Goldie. — Maori Medical Lore. 27 



others declare that the hau and wairua of a child are im- 

 planted during coition, by the father, the mother being merely 

 a receptacle (whare moenga). When this soul, whatever its 

 origin may be, is prematurely liberated from its whare moenga 

 it becomes a kahukahu. 



The idea of woman being the repository of potential 

 atua poke, and the menstruating female as a liberator of 

 malignant kahukahu, led to the imposition of certain restric- 

 tions on women, and to their segregation during the men- 

 strual period. (?) Thus, " a Maori woman may not step over 

 a male child, or it will be stunted in growth ; nor may she 

 step over a man, should he be lying in the way, though in the 

 latter case it would be merely looked upon as an act of im- 

 pertinence." Then, again, should a person inadvertently seat 

 himself on a place used by women as a seat or sleeping- 

 place, he will lose his acuteness of vision as a seer of the 

 supernatural. Should a warrior or seer lie down in the 

 women's portion of a house he will become kahupotia, or 

 afflicted by tu-matarehurehu ; his sight will become dim, his 

 pluck decrease ; he will not be able to distinguish an enemy or 

 see the atua. To avert this calamity he must perform the 

 whakaepa rite, that the mind and the eyes may be clear. 



During menstruation the woman is tapic and is avoided 

 by others. She uses a diaper, or some special form of apron, 

 called marototo, remit, korea, tuhakatahe, angiangi, or kahu- 

 kahu," within which the infant sprite is supposed to remain, 

 for a time at least, and which was usually placed, after use,, 

 amongst the reeds or rushes forming the wall of the ivhare. 

 Here these atua dwelt, and were sometimes called atua 

 noho-tvhare, or house-dwelling demons. In some localities 

 it was customary to bury the menstruous diapers "in a 

 proper manner and with appropriate ceremony, that the 

 kahukahu may be laid or rendered powerless to assail those 

 who dwell in" the living world. This is done by the all- 

 necessary tohunga, who, having cooked some food in a sacred 

 umu (earth oven), proceeds to offer it to the gods, and then 

 by means of karakia (incantations) he renders harmless the 

 evil spirit or germ." The spirit of a kahukahu, according 

 to Tuhoe belief, " will sometimes enter a fish, or a moth, or 

 a pig, according to where the whakatahe is thrown (the safest 

 plan is to bury it deeply). If left on the surface of the 

 ground it may be eaten by a pig, or a moth may fly over it, 

 and then that pig or moth would be entered by the spirit of 

 the kahu and so become a malignant demon, an atua ngau 

 tangata, a demon to assail man. If thrown into water and 

 found by a fish, that fish will become an atua, a demon pos- 



* These terms are somewhat mixed. — E. B. 



