In another list collected by Mr. White the name of Te Rua o Hongongoi is applied to the second month, while Whakakumu is given as a name for the seventh month, reminding us of Taylor's Te Wakumu applied to the sixth month. In this list White gives Ngahuru-tuma for the tenth month, a name that one would naturally expect to apply to the eleventh. The eleventh month appears as Haratua or Kahui-ruamahu, and the twelfth as Tapatapa-rere or Takurua hupe nui. This latter is an expression used to denote winter.
In yet another list of Mr. White's collection the thirteen months appear; the four last names are,—
10. | Te Ngahuru. | ||
11. | Te Ngahuru hauhake kai | The crop-lifting Tenth. | |
12. | Paengawawa. | ||
13. | Te Tahi o Pipiri. |
The First of Pipiri is a peculiar name for a thirteenth month; it is usually given as a name for the first month. It is quite possible that the Maori occasionally employed a thirteenth month in order to regulate the year, and so recover lost time. An interesting note given by White is as follows: "Ka tahia te marae i a Puanga ka puta i te ata, a tae noa ki te mamma tekau ma rua, a ma rua tuma" ("The plaza was swept when Rigel appeared in the morning, also in the twelfth month and the odd one"). This certainly looks like a thirteenth month. Williams gives Tuma as a name of the twelfth month, but this does not seem appropriate, as the word means "odd; in excess."
The name of Puwai-awatahi was applied to June by an old man of the Ngati-Kuia Tribe (Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol. 26, page 119).
The following appear in the Maori dictionaries of Messrs. Colenso and Williams:—
Ahikaea | September | First month of spring. |
Ahimaru | October | Second month of spring. |
Ahinui | November | Third month of spring. |
This identifying of the months of the Maori year with ours is somewhat misleading. Williams also gives Kaiwaka as a name for the third month, Kahui-ruamahu for the twelfth, and Tahi-wehewehe as the last month of the year, presumably the twelfth. Mr. White in his budget of notes gives Whakaau [? Whakaahu] as July, Mangere as August, Rehua as the eighth month, and Matiti as March; also Iwa-iti and Iwa-nui (Little Ninth and Big Ninth) as names for February. Rehua is scarcely employed as a month-name, but as denoting summer and its heat. Taylor gives Mangere opposite August. Mr. White used some of Taylor's matter.
In a letter written by Titoko Waru to Wahanui he gave the following names to the first six months:—
- Pipiri.
- Whakaahu-rangi.
- Unuunu-hewa.
- Aroaro-a-manu.
- Hiringa-nuku.
- Hiringa-rangi.
Herein we see that 1, 5, and 6 agree with Tuhoe names, while 4 is a name employed in the Bay of Plenty, more as a season-