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