Maori for “Victory”

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20624, 27 November 1941, Page 8

Maori for “Victory”

Sir.—-My • attention ha:- been drawn to Hie recent controversy- in. your paner regarding the correct Maori translation of the English word "victory.' - 1 have discovered that m the Maori version r >r Ibe Bible the ’ivord '‘victory" is interpreted < by, I believe. Archdeacon Maun.seli) twice as “whakaora" (II Samuel. 10.2 and Psalm 98.1) and once as “wikitoria” (I- Chronicles, 29.11). In the New Testament, which I understand Archdeacon Williams translated, the word is always translated as “wikitoria.” In my opinion neither is correct, as “wikitoria” is merely the Maorified version of “victory,” and “whakaora,” although a pure Maori word, is not much better, meaning more closely, “the result of victory.” Although I habitually speak English and have not lived with my own people for many years, I still have vivid recollections of the stirring tales told by the kaumatuas of my hapu, the Ngatitaure (Knreka) of Wahnnui, a sub-tribe of the Arawas. In these stories, which usually related to the warlike proclivities and martial prowess of our ancestors, they constantly referred to “a victor" ns n “toa-ru-uruhi-ti” and (o victory itself ns “pu-nrnhi-ti." 1 have endeavoured to trace the derivation of this term “pu-uruhi-ti,” bill the connection 1 make of it with “victory” is of the vaguest. “Pu” is % as all Maoris know, a gun—a firearm;' but it also means to “lie in a heap,” as in “ka mate taua patunga; ka-ru ria' nga tangata,” meaning, “after that killing (or battle), men (i.e., bodies) lay round in heaps.” “Uruhi” is a verb meaning “to assail” and “ti” another verb meaning “to overcome.” As far as I can see, the combination signified “victory” in the minds of the old people. W. HALE (Te Titoa Hona.)