The meaning of Tiki
As intimated in Chapter Two, tataitanga korero is the talk in tribal carving and contemporary art. The term also en-frames cosmo-genealogical oration and narrative, ritual incantations and tribal histories. In this sense, tataitanga korero becomes a lineage narrative of a tribal worldview that can be used to interpret tribal carving in this chapter. The initial grounding of the thesis in lineage narrative in Chapters Three and Four was aimed at investing the tataitanga korero with philosophical substance, a theoretical premise and a sense of cultural integrity; that is, to anchor some of the important philosophical notions that invest tribal culture of the 19th century with significance. This is important because the carvings and paintings of Riwai Pakerau are part of a continuum of tribal and trans-cultural practice where form, content and genealogy intersect as critical determinants for cultural relevancy.
The aim of Chapter Five is to use the significant tribal cosmo-genealogical concepts explored in Chapter Three and Four in order to interpret a selected number of 18th and 19th century carvings in which cosmo-genealogical concepts are evident.270
As intimated in Chapter Two, tataitanga korero is about setting the story in order or more specifically about making sense of the story in relation to tataitanga ahua, the lineage of form. Tataitanga korero is the talk in tribal carving. However, the term is also used to cover lineage narratives that in turn inform tribal carving. It also encompasses an iconographical method, which generally prioritises content over form. As argued in Chapter Two, the conceptual nature of Maori carving demands a synthetic level of analysis rather than pre-iconographical and the conventional that are more concerned with the descriptive and the literal rather than the interpretive.
In this instance, there is a reliance on the content generated from a tataitanga reo
analysis of a range of lineage narratives undertaken in Chapters Three and Four as text to apply tataitanga korero to a range of 18th and 19th century carvings. While it is conceded that such an interpretive approach to tribal carving may be criticised for its reliance on lineage narratives across tribal boundaries it is the intimate and inextricable interrelationship between the material and the spiritual realm evident in pan-tribal 19th century conceptualisations of the Maori universe that is privileged in the application of an iconographical method.
As Maori Marsden has argued,
It is...obvious that the Maori does not, and never has accepted the mechanistic view of the universe which regards it as a closed system into which nothing can impinge from without. The
270 The carvings in this chapter range across tribal regions from North Auckland to Wanganui. While maps do not constitute a critical reference for this thesis regional areas can be found by referring to Mead, H. M. (1986). Te Toi Whakairo: The Art of Maori Carving. Auckland: Reed. p. 34.
Maori conceives it as at least a two-world system in which the material proceeds from the spiritual, and spiritual (which is the higher order) interpenetrates the material physical world of Te Ao Marama.
We may also conclude from the concepts of mana and tapu...that while the Maori thought of the physical sphere as subject to natural laws, these could be affected, modified and even changed by the application of higher laws of the spiritual order.271
Ko te ahua toi ko te ahua tiki is the title of this chapter in which the cosmo- genealogical implications associated with the term tiki are articulated in a tataitanga tiki – a tiki lineage. At the core of the iconographical analysis is a tribal representational system that distances the human form from reality through anatomical stylisation, distortion and exaggeration relative to the context and function of the object/structure with which the tiki and manaia are associated.
Chapter Five is prefaced by a consideration of an appropriate methodology in order to demonstrate the transmutation of the tataitanga korero (content), evident in 19th century tribal narrative in 18th and 19th century carving. In this chapter, iconography as an analytical method under tataitanga korero is employed to explain the transmutation process, coupled with physical engagement of the carvings in museum collections (wherever possible) as the data for qualitative analysis.
A set of ‘veranda poupou’ associated with Te Tairuku Potaka (Figures 3-4) are analysed successively in the first section of the chapter under the headings Te tataitanga tiki, Te tataitanga manaia, Te tataitanga ira atua and Te tataitanga wairua. This is followed by an analysis of burial chests, treasure boxes, door lintels and storehouse panel under the second section entitled Whakaahua tiki.
In the consideration of Te tataitanga tiki, the central torso transformation as an especial form of figurative composition is reviewed against relevant literary sources acknowledging its evolutionary development within the Rawheoro Wananga at Uawa, and its variable interpretation as the taowaru. It is argued that the ‘veranda poupou’ can be separated into three distinct compositional groups where the central torso motif is variably treated generating a range of interpretations in which the tataitanga korero evident in the preceding chapters become apparent. In each case, the compositions comprise three primary tiki figures arranged one above the other.
In Te tataitanga manaia, the form and pattern of the tripartite arrangement of tiki are examined to determine their anthropomorphic and compositional relevance. The carved panel is examined relative to the convention of simultaneity, the placement of pattern, the composition of form, gender and the interrelationship between manaia and tiki.272 The analysis leads to a consideration of the interaction between the tiki constituting the upper relief
271
Maori Marsden further suggests that ‘I suspect the Maori had a three-world view, of potential being symbolized by Te Korekore, the world of becoming portrayed by Te Po, and the world of being, Te Ao Marama’. Marsden, M. (1977). ‘God, Man and Universe: A Maori View’. In M. King (Ed.). Te Ao Hurihuri The World Moves On (second edition). Wellington: Hicks Smith & Sons. p. 160.
272
Te Whanau a Apanui is a tribal group from the East Cape region of the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand whose boundaries begin at Te Taumata-o-Apanui, Torere to Tikirau. Mead, H. M. (1986). Te Toi Whakairo The Art of Maori Carving. Auckland: Reed. p. 86.
plane and the manaia comprising the secondary relief layer. It is proposed that the interaction is iconographically substantive through overlap, contact and integration. The view offered is that the central motif as a unifying visual device may signify union. This union is achieved through a series of manaia transformations in the central motif linking sacred parts of the anatomy, and the visual correspondence of the manaia transformations with the lizard, as a sign of misfortune and even death. It is further surmised that the planar interaction between tiki and manaia, the interconnections and transformations of the central torso motif present a plausible visual realisation of transition from one state to another, from Te Ao Marama to Te Po. At the very least, the tiki may be interpreted as representations of ancestors whose mana resulted in their commemoration within the Whanau a Apanui carved assemblage of Te Tairuku Potaka.
In Te tataitanga ira atua, a cosmo-genealogical significance is proposed. The critical visual signifier in this tripartite composition is the lizard that is progressively integrated with the tiki from the top of the panel to the bottom. Initially isolated as a central skeletal presence, the lizard assumes the body of the tiki promoting a sense of isolation in the first instance and integration in the second. A progressive transformation endorsed by variably composed mouths and tongues that repel, engage and integrate interactively with the mouth of the lizard. In contrast, the secondary relief layer of manaia generate a counteractive rhythm of progressive ascension as a statement of the transitory of nature existence, a progression supported by counter rhythms in manaia orientation between the limbs of the upper tiki. It is proposed that the shifts in composition balance, symmetry to asymmetry, emphasise a period of resolution followed by a period of disruption evident in the evolutionary sequence of Te Kore, Te Po and Te Ao Marama. A sequence that is equally applicable to the primeval process of separation of earth and sky in which dispute and resolution are endemic considerations in the process of enlightenment and existence. Critically, the period of resolution applicable to humankind was conceived as a state of equilibrium in which ira atua and ira tangata as the male and female generative essences coexisted in life and separated in the disruption heralded by death. In this 19th century tribal conceptualisation of life and death, ira tangata, born of the earth returned to the earth while ira atua, as the generative essence of deity, was reunited with the source of its manifestation in Te Po, the domain of deification.
In Te tataitanga wairua, the manaia as a spiritual entity is proposed. As an interactive spiritual entity a relationship between tiki and manaia may be achieved through juxtaposition, partial integration, transformation, metamorphosis or over lap relative to the secondary and upper relief planes, and vertical or lateral position. The context of the relationship determines the cultural signification. This relationship is particularly important for the third panel because it is the only one in which the hands are transformed into manaia endorsing an explicit sense of equilibrium and repose. In the asymmetrical orientation of manaia in the upper and lower figurative compositions, disrupted in the upper tiki and opposed in the lower, an emphatic
emphasis on the dual principle’s of human existence is apparent. The state of equilibrium explicit in the central composition of tiki and manaia has a formal relationship with door lintels featuring this motif, which have been interpreted as a signification of the separation of earth and sky in cosmo-genealogy. This interpretation is equally applicable in this instance. This state of equilibrium may be contrasted with the sense of disruption and discord in the juxtaposition of manaia and tiki in the upper and lower panel, which results in the separation and the subsequent allocation of deity to the upper and lower realms. This is the only panel in which there is a sense of dislocation and separation of the central torso motif as an interactive device. In this panel the motif is restricted to a union of genitalia, foreheads and noses connecting the upper and middle, and middle and lower tiki to sustain notions of genealogical connection while promoting the head and genitals as the source of spiritual power and human life.
The section on Whakaahua tiki introduces a convention of relief plane interrelationships as a non-mimetic conceptual system of iconographical signification. In contrast to the literal depiction of the birth process attributable to post-contact mimetic influence, it is proposed that proximal relationships can suggest the generative principles of procreation, birth and genealogical continuity contingent on the relationship between forms. Gender becomes foundational in the signification system and it is examined within the context of relevant literary reviews in which the generative and procreative implication of female and male gender is noted. In particular, the role of the female as a portal of entry to and from the world of humankind, and as guardian of the underworld, is analysed in relation to treasure box, bone chest and storehouse panel. It is further proposed that genealogical continuity can be expressed through duplication or correspondence between primary and subsidiary forms. It is further argued that the emphasis on, and the prominence given to female gender in the terminal manaia on door lintels and storehouse panels, encapsulates the significant role of women in rituals of transition. Ira atua and ira tangata are revisited in relation to terminal manaia on door lintels that endorse the generative implication of these notions relative to male and female gender, life and death, and the material and spiritual realms. The section concludes with a consideration of the interrelationship between pattern and form on three treasure boxes. It is proposed that the carvings demonstrate a regional convention in which the carvers consciously use background relief pattern to disrupt the integrity of the form on the foreground plane generating a sense of translucency in the process. This aspect of translucency, even transparency, evokes a sense of spiritual intercession and therefore endorses a fundamental premise apparent in a 19th century worldview in which the spiritual interpenetrates the material physical world of Te Ao Marama in a two-world system of the material and spiritual world.
He tataitanga tiki: a tiki lineage
of a 19th century tribal worldview finds expression in the distancing of the human form from reality and the distortion of anatomy to privilege significant parts of the body. The sacrosanct nature of the human body and its translation in carving is most literal at the iconographical level of convention and precedent in the emphasis given to the head in particular. This is because the head was conceived as the point of contact between the material and spiritual realms; it was the vehicle of communication with deity.
As Anne Salmond contends,
‘...when man talked with his ancestor gods, their efficacy (mana atua) found a pathway to his body through his head, and especially his hair – a notion expressed in the patterns of the language...A man’s hair was linked quite literally with his descent lines...and the greater that mana of his ancestors, the greater the tapu of the head; so a chief’s head had to be kept meticulously separate from contact with food, women’s clothing, or the touch of commoners’273
The exaggeration of the head is evident in all carving traditions and in most carved objects apart from waka koiwi from North Auckland. This exception was determined by the function of these receptacles as containers for the bones of the deceased. It is the hands and sexual organs rather than the head that sustain notions of sanctity. However, what is more significant from an iconographical perspective is the propensity towards continuity and celebration of death. That is, death was not perceived as a terminal state of disjunction from the living but was a reminder of the intimate relationship between life and death, between the human and spiritual inter-dimensional continuum. This relationship was further endorsed through the emphatic statements of sexual prominence, and inter- relational juxtapositions of primary and secondary figures promoting themes of continuity rather than termination.
In an extension of the functional aspect of the head to body relationship evident in the waka koiwi mentioned above most of the North Auckland bone containers feature female figures, which appear to sustain an intimate relationship between function and gender.274
Salmond argues,
‘For a woman, the link with descent lines was more particularly through the womb (whare tangata, or ‘house of the people’), and child-bearing women were kept away from potent forms of ancestral power, lest their fertility be attacked and the descent lines be broken; though older and high-born women acted as mediums and keepers of knowledge’.275
While it is tempting to rationalise this notion of whare tangata as a reason for prominence of female figures as connoting whare tangata and whare o aitua the female figure also predominates in whare nui lintels where the head of the figure is exaggerated in proportion to the rest of the body. It is significant, however, that female gender is privileged in architectural structures and containers that house the living and the dead. In this respect, it is not surprising given the role of women as whare tangata and whare o
273
Salmond, A. (1985). ‘Maori Epistemologies’. In J. Overing (Ed.). Reason and Morality. London: Tavistock. p. 241.
274
‘A surprisingly high proportion of the images are female; out of the 34 complete examples in which the sex could be shown, 20 are female, 6 are male and 9, are designated as having no sex…’ Fox, A. (1983). Carved Maori Burial Chests: A commentary and Catalogue. Bulletin 13. Auckland Institute and Museum. p. 21.
275
aitua in cosmo-genealogy.
Beyond this literal example of anatomical exaggeration, there is an especial composition of figurative forms in the carving traditions of Te Whanau a Apanui on the East Cape.276 It is a system of interaction and interconnection that transcends the more accessible convention of mana tangata relationships common in tribal compositional practice featuring figures placed one above the other, or arranged in primary and subsidiary figurative relationships. The system of interaction in the carvings of Te Whanau Apanui is endorsed through a genealogical and stylistic connection with Hingangaroa at Uawa.277 This connection is significant because it locates the development of the Ngati Porou style and that of Te Whanau a Apanui within the Uawa region.278 In Chapter Six, it will also be shown that the 19th century style of Rongowhakaata in the Poverty Bay, south of Uawa, and that of the Rawheoro School at Uawa are interrelated. Genealogically and stylistically, the connection between Te Whanau a Apanui and Ngati Porou through Hingangaroa is significant and it is highlighted in the lament of Rangiuia for his son Tuterangi-Whaitiri. According to Apirana Ngata, Tukaki of Te Kaha and Iwirakau of Waiapu attended the Te Rawheoro Wananga established by Hingangaroa at Uawa.279 Tukaki is a descendent of Taua, the oldest son of Hingangaroa through Apanui Waipapa, Rongomaihuatahi, and his father, Apanui Ringamutu whereas Iwirakau enters the genealogy of Hingangaroa through his union with Rakaitemania, the daughter of Te Ao Hore, the son of Mahaki-ewe-karoro who was the younger brother of Taua.280
Tukaki and Iwirakau attained the knowledge of carving that was referred to in the lament as the manaia and the taowaru.
Ko Te Rangi-hopukia, ko Hinehuhuritai, Te Rangihopikia had Hinehuhuritai
Me ko Manutangirua, ko Hingangaroa. Who had Manutangirua, whose son was Hingangaroa
Ka tu tona Whare, Te Rawheoro, e; He it was who established the house, Te Rawheoro, Ka tipu te Whaihanga, e hika, ki Uawa And the arts and crafts flourished, my son, at Uawa Ka riro to whakautu, te Ngaio-tu-ki-Rarotonga there came in payment the Ngaio-tu-ki-Rarotonga, Ka riro to manaia, ka riro te taowaru; And there went in exchange the Manaia and the