TE AO TAWHITO: A SEMANTIC APPROACH TO THE TRADITIONAL MAORI COSMOS

This article attempts to explore aspects of Te Ao Tawhito The Ancient Maori World' and quite literally so, because it seeks to identify some of the key categories by which ancient Maori interpreted their world, and to relate these one to another. The approach can be described as semantic since the Maori language itself is the main line of evidence, rather than reports by European observers as to how they viewed Maori custom. Apart from the Maori lexicon (as presented in Williams' Dictionary of the Maori Language, 6th edition), 1 have considered proverbs, one early myth and a discussion of ritual, each of these from Maori informants, in Maori. The sources are generally taken from as early after contact as possible, because one of the conclusions of this study is that one cannot reliably assume that the semantic structures of Te Ao Hou The Contemporary Maori World' are the same, even in the most traditional contexts, as those of precontact times. The paper is not a completed exploration of early Maori texts; it is rather a first attempt at approaching the ancient Maori world through lexical and selected textual material. 1 was introduced to the difficulties of approaching ancient patterns through contemporary evidence during recent field work. Over 1970-72 1 was studying Maori ceremonial gatherings, particularly those held on marae in different parts of the North Island of New Zealand. The marae is a centre which acts as a focus for the communal life of tribal and sub-tribal groups. In rural areas at least, most kin groupings own a marae, its meeting house, forecourt for ritual, dining hall and kitchen providing all the facilities needed for group gatherings. The meeting house is a large building elaborately decorated with carvings, plaited wall panels and rafter paintings; and it is a potent ancestral image with a complex and sometimes enigmatic symbolic structure. The first difficulty of inter pretation it presented began as a simple question of orientation ? which of the two sides of a meeting house was the left side and which was the right? My informants could not agree. Some attributed left and right as though they were standing inside the house looking out, and this accorded