216 Transactions. 



Nau i kai i te popoaP ("Your complaint is caused bv your 

 having eaten of the popoa"). This "popoa " is a term applied 

 to the sacred foods set apart for the tapu persons who take part 

 in the disentombing ceremony. For another person to eat such 

 food was a hara, and the act would affect his throat, which would 

 contract, or seem to contain some obstruction. " Popoki " 

 seems to be another name for the popoa— sacred food used at 

 the hahunga tupapaku ceremony, as also that used at the rite 

 to take the tapu off a new-born child and its mother. One 

 authority, and a good one. says, " Mo tenet ingoa, mo te popoki 

 ko te mea tuatahi i te haerenga ki te mahi kai mo te tuatanga — manu 

 ranei, ika ranei, ka kawea ki mua ma te atua " (''In regard to 

 this word ' popoki' it is the first article of food obtained by a 

 party who are collecting food for the tua rite over a child, be 

 it bird or fish ; it is taken to the sacred place and offered to the 

 god"). 



But we must lift the tapu from the sacred foods of the hahunga 

 feast or black death will be our portion. The tapu is removed 

 by means of a karakia (invocation, charm, &c.) called a " wha- 

 kau." This is recited by the priest, who takes a small portion 

 of the food (as a single sweet-potato) and offers it to the ancestral 

 gods, to give power, influence, to his invocation. He then 

 takes a small portion of the food and holds it over the bulk of 

 the foods to be freed from tapu, and repeats, — 



To kai ihi, to kai ihi 



To kai Rangi, to kai Papa 



To kai tapu 



To kai rua Koiwi 



To kai awe 



To kai karu 



To kai ure pahore 



To kai matamua 



To kai rua tupapaku 



Whakataha ra koe 



E te anewa o te rangi e tu nei 



He tawhito to tapu e homai nei 



Kei taku ure 



Na te tapu ihi, na te tapu mana 



Hinga ki mua 



Takoto ki raro 



Ki to Kauwhau ariki. 



The priest then lifts the piece of food to his mouth and 

 recites, — 



E kai tatau, E kai ! E kai ! 

 Kai atu tatau ki nga ihi i te rangi 

 Kai atu tatau ki nga tapu i te rangi 

 Kai atu tatau ki nga ruanuku 

 Kai atu tatau ki nga rua Koiwi 

 Kai atu tatau ki nga rua tupapaku 



