A RAPANUI MYTH ABOUT THE GOD TANGAROA
Four parallel rongorongo records are presented in figure 1.
Fragment 1, the Great St. Petersburg tablet , reads: 4 6 21 2 1 4 26-66 4 33-6 12 68 4 8 6 4 68 4 ... 5 68 6-73 69 2 Atua a Koa Hina, Tiki atua mate; atua Uha, Ika, Honu; atua Matua, a atua Honu-atua ... atua Honu, hoe Moko Hina... 'The goddess A Koa -- Hina, the dead god Tiki; the goddess 'The Woman', the Fish, the Turtle; the god 'The Father', the deity 'The Turtle' - the deity ... the deity 'The Turtle', the paddle of the Lizard -- the Moon...' (1).
Fragment 2, the Great Santiago tablet, reads: 6 21 2 1 4 26-66 4 33-6 12 68 4 8 6 4 68 4 ... 5 68 6-73 69 2 A Koa Hina, Tiki atua mate; atua Uha, Ika, Honu; atua Matua, a atua Honu-atua ... atua Honu, hoe Moko Hina... '(The goddess) A Koa -- Hina, the dead god Tiki; the goddess 'The Woman', the Fish, the Turtle; the god 'The Father', the deity 'The Turtle' -- the deity ... the deity 'The Turtle', the paddle of the Lizard -- the Moon...'
Fragment 3, the Mamari tablet, reads: 4 22 2 1 4 66 26-66 65 4 68 4-33 12 68 44 4 8 44 6 4 68 4 6-25 Atua Rapa Hina, Tiki atua te mate RANGI; atua Honu, atua/ua, Ika, Honu; taha atua Matua, taha a atua Honu-atua ahu... 'The deity 'The paddle Rapa' -- Hina, the dead god Tiki -- the SKY; the deity 'The Turtle', the deity/place, the Fish, the Turtle; the god 'The Father' is going, the deity 'The Turtle' (the deity/the ceremonial platform) is going...'
Fragment 4, the Keiti tablet, reads: 4 21 2 1 4 26-66 65 4 44-44 12 68 4 8 Atua Koa Hina, Tiki atua mate RANGI; atua Tata, Ika, Honu; atua Matua. 'The goddess Koa -- Hina, the dead god Tiki -- the SKY; the deity 'The Wash', the Fish, the Turtle; the god 'The Father''.
I suppose that in these texts a solar eclipse is described. The sun god (Tangaroa/Tane/Tiki) is called Tiki, Ika 'The Fish', atua Matua 'the god 'The Father''. The moon goddess is called Hina. The first day (Hiro) of the month when such an eclipse is possible has the following names: (A) Koa 'The Gladness', U(h)a 'The Woman/Rain', Honu 'The Water/Turtle', Moko 'The Lizard', Rapa 'The Paddle', Tata 'The Wash' (2). Hiro is the rain deity (Métraux 1940: 310, 330). According to T.S. Barthel's (1978: 251) interpretation of the place name Hiro Moko, the Lizard (Moko) is an epithet of the god Hiro. I believe that the Turtle (Honu) correlates with the water, rains, darkness. Actually, in the Easter Island folklore the turtle is associated with two Rapanui place names, Hanga Hoonu (literally 'The bay of the Turtle') and Hiro Moko (the name of a beach). Besides, the turtle is connected with the evening shadow (Barthel 1978: 66, 90). The fish is Tangaroa's symbol in the Maori mythology (Buck 1966: 439). Besides, Rapanui Kahi 'The Tuna' is an epithet of this god (Fedorova 1978: 339).
Let us examine a picture at the platform Ra'ai. Between the first and second turtles there are 28 symbols of the moon connected with a lunar count, and between the first and third turtles there are 28 cupules (Lee 1992: 180, figure 6.16). I think that cupules connected with a solar count depict the sun ('the round'); the turtles are marks of the beginning and end of the month.
Three fragments tell of the paddle rapa of the rain deity, see figure 2.
Fragment 1, the Mamari tablet, reads: 5 69 22 ... atua Moko Rapa... '... the god 'The Lizard' -- the Paddle Rapa...'
Fragment 2, the Santiago staff, reads: 18-4 22 69 26 26 26 ... te atua Rapa Moko. Maa, maa, maa... '... the god 'the Paddle Rapa -- the Lizard'. The summer solstice...'
Fragment 3, the Tahua tablet, reads: 69 22 ... Moko Rapa... '... the Lizard -- the Paddle Rapa...'
The second record reports about rites that were performed to cause rain during the dry season (3).
The ornaments on such paddles contain the motif of 'the eyes in tears' (4); one can consider a picture inside a house at the village Orongo (Heyerdahl 1976: figure 24). Here I distinguish the petroglyph corresponding to glyph 154 timo and the petroglyph depicting a paddle. It can be stated that both signs read timo rapa, cf. Rapanui rapa timo 'another name of the paddle rapa'.
One can consider petroglyphs incised inside another Orongo's house (Koll 1991: 62, figure). Here the symbols of a fish (glyph 12 ika) and a vulva (glyph 1 Tiki) denote the sun, and the symbols of the moon (glyph 3 hina) and a lizard (glyph 69 moko) denote the chthonic deity (Rjabchikov 1997: 23).
Moreover, one can consider petroglyphs engraved at the platform Tongariki (Lee 1992: 184-5, figure 6.20). In my opinion, the two figures of a tuna (glyphs 16 kahi) represent the god Tangaroa (Rjabchikov 1997: 21-2). Furthermore, the figures of a fish (glyph 12 ika) , birdmen (glyphs 44 taha), faces (glyphs 60 mata) and vulvae (glyphs 1 Tiki) are the symbols of the sun. Let us examine a Rapanui myth about the king (god) Tangaroa (Métraux 1940: 310-1). Once this god went to Easter Island. He looked like a seal. He landed at the platform Tongariki. The people carried him to the place Pito-kura. There they tried to cook this god in an oven. But the meat was not cooked. I realise that this is the description of the first day of the month when the solar eclipse did not occur or it was partial only. The place name Tongariki is Tonga ariki 'The rain season of the king' (the symbolism of rains and eclipses) indeed. The place name Pito-kura signifies 'The red ecliptic', cf. Rapanui pito 'navel', Maori pito o rangi 'ecliptic'. The latter place name corresponds to the place name Ahu-te-pito-te-kura (Ahu Te Pito kura) 'The platform 'The red ecliptic''. Near this site there is another site, Hanga-o-honu (Hanga Hoonu, Ahu Hanga Hoonu) '(The platform/)the bay of the Turtle', and the platform Tongariki is situated not far from both sites (5).
Let us examine another picture at the platform Tongariki (Lee 1992: 83, figure 4.65). Here I distinguish the petroglyph of a tuna (glyph 16 kahi). It is the symbol of Tangaroa visited this site according to the archaic myth. Two faces (glyphs 60 mata) denote this deity. The figure of a turtle (glyph 68 honu) is a mark of the first day of the month when a solar eclipse is possible. 30 cupules mean the duration of a month. It is well known that a lunar month has 29.5 days.
Let us examine another picture at the platform Tongariki (Lee 1992: 127, figure 4.134). Here I distinguish the two figures of a turtle (glyphs 68 honu). They can be symbols of the first day of the month. The petroglyph of a tuna (glyph 16 kahi) denotes Tangaroa. The petroglyph of a frigate bird (glyph 44 taha) precedes it. This sign combination reads taha Kahi 'The Tuna (Tangaroa) is coming' or Taha Kahi 'The Frigate Bird -- the Tuna (Tangaroa)'. The petroglyph of a lizard (glyph 69 moko) denotes the first day of the month, too. Such drawings can describe solar eclipses.
NOTES
1. According to a Rapanui myth, the girl Akoa is relevant to rains (Métraux 1940: 364).
2. Cf. Maori honu 'water'.
3. See Felbermayer 1963.
4. See also Fedorova 1981: 267-9.
5. The place names are taken from the following sources: Métraux 1940: 8, figure 1; Englert 1974: 264.
REFERENCES
Barthel, T.S., 1978. The Eighth Land. The Polynesian Discovery and Settlement of Easter Island. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Buck, P.H. (Te Rangi Hiroa), 1966. The Coming of the Maori. Wellington: Maori Purposes Fund Board, Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd.
Englert, S., 1974. La Tierra de Hotu Matu'a. Historia y etnologia de la Isla de Pascua. Santiago de Chile: Ediciones de la Universidad de Chile.
Fedorova, I.K., 1978. Mify, predaniya i legendy ostrova Paskhi. Moscow: Nauka.
Fedorova, I.K., 1981. Atributy vlasti i kul'tovye predmety ostrova Paskhi v svete mifologii i etnografii. In: K.V. Malakhovsky (ed.) Puti razvitiya Avstralii i Okeanii. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 263-80.
Felbermayer, F., 1963. Hiva Kara Rere, der Gott des Regens. Tribus, 12: 215-8.
Heyerdahl, T., 1976. The Art of Easter Island. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Koll, R.R., 1991. Petroglyphs inside Orongo's Houses. Rapa Nui Journal, 5: 62.
Lee, G., 1992. The Rock Art of Easter Island. Symbols of Power, Prayers to the Gods. Los Angeles: The Institute of Archaeology Publications (UCLA).
Métraux, A., 1940. Ethnology of Easter Island. Bishop Museum Bulletin 160. Honolulu: Bernice P. Bishop Museum.
Rjabchikov, S.V., 1997. Tayny ostrova Paskhi. Vol. 6. Krasnodar: Torgovo-promyshlennaya palata Krasnodarskogo kraya.
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