Haratua (the twelfth lunar month: May-June)
“This is the last month of the year according to what the Maori says. On the nights of Tangaroa (i.e. 19th -21st May in 1922) Matariki (Pleiades star cluster) begins to sink and when it finally rises up, it is the nights of Tangaroa of Pipiri (i.e.17th to 19th June in 1922).”
(Paraire M. Tomoana of Ngati Kahungunu, Hastings from Te toa Takitini, Maori Language Newspaper, 1922).
Matariki (the Pleiades Star Cluster) is in conjunction with the Sun (behind the Sun) on May 20th. On and around this date as the evening twilight fades, due west you will see an upright line of bright stars. This is the pole of Hine-nui-te-Po, the great goddess of death. It marks the end (death) of the year.
All crops are now placed in the storage pits; and the tasks of man are finished.
Bird-taking season (May, June) was the busy time among fowlers, was the next important activity after the lifting and storing of the cultivated crops. The hunters would begin to evaluate the bird-food supply as early as March. If there were lots of berries March/April then there would be a many fat birds by May.
Many of the species that provide much food for birds are not found growing in extensive stands, but are more or less scattered through mixed bush, such are the miro, (Prumnopitys ferruginea)maire, (Syzygium maire) hinau (Elaeocarpus dentatus) and rata (Metrosideros spp), but the kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides) is sometimes seen in dense stands of considerable extent, in some cases to the almost total exclusion of other species of forest trees.
In addition to these trees the pigeon frequented the following species to feed on the fruits: Houhou (Pseudopanax aboreum) patē or patate (Schefflera digitata), mako (Aristotelia racemosa, autumn fruiting), kareao(Rhipogonum scandens), maire-taiki (Fusanus Cunninghamii), rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum), Kohekohe (Dysoxylum spectabile), Coprosma spp and also the mihinare(sweetbriar).
Pigeons were also taken when feeding on the berries of tī kōuka, cabbage tree (Cordyline australis). and tarairi. (Beilschmiedia tarairi) A pole was placed reaching from one panicle of Cordyline to another, and a horizontal tahuor suspension cord was arranged near it from which many snares depended; the birds would alight on the perch prior to moving onward to the berry bearing panicles and so be ensnared. Pigeons were also taken by the tarimethod (noose on a pole) and by spearing when feeding on the ti or “cabbage trees”. They were speared on white pine, kahikatea, and Maire (Olea), speared and snared (by the takei or taeke, and mutu noose snare methods) on miro trees, so that a fruitful miro three could be termed a kaihua, a taumatua, or rakau taeke and a tutu (especially good and individually named snaring trees). A third name for a taumatua is rahu tahei.
An old time saying is: He kuku tangai nui, he ka kaki honihoni – a big-cropped pigeon, a nibbling parrot, is concerned with the manner of eating of these two birds.
Miro fruit ripens May to July) kahikatea, ripens October to November, matai and rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum)Miro (Podocarpus ferrugineus, kahikatea (P. dacrydioidesv), matai (P. spicatus) and rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum), flowers October to November and the fruit is ripe in the autumn. These are trees on which taeke, mutu, tumu, tuke and pewa snares were set for kereru native pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) and tui,parson bird (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae). Mutu, tumu and pewa snares are perch snares and were set in any tree such as the miro that has foliage and fruits at the end of the branch. The tumu had a noose that was pulled by a hidden fowler. Kereru were speared on kahikatea and maire and miro. Tui were often snared or struck down when feeding on smaller bushes and shrubs.
As the season progressed the experts would continue to visit, examine and report on the condition of the forest fruits, but the bulk of the people were not permitted to do this.
The tahei (taeke) snares consist of running-nooses set among the branches of trees or at streams, pools etc (tahei koko). A tree in which such snares are set is called a rakau tahei, taumatua or toka a manu When feeding on the berries of the kohekohe (Didymocheton spectabilis) or miro they put on a lot of weight. Miro berries made them so thirsty so that they headed for the nearest water and could be caught with wai taeke and water snares (snares attached to feeding troughs or by water). When kereru became fat in the winter season or late autumn it was said they had become whaturua (Kua whaturua te kereru). Any stream or pool where birds are snared this way is called a wai tahei.
Birds were transported to camp in rahu (baskets). The first birds taken were used as an offering to the mauri (life force) of the forest, others were set aside for immediate use, but most were preserved. They were made into huahua manu (birds preserved in their own fat). Huahua manu was considered a great delicacy.
He huahua te kai, he wai te kai.
Huahua is the food, water is the food
This tutu (cooking and potting process) might be performed at or near the kianga (village), or in the forest far from the kianga. When Matariki (the Pleiades) rose in the dawn, it signalled the time of ahi matiti (the fire used to cook the birds). It was also the first of a series of events that marked the beginning of the Maori New Year.
The plucked, cleaned, boned and spitted birds were attached to a rack over the fire, the fat being caught in a trough suspended below. When cooked, the birds were usually packed into tahā (special gourd vessels) and their melted fat was poured over until all air was excluded.
The kiore (native rat) ate the same berries as the tui and kereru and supplemented this with flowers and bark. They were trapped during the fowling season, being taken with (tawhiti papa) spring traps set on the main rat tracks (or runs). The kiore was preserved in a similar way to the birds, being termed huahua kiore.