tohunga
1. (verb) to be expert, proficient, adept.
Nō waenganui o te tekau tau atu i 1920, i reira tonu a ia e tohunga ana, e noho kaitiaki ana (TTR 1996:159). / In the mid 1920s he was still active there as a tohunga and guardian.
Synonyms: kaiaka, ringa rehe, Kei a ... mō te ..., matatau
2. (noun) skilled person, chosen expert, priest, healer - a person chosen by the agent of an atua and the tribe as a leader in a particular field because of signs indicating talent for a particular vocation. Those who functioned as priests were known as tohunga ahurewa. They mediated between the atua and the tribe, gave advice about economic activities, were experts in propitiating the atua with karakia and were experts in sacred lore, spiritual beliefs, traditions and genealogies of the tribe. Tohunga mākutu, or tohunga whaiwhaiā, specialised in the occult and casting evil spells. Those chosen to specialise in carving are tohunga whakairo, in tattooing are tohunga tā moko, in astrology are tohunga kōkōrangi, in composing songs are tohunga tito waiata, in canoe making are tohunga tārai waka, in rituals are tohunga karakia, etc. Tohunga were trained in a traditional whare wānanga or by another tohunga.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 122-123;)
Ki te kore he kai, kua riro mā tētahi o ngā tohunga e karakia, kua rere mai he kai ki runga ki te waka. He ika, he manu me ētahi atu tūmomo kai mata (HP 1991:9). / If there was no food, one of the tohunga would say a ritual chant and food would fly onto the vessel - fish, birds and other types of raw food.
Me puta i a mātou tētahi kupu whakaatu mō ngā tohunga Māori o mua, mō ō mātou hoa Pākehā hoki kia mārama ai rātou ki te āhua o ērā tū tāngata. Arā, i te takiwā e mana ana ngā mahi mākutu he tino tangata te tangata tohunga i ngā kāinga Māori katoa atu, he tangata whai mana ia. He tangata ia e whakanuia ana, e manaakitia ana e te tangata katoa atu; ka kore i te aroha ki tōna tinana, he wehi pea ki tōna mana i pēnā ai. He atua ana kaimahi, arā ko ngā wairua o ētahi o ana tamariki kua mate atu, ōna whanaunga kē atu rānei, ā e rongo tonu ana aua atua ki āna tono. Ki te whakaaro a te tangata e whai mana ana aua atua ki te oneone, ki te rangi, ki te ahi, ki te wai, ki ngā tinana hoki me ngā tikanga katoa atu o te tangata. Nō konei ka pā he mate ki te tangata kia kīia tonutia he atua e ngau ana i a ia, he mea unga nā tētahi tangata mauāhara ki a ia. E kore e kimihia māriretia tōna take noa iho o te mate; engari ka kīia tonutia he atua kua uru ki te tinana o te tangata kua pāngia e te mate, ā e kore e taea te pei noa iho, me karakia anō e taea ai, kātahi ka tīkina te tohunga māna e mahi. Ehara i te mea he mahi whakaora anake te mahi a te tohunga, engari he kaha anō tōna ki te whakapā he mate ki te tangata, ki te mahi noa atu hoki i ētahi mahi whakamīharo nui, i runga i te kaha o ōna atua. Ka hiahia te tangata kia mate tōna hoariri, nā me tiki ia i tētahi wāhi o te kahu, tētahi o ngā huruhuru rānei o te māhunga, o taua tangata, tētahi mea noa atu rānei kua pā ki te tinana o taua tangata, arā o tōna hoariri, ka mutu ka mauria taua mea ki te tohunga hei whāngai hau; ā (ki te mea ka rahi he utu māna) ka karakiatia taua mea e te tohunga, kātahi ka werohia te tangata rā e ngā atua o te tohunga, ka nohoia rānei tōna tinana e aua atua, ka mate hoki ia, ka hemo rawa atu, arā ki te kore ia e kite i tētahi tohunga kaha rawa kia ripaia tōna mate; kātahi ka hoki mai ki te kai i a ia ngā atua o te tohunga nāna nei i mākutu te tangata e mate ana - he mea tāiro hoki (TWMNT 14/12/1875:294). / We must express a few words about the ancient Māori tohunga, and for our Pākehā friends so that they understand the nature of those kinds of people. At the time when witchcraft was prevailed, the tohunga was an important person in every Māori village. He was a person of prestige, was honoured and treated with consideration, if not for love of him as a person, then perhaps from fear of his power. His workers were atua, namely the spirits of some of his children who had died, or some near relations, and those atua heeded his requests. People considered that those atua had power over the earth, the heavens, fire, and water, as well as over the body and affairs of people. And so when a person became sick it was ascribed to an atua, instigated against him/her by someone bearing ill will. They would not search for any material cause of the disease; but would immediately attribute it to an atua, and it could not be ejected except by ritual chants, so then the tohunga were fetched to do his work. The tohunga could not only heal, but could also inflict diseases on someone, and perform amazing deeds through the power of his atua. When someone wanted to destroy his enemy, he needed to procure a portion of his garment, or a hair of his head, or something that had been in contact with that person's body, that is his enemy, and then take it to the tohunga to make ceremonial offering of food to the atua, and (provided the payment was sufficient) the tohunga would perform certain incantations over it. Then that person would be pierced by the tohunga's atua or his body would be invaded by the atua and he would become sick and die, that is unless he were able to procure the services of a more powerful tohunga to save him; in which case the tohunga's incantations would recoil upon himself, and he would probably become the victim.
tohunga whakaatu
1. (noun) expert witness.
He wā kua puta ake ia hei tohunga whakaatu mō ngā tono whenua, i kōkiritia ai ngā tikanga me ngā herenga a te Māori i raro i te Tiriti (TTR 1996:115). / Occasionally, he appeared as an expert witness on land claims, and invoked Māori rights and obligations under the Treaty.
tohunga kōkōrangi
1. (noun) astronomer - expert in the study of celestial bodies.
E kite ana ahau ko koe te tohunga kōkōrangi o 'Te Toa Takitini', kei a koe te wānanga o te tātai arorangi, te oha a ngā kauwheke o raurangi (TTT 1/6/1922:13). / I can see that you are the astronomer of 'Te Toa Takitini' newspaper and you have the knowledge of the heavens, the gift of the ancestors of another time.
tohunga tikanga tangata
1. (noun) anthropologist.
Ko tōna mana i roto i te ao Māori, pērā i tōna mana hei tino tohunga tikanga tangata rā, e pā ana ki ngā taonga ā-iwi o Poronihia, ka tū tonu, ka tū tonu (TTR 1996:18). / His standing in the Māori world, as is his mana as an anthropologist, particularly of Polynesian material culture, remains undiminished.
tohunga tā whakaahua
1. (noun) painter (art), artist (painting, etc.).
Synonyms: kaipeita
awherangi
1. (noun) defensive spell to counter witchcraft by a tohunga.
Ka tīmata te ako o ngā karakia, i te mākutu, i te awherangi, i te ruaroa, i te hoa, i te mātākai, i te tapuwae, i te ātahu, i te karakia mō ngā atua o te rangi, i te karakia mō ngā atua o te whenua, me ngā atua o te moana (JPS 1907:222). / Then teaching of the ritual chants began for: the exercise of witchcraft, the defensive spell to counter witchcraft by another tohunga, the ruaroa ritual, the charms exercising the power of mind over matter, the spell to kill someone while they were eating, the ritual chant to insure speed, love spells, and the ritual chants to appease the atua of the sky, land and ocean.
2. (noun) long white hairs - used for decorating clothing, weapons, etc.
Ka whitia e ia te rapa o tōna taiaha ki runga; ka ruia ngā awe, ka pūaha (JPS 1911:22). / He turned the blade of his taiaha upwards, and shook its tuft of white dog's hair so that it opened out.
3. (noun) strength, power, influence.
I muri tata iho i tōna hokinga mai i Pēwhairangi, ka hora tōna awe ki roto o Ngāti Porou (TTR 1990:164). / Soon after his return from the Bay of Islands his influence spread amongst Ngāti Porou.
Synonyms: kōmārohi, kaha, tino rangatiratanga, marohi, mārohirohi, mana, maru, hiko, ihi, awenga, pū, mana whakahaere
4. (noun) soot.
Kei tua i te awe kāpara, he tangata kē māna e noho te ao nei, he mā (JPS 1907:65). / Behind the tattooed face there is a different person who will inherit this world and he is not tattooed. (A prophecy possibly predicting the changes that have occurred in Māori culture and society. The 'awe kāpara' is the tattooing pigment made from soot.)
5. (noun) soul, an object used by a tohunga in which to place a person's wairua.
Ko te awe he rite anō ki te wairua, engari, koirā te tino o tō wairua. Nā reira, ka noho tonu te wairua e kōrero ake nei koe tō wairua i roto i a koe, engari, ka tīkina e koe tētahi mea pēnei i te matimati nei, i te makawe nei, i te kōhatu nei, i te rau rākau, i te peka rākau, he aha rānei, kātahi ka haria ki te tohunga kia karakiahia e te tohunga. I reira kua noho mai taua mea rā hei awe mō tō wairua, arā, ka hunaia e koe ki tētahi wāhi. Ka haere mai ngā karakia a te tohunga mākutu i a koe e hāngai ana ki a koe kei te huna kē te awe o tō wairua. Nā, e kore e taea te whakamate i tō tinana kia ngaro ai tō wairua (Wh4 2004:224). / The 'awe' is very similar to the 'wairua', but it's the essence of your spirit. And so the spirit that you are talking about dwells within you, but you should procure something such as a fingernail, a strand of hair, a stone, a leaf, a branch, or whatever, and take it to the tohunga for him to perform a ritual chant over. There that thing becomes the 'awe' for your spirit, and so you hide it somewhere. If a tohunga directs ritual chants to bewitch you, then the essence of your spirit is hidden away. So he will not be able to damage your body to destroy your spirit.
amoranga
1. (noun) ceremonial presentation of kūmara to the tohunga - part of the pure ceremony when the kūmara crop was gathered.
See also amoamohanga
amonga
1. (noun) ceremonial presentation of kūmara to the tohunga - part of the pure ceremony when the kūmara crop was gathered.
See also amoamohanga
amoamohanga
1. (noun) ceremonial presentation of kūmara to the tohunga - part of the pure ceremony when the kūmara crop was gathered.
He mea tapu hoki te amonga, arā te amoranga, te amoamohanga ki ētahi reo. I te ngahuru e hauhaketia ai te kūmara ka tukuna te amohanga kūmara mō te pure ki te tohunga nui. Ka tīkina te kai o ia māra, o ia māra, ka hui ki te mahi i aua kai anō; ko te ingoa o tēnā he pure, he amoamohanga mō ngā kai i mahia i roto i te tau (M 2007:12). / The presentation of kūmara is sacred, also called the amoranga or amoamohanga in some dialects. In autumn the kūmara were harvested and a presentation of kūmara was sent to the chief tohunga for purification. The food of each garden was brought together and the people gathered, the name of that ceremony is 'pure', a ceremonial presentation for the food produced in the year.
2. (verb) (-hia) to rush upon, charge, attack.
Ka whakatata atu te taua ki te hoariri, kātahi ka puta te karanga, "Amohia!" (PK 2008:16). / The war party approached the enemy and then the call came, "Attack!"
3. (noun) litter, stretcher.
Kātahi ka whakaatutia mai he kauhoa, arā, he amo mō te hunga e hinga ana ki roto i te pakanga (TPH 30/7/1903:5). / Then it was revealed that it was a stretcher, that is a litter for carrying those who were falling in the battle.
Synonyms: kauamo, otaota, kapurangi, parahanga, punipuni, kauhoa, whataamo
4. (noun) bargeboard support - upright supports of the lower ends of the maihi of the front of a meeting house.
Nō ngā tau o te tekau tau mai i 1970, ka whakahoungia ngā amo, ngā maihi me te koruru (TTR 1990:377). / In the 1970s the carved frontal features of amo, maihi and koruru were renewed.
5. (noun) ceremonial presentation of kūmara to the tohunga - connected to the lifting of the kūmara crop.
Ko tētahi wāhanga o te whāngai hau he amo kai ki te atua, arā, he whāngai i te hau ki tētahi atua (Te Ara 2015). / A part of the whāngai hau involved a ceremonial offering of food to the atua, that is it was to feed the essence of the offering to an atua.
