TE AKE’S REVENGE #2

The Akaroa chief Te Ake grieved long for his slain daughter, Hine ao, the Maid-of-Light, then he set about his task of vengeance.

Now, the Maori did not always take the most direct path to the attainment of his passion for blood-payment. [Utu]

Te Aké’s first impulse was to raise a war-party and march on Turaki-po’s swamp-pa,[fortified village] and slaughter the wizard chief and all his house and hapu.[tribe or clan]

But as Turaki-po would be prepared, since the news of Hine-ao’s death had spread over the countryside, the father chose a more circumspect but not less deadly form of retribution.

So soon as the period of mourning for the dead girl was ended, Te Ake, with his brother and two or three slaves to carry their bundles of mats, presents, and food for the trail, set out on a long journey northward.

For many days he and his companions travelled through the grassy plains and over the ranges until they reached, at last, a little coast kainga, [village] where there dwelt the tohunga [priest/sacred person]Tautini, the great sorcerer, the Grey haired old keeper of all the occult wisdom of Ngai-Tahu.

Many untold stores of ancient lore, the knowledge handed down through long generations from the days when the ancestors of the Maori lived on Asiatic shores.

Spell upon spell for all the purposes of life and death were locked in the brains that lay behind the shaggy brows of that wise old man.

Steeped in tapu [his sleeping hut mats and the floor mats on which he rested as he squatted in the sun in his thatched porch-front, these were so sacred that none but he might touch them, this medicine-man was a venerated Ariki or priestly chieftain, and the dread of his tribespeople.]

From him and his co-priest, Irirangi came most of such remnants of the ancient sacred knowledge that have been preserved to this day in the South Island by Ngai-Tahu.

Te Ake resorted to learning such spells and rites as might enable him to work vengeance on his blood-enemy, Turaki-po, and to appease the mana [power/memory] of his murdered daughter.

According to tradition, his brother troubled not about spells and such esoteric matters but employed his time in making love to the girls of the seaside village.

Te Ake, with grim purpose, made a request of the learned man Tautini that he should teach him his most powerful man-slaying incantations and rites, the thrice-tapu ritual of the makutu. [witchcraft]

Te Ake He had laid before the sorcerer, as he made greeting, his baskets of presents from the south, greenstone ornaments and finely woven flax and feather garments, and carved pottles of preserved birds.

Image Source

These gifts opened the heart of the grim old priest, and night after night, when other men slept, he imparted to Te Aké the dread secrets of his art, and after a curious rite intended to make his pupil’s memory retentive, he recited karakia after karakia, [prayer] which sank into the memory of Te Aké, never to be forgotten.

It was from Tautini that Turaki-po’s incantations had been originally learned.

Te Aké had now acquired spells even more powerful than those of his enemy, which meant that he held him in the hollow of his hand.

From Irirangi also, the second of the great priests, Te Aké learned karakia [prayers] of incalculable potency, which enabled him to call the Gods to his aid, the Gods of earth, sky and ocean.

Like Tautini and Irirangi, indeed, he was now a god in himself.

Info From

The first of the below posts has a list of the previous posts of Maori Myths and Legends

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/how-war-was-declared-between-tainui-and-arawa

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-curse-of-manaia-part-1

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-curse-of-manaia-part-2

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-legend-of-hatupatu-and-his-brothers

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/hatupatu-and-his-brothers-part-2

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-legend-of-the-emigration-of-turi-an-ancestor-of-wanganui

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-continuing-legend-of-turi

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/turi-seeks-patea

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-legend-of-manaia-and-why-he-emigrated-to-new-zealand

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-love-story-of-hine-moa-the-maiden-of-rotorua

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/how-te-kahureremoa-found-her-husband

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-continuing-story-of-te-kahureremoa-s-search-for-a-husband

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-magical-wooden-head

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-art-of-netting-learned-from-the-fairies

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/te-kanawa-s-adventure-with-a-troop-of-fairies

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-loves-of-takarangi-and-rau-mahora

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/puhihuia-s-elopement-with-te-ponga

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-story-of-te-huhuti

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/a-trilogy-of-wahine-toa-woman-heroes

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/a-modern-maori-story

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/hine-whaitiri

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/whaitere-the-enchanted-stingray

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/turehu-the-fairy-people

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/kawariki-and-the-shark-man

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/awarua-the-taniwha-of-porirua

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/hami-s-lot-a-modern-story

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-unseen-a-modern-haunting

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-death-leap-of-tikawe-a-story-of-the-lakes-country

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/paepipi-s-stranger

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/a-story-of-maori-gratitude

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/by-the-waters-of-rakaunui-1

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/by-the-waters-of-rakaunui-2

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/bt-the-waters-of-rakaunui-3

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/bt-the-waters-of-rakaunui-4

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/te-ake-s-revenge-1

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