2. (noun) a ceremony to remove tapu from a new house or canoe.
(Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 170-171;)
Ko te tikanga o tēnei mea, o te kawa, e pure ana i te kawa tapu o Tāne kia noa (TTT 1/5/1930:2055). / The purpose of the kawa ceremony is to ritually remove the tapu of Tāne so that it becomes free of tapu.
See also tānga o te kawa
3. (noun) karakia (ritual chants) and customs for the opening of new houses, canoes and other events.
Nā ngā kaumātua o Te Arawa i wewete ngā tapu o ōna whakairo, i karakia te karakia o te waere, te kawa, te toki, te takapou (TTT 1/10/1922:8). / The elders of Te Arawa removed the tapu from its carvings, recited the incantations of the waere (clearing the tapu of the building), of the kawa (calling on the powers to ruruku, or bind together, the uprights and rafters of the building), the toki (incantation addressed to the tree from which the carvings were made using the toki, or axe) and the takapou (incantation lifting the tapu to enable the entry of women into the house and spreading the mat of occupation and use).
4. (noun) marae protocol - customs of the marae and wharenui, particularly those related to formal activities such as pōhiri, speeches and mihimihi. This seems to be a modern extension of the word.
Kāti, nō te taenga mai o Kuīni Irihāpeti Te Tuarua ki Rotorua i te 2 o Hānuere 1954, takahia ana e Heke te kawa, he ruarua nei ngā miniti e hauoraora ake ana tana kōrero ki te Kuīni mō te takoha roera, arā, mō te tokotoko hiriwa (TTR 2000:27). / Well, when Queen Elizabeth II arrived at Rotorua on 2 January 1954, Heke broke protocol by speaking animately to the Queen for several minutes about the royal gift of the silver cane.
Synonyms: tikanga o te marae, tikanga
2. (stative) be unpalatable, acidic.
Nā te mahi a te ua kawa, ka pūnguru ētahi rawa hanga whare, ka māngeongeo te kiri o te tangata, ka kawa hoki ngā awa me ngā roto (TKI 7/2011). / Because of the action of the acid rain, some equipment for house building corrodes, a person's skin becomes itchy and the rivers and lakes are acidic.
4. (noun) bitterness, sour taste, bitter taste, acidity.
Me horopū ngā pire, kia kore ai koe e rongo i te kawa (PK 2008:136). / The pills should be swallowed whole so that you don't taste the bitterness.
ngākau kawa
1. (noun) bad attitude, sour disposition.
Ki hea noa iho tātou raruraru ai ki te rite tonu tō tātou ngākau kawa ki te reo o iwi kē. Kia mau tonu tātou ki ō tātou reo ā-iwi, engari kia kaua tērā e noho mai hei tīwatawata e raru ai tā tātou haere kōtui e ora tonu ai tō tātou reo Māori (HM 2/1996:2). / We will be in trouble if we have a sour attitude towards the language of other tribes. We should retain our dialects, but let's not let it be an obstacle obstructing our united progress whereby our Māori language thrives.
Synonyms: ngākaukawa
kiri kawa
1. (modifier) short-tempered, quick-tempered, irritable, irascible, cranky, crotchety.
He wā he kiri kawa tōna wairua; he wā anō he tangata marae, he tangata nohopuku (TTR 1990:237). / Sometimes he was very short-tempered, and at other times he was generous or reclusive.
Synonyms: āritarita, ārita, whanewhane, kiriwetiweti
tānga o te kawa
1. tapu removal ceremony, striking with a branch of kawakawa, performing the kawa ceremony - when dedicating a new building or canoe.
Nāna i whakahaere ngā mahi taka kai mō te whakatuwheratanga o te whare nui i Waitangi i Pēpuere o te tau 1940, ā, tomokia ana hoki e ia te paepae, i te tānga o te kawa o taua whare (TTR 2000:41). / She organised catering for the opening of the meeting house at Waitangi in February 1940 and crossed the threshold first in the tapu removal ceremony of that house.
See also tā
Synonyms: tāinga o te kawa
tāinga o te kawa
1. (noun) tapu removal ceremony, striking with a branch of kawakawa, performing the kawa ceremony - when dedicating a new building or canoe.
Ā te Poutū-te-rangi o tērā tau te tāinga o te kawa o tō tātou tipuna whare (HKK 1999:14). / The tapu removal ceremony of our ancestral meeting house will be in March next year.
See also tā i te kawa
Synonyms: tānga o te kawa
tā i te kawa
1. (verb) to strike with a branch of kawakawa, perform the kawa ceremony - when dedicating a new building or canoe.
Ko ia tētahi o ngā tohunga i tonoa kia haere ki te tā i te kawa o Rauru, he whare whakairo i Te Whakarewarewa (TTR 1994:89-90). / He was one of the tohunga invited to open the carved house, Rauru, at Whakarewarewa.
See also tānga o te kawa, kawa, kawa, kawanga whare, tā
toki
1. (noun) adze.
Nō te hāpaitanga ake o taua tumutumu nei, i a rātou anō e tapahi ana i ngā paiaka o raro, ka kitea te ngārahu me ētahi toki kōhatu nei e takoto ana i roto (TWMNT 9/2/1875:34). / When they were lifting the stump up, and while they were cutting the roots underneath, they discovered charcoal and some stone adzes lying inside.
2. (noun) axe, hatchet.
Ka mea ngā tāne me pao te māhunga ki muri o te pane o te toki (HP 1991:20). / The men said that the head should be struck with the back of the axe head.
3. (noun) champion, star, gun.
(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 195;)
Kāore he tīma i tua atu i a rātou mō te purei whutupōro, he toki katoa rātou (PK 2008:928). / There is no team better than them at playing rugby, they're all guns.
4. (noun) karakia used during the kawa ceremony - addresses the tree from which the carvings were made using the toki, or axe.
Nā ngā kaumātua o Te Arawa i wewete ngā tapu o ōna whakairo, i karakia te karakia o te waere, te kawa, te toki, te takapou (TTT 1/10/1922:8). / The elders of Te Arawa removed the tapu from its carvings, recited the incantations of the waere (clearing the tapu of the building), of the kawa (calling on the powers to ruruku, or bind together, the uprights and rafters of the building), the toki (incantation addressed to the tree from which the carvings were made using the toki, or axe) and the takapou (incantation lifting the tapu to enable the entry of women into the house and spreading the mat of occupation and use).
