TAPU
          
 Ko te tapu te mana o nga atua.
        
 'Tapu is the mana of the spiritual powers'.
    For many people today tapu means 'forbidden' or 'restricted'.
For some there is the added connotation that if the tapu is not
observed something bad will happen. On the evidence of Maori
writings of the 1840s and 50s, 'forbidden' or 'restricted' is not
the only meaning of tapu, nor even its primary meaning.
   The primary meaning given to tapu in this study is made up of
two elements, one from reason and the other from faith. Both
elements link tapu with mana. The element from reason sees tapu in
its primary meaning as 'being with potentiality for power'. The
element from faith sees tapu as the 'mana of the spiritual
powers', of Taane, Tangaroa, Tuu, Rongo and so on. 
   To look on tapu only as 'being with potentiality for power' is
to leave out the most important element of tapu, the faith
element, the link with the spiritual powers. In the understanding
of tapu presented here, every part of creation has its tapu,
because every part of creation has its link with one or other of
the spiritual powers, and ultimately with Io, Io matua kore,  the
parentless one, Io taketake,  the source of all .
   It is important to note that this is one view of tapu, a view
based on some of the Maori writings of the 1840s and 50s. Each
tribe has its own understanding of tapu and as is evidenced in the
Maori manuscripts, what one Maori writer referded to as tapu,
another refered to as mana.
   Today too, where some tribes speak of tapu, others speak of
mana. Different words are used for the same reality and the use of
the different words itself gives us a better understanding of that
reality. I do not want to impose the understanding of tapu as
presented here on people who have a different view of tapu and who
use different terms for tapu. But I do hope this will widen our
discussion of tapu, deepen our understanding of tapu and encourage
us to share our thinking on tapu. Our mutual sharing should renew
and enhance the tapu of each people.

Tapu and the Story of Rangi and Papa
 The story of Rangi and Papa can be seen as a story of the meeting
of tapu with tapu, and the working out of that meeting to the
satisfaction, largely, of Tuu.
   After a great struggle Tuu became master of Tangaroa, Haumia,
Rongo and Taane. This is expressed by his eating the fish, eating
the fern root, eating the kuumara, and eating the birds, thus
destroying their tapu. But he was not able to master the winds and
the storms, the domain of Taawhiri. Therefore Taawhiri retained
his tapu.
             Na reira i kainga katoatia ai e Tumatauenga ona
        tuakana, a pau ake te kai e ia. Hei utu mo to ratou
        tukunga i a ia ki te whawhai ki a Tawhiri raua ko
        Rangi. A mate katoa. Koia anake te tangata i toa ki
        te whawhai.
             Ka mate ona teina i aia ka tahi ka wehewehea ona
        ingoa ko Tukariri, ko Tukanguha ko Tukai-taua, ko Tu-
        whakaheke-tangata, ko Tu-mata waiti, ko Tumatauenga,
        i whakaritea tonutia ona ingoa kia ratou ko ana
        tuakana, a toko wa ona hoa i kainga katoatia e ia ko
        tahi i tapu ko Tawiri ko tona whakapakanga i waiho
        tonu hei hoa wawai mona, i rite ano ki tana riri ta
        tona teina riri.
             'So Tuumatauenga ate all his older brothers.
        They were eaten by him in revenge for their allowing
        him to fight alone against Taawhiri and Rangi, when
        they were all defeated. He alone was victorious in
        battle.'
 
                 'His younger brothers were killed by him,
        and then his names were made known, Tuu-who-rages,
        Tuu-who-fights-fiercely, Tuu-eater-of-war-parties,
        Tuu-destroyer-of-men, Tuu-of-the-narrow-eyes, and
        Tuu-of-the-flashing-eyes. His names are equal to the
        number of his brothers. Four were eaten by him. Only
        one was tapu, Taawhiri. The last-born, Tuu, remained
        to fight him, and the rage of his youngest brother
        was equal to his own.'
   In our world the struggle continues and a whole series of
restrictions are established to cope with our human situation.
These restrictions effect particular things, places, times and
actions.  They are a means of respecting and protecting the
different tapu and are themselves referred to as tapu.
   I therefore make a distinction between intrinsec tapu and
extensions of tapu. The intrinsic tapu are those things which are
tapu in themselves. These are the primary tapu. The extensions of
tapu are the restrictions. These are referred to as tapu not
because of their own intrinsic tapu but because of their
relationship to some primary tapu as a restriction imposed to
protect it in some way. They are thus an extension of the primary
tapu.
 
Intrinsic Tapu
   To understand the full nature of tapu we must first recognize,
as already mentioned elsewhere, that the Maori view of the
universe is not a universe of two systems closed off from each
other, one spiritual and one material. It is a universe in which
the two worlds are closely linked with each other, all activities
in the everyday world being seen as coming under the influence of
the atua, the spiritual powers.
   So the mana of the spiritual powers is the source of the tapu
of the person and extends to the tapu restrictions surrounding the
person.
   Each of the spiritual powers identifies with and is responsible
for a particular section of creation.
         The wind had its own tapu: te mana o te hau, te tapu
        o te hau, 'the mana of the wind, the tapu of the
        wind'. Its source is the mana of Taawhirimaatea.
   The source for the tapu of the sea and the fish is the mana of
Tangaroa.
   The kuumara has its own tapu:
         Ko te kumara, he mea tapu rawa he tuahu to te
        kumara.
         As for the kuumara, it is very tapu and has its own
        tapu place.'
   The tapu of the kuumara has its source in the mana of
Rongo-ma-taane.
   The trees and the birds have their source of tapu in the mana
of Taane.
   In some cases more than one atua is the source for the tapu.
The tapu of the canoe is linked with both Taane and Tangaroa. And
so the kaha, 'strength', of the canoe is the 'strength' of both
Taane and Tangaroa:
         He kaha Tane, he kaha Tangaroa.
         'The strength of Taane, the strength of Tangaroa'.
   We human beings are linked with, and so receive our tapu from,
the mana of the spiritual powers in different ways. According to
the Arawa traditions as recorded by Te Rangikaheke, we are
identified with Tuumatauenga. 
   But according to other traditions we owe our existence and
therefore our intrinsic tapu to the mana of Taane. In the
traditions of Ngaapuhi, Kahungunu and Kai Tahu it is said that it
was Taane who made the first woman from whom we are all descended,
Taane who brought light into our world by separating Ranginui and
Papatuanuku, Taane who climbed up into the highest heavens and
brought back for us the three baskets of knowledge.
   We can also be bonded to particular powers through a ritual
dedication and consecration. Some are dedicated and consecrated at
birth and before battle to Tuumatauenga. Some are dedicated and
consecrated to Rongo, for peace. We call on the mana of Tuu and
Taawhiri combined for the axe to cut down a tree. We call on Taane
and Tangaroa to give strength to our canoes.

Tapu and Mana
   The intrinsic tapu are therefore closely linked with mana,
'power', and at times the words tapu and mana are interchangeable.
Where one writer speaks of tapu another writer speaks of mana.
   Several examples of the terms tapu and mana being
interchangeable are found in the manuscripts. For instance two of
the manuscripts, GNZMMSS 28 and GNZMMSS 31, describe the tapu
surrounding conception and birth. But whereas in GNZMMSS 28 the
birth of the child is described as the beginning of mana, in
GNZMMSS 31 the beginning of the child is described as the
beginning of tapu.
   Amongst early Maori writings , there is the Waikato story of
Kiki and Tamure, two tohunga. It is explicitly a story of mana,
the mana of Kiki versus the mana of Tamure. But in the original
manuscript of the story, the story is presented as a demonstration
of the importance of a person's tapu. The story begins with the
sentence:
         E mea ana hoki, ko tona mea nui he tapu, kei whea
        hoki nga whakatauki, Nga uri o Kiki whakamaroke
        raakau.
         'He thinks his great possession is tapu and so we
        have the proverb, The descendants of Kiki who dries
        up trees.' 

Tapu, Mana and 'Being'
 Both intrinisic tapu and mana are linked with 'being', with
'existing'.
   Mana begins with existence, though that existence has its
source in the mana of the ancestors and of the spiritual powers.
 
        I te orokoputanga mai o te tamariki i roto i tona
        whaea ka timata tenei mea te mana, engari no mua mai,
        no nga tupuna.
         'In the very coming forth of the child from its
        mother, from there indeed, its mana began, but it
        comes from right back, from its ancestors.' 
   As mana begins with existence, so tapu, in its intrinsic and
primary meaning, begins with existence. Everything that is, has
its own intrinsic tapu, a tapu which begins with its existence and
which has its source in the mana of the spiritual powers. Once a
fish exists, it has its tapu, a tapu which has its source in the
mana of Tangaroa. Once a human being exists, it has its own tapu,
a tapu which has its source in the mana of the particular
spiritual power to which it is dedicated. Each is truly tapu, but
tapu in its own way, according to its own mode of existence.
   Once any being ceases to exist, it loses its tapu and it loses
its mana, it has no longer any power. The fish that is eaten has
no longer any tapu, any mana. So, in the story of Rangi and Papa,
the fish, the birds, the kuumara and the fernroot, Tangaroa,
Taane, Rongo and Haumia, are eaten by Tuumatauenga and lose their
tapu.
   The tapu and mana of a human being can be greatly diminished,
for example when a person is made a prisoner, his or her existence
completely dependent on others. But this tapu, and mana, can be
restored. In the karakia Waea te noa (see below) the tapu of the
prisoner is restored by a return to Tiki, to the source of human
life. Also death is not the end for the human being, so a person
still has tapu and mana after death, hence the tapu restrictions
surrounding the cemeteries.

The difference between tapu and mana is also related to
'being'
 A thing has its full mana, is fully powerful, when it
has its full 'being', when it is fully alive, fully active. Mana
is the power of being, a power that is realized over time.
   On the other hand a thing has its full tapu as soon as it
begins to exist. What its tapu is is related, not to what it is,
but to what it can become. The child who is of chiefly line has
not yet the mana, the power, of a chief, but has already the tapu
of a chief. Tapu is being with potentiality for power. 
   So, tapu - being with potentiality for power, for mana, is our
greatest asset.
         Ko tona mea nui he tapu.
         'One's greatest possession is tapu'.

The Tapu and Mana of Women
   Women have their own mana and tapu. They also can be bonded to
specific spiritual powers, including Tuumatauenga. Even before
they are born, in the rituals following conception, they are
bonded to Hine, the first woman.
         [I] te ata o Hine, i te ata o Hine Angiangi, i te
        ata o Hine-korikori, i te ata o wahine.
         '[I]n the dawn of Hine, in the dawn of Hine-moving
        freely, in the dawn of Hine-beginning-to-stir, in the
        dawn of woman.'
   This is the same Hine who later became Hine-nui-te-poo, the
great woman of the night. She who is the source of life for all
human beings, and who was betrayed by man, still receives into her
arms all those who have died.

Extensions of Tapu
   In this universe nothing exists in absolute isolation. The wind
blows on the land and on the sea. Person meets person and people
cut down the trees and plant the kuumara, and challenge the seas.
In this universe, therefore, in which everything has its own tapu,
there is a constant meeting of tapu with tapu.
   The meeting of tapu with tapu is dynamic. It is constructive or
destructive, never neutral. Rangi meets Papa and we have the
coming into being of all the creatures of the universe. Creature
meets creature. Person meets person. People meets people.
Sometimes these meetings are constructive, and sometimes
destructive as in the holocaust which is modern warfare.
   To control and order the meeting of tapu with tapu the Maori
has devised a system of restrictions. The Maori system
particularly emphasises the person and the person's relationships
with other people and with the surrounding universe. At times and
with some tribes the system of restrictions has been very detailed
and sometimes very oppressive. French missionary Catherin Servant
writing from the Hokianga about 1839, gives a long list of tapu
restrictions. 
   GNZMMSS 31:24-26 gives an account of the tapu surrounding the
harvesting of the kuumara. Referring to the special tapu of the
kuumara, the writer states that the hands of those planting the
kuumara must be made noa after the planting, because of its very
great tapu. Here we see that the tapu restrictions placed on the
hands of those doing the planting are extensions of the primary
tapu of the kuumara.
         A, ka mutu te whakato, ka tahuna te hangi hei
        pokinga mo nga ringaringa kia noa ai nga ringa, he
        tapu nui hoki te kumara.
        'When the planting is finished a haangii, 'oven', is
        prepared to ritually poki, 'cover', the hands to make
        the hands noa, for the kuumara is very tapu.'
   There are restrictions surrounding the canoe with its tapu
especially at the cutting down of the tree, the carving of the
canoe, its being taken down to the sea and its launching. These
tapu restrictions are extensions of the tapu of the canoe, with
its links with both Tangaroa and Taane.
   According to John White, every effort was made to ensure that no
chips from the canoe were even accidently taken into the village
to perhaps be used in the village cooking fires as Tangaroa and
Taane would become antagonistic. The workers themselves, whilst
they are making the canoe, are the subjects for the time being of
Tangaroa and during this time their food must be cooked separately
from that of the tribe.
   There are many restrictions surrounding the human person. To
respect the tapu of the person there are tapu days, tapu places,
tapu hands, tapu food, tapu fields, and there are tapu events,
especially birth, hair-cutting, warfare and death.
   The day the child's umbilical cord is cut is tapu:
         Ka tapu taua ra. E kore e kai te pa no te mea ka
        whakauria te mana.
         'That day becomes tapu. The village will not eat
        because mana  is established.'
   Hair-cutting is surrounded by tapu:
         Ka kotikotia te tamariki,tapu rawa. E kore e whara
        ki muri, he tapu tonu.
 
        'When the hair of a child is being cut, it is very
        tapu. He will not venture to go near the cook house
        as he is still tapu.'
   And the tapu of the person having his hair cut, or just combed,
extends to the hands of those doing the cutting or combing:
         A, ka heru i te mahunga, ka peraatia ano, ka
        horohoroa nga ringa o te tangata heru. He rangatira
        te tangata i herua, kia po rua, kia po toru ranei,
        katahi ka kai tirou.
         Ka kotikoti i te mahunga, he tapu nui tera te
        kotikoti i te mahunga. He pena tonu ano hoki te
        horohoro i nga ringa, he tapu nui te kotikoti. He
        tangata ano e rua wiki ka kainga nga ringa [kai
        ringaringa], he tangata nui te tapu, e waru wiki ka
        noa he rangatira nui ake, ka neke ake i nga marama e
        whaa; he tutua, tona tapu kihai i neke ake i nga ra
        e toru.
         'When one combs [a person's] hair it is again the
        same, the hands of the person combing are
        ritually cleared. If the person whose hair has
        been combed is a chief, only after two or three
        days will he [the person who has done the
        combing] be able to eat with a stick used as a
        fork.
 
            As for the cutting of the hair, that is
        something very  tapu. The ritual clearing of the
        hands is again the same, even more so, for the
        cutting [of the hair] is very  tapu. For some people,
        [the hair cutter] eats with his hands after two
        weeks; for a man of great  tapu, after eight weeks
        [his hands] are noa; for a chief of very great [
        tapu], [his  tapu] extends beyond four months; for a
        plebian, his tapu would not extend beyond three days'
   The tapu of a war party extends to its food:
         He haerenga taua ki te patu tangata. Ka motu te taua
        ki te ara, ka tapu nga o, ara, nga kai a te taua.
         'The setting out of a war party on a killing
        expedition. Once the war party sets out, its
        provisions, the food it takes with it, are tapu'.
   The tapu of the person, even after death, can extend to the
marae. For example, in the account of the funeral rites given in
the Te Ao story, the first thing Kahu does, on being asked to
carry out the pure funeral rites for Ihenga, is to declare the
marae to be tapu:
             Katahi ka karanga a Kahu ki te iwi katoa, 'Kia
        tapu te marae o te kainga'.
         'Then Kahu called out to all the people, 'Let the
        marae of the village be tapu'.'
   The many restrictive customs and practices have been instituted
because of the sense of the tapu belonging to every part of
creation.  They are ways of expressing respect for the various
primary tapu. The restrictions themselves are called tapu as are
the things, places and times to which the restrictions are
applied. These are not tapu in themselves, but tapu because of
their relationship to the primary tapu, to those things which are
tapu in themselves.

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