Pe`e, performed by Iviiti Aerepo

Item — crate: R043838626, Reel: 5000027018398

Identifier: AMPS 2023/01. Series 2. Item 2/33

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

A chant for war.

First lines begin: "Ko ani e Tu, ma Tangaroa | Ei tia i te araoa tama eu"

Dates

1967-11-12

Creator

From the Collection: McLean, Mervyn (1930-2022) (Person)
From the Collection: Mokotupu, Tepaki (Person)
From the Collection: Naku, Simona (Person)

To request or comment

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Biographical / Historical

Tu was one of the greatest and most widely worshipped of Polynesian deities. In New Zealand he was the war god to whom all war parties were sacred, and in the Cook Islands he was the god of war in Mauke and Atiu. In Mangaia, he was a son of Vari-ma-te-takere (“the very beginning”), together with Vatea, Tinirau, and others. Although not as powerful in Mangaia as Tane and Rongo, of whom the latter was the principal god of war, he must also have been associated with war, as the present song attests.