Goldie — Maori Medical Lore. 105 



Hineteiwaiwa, release Tu-huruhuru ; 

 Rupe, release your nephew. 



The ancestors of the father were then invoked by name : first 

 the elder male line of ancestors, commencing with an ancestor 

 who lived in Hawaiki, and terminating with the living represen- 

 tative of that line. Then followed a repetition of the ancestral 

 line next in succession, and the third in succession, if the child 

 be not born ; after which the tohunga addressed the child thus : 

 " Come forth. The sin rests with me. Come forth." And he 

 then continued his incantations : — 



Unravel the tangle, unravel the crime ; 

 Untie manuka, let it be loosed. 

 Distant though Rangi [the Sky Parent] 

 He is reached. 



If the child be not now released, Tiki, the demi-god, is thus in- 

 voked : — 



Tiki of the heap of earth. 



Tiki scraped together 



When hands and feet were formed, 



First produced at Hawaiki. 



If the child be a male it will now be born ; if a female, the 

 mother's line of ancestors must be invoked. 



Hineteiwaiwa, or, as she is sometimes called, Hinauri, or 

 simply Hine, the sister of Maui, and the best-known of all Poly- 

 nesian legendary personages, was always approached in times of 

 painful or delayed labour, and one of the most ancient of Maori 

 karakia is that which they use when seeking the aid of this good 

 goddess of parturition. It is said to have been first used at the 

 birth of her son Tu-huruhuru, many ages ago. As it is fully 

 translated elsewhere,* I only give a portion of the incantation : — 



Weave, weave the mat, 



Couch for my unborn child. 



Now I step upon the mat, 



My child now one with myseir. 



Stand firm, prop of Hine-rauwharangi, 



Stand firm, prop of Hine-teiwaiwa. 



Chide me not in my trouble, 



Me Hine-teiwaiwa, Rupe. 



Release from above your hair, 



Your head, your shoulders, 



Your breast, your liver, 



Your knees, your feet, 



Let them come forth. 



The old lady with night-dark visage,f 



She will make you stretch, 



She will make you rise up. 



Let go placenta, let go membranes, 



Come forth. 



* " Maori Religion and Mythology," Shortland, p. 28. 



f Hine-nui-te-po, the mother of the female ancestors of mankind. 



