AstronomyNZ

Kohi-tatea

The eighth month is called Kohi-tatea and sometimes Waru puahaha.

The fruits are now set. The people eat of the first fruit.

At this time, in the forest, many of the edible fruits are set. As the month passes, the heat of the Sun increases and they ripen. These eagerly awaited fruits are the first fruits of the forest. Until they are available, forest food is scarce and so the eighth month was sometimes spoken of as, Ko Rehua pona nui (big jointed Rehua) at this time (summer) the people got thinner and their joints protruded. Because food is scarce dried or stored Aruhe (fernroot, Pteris aquiline var. esculenta) was a very important source of carbohydrate.

Rehua (Antares) is spoken of as the summer star, almost as a personification of sun or summer heat; hence the saying, Kua tahu a Rehua (Rehua will cook) and Titiro to mata ki a Rehua, ki te mata kihai i kamo (Turn your eye to Rehua, to the eye that winked not), which refers to the unceasing glare of the Sun. The heat makes everyone feel drowsy and lazy, Ko Rehua whakaruhi tangata (Rehua the enervator of humanity).

In summer, as the Sun sets, and the cool of night descends, Autahi is one of the first stars to appear out of the twilight moving upward and away from the Sun. As he climbs he drags Te Punga (The Southern Cross) and the whole of Te Ika a Maui (The Milky Way) after him.

It is said that "all the larger stars sprang from Tawhirimatea. They are the grandchildren of Rangi. As each one attains maturity, Rangi takes it and nurses it. The first-born was Autahi. This was the person who turned the Milky Way aside, lest he enter it, for the Milky Way is noa (common, not tapu) and is called The Fish, The Fish of Maui (Te Ika a Maui). Autahi rises in the evening so as to avoid entering Te Ika a Maui." (Best; Astronomical Knowledge of the Maori, page 42)

The children of Rehua are the birds of the forest, the fish in the rivers and sea that provided food for the people. Most birds were nesting and therefore under rahui (protective ban). However, there were some birds, eels and kai moana (seafood) available.

In the Waikato, around December and January, a small eel little longer than a forefinger known as kaka, was seen clinging to waterfalls. It was scooped up with a close woven basket like net. (Best; Fishing methods of the Maori, page 92).

January was also sometimes called rarangi tahi. It was the time that tui (Prosthemadera novaezelandiae), kaka (Nestor Meridionalis),and kereru (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae), gathered to feast on the sweet nectar of the rata. Kai te kaka i te wai kaihua ka kia he rarangi tahi (When the kaka is feeding on the wai kaihua (rata nectar). Other birds are in poor condition in mid-summer.

The kereru and kaka were taken by means of both spear and mutu (foot snare). The tui, being smaller, was usually caught with the snare. When using the mutu snare, some rata blossoms were tied to the outer end of the snaring-perch to serve as a lure. The mutu was set in the head of the tree where the attractive blossoms are, not on the ground far below. The mutu was used in summer and early winter, when the birds were in good condition.

Trees on which birds are taken by means of the mutu method of snaring are called tutu, and the species usually used as tutu were the miro Prumnopitys ferruginea), hinau (Eleaocrpus dentanus), maire Nestegis cunninghamii & N. lanceolata)), kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydoides), tawa (Beilschmiedia tawa), rata (Metrosideros robusta & M. umbellate), matai (Prumnopitys taxifolia) and rimu (Dacrydium cupressium. (The mutu snare is also called tumu, peke, tekateka, tuke and Tuke a Maui).

The stars of Tautoru (Orion's Belt) were also known as Tuke o Tautoru (the snare of Tautoru). Tautoru was very handsome person and an expert in the use of bird snares. Tautoru is visible in the evening throughout summer.

The kaka became fat when feeding on the honey in blossoms of the harakeke (flax,Phormium tenax) and were particularly good eating. I have seen the tui drunk from feeding on fermented harakeke nectar. While the birds are intoxicated, they would be quite easy to catch by hand. The kereru liked to feed on ripe berries of the tawa.

When the the food became scarce, the kereru ate maire berries, or the leaves of the kowhai (Sophora microphylla), houhire (lacebark, Hoheria populnea) , hangehange (Maori privet, Geniostoma rupestre) and wharangi (Melicope ternate). At such a time the kereru was not taken as the birds were in poor condition and distasteful.

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