FISH IN THE RONGORONGO INSCRIPTIONS
Some rongorongo records contain glyphs depicting fish. So it is valid to say that a part of such texts is devoted to fishing, see figure 1.
Fragment 1, the Tahua tablet, reads: 19-28 22 62 (or 130) 33 11 17 49 11 56 33 12 33 28 28-6 4-50 16 49 4 3 17 30 6 56... Ku(pe)nga, rapa, too VAI mango te (ariki) mau, mango, poo VAI, IKA VAI. Ngangaha, tu(h)i Kahi (ariki) mau, atua Hina te noho po... '(The natives) caught WATER a shark of the king, a shark, poopoo fish WATER, FISH WATER with a big net. The moon (lunar month) Tangaroa-uri ('the Tuna - the progeny, offspring') (1), the place of a night, is broken, is disappearing...' Old Rapanui rapa 'big net; dip net; bag net' is comparable with Maori rapa 'wide; flat; extended', whakarapa 'a fish basket'. Here glyphs 33 vai (water) and 12 ika (fish) are generic determinatives. According to the Rapanui beliefs, the name Kahi (the Tuna) is an epithet of the Rapanui god Tangaroa (Fedorova 1978: 24). Notice that Fish is a symbol of the god Tangaroa in the Maori religion (Buck 1966: 439).
Fragment 2, one of Honolulu tablets, reads: 19-28 56 56 56 (102) 4-17 22 26 26 (102) 68 80 6... Ku(pe)nga poo, poo, poo, hetuke (= hetute). Rapa mama, honu, uhuha(nga)... '(The natives) caught poopoo fish and a sea urchin with a net; (the natives) caught mama mollusc (2), a turtle, uhuhanga fish with a big net...'
Fragment 3, the Santiago staff, reads: 173 19 35 28 132 (= 13)... NET kupenga koreha... '(The natives) caught eels with a net...' I believe that glyph 173 represents a net, and this sign is a generic determinative.
Fragment 4, the Mamari tablet, reads: 25 56 56 11 11 173 26-4 133 4 25 25 56 11 11... Hua poo, poo, mango, mango. NET matua koreha, atu. Huahua poo, mango, mango... 'Poo fish, sharks are abundant (3). (The natives) caught eels and atu fish with a net. Poo fish, sharks are abundant...' Rapanui matua means 'edge of a net'.
Fragment 5, the Great St. Petersburg tablet, reads: 5-19 6 12 4 12 ... 122 73 45 12 12 18 12 18 12 4 12 16 12 18 12... Tuku a ika, atu IKA... Nanao (kupenga). He pu IKA-IKA tea, IKA tea, IKA atu, IKA kahi, IKA tea, IKA... '(The natives) caught fish, atu FISH with a net... A net. FISH kotea (4), FISH kotea, FISH atu, FISH a tuna, FISH kotea, FISH are abundant (5)...'
Fragment 6, the Small St. Petersburg tablet, reads: 73 45 12 12 11 12 18 12 18 12 4 12 56 12 18 12 12 4 12... He pu, IKA-IKA mango, IKA tea, IKA tea, IKA atu, IKA poo, IKA tea, IKA-IKA atu, IKA... 'FISH a shark, FISH kotea, FISH kotea, FISH atu, FISH poo, FISH kotea, FISH atu, FISH are abundant...'
Fragment 7, the Santiago Pakarati Stone in Gair's collection, Arequipa, Peru (6), reads: 122 16... Nanao (kupenga) kahi... '(The natives) caught a tuna with a net...'.
Let us examine a Rapanui design at the place Ava O Kiri (Lee 1992: 81, figure 4.63). Near fish two types of nets are represented: a net looking like glyph 122 and a big net. Interestingly, the petroglyph resembling glyph 40 are, ere is presented here, too. I think that it is a symbol of fertility in this context, cf. Old Rapanui (h)ere 'child', Mangarevan akaere 'to recite genealogies; to show descent', Maori rere 'to be born', reretahi 'one child born at a birth'. Let us examine a Rapanui design on a panel at the place Ahu Ra'ai (Lee 1992: 177, figure 6.13). Here I distinguish a net (glyph 122) near a boat, the head of a shark, a symbol of fertility (glyph 41 are, ere). One can offer Rapanui here koreha 'snare to catch eels' as well.
In the Atan manuscript there is a number of the rongorongo glyphs together with brief texts in the Rapanui language performed by Latin letters. Let us consider several such items associated with the name of the Easter Islander He Marama (Heyerdahl and Ferdon 1965). The Rapanui "translations" are studied by A.M. Kondratov (1965) and by the author (Rjabchikov 1997a: 35-41; 1997b). The string of glyphs (Heyerdahl and Ferdon 1965: figure 117 [1]) is accompanied by the words he tangata e repa e ki roto ki te pa. A.M. Kondratov (1965: 414) translates them as 'man, fellow inside the fence (?)'. Here I distinguish glyphs 122 19 nanao (kupenga) ki 'A net for'. In the light of my own decipherment one can translate the sentence He tangata e repa e ki roto ki te pa as 'Man catches pa fish with a big net (repa, rapa)'. The papa fish is mentioned in the Manuscript E (Barthel 1978). On the other hand, the name of the pa fish is comparable with the names of the pahika, paohu, paerati, patuki and paroko fish. The string of glyphs (Heyerdahl and Ferdon 1965: figure 117 [2]) is accompanied by the words he ika tau. A.M. Kondratov (1965: 414) translates them as 'hanging fish'. Here I distinguish glyphs 50 25 12 ihu ika 'the snout of fish'. The string of glyphs (Heyerdahl and Ferdon 1965: figure 117 [3]) is accompanied by the words paoa tia nua. A.M. Kondratov (1965: 414) translates them as 'guard (watches) his mother (?)'. I restore this unclear expression as poo, atu - a nua, it signifies 'poopoo fish, atu fish - the mother'. Here I distinguish glyphs 25 12 hua ika 'abundance of fish'. The upper parts of these signs are damaged, hence both glyphs were copied from an original text written down on a tablet. The string of glyphs (Heyerdahl and Ferdon 1965: figure 117 [4]) is accompanied by the words e rua ruou. A.M. Kondratov (1965: 414) translates them as 'two old women'. Taking into account Maori rua 'setting-place of the sun', one can translate this expression as 'The Old Woman is disappearing; she is the cause of a solar eclipse'. I think that this religious formula is presented in the list concerning fish, because Rapanui ika signifies not only 'fish', but also 'victim; dead'. Here I distinguish glyphs 105 19 moe ki '(the goddess) sleeps near'. It is well known that the moon goddess symbolises death (Reed 1963: 47). According to the Rapanui mythology, Nuahine tears a thread which is breath of a person (Felbermayer 1973: 84). Consequently, the goddess Nuahine ('The Old Woman', the moon goddess Hina) is a real symbol of death. Symbols of dead bird-men, a brief rongorongo record associated with the ideas "sleep" and "father/boat" are engraved on one of two Chicago fish figurines (Chicago, USA). Such artifacts were pertinent to funeral rites (Rjabchikov 1996: 29-30, figure 3). The string of glyphs (Heyerdahl and Ferdon 1965: figure 117 [6]) is accompanied by the words paohu ika. A.M. Kondratov (1965: 414) translates them as 'the paohu fish'. Here I distinguish glyph 50 hi and a fish-like glyph. One can offer Rapanui hi 'to angle'. A glyph (Heyerdahl and Ferdon 1965: figure 117 [5]) is accompanied by the words paohu kirini. A.M. Kondratov (1965: 414) translates them as 'skin of the paohu fish'. Here I distinguish glyph 6 ha. One can offer Rapanui a 'to surround', haa 'bark of some plants', Samoan sae 'to tear off; to strip off'.
Let us consider some additional sources, see figure 2.
Fragment 1, the Small Santiago tablet, reads: 16 4-40 4-40... kahi, ature, ature... 'a tuna and ature fish...' It is known that to catch tuna, small ature fish were used as bait (Métraux 1940: 182).
Fragment 2, the Tahua tablet, reads: 6 35 6 34 6 11 62 57 6... a pa, a ra, a SHARK tota(o)raha... 'pa fish, rahai or rai fish, a whale...' (7).
Fragment 3, the Great Washington tablet, reads: 3 14 6-23 58 6 58 46 (= 30) 58 46 (= 30) 111 58 6-6-6 58 11 58 44-15 6... Hina Haua hauru. Tahi ha, tahi ana, tahi ana FLYING FISH, tahi hahaha, tahi SHARK, tahi ta(o)raha... 'The moon goddess Hina Haua sleeps. The skin (of fish), the shine, the shine - the FLYING FISH, the flying fish (hahave), the SHARK, the whale...' (8). A myth tells that the god of feathers, Hena Naku, and his wife, the goddess Hina Hau Mara, once arrived at Easter Island (Felbermayer 1960). The god was incarnated in a big bird with a human face, and the goddess was incarnated in a big fish, later in a beautiful woman, and later in a beautiful fish. In fact, the god Hena Naku (literally 'The Quick Shine') is the supreme deity Makemake (Tangaroa, Tane, Tiki), and the moon goddess Hina Hau Mara is his constant companion, Haua (Rjabchikov 1998: figure 4) (9). The name Haua (Hau) means 'The Hat (the symbolism of feathers)' (10). The principal episode of this story is as follows: once this beautiful fish (the goddess Hina Hau Mara) was caught. I suppose that this myth describes the change of seasons.
I conclude that the Atan manuscript is an important glossary to study the rongorongo records. The Easter Islander Marama was a real rongorongo man who kept his own tablets covered with mysterious signs. Perhaps, one of his pupils created a text that was included in the Atan manuscript.
NOTES
1. Cf. Maori uri 'progeny, offspring', Rapanui huri 'trunk; sprout; tribe'.
2. Cf. also the name of momo tara fish.
3. Cf. Rapanui hua 'flower; fruit', Maori hua 'roe of a fish; to bloom; descendants', Samoan fua 'to produce', Tongan fua 'to bear'. Cf. also the name of huehue fish mentioned in the Manuscript E (Barthel 1978).
4. Cf. Maori kotea 'pale', Rapanui, Maori tea 'white'.
5. Cf. Old Rapanui pu 'to produce; to bear', Rapanui pua 'flower; fruit', Maori pua 'to bloom'.
6. See Mellén Blanco 1986: 200, photo 32.
7. I compare the forms rahai (raai) and rai with Old Rapanui raai (rai) 'the sun'. The form tota(o)raha is the incomplete doubling of the form ta(o)raha, cf. Rapanui taoraha 'whale'. One can offer the Mangarevan name of tatara fish, too.
8. Rapanui hahave 'flying fish' comes from Rapanui haha ve 'entrance - to hurry', cf. Rapanui haha 'entrance', veve 'to hurry'. So the variant of this word, hahaha, is the incomplete doubling of the form haha (ve). The wordplay is quite possible: cf. Old Rapanui Haha 'the other world', Rapanui po haha 'dark; dark hight'.
9. Cf. Rapanui henga 'shine', neku 'quick'. The form mara is comparable with Rapanui marama 'moon; crescent'.
10. Cf. also Rapanui hau maru 'cold', hau 'to blow; drop of rain; fishline', hau mani 'tired', hauhau 'ownership', haua 'double, pair'.
REFERENCES
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Rjabchikov, S.V., 1997b. [A Letter to the Editor]. Rapa Nui Journal, 11: 165-6.
Rjabchikov, S.V., 1998. Some Remarks on Rongorongo. RONGORONGO Home Page.
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