Ritual of Planting

Te Ao Hou, December 1962, Page 37

Ritual of Planting The day on which the field was planted was very sacred. The planters arrived at the field before sunrise, and the tohunga chanted a prayer to Rongo, while they all faced towards the rising sun. Then the priest took a sacred basket of kumara and planted them, with ritual gestures, in a specially tapu part of the field. After this the men planted the rest of the field. When the work was over they ate a ceremonial meal of kumara from two sacred ovens; this was part of the ritual of removing the tapu which rested upon them during the planting. While the plants were growing it was forbidden for strangers to approach them; if, in travelling across the country, you accidentally stumbled across the other tribe's kumara plantations, you were very likely to be attacked. During the summer the only people allowed near the kumara were the workman who did the weeding. When the stars showed that the time had come to harvest the kumara, there were once again elaborate ceremonies performed by the tohunga, and once again the men working the fields (no women were allowed) were in a tapu condition. After all crop was lifted, and after ceremonial offerings of kumara had been made to the gods and all the necessary rituals were performed, it was the time of year for going visiting: a time when neighbouring friendly tribes entertained each other with elaborate feasts, when kumara and fish were displayed in great piles on tall platforms, and there were speeches, games, dancing, singing and festivity.