tongaa ingoa ko Kaukaugogo.

1. Tehu'aigabenga had no wife. 2. And Kagebu and his wife Teatamatu'a died, died at Bellona and went to the under- world and prepared their home and gave the name Tahaakigoto. 3. They lived [there], and Teatamatu'a became pregnant and after a time had passed a female was born and was named Kaukaugogo, and their daughter stayed at Tahaakigoto. 4. Then [she] was taught to spread coconut- leaf mats, and [she] walked about on them and was bathed in coconut water, and so they gave the name Kaukaugogo (Washed- in-oil).

327

Page 343: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 178

5. Ngasogo aano, matu'a sia hai kinai te ta'u 'atua o taagango e Tinotonu te 'atua, te hosa o Tehu- 'aigabenga, o noko ma noho i Ta- haakigoto, kae hai ake Tehu'aiga- benga ke hai he hakaputunga, o tuku e Tehu'aigabenga ma gongo, o boo i te ta'u 'atua o boo mai na usunga.

6. Hai ake a Tinotonu ke tuku he gongo ke hano ia Kaukaugogo ke a'u ki te hakaputunga. 7. O hano te gongo o tatae ki Tahaakigoto ma iai a Kagebu maa, ma tegaa tama- 'ahine a Kaukaugogo. 8. 'Ati gongo atu kinai te 'atua noko hano te gongo ia Tinotonu, e hakahegeu mai kia Kaukaugogo ke hinange ki te hakaputunga. Ngague a Kaukau- gogo ma te tamana ma te tinana, o boo te usunga, O' tatae ki Nukuahea, te manaha o Tehu'aigabenga. 9. Kae hai te giunga (utunga haka- putu) o tuha e Tehu'aigabenga te giunga. Kae sisinga te usunga a Kagebu maa, ma tegaa tama'ahine Kaukaugogo.

10. Manga ina'iho kinai a Tehu- aigabenga o ma'ina kinai, o ngege iho ai, o hinake a Kaukaugogo, o noho mai kia Tehu'aigabenga, o tuku atu e Tehu'aigabenga te gau- gau hakasakesake kia Koginuku (Kaukaugogo), 'oso kinai o haka- 'aue; kae ina mai kinai a tona hosa a Tinotonu, o haiteke i te ha'ao e te tamana a Tehu'aigabenga te uguugu o tona hosa.

11. O haiteke a Tinotonu, o hano o sopo ki tona baka, ka 'ui tona gaa. Ina'iho a Tehu'aigabenga ia tona hosa a Tinotonu, e haiteke ia Kaukaugogo kua hakahuahua e te tamana a Tehu'aigabenga. 12. Tuku e Tehu'aigabenga te tuhanga, kae hinaiho kia tona hosa a Tinotonu, e haiteke, o 'oso atu ki tona gaa, o pipiki e ia, kae hai atu a Tehu- aigabenga kia tona hosa: "Ma 'eha- nga kia te au, ka te hetaegakinga ngatahi." 13. Noko he'e magaohie. Noko sia hai to'a a Tinotonu kia

5. She grew to maturity and the gods desired her, and the god Tinotonu, the son of Tehu'aigabenga who lived at Ta- haakigoto, claimed [her], and Tehu'aiga- benga gave word to have a gathering, and Tehu'aigabenga sent messengers to go to the gods to come to the feast.

6. Tinotonu said to send a messenger to go to Kaukaugogo so she would come to the gathering. 7. The messenger went and came to Tahaakigoto where were Kagebu and his wife and their daughter Kaukaugogo. 8. The god who had gone as a messenger from Tinotonu said for Kaukaugogo to come to the gathering. Kaukaugogo and her father and mother made ready and went to the feast, and came to Nukuahea, the home of Tehu- 'aigabenga. 9. The ceremonial offerings (food collections) were being made, and Tehu'aigabenga was distributing the cere- monial offerings. Then Kagebu and wife and their daughter Kaukaugogo arrived at the feast.

10. Tehu'aigabenga only looked at her and desired her and called down to her, and Kaukaugogo came up and sat by Tehu'aigabenga, and Tehu'aigabenga gave Koginuku (Kaukaugogo) the basket of cooked food offering, and she took it and gave thanks; his son Tinotonu watched her and became angry that his father Tehu'aigabenga, was usurping his son's wife.

11. Tinotonu was angry and went away and got into his canoe and unlashed his sail. Tehu'aigabenga saw that his son Tinotonu was angry because of Kaukau- gogo [and that] the father, Tehu'aiga- benga, had become her master. 12. Tehu- aigabenga left his food share and went to his son Tinotonu and was angry, and grabbed his sail and held it and Tehu- 'aigabenga said to his son: "Most is mine, but we both will have access [to her]." 13. [Tinotonu] did not agree. Tinotonu wanted Kaukaugogo very much, but his father Tehu'aigabenga also wanted her

328

Page 344: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 178, 179

Kaukaugogo, ka kua sia hai ma'u kinai a te tamana Tehu'aigabenga o ha'ao ia Kaukaugogo. Manga pau a Tinotonu o haiteke ai.

14. O hai atu te maanatu a Tino- tonu e hai kego taa e ia. Namaa tetahi 'aso hano a Koginuku te kau- kaunga, hano a Koginuku o too ki te tai o kaukau, ioo unga e Tino- tonu te tuhu mangoo o'ona, o boo kinai te tau'a ke taa. 15. Manga ta'aki na mangoo o boo kia Kogi- nuku, o he'osohi kinai, o tabago na kogoa te mago 'ona, manga hetapa ake ia tona matu'a Tehu'aigabenga: "Ko au!" Keu iho a Tehu'aiga- benga. Tu'ia na mangoo o boo, kae hoki ake a Koginuku. Kua 'oti.

and had taken Kaukaugogo. Tinotonu was very angry because of this.

14. Tinotonu decided that he would kill [her]. One day Koginuku went bath- ing, and then Koginuku went and jumped into the sea and bathed, and Tinotonu ordered a school of sharks of his to go to her and attack and kill. 15. The sharks straightway came up to Koginuku and grabbed her and cut the tapas she was wearing as a sarong, and [she] called out in fear to her husband Tehu'aigabenga: "[Here] I am!" Tehu'aigabenga turned [and looked] down. And the sharks were frightened and went away, and Koginuku returned. Just finished.

NOTES This story was told on the evening of my first day at Tigoa, at the far eastern end of the

lake. Tegheta dictated, but he consulted Tetamogi for details, especially for names, few of which he seemed to remember, and of which Tetamogi seemed so certain. Tetamogi had not seemed to want to make the effort of telling a long narrative slowly. Tegheta was clever at putting in subjects and objects so that I knew who was doing what. He repeated proper names a great deal. His style was definitely that of talking to the white man rather than to a Rennellese audience. Tetamogi talked to the Rennellese present, became excited at the material and gestured considerably. When questioned by Tegheta for details, he acted somewhat irritated at the latter's ignorance. There was much laughter after this story. Tetamogi said there were many stories about the gods' jealousies, and that humans are the same.

SE: "How do you know the gods did all these things?" Tegheta: "They told the mediums (taauga), and the mediums told the people. They told the

mediums many things, if they wanted fish or food, or if they were going away. But we have abandoned our gods."

SE: "Were they angry when you abandoned them?" Tegheta: "Yes, they were angry. But the Lord in Heaven was the ruler and made them stop

(noka) being angry. He ruled them. They soon disappeared (giga)." 2. Kagebu: a man originally from the lake. Much discussion about Tahaakigoto took place

between Tegheta, Taumoana, and Taumata. A sacred place at Bellona is called Tahaakigoto and is somehow connected with poo'ugi (the underworld), where Tehu'aigabenga lived. Taha- akigoto is called Tehu'aigabenga's settlement.

3. Kaukaugogo: wife of Tehu'aigabenga and mother of 14 sons; she was not worshipped (Genealogy 13).

5. Most persons considered Tinotonu unrelated to other gods. 10. gaugau hakasakesake: Taupongi 1961 preferred gaugau sakeaki. Koginuku was thought

by most to be the first wife of Tehu'aigabenga, and Kaukaugogo to be the second. 15. Taupongi 1961 preferred tobago te kogoa noko mago ai (the tapa worn as a sarong).

SE

179. Kamugoba na Sa'u e Tupuimatangi

Kamugoba, Abducted by Tupuimatangi

Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Hatagua, March 20, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o te tama'ahine

a Tepai, ko* Kamugoba, na sa'u e 1. The story of Kamugoba, the daugh-

ter of Tepai, who was abducted by Tu-

329

Page 345: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 179, 180

Tupuimatangi, te 'aso Tepai noko hano ai te hogau ki Mugiki, o ina aano ai hoki mai, ki Mugaba nei. 2. Namaa i te moana, maase'i; gomia te baka o Tepai, ngege atu ki tena hosa, o a'u o hakasopo atu kinai a tena tama'ahine, kae boo mai aano tau ki Mugaba nei. 3. Ma te hakaanu atu a Tepai ki te baka o tena hosa: "Tehea taku tama- 'ahine?" Namaa hakatau a tena hosa, o hai atu: "Sopo hoki atu anga!" 4. 'Ai kua he'e kitea ma te magepe, a Tepai i tena tama'ahine; ka noko 'ati gongo ai a na 'atua, sa'u e Tupuimatangi ia Kamugoba, o uta ai i tena baka, o a'ago hano, ka manga tangi a Kamugoba, ma te 'oso iho ki na kaui manga i te giu o te baka, o lokuloku e ia, i te noko ga'aaina o maliago. 5. Ma te hai atu a Tupuimatangi: "Noka te tangi na'e tou ingoa ko Tegobeika." 6. Teenei te 'otinga o te tagatupu'a o Kamugoba te tama'ahine na sa'u e Tupuimatangi.

puimatangi the day that Tepai went with a canoe to Bellona, stayed there and then came back here to Rennell. 2. When at sea, [it] was rough; Tepai's canoe sank [and he] called to his son who came, and his daughter got into his [canoe], and [they] came on and landed here at Rennell. 3. And Tepai asked the people in his son's canoe: "Where is my daugh- ter?" Then his son answered and said: "She went out again!" 4. And [she] was not found, and Tepai mourned his daugh- ter; and then the gods revealed that Tu- puimatangi had abducted Kamugoba and put her into his canoe and paddled off, and Kamugoba just cried and reached down to the fish in the hold of the canoe, and she straightened [them], as [they] had been exposed to the sun and [were] bent. 5. And Tupuimatangi said: "Don't cry, and your name will be Tegobeika (The- bent-fish)." 6. This is the end of the story of Kamugoba, the girl abducted by Tu- puimatangi.

NOTES Tupuimatangi, a son of Tehu'aigabenga (Genealogy 13). Togaka frequently ended his stories

with short summary sentences. SE: "Did Kamugoba ever come back?" Informants: "No. She married Tupuimatangi. They had many children, including three sons: Tupuitenuku, Hakasao- henua, Temagokaiba. Today many females on Rennell and Bellona have the name Kamugoba." Togaka said that Hakasaohenua was the god of his father, Teikabego (plate 3, G21), who had acted as both priest-chief and second priest-chief, and who had taught Togaka much of his extensive knowledge.

SE

180. Te Bai Lala Water for Ngemungi Seeds

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, May 1959. 1. Ko Sibai te hahine o Tegano

(Mungaba). Noko hai tana bai lala i Tongotu. Noko hano o uku ke sa'u ake ai ma'ana ni lala. Manga sa'u ake ai na pengea. 2. Nimaa uku hoki o manga sa'u ake na kenge ma na 'one. He'e kitea ni lala. Nimaa uku hoki, ina i te maangama ai. Ko Tangangoa. 3. Mata ai aano na pengea noko ma hiina'i. He'e kitea, 'ai kua to'o e Tangangoa.

1, Sibai was a woman of the Lake (Rennell). She had her water for [soaking] ngemungi seeds at Tongotu. [She] went and dove to bring up some ngemungi seeds for herself. But [she] just brought up human beings. 2. Then [she] dove again and just brought up earth and sand. No ngemungi seeds were found. Then [she] dove again, and saw a light there. Tangangoa. 3. The people watching saw him. [Sibai] disappeared because Tanga- ngoa had taken [her].

330

Page 346: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 180, 181, 182

NOTES In 1961 Taupongi added explanations much needed for the comprehension of this elliptic

story. It is a Bellona story, and Taupongi did not know whether it is known on Rennell. For ngemungi (Rennell, gemugi), see N79:2. Ngemungi seeds were placed at the bottom of

the lake, covered with stones, and soaked for long intervals. 1. Tongotu: Taupongi did not know where this is. 1. maangama: the flaming red light, the embodiment of Tangangoa (see N14).

TM

181. Matabilongo Matabilongo

Shadrach Maaui of Hatagua, RE. March 20, 1958. Te tautupu'a o Matabilongo, te

'atua hahine ge'o te hai 'umu. Noko bage songo ki na hai 'umu 'anga, ki te hai e ia i te matanga utunga. Namaa moso kogaa 'umu, kua ma- gaohie. Kogaa na tama'ahine, ko Tu'u'umu ma Tegausia, te maku- puna o Matabilongo. Na pegea na to'o gongo ki na 'atua o kago ai ki na haahine i te kua hai 'umu mata. Na 'ika'ika 'anga o Matabilongo o baghoghu mai i te paangongo o hakagongo atu kinai a pegea.

The story of Matabilongo, the goddess who watched over the making of ovens. She played bad tricks on oven makers, if she made underdone food. When other oven food was cooked, [she] was pleasant. The daughters were Tu'u'umu and Te- gausia, the grandchild of Matabilongo. People told the gods and [Matabilongo] punished women who made partially cooked ovens. When Matabilongo was angry [she] rattled coconut shells and people heard her.

NOTES Taupongi 1961 laughed at the name Matabilongo and said that the Bellonese name was

Nge'obiongo. The phrase ki te hai e ia i te matanga utunga puzzled Taupongi 1961 and he said that it should be ki te mata na utunga. The e ia (she) is probably a mistake. The goddess's dislike of underdone food is probably reflected in the present-day abhorrence of raw (mata) fish. SE to informants: "Do you still hear rattling in the oven?" Informants: "Sometimes, but not very much since schooling." Taupongi 1961 said that Nge'obiongo became angry if food was taken to the house and nothing left in the oven for her.

SE

182. Tebaghoghu Tebaghoghu (The-Noise)

Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Hatagua, March 20, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o Tebaghoghu

—te 'atua noko manga sehu i mouku, o baghoghu—i tena gike. 2. Aano namaa i teegaa 'aso, hano te pegea o gepo e ia i te kagi ba- ghoghu, te kunga baghoghu o Teba- ghoghu, hano te pegea o pali e ia. 3. Aano hetae tena 'aso, too te 'ua gaukei, kae tege te 'umata gaukei. Ina'atu te pegea noko pali i te a'u a Tebaghoghu. A'u aano hetae mai ki te kagi baghoghu, o hai ke ba- ghoghu, tutu na kigi pegea, tu'u o

1. The story of Tebaghoghu (The- noise)—the god who frequented the forest and made noises—by striking his tapa beater. 2. Then one day a person came and he watched at the noisy crevice, the place where Tebaghoghu made noises, the person came and he watched. 3. Then it was the time that the leaf rain fell, and a leaf rainbow appeared. The man waiting for Tebaghoghu's arrival watched. [Tebaghoghu] came then and reached the noisy crevice and made noises, smelling human skins, stood up, and looked about.

331

Page 347: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 182, 183

noko ma hematamata'aki. Gege iho te pegea o logi e ia. 4. O hetau aano, ha'ao e pegea tena toki, kae hetau aano. Gege mai te tangi te taghoa, o gege—kae to'o e ia te toki o hoki iho ki te manaha, o hakaputu na pegea o hiina'i ki te toki o hegeu kinai.— 5. Aano- hai atu kogaa: "Haamoe iho, ke go 'ao o hiina'i kinai." Ma te to'o e te pegea o haamene i te takege o tena kaainga o raoe ai, manga polongiai. 6. Aano namaa hetaiaki ki te 'ao, kake kae he'e gongona, 'aga o luga atu kua he'e kitea i te kua a'u a Tebaghoghu o to'o e ia tena toki. Kua 'oti.

The man jumped down and he caught [the god]. 4. And [they] fought and the person grabbed his adze and fought. The white ibis flew in and sang and flew away—and he [the man] took the adze and went back down to the settlement, and the people collected and looked at the adze and spoke to him.— 5. And some said: "Put [it] down and when light, look at it." The person took [it] and put it in the bottom of his bed and went to sleep there, just feeling [the adze in his bed]. 6. Then when daylight was near, feeling nothing, awoke and opened up [the bed mats] and did not find [the adze] because Tebaghoghu had come and he had taken his adze. Just finished.

NOTES This story was suggested by the previous one about noises (baghogku). Taupongi 1961 re-

ported that the Bellonese form for baghoghu is baghobu. 1. Tebaghoghu: a god not worshipped. 2. The noisy crevice was near Baitupu, Kanaba. 3. te 'ua gaukei: the leaf rain, raindrops from leaves, as wind-blown.

te 'umata gaukei: a rainbow formed during the leaf rain. 4. Taupongi 1961 suggested: Gege mai ma te tangi, 5. polongiai: polongia ai. SE

183. Te Tau Tinana The Mother and Daughter

Te'ota of Niupani, RE. January 19, 1958. 1. Te tau tinana noko boo ki te

ihonga, okioki i te ogo, ma tutu'u 0 iho ki tai, kae noho te kupenga i te ogo. Kaunaki e te tinana a tena tama'ahine, o hoki ake ki te ogo na noho ai te kupenga. 2. Hinake kinai, ma pipiki atu te tangata mai tu'aa gangi. Hinake hakaene ai ke 'abange te kupenga, o he'emaka te tangata, baainaina kinai. 3. Namaa teegaa 'abange 'anga, tau atu te tangata i te gima o te hahine, noko hai agaa hai 'anga songo, kae tuku kinai te kupenga. 4. O hoki iho o hetae iho kia te tinana. O hai atu kinai a te tinana ki ona maka, po na kungaa konaa. 5. Hai atu kinai a tena tama'ahine: "Ko au kua too 1 te aga o hai oku maka."

1. The mother and daughter went fishing, and rested on the hill, and then [they] went down to the sea, but the net was left on the hill. The mother asked her daughter to go back up to the hill where the net was. 2. [She] went up there, and a man from the invisible heavens was holding [the net]. [She] went up and asked [him] to give up the net, and the man refused, offering and snatching it away. 3. Then when giving [it], the man grabbed the woman's hand, and they behaved badly, and [he] gave her the net. 4. [She] went back down and came to the mother. The mother asked about her gashes, what those places were. 5. Her daughter said to her: "I fell down on the trail and made gashes."

332

Page 348: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

6. Kae hano a tena tama'ahine, o taa te hage. O 'oti, kae hinaiho kinai te tangata o inene kinai. 7. O hai 'ugu ma tona uguugu. Hai atu kinai a ti tinana: "Teenei nohonga ka noko ma'ugi kutu!" Manga hai atu te tangata: "Mau'i iho i toku 'ugu!" Kae hano te ihonga. Noko hano o to'o mai na kaui, o hai hekau ai te tau tinana, o logho te 'hai matu'a. 8. Hai atu kinai te tangata: "No'i ki na utunga a te nohonga manga ma'ugi kutu." 9. Kae 'aoina o hano te tangata, kae hai atu ki tona uguugu: "Hakapata iho Ma ti tinau. Namaa ngago hinange i toku aga."

10. Na tata'o te hahine ia tona matu'a, o hano hetae ki te manaha ki te na tuu'ake i mu'a, ina'iho kinai a te tinana, o hakakite iho ai: "Te hahine manga tuu'ake i mu'a. Manga pigi mai tu'a tena tama, e sugu te igi pe te tangata. Tu'u ou ba'e gua tino pua, na hua saukaba. Moe ki te hage o te muko haga."

11. Hai atu kinai te tangata kia te tinana: "Hinatu kakabe ake e na haahine noko hano ai au." Ma'ogi o hinaiho te hai matu'a o kakabe ake, o a'u te tangata, o kakabe ake 0 haarnene ki tona hage ki te ina ai.

12. Kae ma hetegehaki tena tama 1 haho ki te titiko ai, kite to'o e te tupuna. Namaa te titiko 'anga i te gotomaga'e, e'a iho kinai a ti tinana, o to'o e ia. 13. Kae boo te ta'u tangata ki te aga ki mouku o hitagi iho ai, kae hano1 te hahine o tupe te ta'e o tena tama, kae keu hoki iho, manga 'a'aki iho na taangata o logi o kakabe o hai agaatou hai 'anga songo, kae hoki iho ki te hage o mene hoki kinai o pau ai o he'e'a hoki ki haho. Kua 'oti.

TEXT 183

6. And her daughter went and built a house. When [it] was finished, the man came down there and went into it. 7. [He] and his wife were looking for lice on their heads. The mother said to them: "In this family [only] lice survive!" Then the man said: "Let go of my head!" [He] went fishing. [He] went and brought some fish, and the mother and daughter worked with them, and the old lady got tired. 8. The man said to her: "Worn out in fixing food for the family where only lice sur- vive." 9. When it was daylight the man went away, and said to his wife: "Stay with your mother. When [she] dies, come up on my pathway."

10. The woman followed her husband and came to the settlement and stood in front; the mother [of the husband] looked at her and pointed [her] out: "A woman is standing in front. A son is clinging to her back, a fan is placed [in her back] like [that of] a man. Your legs rise like two betel palms and like plantains. Sleep in the house of the spreading pandanus." The man said to the mother: "Go over and bring the woman with whom I have been." So the old lady went down and brought [her] up, and the man came and took [her] and put [her] into his house to stay there.

12. Her son would go out and defecate, and then the grandmother would get [him]. When there was defecation in the cult grounds, the mother came down for him and she took [him]. 13. And men went on the bush path and waited for her, and when the woman came to throw away her son's feces, and when [she] looked back down, the men appeared and grabbed and took [her] and behaved badly, and [she] went back to the house and went into it again and never again went outside. Just finished.

NOTES This story has Te'ota's favorite theme, female tribulations. 2. tu'aa gangi: this important fact was added at the second reading; the husband is a super-

natural. baainaina: pronounced by Te'ota: mbaa + ina + ina.

4. maka: during intercourse, couples sometimes scratched each other and drew blood. See T21:l.

kungaa: kunga aa.

333

Page 349: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 183, 184, 185(A)

7. Taupongi 1961 laughed at the mother's sarcastic comment on the couple's activities; she wanted her son-in-law to get food.

10. The mother has died. The mother-in-law in her chant suddenly addresses the stranger. 13. he'e'a: he'e e'a.

SE

184. Te Tauiku noko He'e tau Niho The Old Person Who Had No Teeth

Te'ota of Niupani, RE. January 11, 1958. l.Tetagatupu'ateenei ki t& tauiku

noko he'e tau niho, na ongea ohano te 'uinga kala, o 'ui na kala gegeu, ma na me'a matu'a, o hoki mai o hai tena 'umu a ta'o ai o moso, o huke tena 'umu kala, o to'ake, o higi ana bogo i na me'a gaoi, o tuku. 2. Kae moe baamangamanga, manga boo ake na 'atua a'ana o bulubulu kinai na lango ba'e o teegaa 'atua o hai ai na niho. 3. Manga moe aano maahugu haka- gongo ake ki te ngutu kua iai na niho, manga 'aga o ngau ana kala, o makona ai. 4. Kae moe hoki, manga hoki mai tena 'atua o sa'u hakahoki na lango ba'e o'ona. Kae he'e tau niho hoki. Kua 'oti.

1. This is the story of the old person who had no teeth, and who being hungry went to pick kala, picking ripe kala and mature ones and coming back and making her oven and baking them, and when cooked opening her kala oven and taking out and picking out from among the packages the good ones and keeping [them]. 2. Then [she] slept open-mouthed, and her gods came and broke off for her the toenails of one of the gods and made teeth of them. 3. [The woman] just slept, then stretched, felt her mouth and there were teeth, and she then got up and chewed her kala and was then full. 4. Then [she] went to sleep again, [and] her god came back and took again his toe- nails. And [the old lady] again had no teeth. Just finished.

NOTES 1. SE: "Was this a male old person or a female old person?" Te'ota: "Female." Taupongi

1961 also said it was a woman. (One expects oven makers to be females.) Te'ota pronounced ana bogo as anambogo.

4. Te'ota laughed moderately at the end of the story, and in 2 when the old lady sleeps while the gods insert the teeth in her mouth. Although Te'ota was somewhat amused, the story was in keeping with the dominant theme of a number of her tales: female tribulations. The story shows how technical vocabulary comes into the simplest anecdote.

SE

185. Tamungeu ma te Makupuna Tamungeu and His Grandson

(A) Paul Sa'engeika, Ghongau, BE. January 22, 1959. 1. Ko Tamungeu ma te maku-

puna noko hiina'i i tongaa manaha, tengeu'a ke boo ki Mungaba. 2. Taa tongaa baka o boo ai ki Mungaba o hiina'i aano i Mungaba. Hai ake te kupu a te makupuna: "Ko au

1. Tamungeu and his grandson lived in their settlement, and planned to go to Rennell. 2. They cut their canoe and went to Rennell in it and stayed on Rennell. The grandson said the sentence: "I haven't seen the flesh [the big fish] of

334

Page 350: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 185(A)

he'e kite i te kanohi o te moana." 3. Popono e Tamungeu te ngutu o te makupuna, ka kua ngoa te hu'aki te kupu a tona makupuna.

4. O manga sehu a Tamungeu i Mungaba ma te hatu tena saka. Aano ngiu ki Mungiki nei o tahea i te baa hongau, ma te nganga te ta'u tahonga'a ki te baka o Ta- mungeu ma te makupuna. 5. Ma te mataku te makupuna o Tamungeu o mene ki te ngiu o titiko ki te ngiu 0 te baka. Kae hakatu'u te saka a Tamungeu noko hatu i Mungaba.

6. Ma te hai atu a Sikingimoe- moe: "Ke he'osohi!" Ma te hai atu a Tehainga'atua kia Sikingimoe- moe: "Ke noka! Ka ke hakangongo ki teenei manu e ngea nei." Ka ma saka a Tamungeu i tena saka o kongaa na to'o:

7. "Eki moana, ka ke hakangongo 1 tou sako, Tetupu'a i ngangi, Tonu- sanga, noko moe ki manga'e taha- 'ata, moe ake ki te 'atu noho taha. E noho taha.

8. "Ou baka tapu manga ka- toanga, ko Sa'o'angiki ma Sa'ota- ngata, ke ngo 'aue au kainanga. E kainanga.

9. "Honga tou epa te kie nga- nganga, kae 'ango'aki ki he ngenga mata, kae hakahuna ki he mango no'a, kae ausaki ki he toa mata.

10. "Ngepea te 'ao e babababa, kae ta'omia te matangi 'anga, ke ngo maangie mai mungi baka. Kau ngaakia tou eketanga, kae 'auea koi maangama.

11. "E moangoma, ou angatonu e hakamamata. Ta'omia ki 'atu saunganganga, kae ngaghi ia mo- 'oku he anga ke ngo 'auea koi ta- ha'ata.

12. "E hakahoki ki Mungiki toku baka. E haka'oti, Tetupu'a tou saka. Oeea, 'aue."

the ocean." Tamungeu covered the grand- son's mouth [with his hands], but his grandson had already said the [whole] sentence.

4. Tamungeu just walked about on Rennell and composed his saka song. Then [they] returned here to Bellona and drifted in the open-sea route, and whales drifted alongside the canoe of Tamungeu and the grandson. 5. And Tamungeu's grandson became afraid and went into the hull of the canoe and emptied his bowels into the hull of the canoe. And Tamungeu began the saka song composed on Rennell.

6. And Sikingimoemoe said: "Grab [them]!" And Tehainga'atua said to Si- kingimoemoe: "Don't! [Let's] listen to this creature talking here." And Ta- mungeu sang his saka song and sang as follows:

7. "Sit on the open sea and listen to your saka-o song, Tetupu'a of the skies, Tonusanga, who slept upon the offerings of food [the ocean] in the morning, slept in the land most distant. Most distant.

8. "Your sacred canoes, all are [whales]; Sa'o'angiki and Sa'otangata, your worshippers will give thanks. Wor- shippers.

9. "[I] spread out your sacred mat of plaited kie fiber, and anoint with some of the best turmeric, and dress in a tied loincloth, and I make the saki shout, [holding] the green toa tree [the tapani- hutu club].

10. "Scatter the cloud hovering be- tween sky and earth, and quell the blowing of the wind so that [it] comes mildly from the stern of the canoe. I bring offerings of seafood to your resting place [the temple], and thank you even in daylight.

11. "It is daylight, your angatonu share is frightening. Press it down to the place of the gods [?] and clear for me a path so that I can thank you while it is still daylight.

12. [May] my canoe return to Bellona. Ended, Tetupu'a, is your saka. Oeea, thank you."

335

Page 351: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 185(A), 185(B)

NOTES Sa'engeika was telling about the temple rituals and wanted to sing this saka song which he

said was used with rituals of seafood, and was sung at sea, in the settlements, and in the temples. He first dictated the story and the saka. Then he sang the saka, explained its meaning, and finally we made a recording. I expressed my admiration for this beautiful song, and every- body present heartily agreed and said it was very beautiful (hu'aaingaof). Note that the younger informant for variant B did not know the saka.

1. Tamungeu: There are different opinions as to who he was. Some informants said he was from Hatangua village, Ghongau; others that he belonged to the Sau clan.

2. By talking about the whales the grandson attracts them, an example of the great magic power of words. (See N16:ll.)

3. kua ngoa: The translation is perhaps too free. It is uncertain whether the phrase can mean that the sentence said by the grandson was long (that is, he had said the whole sentence), or whether it means long ago, or recently.

6. Sikingimoemoe and Tehainga'atua came, Paul said, with the whales. 7. Eki moana: eke ki moana.

Tetupu'a i ngangi: Tehainga'atua. Tonusanga: Tehainga'atua. manga'e: here, poetic for the ocean and its food. 'atu noho taha: the last in the row of the heavenly abodes of the gods, Manukatu'u, the

settlement of Tehainga'atua. 8. baka tapu: the whales. The gods were traveling on the whales (Taupongi 1961). Sa'o'angiki, Sa'otangata: Informants 1962 prefer Sa'otangaha. These are names of an- cestors; they act as messengers between gods and humans.

9. Honga ton epa: the sacred mats spread out during temple rituals. ngenga mata: Usually it is Tehu'aingabenga who is connected with turmeric. However, on

a few occasions Tehainga'atua gets his share of it, such as during the final ritual of the harvest ceremonies when the ma'ungitehenua (the sacred stick in which he embodies himself) is an- ointed.

ausaki: to say 'one (thank you) at the kanongoto ritual for Tehainga'atua in the temple. The priest-chief holds a tapanihutu stick made of toa tree.

10. Tamungeu asks for a wind blowing from the east which will blow him to Bellona. koi maangama: The temple rituals were performed at night and ended when daylight

came. Tamungeu said that he would worship Tehainga'atua with an offering that would last longer than usual.

11. ou angatonu e hakamamata: ou angatonu e hakamataku. The angatonu share are the whales surrounding the canoe. Whales stranded on the shores were considered a gift from Tehainga'atua.

'atu saunganganga: Paul was not sure of the meaning, but suggested the abode of the gods. When the saka is sung, certain vowels are changed; for instance, taha'ota for taha'ata (7), katoonga for katoanga (8), Sa'otangota for Sa'otangata (8), ngangonga for nganganga (9). Furthermore, certain words are not fully pronounced; for instance, mata is sung maaaaa (9); baka is baaa (10). As there seem to be no fixed rules for these changes, and variations do occur, these changes are not indicated in the text, which was dictated in normal speech.

TM

(B) Michael Tongaka of Matangi, BE. April 16, 1958. 1. Ko Tamungei te tangata o

Mungiki nei, noko boo mai tena makupuna i te baka ki Mungaba. 2. Boo aano tatae ki te manaha, tena ingoa ko Mangino. Ka noko sa'u ake ongaa malikope, ma ongaa ha'u, ma ongaa ngenga, ke songi ai ki ongaa 'atua. 3. Ma te haka- hengeu a tona makupuna, e kongaa na to'o: "Ko au kua ina i ba'i me'a, ka toe te kanohi o te moana." 4. Ko te tupuna noko susungi atu te

1. Tamungei was a man of Bellona [who with] his grandson went by canoe to Rennell. 2. Then [they] landed at a place named Mangino. They took out their mats and turbans and their turmeric to worship their gods. 3. The grandson spoke the following: "I have seen everything except the flesh of the sea." 4. The grand- father closed the mouth of the grand- child with his hand, but their god heard, and Tamungei worried and composed his saka. 5. They were seven nights on Ren-

336

Page 352: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 185(B), 186

ngutu o te makupuna i te ngima, ka tengaa 'atua kua hakangongo, ma te tukukese a Tamungei, ma te hatu tena saka. 5. Kigaaua noko poo hitu i Mungaba, kaa ko Tamungei kua 'oti te hatu tena saka, ma te iho ki tai o ngiu mai tegaa baka, o boo mai aano1.— 6. 'Aasanga ngangahi te kanohi o te moana. Mataku a te makupuna o mene ki te ngiu o te baka, kae haka'angi tena saka: "Eki moana, kau noko1 ngongo i tou uso." 7. Ka ma hakapata te kanohi o te moana, ka tena saka noko 'eha ona kupu. ma te haka- ngongo kinai na 'atua. Hai ake a Sikingimoemoe: "Kitatou he'oso- hi!" 8. Ka te 'atua tangata na he'e- maka, o kongaa na to'o: "Ke hakangongo ki teenei manu, manga logha nei." 9. Namaa hai teengaa kupu i tena saka: "Kae ke ghaghia mo'oku he anga, kau ngaokia tou eketanga." 10. Ma te maseu te kanohi o te moana. Toe te hai, noko tino kinai a Sikingimoemoe. Tata'o mai te baka, tata'o mai aano, sahe a Tamungei ma tena makupuna i Tingoa, te manaha i Mungiki nei, kae hoki te hai. Kua 'oti.

nell, and Tamungei finished composing his saka, and [they] went to the beach and returned in their canoe and went on.— 6. In the middle of the sea the flesh of the sea rushed up. The grandchild was afraid and went to the hold of the canoe, and [Tamungei] displayed his saka: "Sit on the open sea, I hearken to your heart." 7. The flesh of the sea stayed close, and the saka had many words, and the gods listened to them. Sikingimoemoe said: "Let's grab [them]!" 8. But the male god did not agree and said the following: "Listen to' this creature making noises here!" 9. Then there came this phrase in his saka: "Clear a path for me, and I will bring food offerings to your resting place [temple]." 10. The flesh of the sea scat- tered. The sting ray stayed, and Sikingi- moemoe assumed its shape. [She] fol- lowed the canoe, followed on, and Ta- mungei and his grandson reached Tingoa, the settlement here at Bellona, and the sting ray went back. Just finished.

SE

186. Kaisokoia Kaisokoia

Headman Togaka of Kaagua, RE. At Hatagua, March 20, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o Kaisokoia, te

haihenua o Maga'e (he'egahi mai, he'e na'a te 'atu tangata). 2. Noko hano ki tai i te aga i Ghaka, to'o tena 'uu o gae ki te tangoba, o kite i te akui manga iai ma te tuku tena 'uu, kae 'oso atu kinai, kae mene o 'oso atu kinai, o to'o o keu hoki mai, te aga kua niti, manga tangi, kae manga heto'o'aki tena akui, aano poghipoghi gu ona ba'e ma- tu'a, o hakaingoa ai tena haka- maahana, o hakaeke i te 'ugu, noko ma tangi sehu ma te tu'ugu kia 'atua, Tehu'aigabenga ma Tehainga-

1. The story of Kaisokoia, the second priest-chief of Maga'e (very remote, the generation not known). 2. [He] went to the sea on the trail at Ghaka and took his bundle [of arrows] and turned off at a hole and saw a coconut crab and put down his bundle and grabbed it, and [it] disappeared, and [he] grabbed it, and took [it] and turned back again, and the trail closed over, and [he] just wept and just took out his coconut crab and pulled off its mature legs and called them his of- fering and lifted [them] up to [his] head, and wept as he walked and prayed to the gods Tehu'aigabenga and Tehainga'atua,

337

Page 353: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 186, 187

'atua, he kunga ke sopo hoki ake ai ki maagama nei. 3. Noko ma sehu i poo'ugi, o noko ma kite i na gano ma na ma'aga, kae hakagongo ki te tai manga ngatata mai.

4. Aano ina'ake ki te kunga manga maagama iho pe te hetu'u, o hakaaba, hinake aano, sopo ake kinai, i Teogo'eha, i te aga i Niu- pani, ka te kunga noko sopo ake ai, noko hina'iho a Tehu'aigabenga mai Segena, o hano aano hetae ki Teogo'eha i Niupani, i te ogo hai te aga i Niupani, o noko ma noho ai o kamu, ana pua. 5. Ma te gongo ki te pegea manga tangi, ka ma- nga ghabu te mate, ma te hemata- mata'aki a Tehu'aigabenga a haka- gogongo, aano giu tanginga iho ki te kege, ma te gongo iho a Tehu- 'aigabenga, manga tangi ake i te kege. 6. Ma te sa'u mai e Tehu- aigabenga te 'amosi, o bego iho ai e ia te kege, ma te taginga'a ai te 'ago aga, o sopo ake ai a Kaiso- koia, o manga ina ki ni bai pua tatau ma na lango pua manga i te okiokinga. 7. Ka kua he'e kitea ni pegea i te kua boo. Teenei te 'oti- nga o te tagatupu'a o Kaisokoia.

for a place to get out to the world of light again. 3. [Kaisokoia] just walked in the underworld, and saw pools and abandoned gardens and heard the sea just roaring.

4. Then [he] looked at a place shining like a star, and [this] guided his way, going on and coming out at Teogo'eha (The-great-hill) on the trail at Niupani, the place [he] emerged, and there Tehu- 'aigabenga was, from Segena, coming and getting to Teogo'eha at Niupani, at the hill with the trail at Niupani, and [Tehu'aigabenga] just sat there chewing his betel. 5. And [the god] heard the person [Kaisokoia] weeping, but the sound was faint, and Tehu'aigabenga looked about, and put his ear back down to the earth, and Tehu'aigabenga listened care- fully, the weeping in the earth. 6. Tehu- 'aigabenga took his lime stick and he speared the earth with it, and a pathway opened up upon it, and Kaisokoia came up and looked at the chewed betel saliva and the betel shells on the resting place. 7. But no people were seen because [Tehu'aigabenga] had gone. This is the ending of the story of Kaisokoia.

NOTES 1. Maga'e: near Hatagua. It was taboo for the second priest-chief to catch coconut crabs

or make a fire. 3. At West Rennell there are enormous limestone caves. Togaka said that he had penetrated

some of them with lights and a string, but that he had never found the end. SE

187. Te Hongau mai Mugiki

Rachael Paieke of 1. Te tagatupu'a o te hogau noko

boo mai Mugiki ki Mugaba nei o tau ki Te'ana. 2. Ka noko to'o mai agatou huti. Ka na pegea, te hai- henua teegaa, ma gua hakabaka. Ka na hai agatou hegeunga, kae hai atu te haihenua: "Kau hai ahi, na'e ko Tehu'aigabenga te 'aitu kaa go sigi." 3. Ma te hinake o hai tena ahi o tunu ai ana huti, kae ma mata

The Canoe from Bellona

Hatagua, RE. March 22, 1958. 1. The story of the canoe that came

from Bellona here to Rennell and landed at Te'ana. 2. They brought bananas. One of the persons was second priest-chief, and two were assistants to the priests. They held a conversation, and the second priest-chief said: "I'm going to make a fire because Tehu'aigabenga the deity comes along." 3. [He] went and made his fire and cooked his bananas on

338

Page 354: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 187, 188

kinai a Tehu'aigabenga ma te tinana a Baabenga, ke go hai maka kinai. 4. 'Ai noko 'igo'igo te tangata, o hai tena hakamaahana i na huti noko tunu, o to'ake o tuku, kae hano o huhu'i ona gima, kae hoki ake o hohoga tena epa ki Tehu- 'aigabenga, kae too na huti, manga hakakata'ia Tehu'aigabenga. 5. E magaohie i te kua hai te maahana a te haihenua na hai ahi. Ka ko Tehu'aigabenga na hinake i te haka- maahana o kai e ia. Kua 'oti. Tee- nei te paataha o te tagatupu'a o te hogau mai Mugiki.

it, and Tehu'aigabenga and the mother, Baabenga, saw and were about to harm him. 4. But the man was wise and made an offering of the bananas that had been cooked, taking and placing [them], and then going and washing his hands, then returning and then spreading his small food mat for Tehu'aigabenga, and bit ceremonially of the bananas and Tehu- 'aigabenga laughed. 5. [The deity] was sa- tisfied with the second priest-chief who made fire since [he] had made the offering. For Tehu'aigabenga came because of the offering and he ate. Just finished. This is the end of the story of the voyagers from Bellona.

NOTES 3. See N186. 4. SE: "Any significance to washing hands?" Taupongi 1961: "They were just dirty."

SE

188. Baipoki Baipoki

Henry Hegoga of Niupani, RE. January 15, 1958. 1. Ko Baipoki noko he'e mataku,

noho ma ina i tona manaha i Te- 'atugau. 2. O he'e mataku ki na tama'auge; noko kite ki na tama- 'auge, ki te 'agu'agu. Hai aano puge kinai a tama'auge, o boo iho kinai, o hai ake: "Ko ai ke mu'a?" 3. Hai atu te tama'auge mata tahi: "Kau mu'a kinai." 4. E'a iho hai baago- ngo atu kinai. Ina atu kinai a Bai- poki, e'a iho ma tona toki 'ugi, o tege kinai, o mataku te tama'auge, o tege hoki. 5. O puge ke suiho kinai he tama'auge. Hai ake te ta- ma'auge na hoki: "Hagingaa au hai aano giu!" He'e boo iho kinai. Teenaa te sitoli o tama'auge.

6. Gu 'ona taina noko hai songo e ia. Noko boo te lina 'anga, o lina upo, o to'ake tegaa lioga, o boo ki mouku, o tuku. 7. Kae ma huti ghape, hai aano hinake teegaa o

1. Baipoki was without fear, and he lived in his settlement at Te'atugau. 2. [He] was not afraid of children-of-mem- bers, and on seeing children-of-members gave chase. So children-of-members plot- ted against him, and came down to him and said: "Who will be first?" 3. A one- eyed child-of-a-member said: "I'll go to him first." 4. [He] went down and called to him. Baipoki saw him and came down with his adze of black [volcanic] rock, and ran at him, and the son-of-a-member was afraid and ran away again. 5. [He] planned for another child-of-a-member to take his place. The child-of-a-member who had returned said: "Even I had to come back!" So [he] did not go back down. That is the story of children-of- members.

6. He [Baipoki] mistreated two of his younger brothers, [The two brothers] went to fish with torch lights, to fish for lake eels by torch light, and got a big eel and went into the bush and left [it]. 7. [They]

339

Page 355: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 188, 189

noho i teegaa kunga, o hai ake: "Teenei te kunga he'e angina." Kae taugua: "E angina nei ona gau ka- gogo." 8. E'a Baipoki o to'o tegaa lioga, kae ma tatangi, hai aano boo ki mouku, o kakai i te launatahi 'ana, tona ingoa ko Polupolu. 9. Hai aano> gegeu na kogopua, boo iho kamo agaa peka, o hai kinai tegaa 'umu, kae 'uiho a Baipoki i te baka, o ina ake ki tegaa 'auahi, tau hoki ake, o hano kinai. 10. O e'a kinai e 'ahii agaa peka. E'a o ha'ao na me'a 'ahii ma na me'a he'e 'ahii, o to'iho kae ma tatangi, aano. Giu o kamo agaaua ki tegaa 'umu. Kua 'oti.

picked ghape leaves [to eat with the eel], and one went to a place and said: "This is a place that is not windy." And [they] sang: "Its taut leaves are blowing here." 8. Baipoki came and took their big eel, and [the brothers] cried and then went into the bush and lived in a cave, Polu- polu its name. 9. Then the kogopua were ripe, [and they] went down and caught flying fox for the two of them on poles and made an oven for them, and Baipoki took out his canoe and saw their smoke and landed there and went there. 10. [He] came there, and [they] were wrap- ping their flying fox in leaf packages. [He] came and grabbed the ones in the packages and the ones not yet wrapped in packages, and took [them] down, and [the brothers] cried. They went back to get [more] flying fox for their ovens. Just finished.

NOTES 1. Te'atugau: near 'Ubea at the northeast end of the lake. 5. Suiho: sui iho. 7. SE: "What was the significance of the song?" Taupongi 1961: "They were just playing." 8. Polupolu: near Niupani. 9. kogopua: a tree; flying fox eat its fruit and flowers. Following the story there was a great deal of talk about selfishness (ma'ind). Luke said that

Baipoki was like white men who took food and clothing away from Solomon Islanders. SE

189. Labupepe Labupepe

Rachael Paieke of Hatagua, RE. March 21, 1958. 1. Teenei te tagatupu'a o Labu-

pepe ma tena uguugu a Sina. 2. Na hiina'i aano i tegaa manaha, ma sehu te hahine, o sasa'o ki te hahine taupo'ou, ko Gee, e ta'o tena soi. 3. Hoki o kakabe mai a tena ma- tu'a, o 'aabaki ai, o to'o ki tai. 'Aoina, o to'o hakahbki ake o hai 'umu kinai. 4. Ka na boo ake gua haahine o 'ahii. 'Oti te 'ahii 'anga, kae hoki ake te hahine noko hai tena soi. Ma te hinake a Labupepe o 'aka ki te 'umu, o nokoi ma teka ai, kae hatu tena hagokiemoe: "Ko Sina e 'aahua ki tai, he'e 'igohia o tama 'otuo. Labupepe a igoa. Muna

1. This is the story of Labupepe (But- terfly-catcher) and his wife Sina. 2. They lived in their settlement, and the woman was out walking and met an unmarried woman, Gee, roasting her soi tuber. 3. [Sina] went back, and her husband came along and helped her, and [they] took [the soi] to the beach. At daylight [they] got more [soi] and made an oven of them. 4. The two women then wrapped leaf packets. After the wrapping, the woman who had the soi went back. And Labu- pepe came over and pushed [Gee] into the oven, and [she] lay there, and she composed a hagokiemoe chorus [to a tangi]: "Sina goes back and forth to the

340

Page 356: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

'uta mai Sina kau te 'atuo. Bega nei, bega nei, e babage ki te au ko Gemotu." 5. Teenei te 'oti 'anga, kae mate.

TEXTS 189, 190

sea, not knowing the godly person, Labu- pepe the name. Sina speaks, pushes, I am the god. Burn here, burn here, Gemotu has played tricks on me." 5. This is the ending, and [Gee] died.

NOTES This story is an exasperating example of ambiguity. Even Taupongi 1961 had to concentrate

to understand who was thrown into the oven and by whom. I asked if the characters were gods, demigods, or people, and why was someone killed. Taupongi thought they were people, and that Gee was murdered just because Labupepe and Sina wanted food.

SE

190. Tangaibasa Tangaibasa

Lucius Peseika, BE. April 16, 1958. 1. Te tangatupu'a o Tangaibasa,

te tangata o Nuku'angoha noko hai tena tama'ahine, tona ingoa ko Si- kohuti. 2. Ko ia na hano- o 'ui banga i te anga tu'u o ngango. Ko ia noko kake i te banga o manga 'ui ba- nga.— 3. Ma te saapoa o sopo kinai te hokai e anga kinai Teu'uhi— ma te mataku a Sikohuti ma te hoki ki te manaha o te tamana.— 4. Ma te ungu ai a Teu'uhi o hai tata e ia. Nimaa songi ai a te tamana, manga he'emakamaka, ke boo 'aatea na haangiki songo ia te ia.

5. Ma te punge te tau'a a Tangai- basa, o boo ki Tetu'asibi noko to'o e kingatou na tao hakasanisani, ma na nga'akautu'uti, ma te no'a ma'u angatou. Namaa o to'o o boo tanga- tou tau'a. 6. Boo aano hetae ki te kunga o na haangiki, hakahii tenga- tou tau'a ki Tetu'asibi, o tutu e kingatou na ngama ngau niu, ma te hetu'ia'aki na 'atua o—taki ma- tuatua na haangiki songo noko manga he'angiko1 na kamakama. 7. Ka na taa e kingatou, ma te too teengaa ki te moana—'ai ko Teu- 'uhi na tenge, aano hetae ki te nuku o Ekeitehua, ma te hai atu a Ekei- tehua: "E aa?" 8. Ma te hai atu e Teu'uhi: "Ko kimatou e sopokia!" Ma te tooaki atu a Ekeitehua i te

1. The story of Tangaibasa, a man from Nuku'angoha who had a daughter, her name being Sikohuti. 2. She went and picked banga nuts on the main trail to the west. She climbed the banga tree and then picked banga.— 3. Teu'uhi was fascinated and assumed the form of a monitor lizard and appeared before her— Sikohuti was afraid and went back to her father's settlement.—4. Teu'uhi possessed her and she pestered [her]. Then the father prayed, but without success, that the bad mischievous supernaturals go away from her.

5. Tangaibasa planned an attack and went to Tetu'asibi, and they took cere- monial spears and priestly staffs and bound too their [torches]. They took [them] and went to attack. 6. They went on and came to the place of the mischie- vous supernaturals and gave a battle cry for the people of Tetu'asibi, and lighted their coconut-leaf torches, and the deities were frightened, and—the mischievous supernaturals scattered, and ran away as crabs. 7. And they killed and some fell into the sea— and Teu'uhi fled and came to the abode of Ekeitehua, and Ekeitehua said: "What's the matter?" 8. And Teu- 'uhi said: "We've been attacked!" And Ekeitehua blamed [her] for such improper actions. They were not right, and [Teu- 'uhi] fled and went behind the settlement

341

Page 357: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 190, 191, 192

he'e mani hai atu. Ka ke he'e konei na noho, ma te tenge o tutahi, o hano ki te tu'a manaha o Ekeitehua. Ka ko Sikohuti noko ngaoi i te hai 'anga nei. Kua 'oti.

of Ekeitehua. And Sikohuti was all right in this affair. Just finished.

NOTES It took a long time to transcribe this story because the informant asked many questions of

Basiana and of a woman standing in the doorway. It was difficult to translate because of such words as saapoa, tooaki, and the idiom he'e mani hai.

1. Nuku'angoha: a place on Bellona. 3. Teu'uhi: the sister of Ekeitehua and Tehainga'atua. For a similar story of possession by Teu'uhi in the shape of a lizard, see T150.

SE

191. Maga te Kigi o te Rape Giant Dry-land Taro Skins Are Bitter

Dothan Teikahoki. At Bagika'ago, RE. March 15, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a ki te pegea noko

he'e tau me'a ke sanga. O labu tena 'ahii kutu, o hano ki tu'aa gangi, te nongaa me'a ke sanga. 2. Ka na to'o tena 'ahii kutu, o hakaneke, ki tu'aa gangi. O hakaneke ki tu'aa gangi o hakaene ma'ana ni huaa 'umanga ki te kakai 'anga. Noko e'a kinai, o he'e mamaka. Ma te hu- huke tena 'ahii kutu o lagau o me- mene i ogatou mata, o u'u ogatou mata o huhuga. 3. O he'e hiina'i. Kae seu iho e ia na huaa 'umanga, na 'uhi, ma na 'uhigaba, ma na huti. Noko seu iho na huti o singa. 4. Kae tupe iho te gabaghaghi. O ina hoki ki te gangi, kae hetau i te kape. Hai aano maunu te kape o tupe iho tena tangiuso, kae noho tena kigi i tu'aa gangi. Teenei te hai 'anga e maga ai te kigi o te kape. Kua 'oti.

1. The story of the man who had nothing to plant. He took his package of lice and went to the invisible heaven to look for something to plant. 2. He took his package of lice and climbed up to the invisible heaven. [He] reached the in- visible heaven and he asked the people for crops. [He] came to them but [they] refused. He opened his package of lice, and [the lice] crawled out and went into their eyes and bit and their eyes became swollen. 3. [They] could not see. He threw down crops, yams, panas, and bananas. [He] threw down bananas which bent downwards. 4. And [he] threw down gaba- ghaghi plantains. [He] looked back at the sky, and there was fighting about the dry- land taro. Then the dry-land taro slipped, and its insides fell down, and its skin re- mained in the invisible heaven. This is the reason that dry-land taro skins are bitter. Just finished.

NOTES This suggests Mautikitiki's adventure in the invisible heaven (T40).

SE

192. Ko Mauloko noko Pake Mauloko Plays Tricks

Timothy Sau'uhi of Baitupu, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 12, 1958. 1. Ko Mauloko, te uguugu o Te-

hainga'atua, noko hai tena 'umu kape. Kua boo kinai Kaipua ma

1. Mauloko, the wife of Tehainga'atua, was making her kape oven. Kaipua and Tage came there and watched her hungri-

342

Page 358: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

Tage o kaititi'i kinai. Hai ga'a huu kinai e Mauloko gu agaa potu kape, kae to'ake tena toe ki hage, o tuku ake kia Tehainga'atua. 2. Hai ake a Tehainga'atua: "Te angatonu nei kua soosaga!" Hai atu a Mauloko: "Konaa te manga nohona." 3. Kau- naki e Tehainga'atua gua hatutigi o boo ki te 'umu, o ube'i e kigaaua te hai 'umu, o sasaga ai, o he'e kite i te me'a gaa na hai taganga a Mau- loko, o hai e ia o he'e kite. 4. Namaa giu ki hage gua hatutigi kae a'aki ake a Kaipua ma Tage o to'o gu agaa potu kape o boo. Kua 'oti.

TEXTS 192, 193

ly. Mauloko secretly gave them two pieces of kape and took the rest to the house and gave to Tehainga'atua. 2. Tehainga- 'atua said: "The angatonu share here is short!" Mauloko said: "That's all there is." 3. Tehainga'atua summoned two thunderbolts to go to the oven, and they stirred up the oven contents in search for it but saw nothing, because Mauloko had worked magic and she made [the visitors] invisible. 4. When the two thunderbolts returned to the house, Kai- pua and Tage appeared and took their two pieces of kape and left. Just finished.

NOTES Another story in which Tehainga'atua is the scapegoat (see T17, T18). The approved superior

position of husband to wife is circumvented. Timothy laughed when Tehainga'atua complained of short rations. Kaiti'i (1) is a much discussed vice.

SE

193. Kaitu'umatu'a Kaitu'umatu'a

Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 15, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a o Kaitu'umatu'a,

noko sanga tena 'umanga 'uhi. Namaa matu'a, hai tena maanatu, ke nonoo kia Tehanonga: "Ke tuku ni 'uhi i toku 'umanga nei." 2. Ka na tuku e ia te taina a Taunongia, 0 uta e ia te baka 'atua, te 'atua o Tehanonga. Namaa 'oti te 'ao, ka kua ahiahi, boo poghi te baka 'atua, ki na takapau, o ta'ota'o, kae taki boo te 'apitanga, o momoe i mama'o. 3. Kae moe launatahi te baka 'atua. Ase iho kinai na ngata 1 te poo, o ta'ota'o tena tubi. Namaa moe aano, 'ao, o tuku te baka 'atua, kae kegi te 'umanga 'uhi. Noko 'eha na 'uhi noko hai ai. Noko hakasahe, o ahe. Kua 'oti.

1. The story of Kaitu'umatu'a, who planted his yam garden. When [the yams] had matured, he thought that he would make a request to Tehanonga: "Bring yams to my garden here." 2. He sent for his younger brother, Taunongia, and he took on the role of assistant to the priest- chief [vehicle of the gods], the god [re- presentative] of Tehanonga. When day- light was over, and evening had come, the assistant to the priest-chief was covered with coconut-leaf mats and weighted down, and the people went away and slept at a distance. 3. The vehicle of the gods slept alone. Snakes came down at night and lay on his covering. Then [he] slept, daylight came, and [Taunongia] was no longer assistant to the priest-chief, and dug in the yam garden. And [he] had many yams there. Counted a thousand pairs. Just finished.

NOTES Takiika said that Kaitu'umatu'a was an important chief (hu'aihakahua), but not the chief of

that name in the ninth generation. The old system of counting yams is no longer well known. Tehanonga was the god of yams and snakes.

SE

343

Page 359: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 194

194. Tepoa ma te Tago 'Ugi Tepoa and Black Taro

Tetamogi of Tigoa, RE. January 8, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a kia Tepoa (te

hahine) na masaki o mate. 2. Pena- pena ia Tepoa na mate o tanu, magepe ai te manaha noko ma hii- na'i, kae hano a Tepoa i te mate 'anga ki poo'ugi, bilaabei ma'ona maatu'a, o hegeu aano, kakabe hakahoki ki tona takotonga o haka- ma'ugi hakahoki. 2. Teegaa te me'a na 'abange kinai e 'ona maatu'a, te tago 'ugi o to'ake e ia o ma'ugi, o e'a hold ake ki tona takotonga. 3. Na hiina'i mai kinai te magegepe 'anga i te ma 'au'au atu na kege i na taginga, manga tutu'u te mana- ha, o boo atu kinai, o hakaanuanu kinai, hakaanuanu atu kia Tepoa: "Po ko koe e aa?" 4. Hai atu: "Ko au e hakama'ugi hakahoki e oku maatu'a." Teegaa te me'a noko to- 'ake te tago 'ugi ki maagama nei. Kua 'oti.

1. The story of Tepoa (a woman) who was sick and died. 2. Tepoa having died was wrapped in mats and buried, and the settlement where she lived duly mourned, and on her death Tepoa went to the underworld and met her parents who spoke and escorted [her] back to her grave and resuscitated her. 2. This is the thing which her parents gave her, black taro, which she took up and came to life again, and she came back up to her grave. 3. The mourners watched her as [she emerged] picking the dirt [of the under- world] from her ears, and the people of the settlement just stood there, then came to her and asked her, asked Tepoa: "What has happened to you?" 4. [She] said: "I have been brought back to life by my parents." That is what she brought back, the black taro, to the world of light here. Just finished.

SE

344

Page 360: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 17. HUMAN AFFAIRS

The stories in this chapter concern people whose genealogies or very names are unknown. There is little mention of fighting or of the gods. Such stories may have seemed unimportant to our informants. This may be the reason that almost no such tales were collected by TM; the Bellonese were too absorbed in their history to suggest telling short stories about unnamed nobodies. At Niupani on Rennell, how- ever, the quest for history was less intense. Two persons (Te'ota and Teu'a) special- ized in homely stories of men and women and their tribulations. SE's interest encouraged these two and others to think of similar stories. Thus, the stories col- lected seem to reflect in some ways the interests of the collectors and the accidental interests of the tellers, and the latter interests are somehow connected with the collector. And this reemphasizes the point already made about the advantages of more than a single field worker.

The first ten stories concern marital relations. The first five depict death, adultery, and revenge. The next five concern weak husbands, three of whom attempt suicide. The last one (T204) is a light-hearted account of a flirtatious woman's successful deceit of her husband, a numskull as well as a cuckold. All five stories impressed the tellers as humorous.

The next four tales concern parents and children. The first (T205) is about a cannibalistic mother. The other three depict moral crimes and moral punishments. A mother who had abandoned her son is publicly disgraced by the son when he becomes priest-chief (T206). Stinginess of a son is paid in kind (T207). A stingy, numskull mother whips her children because of her anger at her own stupidity (T208). Two stories show savage (T209) and mutually beneficial (T210) brother relationships.

The last three are stories of named fighters. In T212 a commoner rises to power through sheer fighting prowess; his stylized arrogance leads to his eventual down- fall. The final text (T214) is a most unusual account of a man experimenting with all manner of foods.

195. Te Nohonga noko Isi Tegaa Haga

The Couple Who Scooped Pandanus

(A) Te'ota of Niupani, RE. December 25, 1957. 1. Te tagatupu'a ki te nohonga

noko isi tegaa haga, o ta'o, o moso, o ngau. 2. O hai atu te tangata ki te hahine: "Isi mai ma'aku 'isi." O ma'ogi, te hahine o isi kinai, o 'oti kae hai atu te hahine: "Ke ngau ma'aku ona hatu taha." 3. Hai atu te tangata: "Konaa 'agaa

23*

1. The story of the couple who scooped out their pandanus, baked [them], and when cooked, chewed [them]. 2. The man said to the woman: "Scoop out one for me." So the woman scooped out one, and then the woman said: "Let me have the outside of a key." 3. The man said: "That is the place that's thick." [He]

345

Page 361: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 195(A), 195(B)

na kunga e palo maatogu." Isi haka- 'oti kinai. 4. Kae moe te hahine, kae hai atu: "Ko au ka he'e 'aoina." Hai atu te tangata: " 'Ai te haga e ngau ki hea?" 5. Momoe aano, 'aoina, o 'aga te tangata, ki te na sehu aano, hoki mai ma koi moe. Hai atu kinai: " 'Aga ake e kua maagama." Kae ma koi tu'u tona tubi. 6. Namaa hoki mai o luga atu te tubi o tona uguugu, kua goa te mate i te poo. Magepe aano kinai, 'oti kae huge ogaa niu, kae iho ki tai o sopo kinai, o hano i te 'ugu- 'ugu. 7. Manga siga hoki rnai ki te takaga e iho atu ai te kagau tea, 0 sopo atu ki te 'one, o hano i te 'ugu'ugu, o tata'o i te aga o te pegea 1 te 'ugu'ugu. 8. Hano aano he- taiaki kinai, kae ina mai; ko tona uguugu. Manga hai atu kinai: " 'Ai ko koe teenaa, kae manga tangani huge otaa niu." Namaa hano o hetae kinai, o gagaba te tino, o he- toki ki te moana o mamate kinai.

scooped out everything. 4. The woman lay down and said: "I won't see the dawn." The man said: "And where is pandanus to be chewed?" 5. [They] slept, and at dawn the man got up, then walked on and came back and [the wife] was still sleeping. [He] said to her: "Wake up, it's light." But her cover was still up. 6. When [he] came back [he] took off his wife's cover, but [she] had already died in the night. [He] mourned, and then cut down their coco- nut trees, and went down to the sea and got into it and went out to the reef. 7. [He] looked back at the cliff trail, and a white reef heron came down from it and came out to the beach and on to the reef, following the way of the man to the reef. 8. [It] came close to him and [he] looked; it was his wife. [He] just said to her: "So that's you, and [I] just cut down our coconut trees for no purpose." Then [she] came close to him and grabbed his body, and [they] fell into the sea and died there.

NOTES This story was difficult because of the technical words concerning pandanus. The term isi

(to scoop, as coconut meat from the shell) is not ordinarily used for pandanus keys. 2. hatu taha: the outer surface of the keys, hard and inedible. The man won't let his wife

have even this. 3. palo matogu: Taupongi 1961 thought this an error, and that it should be paa matogu

(thick thickness) or kano matogu (thick meat), a term that might have been avoided as it is often used with uge and soni, the names of the sex organs.

4. The woman is starving (Taupongi 1961) and the man is sarcastic. 6. Cutting down coconut trees is an expression of grief.

SE

(B) Toketa. At Hutuna, RE, March 23, 1958. 1. Te nohonga noko ta'o tegaa

haga, o huke tegaa 'umu, o isi e te hahine ki tena matu'a, o noho tena mata, o uli e tena uguugu. 2. Hai atu a tena matu'a: "Teenaa te ku- nga e pala maatogu!" Ma te 'abange ma'u ki tena matu'a. 3. Ngau aano, namaa 'oti, moe a tena uguugu, kae hai ake: "Tobigha, ka he'e 'aoina!" Hai atu a tena matu'a: " 'Oti te 'umu, 'ai manga kai tehea?" 4. Momoe, 'aoina, taugua te tangata. Kae he'e 'a'aga tena uguugu. Kua

1. The couple baked their pandanus, and opened their oven, and the woman scooped out [a pandanus key] for her husband, and its outside was left, and it was tough for his wife. 2. Her husband said: "That's the thick part!" And [she] gave [it] also to her husband. 3. [He] chewed on, and when finished, his wife lay down and said: "[Eat my] buttocks, but there will be no dawning" Her hus- band said: "When the oven is finished, what will there be to eat?" 4. [They] slept, and at dawn the man sang. But his wife

346

Page 362: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 195(B), 196

mate. Konei na motunga o te ta- ngata begebegeikona ma tena ugu- ugu.

did not wake up. [She] had died. This is the ending of the stinker and his wife.

NOTES Taupongi 1961 explained begebegeikona (translated as "stinker") as follows:

Te begebegeikona, te ingoa kaui, ka he'e na'a e pengea, poi kohea ana noho. Noko hai kinai te tautupu'a. Noko mate. O boo mai na kaui o kai e kingatou. Ko- ngaa na kaui noko kai e kingatou, te kona i Mungiki. Noko miti e te ngango tona ngongo, ma te hangamea, kae mene te sangasanga tea ki tona asa o kai e ia. Kae mene ma'u te luba, ki tona ibi tu'u, o kona mai ma'u na luba. Nimaa singi ai te kaui i te kunga noko saa'ango ai, kona ma'u. Teenei te hai 'anga e kona ai na kaui o Mungiki.

Begebegeikona (poisonous begebegei) is the name of a fish, but people do not know what it is like. There is a story about it. [It] died. Fish came and they ate. And so the fish that ate [of it] were bitter on Bellona. The ngango fish sucked its oil, and the hangamea, and the white sangasanga sea crab went into its gills, and he ate [it]. And the Derris too went into its back- bone, and the Derris too became poisonous. And when fish went by the stinking place, [they] too became poisonous from it. This is why Bel- lona fish are poisonous.

SE

196. Tehoegoa Tehoegoa

Te'ota of Niupani, RE. February 6, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a teenei kia Te-

hoegoa, na ina ano i te tugi aga, hai tena maanatu ki te uguugu o te tangata noko i Mugiki. 2. O hano tena hogau, o hetae ki Mugiki, o hinake ki te manaha o te nohonga, sopo atu kinai, ma launatahi te ha- hine. 3. Hai atu kinai a Tehoegoa: "Ko koe a'u ai au, kau kakabe'ia." Hai atu kinai te hahine, hai atu: "Kitaa boo ki he kunga, kitaa hegeu ai." 4. Ma'ogi o maangao a Tehoe- goa. Boo ki mouku o puge ai, pau agaa pugenga, o goto tahi kigaaua, kae hoki iho te hahine ki te manaha ogaaua ma tona matu'a. 5. Kua sopo hoki iho a tona matu'a. Hai atu kinai a tona matu'a: "Ko koe kua baku te taka." Hai atu te ha- hine: "Ko au kua hano i te potu pigo, o hakatutahi ai i te sa'ago." 6. Hai atu a tona uguugu: "Tua mai he lakaa huti, ke 'omomoe ai, ka ke kegi he 'uhi, ke beegabai ke ta'o ngatahi." 7. Ma'ogi te tangata o tua huti, kae kegi 'uhi te hahine, o hai atu te tangata: " 'Agie 'eha utunga, ka te he'e tau pegea ke kai

1. This is the story of Tehoegoa (The- long-paddle), who lived at the beginning of the trail and who thought a great deal about the wife of a man at Bellona. 2. He sailed to Bellona and came to the settlement of the couple and went to it, and the woman was alone. 3. Tehoegoa said to her: "I have come for you and will take [you] away." The woman spoke to him, saying: "Let's go off somewhere so we can talk about it." 4. So Tehoegoa was willing. [They] went to the bush and made plans about it, and after making plans the two agreed, and the woman returned to her and her husband's settle- ment. 5. Her husband came back down. Her husband said to her: "You stayed away a long time." The woman said: "I went to the bad-smelling place where [I] was very sick with diarrhea." 6. His wife said: "Cut a banana flower to have for supper, and dig a yam to add [to it] and cook together." 7. So the man cut ba- nanas and the woman dug yams, and the man said: "Oh, there's so much food, and no one to help eat it." 8. The woman said: "Let's cook this food and then divide in two. You have some and I have

347

Page 363: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 196

'aabaki ai." 8. Hai atu te hahine: "Na utunga nei, e hai ke ta'o ke baghi gua. Ke hai ma'au 'isi, ka ke hai ma'aku 'isi." 9. Hai atu te ta- ngata: " 'Oo, e gaoi tau maana- tuna." Hai baakai te hahine, o hai tena 'umu, o oti kae hano te ha- hine kia Tehoegoa noko ma i mou- ku, o hai atu kinai: "Hinange ki te manaha e kua poo'ugi o kakai i na segenga o hitangi ai ma'au ni utunga." 10. Ma'ogi a Tehoegoa o 'agu tu'a iho i te hahine. Hinaiho te hahine o huke tena 'umu o to'o mai a tena matu'a noko ma i hage, kae tuku 'ana i te 'umu.

11. Kai aano te tangata, a'u a tona uguugu, o hai atu kinai: "Hakapungaga iho e te ua'a tau'a te hai nei i te 'aso nei! 12. Hai atu te tangata: "Hai kau hano aku he ngaga 'anga. 13. Hai atu te hahine: "Hinatu ki mouku atuu, ka kau noko ge'o aga." Ma'ogi te tangata o hano ki mouku, kae e'a iho a Tehoegoa ki te hahine o kai na utunga. 14. Kae a'u te hahine o sa'u iho ogaa 'ota'ota o tuha e ia o tuku a'a tona matu'a kae to'o 'ona, o boo iho ki te baka o boo mai ki Mugaba nei, o boo ake ki Mugi- henua, o boo mai ki te tugi aga.

15. Kae sopo iho te tangata i te manaha, kua he'e kitea tona ugu- ugu ma ogaa 'ota'ota, manga hinai- ho ma'u ki te baka o 'agu mai ai ki Mugihenua. 16. O mataa hesigi kinai, hai atu kinai: "Tehea te pe- gea e haibaakitekite ia te au?" 17. Hai atu kinai na pegea: "E haka- neke 'agu mai ai ki te hakaanu ma'u i na kakai 'anga." Ki te hai atu na kakai 'anga: "E sigi!" 18. Namaa ko Nagau, hakaanu taha- 'aki ai, hai atu: "E iho." Hinaiho, sopo mai ki te tugi aga ma i te hage te tangata ma te hahine, hinake o sa'u iho te tangata o taa. 19. Kae sa'u iho ma'u te hahine o taa, kae hoki ki Mugihenua o pipiki ai tona uguugu, o kakabe hoki ki Mugiki. Kua 'oti.

some." 9. The man said: "Yes, that idea of yours is good." The woman got fire- wood and made her oven, and then the woman went to Tehoegoa who was in the bush and said to him: "Go over to the settlement when it's dark and stay at the edges and wait there for your food." 10. So Tehoegoa followed down behind the woman. The woman went down and opened her oven and took [food] to her husband who was in the house, and left hers in the oven.

11. The man ate and then his wife came and said to him: "Be alerted; the lightning indicates there is to be fought a battle today!" 12. The man said: "I'll have to run and hide." 13. The woman said: "Go far inland and I will guard the trail." So the man went inland, and Tehoegoa came down to the woman and ate the food. 14. The woman came and took out their property, and she divided [it] and left her husband's and took her own, and [the two] went down to the canoe and came here to Rennell, and came up to Mugihenua, and came to the beginning of the trail.

15. The man went down to the settle- ment and did not see his wife or their property, and went down to the canoe also and followed on to Mugihenua. 16. He first asked questions there, [he] asked of the people: "Where is the person who scorns me?" 17. The people said to him: "Follow on up, and then ask the people again." Then the people said: "Gone!" 18. When [he was with the] Nagau peo- ple, [he] inquired there finally, [and they] said: "[They are] below." [So he] went down and came to the beginning of the trail, and the man and woman were in a house, and he came down and grabbed the man and killed [him]. 19. And [he] grabbed the woman too and killed [her] and went back to Mugihenua and married a wife there and took [her] back to Bel- lona. Just finished.

348

Page 364: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 196, 197, 198

NOTES Te'pta brought this story in, written out legibly but without word division or glottal stops.

She dictated and I reread. The conversations were interesting and difficult, and apparently were recalled verbatim.

5. tee potu pigo: literally, the stinking section; a common name of the place for defecation in the bush. Men and women had different places.

6. lakaa huti: banana flowers, a humble word for banana. beegabai: beegaba ai.

18. Nagau: just above Labagu on Lughu Bay. The final killing perhaps took place at Labagu. SE

197. Baitoko Baitoko

Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 15, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a o Baitoko teenei,

te tangata o Mugaba nei. Kae tena hai 'anga noko hai, te hano ki Mu- giki, na saa'egenga (kaia'a hahine) i te uguugu o Sauopu. 2. Namaa teegaa hano 'anga, hai te ghagha- lobo o sugusugu kinai i na 'ugu ta- moge; ka na too ai teegaa 'ugu i te kaainga o te uguugu o Sauopu. 3. Ka na a'u a Sauopu o kite te 'ugu ta- moge, o ina ano kinai, hai ake tena kupu: "Te me'a nei manga i Mu- gaba." 4. Ka na taa e ia te see niu, 0 sugu, o pata iho i te kaainga o tona uguugu. Namaa hoki ma'u teegaa te saa'egenga, o tatae ki Mu- giki, i te ahiahi, o hakaneke ake i te poo, o 'uaina. 5. Namaa tatae ki te manaha, noko iai te hahine; ugu ki hage, o'i te 'ugu noko su'ia, tu'u ai te see niu, taugia te 'ugu i te see niu, ka ko ia na hoki mai na mate 1 Mugaba nei. Na 'oti 'anga.

1. This is the story of Baitoko, a man of Rennell. What he did was to go to Bellona for adultery (woman-stealing) with the wife of Sauopu. 2. On one oc- casion [he] made an armlet and put tamoge grass in it; the tamoge grass fell down onto the sleeping place of Sauopu's wife. 3. Sauopu came and saw the tamoge grass, looked at it, and he said these words: "This thing is only on Rennell." 4. He cut a coconut-stick splinter and put it in his wife's sleeping place. When that adulterer came again, reaching Bel- lona in the late afternoon, [he] climbed up at night and was rained on. 5. On reaching the settlement, the woman was there; [he] went into the house, shook his soaked head, the coconut splint stood there, his head was pierced by the coco- nut splinter, and he came back and died here on Rennell. The endings.

NOTES Tamoge is a fragrant swamp grass. The same story was told by Toketa at Hatagua on March

23. In his version, the dagger is a sharpened coconut-wood hanger (kasomutu niu). The in- formant laughed a great deal at the ending.

SE

198. Tu'anakina Murder of a Relative by a Ghost

Tegautago of Niupani and Headman Tegheta of Hutuna, RE. At Niupani, December 29, 1957. 1. Te tagatupu'a ki te nohonga

na hiina'i aano i togaa manaha. Kaunaki e te tangata ia tona ugu-

1. The story of the couple who lived in their settlement. The man gave an order to his wife, saying: "Go and get

349

Page 365: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 198, 199

ugu o hai atu: "Hinatu o to'iho he tago." 2. Ma'ogi kigaaua o baghi gua, o hano te utunga a te hahine, kae hitagi ai te tangata. 3. Kae hano te hahine o sopo ki togaa 'umanga, o hoa abu gu ana tago. Namaa e'a kinai te tangata, o haka- hegeu songo kinai, aano kakabe e ia. 4. Kae hitagi aano ai a tona matu'a hakaause i te taka goa a tona uguugu, ma te tata'o ai, hano aano, tatae ki tegaa tago, ma sugu- sugu gua tago a tona uguugu i te 'aa o te 'umanga, kae he'e kitea. 5. Mene atu te tangata i te mata aga, namaa kite atu e ia ia tona uguugu ma te tangata. 6. Hoki ki togaa manaha o mene ki te hage o ghaagho ana uka, kae hoki iho te hahine o abu tago, o to'o o hoki iho o hai tena 'umu. 7. O 'oti kae keu a tona matu'a o gii, noko taki gii gua ba'e ma gua gima ki na pou o te hage, kae kai aano te tangata, hano, kae tangi aano a tona ugu- ugu. 8. Mate i te hage, kae hai ake te tangata: "O go gongo ake te pegea noko kaia'a e ia toku ugu- ugu, o go hano o 'ui o tanu." 9. Ma'ogi te pegea o gongo o hano o 'ui e ia o tanu. Ka na tu'anaki ake ma'u te hahine kia tona matu'a o mate ma'u. E 'oti.

some taro." 2. So they separated, and the woman went to get food, and the man waited for her. 3. The woman went to their garden and began to pull two of her taros. Then a man came and spoke badly to her, and he took [her]. 4. Her husband waited and became weary during the long absence of his wife and went after her, going and coming to their taro, and his wife's two taros were hung on the wall of the garden, but [the wife] was not to be seen. 5. The man went in at the end of the path, and then he saw his wife and the man. 6. [He] went back to their home and went into the house and twined his cord, and the woman came back and pulled up taro and took [it] and came back and made her oven. 7. Then her husband looked [at her] and tied [her], tying separately each leg and each arm to the posts of the house, and then the man ate, and his wife wept. 8. [She] died in the house, and the man said: "The person who stole my wife is going to hear, and then will come and take and bury [her]." 9. Indeed, the person did hear and did come and bury [her]. And the woman sent a ghost to her husband, and [he] died too. Now finished.

NOTES This story was neatly printed by Tegautago, a girl of about 20, who had taken it down from

Headman Tegheta. Taumoana and Panio helped on the third reading. I had not realized that te tangata in 3 was not the husband, and much explanation was needed of tu'anaki in 9. My in- formants said that this practice of sending one's ghost to prey on the living was common in pre-mission days, but rare now.

SE

199. Agugu Agugu

Teu'a of Niupani, RE. January 17, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a kia Agugu. Na

hiina'i aano i togaa manaha, taa'ia tona uguugu o hai kinai tena 'umu, o kai e ia. 2. Ka na moe a tena tama'ahine o ina kinai i te ma hatu

1. The story of Agugu. Living in their settlement, [he] killed his wife and made an oven for her and he ate [her]. 2. His daughter dreamed and looked upon them as she was composing a tangi song, and

350

Page 366: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 199

tena tangi, o tongiaki na huunanga Agugu ia te ia. 3. Noko kogaa na to'o: "Oku toto i tu'aa takapau, oku ibi manga ina i tugi pou, oku niho e ina niaki gau, toku 'ugu e i te tamuni hau." 4. Ka na 'aga a tena tama'ahine ki tena tangi i te miti songo kia te tinana, hai atu kia tona matu'a: "Kau hano he maatanga kia tinau." 5. Hano o sopo i te manaha o Agugu ma gaabaki. Hano ina ki te takapau, ma iai ona toto. Hano akuaku na tugi pou, ma iai ona ibi. Hano o lugaluga na niaki gau, ma iai na niho. Hano ki te bao hau, ma iai te puso 'ugu. 6. Hano ki te hai 'umu, mataa hoga ai ona bago gii ai, hoki mai o noko ma tangi aano. 7. Sopo mai a te tamana Agugu. Hakaanuanu pake e ia, hai atu ki Agugu: "Kabe hiina'i soko! Ka tehea tahi?" 8. Hai atu a Agugu: "Noko ma hetu'u'aki atu, kae ma he'e kitea." I te me'a gaa kua na'a e ia ko te tinana kua kai e te ta- mana, kae manga hakaanuanu pake e ia.

9. Hiina'i aano, masike tena ta- ma, namaa titiko tena tama, ha- hagi e ia, o to'o i te aga ki mouku. Hai atu Agugu: "Tuku iho te tama 'iti'itina." 10. Hai mai e te tinana: "Hai ke tuku kaa kitai tangi." Ba- bae e ia o hano. 11. O tutahi o tege ia tona matu'a, o puge mai kinai tegaa tau'a. O boo mai kinai te nohonga. Sosopo mai ki te manaha ma iai Agugu. 12. O logi e te ta- ngata, kae tuki momo e tona ugu- ugu na hatu ba'e. Kua 'oti.

Agugu's hiding place was revealed to her. 3. This is what was said: "My blood be- hind the coconut-leaf mat, my bones just at the bottom of the post, my teeth on the thatch sheets, my head in the hibiscus thickets." 4. His daughter awoke in her tangi with the bad dream about the mother, and said to her husband: "I'm going to see Mother." 5. [She] went to Agugu's settlement, but [it] was deserted. [She] looked under the coconut-leaf mat, the blood was there. [She] scratched at the base of the post, the bones were there. [She] opened up the thatch sheets, the teeth were there. [She] went to the hi- biscus forest, the skull was there. 6. [She] went to the oven shelter, and first spread out the vines that had tied her [the mother], and she came back and wept. 7. Father Agugu came. She asked ques- tions craftily, saying to Agugu: "How lonely it is! Where is the other one?" 8. Agugu said: "Just gone for a walk, but nowhere to be seen." This was because she knew that the father had eaten the mother, and she just asked questions craftily.

9. Then her child evacuated, and when her child had defecated, she wrapped [the feces] and took on the bush trail. Agugu said: "Leave that child here." 10. The mother said: "But if [the child] is left, perhaps [it] will cry." She left and went away. 11. [She] ran straight to her hus- band, and they planned their attack on him. The couple came there. [They] came to the settlement where Agugu was. 12. The man grabbed [him], and his wife cracked his ankle bones into little bits. Just finished.

NOTES Quiet, unassuming Teu'a dropped in after lunch and, after Taumoana and I had finished

what we were doing, took the speaker's position on the sugar barrel, and asked if I knew of Agugu who ate his wife. He told the story clearly, easily, and with flair.

A similar story was told by Timothy Sau'uhi at Bagika'ago on March 12, 1958. The scene was near Matangi. The male cannibal, Gabagu, kills and eats his wife on a day when there is no food (he'e tau utunga). The daughter finds her mother's breasts in a small basket on a hanger (te punuaa kete i te kasomutu). The father comes and they press noses (hesongi) in greeting; but when her child defecates, the daughter flees; no revenge occurs. In 1964 Taupongi said tamuni hau (3) meant rotten hibiscus tree.

SE

351

Page 367: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 200

200. Hakamahegoto Hakamahegoto

Teu'a of Niupani, RE. January 25, 1958. 1. Tagatupu'a ki te nohonga;

noko hai tata te hahine, ko Haka- mahegoto. Noko hiina'i aano, hai atu te hahine: "Ko au e sia binu!" Kake te tangata o hai polo. Hoki iho hakaputu, ka noko hai kigaa taki kai. 2. Sa'u mai ta'a tona ma- tu'a ke tu'uti. Hai atu a tona ugu- ugu: "Tu'uti iho ta'aku!" Ma'ogi o tu'uti e tona matu'a, o 'abange o binu. 3. Kae oso ki ta'ana ke tu'uti. Hai atu te hahine: "Haha'a iho ta'aku!" Ma'ogi o haha'a. 'Oso hoki ki ta'ana ke tu'uti. 4. Hai atu te hahine: "Isi iho!" Ma'ogi o isi o 'abange, o kai. Hai ke tu'uti ma'u ta'ana. 5. Hai atu te hahine: "Seu atu ona poghoghi niu." Hakatangi te tangata, o ti'aki tegaa kainga. 6. Kae tu'u o gehu ki tona uguugu, noko kogaa na to'o: "Taa tou 'ugu! Hai ke hai te kainga haka'oha- 'oha!" Hano sopo ki tona baka. Hai atu te sogonga a tona uguugu: "Kua poo hia te hano?" 7. Kae 'ui te baka o te tangata o hano ki moana. Kae tu'u te hahine o mata e ia i te me'a gaa e hakatangi i tegaa kainga, kua hai e te hahine o songo. 8. Hano aano tona baka, nimo. Kae manga noho mai te tino o tona matu'a. Hano aano, nimo te tino, kae manga noho mai te 'ugu ma te ha'u maeba. Namaa nimo ki te ba'e gangi, kemo mai tona 'uiga, teegaa te 'oti 'anga te ma'ugi. Kua 'oti.

1. Story of the couple; the woman, Hakamahegoto, just gave orders. So the woman said: "I'm thirsty!" The man climbed and got some coconuts. [He] came down and brought [the nuts] together, and they were going to eat separately. 2. Her husband got out his [nut] to cut off the top. His wife said: "Cut off mine!" So her husband cut off [hers] and gave [to her], and [she] drank. 3. Then [he] picked up his to cut. The woman said: "Crack mine!" So [he] cracked [hers]. [He] picked up his again to cut. 4. The woman said: "Scoop out [mine]!" So [he] scooped out [hers] and gave [to her], and [she] ate. He was about to cut off his again. 5. The woman said: "Throw away its coconut husks." The man complained and put down their food. 6. And [he] stood up and scolded his wife as follows: "[I'll] beat your head! Must one wear oneself out over food!" [He] went away and got into his canoe. His wife said in jest: "How many nights will [you] be gone?" 7. The man cast off the canoe and went to the open sea. The woman stood up, and she watched be- cause of the complaints about their food, and because the woman had done wrong. 8. His canoe went on and disappeared. And only the body of her husband was left. Then the body disappeared, and only the head and flowing turban were left. When [these] disappeared over the hori- zon, the lightning flashed, and this was the end of his life. Just finished.

NOTES Teu'a came to my house about noon and sat quietly on the sugar barrel. After a while, I asked

if he knew a story. "Perhaps you know all my stories," he said. "Do you know about the fantail and the young swamp hen?" SE: "Yes, I've written that." (Animal stories are not in- cluded in this volume.) Teu'a: "What of Hakamahegoto?" SE: "I don't know that." Teu'a: "I'll tell that, but I think it's time for you to eat, so I'll come back later." He returned an hour or so later and told this story.

6. Taa toil 'ugu: a rare curse. Taupongi 1961 said that a more common one is mimi ake i tou 'ugu (piss on your head).

8. The henpecked husband commits suicide. Flashing lightning is a sign (ua'a) of his death. Taupongi 1961 said that suicide attempts occurred fairly often because of anger or grief, or because of possession or madness (uguhia). A crazy man on Bellona went far out to sea for this purpose, and Taupongi and others followed in two canoes and went almost out of sight of land and brought him back. Other suicide stories follow.

SE

352

Page 368: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

201. Pese a Hakamahegoto

TEXTS 201, 202(A)

Clapping Song by Hakamahegoto

Malachi Tegheta of Niupani, RE. January 25, 1958. 1. Ahiahi te 'agoha e tata e ganga

i tino 'ui'ui manaba.

Umege: lei ogo, uie ogo. 2. Taku tangi babage ia Hakaki-

kaba. 3. Tu'u i te aga ko au ka toogau

Tehu'aitonga, ko koe ma te tinau.

4. Hakagugu manu i 'ugu te ga- 'akau.

5. Na haiba seu, na haiba ki te gangi.

6. Hakagugu ika i tu'a te ngagu tau.

7. Te sau 'agaba te gongo ma i akau.

8. Te sau kogoa noko tuhanga kinai.

9. E hakanau mai a'ahine ki te au. 10. Aku gau niho manga hakosoko

ai. 11. E sigi te 'agoha tangia e ma-

hana. 12. Siginga 'agoha ko au kua

toka'a. Te motu kai au.

[At] evening, compassion prolonged en- gulfs my body, cutting short my breath. Chorus: lei mountain, uie mountain.

My mad lamentation for Hakakikaba.

I go upon the path and pray to Tehu'ai- tonga, you and your mother.

Sheltering birds at tree top.

Hunting [doves] with net, hunting to the sky.

Haven for fish behind the beating waves.

Many sharks told of at the reef.

Many loincloths given to them. And women envy me. My club with its shark teeth. Compassion unsurpassed in hot tears. Compassion unsurpassed and I ungrate-

full [?]. The ending[?].

NOTES This is Hakamahegoto's lamentation for her husband, given by Malachi when he learned

that Teu'a had told the story (T200). Tehu'aitonga (3) is a name for Tehu'aingabenga. A'ahine (9) perhaps should be ta'ahine.

SE

202. Te Tangata noko Kii

(A) Esther Teika'ato of Te tautupu'a ki te tangata noko

kakabe mai tona uguugu ho'ou, o hai kinai na polo, ke haka'atibai ai tona uguugu noko hai ho'ou. O hano o to'o mai te 'oka o 'oka ai na polo. Sa'u ake e ia tegaa huaa polo, o taghaghi ki te 'oka. Mu'a te kii, o pa'a to'a ki tona uguugu hai ho'ou, manga unu te 'oka o taghaghi ki te tobigha o pugo kinai o mate.

The Man Farted

Niupani, RE. January 19, 1958. The story of the man who brought his

bride, and prepared coconuts for her as welcoming food for his bride. Then [he] brought the husking stick and husked the coconuts with it. He got out their coco- nuts and thrust [them] onto the husking stick. But [he] farted first, and was so ashamed because of his bride that he took out the husking stick and thrust [it] into his buttocks and twisted it and died.

353

Page 369: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 202(A), 202(B), 203

NOTES Teika'ato said she had a very short and very funny story. After telling it, she explained that

it was bad form to let wind, it just wasn't done. Several women and children were present, this session being after church, and everyone laughed heartily. Teika'ato's husband, Tekobi, said that the man was so ashamed because of his bride; if they had been married 10 years it wouldn't have mattered. (I noted that I had never heard anyone break wind. One evening at Labagu, Jonathan had scolded a young son for letting wind silently but pungently. See T127 and N127 for another story concerning this solecism.) Next day, Job came and asked to hear the story. He didn't laugh at all. "It's all right for men to tell such stories," he said, "but we don't like women to tell them." He then gave T203, in which a man was angry at his wife and defecated for 7 days into a canoe.

SE

(B) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, July 2, 1961. Te tautupu'a ki te pengea mai

sa'a Tanga, he'e na'a tona ingoa. Noko 'oka polo ki te nga'akau tangai o suki ki te kenge. Ma te nguti tona kii, ma te pa'a o- tagha- ghi te tobigha ki te 'oka. Ma te mene te 'oka i te tobigha, ma te mate.

The story about a man of the Tanga clan, his name is not known. [He] husked coconuts on a stick, pointed and planted in the ground. And his farting sounded, and [he] was ashamed, and he pierced his aperture on the husk pole. And the husk pole disappeared into his aperture, and [he] died.

TM

203. Temoa na Hai Teke Angry Temoa

Job Topue of Niupani, RE. January 22, 1957. 1. Te hegeunga kia Temoa noko

ma ina i Baigau, na hai teke i te binu 'anga te polo a Sa'ohenua. Na masa kae haha'a, o si'ai he me'a ke kai ai. Manga ina mai kinai te uguugu o Temoa, o 'abange kinai te tuai hakagoke o kai ai. 2. Kae ina mai kinai a tona matu'a a Te- moa, o hai teke aano, hinaiho ki tona baka o 'ui, o hano gago, o mene i te aga ghalighali i Tagu- manikati, o mene ki te momo koko, o noko ma ina ai, ki te titiko ki te giu o te baka na poo hitu ai. 3. Kae kite e na saaganga, o kakabe haka- hoki ki tona manaha.

l.The talk of Temoa who lived at Bai- gau [west of Niupani], and who became angry about Sa'ohenua's drinking of a coconut. After draining [it], he cracked [it], and there was nothing to eat with. Temoa's wife saw this, and gave him the curved scraper on a string to eat with. 2. Her husband Temoa saw this and be- came angry, and went down to his canoe and cast off and went to the west, and went into the narrow straits at Tagumani- kati and entered the small inlet and stayed there, and defecated into the hold of the canoe for seven nights. 3. Then the searchers saw [him] and took him back to his home.

NOTES This was told by Job as a funny story, perhaps because of the defecation. At the same time,

the informants said that Temoa was attempting to commit suicide (hakamate, haka'ingo) be- cause of anger at his wife and jealousy of Sa'ohenua.

SE

354

Page 370: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 204

204. Gauatana Gauatana

Malachi Tegheta of Niupani, RE. January 23, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a kia Gauatana,

noko hano taa tatau kia Tauha- 'ugua, kae haka'agi kinai tena saka. 2. O hai teke ai a Tauha'ugua i te he'e hai kia te ia, ma hai kia tona uguugu, ka na hinake a Kaibanga o hakapata kinai, o haka'agi kinai tena saka,ka na tangi ai aKaibanga. 3. Namaa hakagongo ake a Tauha- 'ugua, ma tangi a Kaibanga i te tutugu iho kia te ia, hai teke a Tauha'ugua, o hai ake a Tauha- 'ugua ke taa ia Gauatana, ka na he'emaka a tona uguugu a Kaiba- nga. 4. Namaa hai te 'umu o abi te 'umu, hai atu a Kaibanga kia tona guani: "Hinatu o hai ni tau, ma te 'ati gongo kia Gauatana e kaa taa'ia i tena saka." 5. Kae hoki ake, namaa tu'u a Gauatana, o hinake ki tena 'uu, hakaanu iho kinai a Tauha'ugua: "Ko koe hano kihea?" "Hano ke hana te aaliu manu i aga tu'u." 6. Tutahi o hano, he'e kite ai. Namaa ko Magama'ubea kite ai. Namaa tau ake te baka o Tauha- 'ugua, hakaneke ake a Tauha- 'ugua, kae kakata iho 'aga'unga, kata hakasisigi ai a Gauatana. 7. Ka na 'igo'igo ake ai a Kaibanga po ko ai te ma kata hakasisigi, pe Gauatana. Hai atu kia tona guani o hinatu ki ga'unga, o ina ki te pegea ma kata pe Gauatana. 8. Hinake tona guani, ma gaganga poga a Gauatana i te kainanga ma- tangi Magama'ubea. 9. Hoki o hai atu kia Kaibanga: "Ko Gauatana." Gosigosi o Kaibanga o sa'u mai te baghu, o sa'u mai te kogoa tahi, ma te tuai hakagoke, o tuku ki te uso o te baghu, o pegu ai, o 'abingi o hinake. 10. O hinake i te kai- nanga matangi, noko iai a Gauata- na. Hinake aano pata ai, giu a Kai- banga te baghu o tege ai te kogoa tahi, ma te tuai hakagoke. 11. Ma tu'ia a Gauatana, o sa'u ake te lipa

1. The story of Gauatana, who went and tattooed Tauha'ugua, and demon- strated his saka to him. 2. Tauha'ugua became angry about it because [he] didn't sing it to him, but sang [it] to his wife, for Kaibanga came and sat by him, and [he] demonstrated his saka to her, and Kaibanga wept over it. 3. When Tauha- 'ugua heard Kaibanga weeping, and [tears] were falling on him, Tauha'ugua was angry, and Tauha'ugua said he would kill Gauatana, but his wife Kai- banga would not agree. 4. After making the oven, and cleaning out the oven, Kai- banga said to her servant: "Go out and get oven leaves, and tell Gauatana that he is to be killed because of his saka." 5. And [she] came back, and Gauatana got his bundle of arrows, and Tauha'ugua asked him: "Where are you going?" "Going to shoot bird nests on the main trail." 6. [He] left immediately and was not seen. But the people of Magama- 'ubea saw him. When Tauha'ugua's canoe came in and Tauha'ugua came up ashore, there was laughter up inland, and Gaua- tana's laugh was the longest. 7. Kai- banga knew that the one laughing longest sounded like Gauatana. [She] told her servant to go inland and see the one laughing like Gauatana. 8. Her servant went, and Gauatana was plaiting poga mats of coconut leaves on the east side of Magama'ubea. 9. [The servant] re- turned and said to Kaibanga: "[It's] Gaua- tana." Kaibanga got ready and got out a mat, and got out a dyed loincloth, and a curved scraper on a string, and put in- side the mat, and folded and carried under her arm and went on up. 10. [She] went to the east where Gauatana was. [She] came up beside him, and Kaibanga tipped the mat, and the dyed loincloth and pearl-shell scraper fell out. 11. Gaua- tana was surprised, and got out his mat and covered up Kaibanga's gift, and [no one] saw it. 12. When it was dark, Gaua- tana put on the dyed loincloth. When it

355

Page 371: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 204, 205, 206

o poghi atu ai te ga'a o Kaibanga, o he'e hiina'i kinai. 12. Namaa pongia, huna a Gauatana i te kogoa tahi. Namaa 'aoina, hai ake a Tau- ha'ugua: "E gaoi te kogoa e huna ai a Gauatana!" 13. Sa'u mai tena polo binu, o hohoa, sa'u ake te tuai hakagoke, o kai bagu ai. Hai ake a Tauha'ugua: "E gaoi te tuai hakagoke ma kai bagu ai a Gaua- tana!" 14. 'Ai ana me'a kua hai ga'a e tona uguugu, kae ma hai hakatagaba kinai. Kua 'oti.

was daylight, Tauha'ugua said: "What a fine loincloth Gauatana is wearing!" 13. He [Gauatana] got a drinking nut, broke [it], took the shell scraper, and grated with it and ate. Tauha'ugua said: "What a fine shell scraper Gauatana is grating with and eating!" 14. [These] were his things his wife had given as gifts, and [the husband] did not know about it. Just finished.

NOTES Malachi visited from about 3:00 P.M. to about 4:30 P.M. He answered many questions and

went over the pese by Kaitu'u (not included in this volume), and then told this story in his usual quiet, solemn way. My understanding was poor, and only later did the story seem funny. Malachi could not remember the saka involved.

5. aaliu manu: probably higi (fruit doves: Luke Tegheta). SE

205. Te Tinana noko Kai Tena Tama'ahine

The Mother Ate Her Daughter

Te'ota of Niupani, RE. December 21, 1957. Te tau tinana noko noho'aki i te

manaha; hano te tinana ki mouku o huti ana ghape, kae hoki iho o hai baakai, o hai tena 'umu, kae gosigosi te gaukei, kae kaa tena 'umu. Ngege i tena tama'ahine ke a'u, o he'emaka; ngege hakahoki ai, o a'u, o tupe i te 'umu, o tangi: "Tinau, ko au! Tinau, ko au e bega!" E haiho kinai te tinana: "Kohea na hai e tou ta'e! Kohea na hai e tou ta'e!" Hai aano, moso, o tuku ki ana ghape hakau'a ai tena pota, o ta'o tena 'umu, o moso, kae huke o kai tena tama'ahine. Kua 'oti.

Mother and daughter lived in a settle- ment; the mother went to the forest and picked her ghape leaves, and came back and got firewood, and made her oven, and got leaves, and her oven burned. [She] called her daughter to come, and [she] refused; [she] called her again to come, and threw [her] into the oven, and [the daughter] cried: "Mother, it's me! Mother, I'm burning!" And the mother said to her: "What can be done, [I eat] your feces! What can be done, [I eat] your feces!" Then when cooked, [she] put [her] with the ghape leaves there and baked her leaf pudding, baked her oven, and when cooked took out her daughter and ate [her]. Just finished.

NOTES tou ta'e: [I eat] your feces; an endearing and humbling phrase.

SE

206. Te Tama 'Iti'iti noko Ti'aki The Abandoned Child

Paul Takiika of Kanaba. At Bagika'ago, March 15, 1958. 1. Teenei te tautupu'a o te tama l.This is the story of the child aban-

356

Page 372: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

'iti'iti noko ti'aki e te tinana. Tona ingoa ko Kaipua. 2. Ko Baikopua noko ma gaganga tena malikope. Namaa ta'aki ake na mata, ko tena tunga'ane ma tu'u, ka te pegea mate. 3. Punou hoki o gaganga. Namaa ta'aki ake ma'u, na mata, ko tena tunga'ane ma tu'u. 4. Ka na hai kinai tena maanatu: "Po tehea te hai 'anga kogaa na noho?" Tuku atu te mea gaganga, kae tu'u o hano, i te aga ki tai. Namaa hi- taiake atu, ki te takanga, kae tangi mai te tama 'iti'iti. 5. Namaa ghali atu ia, o tatae kinai, te tama 'iti'iti, e hai ke hiti ki aba i te takanga i Tapuna. Kae na to'o e ia o pipiki. Ka te tinana kua tata'o te hogau ki Mugaba.

6. Namaa pipiki aano Baikopua,

matu'a te tama, ko ia na tunihenua, o gongo ai te tinana, o maanatu ake, ke hano ina kia tena tama e tunihenua. 7. Nainaa ma'ogi o boo te hogau o tata'o ai. Namaa hai te maga'e huti, hai ake te hahine na ti'aki tena tama: "Kau go hai'ia te sa'unga a taku tama."

8. Namaa gongo ai a Kaipua, o hai ake: "Toku tinana ko Baiko- pua, koe na 'atua tahea mai hea te hakapupugu mai nei!" Ka te sa- 'unga na tuku ma'a Baikopua tena tinana hakapigi na pusi ia te ia. Kua 'oti.

TEXTS 206, 207

doned by his mother. His name was Kaipua. 2. Baikopua was plaiting her mat. [She] raised her eyes, and her brother was standing [there], a dead person. 3. [She] bent her head down again and plaited. When [she] raised her eyes up again, her brother was standing [there]. 4. She thought to herself: "What can something like this be?" [She] put down the thing being plaited, and got up and went away on the trail to the sea. When [she] was near the cliff trail, a child cried. 5. She hurried and came there to the child who was about to fall into the water from the cliff trail at Tapuna. She took [the child] and kept [him]. And the mother had gone with the canoe to Rennell.

6. Then Baikopua kept [the child] until maturity, and he then became priest-chief, and the mother heard of this, and thought she would go to see her son who was priest-chief. 7. So the canoe went and [she] went along too. When food was offered ritually, bananas, the woman who had abandoned her child said: "I'm going to have my son's share." 8. When Kaipua heard her, [he] said: "My mother is Baikopua, you are a supernatural drifted from where who makes such demands?" And the share was given to his foster mother, Baikopua, who had raised him. Just finished.

NOTES A somewhat longer variant of this well-known story was dictated by Esther Teika'ato and

Samuel Tuhenua at Niupani on February 3, 1958. As the name of the abandoned child who became priest-chief was known, Taupongi 1961 agreed to ask the Bellonese experts on his return. He then wrote me that his name was Hakanohohenua. The name of the wayward mother was Tunumangoo. They all belonged to the Tanga clan. The story shows the importance attached to the position of priest-chief.

2. Baikopua: the foster mother. SE

207. Tehonu ma te Tamana Tehonu and His Father

Malcham Teikanoa and 'Oea. At Hatagua, RE, March 20, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o Tehonu ma te

tamana a Hu'aitengingitupu. Te 'aso noko noho'aki a Tehonu ma tena uguugu. 2. Namaa teegaa 'aso,

1. The story of Tehonu (The-turtle) and his father, Hu'aitengingitupu. At one tune Tehonu lived with his wife. 2. Then one day the father, Hu'aitengingitupu,

357

Page 373: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 207

maanatu ake a te tamana a Hu- 'aitengingitupu, o hai ana kaui. O to'o o hinake te hanonga kia tena hanau, a Tehonu ma tena uguugu. 3. Namaa sopo ki te manaha o Te- honu ma tena uguugu, ko Tehonu noko hano te hainga hekau, ka ko tena uguugu noko ma toe i te ma- naha, Namaa 'agoha te uguugu o Tehonu kia tena hai matu'a, o tu- 'atu a te uguugu o Tehonu, o tua te saukaba, o 'abange ma'a tena hai matu'a a Hu'aitengingitupu, o to'o o iho hoki ki tai. 4. Namaa sopo mai a Tehonu ki tegaa mana- ha, te huti o'ona kua tua a tona uguugu, 'abange kia tena hai ma- tu'a, o to'o. 5. Ma te 'ika'ika ai a Tehonu ia tena uguugu, ma te ta- ta'o ia te tamana noko to'o e ia te huti. O 'agu ai i te aga i aga 'eha, 0 labu e ia ki Hagetapu, o toghi e ia te huti ki te tu'aa u'a o te tama- na Hu'aitengingitupu, o to'o hoki. Ma te siga ake a Hu'aitengingitupu; ko tena hosa a Tehonu.

6. Manga ina kinai; aano hano a te tamana, hano ki tai, sopo ki Tegokipua, i te potu bagibo i La- bagu. 7. Namaa sopo atu, ko gu ana tama'ahine, e giu mai i te tai, te tibunga 'agigi, ma te 'ati gongo kinai a tegaa tamana, kia gu ana tama'ahine, ma te hai atu: "Ko au e to'iho taku huti, ka kua tata'o iho a Manaba-i-te-honu, o to'o hakahoki eia!" 8. Ma te gongo ki- nai a gu ana tama'ahine, o tatangi 1 te 'agogoha kia tegaa tamana, ma te hakaanu atu ia gu ana tama- 'ahine: "Po e iai he mi'ikaui e to'o mai e koungua?" 9. Ma te hai atu a gua tama'ahine: "E to'o mai e kimaaua te tokagua akageko." 10. Hai atu a tegaa tamana: "To'o mai kau a'ago ai." Ma te boo a gu ana tama'ahine o to'o mai, o kaunaki e ia o to'o ki te baka, o boo ma'u, a gu ana tama'ahine o to'o mai na bago sua, o tuku ki te baka.— 11. O toso e gu ana tama'ahine te baka ki te tai, o hinaiho a tegaa tamana,

thought he would get some fish. So [he] got [some fish and] the fishing party went to his children, Tehonu and his wife. 3. Then [the father] reached the settlement of Tehonu and his wife, and Tehonu had gone to work, and his wife remained in the settlement. Then Tehonu's wife felt affection for her parent, so Tehonu's wife got up and felled a saukaba plantain and gave to her old man, Hu'aitengingitupu, and [he] took [it] and went back down to the sea. 4. Then Tehonu came back to their settlement, and his banana had been felled by his wife and given to his parent [who] had taken [it]. 5. Tehonu was angry at his wife, and went after the father, as he had taken the banana. [He] followed him on the trail, on the main trail, and he came to him at Hagetapu, and he cut off the bananas [hanging] on the back of the neck of the father, Hu'aitengingitupu, and took [them] back. Hu'aitengingitupu looked back; it was his son Tehonu.

6. [He] just stayed there; then the father went on, went to the sea and came out at Tegokipua, at the western part of Labagu. 7. When [he] got there, his two daughters came back from the sea, from gathering turban shells, and their father spoke to them, his two daughters, and said: "I took down my bananas, and this Turtle-heart followed, and he took [them] back!" 8. His two daughters listened, and wept with pity for their father, and [he] asked his two daughters: "Is there any small fish you can give me?" 9. And the two daughters said: "We have brought two akageko fish." 10. Their father said: "Give [them] here and I'll go shark fishing with them." And his two daugh- ters went and got [them], and he asked [them] to take [them] to the canoe, and [they] also went, and his two daughters brought some shark-hook cord and put into the canoe.—11. His two daughters pushed the canoe to the sea, and their father went down and got aboard, and his two daughters went too to the pass, and shoved [the canoe] out to the sea.

358

Page 374: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 207, 208

o eke ai o kakabe agu ana tama- 'ahine ki te aba, o husu ai ki moana.

12. Kae giu ake ki 'agunga a gu ana tama'ahine, kae ma tahea a tegaa tamana i moana, kae ma no- ho'aki a gu ana tama'ahine i 'agunga. 13. O noko ma hakapata iho kinai, ma te tatae kinai gua 'agaba o no'a e ia, o to'o hoki ake ki te aba, o sege gu ana mangoo, o ta'o, o tuku. 14. Kae kaunaki a gu ana tama'ahine, o boo na gongo o ka- kabe iho na usunga, o tata'o tu'a iho ai a Tehonu te tatangaa 'one, ki te takotonga o tena hosa kua mate. 15. Namaa tuha a gua mangoo a Hu'aitengingitupu i te ta'u usunga, aano 'oti, kae puga a Tehonu te giu'aki o te huti na sa'u o to'o haka- hoki e ia. Teenei te 'oti 'anga o te tagatupu'a o Tehonu ma te tamana a Hu'aitengingitupu.

12. And his two daughters went back up ashore, and their father drifted at sea, and his two daughters stayed on the shore. 13. And there came up to him, and reached him, two 'agaba sharks, and he [caught and] tied [them] and brought [them] back up to the pass, and butchered his two sharks, and baked and left [them]. 14. And [he] asked his two daughters to take the news and come back with visi- tors, and Tehonu followed behind the sand gatherers for the grave of his son who had died. 15. Then Hu'aitengingitupu divided his two sharks among the visitors, and left out Tehonu in, revenge for the bananas [he] had taken and carried off again. This is the ending of the story of Tehonu and the father, Hu'aitengingi- tupu.

NOTES This story is significant when one considers that bananas were a rare treat and that shark

fishing and generosity were of importance. SE

208. Te 'Agigi The Turban Shell

Esther Teika'ato of Niupani, RE. December 21, 1957. Te hahine noko hano tena iho-

nga, o to'ake tena hu'ai'agigi, hai kinai tena 'umu, noho aano, hano huke, o sa'u ake tena 'agigi, kua too tona mata, o huu i te hai 'umu, ke go kai launatahi ma'ana. Kae to'o tona tino hua, o tuha i ana tamagiki o kai. Kae hoki i ta'ana kunga noko huu ke kai, manga hano sa'u ake o u'u atu te hatu, hoki o kogu ana tamagiki i te kua kai soko e kigatou te 'agigi, ka na hoki o u'ulobo ta'ana kunga te hatu. Kua 'oti.

A woman went fishing and got a large turban shell, and made her oven for it, and then opened [the oven], and took out her turban shell, and its lid fell down, and [she] hid [it] in the oven shelter, so that she might eat [it] alone. And [she] took the main portion and divided among her children and [they] ate. And [she] re- turned to her place where [the closure] had been hidden to eat, and went and took [it] out and bit the stone, and went back and whipped her children because they had eaten the turban shell alone, while [she] had gone to her place and tried to bite the rock. Just finished.

NOTES Five women paid a call during a time when I was alone; they were led by Teika'ato, who sat

on the sugar barrel by my table. They told three stories: this one about a woman who attempt-

359

Page 375: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 208, 209

ed to eat the closure of a shell, and two not included in this volume about a cannibal woman and about a woman who tied sea snakes around her head and was rightly pushed into the lake by her husband. In each, a woman is the central character and a villainess. After dictating her story, Teika'ato picked up an 'agigi shell used as a paper weight on my desk and demonstrated the woman biting the hard shell. She and everybody laughed a great deal. "The white people," she said, laughing, "are going to think our stories are bad!" Later I told the shell story to the men, and they laughed heartily. They seemed tickled that she had wanted to kai beka (eat without sharing). Paul Sa'engeika 1962 said this story is from Malaita in the Solomons.

SE

209. Te Ta'okete noko Kai Tona Taina

The Older Brother Ate His Younger Brother

Te'ota of Niupani, RE. February 11, 1961.

1. Te tautupu'a teenei ki te ha- hine noko hai gu 'ana tama, o hii- na'i aano i togatou manaha. Hai atu kinai a togaa tinana i te 'ugu matu'a: "Pipiki ake a te taiu, ka kau hano 'agunga." 2. Mangao te 'ugu matu'a o pipiki ia te taina, kae hano i te 'aga, he'e tahi o hano, ma hano ma te tu'u. 3. Manga tungu'ia i te me'a e gagakoa. Hoki iho kinai ki te manaha, o hai atu kia tena tama: "Ni aa te gagakoange?" 4. Hai atu kinai a tena tama: "Taku higi a 'aulago i te megu."

5. Hoki ma'u a te tinana, kae sa'u iho a te taina, o tunu haka- hoki i te ahi. Tungu'ia, hoki a te tinana, o e'a hoki iho ma'u, o hai atu ma'u kinai: "Ni aa te gagakoa?" Hai atu kinai a tena tama: "Taku baghigho e 'aumahu i te megu."

6. Hoki ma'u a te tinana 'agunga. Tungu'ia hoki ma'u i te me'a e gagakoa. E'a hoki iho ma'u, o hai atu kia tena tama: "Ni aa te gaga- koa goa?" 7. Hai atu kinai te ti- nana: "Tehea te taiu?" Hai atu ki- nai a tena tama: "Teegaa te ma moe." "Hinatu o pipiki; e ko au e hoki kau hai hekau ma te utu." 8. Ma'ogi o hano a te tinana 'agunga ki tena hai hekau ai ma te utu, kae sa'u iho e te pegea a te taina o tunu, o moso, o kai e ia. 9. E'a hoki iho a te tinana, o ngege mai ai: "To'o mai a te taiu ke haauu."

1. This is the story of the woman who had two sons living in their settlement. Their mother said to the oldest: "Take care of your younger brother while I go up to the bush." 2. The eldest son obeyed and he held the younger brother, and [she] went on the trail, but didn't go far and went on and stopped. 3. [She] smelled something that was like roasted flesh. [She] came back down to the settlement and said to her son: "What smells so pungently?" 4. Her son said to her: "My fruit dove that I pelted in the megu tree."

5. The mother went back again, and [the older brother] took the younger brother and cooked [him] again on the fire. There was fragrance and the mother came back down again and said to him again: "What smells so pungently?" Her son said to her: "My honeyeater that I pelted in the megu tree."

6. The mother went back again to the bush. The fragrance was again smelled. [She] came back down again and said to her son: "What keeps smelling so pun- gently?" 7. The mother said to him: "Where is your younger brother?" Her son said to her: "Over there, sleeping." "Go over and pick [him] up; I've got to go back and work and get food." 8. So the mother went back to the bush to do her work and get food, and the person took out the younger brother and cooked [him], and when [he] was cooked he ate [him]. 9. The mother came back down and called out: "Bring your younger

360

Page 376: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 209, 210

Hai atu kinai a tena tama: "Ma moe." 10. Hai te ahi a te tinana, 0 tunu ai na utunga, o ngege mai a tena tama, o he'emaka, ka ma ngege goa ma iai, hai aano ma'u a tena tama o to'o na utunga, noko ngege mai a te tinana, o manga to'o na utunga o tahi o hano. 11. A'u te hai maatu'a ki hage, o luga atu te baghu noko hakatu'u, e he'e kitea, 1 te me'a gaa kua kai e tona ta'oke- te. 12. Na he'e tau hai 'anga i te tege 'anga a te pegea, noko kai e ia te taina, o magepe a te tinana i tena tama na kai e tona ta'okete. Kua 'oti.

brother for nursing." Her son said to her: "Sleeping." 10. The mother made a fire and cooked the food on it, and called her son, and [he] paid no attention, and [she] kept calling to where [he] was, and then the child called by the mother took the food, just took the food and went far away. 11. The old parent came to the house, and took off the mat that was a cover, and [the child] was not to be seen, as [he] had been eaten by his older brother. 12. Nothing happened because the person who ate the younger brother ran away, and the mother mourned her child that had been eaten by his older brother. Just finished.

NOTES The first five sentences of this morbid story were printed by Te'ota, each line being a single

word. She dictated the entire story; her spoken te tinana was written titina. 3. gagakoange: gagakoa ange. 4. megu: a tree whose berries are eaten by higi. 10. mai a: fast speech for mai ia.

SE

210. Tetonga Tetonga

Shadrach Maaui and Michael Moa. At Hatagua, RE. March 20, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o Tetonga,

noko kakai i te ogo i Maghapui.— 2. Te tangata noko sanga songo, noko he'e tau 'umanga, he'e tau hatu 'ugi; noko manga hai tena toki ga'akau, teegaa tona ingoa te oga.— 3. Ka noko haka'aagoha te toki o'ona—ka na hatu ai tena saka kia te taina Temega, i te haka- sano i te toki 'ugi.— 4. "Te gangi e manamana i te poo, te 'uiga gapa, maanatu a 'Aasia ki manaha i to- 'oku; na moe ki te sanga toku toki, ka he'e tau niapo."—

5. Gongo ai a Temega i te me'a a tona ta'okete e hatu kia te ia, o hano kakabe iho ki Baisapini ke giu'aki te saka noko tuku, o kake i te niu, o hai tena hua.—6. Namaa 'oti te hai ona hua o te niu, e kau- naki—o huge te niu. Noko hai atu a Temega ke totobe iho tena muko. 7. Noka hakatau iho a Tetonga, o

24*

1. The story of Tetonga, who lived on a hill at Maghapui [near Hatagua].—2. The man had bad luck, no garden, no hard-rock adze; he had just an adze of wood, its name being oga.—3. He grieved for an adze—and made his saka song for his younger brother Temega from his deep desire for a hard-rock adze.—4. "The sky thunders in the night, lightning flashes, 'Aasia thinks of home that is mine; [I] dreamed of luck [to find] my adze, but there is no bit of tapa."—

5. Temega listened to the thing com- posed for him by his older brother, and followed on down to Baisapini to give a reward for the saka that had been presented, and [Tetonga] climbed a coco- nut tree and cut his nuts.—6. After he had finished taking care of the coconuts, [he] asked—about cutting down the coco- nut tree. Temega said he might cut down

361

Page 377: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 210, 211

haiho ke noko noho. Ka na haka- tau hakahoki a Temega, o hai ake: " 'Ai e pata maau kupu me'a, ka noko noho ai ni tagatupu'a ki ba'i 'atu tangata?"

8. Hoki iho a Tetonga o haka- putu e ia, ka noko tu'u mai a Te- mega ma te toki 'ugi, o hakaeke i te tu'u polo: "Teenei te tau'i o te saka a'au kia te au." O to'o o hoki ki Tebanoa, tena manaha. Kua 'oti.

the frond. 7. Tetonga said to let [it] stay. Then Temega said in answer, saying: "What can equal your poetic words with stories about every generation?"

8. Tetonga came back down, and he collected [the coconuts], and Temega stood there with a hard-rock adze, and put [it] on the pile of coconuts: "This is in exchange for your saka composed for me." [Tetonga] took [it] and went back to Tebanoa, his home. Just finished.

NOTES I

This story illustrates (1) the importance of a hard-rock adze, (2) the importance of the saka and of dreams, (3) pleasant brother relationships, and (4) the difficulty of translating without knowledge of the cultural context that is presumed for the auditors.

2. oga: a tree with hard wood. 4. 'Aasia: an honorific name (ingoa hakapegepege: TM 1961) of Temega.

niapo: not clear, perhaps siapo (small tapa used in rituals). 5. Temega as reward for the saka permits his older brother to climb one of his coconut trees

and harvest the nuts. After getting the nuts, the older brother wants to cut down the entire tree as an expression of excitement and joy (see note by TM below, and T235[A]:47), but Temega limits him to the frond. Without knowing the cultural context, one does not know who is up the coconut tree—no subjects are given of the verbs kake, hai, kaunaki, huge.

SE II

Felling one's own coconut or papaya trees was a common way of releasing emotion and excitement, whether of joy or sorrow. When a relative died, a man usually cut down his coco- nut trees. This behavior has to some degree survived the adoption of Christianity. When a hur- ricane was reported to be approaching Rennell and Bellona during the Christmas season in 1958, people started to reinforce the house belonging to District Headman Haikiu on Bellona. The chief purpose was to protect the radio from destruction. This was a time of great excite- ment. A crowd gathered around the headman's house, and everybody helped tie great poles to its roof. People were singing and joking, and laughter filled the air. Men and women worked hard in spite of the storm and pouring rain. Suddenly, Headman Haikiu grabbed an axe, sing- ing wildly, ran among the papaya trees growing around the house. With fierce strokes he felled all the trees, and afterwards sat down on the steps of the house, grinning. I asked him why he felled his trees. "Just because I wanted to," was his answer.

TM

211. Puakegi Puakegi

Timothy Sau'uhi of Baitupu, RE. 1. Te tau'a a Mugaba nei noko

boo ki Mugiki. Boo aano, asanga, hakaanu te tugi tau'a, kogaa na to'o: "Ko ai e lologi i te tau'a nei?" Hai ake teegaa: "Kau e to'a." Hai ake teegaa: "Kau e to'a." Hai ake a Puakegi, te pegea: "Kau e lologi." 2. Tutu'atu te tau'a, o nekeneke, o tupe i te tai. Hai ake a Puakegi:

At Bagika'ago, March 12, 1958. 1. The raiders from Rennell here went

to Bellona. Going on, and in mid-ocean, the raid leader asked questions, speaking as follows: "Who's the weakling in this raid?" One said: "I'm strong." Another said: "I'm strong." Puakegi, a person, said: "I'm weak." 2. The fighter stood up and lifted up [Puakegi] and threw [him] into the sea. Puakegi said: "Please, I'm

362

Page 378: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 211, 212

"E tukua, ko au e ti'aki nei. Abai- ho taku ga'aka'u." 3. Mangao te tugi tau'a, o 'abange tena ga'akau. Kae boo te tau'a. Ka ma tahea a Paukegi i te moana. Boo te tau'a, o tatae ki Mugiki, o taa'ia 'oti.

4. Kae kakau a Puakegi, o sahe taha'aki ki 'One, o okioki aano ai, noko ma gibau. Hakagongo iho kinai a Haga (ingoa pegea), te tugi tau'a o Mugiki, o hinaiho kinai, o hai atu kia Puakegi: "Ai te mi'i- pegea ka ma hai te hu'aige'o!" A'u kinai a Haga o hekanai'aki. Hai atu a Haga: "Ke hakaeke taa te ta- katahea, ka ke angai e te noho henua." 5. Hai atu a Puakegi: "Hakaeke taa te noho henua, ka ke angai e te takatahea." Hakaiho* te ua a Haga kia Puakegi. Hakataha Puakegi, kae sigi te ua. Sui a Pua- kegi o toghi te u'a, toghi te u'a o Haga. Kae tege ki ga'unga a Pua- kegi o taa sehu e ia a Mugiki. Kua 'oti.

leaving now. Give me my club." 3. The raid leader agreed and handed down his club. The raiders then went on. Puakegi just drifted in the sea. The raiders went on and landed at Bellona and were all killed.

4. Puakegi swam on and finally reached 'One and rested there, and then called out: "Ooho!" Haga (name of a person), the raid leader of Bellona, heard him, and came down to him, and said to Pua- kegi: "So the little person has a big voice!" Haga came up to him and faced him. Haga said: "Let the stranger raise a blow, and then the native will retaliate." 5. Pua- kegi said: "Let the native raise a blow, and then the stranger will retaliate." Haga brought his ua war club down on Puakegi. Puakegi dodged, and the war club missed. Then Puakegi cut off the neck, cut off Haga's neck. Then Puakegi ran up, and he ran all over Bellona, killing. Just finished.

NOTES A group of old men listened as Timothy told this and two other stories after church. Neither

they nor Timothy knew when Puakegi lived. Taupongi 1961 thought he must be a culture hero (kakai), but this story differs from those of the culture heroes, in that places and people are named. SE: "Why did Puakegi and Haga speak to each other the way they did before fight- ing?" Taupongi: "They wanted to scare each other (hematataku'aki)." SE "Were they being polite?" "No! Just scaring each other."

SE 212. Tamama'o Tamama'o

Teu'a of Niupani, RE. February 22, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a kia Tamama'o,

te tangata o Mugihenua; he'e te hu- 'aipegea, ka te mi'ihoto, te bag,o~ kaa. 2. Ka na hai te hakatahinga a Temoa, te hu'aihakahua ma'u- 'agunga; teegaa tona manaha, ko Mugigangi. 3. Ka na tuku e ia te gongo, o hano i te 'apitanga. Namaa sisinga te usunga i te haka- tahinga a Temoa, tu'u o tigi e ia te usunga. 4. Ka noko si'ai he pe- gea hakatau kinai i te 'apitanga, i te matataku kinai a kigatou, noko 'api ai hai maatu'a. 5. Kae ma noho a Tamama'o o hakagongo kinai, ke hakatau he pegea i tegatou usunga,

1. The story of Tamama'o, a man from Mugihenua; he was not an im- portant person, merely an insignificant lad. 2. Temoa, a high important chief, held a celebration; his settlement was at Mugigangi. 3. He sent out word and [it] went to all the people. When the visitors came to Temoa's celebration, he stood up and bantered the visitors. 4. There was no one in the throng who would answer him back because they were afraid of him, including many old people. 5. Tamama'o sat and listened for someone among their visitors to answer, but they were all frightened. 6. Tamama'o stood up and scolded their group of visitors,

363

Page 379: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 212

ka ko kigatou na pau o matataku. 6. Tu'u i 'agunga a Tamama'o o gehu ki tegatou usunga, ka ke mug! ia o hakaeke tona hakahua ke gehu kia Temoa. 7. Noko kogaa na to'o: "Si'ai he pegea hakatau ki tegatou 'abanga, kae tuku o pakosokoso goa tona ngutu aga ki mouku!" 8. Manga tu'ia a Temoa o hetapa i tena 'atua; tu'u'ia ma'u a Tamama'o, o hetapa ma'u, kae gege kinai a Temoa o heta'i, o si'ai lie hai 'anga hai kinai, i te me'a gaa, noko to'a ma'u a Tamama'o. 9. Namaa ma- bae tegaa heta'inga, tuki hinake e Tamama'o te 'atu hage kaunga aano, hetae ki mugi, tuki hinaiho teegaa 'atu hage o 'oti, iho ki nra'a, kae ungaunga ki tegatou usunga, 0 ngague o giu i te 'aso. 10. Kae ti'aki mai e kigatou te hakatahinga, 1 te me'a gaa, teegaa te hakatu'u 'anga te hakahua ma'u'agunga to'a ia Tamama'o, ka ko Temoa ka sui o pagago to'ona hakahua.

11. Namaa hai ma'u te hakata- hinga a Temoa ma te 'apitanga, o hakaputu kinai na utunga ma pe- gea, ka ko kigatou noko hegeu ke hano he gongo ia Tamama'o, ka noko hat ke tuku he pegea e hano ai, ka ko kigatou noko hakamaaku- ku kia Tamama'o. Hai atu kogaa: "Hai ke hano ai he guani kae kitai go he'emaka. Ke hano ai koe, Te- moa ka ke go mangao." 12. Ma'ogi a Temoa o hano ai, sopo atu a ia ko Tamama'o ma moe, ka ko ia noko pago kinai, o ne'e baa'aga e ia, manga noho ki tena hakapata kinai. 13. Ko Temoa na ina ano, ga'aaina i tena hitagi 'anga ia Ta- mama'o noko ma moe, ka ko ia manga muna o 'aga. O he'e haka- 'atu'atu kinai, manga tuku ange ki- nai te 'umu kaui, noko eke ai te malamega. Ka ko Temoa noko 'oso fcinai, o hease'aki e ia i te sasaga, he mi'ihoto ke kai, ka ko Tama- ma'o noko gehu kinai, i te me'a gaa ko Tamama'o e pau o ma'u'agunga. 14. Noko kogaa na to'o: "Tau igha-

and then he assumed the role of chief and scolded Temoa. 7. Saying this: "If there is no one who will answer those fornicators, just let [me] scold and scold his mouth that is just a track to the bush!" 8. Temoa was shocked and called on his god; Tamama'o then was shocked and called out too, and Temoa jumped on him, and [they] fought, but there was nothing to be done because Tamama'o also was strong. 9. After the fighters had been separated, Tamama'o came up smashing a row of small huts, then went to the back and went down smashing at the row of houses there, and then went to the front, and told the visitors to get ready and go back that day. 10. They left the gathering, and this was the beginning of the high chieftainship of Tamama'o, and Temoa in turn became a chief of low prestige.

11. And when Temoa and his people were having another gathering, and the people and their food had collected, they said that a messenger should go to Ta- mama'o, that someone should be sent to go to him, because they were afraid of Tamama'o. Some said: "If a servant should go, perhaps he will not consent. But if you go, Temoa, he will agree." 12. So Temoa went to him, and he came and Tamama'o was sleeping, and he treated him with great respect, and he did not wake [him], but just stayed near him. 13. Temoa just waited, and he waited in the sun, and Tamama'o just slept, but finally awoke of his own accord. [He] did not greet him, but offered him the fish baked in the oven, including a malamega. And Temoa took them and scattered [them] and found a tiny fish to eat, and Ta- mama'o scolded him because Tamama'o was so superior. 14. This was said: "Your little ighatlghi fish, and offered real food, and why act so stupid about it?" Tamama'o reached out and got [the fish basket] and he opened [it] and gave him to eat.

364

Page 380: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 212, 213

tighi, e 'abatu ke kai, kae hu'u ki- nai i te aa?" 'Oso atu a Tamama'o, o sa'u mai o huhuke ia, o tuku ange kinai, o kai e ia.

15. Teegaa te tahi ma'u hai 'anga, te inano 'anga a Tamama'o, haka'agi tona hakahua ma'u'agunga to'a, noko kogaa na to'o: "Ko Mu- gihenua nei, kua hehea te sia taa, boo mai o taa ia te au!" 16. Ma'ogi a Mugihenua o puge kinai tegatou tau'a, o boo mai kinai i te poo, o sisingake i tona manaha, o ina'iho kinai i te boo ake a kigatou, ka ko ia na 'aga i tona kaainga, o tu'u hakatino ki te pou tu'u o tona hage, kae boo ake te tau'a, o ghigho e kigatou te hage, kae tohu teegaa ki hage, o sasaga e ia ia Tamama'o, o he'e kite. 17. Namaa hai ke tohu hoki ki haho, haiho a Tamama'o noko ma tu'u hakatino ki te pou: "Ko ai te ma takataka ta'e kimoa ki toku kaainga nei?" 18. Manga tuu'ia te pegea noko ma sasaga e ia, o gege kinai, o logi e ia ki te pou tu'u noko ma loghoni kinai a ia, kae heuguhi ake te 'apitanga, o he'osohi ngatahi kinai a kigatou, o gotu kigatou ke tupe. 19. O hai- ngata'a, i te me'a gaa noko to'a. Ka na noho teegaa o hugihugi e ia na hatu ba'e, ioo too o taa e kigatou. 20. Teenei te 'otinga o te hakahua ma'u'agunga to'a Tamama'o. Tena hai ga'ai ia te ia, o taa e ba'i pegea. Kua 'oti.

15. And this is something else Ta- mama'o did to show what a very high chief he was, saying: "So where are the Mugihenua people from that want to kill, let [them] come and kill me!" 16. And, in fact, the Mugihenua people were planning to attack him, and came at night and entered his village, [but he] watched them coming, for he was awake in his bed and stood straight against the center post of his house, and the fighters came and they surrounded the house and some entered the house looking for Tamama'o, but [they] did not see him. 17. Then [they] went outside again, and Tamama'o, who was standing straight against the post, said: "Who is walking over my bed here with [feet] smeared with rat dung?" 18. The people who had been looking for him were astonished and jumped on him, and he grabbed the center post he was leaning against, and the gang all came in, and they all grabbed him and wanted to throw him out. 19. It was difficult because [he] was strong. But one person, he struck [Tamama'o's] ankle bones, and then [he] fell down and they killed [him]. 20. This was the end of the very high chieftainship of Tamama'o. This was how he was paid back for killing so many people. Just finished.

NOTES Teu'a came and wished to tell several stories; he knew I was soon to leave Niupani. I was

behind in my translating and could take time for only one story which proved to be long and difficult. Teu'a spoke in a monotonous voice that almost put me to sleep. The virile, and some- times racy, stylized arrogance of the upstart chief did not come out in his sober, humble dicta- tion which was devoid of animation,

7. 'abanga: a spouse; also an insulting word for penis. aga ki mouku: woman's place for defecation.

15. hehea: Taupongi 1961 suggested that this was poetic for hai hai (do). SE

213. Tagabai noko Kago Tau'a Tagabai, Who Escapes in Fights

Meshach Teosi. At Matahenua, RE, March 10, 1958. 1. Te pegea i gago noko kago

tau'a. Tona ingoa ko Tagabai. Na 1. A person to the west always escaped

in fights. His name was Tagabai. [People]

365

Page 381: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 213

puge aano kinai. Hano te hahine o noho ai, ko Magiko. O hai agaa manaha. 2. Tutu'u kinai te tau'a Kanaba nei, o boo lango aano ki te kunga noho mai ai, o togo kinai. Kite Magiko te tau'a Kanaba nei boo atu. 3. Ina kinai, taugua i te huaa mako: "Tuku ke moooe." 4. Hakagongo kinai te tau'a, kae ma- tasiba ano ki te tau'a, o tege. O a'aki te tau'a o 'agu ia Tagabai. 5. 'Agu'agu a kigatou he'e kitea. No- ko ma boo sasaga boo, kite ai, 'agu ma'u. 'Agu aano kite i te 'aoa. 'Agu aano, kake te 'aoa. Kae ge'o te tau'a. Ge'o aano momoe i te tugi ga'akau. 6. Ma hoki haka'ete'ete iho te pegea, nga'ese'ese. 'A'aga te tau'a, kake hoki. Ma momoe aano, 'aoina. Sasaga e kigatou ki ga'unga, kae he'e kitea. "Mano kua hoki iho, tege i te poo, ka he'e hiina'i kinai." Manga boo atu te tau'a, o hiina'i atu ki te 'ugu o te 'aoa, hiina'i atu ki te belini, i te maaga- ma mai, aano poo'ugi mai. 7. Hakatapatapatu ai, e'a iho o huhu iho ki te tau'a a giu ake ki te tugi 'aoa. 8. He'ene'ene'aki te tau'a, he'e maniania a Mukaga. Tuku o kake ai, kae mugi ake ai teegaa. 9. Kake aano, tatae kinai. Manga gege mai a Tagabai o 'ene'ene ia Mukaga, o he'e maniania na 'ahi- nga. 10. Na gege atu o pigi ai, kigaa hitoki iho ki gago. A tau pi- pigi a Mukaga. Hai, tatae ake te pegea noko mugi ai. O hai maka kia Tagabai. O to'iho o mate. Kua 'oti.

plotted against him. A woman went to stay with him, Magiko. They had their settlement. 2. A band of fighters from Kanaba here went on and came to the place where [he] stayed, and crawled there. Magiko saw the Kanaba band of fighters coming. 3. [She] looked at them and sang a dance song: "Let [him] sleep." 4. The fighters heard her, and [Tagabai] watched the fighters and ran away. The fighters then came in sight and chased Tagabai. 5. They gave chase but didn't find [him]. [They] went looking and found him, and gave chase again. Chasing and saw [him] in a banyan tree. Gave chase, [and he] climbed a banyan. The fighters stood guard. Watched and fell asleep at the base of the tree. 6. The person [Ta- gabai] went down carefully, but made a rustling sound. The fighters woke up, and [Tagabai] climbed back. [The fighters] slept on, and daylight came. They looked up above, but didn't see [him]. "Maybe [he] came back down, and escaped in the night and wasn't seen." Then the fighters went and looked at the top of the banyan tree, looked also at the swamp as it was getting light, and there was a dark [shadow]. 7. [The fight- ers] called, and [Tagabai] came down and scolded the fighters and went back to the base of the banyan. 8. The fighters tickled each other, and Mukaga was not ticklish. [He] was assigned to climb up, and an- other one followed. 9. Climbing up and getting to Tagabai. Tagabai jumped down and tickled Mukaga, but his armpits were not ticklish. 10. [Tagabai] jumped and clung to him, and the two fell down be- low. [Tagabai] landed, clinging to Mu- kaga. Then the person following came after. [They] hurt Tagabai. [He] fell down and died. Just finished.

NOTES This story was taken down while I stopped for a rest at Matahenua, enroute from Bagika'ago

to Hatagua. A large crowd was listening. The informant was nervous and not used to dictating. SE

366

Page 382: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 214

214. Paitaua Paitaua

Malacham Teikanoa of Hatagua, RE. March 21, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o Paitaua, tee-

gaa te manaha, ko Tagumolu. 2. Te 'aso noko noho ai a Paitaua i Tagumolu, o sanga ai tena tago i te husi i Kogomea. 3. Noho aano, namaa matu'a, tege tena gongo ki Tegano, o boo' mai ai na usunga mai Tegano' ki Tagumolu, o abu kinai tena tago noko i te husi i Kogomea, o hai ai tena hakatahi- nga. 4. Namaa hakaputu te 'api- tanga, o tuha ai tena maga'e tago, o kai. 5. Namaa 'oti, maseu tena hakatahinga, o giu a Tegano. Namaa te 'aso noko maseu ai te hakatahinga, kae toe launatahi i tena manaha, hano o sa'u iho te hakasani polo, o 'eti, o pepe'e tee- gaa hua, o bagu, o kiki hano i teegaa kainanga o tena manaha, i na utunga ti'aki e te maseu 'anga, o kiki e ia. Aano 'oti hinake o 'eti teegaa huaa polo, o pepe'e, o bagu, o to'o, o kiki hano i teegaa kaina- nga.

6. Namaa 'oti—hano o tua tena huti, te saukaba, noko taa hitu te saukaba, o ha'a hitu tona tugubui, o ta'o o kai kiki, aano 'oti—.

7. Hano ki mouku, o kite tena 'aoa—o balubalu ona kigi, o ngu- ngu na bono kai kigi. 8. Namaa 'oti na bono kai kigi, toghi te gha- gha 'angaa, o ngungu. 9. Namaa 'oti, toghi te pelo 'angaa, o ngungu ma'u, o masaki tina'e ai a Paitaua.

10. Namaa 'oti te 'aoaa, hano ki mouku ma'u, o 'ui tena kala hui hitu. Noko hitu ona ga'a o te kala, o hitu ma'u ona hua. 11. O 'ui e Paitaua, o to'iho i te manaha, o ta'o. Namaa moso, huke te 'umu o to'ake ki hage, o noho, o ngau, kae nono'a te tina'e i te gau kie.

1. The story of Paitaua, his settlement being Tagumolu. 2. When Paitaua lived at Tagumolu, he planted his taro in the swamp at Kogomea. 3. Then when [the taro] was mature, the news of it reached the Lake, and visitors came from the Lake to Tagumolu, and dug his taro that was in the swamp at Kogomea, and made of it a feast. 4. When the people assembled, the taro offerings were distributed and eaten. 5. Afterwards the gathering dis- persed and the Lake people went back. When the gathering dispersed, one [per- son, Paitaua] stayed alone in his settle- ment, and went and took down two coco- nuts tied together by the husks and husked [them], and cracked their nuts, and grated, and went to the other side of his settlement to get supplementary food left by the dispersing [crowd], and he ate. And then [Paitaua] went and husked another coconut, cracked and grated [it], and took [it] and went to the other side [of the settlement] to get supplementary food.

6. Then—[Paitaua] went and cut down his plantain, the saukaba, and there were seven hands in the plantain, and [he] split the root tuber in seven pieces, and roasted and ate with other food, and then—.

7. [He] went to the bush, and saw his banyan tree—and peeled off the bark, and chewed the bark-eating longicorn. 8. After the bark-eating longicorn was finished, [he] cut into the boring and chewed [more longicorns]. 9. Then Pai- taua cut into the larvae and chewed some more and became sick at his stomach from this,

10. After finishing with the banyan, [he] went again to the bush and picked a kala with seven bunches. The kala had seven branches and also seven nuts. 11. Paitaua picked [them], and took [them] down to the settlement and cooked [them]. When [they] were cooked, [he] opened the oven and took [them] up to

367

Page 383: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 214

12. Kae ngau aano, motu te gau kie, ma te na'a e Paitaua, na kala e hakamakona.

13. Namaa 'oti, hano ki tai, tibu tena kete 'agigi, o to'ake ki te aba, o ta'o. Namaa huke, hano 'asu mai kinai te kaubaka hitu paangongo, o kai ma te binu. 14. Aano 'oti, goto maase'i, aano ma teka, ma te sa'ago ma'u a Paitaua. Teenei te 'otinga o te tagatupu'a o Paitaua.

the house, stayed there chewing, and tied a kie leaf around his stomach. 12. [He] kept chewing and the kie leaf broke, and Paitaua knew that kala were filling.

13. Then he went to the sea and gathered a sack of turban shells and took up to the waterfront and roasted. Then [he] opened [the oven], and went and filled seven coconut-shell dippers, and ate and drank. 14. Then Paitaua was nauseated, and lay down, and had diarrhea too. This is the ending of the story of Paitaua.

NOTES This story of a man experimenting with food may reflect the shortage of food on Rennell.

The story takes place at Tagumolu, near Hatagua, but the hero's identity is unknown. Like other stories by Teikanoa, the technical vocabulary is difficult and rich, and the following words needed much explanation: concerning coconuts (hakasani polo, 'etf), bananas (ta'a, tugubui), longicorns (bono kai kigi, ghagha 'anga, pelo 'anga), kala (hui).

6. tugubui: root eaten in times of famine. 9. 'angaa: emphatic for 'anga (nominalizer).

SE

368

Page 384: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 18. WANDERINGS

The first 12 stories in this chapter concern canoes that came to Rennell or Bellona. Most of them were baka tahea (drifted canoes), and they were believed to be sent by the gods as gifts (tonu) to particular individuals whose duty it was to honor the visitors with food-distribution rituals (maga'e). Some of the visitors behaved arrogantly (in T225 they slice off the tops of banana trees), some were feared, and some robbed (T216:2), but usually the people appeared overjoyed when visitors came. (Can a comparison be made with the present-day excitement in still isolated South Sea islands upon ship arrivals?) Most of the visitors returned home. Only Maige (N221) and Tangahau (N224) stayed permanently.

T215 and T216 are about Baiabe, from an unknown land, in generation 12. T217, T218, and T219 tell of a canoe from Taumako, also in generation 12. T220, T221, T222, and T223 relate to the visit of Maige from Gotuma in genera- tion 14. The dates in these three groups were not learned until long after the telling of the first text. The other dated baka tahea was Tangahau's canoe from Taumako (T224) in generation 19. No one knows if Taumako is the present Tau- mako in the Duff Islands east of the Solomons, or if Gotuma is Rotuma near Fiji.

T225 is about an undated drifted canoe, and T226 is a meager account of two recent castaways from Tikopia.

The second group of stories is about adventurer (all from Bellona except pos- sibly Ngukapogo, T231) who go to an unknown place called Mungua, and to Paugo and Kega, believed to be in the Solomons. Sumui (T230) avenged a slain countryman, but the others went for adventure and food plants, and returned with the name Ghongau (T227[A]), bananas, tubers, and yams. Of these travelers, Takitaki (T228 [A]) seemed the best known today and was the most clever and amusing.

Finally, a story (T232) is given of one of the early European ships to Rennell. Stories of visits of other ships, and of Rennellese to Queensland and elsewhere, have not been included in this volume.

215. Te Ho'ou o Bakoto The Installation of Bakoto [Generation 12]

Jasper Tekobi of Niupani, RE. February 4, 1958. 1. Te baka tahea noko a'u i te

ho'ou o Bakoto, noko noho aano i Peegau. 2. Ina'atu ki bagika'ago, ma mako hakapaogo iho ai na pe- gea, hakagongo aano kinai, hai ake: "Na pegea e logha iho i bagika- 'ago; he'e sikunga ge'o na pegea i Mugaba nei, manga sikunga ge'o

1. A drifting canoe came for the in- stallation of Bakoto as priest-chief, and [the people] stayed there at Peegau. 2. [Bakoto] looked northward where people were dancing a war-club dance, and [he] listened to them and said: "The noise of the people down from the north; not the faint sound of people from Rennell,

369

Page 385: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 215

na pegea mai moana." 3. Noko ma mako hakapaogo i te motu i Saga- balu; noko mako aano, 'utu iho teegaa ki te tai; mako aano1 ma'u, 'utu iho ma'u teegaa ki te tai; hai aano 'oti iho ki te tai. 4. Ka ko Bakoto kua hinake o noko ma ina i tona hage, 'ai kua hekaui iho, ma- nga tu'ia a Bakoto i te sisinga ake i tona manaha. 5. Noko mu'a ake ai a Baiabe, noko to'ake e ia te 'uu, ina'iho kinai a Bakoto, o tohu iho ki haho ke tege. 6. Manga tege ake kinai a Baiabe ma te 'uu, manga tu'ia a Bakoto, o hakaanga- tonu e ia, o noka te hinake 'anga ma te 'uu, i te me'a gaa tena baka tahea tona tonu. Kua 'oti.

7. Noko tuha aano e Bakoto. Ngague O' giu ki tagatou henua, boo aano hetae ake kinai, kae nimo he'e hiina'i kinai, manga mugheghi ai, ki te hiina'i ki na penu o te henua ma na manu. 8. Kae pau o he'e kite e kigatou, 'ai kua nimo te huaa mako noko ako e kigatou, o gangogangO' ai te ha'ugua. 9. O giu mai ai, o hinake te hakahua o te baka tahea, o paa e ia te ha'ugua, kae hai ake tena kupu: "Teenei koe, taginga hu'u kua hai ia te au o hoki mai!" Giu mai o ako1 hakahoki te huaa mako o na'a gaoi, kae giu ki togatou henua o pau ai. Kua 'oti.

10. Te huaa mako: Ge baka, ge baka tu'u mai, hana tu'u gua. E tugeki mai! Gege sogO! moe maaua, moe maaua. Sogo i Panio, kage pu- kage kumikumi, kage pukage kumi- kumi. Eu agoha i o eu agoha io o tata koia mataotipo, kae suguto pu- keisogo. Oisaohia e kegikegia. Oi saohia kegikegia. Kae saabaa i pa- gua. Hia e sabai pagua.

but the faint sound of people from over- seas." 3. The war-club dance was going on at Sagabalu Islet; after dancing, one person jumped into the lake; dancing on, and another jumped into the lake; this continued until all were in the lake. 4. But Bakoto went up and stayed in his house, and [the foreigners] swam in, and Bakoto was surprised when [they] came to his home. 5. Baiabe came first and he held a bundle of arrows; Bakoto saw them and came out of the house to run away. 6. Baiabe ran after him with the bundle of arrows, and Bakoto was frightened, and he dedicated [Baiabe as an offering to the gods] so that [he] would not advance with the arrows, because the drifted canoe was his gift from the gods. Just finished.

7. Bakoto distributed food [to the vi- sitors]. [Then they] made preparations to return to their land, going on, and when drawing near, [the land] had disappeared and was not to be seen, and round and round [they] went, and saw trash from land and animals. 8. But they found nothing whatsoever, because the dance song they had learned and prayed as sup- port for the canoe altar had been for- gotten. 9. [They] returned and the chief of the drifted canoe went and touched the canoe altar and said these words: "So much for you and the stupid ear [you] gave me and [I'm] back!" [They] returned and learned the song again, and knowing [it] well, returned to their land to stay there. Just finished.

10. The huaa mako song: The canoe, the canoe comes, comes twice. Turn hither! Fly [?] we sleep, we sleep. [?]

NOTES This is an example of the field worker's need to be constantly receptive. The night of Feb-

ruary 4 I was tired from a day spent mostly at my desk translating and filing vocabulary cards and worrying about verb- and noun-marking particles. Tekobi came in with a story, which I took down without understanding much of it; I did not know what a baka tahea was nor a ho'ou. The next morning, with a clear head, I did a third reading with Tuhenua, Taumoana,

370

Page 386: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 215, 216

and Tekobi, and this seemed one of the most interesting stories yet recorded. Peegau is near Niupani at the lake. Verses 7-10 were given on the second reading.

Tuhenua, in explanation of the installation of a priest-chief, said: "I saw such an installation ceremony for Tegheta as priest-chief. He cried and everybody cried. It was such a great honor with duties so hard to carry out. He could not dare refuse. The priest gave him the sacred scepter and the flowing turban, and he would henceforth be a very sacred person. It was very much like the crowning of the queen which I heard on the radio in the Solomons. Everybody was crying."

Taupongi 1961 dated this account. He stated that Baiabe first went to Bellona and was re- ceived and feted by Banini, who was the 'igaamutu (nephew) of Tu'utihenua (Genealogy 9, Gil). (Tu'utihenua's sister, Tekata'angaba, had married Ta'akihenua, and their son was Banini.)

2. Na pegea e logha iho: the people who make noise coming down. 3. tai: usually of the sea, but here the lake. 8. ha'ugua: the canoe altar at Mata'aso. (See T4 and N4.) 10. The huaa mako is said to be in Baiabe's language and is largely unintelligible. It has only

two glottal stops and no /gh/ or /// (see Elbert, 1962). SE

216. Te Mate 'anga o Baiabe The Death of Baiabe

Malachi Tegheta of Niupani, RE. February 10, 1958. 1. Ko Baiabe na hold mai. Kua

ako te huaa mako kae hoki. 2. Namaa sao te baka i Gakepa, kae 'oso atu te pegea noko toso 'aabaki, o unu iho tena kauhutu, kae hano tona baka. 3. Sasa'o atu tona baka ki te kunga hetau'aki, ma hai atu a Baiabe: "Ke tau hakasaanonga ki te kunga e haiho nei." 4. Namaa tau ake kinai, 'oso iho a Baiabe ki tena kauhutu o sopo atu kinai, o hinake o hakakaso tena ngasau, kua he'e 'aonga tena kauhutu kua kaia'a i Mugaba nei. 5. Kua he'e tau paa'unga kia te ia, tena kauhutu kua he'e kitea, kae e taugia a Baia- be, kae boo iho tena kau hogau o neneke iho ki togatou baka. Hegeu aano kinai, hinake kinai te tau'a giu'aki a teegaa. 6. Hinake te pegea kua hana a Baiabe ma punou, o gosigosi tena ngasau, ke hana ai he me'a, hinake te pegea noko hinake, o tata kinai tena ngasau. 7. Namaa hakagongo ake te pegea ki na nga- sau e ghaaghe, ta'aki ake te 'ugu, tu'u te ngasau i te puso 'ugu o mate. Kae hoki te pegea ki te baka, o kakabe ia Baiabe ki tona henua noko a'u ai, o tanu ai. Kua 'oti.

1. Baiabe came back here. [He] learned the dance song and returned. 2. As the canoe left Gakepa, the people who helped push out the canoe grabbed and pulled off his bow, and his canoe went away. 3. His canoe chanced to come to a place where there was fighting, and Baiabe said: "Let [us] land and get some food at this place where the talking is." 4. When [they] landed there, Baiabe grabbed his bow and went ashore and inland and drew his arrow, but his bow was poor, having been stolen here at Rennell. 5. He had no protection, his bow was lost, and Baiabe was hit, and his crew went back and carried [him] aboard their canoe. After speaking to him, a fighter went back to avenge him [Baiabe]. 6. The person whom Baiabe had shot came up, and bent over to ready his arrow for shooting someone, and the person who had gone ashore came up and aimed his arrow at him. 7. When the person heard the arrow whiz, [he] raised his head, and the arrow hit his head, and [he] died. The person returned to the canoe, and [they] took Baiabe to the land [he] had come from and buried [him]. Just finished.

371

Page 387: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 216, 217, 218

NOTES Some time previously I read Malachi the story of the ho'ou o Bakoto (T215), and he rapidly

told the sequel (siku). We were chatting on February 10 and I asked again for this story, which he dictated. His son Temoa helped.

2. Gakepa: pass at Manupisu on the north coast of Rennell. 3. food: Baiabe really means a good fight (Taupongi 1961). 4. The good bow had been stolen (2). Baiabe was left with an inferior bow.

SE

217. Te Ngeba a Ngiuika Ngeba Song by Ngiuika [Generation 12]

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. January 1, 1959. 1. Te ngeba a Ngiuika na hatu;

ma te tau'i e Tehainga'atua i te honu ma te baka tahea. Te ingoa o te pengea noko a'u tena baka tahea, ko Kangebu. 2. Noko a'u o tau ake i Ahanga. Si'ai he pengea. Nimaa 'ua, hinake a Kangebu o moe i te 'ana, e ingoa ai te 'ana kia Kange- bu. 3. Nimaa hinaiho a Ngiuika; manga tau te baka. Manga iai na pengea, ka he'e kitea te pengea e taubaka. Nimaa keu ake a Ngiuika. Te taubaka manga moe iho i te 'ana. 4. Ma te hinake kinai o ka- kabe iho, o tuha e ia.

1. Ngiuika composed a ngeba song; Tehainga'atua paid for it with a turtle and a drifting canoe. The name of the man whose drifting canoe came was Ka- ngebu. 2. [He] came and landed at Aha- nga. There were no people. As it rained, Kangebu went up and slept in the cave, and so the cave is named after Kangebu. 3. Ngiuika went down [to the coast]; the canoe had just landed. There were people in it, but the man who was captain was not be seen. Then Ngiuika turned [his head]. The captain was just sleeping in the cave. 4. And Ngiuika went up to him and brought [him] down and made a ceremonial distribution of food [for him].

NOTES This was the first information about Ngiuika's ngeba song, an incident considered one of the

highlights in the history of the Iho clan. Later, Taupongi gave more details (T218) and the song itself (T219). On this occasion, Taupongi explained that Kangebu was from Taumako, perhaps the Polynesian outlier with that name in the Duff Islands.

TM

218. Tau'i Hakangua Paying Twice

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, February 1959. 1. Te ngeba a Ngiuika na hatu.

Ma te tau'i e Tehainga'atua i te honu, noko angabangu te u'a noko songona i 'One. Boo te hakatu'u hitu o 'amo ake e kingatou i te anga i Ongoba. Ma te linganga i te anga, ma te ungu a Puangongo o toko e ia i te tu'a o hakasa'enge ki 'angunga o to'o. 2. Ma te 'angoha

1. Ngiuika composed a ngeba song. And Tehainga'atua paid for it with a turtle which was eight finger measures about the neck and which came ashore at 'One. The seven original [clans] came and they carried [the turtle] on their shoulders to the trail from Ongoba. And [the turtle] got stuck on the trail, and Puangongo went in and he supported

372

Page 388: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 218, 219

a Baabenga ki tona kainanga i te me'a ngaa, te pengea mai sa'a Sau, ko Puangongo. Ma te tuku ai e Baabenga ta'ana.

3. Nimaa to'ake te honu a Ngiu- ika noko angabangu te u'a o tuba o 'oti.

4. Tuku ma'u e Tehainga'atua tana baka tahea, o tuha ma'u. Te baka tahea te ingoa o na pengea mai Taumako noko boo mai i na baka. O tuha e konei o ingoa e tuku e Tehainga'atua. 5. Teenei te tokangua me'a na tau'i ai te ngeba a Ngiuika. Ko Ngiuika te pengea o te sa'a Taupongi.

[the turtle] with his back and advanced upwards and took [it]. 2. And Baabenga pitied her worshippers, as Puangongo was a man of the Sau clan. And so Baa- benga gave [this clan] one of her [turtles].

3. Then Ngiuika took the turtle that was eight finger measures about the neck, and made a ceremonial distribution [of it].

4. Tehainga'atua also sent his drifting canoe, and [Ngiuika] also made a cere- monial distribution [of food in honor of the canoe]. The drifting canoe was the name for the people from Taumako, who came here in canoes. And [people] here made a ceremonial distribution [to honor them], and said that Tehainga'atua had sent [the canoe]. 5. These are the two things which [Tehainga'atua] paid for the ngeba song by Ngiuika. Ngiuika was a man of the Taupongi clan.

NOTES This text and T219 which follows were given byTaupongi on the last day of my stay on Bel-

lona. He had written them in a notebook, but we were busy packing and taking leave and had time to translate only this text, but not the following ngeba.

1. ngeba: a song with many verses sung during the kanongoto rituals at the temple, and also used by persons in danger at sea "to appease Tehainga'atua." Taupongi said that only one ngeba had been composed before this one by Ngiuika, but that it had been forgotten.

Ngiuika: Genealogy 9, G12. honu: Turtles are not caught from canoes on Rennell and Bellona, and are taken only

when they come ashore to lay eggs. They were considered a gift from the deities. angabangu: eight times the distance between the thumb and index finger of two hands, the

tips of the two thumbs touching each other, and the index fingers stretched out. When I hinted that this might be an exaggeration, Taupongi answered that the turtle was said to be very big.

linganga: The trail leading from 'Ongoba to Ngotokanaba is narrowed half-way up by two coral rocks on each side of the trail. Here the monster turtle got stuck.

2. Baabenga: The goddess felt sorry for Puangongo and his clan, Sau (whose district deity she was, T66:13), because they had to carry Ngiuika's turtle and did not have a turtle for them- selves. Taupongi first said Sikingimoemoe; later he corrected it to Baabenga.

TM

219. Te Ngeba The Ngeba

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. Written account, February 1959. 1. E hua mai, hua ngeba; pungutia

Tetupu'a ke ngea. Umenge: Hua ngeba.

2. Ee hua mai, hua ngeba; ko Si- ngano ma Tehu'aingabenga.

3. E hua mai, hua ngeba; ko Hu- 'aitekongo ma Baabenga.

Sing here, sing the ngeba; Tetupu'a is invoked, so that [I] may talk.

Chorus: Sing the ngeba. Sing here, sing the ngeba; Singano

and Tehu'aingabenga. Sing here, sing the ngeba; Hu'aite-

kongo and Baabenga.

373

Page 389: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 219

4. E hua mai, hua ngeba; ko Te- pou kaa oka ki Ngabenga.

5. E hua mai, hua ngeba; ngo ta- kuna kai ki tou epa.

6. Ngo takuna ngua 'aitu i te ngau tetea e ngeka ngeka.

7. E hua mai, hua ngeba, tuku ai; kua pau tona ngeba.

8. Te baa kihea, teenaa te baa ki mungi na hokisia Tetupu'a te hakataungia. Umenge: Te ngaebo.

9. Tetupu'a kua kango i te aa? Motu ai te songo i Ahanga.

10. 'Au mai ke ngangango ki 'uta na'e koe he 'aitu ngiua.

11. Manga manaba ngongo, manga hitangi, kae tuku tanginga ke ngea.

12. Ka kau ki he ngongo, mapu iho ki he hanga mahonga.

13. Mapu iho ki tou ha'itunga, tou noho 'anga te ngenga mata.

14. Tetupu'a, Tehahinetaungangi he henua ange kau mata?

15. Ko koe na kua kango i te aa? Motu ai te songo i Ahanga,

16. 'Au mai ke ngangango ki 'uta, na'e koe he 'aitu maeba.

17. Manga mana 'uinga mea. Kae tuku tanginga ke ngea.

18. Nguatupu'a ko Tepoutu'ingangi, taku ngeba kaa tu'u Tonga.

19. Ko koe na kua kango i te aa? Motu ai te songo i Ahanga.

20. 'Au mai ke ngangango ki 'uta, na'e koe te hetaengakina.

21. Hoki te ngongo na hatu'ia, o tukua ki te 'angiki 'eha.

22. Ngongo koe a ai te muna hua ngeba kaa tu'u ki Niteni ma Taumako.

23. E aa iee, ka hiu te 'angiki, e hitaongi aee takie mapu.

Sing here, sing the ngeba; Tepou will go to Ngabenga.

Sing here, sing the ngeba; [I] will pray there for food for your mat.

[I] will pray to the two deities with white leaves, few, few.

Sing here, sing the ngeba that has been sent; his ngeba is composed.

The open sea where? There is the open sea, to the west returned, landed by Tetupu'a.

Chorus: The ngeba-o. Tetupu'a! Why have [you] punished

[us]? Severed the coming ashore at Ahanga.

Give here so as to continue the [bringing of things] inland, be- cause you are the deity worshipped.

[These] have been feelings expressed, but just wait and lend ear, and [I] will talk.

I will express [myself]; sit down on a pandanus [mat] folded out.

Come and sit in your sacred house, your seat is fresh turmeric.

Tetupu'a, Tehahinetaungangi, which land do I behold?

Why have you punished [us]? Severed the coming ashore at Ahanga.

Give here so as to continue the [bringing of things] inland, because you are a deity having the maeba tattoo.

Just thunder and red lightning. Lend ear, and [I] will talk.

Nguatupu'a, Tepoutu'ingangi, my ngeba will go to Tonga.

Why have you punished [us]? Severed the coming ashore in Ahanga.

Give here so as to continue the [bringing of things] inland, because you are the one to give and take quickly [?]

Let the message of the song composed return, and be given to the great chief.

Hear you the starting words of the ngeba, that will go to Niteni and Taumako.

E aa iee, tired is the chief, he waits-o, aee takie, rests.

374

Page 390: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 219, 220

NOTES 1. Tetupu'a: Tehainga'atua.

Hua ngeba: the chorus following each verse in the first part (1-7) of the ngeba. 2. Singano: Ekeitehua (Genealogy 11, 12). 3. Hu'aitekongo: clan deity of the Tongo clan; worship of him ceased when this clan became

extinct. Baabenga: clan deity of the Sau clan.

4. Tepou: clan deity of the Tanga clan; worship of him ceased when this clan became extinct.

6. ngau tetea: white leaves, a sacred name for the taro used in rituals or for taro gardens. 8. Te baa: the open sea, referring to the second gift asked of Tehainga'atua, a canoe with

castaways. ngaebo: probably a metathesis. This chorus follows each verse in 8-23.

9. kango: Ngiuika asked why Tehainga'atua had punished his clan by not sending any turtles or more castaways to Ahanga.

12. hanea mahonga: a pandanus mat, usually called epa, folded out in the temple during rituals. Tehainga'atua was supposed to sit on this mat.

13. te ngenga mala: freshly prepared turmeric, usually the emblem of Tehu'aingabenga. As Ngiuika belonged to the Iho clan, however, he did not worship Tehu'aingabenga.

14. Tehahinetaungangi: a name for Sikingimoemoe. Tehainga'atua's sister. Ngiuika asks the two deities where the castaway canoe will be coming from.

17. Thunder and red lightning are the emblems of Tehainga'atua. Taupongi explained that Ngiuika states in this way that he does not fear the signs of the deity.

18. Tonga: See N223:l. 21. The two things Ngiuika asks for are a turtle and a canoe with castaways.

'angiki 'eha: Tehainga'atua. 22. Niteni: the village of an unknown island from which Ngiuika hopes castaways will come

to Bellona. Taupongi did not know where Niteni was supposed to be. 23. Ngiuika is tired from singing the ngeba.

E aa iee: meaningless words used as embellishment (Taupongi 1961). TM

220. Maige Maige [Generation 14]

Samuel Tuhenua of Niupani, RE. December 5, 1957. 1. Te tautupu'a kia Maige ma

tena hanau. Noko hiina'i aano i te utua, boo tegatou ihonga, hakauta te baka. 2. Hai ake a tona hosa hai ta'okete ke hinaiho a tona uguugu. 3. Hinaiho o eke, hai teke a te tamana a Maige, o heoka kia tona hunga, o moe, o tu'u tona tubi. Ha- kasopo te baka ki teegaa pa'asi, boo aano tau ki Agaikaga. 4. Kite ai te upo i te tauganga. Hekakabe- 'aki aano, 'asu, magaohie ai a Mai- ge, o hai ake: "Hai te kiki ki gu atatou paipai." 5. Kogaa gua mea noko hai teke ai, o moe ai, noko heoka kia tona hunga i gua paipai. 6. Ka na noka i te siasia i te 'asu 'anga te upo o 'ati gongo ai. Kua 'oti.

1. The story of Maige and his children. When they lived at the point, they went fishing and loaded the canoe. 2. [Maige] told his oldest son to call his wife. 3. [The wife] came and came aboard, and father, Maige, got angry and sulked be- fore his daughter-in-law, and went to sleep under a cover. The canoe went over to the other side, and landed at Agaikaga [north shore of the lake]. 4. Eels were seen at the landing place. [A net] was carried along, [eels] got, and Maige was pleased and said: "We'll have this with our two paipai tree ferns." 5. Those were the two things [he] was angry about, and slept about, and sulked before his daugh- ter-in-law because of the two paipai tree ferns. 6. But [this] stopped because of pleasure in the catching of the eels and telling of it. Just finished.

375

Page 391: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 220, 221

7. Namaa teegaa 'aso, boo ma gu 'ona hosa ki tai te ihonga i Agai- kaga. A'aki o he'e boo he tautainga gu 'ona hosa i te poo. Inano a Maige, hai ake: "Mate te tai o te 'atua, kae ma hu'u ma te pono." 8. Kae moe, tutu'u mai gu 'ona hosa o manga sa'u haka'ete'ete te baka ki te tai o boo tegaa haango- tanga, utu aano, giu mai, ko togaa tamana ma moe. 9. Manga sa'u haka'ete'ete ake ma'u e kigaaua te baka ki tona kunga noko ma tau ai, kae boo ake o momoe. 10. 'Aoina, 'agake a Maige, manga tau toka te baka i tona kunga. Hai teke o nga- gue ma te tangi, o tu'u ke hoki ake. 11. Hai atu a tona hosa ke hai ni gaukei, ma ni baakai ki gua ika. 12. Ti'aki tena kabenga, kae tege iho ki te baka, baaligo iho kinai, e 'eha kaui. Siasia, kae hai tena higinga i te laga hangamea. Hai teke atu a tona hosa kinai, hai atu tenaa te 'inati o te 'aitu te ma no- hona. Kua 'oti.

7. Then on another day his two sons came to the sea to fish from Agaikaga. [They] came, but the two sons did not go fishing that night. Maige looked and said: "The god's sea is quiet, and [you] are just stupid and bring back nothing." 8. And [he] slept, and his two sons got up and quietly took out the canoe to the lake and went fishing, getting [fish], coming back, and their father was still sleeping. 9. They just quietly took out [their fish], and the boat was in its anchoring place, and [they] went to sleep. 10. At daylight, Maige woke up, and the canoe lay quietly in its place. [He] was angry and made ready and complained, and got up to go back. 11. [He] told his son to get leaves and wood for the two fish. 12. [Maige] put his load down, and ran down to the canoe, looked down at it, and there were many fish. Pleased, he made his selection of the large mature hangamea fish. His son was angry about this, and said that was the offering for the god that re- mained. Just finished.

NOTES On the third reading, the story of Maige created a great deal of merriment. Teika, my cook,

said that Maige was loghogho (wild or uncouth). It took a long time to explain heoka (to sulk, act antisocial). Teika opened a National Geographic Magazine to a picture of a fierce head hunter, and said this was Maige. But reading this story of Maige to Taupongi in 1961 in Honolulu. Maige did not seem such a figure of fun. Taupongi said tolerantly that Maige was just an old man. Later, Taupongi told TM that Maige was his ancestor (tupuna), but he didn't know exactly how. Might this be the reason he did not find the story amusing?

SE

221. Ghaghi te Ibi Tahea Beginning With a Drifted Bone

Timothy Sau'uhi of Baitupu, RE. March 8, 1958. l.Noko ghaghi te ibi tahea, noko

sogo. Kae hai ake: "Konei na tau'a ka giu'aki." To'o na 'atua o taga gongo kinai, o gongo ai o boo ake te tau'a. 2. Hetaiake te tau'a, go tetege mai o eke togaatou baka i te akau i Gotuma. Ti'aki togaatou baka, kae hekaui ake ki ga'unga, o biilage mai o tatae mai ki Tebo- laghi, ma iai gua pegea. 3. Taa e kigatou te launatahi, kae tege ake

1. The beginning was a bone polished smooth that drifted in. [People] said: "This is a raid of revenge." The gods took [the bone] and from it revealed the news, the news being that fighters were coming. 2. The fighters did come, and were going along the reef and their canoe went aground on the reef at Gotuma. They left their canoe and swam ashore, and walked along the coast and came to Tebolaghi where two people were. 3. They killed

376

Page 392: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 221, 222

teegaa. 'Agu ake ai te tau'a, tatae ake ki Gotogano. Ma iai te pegea. 'Agu'agu e kigatou o tege. Boo iho ma'u ki Bogae. 4. 'Ika'ika kinai te 'atua omatou, o haangai e ia i na boighai. Kai atu na me'a gegeu o kona, kai atu na me'a moto. Ma ngago o kai e kigatou. O konaeai o mamate. Te giu ki tai o mamate boo i te aga. 5. Kae tatae a Te- kungu, te tugi tau'a, ma Maige. 'Agu ai te tau'a a Tetogo (te 'atu mu'a o'oku), o taa e kigatou o tatae atu ki Tebolaghi. Ma iai a Tekungu ma Maige. E'a Tetogo o taa e ia ia Tekungu, kae tege a Maige i te- gano.

one, and the other ran away. The fighters gave chase and came to Gotogano. People were there. They gave chase and [the local people] ran. [The strangers] went down too to Bogae. 4. Our god became angry at them, and fed them boighai fruits. [They] ate ripe ones, [but the god made them seem] bitter, and [they] ate green ones. And [they] died and ate. Poisoned by this and died. Returned to the sea and died as [they] walked along the trail. 5. Tekungu, the raid leader, and Maige arrived. The fighter of Tetogo (my early ancestor) followed, and they attacked [them] and came to Tebolaghi. Tekungu and Maige were there. Tetogo arrived and killed Tekungu, and Maige escaped to the lake.

NOTES While staying at Matangi, I made a 1-day excursion to nearby Baitupu, where my host was

Timothy, my informant of long standing who had provided so much information and whose many kindnesses were much appreciated. He was the chief of Baitupu, a new village on a plain that was completely surrounded with papayas. I sat with Timothy under shade trees and people brought presents which soon surrounded me; there was almost a bushel of taro, a basket of sweet potatoes and yams, plantains, eating bananas, watermelons, three chickens, a woven bag, and a notebook. Headman Tahua had given me a lecture the day before. "These are our gifts," he said, "and you are to give us nothing back. If you do, we will be embarrassed and hurt. We are not like the people of the Lake. We just want to give you food."

So it was an exciting occasion, and not propitious for storytelling. Timothy's usual elliptic style was especially stripped down, and the beginning caused Taupongi in 1961 to knit his brows and to retell the story (T222). The main characters in T220, Maige and Tekungu, were not mentioned until T221:5, so until then I had no idea that this was the same Maige.

Polo Takiika traced Maige's descent through the line of his daughter Telanga; successive females after Telanga were Tepolo, Tebegi, Kaisa'unga, Tepuaika, Tebegi, and Tetonga, an infant. This would put Maige in G14.

1. This was especially incomplete. Taupongi 1961 thought that ibi tahea was really taka- tahea (stranger).

2. Gotuma: on the north coast. After questioning, Timothy said the place was so named because the raid party from Gotuma was wrecked there. Is this the island known today as Rotuma? Tebolaghi is to the east.

3. Gotogano and Bogae are inland of Tebolaghi. 4. Timothy explained that the god Tehainga'atua protected Rennell by making the Gotuma

people eat green boighai fruits, which are believed to be poisonous. konaeai: konaea ai.

SE

222. Tekungu ma Mainge Tekungu and Mainge

Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, July 21, 1961. 1. Ko Tekungu ma Mainge, noko

hai tengaa tau'a e tasi. Noko ngau tengaa tau'a, na pengea mai Ngo- tuma. Noko lango i ba'i 'aamonga o tau ai i angatou 'uu. 2. Nimaa tatae ake ki Mungaba, eke tonga-

35*

1. Tekungu and Mainge were in the same raiding band. They had a hundred fighters, people from Ngotuma. [They] went to many islands and shot their spear bundles. 2. When [they] landed at Ren- nell, their canoe went aground, [and they]

377

Page 393: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 222

tou baka, hetoki ki taha, i ogatou, baka, o hekaui ake ki 'angunga, ina ngatou 'uu. 3. Tutu'u o biilange, biilange o tatae ki Tebolaghi, te aba i tai. Boo ake o manga noho i te aba. Noho'aki aano, hiina'i mai te tau'a mai Ngotuma, ki te pengea mai Mungaba, manga noho atu i te maangate e i te ngoto. 4. Boo mai te tau'a, o neneke te pengea mai Mungaba o tuku i Tebolaghi. Hii- na'i aano, hiina'i mai ma'u te pengea mai Mungaba. Manga noho atu ma'u i te mangate e i te ngoto. Boo mai ma'u te tau'u neneke o to'o o tuku i Tebolaghi.

5. 'Ai te pake a Mungaba, ka te tau'a, te boo iho ki na pengea mai Ngotuma. Nimaa kongaa na hai aano, nimaa ngau a Mungaba, o ha- kapapata ki te ngau, mai Ngotuma, ma te hemasi'i a Mungaba ma Ngo- tuma, noko i Tebolaghi, ma te hai atu te pengea mai Mungaba, kinga- tou hakaneke ke hai he haka'atibai. 6. Ma te hakaneke, nimaa i te nga- tahinga o te anga, ma te keu iho a Mainge noko mu'a, e hakapapata na pengea mai Mungaba, kia te kingatou o 'oti, ma te sano e Mai- nge te tau'a. 7. Ma te hai atu a Mainge ki tena lango 'anga, ma na pengea mai Mungaba, kingatou hi- tangi ange ai, ko ia e ngae ke ma- naba. 8. Ma te noho'aki te tau'a a Mangaba ma te tau'a mai Ngo- tuma, o hitangi a Mainge. Hitangi aano ai, he'e ghali ke sopo mai. Ma te na'a e Tetongo, noko hai tena tau'a mai Mungaba, ko Mainge kua tenge. 9. Ma te he'osohi te tau'a mai Mungaba ki te tau'a mai Ngotuma, o taa e kingatou. Toe launatahi a Tekungu, i te noko to'a.

10. Ma te hakaputu te tau'a Mungaba noko ngau o muimui kia Tekungu, neneke e Tekungu te pengea mai Mungaba, o hakaiho e ia ki teengaa pengea mai Mungaba, o mamate ngatahi. Konei na taa e Tekungu aano nirnaa tinongima pengea mai Mungaba, e taa e Te-

jumped out from their canoes, and swam ashore with their spear bundles. 3. Then [they] walked along the coast, walked along the coast and came to Tebolaghi, the pass at the sea. [They] went up and stayed at the waterfront. After a while the fighters from Ngotuma saw people from Rennell just sitting on the dry reef in the lagoon. 4. The fighters came and carried the Rennellese people and put [them] at Tebolaghi. Then other Ren- nellese people came. [They] also just stayed on the dry reef in the lagoon. The [Ngotuma] fighters went again and carried [them], and took and placed [them] at Tebolaghi.

5. The Rennell strategy was for fighters to come down to the people from Ngo- tuma. This continued and then there were a hundred Rennellese equalling the hundred from Ngotuma, and the people from Rennell and Ngotuma who were at Tebolaghi made friends with the Ngo- tuma people at Tebolaghi and the Ren- nellese said they would go up and pre- pare food for the visitors. 6. [They] went up, and at the halfway point of the trail, Mainge, who was first, looked down, and the Rennellese and all of them were together, and Mainge suspected an attack. 7. And Mainge told his people and the Rennellese that they should wait for him, and he turned off the trail to take a breath. 8. And the Rennellese fighters and the Ngotuma fighters waited for Mai- nge. Kept waiting, but [he] didn't come back quickly. Tetonga, who was leader of the Rennellese fighters, knew that Mainge had run away. 9. The Rennellese fighters jumped on the Ngotuma fighters, and they killed [them]. One was left, Te- kungu, who was strong.

10. The Rennellese fighters, who were a hundred, collected and crowded about Tekungu, and Tekungu picked up a Rennellese, and he dropped [him] on another Rennellese, and both died. Thus Tekungu kept fighting until Tekungu had killed fifty Rennellese. 11. Tekungu thought that he would kill himself. For

378

Page 394: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

kungu. 11. Ma te tengeu'ake a Te- kungu ke manga taa e ia ia te ia. Na'e ko ia te tangata to'a ka kaa ngongosia maase'i, ko ia kua taa e pengea mai Mungaba. Ma te tege a Tekungu, o suki te ungu i te nga- 'akau, o mate. Nimaa boo atu te tau'a a Mungaba, o'io'i mai e kinga- tou, ku mene te u'a o mate. 12. Ma te to'o'ia tona ngongo ki Ngotuma, ko Tekungu ku mate. Ka he'e na'a e au po ko ai te noko hano ki Ngo- tuma ke 'ati ngongo ai. Noko ngo- ngo ai te hakahua o Ngotuma ia Tekungu kua mate, mangepe ai, o kongaa na tangitangisaki: 13. " 'Ai Tekungu mai ngangi e, hano ngaa toku paa'unga ki na 'atu hiti nei." Ma te 'oti.

TEXTS 222, 223

he was indeed a strong man, and the fame of the evil action would spread, that the Rennellese had killed him. Te- kungu ran away, and pierced his head with a stick and died. When the Ren- nellese fighters came up, they shook [him], and his neck sank down, and [he] was dead. 12. This news of him was taken to Ngotuma, that Tekungu was dead. I don't know who went to Ngotuma to tell it. The chief of Ngotuma heard that Te- kungu was dead, and mourned him, and wailed this dirge: 13. "O Tekungu from the skies, farewell my shield to these last lands." The end.

NOTES This story exemplifies the great number of facts and stories crammed into Taupongi's head,

and also the speed, organization, and clarity with which he could marshal them. After hearing T221, he told this story rapidly and with some impatience and excitement. He then, at my request, dictated to my typewriter.

5. SE: "Were there actually a hundred Rennellese?" Taupongi: "Yes, there were a hundred. A hundred on each side." SE: "This wasn't just a general figure meaning a large number?" Taupongi: "Not at all! Of course there were exactly a hundred persons on each side."

7. manaba: a euphemism, such as "to answer the call of nature." SE

223. Te 'Ugu a Maige An Opening Chant by Maige

Paul Takiika of Kanaba, RE. At Bagika'ago, March 16, 1958. 1. Toku baka na ha'u mai Tonga.

Umege: Kaoe giakina Matagiki e. Toku aga e takoto ki te motu e. Kua tu'u tonu ki te saohanga. Kua tonu te 'atu e.

Te Huaa Mako a Maige 2. Te hua na tuku mai gena.

Kua tahea i moana. Ni henua hea na tu'u moi? Kua hakanoho te 'agiki. Hakataka iho i te matangi. Tugei mai te hoe'aki. Kua gege te sia hogau!

My canoe has come from Tonga. Chorus: Kaoe sea-washed Pleiades. My course lies towards the islets. Goes directly out to the sea pass. The deity protects.

A Huaa Mako Song by Maige A tiny craft gone scattered. Come to drift on the open sea. What lands will stand forth? The chief has started. Leaving the east. Rowers turn. Leaping desire to travel!

NOTES 1. Taupongi 1961 says that Tonga (te 'atu Tonga) is a name for any of the islands lying far

to the east. These two beautiful songs clearly show the belief that Maige came from the east. giakina: a rare word.

2. gena: Takiika interpreted this as a poetic name for the Nggela group of islands, Florida.

379

Page 395: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 223, 224

Taupongi 1961 said that Maige knew nothing of this place, and that it was probably kena (scattered).

SE

224. Te Hogau mai Taumako Sailors from Taumako [Generation 19]

Isaac Teikahoki of Bagika'ago, RE. March 14, 1958. 1. Ko Tangahau noko ina ano

i tona manaha, hai tena tau'a, manga ngaga ai te baka, sehu aano, hoki ki tena manaha, maanatu ke a'u, gosigosi tona baka, o a'u ai. Hinaiho te tinana o sosongi sehu i te kau hogau, kae momotu ake te taginga kia tena tama. 2. Kae boo mai, manga tugemoe a Tangahau, manga ina mai ki te tangata o hoe mu'a i te baka, kae te ta'otu'a Nasiu, tona hosa Tetuha, teegaa te pegea huhuti mai te baka. Boo mai aano, sigi mai i na ugaSmami, sigi mai ai. 3. Tu'u a Mugaba nei. Sopo a Gugha. Hakaaba mai kinai, hai atu a Tangahau: "Ke boo kinai, mano he tahoga'a." Ma te boo mai aano, tutahi o Mugaba nei o ta- koto. Boo ake aano hati tatahi te ngagu. Hogi bagibo togatou baka, tau ki Lughughi.

4. Tuu'ia a hagiko na pegea noko iai. Manga hinake o kape ake te ga'ea, noko ta'ota'o. O to'o e ia o hoki ki aba, hai atu: "Ko teenei e iai te kakai 'anga, ka kua tuu'ia o he'agiko, kae kai agatou me'a, te ga'ea." Kae manga mata, ka kua to'o e ia o sopo ki te baka. O haka- haagikia te baka, o sigi te kunga noko boo ke tau ai. Boo aano so- sopo ki 'agunga i Laghabaghi, kae ti'aki togatou baka, o 'aua, kae boo ake ki 'agunga. 5. O binu te Uguugu o Pugou, binu aano, o mate, mate tena tama'ahine; ma- mate ngatahi ma tena tama'ahine; kae biilage mai, hakaneke ake, mate a Pugou i te takaga; hohoga tena 'uu o moe ai, kae hakaneke ake tena toe. 6. Ti'aki atu te aga ki tai, kae tutahi a Tetuha, kakabe iho i te agapaga, te aga mouku,

1. Tangahau lived in his settlement and was engaged in fighting, and hid his canoe, and then went back to his settle- ment with the intention of coming, [so he] prepared his canoe to come in. His mother came down and pressed noses with the voyagers as [she] came, and tore her ears [in grief] for her son. 2. And [they] came, but Tangahau just dozed, yet watching the man paddling in the bow, Nasiu, a priest attendant, and his son Tetuha, the ones pulling the canoe here. Coming along they passed fires of the underworld, passed them by. 3. Rennell came into sight. Gugha [moun- tain] appeared. Steering for this, Tanga- hau said: "Let us go there, as [it] might be a whale." As they came, all Rennell lay spread there. Going on, the waves broke and swept along. They turned their canoe towards the west, landed at Lu- ghughi.

4. The people there were frightened and ran off. [Tangahau] came and picked up a parrot fish which lay [roasted on stones]. He took it back to the pass, saying: "There are people here, but they were afraid and ran away, and [we'll] eat their thing, the parrot fish." But [it] was raw, and he took [it] and boarded the canoe. But the canoe was hexed and passed by the place intended for landing. Going beyond, [they] landed at Lagha- baghi and left the canoe to drift and went ashore. 5. The wife of Pugou drank, drank and died, and her daughter died; [she] and her daughter died together; and [they] came along the shore and climbed up, and Pugou died on the trail up the cliff; [they] spread out his bundle of ar- rows and laid [him] on them, and the others climbed on. 6. Leaving the trail to the sea, going together with Tetuha on a small trail, a bush trail, for the ancestor

380

Page 396: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

noko huhuti iho te takotonga. O boo iho aano, sosopo iho ki Niu- malegha, o sopo kinai Kaipua o gepo kinai, gepo aano kinai, hoki iho kegi na 'uhi o hai kinai te 'umu, o to'o hoki kinai. 7. Namaa hai ke sopo atu, 'aga Tangahau, o hai atu: " 'A'agake, 'a'aga!" O noko ma hiina'i. Sopo atu kinai, tuku te 'umu 'uhi, kae laga. Hinatu o haka'atu- 'atu kinai, kae tuku atu kinai te 'umu 'uhi o hai atu: "Hakasahe atu, hakasahe!" Hai atu: "Te 'umu 'uhi nei e kau 'uhi." 8. Sigi tena kainga, kakabe iho, kakabe iho ki 'Ubea, o tege te gongo ia Nasiu, o a'u kinai, o hai hakasoa o tuha, tuha ia Tangahau ma tena lango 'anga.

9. Namaa sigi ona hai 'anga, pau o hakatokatoka, hiina'i aano hai te uguugu o Tangahau. Mamate te tokatogu, kae hoki e Maaui (guani) ki 'Atuhenua, kae toe a Tangahau launatahi. O ina ano, hai ana tama- giki, tokatogu ona hosa ma tena tama'ahine, ko Nasiu, ma Gaamutu, ma Ma'itaki, ma togatou tuhahine, a Teba'etai. Namaa ina ano hai tena hekau.

10. Namaa ina ano a Tangahau, bega tena 'uu, o magepe aano ai, hai ake: "Mano ko au o go ngago; na'e te mu'a nei toku magu." Ina ano, masaki, takoto aano, kakabe ki tai, takoto aano i Ghaghapui- gaba, mate. Tena penapena o tuku ki te tai, o hakamamaha i na hatu o he'e memene, manga tahea, i te me'a gaa tena tonginga, ko ia namaa mate ke tuku ke hoki ki tona henua, Taumako. Kua 'oti.

TEXT 224

had brought them hither. Down [they] went and came to Niumalegha, and Kaipua came and watched them, watching them, then went back down and dug yams and made an oven of them and took [the yams] to them. 7. When [Kai-pua] was about to appear, Tangahau stood up and said: "Get up, get up!" And [they] stood [there]. [Kaipua] came to them and presented the cooked yams and recited the laga formula [to Guatu-pu'a and Tepoutu'uigangi]. [Kaipua] went up and greeted them and gave them the cooked yams and said: "Count, count!" And [he] said: "In this yam oven are ten pairs of yams." 8. After eating [he] took [them], took [them] to 'Ubea and word spread to Nasiu, who came to them and gave food and distributed, distributed to Tangahau and his travelers. 9. After these events [they] stayed permanently, and then Tangahau took a wife. Three died, and Maaui (a servant) went back to the Solomons, and Tanga- hau remained alone. And then he had children, three sons and his daughter, Nasiu, and Gaamutu, and Ma'itaki, and their sister, Teba'etai. And he stayed and attended to his affairs.10. But once Tangahau's arrows caught fire, and he mourned saying: "Perhaps I'm going to die; this is the first, my protection." Then [he] took sick and lay down and was taken to the sea area and [he] lay down and died at Ghaghapuigaba. His wrapped body was taken to the sea and weighed down with stones and did not sink and just floated because that was what he promised to do when dead, that upon his death he would be permitted to return to his own land, Taumako. Just finished.

NOTES Teikahoki, a very old man, stood in the doorway of Solomon's house where I was working,

and I asked if he knew stories. Teikahoki: "Do you know about Tangahau?" SE: "No. Won't you come in? Are your legs all right?" The floor was rather high, but he jumped up into the room, sat on a chest and began to dictate at proper speed, very clearly and without hesitation or searching for words, but coughing often. Solomon's wife and other women stood listening in the doorway. They asked what story he was telling, and he said it was about Taumako, the first mention of that island. Perhaps this is Taumako Island in the Duff Islands, another Poly- nesian outlier. The women laughed frequently as they listened. They explained tugemoe in 2.

381

Page 397: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 224, 225

3. Gugha: the peak above Labagu on Lughu Bay. Lughughi Bay is considerably west of Lughu.

whale: Here, the women laughed. 5. Pugou: a crewman. The women outside and Taumoana laughed at the woman's thirst. 6. Niumalegha: a place in Tetu'aakoi district with gemugi trees. 7. 'A'agake: 'a'aga ake, 8. 'Ubea: probably one of the places named 'Ubea on Rennell. Genealogies were given for Tangahau by Isaac Teikahoki, Teikanoa, James Puipuia, Jotham

Togaka, and Taupongi 1961. (Teikanoa told a short variant of the story at Labagu on March 2. Puipuia and Togaka gave TM a short variant at Matangi on October 20, 1958). Probably the names in G19 (except for Tuhaika), 20 and 21 are variant names for the same persons. G Kanaba line (Plate 3)

All agreed that Tekiou was dead. Isaac Teikahoki was an older brother of Tekiou. Hakanoa

was a young unmarried man in Honiara. SE

225. Punga Punga

Basiana of Matangi, BE. April 15, 1958. 1. Te ingoa o te pengea noko

a'u tena baka tahea, ko Punga. Noko a'u tena baka tahea kia Sauopu, te tangata o sa'a Tongo. 2. Boo mai tongatou baka o tau ake i Mangangani (i 'One); haka- neke i te anga, o boo ki Ngotu'aki, te nganguenga noko songi ai a Sauopu. 3. Noko 'api pengea noko i te nganguenga. Kite iho e na pengea noko i te nganguenga te baka tahea e tatae mai, ke sasanga ia Sauopu. 4. Ko Ba'ipunga noko 'amo te tapingoba, o tau ai te angaa pua i te tapingoba. Te lango 'anga a'ana noko manga hai nga- tahi angatou tapingoba, o tau ai na angaa pua i na tapingoba angatou. 5. Sa'u ake angatou tapingoba, o pan! ai e kingatou te 'ungu ghaba- ngaghi i Ngotu'aki. Matataku te ta'u pengea, o he'angiko, kae toe a Sauopu. 6. Tu'u a Sauopu, ho- honga te matu'aa huna o langa

1. The name of the person whose drifting canoe came was Punga. His drifting canoe came to Sauopu, a man of the Tongo clan. 2. Their canoe came and landed at Mangangani (at 'One); [they] climbed up the trail and came to Ngotu'aki, the temple where Sauopu worshipped. 3. Many people were at the temple. The people in the temple saw the drifted canoe arriving and looking for Sauopu. 4. Ba'ipunga carried a hooked war club on his shoulder, with a betel cluster hanging onto the hooked club. Everyone in his party had a hooked club with betel clusters hanging on their hooked clubs. 5. They took out their hooked clubs and cut down the tops of ghabangaghi plantains at Ngotu'aki. The people were afraid and ran away, but Sauopu stayed. 6. Sauopu stood up and spread the front flap of his loincloth, and he prayed a langa formula [to Nguatupu'a and Tepoutu'uingangi] for Ba'ipunga's drifted canoe. 7. They were surprised and

382

Page 398: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 225, 226

hakasinga e ia, te baka tahea a were quiet. They did not strike anything Ba'ipunga. 7. Tuu'ia kingatou o in the temple. Sauopu collected the peo- totoka. He'e tuki a kingatou te ta'u ple of the drifted canoe who stayed in one me'a i te nganguenga. Hakaputu e place and worshipped the gods there. 8. Sauopu te baka tahea, o noho'aki Sauopu stayed by his drifted canoe, and i te kunga e tahi o songi ai ki na their day came, [they] wanted to return 'atua. 8. Pipiki aano e Sauopu te to the island [they] had come from. [They] baka tahea a'ana, hetae tongatou said good-by to Sauopu and went back 'aso sia ngiu ai ki ngatou 'aamonga to the sea and went away on their canoe noko boo mai ai. Hakamahonga'aki to their island, and where the people ma Sauopu, kae ngiu ki tai, o boo were from is not known. Just finished. 1 tongatou baka i tongatou 'aamo- nga, ka noko he'e na'a po na pe- ngea mai hea. Kua 'oti.

NOTES 1. tena baka tahea: Compare the a-possessive here and in 6 and 8 with the o-possessive in

2 and in 8. SE: "How did Sauopu know that the canoe was his?" Taupongi 1961: "Because the peo-

ple of the canoe went directly to his temple." SE

226. Gua Pegea mai Tikopia Two Persons from Tikopia

Job Topue of Niupani, RE. November 9, 1958. Ko Balumotu ma Kaahika (Ta- Balumotu and Kaahika (Tahua) were

hua) gua pegea mai Tikopia. Noko two persons from Tikopia. Their canoe 'aua mai togaa baka, o sahe i Mata- drifted here and reached the east end, henua, o tuku ai togaa baka; kae where they left their canoe and climbed hakaneke ake ki te gano, o tatae up to the lake and reached Hanakaba. ake ki Hanakaba. Ka noko kite ai Here, people saw them on the trail; [the na pegea i te aga; matataku o mu- two men] became afraid and hid. The muni. Boo kinai na pegea, noko people went to them, those who had seen kite kigatou, o hakaanuanu kinai, them, and questioned them, and [the o hai mai: "Ko kimaaua gua pegea strangers] said: "We are two persons from mai Tikopia." Ka kakabe iho e Tikopia." And they took [the two Tiko- kigatou ki te hakatahinga i Hana- pians] to a feast in Hanakaba, and people kaba, o hakaputu kinai a pegea, o gathered there and watched them and hiina'i kinai ma te hakaanuanu ki- questioned them, and [they] said: "We are nai o hai ake: "Ko kimaaua gua two persons from Tikopia." pegea mai Tikopia."

NOTES I asked several people at the lake if they could tell the story about the two men from Tikopia

who came to Rennell in a canoe and stayed on the island for many months. No one could give an account, not even Aaron Taupongi, who had taken care of the two men and given them gardens and housing. Every time I asked, people said that Job Topue would be the one to tell the story, as he had been a close friend of the two strangers. Job was willing, and gave this account. Although very gifted in many ways (carving, housebuilding, dancing), Job was not a very good story teller. Compared to the elaborate account given Firth (Firth, 1931) by the two Tikopians themselves, this short note does not give much information.

Taupongi 1961 said that he remembered having seen the two Tikopians when he was a small boy of about 5 or less. They had been picked up on Rennell by a ship captain, a New Zealand- er, whose name was remembered by Taupongi as Mekes. The ship anchored at Bellona on its way from Rennell to Tulagi.

TM

383

Page 399: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 227(A)

227. Tongohanga ma Ngakei Tongohanga and Ngakei [Generation 8]

(A) Taupongi of Sa'aiho, BE. At Honolulu, June 1961. 1. Ko Tongohanga ma tena hosa

a Ngakei noko boo tangaa haahaa ki Mungua, ka he'e na'a e he pe- ngea po te 'aamonga o hea. Tongaa baka noko 'ui i Angu e i te rnungi hernia o Mungiki, o boo ki ngango. Noko ngima ona 'ao, ngima ona poo, kae tatae ki te henua e ingoa Mungua.

2. Teengaa te ingoa o te haka- hua o te henua, noko hakahongau e ia ia Ngakei: ko Teboia. Noko hiina'i aano i te henua. Popo tonga- tou baka. Hakaene kia Teboia he nga'akau ke taa ai he baka mo'o Ngakei. Hakakite e Teboia ngu nga'akau, te ghaimenga ma te bii. 3. Hano a Ngakei o ina ki ngua nga'akau, aano tua e Ngakei te bii o taa ai tona baka. Kae kaunaki i te tamana, o hihingi te kaha. Nimaa 'oti te taa e Ngakei te baka, haka- ma'u mai te kaha a te tamana. No- ko kiu te kaha. 4. Toto'o ai te baka, aano nimaa 'oti, ngiu mai ai ki Mungiki. Boo mai aano o tau i Mangangani, te kunga i 'One. Noko poo hitu te baka i moana. Te tau ake 'anga i Mangangani noko unu ai te ingi o Ngakei, o tahitahi ai e ia te 'ango o te baka, i te noko he'e kakea. 5. Kongaa na me'a noko to'o mai Mungua; te ingoa Ghongau, ma te huti 'ungi, te huti 'abange e te tama'ahine a Teboia kia Ngakei. Teengaa tasi huti noko to'o mai, te huti mea. To'o mai ma'u e kinga- tou te manungaghe ma te suinamo. A'u a Ngakei o hakaingoa e ia te manaha o'ona, noko ingoa Temanu; o ingoa Ghongau.

1. Tongohanga [Plate 3, Ghongau line, G7] and his son Ngakei went on their voyage to Mungua, but no one knows where this island was. Their canoe went out from Angu at the west end of Bellona and went westward. Five were their days, five their nights, and [they] reached the land called Mungua.

2. This is the name of the chief who received Ngakei in a friendly way as a traveler from overseas: Teboia. [They] stayed in the land. Their canoe became rotten. [They] asked Teboia for a tree from which to cut a canoe for Ngakei. Teboia showed two trees, the ghaimenga tree and the bii tree. 3. Ngakei went and looked at the two trees, and then Ngakei felled the bii and cut his canoe from it. And [he] told his father to plait sennit. When Ngakei had finished cutting the canoe, they fastened the father's sennit. The sennit was one thousand fathoms long. 4. [They] lashed the canoe with it and so returned to Bellona in it. [They] came here and then landed at Manga- ngani, the place at 'One. The canoe was on the ocean for seven nights. Landing at Mangangani, Ngakei pulled out his fan, and he swept the hold of the canoe be- cause it was not entered [by waves]. 5. These are the things which [they] brought from Mungua: the name Ghongau and the black banana, the banana which the daughter of Teboia gave to Ngakei. There is another banana which [they] brought here, the yellow banana. They also brught the manungaghe tuber and the suinamo tuber. Ngakei came, and he gave a name to his settlement, which had been called Temanu; [he] named [it] Ghongau.

NOTES On January 5, 1959, Paul Sa'engeika and others told about Ngakei's voyage to Mungua, but

I made only a few notes. Taupongi 1961 gave this fuller account. Differences between Sa'e- ngeika's account and supplementary details are indicated below.

1. Sa'engeika said the canoe left from Ahanga.

384

Page 400: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 227(A), 227(B), 228(A)

2. te bii: Taupongi said that there are two trees named bii: the bii and the bii 'atua. The fruit of the bii are eaten. Ngakei made his canoe from the trunk of the bii 'atua, It is not con-sidered very good wood for canoes, but the trunk is of great size.

4. Mangangani: the shore where the trail from Kapata reaches the coast. tahitahi: Ngakei swept the dust out of the hold of the canoe. It was so large that the inside had

not become wet even after a long voyage. 5. Sa'engeika said that when the canoe was finished, people of Mungua brought food to the

travelers. Teboia's daughter brought a bunch of bananas. Ngakei asked where she had got the bananas. She said from a settlement called Ghongau. Ngakei then told his wife, who ac- companied him, to remember the name Ghongau.

huti 'ungi: type of banana not eaten raw. huti mea: type of banana with yellow skin when ripe, not eaten raw. manungaghe: a tuber like the beetape, still grown on Bellona. Sa'engeika said that Ngakei had founded a new settlement, Temanu, before he left for Mungua. When he came back, he wanted to give the settlement a new name, and his wife reminded him of the name Ghongau. Sa'engeika and Taupongi both said that Ngakei was killed by Tupaukiu of the Tanga elan.

TM

(B) Amiel Nasiu and Timotheus Ngatonga. At Hatagua, RE, March 22, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a o Gakei, te 'atu

mu'a o Ghogau. Ka na taa tena baka, o hano ki Makila. 2. Ko Gar kei noho hano i te moana, kite i te 'atua, o no'ai e ia i te kogoa, kae hano, o tatae ki Paugo o noho ai. 3. Noko sia hai ke hoki ake ki Mu-giki, hano ki mouku o to'iho te tokagua ga'a me'a, te ga'a ghai-mega, ma te ga'a bii. 4. O seu ki te tai, mene te ga'a ghaimega, kae ganga te ga'a bii. Ma te taa e ia te bii. 5. 'Oti te taa tena baka, kae hano to'o mai te 'uhi Tonga ma te tai, ma te to'ake ai te ingoa Gho-gau, te ingoa mai Paugo. 6. Hoki mai o tau ki Tigoa, o sa'u ake te igi o Te'atumatangi, o tatahi ai te pebu o te 'ago o te baka o'ona, kae hai ake: "Te hai 'angå nei e 'oti kia te au Gakei." E 'oti.

1. The story of Gakei, the first genera-tion of Ghogau. [He] cut his canoe, and went to San Cristoval. 2. Gakei was going on the sea, and saw a god, and he tied a loincloth, and went on and reached Paugo and stayed there. 3. [He] wanted to come back to Bellona, went into the forest and brought down two tree branches, a ghaimega branch, and a bii branch. 4. And threw [them] into the sea, and the ghaimega branch sank, and the bii branch floated. And he cut the bii. 5. After cutting his canoe, [he] went and brought in the Tonga yam and the tai banana, and took with him the name Ghogau, a name from Paugo. 6. [He] came back and landed at Tigoa, and took out the Te'atumatangi fan and swept the dust from the hold of his canoe, and said: "I, Gakei, have finished this sort of activity." Now finished.

NOTES Taupongi 1961 said that Ngakei went to Mungua and brought back the name Ghongau, but he

did not know where this island ('aamonga) was. He said that Sumui went to Paungo, also an unknown place in the Solomons.

2. The god was Tehainga'atua. no'ai: no'a ai. SE

228. Takitaki Takitaki (A) Isaac Teikahoki of Bagika'ago, RE. March 14, 1958.

1. Takitaki noko hano te kaia-'anga, sehu aano, 'oso ki te tago, o ghaaghe, sosopo mai te 'api-

1. Takitaki went out to steal, and traveled all around, and took some taro and it chimed, and a crowd of Solomon

385

Page 401: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

Island people jumped out and they sur- rounded [him] in a house with their seine, and stood watch, and night fell. 2. Gua- unutoha was told that she should stand watch. Takitaki made a present of a betel cluster, [and] she took it and broke off a nut; [he] gave [her] another, [she] took it. 3. [She] went to sleep; [he] broke off a nut, gave [it], then broke off a branch and gave it, but didn't hear [her] take it, so [he knew she] was asleep. [Other people] had opened the oven and brought in cooked taro, and brought it in, and [Takitaki] cursed at Tehu'ai- ngabenga, and lightning flashed, and [he] saw a pearl shell and a cutting stick. Then the people of the settlement were sleeping, and the person standing guard also was asleep. 6. [Takitaki] grabbed the pearl shell and struck [the net], and [it] was noisy; [he] put [it] down and took down the cutting stick and put [it] in place, [all] was quiet, [and he] cut away all the surrounding [net] with it, cutting and then going to the waterfront. 7. [He] stepped over the sleeping covers while walking. When [he] was about to reach the waterfront, he heard a man say: "How very slack this net is!" Saying: "Wet in the falling dew!" 8. [But he] did not hear, [and Takitaki] cut on and went away. The nets were finished. He punctured the canoes, but not his own, which [he] got into, and paddled away. When a short distance off, [he] cut two batons, took out the paddle, put [it] over his legs, and beat out his huaa mako song: 9. "That Takitaki, jumped and ran, the expert is on his way!" [The home people] said: "Your fornicator's getting away there!" 10. [They] went down to the waterfront, took out a canoe, [it] sank. Took out another, [it] sank. Took out another, and [it] barely floated. [They] crowded on it, [it] sank, and [they] swam. 11. [Takitaki] gave his huaa mako song: "Takitaki, let the very bottom of this great sea rise up!" Then the great fish rose up and ate [them], and all

of them died. That is its ending.

TEXT 228(A)

tanga o Kega, o ghigho ekigatou ki hage i ogatou bugho, o ge'o aano, poongia. 2. Tuku kia Guau- nutoha, o ge'o e ia. O hai ga'a Takitaki te agaa pua, ki te 'oso mai kinai, bulu ia hua; 'abatu kinai, 'oso mai kinai. 3.0 moe aano; bulu ia hua, o 'abatu, o hai hai o poghi te kagisi, o 'abatu kinai, o he'e gongona ke 'oso mai kinai, 'ai kua moe.

4. Huke mai te 'umu, o to'o mai kinai te 'umu tago, tuku ake kinai, amu ake ai kia Tehu'aigabenga, ma te kemo te 'uiga, ina'ake i te hasi ma te kiba.

5. Namaa momoe te manaha, moe ma'u te pegea noko ge'o e ia. 6. 'Oso ake ki te hasi, taghaghi atu, 0 ngatali; tuku, sa'u iho te kiba, hakatuu'atu, ngongoto, pau koti- koti ai te ghigho 'anga, kotikoti, hano ki aba. 7. Ma te gakau hano 1 na tubi. Namaa hai ke sopo ki aba, hakagongo ake ki te pegea, e haiho: "Te bugho nei kabe kahau- gu!" Haiho: "E gukutia i te sau to- too!" 8. He'e gongona, kotikoti ha- no. 'Oti na bugho. 'Oka'oka e ia te kau baka, kae tuku to'ona, o sopo kinai, o a'ago. Namaa mi'itaunga gogoa, tohi gu 'ana kau tipa, sa'u mai te hoe, hakaeke te ba'e, ma taa'ake tena huaa mako: 9. "Taki- takina, gege ka hano, tisagomia e hano!" Na hai atu: "Te hano gaa tautou 'abanga!" 10. Boo iho ki aba, hakasao te baka, mene. Tuku atu teegaa, o mene. Tuku atu tee- gaa, o mene. Tuku atu teegaa, ma mi'iganga. Muimui kinai, mene, he- kaui. 11. Hai atu tena huaa mako: "Takitakia ganga ake te tugi o moana nei!" Manga ganga te ba'i- henua o kasi e kigatou o'oti te ma- mate. Teegaa tona noka 'anga.

NOTES This short story by this spry but aged man is noteworthy for its rich vocabulary and its ele-

386

Page 402: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 228(A), 228(B)

gant, elliptic style, and may exemplify the old stories given by learned men before the arrival of whites. Words that caused difficulties included agaa, pua, bulu, hai hai, kagisi, gomu, taglia- ghi, ngatali, gakau, kahaugu, gukutia, kau baka, tisagomia, 'abanga, muimui, tugi, ba'ihenua, kasi, \. kaia'anga: kaia'a 'anga (thievery).

Kega: a general name for the pre-European Solomons. 4. Taupongi 1961 was shocked that Takitaki prayed to Tehinga'atua, as Takitaki belonged

to the Togo clan (Genealogy 10), which did not worship that deity. 7. gukutia: Taupongi 1961 thought this a garble. The Bellonese form is ngughu. 9. tisagomia: Teikahoki could not explain this, nor could Timothy (verse 6 in variant B). Taupongi 1961 suggested that the form was sangoia (expert). 'abanga: See N212:7.

SE

(B) Timothy Sau'uhi, Labagu, RE. November 23, 1957.

1. Ko Takitaki te pegea i Mugiki noko hano ki Kega. Hano sopo ki te manaha, sa'u ake te huaa boiato, hakasei ai i te taginga. 2. 'Ai kae hai ma'u ke abu te tago. A'aki na pegea, e hai ogatou 'umanga. Tu'ia a Takitaki, o mene ki te hage. 3. A'aki na pegea o ghigho i na bugho, ke go kiki ai. Noko hakagongo Takitaki ki te hai maatu'a e hai ake: "Aku kiba noko sege poto- poto, aku siku ngutu, maaku pa- 'iogo!" 4. Momoe te poo, momoe na pegea noko ge'o e kigatou, kae sa'u iho Takitaki te kiba o toghi- toghi ai te bugho. Mataa hakatu'u te kiba o palugha; sui o sa'u iho te hasi, o toghitoghi atu ai o ngo- ngoto i te kakai. 5. Toghitoghi ai o 'oti, kae sopo ki taha o gepo ake ki te hage. 'A'aga na pegea noko, ge'o e kigatou. Haahaa te bugho, hai: "Te bugho nei kabe kahaugu. Na to'o i te sautia." 6. Kua mabae te bugho. Taugua ake Takitaki i te moana: "Takitaki na gegeka o hano tisagumia go haono." 7. 'A'aga te manaha o hakagongo iho, boo iho kinai, o memene i te me'a gaa, bego hakapuupuu e Takitaki ogatou baka. Kua 'oti.

1. Takitaki was a Bellonese man who went to the Solomons. [He] went and came to a settlement, and took a boiatu tuber and put in his ear. 2. Then [he] began also to pull taro. The people who owned the garden came. Takitaki was scared and ran into a house. 3. The peo- ple came and surrounded [the house] with a net, for they would eat him as supplementary food. Takitaki heard an old man say: "My cutting stick will cut into short pieces, mouth corners for me, buttocks for me!" 4. [The people] that night slept, and the people that were standing watch slept, and Takitaki took out his cutting stick and cut the net with it. [He] began with the cutting stick, but [it] was dull; [he] changed and took out a pearl shell and cut quietly as [it] was sharp. 5. After cutting it all, [he] got out and spied on the house. The people who were guarding him woke up. [They] felt the net and said: "This net is very slack. Dew has fallen on [it]." 6. The net was open. Takitaki sang in the open sea: "Takitaki is breathing [freely], the expert has got away and is going away." 7. The people of the settlement woke up and listened, went down and were drowned because Takitaki speared holes in their canoes. Just finished.

3. aku . people.

NOTES ,. maaku: The a-form indicates that the mouth corners and buttocks are of other

SE

387

Page 403: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 229, 230

229. Suito'a ma Tubigau Suito'a and Tubigau

Tetago of Niupani, RE. December 21, 1957. 1. Te tautupu'a kia Suito'a ma

tona uguugu a Tubigau. Noko 'ui togaa baka i Mugiki o 'aua o sahe i Kega. 2. Sosopo ake ki 'agunga, totohi e Tubigau te 'ugu me'a, o faakaeke i te 'ugu, kae hai ake tena kupu: "Te huka gau o te tako- tonga o tamau!" 3. Boo ake, ma gaabaki te manaha. Tohu ake te tangata ki te hage, hakamagai ai te ta'u pegea taa, kae ma kena tau hainga kiki. 4. Hinake o lugaluga te kete, noko tau gua uu, ma gua hua saukaba. Hai teke ake kinai te hahine, tohu iho o hai atu: "Hi- nake, ke boo, e hakamataku te ma- naha nei!" 5. Boo iho 'oso iho a Tubigau, o labu na huaa boiato, ma te ugi saukaba, o boo sosopo ki togaa baka, o boo tahea i te mata henua (Mugiki). 6 Tungu'ia te he- kau i na kigi pegea ma'ugi; ti'aki te hekau kae he'agumi iho; a'aki iho ki te manaha, kae hiti mata henua togaa baka. Kua 'oti.

1. The story of Suito'a and bis wife, Tubigau. They took out their canoe at Bellona and floated on and came to the Solomons. 2. [They] went ashore, and Tubigau broke off a small branch and put [it] on her head, and said these words: "Thatch strips of father's grave!" 3. [They] went on, and the settlement was deserted. The man went to a house where slain people were hanging, and supple- mentary food was strewn about. 4. [He] went up and opened a basket, and two breasts were lying [there], and two ba- nanas. The woman was angry, went out and said: "Let [us] go, let [us] get away, this place is fearful!" 5. Going down, Tubigau grabbed and held on to some boiato tubers and some plantain shoots, and went and got into their canoe and went and drifted off the east end of the land (Bellona). 6. The workers smelled the skin of live people; [they] left their work and raced down; [they] came down to the settlement and turned their canoe at the east end of the land. Just finished.

NOTES This story was written by Tetago, a young woman who lived in the next house and was the

daughter-in-law of Malachi Tegheta. She wrote v consistently for our b. SE

230. Sumui Sumui

Tupe'uhi of Mangui, BE. At Hatagua, RE, March 19, 1958. 1. Te tautupu'a o Tohi'eha, noko

hano i te baka hakaama. Ma te a'u ma'u te baka mai Paungo, kite ia Sumui o hakaanuanu: "Te hea te kunga noko mate ai te pengea noko hinatu i Mungiki nei?" 2. Ma te hai atu: "Noko mate i te manaha oma- tou." Ma te hai atu: "Te pengea o te manaha omatou." 3. Ma te taa tena baka, o hano ai, o tu'u ki te 'aamonga, ma te hai atu: "Tehea te kunga noko mate ai te pengea noko a'u ki teenei?" Hai ake te

1. The story of Tohi'eha, who went away in an outrigger canoe. A canoe also came from the Solomons [and] met Su- mui, [who] asked questions: "Where is the place the person died who went up from Bellona here?" 2. [The people in the canoe] said: "Died in our settlement." And [Sumui] said: "A person of our settlement." 3. [Sumui] cut his canoe and went away, and came to the island, and said: "Where is the place where the person who came here died?" The people said: "That's the place [he] died." 4. [He]

388

Page 404: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

pengea: "Teengaa te kunga na mate ai." 4. Ma hinatu, manga kena ai na ibi i te mataa anga, ma te a'u o aba ona ibi ki te ghapaghapa, o pipiki, o huu. 5. Ma te hai na songo a te manaha, tenge ngongo i tonga- tou 'atua, ma te a'u kinai kingatou 'atua, te hu'aingata, hinake O1 ngii te tinihenua. Haiho ngii aano namaa 'oti, sosongi te tinihenua, ma huke, hano amo e ia te songo i te ange- ngo. 6. Baaisaisa a Sumui, masaki pake, o he'e kai ai. Ma te pipiki tena hingimatu'a i te tama'ahine a te tinihenua. 7. Ma te ngosingosi tona baka, uta mai ai na unguungu, ma ngu ona tunga'ane.

8. Ma te boo mai i te moana. Ma tu'u a Mungiki. Uta mai ngua potu songo, mate: "Mataa kai ake ngua aungua potu, kae ke go tu'u i te 'aamonga o'oku, ke kai ta'aku potu." 9. Ma te kai ta'a ngu taa- ngata, kai ngatahi e kingatou. Boo aano ma tu'u a Mungiki, ma sa'u ake ta'ana potu, manga saakuni iho tona potu, o u'u, o kai aano o 'oti. 10. He'e haangai e ia tena kano baka. 'Oti te potu songo, kae sa'u mai na nga'akau, o taa e ia ngua taangata, ma hakasausau kinai tona unguungu, ma te taa ma'u e ia, o seu ki te moana, ma te hakatu'u i Mungiki. Kua 'oti.

TEXTS 230, 231

went on, and bones were scattered about at the end of the trail, and [he] came and collected his bones into the small mat worn outside the loincloth, and kept [them] hidden. 5. The people of the settle- ment were making pudding, and word went to their god, and their god came there, a large snake that came and wrapped [himself] around the priest-chief. After having wrapped [himself] about, the priest-chief pressed his nose [against the snake in farewell greeting] and let [him] go, and [the snake] went away and he caressed the pudding with his tongue. 6. Sumui was nauseated and pretended to be sick and didn't eat it. [He] took his wife, the daughter of the priest-chief. 7. [He] prepared his canoe, took aboard the wives and their two brothers.

8. [They] came out to the sea. Bellona appeared. [He] took out two pieces of pudding, saying: "Eat your two pieces first, and after reaching my island, I'll eat my piece." 9. And the two males ate, they ate alone. Going on and Bellona was near, and he took out his piece, and unwrapped his piece and bit and ate all of it. 10. He didn't feed his crew. After the piece of pudding was finished, [he] took out some clubs and he killed the two males, and his wife grieved over them, and he killed [her] too, and threw [them] into the sea, and reached Bellona. Just finished.

NOTES 1. Sumui was the son of Tohi'eha, and was in the Togo clan. Paungo is a vague place in the

Solomons. 8. The informant laughed after aungua potu (your pieces). 10. Taupongi 1961 added a short ending to follow the tossing of the bodies into the sea:

E ngangahi te kanohi o te moana, o kai e kingatou (The man-eating fish of the sea jumped [on them] and they ate [them]).

SE

231. Ngukapogo Ngukapogo

Malachi Tegheta of Niupani, RE. January 21, 1958. 1. Te tagatupu'a kia Ngukapogo.

Te baka o Ngukapogo noko hano 1. The story of Ngukapogo. Nguka-

pogo's canoe went and reached a land

389

Page 405: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 231, 232

o tau ki te henua (he'e mate te ingoa), e hai te hakaputunga. 2. Hai ake a Ngukapogo: "Si'ai he page manaba, ke hakasano ai ki teenei ma'atatou he poga." 'Abange tena momo suasua, o tui ki te see o te ngasau. 3. O sopo hinake kua nga- tahinga te tuhanga o te suasua, kae hinake o kake i te ngige pua, o noho i te buli o te pua, kae a'u te huukenga, o loku te pua o eke i te tu'aa hage, o sopo a Ngukapogo ki te tu'aa hage, o mene iho i te matu'aa taga, o noho> i te hata. 4. O hakagongo ki te tuhanga o te suasua, o hakagongo ki te hegeu 'anga o te tuhanga. Naniaa gea te hakahua o te tuhanga, sopo iho a Ngukapogo, o hakaeke taa kinai o mate. 5. Kae sopo hoki ki te hata, kae hiina'i a pegea ki te hakahua e taa'ia, o manga sa'aki a pegea o hai ake: "Ko ai te kaimeo? Ko ai te kaimeo?" 6. Kae manga sa'aki o hetaa'aki a pegea, kae ma noho a Ngukapogo o ina kinai, kae ma hetaa'aki aano. 7. Sopo hoki iho> a Ngukapogo, o taa ma'u e ia te pegea. Hai ake ma'u pegea kaatoa: "Ko ai te kaimeo? Ko ai te kai- meo?" 8. Kae sa'aki a pegea o he- taa'aki aano, toe gua pegea. Sopo iho a Ngukapogo, o taa haka'oti e ia, kae hinaiho o kakabe ake tena kau hogau, o kakai i te manaha, o kai te taa'ia 'anga, o kai hakapoo hitu, 'oti kae boo. Kua 'oti.

(name not told), where there was a cele- bration. 2. Ngukapogo said: "There's nothing to hold up the belly and depend on for us here except small [flying fox]." [The people] gave [him] a little grated taro and coconut cream pudding to fork up with the tip of an arrow. 3. [He] went up, and the distribution of the pudding was half done, and [he] went up and climbed a tall betel palm [informants on the third reading said this should be a coco- nut palm] and sat at the base of the fronds of the betel, and a gust came and bent the betel palm, which rested on the house roof, and Ngukapogo got onto the roof and went in by the upper pole sup- porting the ridge pole, and sat on the shelf. 4. [He] listened to the pudding distribution, listened to the words of the distribution. When the chief of the distri- bution spoke, Ngukapogo came down and landed [on him] and killed him dead. 5. Then [he] went back to the platform, and the people saw that the chief had been killed, and all the people just said: "Who was the greedy one? Who was the greedy one?" 6. And all the people fought with each other, and Ngukapogo just watched them as they kept fighting each other. 7. Ngukapogo jumped down again and he too struck people. All the people said again: "Who was the greedy one? Who was the greedy one?" 8. And all the peo- ple fought each other, and two people were left. Ngukapogo jumped down and he killed [them] all, and then went down and got his crew, and [they] stayed in the settlement and ate the slain ones, and ate for seven days, and then went away. Just finished.

SE

232. Te Hakataupapa mai Noumea

Samuel Tuhenua and others. 1. Te launatahi hakataupapa mai

Noumea i Manupisu. Noko hai ga'a te launatahi 'aakisi, ma te kiba, ma na tobacco, ma na masese, ma te

The Ship from Noumea

At Niupani, RE, January 20, 1958. 1. A ship from Noumea was at Manu-

pisu. There was given an axe and a knife and tobacco, and matches, and a green cloth. Things given to Sau'uhi, the grand-

390

Page 406: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

launatahi laoa 'usi. Na me'a noko tuku ia Sau'uhi, te tupuna o Luku ma Tau'asoa. 2. Teenaa te baka noko mataa haka'agi e kigatou na tobacco. O he'e kai i te he'e na'a. O he'e na'a ma'u te totogi na ma- sese, noko manga putatai ai, ma te seu. 3. Konei gua me'a noko na'a e kigatou, ma te gaoi kia te kiga- tou, to 'aakisi ma te kiba. Noko he'e na'a ma'u te laoa po te me'a aa.

4. Teegaa ia hegeunga. Kogaa 'aso ia te kimatou, noko matataku toto'a i na taangata susugu. Noko boo ki tai agatou ihonga, kite i na hakataupapa, manga he'agiko giu ki mouku i te matataku ai, i te kitai masasaki ai, ma te taa e kiga- tou. Teegaa te hai 'anga noko lae ai kigatou i na hatu 'ugi.

TEXT 232

father of Luke and Tau'asoa. 2. That was the boat to show us tobacco first. [The tobacco] was not smoked because of not knowing how. How to strike matches was also not known, but just played with and thrown away. 3. Two things that they knew about and that they approved of, axe and knife. What cloth was, was also not known.

4. This is another story. In those days we were very much afraid of white men. When they went to the sea to fish, and saw ships, [they] just fled back to the bush from fright of them, because of possible sickness, or that they would be killed. That is the reason they were poor in steel adzes.

NOTES On February 25 this story was largely confirmed by Teu'a, the son of the Sau'uhi mentioned

in 1. Teu'a said that his father boarded the ship and traded two flying fox teeth necklaces for an axe, two knives, and some calico. This was before Teu'a was born. Teu'a looked about 50, so this would be before 1908. Sau'uhi and his wife were drowned while crossing from Rennell to Bellona the year the teachers were murdered (1910). Great waves broke the outrigger, and the canoe swamped. Sa'obaa always carried the axe, so it was lost too. Teu'a remembers seeing the axe.

This led to a discussion of other first arrivals. The first chickens were brought several years before conversion (1938). (There were many chickens in 1958; they sold for about 3 shillings.) Pigs were introduced at one time but were all eaten. A dozen or so goats were thriving on Ren- nell in 1958.

Japanese fishermen in the 1920's were the first to bring large quantities of tobacco. They slept with Rennellese girls and gave wonderful gifts in exchange. The first Rennellese to smoke was Sa'obaa, older brother of Benjamin Puia at Labagu. He smoked alone.

SE

26

391

Page 407: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

CHAPTER 19. CHRISTIANIZATION

This chapter begins with a fragment by James Puipuia concerning the killing of the missionaries in 1910, and a tangi song composed in honor of the killer. (We have not translated taa as "murder" because the English word has pejorative con- notations not present in the Rennellese term.) Puipuia was a brother of the principal killer. (An account of the killing from the mission viewpoint is given by Florence S. H. Young [Young, n. d.: 208—212], who accompanied the missionaries to Rennell at the tune of the killing.) Next are two long and vivid narratives by Moa and Tekobi, who participated in the Niupani madness accompanying conversion there, and Moa's account of how he broke the stone images on Bellona. The last, brief story is of the Bellonese conversion.

233. Te Taa'ia 'anga a na Teachers

Killing the Teachers

James Puipuia of Matangi, RE. March 8, 1958. 1. Na boo a te tugi aga (Temoa

ma ona pegea), o tui kigatou ia To- keta, o ti'aki a Kagobai te hema- si'inga mataa hai a Kagobai ma To- keta. Kae 'ika'ika a Kagobai i te kua hakahuahua te hemasi'inga agaaua ma Toketa. 2. Sui a Kago- bai o 'ika'ika o taa. Temoa 'ati gongo ki Toketa: "Noka te haka- masi'i ia Kagobai te tui, kae haka- masi'i ia te au." 3. Noko hakaputu ki Kagobai a te tugi aga, noko hakaputu ki te baka o te Sikosi, noko 'api. Hoki te baka. 4. Haka- tu'u te hage o tuku ai na teacher tokatogu. Tomasi tokagua ma An- thony Alulu. Mataa taa'ia a Alulu, noko taa i te ga'akautu'uti. Te rni- 'itomasi te kuki, te guani, noko tege ki te gege o hegaugau'aki e kigatou, noko 'api. 5. Labu e Tekugu ia To- masi o taa. O tege teegaa Tomasi o taa Tekugu. Noko toghi e ia te u'a o gua Tomasi. Tekugu te taina o Kagobai. Tanu te tokagua, ko

1. Those at the beginning of the trail (Temoa and his people) came along and they maligned Doctor [Deck], and Kago- bai abandoned the friendship Kagobai had originally had for Doctor. And Kago- bai was angry because his friend Doctor was assuming the chieftainship. 2. And so Kagobai was angry and killed. Temoa said to Doctor: "Don't make friends with Kagobai, the defamer, but make friends with me." 3. Those at the beginning of the trail collected around Kagobai, col- lecting about the South Seas Evangelical Mission boat, many. The boat went back. 4. A house was built and given the three teachers. Two Thomases and Anthony Alulu. Alulu was killed first, killed with a priestly staff. Small Thomas, the cook, the servant, ran up the cliff and they surrounded [him], many of them. 5. Te- kugu grabbed Thomas and killed [him]. The other Thomas ran, and Tekugu killed [him]. He cut off the heads of the two Thomases. Tekugu was Kagobai's young- er brother. Two were buried, Anthony and

392

Page 408: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 233, 234

Anthony ma Tomasi te guani, kae poghi i te ta'o tapa. Ta'agaa kesi ia Tomasi kua 'eha.

Thomas, the servant, and covered with[?]. The two Thomases had many cases.

NOTES Puipuia was a younger brother of Kagobai (Genealogy 1,G20; his picture is shown in Young,

n.d.: opposite 208). I neglected to ask if Tekugu, mentioned above as a taina of Kagobai, might be Nasiu or Tagei in Genealogy 1. Puipuia began his account with the story of his father, Te- bakaika, who killed 30 sharks every year. Jealous persons chopped his canoe to bits; in revenge, his nephew Teikagei (father of Headman Tahua) destroyed the canoe of Ppgi, a high chief, and this began a feud. I was not aware of Puipuia's kinship, and did not ask if his "father," Teba- kaika, was the same as Segeika in the Lughu line.

After finishing the story above, the informant told Headman Tahua much else that I was unable to take down, but the following was included: After the murders, everybody left Kagaba, and Puipuia went to the lake. The mission ship returned to a deserted Kagaba. Temoa then came and told the missionaries about the murder and showed Doctor (Northcote Deck) the grave. Doctor brought the three bodies together and made a grave. Doctor was not killed be- cause he was an important person protected by his God. The killers had seen men cook rice, so they divided the rice, but poured the kerosene on the ground. They also divided two and a half tins of crackers. Other people finally came to see Doctor, bat not Kagobai. Doctor said he would send more teachers.

3. Sikosi: South Seas Evangelical Mission; literally, Scotch. 5. u'a: literally, neck.

SE

234. Te Tangi a Kamukiu Tangi Song by Kamukiu

Samuel Tuhenua of Niupani, RE. February 18, 1958. 1. Po ahiahi e.

Umege: Ko Siba na moe. 2. Manga moe ma te togau e. 3. Te 'atu gau hakagongo e. 4. Magu ai ki na sa'osaga e.

Mugaba ma na 'atu hiti e. Makila kua boo mai e. 'Au mai go henua tahi e. Mate tino mataku he tapa ai. Ekeitehua magu ai e! Hemasi'inga o te miti e. Hai mai 'isi e gaoi e. E au manga na'inoa e. Tuku rnai hakagosigosi e. Tegatou sikulu masaki e. Tautogomu'a gomia e! Seu ai he hage ki gangi e! Taupongi na kago kinai e! Hakamege maatou 'aitu e! Tomasi na mate lagau e. He'egahi ki 'Atuhenua e. Hakamotu te hua taku ange. Na'e manga te maanatu ake. Ki te koe ma tau tau'a e.

Dusk of evening. Chorus: Siba slept. To sleep and pray. Ancestral spirits may listen. And so afford protection from

sickness. Rennell and the strangers. Those of San Cristoval have come. Come to share the land. Body weak [with] fear calls. Ekeitehua, protect us! Friend in dreams. Some say [they] are good. I have my doubts. [We] are forced to build [houses]. [For] their religion of sickness. Tautogomu'a is drowned! A house is tossed to the heavens! Taupongi has punished them! Our gods are angered! Thomas has died afar. Solomons are far away. End the words of prayer. The memory lingers. Of you and your fighters.

9 10 11. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23,

NOTES This tangi was composed by Kamukiu, the wife of Kagobai (Plate 3, Lughu line, G20) who

killed the missionaries in 1910. Kagobai was also known as Taupongi (17). This song of victory 36*

393

Page 409: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 234, 235(A)

shows the complete lack of a feeling of guilt about the killing, since the wife is praising her husband's courage in saving the island. My obtaining this important song was in some ways accidental and shows that good things may come from friendly conversation about almost anything. Headman Togaka and Solomon Puia were visiting in Niupani, and like all Rennellese were intrigued by 'Ubea, the homeland, and, as I had been at Uvea and Futuna, they asked all manner of questions about these islands. Solomon said that Rennell and Uvea should change islands, as Rennell was too stony. They asked about the present religion, and I said that it had been Catholic for almost a century, and added that at Futuna the first missionary had been killed. "Our first teachers were killed, too," said Tuhenua (as though I hadn't known this). "We have a tangi about it." "Really," I said, trying not to sound excited, "I'd like to write it." Next morning, Tuhenua came in with the tangi written out.

9. Ekeitehua: a brother of the god Tehainga'atua (Genealogy 11). 10. This verse provoked discussion. Some suggested that it meant unreal creatures of bad

dreams, meaning the missionaries. 15. Tautogomu'a: the hill behind Kagaba where the teachers were killed. 19. Tomasi: Thomas. Name of both the teacher and one of the helpers. (See T233:4.)

SE

235. Te School 'Anga Christianization

(A) Moa of Hutuna, RE. February 20-21, 1958. 1. Te puka hakahegeu ki te rna-

taa'u 'anga a Kaitu'u mai 'Ubea. O taa e ia na hiti noko kakai i Mu- gaba nei. Kae sui ia, o noho ai o hakamatigi ai, hakahanohano mai aano, 'atu guahugu tuuma'a. 2. Ko kimatou noko he'e gongo i te 'Aitu e i te gangi, o he'e gongo ma'u ki- matou i te school, manga hesui kimatou i te sogi ki gua 'atua noko to'o mai e Kaitu'u mai 'Ubea. 3. Noko hai gu ogaa tino i gua hatu, gua tunguti ghaghae, noko uta mai e ia i tona baka, o mataa hakatu'u sehu aano e ia i Mugaba nei, pau o he'e 'aonga ki he kunga. 4. Uta e ia i tona baka o sigi ki Mugiki, ioo 'aonga kinai, o pau o nonoho ai gua hatu. 5. O noko ma sogi kinai a Mugiki, kae manga sogi 'aabaki atu kinai a Mugaba nei, o pau ai tematou 'atua e tasi. 6. Te ingoa o te manaha o gua hatu, noko hai ai gua 'atua amatou, ko Gabenga i Mugiki.

7. 'Eha 'atu tangata ko kimatou ma hesui ki te sogi kinai. 8. Ko kimatou koi he'e gongo ia God, namaa te tasi ghapu i te 1910, he- tae mai ai te hakataupapa, tona ingoa te Evangel, ka te ingoa o te

1. The book telling of the first coming of Kaitu'u from 'Ubea. He killed the hiti living here on Rennell. And he in turn lived there and had children and started a progeny of more than twenty genera- tions. 2. We had not heard from the Lord in heaven nor had we heard from Chris- tians, but continued worshipping two gods brought by Kaitu'u from 'Ubea. 3. Their earthly form consisted of two stones, two stalactites, which he brought in his canoe, and while he first went all about Rennell here he set them up, but there was no place whatsoever suitable [to them]. 4. He put them on his canoe and went over to Bellona, and they were satisfied, and the two stones stayed there permanently. 5. The people of Bellona worshipped them, and the people of Rennell here participated in the worship, as we had the same gods. 6. The name of the place with the two stones repre- senting our two gods was Gabenga at Bellona.

7. For many generations we continued our worship of them. 8. We had not yet heard [from] God, and then in the year 1910 there came a ship, her name the "Evangel," and the name of the mis- sionary Mr. Deck. 9. He brought a

394

Page 410: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 23S(A)

missionary ko Mr. Deck. 9. Noko to'o mai e ia te ako o tuku i Lughu, tona ingoa ko Tomasi, ma te toka- gua tangata 'aabaki. (Ko Tomasi te pegea mai New Hebrides, gua 'aabaki te pegea mai Makila ma te pegea mai Malaita, ko Andulu ma Tomasi ma'u.) 10. Noko si'ai ma- 'ana he akonga, ka noko he'e hai gongo i te God e i te gangi, o he'e hai gongo ma'u ia gahumanu; noko manga mataa hai e ia te hage.

11. Ka na eke te saga o masa- saki ai, kae mataa mamate ai kogaa pegea, ka na mate ai te tinana o Kagobai. 12. Ka noko kaiti'i to'a ma'u ki ana utunga, o he'e haangai ma'u ai. O gua ai ana 'ika'ika 'anga, hakatangi ia te tinana na mate, ma te kaimeo i ana rations ma'ana flour. 13. O hano ai o suni ki te hu'aihakahua, tona ingoa ko Ti- paika (te tamana o Stephen Puia), hano hai atu kinai: "Po ko koe e tausu'u i tou manaha i te aa? Ka ka hakahuahua e na tongahiti, ko koe go noko tootoobaasi'a i ni 'aso!"

14. Namaa hakagongo kinai tona hakahua, o too kinai, o kaunaki e ia, hai atu: "Boo atu o taa." Manga tutu'u te tau'a, o boo kinai, o taa te ako ma gua 'aabaki. Te tau'a tokatogu ko Kagobai ma Maumau ma Tekugu. 15. Namaa 'oti te taa 'anga, kae hai te mi'ihiina'i 'anga kae hetae hoki ake te hakataupapa o te SSEM. Kua taa'ia te ako, manga hai ai te hu'ai'agoha 'anga a Doctor Deck i tena kua taa'ia. 16. Hinake o tibu e ia ona ibi, o tanu i Kagaba, kae hoki te Evangel o pau o he'e hoki ake he hakatau- papa.

17. Manga pau kimatou o hiina'i soko hakatu'u i te 1910, o hano aano, hetae ki te 1934, kae a'u te hakataupapa o te SDA, tona ingoa te Vinari, tona missionary ko Pastor Norman Ferris. 18. A'u o hai gongo kia te kimatou i te school, kae hoki e hakaene kia go- vernment ke tuku e ia he ako, ke

teacher to leave at Lughu, his name being Thomas, with two assistants. (Thomas was a person from the New Hebrides; the two assistants were a person from San Cristoval and a person from Malaita and were named Andrew and Thomas also.) 10. He [Thomas] was to do no teaching, having no knowledge from God in heaven, nor knowledge of government; he first only built a house.

11. And there came an epidemic of sickness, and some people died, and the mother of Kagobai died. 12. And there was great hope for some of his [Thomas's] food, but further, nothing was given. He [Kagobai] was thus doubly angry, lament- ing the death of his mother who had died, and the desire for some of his ra- tions and flour. 13. So [Kagobai] went and reported to the high chief, his name Tipaika (father of Stephen Puia), going and saying to him: "Why do you pay no attention to your home? Foreigners are going to rule while you are hesitating all these days!"

14. When his chief heard him, he be- lieved him and gave orders, saying: "Go and kill." So the fighters went forward and went there and killed the teacher and the two assistants. The fighters were three, Kagobai and Maumau and Tekugu. 15. After the killing, there was a short interval, and then the ship of the SSEM arrived back. The teacher had been killed, and Dr. Deck was filled with great sorrow about his being killed. 16. He came and picked up his bones and buried [them] at Kagaba, and the "Evangel" left forever, and the ship did not return.

17. So we lived in isolation from 1910 until 1934, when the SDA ship came, her name the "Vinari", her missionary Pastor Norman Ferris. 18. [He] came to tell us of Christianity, and then returned to ask the government that it permit a teacher to come here to Rennell. 19. Government was not very willing and government fi- nally told Pastor Ferris to go and bring

395

Page 411: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(A)

a'u ki Mugaba nei. 19. O he'emaka to'a a government, manga hai atu a government kia Pastor Ferris, manga hinatu o 'au mai ni pegea, ke hakaako kigatou, go giu ki Mu- gaba o ako'ia. 20. E namaa tuku ghali e a'u he tisa, o hano go taa ma'u. Manga nguu atu kinai a Pastor Ferris, kae hinake o kakabe ia te kimatou ki Western, o school ai kimatou i Batuna, te hu'aimana- ha o te heako'akinga o te Adven- tist Mission.

21. Kae hinake ma'u a Norman Deck o kakabe kogaa pegea o hakaako i Malaita. Kae hinake ma'u a Mr. Baddeley Bishop, o ka- kabe kogaa pegea o hakaako ma'u i Malabobo. 22. O hai gongo kia te kimatou i te God ma'ogi e i te gangi. Noko mataa gosigosi e ia te gangi, ma te kege nei, ma te mo- ana, ma na manu, ma na ika, ma na ga'akau, ma gua pegea ia Eve ma Adam. Ma te hai gongo kia te kimatou i na me'a noko hakapau e God, ke hai o 'aabaki kia pegea, ma te hakapau na me'a ke manga noho i te kege nei.

23. Tomatou 'aso noko giu ake ai i te 1936, ko kimatou i te SDA, kogaa i te Church of English, kogaa i te SSEM, tomatou 'aso noko giu ake ai, noko boo ake ki- matou o 'ati gongo i Mugaba nei i te school, ma te 'ati gongo kimatou i te God ma'ogi e i te gangi.

24. Namaa hakagongo te ta'u hakahua ki te gongo nei, o too ki- nai kogaa, kae hakamataku kogaa 'agiki, ki te 'atua noko to'o mai a Kaitu'u. 25. Noko hai ake ma tasi agatou toto'a te God e i te gangi ma ta'a Kaitu'u; noko ma konei na hegeu na 'agiki o Mugaba nei. 26. Ka ko kimatou noko giu ake i te heako'akinga noko ma tangani 'ati gongo, ka noko he'e 'ao'ao kima- tou ki na huhuta kua goa o Mu- gaba nei. 27. Namaa te tasi ghapu hai ake te maanatu a te hakahua omatou, (ko Taupongi), ke sogi kia

people and teach them, and then [they] would go back to Rennell to teach. 20. For should a teacher be permitted to come too soon, he also might be killed. Pastor Ferris agreed and came to take us to the Western [Solomons] for our Chris- tianization at Batuna, the large educa- tional institution of the Adventist Mis- sion.

21. Norman Deck also came and took some people for instruction at Malaita. And Mr. Baddeley Bishop took some people for instruction too at Marovo. 22. We were taught about the true God in heaven. He first created the heavens, and this earth, and the open sea, and animals, and fish, and plants, and two people, Eve and Adam. And telling us the things God wished done to help mankind and the things [He] wished to remain on this earth.

23. We returned in 1936, we of the SDA, some of the Church of England, and some of SSEM, and when we re- turned we came to teach here on Rennell about Christianity, and to tell of the true God in heaven.

24. When the chiefs heard the news, some believed it and other chiefs feared retaliation by the gods brought by Kai- tu'u. 25. Some of them said that God in heaven was powerful but so were [the gods] of Kaitu'u; such was the talk of the chiefs of Rennell. 26. But we reverted to the teachings that we had been telling of in vain, and for us the old customs of Rennell here were of no use. 27. At one time, our chief (Taupongi) proposed that we worship both God and our ancient god. 28. That [we] should not single out one god; and most of the people said: "Right and thus shall it be." 29. And

396

Page 412: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(A)

God, ma te god amatou mai gaa 'aso. 28. Ke noka te hakamaagingi ki he 'atua; o hai ake te 'apitanga 0 pegea: "E ma'ogi, ke konei ona noho." 29. Ka noko hai ake te maanatu hakagiginga a gua agaa pegea, ke mataa ge'o e kigaaua he 'ao tapu. 30.0 ma'ogi o mataa ge'o e kigaaua te 'ao saabati, ki tegaa okioki tokagua ai, kae tutu'u na taauga gogoi, o hai tegatou gongo e ma'ogi e hai mai a God ke ge'o te 'ao okioki, ka noko si'ai. 31. Gu 'ogaa ingoa ko Taumata ma Giu- saga, teenei te taamata 'anga, o te hakapipiki a te 'Aitu e i te gangi kia te kimatou.

32. Namaa te tasi ghapu i te 1938 October, hai e kimatou te hu'aihakatahinga i Niupani, o haka- tege gongo kinai te tasi kakai 'anga 1 Kanaba, i te me'a gaa tematou boo ngatasi 'anga o school. 33. Teegaa te hai 'anga noko ngege ai te 'agiki omatou, ke boo1 mai kima- tou puge ki te school, o hai ake tematou maanatu, ke noko sogi kia God ma Semoana (Tehainga'atua). 34. Namaa tegaa 'ao hai ai te lau- natahi meeting, o hakaputu kinai o hakagongo ngatasi kinai. 35. Na- maa 'oti te meeting, kae tu'u te hu'ai'agiki (Tegheta, te tunihenua) omatou, o bae gua e ia na pegea ke sogi, tuku te tokatogu o sogi kia God, kae tuku te tokahaa o sogi kia Semoana. Tegaa te hakatu'u 'anga o te haianoa 'anga o te haka- tahinga, o tutu'u o 'eha agatou hai 'anga.

36. Mataa hakatoka o hakanoka na tapu o na tau tuhahine, kae mugi o hai nohonga, i te me'a gaa, noko hai ake na taauga gogoi ke ngague, ke boo ki te gangi kaa ke tutu e God a te kege nei. 37. Manga tu- tu'u o hai nohonga, o 'oti na hu- 'aipegea, ma na bagokaa, ma na tamagiki, noko he'e hakagata na tamagiki haauu, noko hai ogatou, o hai ona pegea paka ogatou ba'e.

38. Namaa pau te hai nohonga

two people proposed that they should be the first to keep the sacred day. 30. So the two first kept the Sabbath day, and the two rested thereon, and the lying mediums stood up and said that [it] is right, as God has said to keep the day of rest, but [God] had not [spoken to them]. 31. Their two names were Tau- mata and Giusaga, and this was the be- ginning of our punishment by God in heaven.

32. In the year 1938 in October we held a big meeting in Niupani, and the people at Kanaba were summoned be- cause we had all been to the church school together. 33. This is the reason our chief called us together, so as to come and discuss the religion and that we should decide whether to worship both God and Semoana (Tehainga'atua). 34. So on that day a meeting was held and everyone gathered together to listen. 35. After the meeting, our high chief (Te- gheta the priest-chief), stood up and he divided the people for worship, assigning three to pray to God and assigning four to pray to Semoana. This was the begin- ning of the madness of the meeting that started and had so many manifestations.

36. Arrangements were made to bring an end to the taboos concerning brother and sister [avoidance], and then there were many marriages, as the lying me- diums said to get ready to go to heaven, and that God was going to set fire to this earth. 37. Thereupon marriages were made, all the adults, teen-agers, and children, and even suckling infants did [this], and people lame in their feet did [this].

38. After the marriages, all the people

397

Page 413: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(A)

'anga, kae tutu'u o hakamahoga a pegea kaatoa, ki tegatou 'atua. 39. Kae hakaputu ki te hu'aihage, o hakauta ai, o hai kaupea ko ba'i nohonga, no honu i te hage, ka kogaa noko hekakei ki ga'unga, o manga tau i na kaukaui. 40. Kae tauga mugheghi na uka ki na niu, 0 lia kinai, o ma'u to'a, kae tu'u te 'agiki omatou (Tegheta), o ngege ki te God ke hano te hage ki te gangi. 41. E kua 'oti te ngague 'anga o pegea, kogaa pegea noko tatangi i te hegigika'aki, i te kitai hetoki iho 1 te hano 'anga o te hage, ka kogaa pegea noko tatangi iagaatou [ia agaatou] tamagiki, na he'e 'oigua ki haho i te hage, ka noko tutu'u na taauga gogoi, o baakogikogi atu ke noka, ke ma hakagata, kaa ke boo sui i te gangi. 42. Tematou hu'ai- hekau te ngengege ki te 'Aitu e i te gangi, mano na gua o na gho- loba, namaa pau o he'e tau hai 'anga, heuguhi giu iho ki haho o sui o puu 'umu. 43. Namaa kaa na 'umu, tutuu'ake te 'apitanga o pegea, o hakaputu ogatou 'ota'ota, o to'o mai o tutu o 'oti, kae hai hekau i te manaha o tahitahi o 'aatea. 44. Kae taa gua pegea noko mataa ge'o te 'ao okioki, kae tuha o taki hai tu'uganga a taangata ma haahine, o singi ke tuku babae teegaa tu'uganga haahine, o tutu ogaatou 'ugu i te ahi o bega. 45. Ka tematou singi 'anga kua logho omatou ngutu, kae ma tohi'aki mai na taauga gogoi, ke noko taugua, e ko Jesus hetaiake ke sopo mai. 46. Namaa he'e tau hai 'anga, tu- tu'u ma'u kimatou o tua te manaha niu. 47. Noko manga tua na niu ngige, na niu e gogoa to'a, o manga ngongogo o siko i omatou gima, noko he'e hetoki ki te kege, noko ma noho pe te tukinga o te hugi, noko hakaputu e kimatou na niu o 'ati ona tu'u.

48. Namaa 'oti te tua na niu, kae taa te launatahi pegea o mate, o noko ma takoto. 49. Kae tutu'u

thereupon bade farewell to their god. 39. And met in a large house and went in, and each couple found a sleeping shelf, and the house was full, and some climbed to the roof and hung on to the cross- beams. 40. [They] tied ropes around [the house] and cords to coconut trees and lashed so as to be very firm, and our chief (Tegheta) stood up and asked God to take the house to heaven. 41. Then the people were ready, and some wept and trembled because [they] might fall out when the house would be taken away, and some people wept for their children who had not come and who were out- side the house, and the lying mediums then offered consolation, and [asked them] to stop [weeping], as [it] made no difference, for the [children] would be ex- changed in heaven. 42. Mostly we called on God in heaven, and after about two hours nothing had happened, and [we] went back outside again and built ovens. 43. When the ovens were burning, most of the people gathered their property [mats, tapas, etc.] and brought [them] and burned [them] all and then got busy sweeping the village clean. 44. And [Te- gheta] struck [with his hands] the two people who had first kept the day of rest, and the men and women divided into separate groups to sing, and one group of women separated and set their hair on fire and burned [it]. 45. We sang until our mouths were weary, and the lying mediums told [us] to sing as Jesus was about to come. 46. When nothing hap- pened, we then cut down a coconut grove. 47. Cutting only the lofty coconuts, the very tall coconuts, and [they] fell and [we] caught [the trees] in our hands, and [they] did not fall to the ground, and [they] were just as though hit by a hurri- cane, and we collected the coconut trees and put them in a heap.

48. After cutting down the coconut trees, one man was beaten and killed and lay still. 49. Then we smashed Taupongi's

398

Page 414: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(A)

ma'u a kimatou, o tuki te hu'aihage o Taupongi, o tobago, o 'ati ma'u tona tu'u o hakaputu kinai ma na 'ota'ota, o hai tona hu'aitu'u, kae taa na dog, ma na paolo, ma na pusikati, o hakaputu ma'u ki te tu'u o te hage. Noko 'eha to'a ko ba'i me'a taki noho.

50. Namaa 'oti teegaa hai 'anga, kae tuha ma'u o taki hai tu'uganga, o hakatoka atu gaoi a taangata ma haahine, kae tutu'u na taauga go- goi, o ligo na pegea noko mange- oina ogaatou ba'e, ma ogatou gima. 51. O tuku babae, o hai togatou tu'u; o he'e tutu'u, o he'e nonoho, noko manga taahoga, o hitagi i te 'aso go taa'ia ai, noko 'api to'a taangata ma haahine. 52. Ka noko hakapau e na taauga gogoi, te launatasi pegea noko iai te hu'aisoe (mangeo) i te ba'e, ke mataa taa'ia, tona ingoa ko Puakina (Samu). No- ko to'o mai te ga'akau ma te malu- ghubei, o taa ma te tutulobo ai tona soe, namaa upi aano, tutulobo i te ahi, ma ghotoi, taa hakahoki, namaa tutu atu o he'e ghotoi kua mate. 53. Namaa seven kiloko i te poo, kae tutu'u na taauga gogoi, o taa na ta'u pegea noko hakaputu togatou tu'u, o babae i te mangeoi- na, teenei togatou 'aso ka taa'ia ai.

54. 'Oti teegaa hai 'anga, kae tu- tu'u teegaa tu'uganga o hai ake te- gatou maanatu, kigatou taa'ia te 'agiki o te hakatahinga (Tegheta). 55. Noko ma boo puge iho i te mouku i te poo kigatou taa'ia te 'agiki o te hakatahinga. Namaa pau tegatou pugenga, boo iho o tu'u tegatou hu'aihakahii ki tematou hakaputunga, o taa e kigatou ia Tegheta, kae taa ma'u na taauga gogoi i te poo. 56. Namaa tu'u gua poo, kae bae gua te taa'ia 'anga o ma'ugi kogaa, kae pau o mamate kogaa. Noko ma bae gua hakanga- tasi mamate te 'api, kae ma'ugi teegaa 'api, kae he'agiko kogaa ki mouku. 57. Noko 'api te poo noko heta'aki noko pulu to'a, noko kogaa

large house too and broke [it] to bits and put [the pieces] too in a heap, and put the property in with it and made a huge pile, and killed the dogs and chickens and cats and put them too in the pile of the house. There were great quantities of all sorts of things.

50. After this affair [the people] split up into separate groups, and the men and women lined up evenly, and the lying mediums picked out the people with sores on their legs or their arms. 51. They were separated into their own group; [they] did not stand nor sit down, just lay there waiting until [they] would be killed, many men and women. 52. And the lying me- diums selected one man with a huge ulcer on his leg to be killed first, his name being Puakina (Psalm). [They] brought a club and a partially burned faggot and beat [him] and tried to ignite his ulcer and then beat again and tried to ignite again, and [he] flinched, and they beat [him] again and set [the sore] on fire, and [he] did not flinch, but fainted. 53. At seven at night the lying mediums began to beat the people whom they had as- sembled in a group singled out because of their sores, and this was the time they were to be killed.

54. After doing this, one group proposed that they kill the chief of the meeting (Tegheta). 55. First [they] went to the bush at night to plan the killing of the chief of the meeting. After their plan- ning they came back and gave a mighty battle cry at our meeting, and they beat Tegheta, and at night also beat the lying mediums. 56. At midnight those beaten were in two groups; some were alive and others had died. They were all in two groups, many had died, others survived, and some fled into the bush. 57. Many were beaten that night, and [it] was very short, about as long as two hours, and then daylight brightened.

399

Page 415: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(A)

na motunga, te tokagua gholoba kae maagama te 'ao.

58. Te ogatou 'aso noko kaukau ai, noko ma kunga tasi o kaukau; tahahanga na taangata ma haahine, noko he'e hakagata, noko hiina'i atu a taangata, o hiina'i mai ma'u a haahine, noko he'e papa'a.

59. Namaa 'aoina ake i te poo noko heta'aki, tutu'u ma'u i te ma- hoata o heta'aki ma'u, noko tutu- 'atu kogaa o taa tohitohi kogaa pegea. 60. Kae tutu'u kogaa o 'agu- 'agu kogaa pegea, kae hakasoi ma'u kogaa pegea. Noko ma tangani hiina'i atu e taa tohitohi na ibi tu'a, o hetoki ki te kege, o sa'aki goa na mamate, kae noko he'e mamate, o he'e ma tohitohi ogatou ibi. Na pe- gea noko taa'ia noko ma ma'ugi o 'oti.

61. Namaa sigi te tokatogu 'ao, kae sui teegaa amatou maanatu, kimatou he'agiko ki he manaha, e ko kimatou kua logho i na hekau songo to'a i Niupani, ka na haka- pau e kimatou te manaha, kimatou boo kinai, tona ingoa ko Temaige (te gano). 62. O ma'ogi o boo ki- nai, kae hakapau e au tematou tu'u- ganga o mugi i Niupani, o kegi na gua ki na pegea na taa'ia. Noko 'api na taangata ma na haahine. Namaa togu gholoba i te ahiahi, kae tanu e kimatou te taa'ia 'anga, kae tata'o kimatou i te murnu'a 'anga.

63. Kae sopo hoki iho te launa- tahi pegea i te he'agikonga, noko momoe i te mouku, tona ingoa ko Tegei. O ina ki te ta'u takotonga, noko 'eha i te manaha na gaabaki, o hai ake tena maanatu, mano tona uguugu kua taa'ia i na ta'u tako- tonga, e 'eha nei, manga sa'u ake tena kiba, o tuatua ai te maganga'e kae toghi kinai te taginga, kae ma- gepe hano, i te me'a gaa, noko he'e na'a e ia, po tehea te takotonga o tona uguugu.

64. Ka tematou boo 'anga o hakaputu ma'u ki Temaige o mo- moe ai, ko kimatou noko he'e gaoi,

58. When [they] bathed, [they] bathed in a single place; the men and women were naked, [it] made no difference, and the men looked and the women also looked and were unashamed.

59. After the night of the beating had turned to dawn, and morning came, there was more beating, and some of them broke [bones] of other people. 60. Some chased other people, and some people gave help. Others just watched as back- bones were broken, and [people] fell to the earth, apparently all dead, but [they] did not die, nor were their bones broken. All the people who were beaten [then] lived.

61. After three days, some of us changed our minds about fleeing to an- other place, as we were tired of the very wicked acts at Niupani, and we decided that we would go to the settlement named Temaige [at] (the lake). 62. So [we] went there, but I decided that our group would leave Niupani later, and [we] dug graves for the dead people. There were many men and women. At three in the after- noon we buried the killed people, and then we followed the first to go.

63. Then there came back down one person who had run away and slept in the bush, his name being Tegei. [He] saw the graves, so many in the deserted vil- lage, and he thought that perhaps his wife had been killed among those buried, so many there, and he took out his knife and lacerated his forehead and tore his ear and wailed, walking about as he did not know which was the grave of his wife.

64. Our departure and gathering to- gether again at Temaige and sleeping there were not good, and [we] did the evil

400

Page 416: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(A)

noko ma hai ma'u na hai 'anga songo, noko ma hai i Niupani, no- ko tutu'u ma'u ai na taauga gogoi o hakamatakutaku ma'u ia pegea o matataku.

65. Te tasi poo na manga sa'aki ai kimatou o prayer kia God, noko ma noho pe te ngutu e tasi, namaa 'aoina i te mahoata, o hakaputu o hai tematou soginga kia God, noko hai e au tona meeting. 66. Kae tu- 'ake te hu'aihakahua omatou (Tau- pongi) i te uso o te hakaputunga, o sa'u ake e ia te pikisa o Jesus, o pipiki, noko hakatu'u ki te 'ugu o angatu'a mai kia te kimatou. 67. Kae hakaanga 'ago mai te pikisa kia te kimatou, i te me'a gaa noko he'e sia hai kia te au, noko hai te meeting, noko hai mai: "Noka tau- tou hiina'i kia Moa, e songo, kae manga hiina'i mai ki te 'ata o te 'Aitu." Manga hekeu'aki atu kia Taupongi, noko pipiki e ia te piki- sa, e hakahegeu mai te ngutu, o te pikisa. 68. Ko kigatou noko he- langalanga'aki toto'a, ki te hai 'anga hakagegema'ugi noko hai, e te 'ata o te 'Aitu.

69. Namaa 'oti tematou soginga kae tu'ake te hu'aihakahua omatou o ungaunga mai kimatou taki haka- toka ke togu ona hakatokanga, ta'ana, ma ta'a Moa, ma ta'a Te- gheta. 70. O hai mai: "To'atu e koe Moa teenaa tu'uganga o hano bagi- takugu; kae to'atu e koe Tegheta teenaa tu'uganga o hano^ matangi, ka kimatou giu ki gago." 71. Ma'ogi o to'o e au kogaa o boo ki Hutuna, kae to'o e Tegheta kogaa o boo ki Tigoa, o hai ai e kimatou na hekau o te SDA, kae hoki a Taupongi ki Niupani, o hai ai te hekau o te SSEM, kae boo teegaa mi'itu'uga- nga ki Tebaitahe, o hai e kigatou te ingoa o te Church of England.

72. Namaa hakapau e kimatou na hekau, kae hai ma'u tematou pugenga i te November. Noko hai ake tematou pugenga, ke to|!o te gongo nei ke gongo ai ba'i kakai

things [we] had done at Niupani. And the lying mediums stood up again and frightened people again so [they] were afraid.

65. One night we were all at prayer to God, all as though with a single mouth, and at dawn we assembled in the morning to worship God, and I was conducting His meeting. 66. And our high chief (Taupongi) stood up in the center of the group and he took out a picture of Jesus and held [it], and stood [it] on his head, and turned his back to us. 67. But he turned the picture to face us because [he] did not like me as [I] was conducting the meeting, saying: "Don't you look at Moa, [he] is bad, but just look at the picture of the Lord." So [everyone] turned towards Taupongi who was holding the picture, and the mouth of the picture spoke. 68. They were greatly astonished at this amazing occurrence that had happened with the picture of the Lord.

69. After our worship our high chief suggested that we arrange ourselves sep- arately in three groups, his, Moa's and Tegheta's, 70. Saying: "You, Moa, take that group and go south; you, Tegheta, take that group and go east, and we will go back west." 71. So I took some [peo- ple] and went to Hutuna, and Tegheta took others and went to Tigoa, and we did the worship of the SDA, and Tau- pongi went back to Niupani and did the worship of the SSEM, and another small group went to Tebaitahe and they took the name of the Church of England.

72. After we had determined our ac- tions, We had another meeting in No- vember. Our meeting decided to take this news so that every settlement would hear this momentous news. 73. After our coun-

401

Page 417: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(A)

'anga i te hu'aigongo teenei. 73. Namaa pau teinatou pugenga nei, hakapau a Taupongi o hano i Mu- gaba nei, o 'ati gongo hano ki ba'i kakai 'anga, o hetae ki Kaagua i Mugihenua, o sa'aki o ti'aki agatou hai 'anga mai gaa 'aso, kae sa'aki o sogi ki te 'Aitu e i te gangi.

74. Kae tu'u a Moa o to'o te gongo nei ki Mugiki. Noko toka- hitu pegea noko tata'o'ia ia te au, noko tokabagu kia te au. Noko gua omatou baka, tokahaa ia, kae toka- haa ia. 75. Noko oko to'a te moa- na, na poi mamate ai kimatou, gua baka noko maasasaki ma'u; noko 'agu ai te mangoo i te tasi baka, 0 matataku ai ki tegatou tatangi, ma tegatou ngengege mai ki to'o- matou baka ka noko si'ai kinai ma- 'aku he 'aabakinga, na he'e a'ago, noko manga tahea o hiina'i. 76, Teegaa taku hekau noko manga hai, taku sogi ki te God, namaa te tasi gholoba, sopo mai te hakaato- ato mai te 'ago o Mugiki, o ghali to'a mai ki gu omatou baka, namaa hetae mai te hakaatoato, manga sa'u amatou hoe, o boo o tau ki Tigoa (Mugiki). 77. Ma iai na mi- 'ipegea, ka na tege ake teegaa rni- 'ipegea, o hai gongo ki ba'i pegea 1 te uso o Mugiki, o boo iho ke hiina'i kia te au. 78. Noko boo iho o hakaanuanu mai: "Po ko koe te hai ngaa?" O hai atu au: "E to'o mai e au te gongo e hai ona noho ki Mugiki nei." Sui kigatou o hai gongo mai: "Ko Mugiki nei e iai te hu'aitau'a." O hai atu au: "Ke ma hakagata. Ko au e a'u kau hai gongo kia te koutou kaatoa."

79. Namaa tokagima 'aso i te ahiahi, o hai e kimatou te soginga, hai atu au kia te kigatou hakaputu mai o hakagongo. Kae tu'u au o hai e au te meeting. 80. Ko kigatou noko hegegema'ugi'aki i te hu'ai- gongo noko hai gongo ai e au. Ko kigatou noko hakagongo ho'ou ki- nai, o helangalanga'aki toto'a, ma te hematesisigi'aki ma tegatou matata-

cil had finished, Taupongi decided to go all over Rennell, telling every people as [he] went, and [he] went as far as Kaagua in Mugihenua, and everyone gave up his traditional customs, and everyone prayed to God in heaven.

74. Moa would take this news to Bel- lona. Seven people came with me, eight including me. We had two canoes, four in this and four in that. 75. The sea was very windy and we were in danger of dying, and the two canoes furthermore were weak; a shark was following one canoe, and they were afraid of it and cried out and called to our canoe, but I could be of no help and did not paddle but just drifted and waited. 76. All I did was to pray to God, and then a calm place came in from the shore of Bellona and instantly came towards our two canoes, and when the calm reached our canoes, we picked up our paddles and came in to land at Tigoa (Bellona). 77. There were children there, and some children ran this way, and others ran up, telling everybody inland on Bellona, and [they] came down to see me. 78. [They] came and asked: "What have you come for?" I said: "I bring strange news to you here on Bellona." They then said: "There is a big fight here on Bellona." I said: "No matter. I have come so that I may tell you all something."

79. At five that afternoon we held worship and I told them to come together and listen. And I began to conduct the meeting. 80. They were astonished at the great news I told them. They heard this for the first time and were much surprised, and exclaimed in fear at hearing such strange news.

402

Page 418: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 23S(A)

ku i te me'a gaa noko hakagongo ki te gongo e hai oaa noho.

81. Namaa 'oti tematou soginga kae maseu, ko kigatou noko hegeu toto'a, kae ngague kau hakaneke ki mouku, kae tuku e au te tokahitu pegea noko tata'o mai ia te au, o noko ma hiina'i i tai. Kae kakabe e te launatahi pegea tauiku ia te au. 82. Kae boo kimatou, o tutu taku peba, o boo ai a kimaaua o kakabe e ia ia te au, o boo aano hetae ki te launatahi manaha gaabaki, o tu- ku ai e ia ia te au. 83. Kae hano, ki te hu'aihakahua o te tau'a, o hai gongo kinai, manga gongo te hu'ai- hakahua o te tau'a, o ungaunga ki tena kano tau'a o boo iho kia te au. I te tu'u gua poo o bilaabei kimaaua, o hehaka'atu'atu'aki a ki- maaua.

84. Noko 'eha to'a tao, ma na 'aakisi, ma na 'uu, ma na ga'akau noko to'iho e kigatou. Namaa hegeu aano a kimaaua, hai atu au: "Ko au ka he'e hai gongo kia te koe i te poo nei, ioo 'ao, kau go hai gongo Ida te koe." 85. Manga nguu mai, kae hai mai: "Ko kima- tou e giu." Kae moe launatahi au i te manaha gaabaki.

86. Namaa 'aoina hakaputu mai te 'apitanga o ba'i pegea, o hai atu au: "E sia hai au ke hai he soginga ki te 'Aitu e i te gangi." Noko 'api to'a taangata ma haahine, he'e na'a e au po noko hia, mano noko haanga gau. 87. Kae tu'u au o hai te meeting, o hai gongo au kia te kigatou na 'atua atatou kua ti'aki e kimatou. Ko kigatou noko hege- gema'ugi'aki o matataku. Namaa 'oti taku meeting, kae hakaputu a Mugiki kaatoa, 'api, o puge, puge soko a kigatou. 88. Noko hai ake tegatou pugenga, ke hakaiho te sangatau'a nei, ka ke hakagongo ki te gongo e to'o mai e Moa. Kogaa pegea noko he'emamaka, kae 'api to'a te mangangao.

89. Hakagongo kinai au o ma- gaohie au, i te me'a gaa noko gaoi

81. After our worship had disbanded, they talked very earnestly, and I made ready to go inland, and I left the seven people who had accompanied me, and they stayed on the beach. An old man went with me. 82. And we went on, and I lit my light, and we went on, he with me until we came to a place with no peo- ple, and he left me. 83. And went to the supreme leader of the fight and told him, and the supreme leader of the fight listened and said to a warrior to come down to me. At midnight we met and greeted each other.

84. There were very many spears, axes, bundles of arrows, clubs which they brought down. When we talked, I said: "I'm not going to speak to you tonight, tomorrow I'll tell you." 85. [He] just said all right and said, "We are going back." I slept alone in the uninhabited place.

86. At daylight everybody gathered together, and I said: "I wish to worship the Lord in heaven." There were many, many men and women, how many I don't know, perhaps four hundred. 87. So I conducted the meeting and told them that we had abandoned our gods. They were surprised and fearful. After my meeting was over, all the Bellona people gathered together, very many, and debated, they debated alone. 88. Then they announced the results of the meeting, to end the fight and listen to the word Moa was bringing. Some people did not agree, but very many agreed.

89. I listened and was pleased, as they had had a good council. So I went back

403

Page 419: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(A)

tegatou pugenga. Kae tu'u au o 'aabaki 'aahua au i gua tau'a, hano au o baakogikogi ia te kigatou ma taku 'ati gongo kia te kigatou. 90. Ka noko iai na pegea, noko he'e- mamaka, taku hu'aihekau i te poo ma te 'ao, taku sehu 'aahua ia te kigatou. Namaa ina au ki na pegea noko he'emamaka, hai ake taku maanatu, kau taa'ia gu 'amatou 'atua. Hano au ki te tokagua haka- hua o hakahegeu kinai, hai atu ki- nai au: "Gu atatou 'atua e sia hai kau taa'ia." 91. Ka gua hakahua noko matataku, noko hai mai: "Mano he'e 'aonga." O hai atu au: "Ko au e tu'uganga i te to'a o God." loo mugi o mangangao. 92. O kakabe e kigaaua ia te au, o boo 0 tuiaki kia te au. Namaa hetae kinai kimatou, hakaputu kirnatou o sogi ki te 'Aitu e i te gangi, kae he'agiko gua hakahua i te mouku, 1 te me'a gaa noko matataku ki gua 'atua kaa taa'ia. 93. Namaa 'ati taku sogi ki te 'Aitu i te gangi, kae taa tohitohi e au i te 'aakisi kae giu iho kirnatou ki te hakatahinga, o ngengege atu kinai: "Gua 'atua kua taa'ia!"

94. Na hu'ai'agiki noko he'ika- 'ika'aki toto'a. Ko au noko mataku ma'u kinai. Taku tegeu'a mano ki- tai taa e kigatou ia te au, kae hai ake e kigatou: "Ko Moa kaa mate." 95. Noko logu toto'a e kigatou ia te au kau mate, namaa hiina'i aano kigatou kia te au, pau au o he'e mate. Hai ake te maanatu a na 'agiki, mano e ma'ogi te gongo a Moa i te school, e te taa'ia gua 'atua atatou, kae he'e masaki, o he'e mate. Noko kogaa na noho agatou hegeunga.

96. loo mugi o hakaiho te sanga- tau'a, te hu'aihekau, te hakanoka 'anga o te sangatau'a. Ko au noko 'aabaki to'a kia te kigatou. Noko 'eha to'a taauga 'atua, ma na taau- ga takotonga. Na taauga noko 'eha to'a agatou hegeunga, ka ko au noko he'e too kinai.

and forth between the two sides of the fight, and conciliated them [and] prayed and talked to them. 90. There were some people who did not agree, and so my great task was to walk back and forth between them. When I saw people who did not agree, I said that I had decided to destroy our two gods. I went to the two chiefs and spoke to them, saying: "I want to destroy our two gods." 91. The two chiefs were afraid and said: "Maybe better not." I said: "I rely on the power of God." Then [they] were willing. 92. They took me and guided me. Arriving there, we gathered close together and prayed to the Lord in heaven, and then the two chiefs ran away to the bush be- cause they were afraid of the two gods who were to be destroyed. 93. After finishing my prayers to the Lord in heaven, I broke [the stone gods] to bits with my axe, and then we went back to the gathering, calling out to it: "The two gods have been destroyed!"

94. The important chiefs were very angry. I too was afraid of them. I thought they might kill me, as they kept saying: "Moa is going to die!" 95. They tried hard to kill me by predictions that I was to die, but as they looked at me, I was not at all dead. The chiefs were of the opinion that perhaps Moa was telling the truth about the religion, as he had destroyed our two gods and was neither sick nor dead. Such was their talk.

96. Then there was to be a cessation of fighting, and I busied myself to bring the fighting to an end. I helped them very much. There were many mediums of gods and of ancestors. The mediums had much to say, but I did not believe them.

404

Page 420: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 23S(A)

97. Namaa te tahi 'aso, hai e kigatou te launatahi hakatahinga, ka noko boo ake na pegea noko tata'o ia te au, o ako e kigatou te launatahi singi ki na pegea noko i te hage, noko iai na hu'aihakahua. 98. Ka na hakagongo kinai te lau- natasi hakahua, tona ingoa ko Te- 'aamagu, o hai atu kinai: "Boo atu o singi i he kunga, e songo." Namaa 'oti tena kupu nei, kae 'eke kinai te masaki tina'e, noko ghali to'a, o hakaputu kinai, o sogi ai ki te 'atua agatou. Noko 'eha to'a aga- tou soginga. Ka na pau O1 mate te 'agiki. O magepe ai a kigatou, kae ngague ke penapena (ke 'ahii), namaa ina kinai au ki te magepe- nga, ungaunga au ki tematou tu- 'uganga, o boo ake o sogi ai a ki- matou ki te 'Aitu i te gangi. Namaa 'oti tematou soginga, kae 'oso atu au ki te gima, o baa'aga mai e au, o 'aga, o tangi, e ma'ugi hoki. 99. Namaa hiina'i kinai te hakatahinga, o hai e kigatou te hu'aipugenga, mano e ma'ogi ke hakaiho'aki ka ke school. Noko 'eha masaki, noko ma hakagata te pegea te sogi ai ia te kimatou, o ma'ugi.

100. Namaa te tahi 'aso hano au ki te launatahi manaha, noko iai te hahine, noko manga sehu i na tugi haangongo, noko 'eha to'a ona ghapu. Tona ingoa ko Matanga'a. Hano au o sogi ai, kae hano au. Namaa gua 'oku 'ao na sigi i Sa- 'aiho, kae hoki mai kinai au, ma sopo iho i te hage e sehu i na ta- pungao. To'o mai e ia na 'ota'ota, 0 'aumai kia te au. Noko giu'aki tena sehu 'anga.

101. Namaa 'oti te hiina'i a Mu- giki ki na hai 'anga noko konei na noho, pau a kigatou o hai ake kiga- tou, hehakaiho'aki ke 'oti tegatou hu'aitau'a. Ka na ma'ogi, o he- hakaiho'aki, kae school. O hai aga- tou hage sogi. Na togu 'oku ma- hina i taku hakapata 'anga kia te kigatou, kae hakamahoga kinai au, 1 te me'a gaa, kua ti'aki agatou hai

97. One day they held a meeting, and the people accompanying me went to it, and taught a hymn to the people in the house where there were important chiefs. 98. One chief named Te'aamagu was listening and said: "Go and sing some- where else; that is bad." After saying this, he became very sick in his stomach, very sudden, and [people] gathered about him and prayed to their gods. They prayed very much. But the chief died. They lamented and were preparing to wrap (bundle) his body, but I saw the mourning, and I suggested that our group go and that we pray to the Lord in heaven. After our worship was over, I picked up [the man's] hand and I pulled [him] up, and [he] came back to life and wept and was well once more. 99. When the crowd saw this, they held a big meeting and decided that perhaps they should bring an end to the fighting and become Christians. There were many sick people and it made no difference, whom- ever we prayed for was healed.

100. One day I went to a village where there was a woman who could only crawl on her knee caps, and was very old. Her name was Matanga'a. I went and prayed for her and then I left. Two days later at Sa'aiho [place] I went back to her and [she] came out of the house, walking on the soles of her feet. She brought things to give me. Recompense for her walking.

101. When the Bellonese people had all seen events of this kind, they all de- cided to bring to an end their great fight. So [they] made peace and became Chris- tians. They built a church. I had been with them for three months, and I bade them farewell because they had abandoned their activities of the past and all prayed to the Lord in heaven. So I

405

Page 421: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(A)

'anga mai gaa 'aso, kae pau o sogi ki te 'Aitu e i te gangi. Kae mugi au o hakamahoga kia te kigatou, o ki- gatou noko magepe toto'a i taku hoki mai 'anga.

102. Namaa hoki mai au ki Mu- gaba nei, a'u au o 'ati gongo ki na ta'u 'agiki o Mugaba nei, kae ka- kabe o giu ngatahi kinai kimatou, o hiina'i giu kinai ma pau o gaoi. Giu mai ma'u a kimatou o haka- toka aano, hetae mai ki te 'aso nei. Teenei tona 'oti 'anga.

said goodby to them, and they lamented grieviously my departure.

102. When I came back here to Rennell, I came here and told the chiefs of Rennell and went with them and we returned there [Bellona] together, and stayed there again, and everything was all right. So we returned and have lived on until today. This is the ending.

NOTES I had heard only vague hints about the Niupani madness, and was hesitant about asking

questions on so delicate a matter. Then one day Moa called at my house with the entire story on 14 closely written pages. Moa used Gospel spelling (Chapter 1, Section 5) with both the b and v, and almost no glottal stops. The only punctuation in the entire manuscript consisted of seven periods. Moa read the manuscript to me, making some changes, especially in the last part. We had three long sessions, some longer than 2 hours. The Niupani people were perfectly willing to talk about the madness, including Luke, Job, Taumoana, and even Tegheta, the last two having played active roles. No one felt the slightest regret or guilt. Everything was punish- ment from the Christian God.

Moa used certain English words: School (usually but not always pronounced sikulu) is the common name for Christianity; other English words included God, SSEM, SDA, Church of England, Adventist mission, pastor, Western, rations, flour, meeting, prayer, Jesus, dog, and picture.

1. mataa'u: inataa a'u. 9. Andrew and Thomas: in answer to my question. 10. gahwnanu: the usual name for government. Later, Moa pronounced the English word.

hage: The first period in the manuscript was here. 11. Kagobai: Plate 3, Lughu line, G20. 12. SE: "Did Kagobai help build the house?" Moa: "No." 13. Tipaika: Genealogy 2, G19.

15. SSEM: South Seas Evangelical Mission, one of the two groups active today on the two islands.

16. Informants showed me the grave, a thicket near the beach at Kagaba, the identification being a hibiscus bush with red flowers.

17. SDA: Seventh Day Adventist, the other active group. Moa was an SDA. 27. Taupongi: Aaron Taupongi (Chapter 2; Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line, G20). 30. taauga gogoi: Moa translated this as "false prophets", and often repeated the phrase both

in English and Rennellese. (I have kept our translation of taauga as "medium." This was their main function in the culture.) Luke, who was listening, explained that the missionaries did not want the Rennellese to keep the Sabbath as long as they were worshipping Satan too. This is why the prophets were "false." The ensuing troubles were the consequence.

31. Taumata: younger brother of Headman Tegheta. Giusaga: older brother of Headman Tahua and chief before Stephen Puia. The two of

them kept the Sabbath, and this started the punishment. hakapipiki: Moa wrote "punish" in his manuscript but substituted the Rennellese word

when dictating. In their conversations the Renellese usually used the English word to refer to God's "punishment." (This and their preference for the Bible in English over the Rennellese translation might indicate that to the Rennellese, English is the language of God.)

On another occasion I questioned God's "punishment" of the Rennellese and said that the Christian God was, in theory, one of love. The Rennellese immediately mentioned the com- mandments in the Old Testament, and I dropped this dangerous subject.

35. Moa and probably Aaron Taupongi were in the group that prayed to Semoana. Taumo- ana was one of the three praying to the Christian God.

36-37. Moa explained that, according to the false prophets, single persons would be barred from heaven. Taumoana said that he "married" his tuhahine, Esther Teika'ato (really a remote cousin). On my questioning, he added that they had not slept together. On the second reading, there was laughter about tSe lame people.

406

Page 422: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(A)

Verses I-II (see pages 394-395) of Moa's manuscript. While dictating from his manuscript Moa made slight changes. See Notes and Figure 4 showing Moa in 1933.

27 407

Page 423: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 23S(A)

41. taauga gogoi: Namona, Temege, and Telaka from the old religion, and many new ones. 44. SE: "How badly did the women burn their hair?" Moa: "Not too much. Four women

opposed Christianity, including Tahonu and Tebegi. She was soon killed." Hair was sometimes burned in mourning.

45. Jesus: pronounced Sisas. 47: siko: catch. Moa said that they were very strong, indeed. For felling coconuts in time of

excitement, see N 210:11. 48. The victim was Teumogo (also called Sa'obaa), a young married man who had been at

the mission school. Taumoana said he hit him first, and then Headman Tegheta killed him with a club. Taumoana said that neither he nor Tegheta knew what they were doing. This was just the "punishment."

50. The third reading on Sunday, February 23, lasted from about 11:00 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. The informants explained that before Christianity they had had many sores on their legs and arms, but that the white man had cured them. Those with sores would not be accepted in heaven and hence were to be killed.

52. Puakina was still alive, and about 45. He was rather taciturn. He was ordinarily called Samu (Psalm).

55. Note by Taupongi 1961: Ko Tegheta, noko 'ati gongo na pea

mai Mugaba, o hakagongo kinai au, noko taa'ia e te sasa 'anga a Niupani. Tuki kingatou te 'ungu, o Tegheta, ma na mata, ma te tino, o pau o Tegheta o mate. Ma te boo atu na pea o hai atu kia Aaron, ko Tegheta ku mate. Ma te hai atu a Aaroni: "Noka ke mate." Ma te a'u a Maamata, noko iai te angel, o pusi e ia na pongaa isu, ma ngu mata, ma ngua tanginga, ma te ngutu. Kae tau i te angengo o hakama'u e ia, kae tau i te gima, o Hakatu'u e ia te manga teka, ma te ma'ugi a Tegheta i te taa 'anga e na pengea noko sasa o pau o mate.

As for Tegheta, the people from Rennell told the story, and I heard about how [he] was killed by the mad people at Niupani. They hit Teghe- ta's head and face and body, and Tegheta died. And people went and told Aaron that Tegheta was dead. Aaron said: "[He] should not die." Maamata, in whom there was an angel, came and he blew into the nostrils, and the two eyes, and two ears, and mouth. And he held the tongue firmly, and held his arms, and he pulled [him] who had been lying down, and Tegheta came to life again after being killed dead by the people who were mad.

Taupongi in fast speech said pea for pengea (person). 56. Two women were killed (Temoni and Tebegi) and three men (Teumogo, Teikagei, Na-

mona). 58. SE to Luke on February 23: "Where were you during the killing?" Luke: "I was there

but just watched." SE: "Who did the killing?" Luke: "Tegheta and Taupongi." SE: "Did they use clubs?" Luke: "Yes." SE: "Did you take a wife?" Luke: "I was not married then. I was about the size of Puia [about 15]. I didn't believe the mediums and didn't want to take a wife. I just waited at the house." SE: "Did you go bathing with the group?" Luke: "Yes, I was there. The men and women wore no calico. They were not in the least ashamed." (Ordinarily, places for bathing and defecation are separate.)

59. Taumoana: "It was not our thought to beat and kill. God sent us to do it, the punish- ment. God in heaven wanted some to live and they lived. Others, He wanted to die."

62. The people were buried at the rear of Niupani village, near the present ball field. There are no grave markers.

63. Tegei is now dead. His wife, Paieke, had not been killed, and now lives at Matangi, and has remarried. Cutting the forehead and tearing the ears in mourning; continued even after 1938.

64. SE: "Was there killing here?" Moa: "No. No more killing, but the mediums told lies, saying that God was speaking to them, just lies." Luke: "Some people could think now. Their heads were good. They called the mediums liars."

67. SE: "Did the picture really speak?" Taumoana: "Yes, I saw very clearly. There was no speaking. Just the mouth moved, just like a moving picture." SE: "How big was the picture?" (Job jumped up and ran to Stephen's house. He quickly returned with SDA charts with pictures from the Bible. The picture measured about 18 by 23 inches.) Job: "This was not the picture, but it was like this." Malachi, Luke, Job, Stephen, Taumata, and Moa were present and agreed that the lips had moved. Taumoana said that Moa should have said 'ata instead of pikisa, an English word.

71. SE: "Was the trouble over?" Moa: "Yes. We had given up the old gods and were all right." The Church of England is no longer on Rennell and Bellona.

72. All this happened during the month of October 1938. 75. Many canoes have been lost in the 15 miles between Rennell and Bellona. See N232.

408

Page 424: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 235(A), 235(B)

81. SE: "Were the men afraid to go inland?" Moa: "No. They wanted to guard the canoes." 83. SE: "Did you shake hands in greeting?" Moa: "No. We pressed noses." (Perhaps they

made ceremonial speeches in the old style now obsolete. Today people shake hands without speaking.)

84. SE: "Any guns or knives?" Moa: "No." 90. From here on, the dictated account did not exactly follow the manuscript.

hakahua: one of the two chiefs was Takiika, still alive today (Genealogy 7, G21).

SE

(B) Jasper Tekobi of Niupani, RE. November 9, 1958. 1. I te ghapu 1935 hinake te

"Evangel" o tu'u i Kagaba o uta ai te tokahaa pegea, ogatou ingoa ko Puia ma Giusaga ma Temoa ma Puka. Noko hakaako i 'Onepusu o tokaono mahina, kae giu ake o 'ati gongo i te gongo gaoi. 2. O he'e sia hakagongo kinai te 'apitanga, ka ko kigatou noko he'e toto'a ke hai hekau i te gongo gaoi, noko boo o hakaako ai.

3. Namaa 'oti te tokatogu ghapu, hai te maanatu a te 'agiki o Tegano o hai tena hakatahinga, o sia hai kia pegea ke hakaputu ki Niupani, ke haangai e Taupongi i te hu'aiu- tunga. Ka na boo mai ma'u te tu- 'uganga mai Lughu o hakapigi ki- nai. 4. Namaa sigi te tokagua 'ao ma gua poo, namaa te 'ao noko togu kinai i tona ahiahi, noho a Nika i te aga singa o Niupani, o noko ma hegeu ma na pegea, ma no maa hakagongo ki te uguugu o Taupongi e gehu ki te uguugu o Nika. 5. Hakagongo kinai a Nika o tu'u o ngege ki te gangi o kogaa na to'o: "Hai iho he hai 'anga ke hiina'i kinai." Hakagongo iho kinai a Tegheta, noko tunihenua, o tohu iho ki te gotomaga'e o gehu ki na pegea noko hetata'i. 6. Ma te ngege ma'u ia Taupongi o kogaa na to'o: "Taupongi mogi! Taupongi mogi! Taupongi mogi!" Hakagongo ake kinai a Taupongi, noko manga ina hakapigi ki te takotonga o te ta- mana. Tu'u o hinake kia Tegheta, o noko ma noho o hakagongo, ka ma gehu kinai a Tegheta. 7. Aano hakaputu a pegea o 'oti o haka-

27*

1. In the year 1935 the "Evangel" came up [to Rennell] and stopped at Ka- gaba and took four people on board, their names being Puia and Giusaga and Temoa and Puka. They studied in 'One- pusu for six months and returned and told about the good news [Gospel]. 2. But people did not want to listen to them because they were not strong in their work for the good news which they had gone and studied.

3. When three years had passed, the chief of the Lake decided to have a feast, and asked people to gather in Niupani, so that Taupongi might feed [them] with a huge amount of food. And the group from Lughu also came here and stayed with them [the Niupani people]. 4. After two days and nights had passed, and on the third day in the late afternoon, Nika sat down on the Niupani bypath and talked with the people, and he then heard Taupongi's wife scold Nika's wife. 5. Nika heard them and stood up and shouted to heaven, and said this: "May some happening come down [for us] to see it." Tegheta, who was priest-chief, heard this and went down to the cult grounds and scolded the people who were fighting. 6. And then [he] shouted to Taupongi and said this: "Stupid Tau- pongi! Stupid Taupongi! Stupid Tau- pongi!" Taupongi was staying close to his father's grave and heard this. [He] got up and went to Tegheta, and then sat down and listened, and Tegheta scolded him- 7. All the people gathered together and listened to him. This event happened after Tegheta had gone to the bush and prayed to God in heaven. Tegheta was priest- chief and assumed the role of sacred sup-

409

Page 425: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(B)

gongo kinai. Ka te hai 'anga nei noko mugi i te hano 'anga a Teghe- ta ki mouku o sogi ai ki te 'Atua i te gangi. Ka ko Tegheta noko tuni- henua, o uta e ia te ta'otu'a o Te- hu'aigabenga. Hoki iho ki hage o angai i te kaainga o te ta'otu'a. 8. Aano hakaputu a pegea ke sogi i te gotomaga'e. Tohu iho ma'u kinai a Tegheta noko tunihenua o 'aaba- ki ai. Noko hakaputu kinai a taa- ngata ma haahine o 'oti ki te goto- maga'e, aano 'oti. 9. Tu'u te launa- tahi pegea o hakahegeu hano ki te gongo gaoi. Aano 'oti, ma te tu'u a Tegheta o tuku na pegea ke sogi. 10. Kae maseu i te ahiahi poo'ugi, 0 noko ma taki hakatoka. Aano tu'u a Tegheta o ngege hoki i te 'apitanga ke hakaputu giu ki te go- tomaga'e. 11. O hakahegeu kinai a Tegheta o kogaa na to'o: "Koutou ke hai uguugu; ke 'oti; a tauiku ma na 'atutahi ma tamagiki." Ka na too kinai te 'apitanga o hai uguugu o 'oti; hakagata goa te tama 'iti'iti haauu, ka hai ma'u mo'ona uguugu 1 teegaa mi'ihoto tama 'iti'iti ha- hine. 12. Aano tuku kupu a Teghe- ta o kogaa na to'o: "Te 'aso'ao koutou go boo ai o 'oti, kae toe launatahi a Taupongi i Niupani." I te me'a gaa ko Tegheta noko maanatu ke taa e ia ia Taupongi. 13. Ka te 'apitanga noko he'e mo- moe, manga 'a'aga aano 'ao. Namaa te mahoata, taki boo a pegea o 'oti ke hai baakai, ma te hai utunga ke to'o mai ki Niupani. 14. Giu mai a pegea o 'oti maagatou baakai, maagatou utunga. Tu'u a Tegheta o unga ke hakaputu ki te 'ago hage o 'oti a pegea ngatahi. 15. O hai atu a Tegheta ki te 'apitanga: "Ko kitatou hai ke boo ki te gangi i te 'aso nei." Kae tu'u a Tegheta o ngege ki te 'apitanga o hai atu: "Ke tau ake ke ma'u i te hage nei, na'e hai ke hano ki te gangi." 16. Ngege hoki a Tegheta ki te gangi o kogaa na to'o: "Haanoo! Haanoo! Haa- noo!" He'e hano te hage; aano unga

porter of Tehu'aigabenga. [Tegheta] re- turned to the house and faced the sleeping place of the sacred supporter. 8. Then people gathered to pray on the cult grounds. Tegheta, who was priest-chiet, went down there again and joined them. All the men and women gathered on the cult grounds. 9. One man began to discuss the good news while walking about. Then Tegheta stood up and ordered people to pray. 10. But [they] scattered in the evening and sat separately [each in his own house]. Tegheta then called the people again to gather again on the cult grounds. 11. And Tegheta talked to them and said this: "You must all marry, old people, young men, and children." And people believed this, and all took wives, even suckling infants took as wives tiny female infants. 12. Then Tegheta made a promise and said this: "Tomorrow you will all go away, and Taupongi will be left alone in Niupani." [This] was because Tegheta planned to kill Taupongi. 13. And people did not sleep, but stayed awake until day. In the morning, all the people went separately to fetch firewood and fetch food to bring here to Niupani. 14. All the people re- turned with their firewood and their food. Tegheta then ordered all the people to gather inside his house. 15. And Tegheta said to the people: "We will be going to heaven today." Tegheta then shouted to the people and said: "Cling firmly to this house, because [it] will go to heaven!" 16. Tegheta shouted again towards the heavens and said this: "Go! Go! Go!" The house did not go; and Tegheta gave [the] order again and said this to the people: "Go and make ovens in which to prepare rations for going to heaven."

410

Page 426: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(B)

hoki a Tegheta o kogaa na to'o i te 'apitanga: "Boo atu o hai 'umu ke 'oso ai, ke boo ki te gangi."

17. Heuguhi a pegea o hai 'umu o tunu utunga, aano gosigosi aga- tou utunga, ka na nohonga noko manga taki to'o angatou utunga, o noko manga taki sogi ai kae kai. Aano ngege hoki a Tegheta ke hakaputu giu te 'ago hage. 18. Ka te hage na he'e 'aonga ki te 'api- tanga. O unga a Tegheta ki te 'api- tanga nekeneke iho te tokagua hage o tu'utaki ai gua potu o te hage. 19. O hai atu a Tegheta: "Gii ake ke ma'u ki na niu e te hage nei, kaa hano ki te gangi." Aano unga ma'u a Tegheta o kogaa na to'o: "Taunga ake ni gege o tau ai ke ma'u." Kae ngege hoki a Tegheta ki te gangi o kogaa na to'o: "Haa- noo! Haanoo! Haanoo!"

20. Aano sui a Moa o ngege, o kogaa na to'o: "Haanoo! Haanoo!" Aano haingata'a te hage ki te gangi. Giu iho i te 'ago o te hage 0 hakaputu ki te gotomaga'e i te ahiahi poo'ugi o hakatokatoka ai, kae unga a Tegheta, ke boo ke to'o na laoa i te gangi. 21. Boo te toka- togu pegea, ogatou ingoa ko Maa- mata ma Temega ma Taumoana. Ko kigatou noko boo ki aba kae hai ake: "Ko kimatou e boo ki te gangi." Kae hitagi ai te 'apitanga 1 te gotomaga'e. Aano hetae giu ake, e to'ake te ta'u hakaagogo, to'ake o tuku i te gotomaga'e, kae hai atu te tokatogu: "Konei outou laoa, e to'iho mai te gangi." 22. Tu'ia te 'apitanga o sisia, kae boo kinai o sa'u ake e kigatou; he'e na laoa, ka na kogoa.

23. Mugi ma'u o hai teegaa hai 'anga. Hakaputu ki te gotomaga'e o noko ma hakatokatoka ai. Kae sehu a Tegheta ki te hakahengeu sehu ia pegea. Namaa te 'aso'ao i te taha'ata unga ma'u a Tegheta ke gosigosi a Niupani, o tahitahi ma te tua niu. 'Oti te gosigosi a Niu- pani, ka e sasa ma'u kogaa pegea.

17. The people went outside and made ovens for roasting food, and prepared their food, and married couples took food only for themselves, and just prayed for themselves and ate. Then Tegheta shouted again [to the people] to gather and return to the interior of the house. 18. But the house was not [large] enough for the crowd. Tegheta ordered the people to lift two houses and connect two ends of the house. 19. And Tegheta said: "Tie and fasten this house to the coconut trees, to go to heaven." Tegheta then gave more orders and said: "Tie slings tightly [to the rafters]." And Tegheta shouted again to heaven and spoke as follows: "Go! Go! Go!"

20. Then Moa shouted and said this: "Go! Go!" But [it] was difficult for the house [to go] to heaven. [People] came back from inside the house and gathered on the cult grounds in the evening and stayed there, and Tegheta gave orders to go and fetch calico from heaven. 21. Three people went, their names being Maamata and Temega and Taumoana. They went towards the coastal settlement and said: "We are going to heaven." And the people waited on the cult grounds. The three came back with a number of used garments, took [them] up and put [them] on the cult grounds, and said: "Here is your calico, brought down from heaven." 22. People were surprised and happy, and went to them and picked [them] up; they were not calico but tapa.

23. Later other events took place. [People] gathered on the cult grounds and sat there. Tegheta walked and spoke to the people. The next day in the morning, Tegheta told the Niupani people to get to work and to sweep and cut down coconut trees. When the Niupani people had finished cleaning, more people went mad. 24. Tegheta then gave orders to fell coco-

411

Page 427: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(B)

24. Aano unga ma'u a Tegheta ke tua niu. Tutu'u na pegea o tua niu. Kae hano a Tegheta o loghoni i te maninia gima ke too ki tu'a te niu, ka na too mai ki goto te niu, i te lologi te gima o te 'atua noko ia Tegheta.

25. Mugi o to'o mai te uka o hakatakoto i te gotomaga'e, kae tu- tu'u kinai, o tutu'u hakapapata ki te uka, kae sasaga na pegea, noko hai ogatou mangeo ke taa. 26. Hano a Tegheta o to'o taki tahi na pegea, noko mageoina o haamoe ki te kege, kae taa i na potu ga'akau, o mamate ai kogaa pegea, kae ma'ugi kogaa pegea, na taangata ma na haa- hine. Kogaa gua pegea noko taa e kigaaua "te 'apitanga, ko Tegheta ma Taupongi. Ka noko taa ai e Tegheta te launatahi pegea, tona ingoa ko Sau'uhi. 27. Noko taa aano e ia, hakagogongo i te malu- ghubei, po kua mate po ma ma'ugi, namaa ghotoi te ba'e o Sau'uhi, taa hakahoki e Tegheta kae hano i te maanatu ake kua mate a Sau'uhi.

28. Kae hoki ake a Tegheta ki te gotomaga'e o hakaingoa ko ia ko God. Kae hano o tohu ki te hage o Taupongi, — kae tohu hoki iho ki haho o noko ma ngege sehu.

29. Ka kua boo te tu'uganga a Lughu i te aga i Tuhugago, o noko ma puge kia Tegheta, ke giu iho kinai ke gii. Ka puge ma'u na pegea i Niupani ke gii ma'u e kigatou. 30. Ka ko Tegheta noko ma ngege sehu i Niupani o kogaa na to'o: "Po ko ai te kaa to'o aku pegeana! Noka aku pegea! Ke kai!" Kae hano ki mugi i Niupani te maatanga kia na pegea, i te maanatu ake te kai to'o e ni pegea a na pegea, noko ma 'ati tona tu'u i mugi Niupani. Nomaa tu'ia i te a'aki kinai te tu'uganga a Lughu, o logi e kigatou o tupe ki te kege, kae ngengege ake kia Tau- pongi o hinaiho o ina kinai. 31.

nut trees. People then felled coconut trees. And Tegheta went and pressed his fore- finger [against a trunk] in order to make the coconut tree fall backwards, but the coconut tree fell inside [the cult grounds] because the hand of the deity which was in Tegheta was weak.

25. Later [people] brought a rope and put it on the cult grounds, and [they] stood near it, stood in a line near the rope, and [Tegheta] looked for people who had sores [from yaws] in order to kill [them]. 26. Tegheta then took one by one people having sores, and made them lie down on the ground, and beat [them] with sticks; and some people died from this and some people survived, men and wo- men. These were the two men who beat people, Tegheta and Taupongi. And Te- gheta hit one man, his name was Sau'uhi. 27. He hit and hit and made [him] feel a burning faggot [to see] if [he] were dead or alive; when Sau'uhi's leg recoiled, Te- gheta hit again and went away with the thought that Sau'uhi had died.

28. And Tegheta returned to the cult grounds and announced that he was God. And [he] went and entered Taupongi's house [omission here to protect per- sons involved; interested scholars may con- sult the authors or Monberg, 1960, page 147] and went down outside again and shouted [while] walking.

29. And the group from Lughu had gone to the Tuhugago trail and there planned about Tegheta, to go back there and tie [him]. And the people from Niu- pani also planned that they too would tie [him]. 30. But Tegheta just walked about in Niupani, shouting as follows: "Who intends to take my people there [whom I have killed]! Leave my people! [They] are to be eaten!" And [he] went behind Niu- pani to look at the [dead] people, plan- ning to take and eat some persons among the persons heaped up in a pile behind Niupani. And the group from Lughu was shocked when arriving there, and they wrestled [with Tegheta] and threw [him] to the ground, and shouted to Taupongi

412

Page 428: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 23S(B)

Hano kinai a Taupongi, ma te 'api- tanga a Niupani, o hiina'i kia Te- gheta. 32. — kae boo ma'u kinai na pegea o baakegekege na kanohi mata; kae ngege a Taupongi ia tona uguugu ma tena tama'abine, o boo mai o hiina'i kinai. 33. Kae sasa ma'u te launatahi pegea, tona ingoa ko Saugogo. O baa'aga e ia ia Te- gheta, o gehu kinai te 'atua noko ia Saugogo. Ka ko Taumoana kua tege ki mouku, o kake i te hu'aiga- 'akau, tona ingoa te 'aoa, o noko ma ngege iho i tona tumu'aki. 34. Kae hiinai'i iho a Saugogo ki te tu'u pegea mamate, noko ma 'ati i te taha paito, o hakama'ugi ai e ia kogaa pegea; kae mugi o haka'igo- ngo e te 'apitanga: "Ko Saugogo e sasa!" O manga 'agu'agu e te 'api- tanga i te aga ki tai. 35. Te toka- gima pegea noko 'agu e kigatou ki te aga ki tai, kogatou ingoa ko Te- kobi ma Pongi ma Tuhenua ma Te- tuha ma Tokahitu. O labu e kigatou o taa e Tetuha kae hakasoi a Te- kobi ma Tuhenua kae kakabe hakahoki iho ki Niupani i te taha- 'ata. 36. Kakabe iho o tuku i mugi Niupani, noko ma takoto ai. Kae maasoko a Niupani o noko ma heupi'aki ma te he'agumi aano 'oti. He'agiko te 'apitanga o pegea; he- 'agiko kogaa ki Temaige, kae he- 'agiko a Lughu ki tai o noho'aki i Tuhugago. Kae toe na pegea o tanu e kigatou na pegea na taa e Tegheta ma Taupongi, kae he'agiko tata'o ki Temaige o momoe ai. 37. Aano taha'ata 'a'aga o sogi kia God. 'Oti tegatou sogi kia God, sasa haka- hoki na pegea ma'u, ogatou ingoa ko Telaka ma Namona ma Temega. O tuha e kigatou ia pegea o taki hai tu'uganga, kae kaunaki e kiga- tou o sogi ma te taugua. Aano mi- 'itaunga gogoa sosopo giu kinai te tu'uganga mai Lughu o hakamata- kutaku a kigatou o 'oti. 38. Kae hakaputu ma'u a pegea o 'oti o sogi kia God. 'Oti te sogi, kae tuha na kakai 'anga ke taki hai hage sogi.

to come and look at him. 31. Taupongi went to him, and [he and] the people of Niupani looked at Tegheta. 32. — [Omis- sion here; see information in verse 28] and again people came and covered his eyeballs with dirt; and Taupongi shout- ed to his wife and her daughter, and [they] came and looked at him [Tegheta]. 33. And another man also became mad, his name being Saugogo. He picked up Tegheta, and the deity that was in Sau- gogo scolded him. And Taumoana ran to the bush and climbed a big tree, its name was the banyan tree, and [he] shouted down from its crown. 34. And Saugogo stayed by the pile of dead people which was heaped up near the kitchen house, and he restored some people to life there; and later people realized: "Saugogo is mad." And people chased [him] on the trail to the sea. 35. The five persons chased [him] on the trail to the sea, their names were Tekobi and Pongi and Tu- henua and Tetuha and Tokahitu. And they took hold [of him], and Tetuha beat [him] but Tekobi and Tuhenua helped [him] and took [him] back to Niupani in the morning. 36. [They] took him down and put him behind Niupani where [he] lay down. And Niupani was chaotic and [people] beat one another and chased one another all over. Most people fled; some fled to Temaige, and the people of Lughu fled to the sea and stayed at Tuhugago. And [some] people were left and they buried the people whom Tegheta and Taupongi had killed, and [then] fled after [the others] to Temaige and slept there. 37. And in the morning [they] woke up and prayed to God. After ending their praying to God, some more people be- came mad; their names were Telaka and Namona and Temega. They divided peo- ple in different sections and they ordered [them] to pray and sing. A short while later, the group from Lughu came back to them and they frightened all [the gods possessing people]. 38. And all the people gathered again and prayed to God. After praying, the district groups split, each to make its church house. Moa and his group to SDA, and the one belonging to

413

Page 429: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(B)

Ko Moa ma ta'ana tu'uganga ki SDA, ma ta'a Taupongi tu'uganga te SSEM. 39. Kae hano a Tegheta ki Tigoa ma ta'ana tu'uganga. Kae giu te tu'uganga noko boo mai Lu- ghu. Kae hakatu'u hage sogi a Te- gano nei i Niupani ma Hutuna ma Tigoa ma Tebaitahe i te week e tahi.

40. 'Oti te hakatu'u na hage sogi, ka maanatu ake a Moa ke hano ki Mugiki ke 'ati gongo i te gongo gaoi. O tuku e Taupongi o hano ki Mugiki. Kae maanatu ma'u a Tau- pongi ki te uso o Kanaba, ke 'ati gongo ma'u i te gongo gaoi. 41. Hano a Moa ki Mugiki, o hakanoka e ia te ta'u ngaguenga a Mugiki, ma te taa e ia gua 'atua noko to'o mai 'Ubea e Kaitu'u ma te tuatinana, a Togo.

42. Kae hano a Taupongi o ka- kabe ia Puia o boo i te uso o Ka- naba o hakanoka e kigaaua te ta'u ngaguenga a Kanaba o 'oti, kae sigi ki Mugihenua o hakanoka e kigaa- ua ma'u na ngaguenga a Mugi- henua. 43. Kae giu mai o noho a Puia i Lughu kae hoki mai a Tau- pongi ki te gano nei. O mano noko launatahi week kae tatae hoki mai a Moa, o 'ati gongo i Mugiki kua ti'aki agatou 'atua ma'agatou nga- guenga.

44. Ko Tegheta na kagohia i te hoki mai 'anga i te mission o he'e teacher, manga sia hai ki na 'atua a'ana, ia Tehainga'atua ma Tehu- aigabenga ma Tuhaitema'ugi. Ki tena giu pa'asi gua: sogi kia God, ma te 'amo i te ngaguenga i Ma- gama'ubea. 45. Aano tatae kinai te hai 'anga o kite ai e Tegheta ma Taupongi ma te 'apitanga, o ti'aki ai te ta'u 'atua, kae pau o 'atua kia God. 46. Kae he'agiko a Te- hainga'atua ma tena hanau ki toga- tou manaha i Manukatu'u, o pau o hiina'i ai. Kae he'agiko a Tehu- 'aigabenga ma ta'ana hanau ki Nu- kuahea, o noko ma hiina'i ai. Manga teegaa te lango giu mai ki

Taupongi to SSEM. 39. And Tegheta went to Tigoa with his group. And the group which had come from Lughu re- turned. And the people of the Lake built churches in Niupani and Hutuna and Ti- goa and Tebaitahe in the same week.

40. After building the churches, Moa thought of going to Bellona, telling about the good news. And Taupongi gave per- mission to go to Bellona. And then Tau- pongi thought of central Kanaba, to tell [there] too about the good news. 41. Moa went to Bellona and he put an end to [the use of] all temples on Bellona, and he destroyed the two [stone] deities which Kaitu'u and his uncle Togo had brought from 'Ubea.

42. And Taupongi went and took Puia [with him] and went to central Kanaba, and they completely put an end to [the use of] all the temples in Kanaba and passed on to Mugihenua, and they also put an end to [the use of] the temples of Mugihenua. 43. And [they] returned, and Puia stayed at Lughu, and Taupongi re- turned here to the lake. And maybe in the same week Moa came back and told about Bellona, that they had abandoned their deities and their temples.

44. Tegheta was punished when he came back from the mission [station], and [he] was not a teacher, but liked his deities, Tehainga'atua and Tehu'aigabe- nga and Tuhaitema'ugi. He worshipped two sides, prayed to God and kept the temple in Magama'ubea. 45. And then the event came, which Tegheta and Tau- pongi and people saw, and [they] gave up all the deities and forever made God their deity. 46. And Tehainga'atua fled with his offspring to their settlement in Manu- katu'u and stayed there forever. And Te- hu'aigabenga fled with his offspring to Nukuahea and stayed there. [They] only sometimes walk about and return here to Rennell, but they have no power to fight

414

Page 430: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 235(B)

Mugaba nei, kae he'e tau 'ao kiga- with the people, [who] have made God tou hakahetata'i ai ki te 'apitanga, their deity. kua 'atua kia God.

NOTES Before going to Rennell, SE kindly gave me a photostat of a Rennellese text from his hand-

written field notes. This text was to be used for training in Rennellese, but I had no time to study it before arriving at Rennell.

On the second day of my stay at Labagu, I started working on the language with Jotham Togaka, and we used the photostat (T235[A]:l-27) as our text. During one of our sessions, Togaka, who was a member of the South Seas Evangelical Mission, remarked that there were some mistakes in the text. He said it was not true that the first mission to arrive after the mur- der of the three teachers in 1910 was the Seventh Day Adventist Mission (T235[A]:17). I did not pursue this matter further, feeling that his remarks reflected some rivalry between the members of the two missions, but decided to examine the whole matter more thoroughly later. Having only the first 27 verses of SE's text, I had no idea of the drama that had taken place in 1938 in Niupani.

About a week later, Togaka mentioned the matter again. He asked if anybody had told me about the sasanga (madness) in Niupani. He then went on outlining the story in pidgin English (I did not know too much Renneliese at that time). He said that perhaps he was wrong about some of the details as he had not been present during the madness. The whole story sounded incredible to me and I expressed slight doubts. Togaka, however, insisted that he had told me the truth and advised me to have it confirmed and corrected at Niupani.

On November 9, while staying in Niupani, I mentioned the matter to Jasper Tekobi, who was at that time president of the South Seas Evangelical Mission community at the lake. He said that he had taken part in the events, and was willing to tell me what had happened. However, he preferred that not too many people be present, lest the family of former priest-chief Tegheta hear what he told and become embarrassed. Tegheta himself was at that time staying on Bel- lona.

During a night session on November 9, and during the afternoon and night of November 10, he told the whole story. Jotham Togaka was present, as was now and then, Job Topue.

For a brief description of the madness, see Monberg 1962. I. 1935: Deck (1945:61) says that the first recruits were taken to the Mission station in 1934.

Puia: Genealogy 2, G20. Giusaga: older brother of Headman Tahua (Genealogy 2, G20). Puka: See Chapter 2, and Deck, 1945:68. 'Onepusu: the Evangelical Mission station on Malaita.

3. te 'agiki o Tega.no: Taupongi (Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line, G19). Taupongi had handed over the title of priest-chief (tunihenua) to his collateral brother, Nika, who had later handed the title over to Tegheta (Plate 3, Mugihenua-Lake line, G20). Tegheta was the acting priest- chief at the time of this feast.

hakatahinga: TM: "What kind of feast did Taupongi intend to make?" Tekobi: "A ritual food offering (giunga) to the gods. But he also wanted to find out who was stronger, God or Tehainga'atua."

4. TM: "Why did Taupongi's wife scold Nika's wife?" Tekobi: "They were arguing about God and Semoana (Tehainga'atua)."

5. Tekobi explained that Nika was asking for a visual proof of God's existence, in the hope that this might settle the religious controversies.

6. Taupongi mogi: Taupongi 1961 explained that mogi meant stupid (hu'ii). However, one could not use the word hu'u about a chief. Tekobi said that this was the first sign that Tegheta had gone mad (sasa). Tegheta was Taupongi's adopted son.

7. Tekobi explained that Tegheta wanted to worship two sides (giu pa'asi gua), both Tehai- nga'atua and the Christian God.

9. ma te tu'u a Tegheta: Compare T235(A):35. II. Tekobi said that it was Tegheta's idea that single persons could not go to heaven. TM:

"Why?" Tekobi: "Tegheta thought so because he was mad." Taupongi 1961 said that he had heard that after Tegheta had given his order, everybody sinned (hai songo), that is, had inter- course.

12. TM: "Was it the living people who were to go to heaven?" Tekobi: "Yes, with the house and food and everything."

13. Tekobi said that people had collected food so as to have something to bring to heaven. Haanoo: emphatic hano. 19. Tegheta wanted some coconut trees to be taken to heaven too. Tekobi explained that in

28 415

Page 431: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXTS 235(B), 236

order to get room for as many people as possible in the houses pieces of cord were tied to the rafters as slings. Married men sat in these.

20. Cotton cloth, or calico, was considered one of the best of the white man's goods. TM: "Why did Tegheta give that order?" Tekobi: "I don't know. Maybe because calico belonged to God and we all wanted to have some."

21. Maamata: younger first cousin of Tegheta. Temega: Taupongi's servant (guani). Taumoana: younger brother of Tegheta. (See Chapter 2.)

24. TM: "Why did Tegheta give orders to fell coconut trees?" Tekobi: "Because he was mad. He did not give orders himself. The deity which had possessed him gave orders." TM: "Which deity was it?" Togaka: "Some said that it was Tehainga'atua, but we did not know." (Tekobi agreed to this statement.) TM: "Could it have been God?" Tekobi and Togaka: "It was not God."

25. I failed to inquire into the function of this rope. 26. Hano a Tegheta o to'o takitahi: TM: "Why did Tegheta separate people with sores?"

Tekobi: "Because he was mad. People with yaws could not go to heaven." TM: "Why did nobody protest?" Tekobi: "Everybody was mad and startled (gegema'ugi)."

28. Tegheta's behavior was highly incestuous. The mother was Taupongi's wife. Tetonga, and the sister was probably Paieke (Tekobi was not certain). TM: "Why did Tegheta do this?" Tekobi: "He was possessed by a god."

29. Among the visitors from Lughu were Togaka's father, Ngatonga, and his older brother, Tagosia (he died during World War II). The people from Lughu were not struck by the madness.

30. Cannibalism was not practiced on Rennell. TM: "Did Tegheta really want to eat his victims?" Tekobi: "Maybe. He was possessed. Only the gods are cannibals (kai pegea)."

32. Tekobi explained that Taupongi also was mad, and wanted to humiliate Tegheta because he had committed incest.

34. TM: "How did Saugogo restore people to life?" Tekobi: "I don't know. I was not there when it happened."

35. Tekobi: informant. Pongi: from Tigoa. Tuhenua: an informant for SE (Chapter 2). Tokahitu: from Hutuna.

36. Temaige: a settlement on the southeastern shore of the lake, near Niupani. 37. One section was to pray and sing to our deities, another to pray and sing to God (Te-

kobi). hakamatakutaku: TM: "How did they terrify the gods?" Tekobi: "By singing [Christian]

hymns." 38. TM: "Was the madness over then?" Tekobi: "Yes, now we all believed in the power of

God." Moa: SE's informant, variant A. SDA: Seventh Day Adventist. Moa made Hutuna (on the southern shore of the lake) the

settlement of the SDA. Niupani, where Taupongi lived, became the center of the SSEM (South Seas Evangelical Mission). Tegheta and his people joined the SDA and went to Tigoa at the east end of the lake. The people of Tebaitahe joined the Melanesian Mission (Church of Eng- land), which is not working on Rennell any longer.

42. Taupongi could not go to the districts of Kanaba because they were hostile to the Lake people. Therefore, he took Stephen Puia, who was chief of the neighboring Matangi district and on friendly terms with the Kanaba people.

44. TM: "Who punished Tegheta?" Tekobi: "God." TM: "How?" Tekobi: "By the mad- ness." TM: "But Tegheta was possessed by the old deities, or was it really the Christian God that possessed him?" Tekobi: "No, God fought against the deity that was in Tegheta."

46. This verse was added to the story as a result of my asking what happened to the deities that had been frightened (hakamatakutaku).

TM

236. Te Mission i Mungiki Christianity on Bellona

Taupongi of Sa'aiho and Paul Sa'engeika of Ghongau, BE. January 4, 1959.

1. Ko Moa, noko a'u tona baka 1. As for Moa, his canoe came from mai Mungaba. Noko tokaono tena Rennell. His party of travelers consisted

416

Page 432: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 236

lango 'anga; kongaa angatou me'a noko to'o mai: te blackboard, ma te buka singi. Tatae mai ki konei, kua heta'aki, o boo kakai i mouku. A'u a Moa o hai tena meeting i Tingoa, o tingi ai ki na 'atua. 2. 'Aoina o hakaneke ake ki Hana- kaba, o hai ma'u tena meeting, o huhu ai ki na 'atua. Boo iho a konei o mata ia Moa ke mate; aano si'ai. Nimaa i teengaa 'aso, tuku muna e Moa a konei ke hehakaiho'aki. Ma te hakaiho mai a Matangi ki Ghongau, kae sui a Ghongau o hakaiho ki Matangi. Nimaa ngaoi a konei.

3. Taa te taukuka o Teaheniu. Boo mai na 'atua o heketi kia Po- ngi ma Tango'eha ma Sanga'eha, o hai ake na 'atua: "Te manaha e hai ke kangohia." Ma te matataku a konei o he'angiko ki mouku. 4. Toe a Moa i te manaha o hetata'i rna na 'atua. Nimaa 'oti, mapu. Kae ngiu iho a konei ki te manaha, o haka- ngongo ki te meeting a Moa, noko tingi ai a Moa ki na 'atua. Nimaa 'oti te hakatahinga, a'u a Moa o tuki ngua hatu 'ungi noko i Nga- benga. 5. Ngenge ai te momo hatu ia Nguatupu'a o tu'u i te tu'aa mata o Moa. Kongaa na pengea noko boo ake o hakakite ngua hatu 'ungi: ko Temoa ma Taaika ma Ta- kiika. Nimaa ngiu iho o momoe, mata e konei ia Moa ke mate. Aano si'ai.

6. Sehu ma'u a Moa o tuki na tapu ma na nganguenga o konei o 'oti. Nimaa masasaki na pengea, tenge ngongo ia Moa ke a'u o songi ai. A'u a Moa o songi ai kae mata e konei, ke nimaa he'e ma'ungi kingatou, noka te too ki tona 'atua. Nimaa rna'u'ungi na pengea noko masasaki, ma te tata'o kinai.

7. Ma te tau mai ma'u te baka o Tangokona ma Puka mai Munga- ba, o to'o mai ma'u teengaa mis- sion, te SSEM. 8. Tutu'u a konei o taki hai church. Na church o

28*

of six; these were the things brought: a blackboard and a songbook. They ar- rived here, [where people] were fighting, and had gone to live in the bush. Moa came and called a meeting in Tingoa and scolded the deities. 2. Daylight came, and [he] climbed up to Hanakaba and had another meeting there, and shouted curses against the deities. People from here went down and looked at Moa [expecting him] to die; but [he] did not. Then one day Moa mediated between people here to make peace. And Matangi made peace with Ghongau, and Ghongau then made peace with Matangi. Then it was all right here.

3. Teaheniu's taukuka tattoo was tat- tooed. The deities came and possessed Pongi and Tango'eha and Sanga'eha, and the deities said: "The settlement is going to be punished." And the people here were frightened and fled to the bush. 4. Moa remained in the settlement and fought the deities [with words]. After- wards [the deities] left. And people re- turned to the settlement and heard of Moa's meeting in which Moa had scolded the deities. After the meeting, Moa came and broke the two black stones that were in Ngabenga. 5. A small piece of stone from Nguatupu'a flew and hit Moa's eye- brow. These are the people who went up and looked at the two black stones: Te- moa and Taaika and Takiika. Then they returned and slept, and the people here watched Moa [expecting him] to die. But [he] did not.

6. Moa went out again and broke the sacred [stones] and all the temples of this place [Bellona]. Then some people be- came sick, and a message was sent to Moa to come and pray for them. Moa came and accordingly prayed, and the people from here watched; if they did not get well, the belief in his deity would end. But if the people who were sick re- covered, [they would] follow him [Moa].

7. Then the canoe of Tangokona and Puka from Rennell landed, and they brought another mission, the SSEM. 8. People from here formed groups and each made a church. The churches which peo-

417

Page 433: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 236

konei noko hai, noko manga songi te takanga ma tengaa hanau. Ma te hebei'aki ngua mission noko i konei. 9. Nimaa hebei'aki, hetu- 'atu'a'aki, ma te hekongu'aki. Ka ko Moa na tuku e ia te born pengea kia Takiika. Nimaa born e ia na pengea, hai angatou huti, ma anga- tou 'uhi, o tunu i na mahoata o hakamahana ai ongatou spirit, kaa ngenge i te mahoata. 10. Meeting a Moa o hai ake: "Ko te 'aitu e hai ke sopo mai makaa'ao." Boo a konei o laghangi ongatou 'umanga 0 tunu ma'ona 'ungu, ka ke tata'o 1 heaven. 'Aoina o mata aano ia te 'Aitu, he'e kitea. 11. Manga sopo ake te nga'aa, o mea, o manga noho pe te mahina. Ma te hai ake a konei: "Mano te 'aso'ao." Aano 'ao, he'e kitea. Boo a konei o bonga 'umanga ke sui ai ongatou 'umanga.

ple here had made, only married couples and their children prayed [in them]. The two missions here disputed with each other. 9. Then [they] disputed with each other, [they] hit one another, beat one another. And Moa entrusted the "born" people to Takiika. When he had "born" people, they fetched their bananas and their yams and cooked [them] in the early mornings and refreshed their spirits [which] would fly in the early morning. 10. Moa held a meeting and said: "The Lord [Jesus] is coming here tomorrow." People from here went and pulled up their crops in the gardens, and cooked their sprouts that were to be used for planting, to go [with them] in heaven. When daylight came, they looked for the Lord [Jesus] but [He] could not be seen. 11. But the sun rose and was red just like the moon. And the people here said: "Maybe tomorrow." When daylight came, [the Lord] was not seen. People here went and cleared off [new] gardens to replace their gardens.

NOTES Taupongi dictated this text, and Paul Sa'engeika and others present added valuable infor-

mation. In his autobiography written in Honolulu in 1961, Taupongi tells about the same events, but adds nothing new as to what happened while Moa was still on Bellona.

1. tokaono: Moa (T235[A]:74) states that there were eight men including himself. Taupongi 1961 gave the following names for the members of Moa's group: Moa, Niuhua (from Ghongau, Bellona, but staying at the lake), Niuhua (from Hutuna, Rennell), Maamata (from Tigoa, Ren- nell, and younger collateral brother of Headman Tegheta), Mangahu (from Hutuna, Rennell), Temoa (from Hutuna, Rennell).

te blackboard, ma te buka singi: The blackboard, an important object in the Seventh Day Adventist Mission religious life, was about 100 by 50 centimeters in size. The song book con- tained Adventist hymns translated into the language of Maravovo, Western Solomons. Moa also brought typewritten sheets of hymns translated into Rennellese by himself.

2. Hanakaba: settlement belonging to Takiika (Genealogy 7, G21). 3. For taukuka, see N1(A):14. Teaheniu was a younger brother of Takiika (see Chapter 2,

genealogy in biography of Tuhanuku). 5. TM: "Why did a piece of Nguatupu'a hit Moa's eyebrows?" Taupongi: "Maybe it was the

god that took revenge (sui)." Temoa: Genealogy 9, G20, father of Taupongi. Taaika: younger brother of Tango'eha (Genealogy 9, G20); he went to Rennell after the

acceptance of Christianity, and died at the lake. 6. TM: "How many sacred stones did Moa destroy?" Taupongi: "I remember only the stone

in Tesungu." Compare T235(A):92-93. 7. Tangokona: from Kanaba.

Puka: See Chapter 2, and Deck, 1945:68. 8. Taupongi explained that people made one church for each family group, just as each

family had had its own temple. TM: "Why?" Taupongi: "We knew nothing about churches then. Later, the missionaries told us to build large churches and move together." TM: "Had anybody from Bellona been to the mission school in the Solomons at that time?" Taupongi: "No, we only knew what the men from Rennell told us." TM: "Did the people of the two mis- sions really fight?" Taupongi: "Yes. They scolded each other and hit each other with Bibles and sticks. We did not understand much then,"

418

Page 434: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF RENNELL AND BELLONA ISLANDS… · of rennell and bellona islands samuel h. elbert torben monberg published by the danish national museum in cooperation with

TEXT 236

9. te born pengea: born; a common word for conversion or to convert, that is, to become a member of the church. It is taken from John 3:7, a favorite verse often quoted by the South Seas Evangelical Mission people.

Taupongi: "People had a hot meal in the morning to refresh and enliven themselves and their spirit as they thought they were to go to heaven." TM: "What is their 'spirit'?" Taupongi: "Their hinangango (mind, senses)."

10. Taupongi explained that Moa frightened (hakamatakutaku) people to join the church by saying that the 'Aitu (Jesus) would come next day and punish those who worshipped the old gods.

11. Taupongi said that people believed the red sun to be a sign that Jesus was about to come. TM

419