Tapu
is a
Polynesia
Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...
n traditional concept denoting something holy or sacred, with "
spiritual restriction" or "implied prohibition"; it involves
rules
Rule or ruling may refer to:
Education
* Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), a university in Cambodia
Human activity
* The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power
* Business rule, a rule perta ...
and prohibitions. The
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
word ''
taboo
A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
'' derives from this later meaning and dates from Captain
James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
's visit to
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
in 1777.
The concept exists in many societies, including traditional
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
,
Samoan,
Kiribati
Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),[Kiribati]
''The Wor ...
,
Rapanui
The Rapa Nui (Rapa Nui: , Spanish: ) are the Polynesians, Polynesian peoples Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous to Easter Island. The easternmost Polynesian culture, the descendants of the original people of Easter Island make up about 60% ...
,
Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...
an,
Hawaiian, and
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
n cultures, in most cases using a recognisably similar word (from
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian (abbreviated PPn) is the hypothetical proto-language from which all the modern Polynesian languages descend. It is a daughter language of the Proto-Austronesian language. Historical linguists have reconstructed the language using ...
''
*tapu''), though the
Rotuman term for this concept is "ha'a". In Hawaii, a similar concept is known as "
kapu Kapu may refer to:
* Kapu (Hawaiian culture), a Hawaiian code of conduct
* Kapu (caste), a social group of India
* Kapu, Karnataka, a town in Karnataka, India
** Kapu Assembly constituency
* Kapu, Arunachal Pradesh, a settlement in Tirap district, A ...
".
Outside Polynesian
The root also exists outside Polynesian languages, in the broader
Austronesian family: e.g.
Fijian ''tabu'',
Hiw (Vanuatu) ''toq'' ‘holy, sacred’,
Mwotlap
Mwotlap (pronounced ; formerly known as ''Motlav'') is an Oceanic language spoken by about 2,100 people in Vanuatu. The majority of speakers are found on the island of Motalava in the Banks Islands, with smaller communities in the islands of Ra ...
''ne-teq'' ‘cemetery’…
[ François (2022).]
Whether Polynesian or not, all modern forms go back to a
Proto-Oceanic
Proto-Oceanic (abbr. ''POc'') is a proto-language that historical linguists since Otto Dempwolff have reconstructed as the hypothetical common ancestor of the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian language family. Proto-Oceanic is a descendant ...
etymon
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words and ...
reconstructed as *''tabu'' .
As for cognates outside Oceanic, they seem to be confined to the
Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian group, with a form reconstructable as *''tambu''.
In Polynesian languages
In Māori tradition
In
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
and Tongan traditions, something that is ''tapu'' is considered inviolable or sacrosanct. Things or places which are tapu must be left alone, and may not be approached or interfered with. In some cases, they should not even be spoken of.
In Māori society the concept was often used by ''
tohunga
In the culture of the Māori of New Zealand, a tohunga (tōhuka in Southern Māori dialect) is an expert practitioner of any skill or art, either religious or otherwise. Tohunga include expert priests, healers, navigators, carvers, builders, teache ...
'' (
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
s) to protect resources from
over-exploitation
Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term app ...
, by declaring a fishery or other resource as tapu (see
rāhui
__NOTOC__
In Māori culture, a rāhui is a form of tapu restricting access to, or use of, an area or resource by the '' kaitiakitanga'' of the area. With the passing of the 1996 Fisheries Act, a rāhui was able to be imposed by the New Zealand M ...
).
There are two kinds of tapu, the private (relating to individuals) and the public tapu (relating to communities). A person, object, or place that is tapu, may not be touched by human contact, in some cases, not even approached. A person, object, or place could be made sacred by tapu for a certain time.
Before European contact, tapu was one of the strongest forces in Māori life. A violation of tapu could have dire consequences, including the death of the offender through sickness or at the hands of someone affected by the offence. In earlier times food cooked for a person of high rank was tapu, and could not be eaten by an inferior. A chief's house was tapu, and even the chief could not eat food in the interior of his house. Not only were the houses of people of high rank perceived to be tapu, but also their possessions including their clothing. Burial grounds and places of death were always tapu, and these areas were often surrounded by a protective fence.
In at least one case, a chief declared a whole settlement -
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, a newly founded European settler town - as tapu, to clarify to other tribes that he considered it as under his protection.
Today, tapu is still observed in matters relating to sickness, death, and burial:
* ''
Tangihanga
''Tangihanga'', or more commonly, ''tangi'', is a traditional Māori funeral rite held on a marae. While still widely practised, it is not universally observed in modern times.
Each iwi (tribe/nation) differs on how they honour those who pass. ''T ...
'' or funeral rites can take up to five days. The deceased lies in state, usually in an open
coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation.
Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...
flanked by female relatives dressed in black, their heads sometimes wreathed in
kawakawa leaves, who take few and short breaks. During the day, visitors come, sometimes from great distances despite only a distant relationship, to address the deceased. They may speak frankly of the deceased's faults as well as virtues, but singing and joking are also appropriate. Free expression of grief by both men and women is encouraged. Traditional beliefs may be invoked, and the deceased told to return to the ancestral homeland,
Hawaiki
In Polynesian mythology, (also rendered as in Cook Islands Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in many Māori stories.
...
, by way of ''te rerenga wairua'', the spirits' journey. The close kin known as ''kiri mate'' ("dead skin") may not speak. On the last night, the ''pō whakamutunga'' (night of ending), the mourners hold a vigil and at sunrise the coffin is closed, before a church or ''
marae
A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...
'' funeral service and/or graveside interment ceremony, invariably Christian. It is traditional for mourners to wash their hands in water and sprinkle some on their heads before leaving a cemetery. After the burial rites are completed, a feast is traditionally served. Mourners are expected to provide ''
koha'' or gifts towards the meal. After the burial, the home of the deceased and the place they died are ritually cleansed with
karakia
Karakia are Māori incantations and prayers, used to invoke spiritual guidance and protection.
With the nineteenth-century introduction of Christianity to New Zealand, Māori adopted (or wrote new) karakia to acknowledge the new faith. Moder ...
(prayers or incantations) and desanctified with food and drink, in a ceremony called ''takahi whare'', trampling the house. That night, the ''pō whakangahau'' (night of entertainment) is a night of relaxation and rest. The widow or widower is not left alone for several nights following.
* During the following year, the kinfolk of a prominent deceased person will visit other ''marae'', "bringing the death" (''kawe mate'') to them. They carry pictures of the person on to the marae.
* Unveilings of headstones (''hura kōwhatu'') are usually held about a year after a death, often on a public holiday to accommodate visitors who could not get to the ''tangihanga''. The dead are remembered and more grief expressed.
* A Rangatira (chief) or Toa (warrior), while having his
Tā moko
' is the permanent marking or "tattoo" as traditionally practised by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. It is one of the five main Polynesian tattoo styles (the other four are Marquesan, Samoan, Tahitian and Hawaiian).
(tattoois ...
(facial tattoo) done, is considered Tapu while the tattooist is carving it, and not allowed to feed himself or touch or even look at his own reflection.
* Manuhiri/manuwhiri guests or visitors at a Marae are considered tapu until food has touched or passed through their mouths.
Tapu is also still observed at the site of
whale strandings
Cetacean stranding, commonly known as beaching, is a phenomenon in which whales and dolphins strand themselves on land, usually on a beach. Beached whales often die due to dehydration, collapsing under their own weight, or drowning when high tide ...
. Whales are regarded as spiritual treasures as being descendants of the ocean god,
Tangaroa
Tangaroa (Takaroa in the South Island) is the great of the sea, lakes, rivers, and creatures that live within them, especially fish, in Māori mythology. As Tangaroa-whakamau-tai he exercises control over the tides. He is sometimes depicted as ...
, and are as such held in very high respect. Sites of whale strandings and any whale carcasses from strandings are treated as sacred ground.
[Te Karaka,]
The science of strandings
, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu
Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Poi ...
, 21 December 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
Noa
''Noa'', on the other hand, lifts the ''tapu'' from the person or the object. ''Noa'' is similar to a blessing. Tapu and noa remain part of Māori culture today, although persons today are not subject to the same tapu as that of previous times. A new house today, for example, may have a ''noa'' ceremony to remove the ''tapu'', in order to make the home safe before the family moves in.
Notes and references
Notes
References
* Printed for Champante and Whitrow ... and M. Watson; 1793.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tapu (Polynesian Culture)
Polynesian words and phrases
Polynesian mythology
Hawaiian religion
Māori religion
Polynesian culture
Taboo
fy:Taboe