Mana and tapu
Practicing a religion largely consists of social activities based on relationships between people and spiritual beings. However, the overt and often showy rituals that make up this aspect of religious practice are always performed against a background of assumptions and attitudes that guide daily life. Typical of such assumptions are ideas of providence and moral expectations sanctioned by divine, ancestral, or other spiritual beings. Such constructs are often projected onto the world of experience in the form of spiritual forces as opposed to beings—a phenomenon Marett (1914) called ‘animatism’. As a prime exemplar of such forces, Marett called attention to the Oceanic notion of mana. Through much of the Pacific, mana is paired with a construct commonly termed tapu; these terms have entered the English language as mana and taboo. Other notions of spiritual power include magic and sorcery, to be considered in the following section. Forces such as these, we will suggest, are different conceptualizations of the agentive power of spiritual volition.
Notions of mana and tapu have been widely discussed in relation to Pacific communities for a long time. Proposed definitions include ‘supernatural power’ (Codrington 1972 [1891]), ‘luck’ (Hogbin 1936), ‘efficacy’ (Firth 1967c [1940]), ‘potency’ (Howard 1985), and “‘effective’ or ‘godly power to act’” (Salmond 1989:73). It may be used as a noun, adjective, or stative verb (see particularly Keesing 1984). When used as a noun, it refers to an unusual ability to affect one’s surroundings in a favorable way. One who has (or is) mana can promote fertility and growth, both of food and people (e.g., see Shore 1989). Such a person is successful in warfare, navigation, gardening, and other technical pursuits, but because of spiritual rather than physical prowess—although the latter may also be present.
The ultimate source of mana is the spirit world (Firth 1967c [1940]; Feinberg 1978, 1996b, 2004; Salmond 1989; Shore 1989), and spirits typically bestow it in approximate proportion to genealogical seniority. In much of Polynesia, mana resides primarily in males and is obtained, above all, from one’s father. Most of one’s mana, according to the latter model, goes to one’s eldest son, so there is less available for the next and least for the youngest. The greatest mana is assumed to reside in the senior male descendant of a line of eldest sons; the least rests with the junior descendant through a line of youngest sons.
Since mana is identified with power, efficacy, or competence, it is only recognized when seen in action. People’s competence, however, does not always vary in direct proportion to their genealogical seniority. Therefore, if things go wrong—if one loses power and control—it is taken to be prima facie evidence that the person lacks mana. This is typically explained in terms of the inscrutable will of the gods.
In some instances, females also are major receptacles of mana. Thus, Anutans speak of Nau Ariki, a prominent woman who lived about ten generations back, as a papine ariki ‘chiefly woman’ and describe her as a person of tremendous mana. Mana also may reside in weapons, head rests, or other objects associated with important persons.
Mana is associated with positions of authority and honor. Prominent among these are chief, warrior, priest, and craftsperson. In addition to named statuses, one might gain respect and honor because of wisdom, expertise, technical competence, or acquisition and distribution of wealth. All of these characteristics indicate possession of mana and might be called upon for purposes of status rivalry (see Goldman 1970).
The most detailed exposition of mana in the Polynesian outliers is presented by Firth (1967c); it is amplified in his many other publications on Tikopian religious phenomena (see also Feinberg 1996b).7 He notes that the Tikopian words mana and manū are often used synonymously and can be glossed as meaning ‘efficacious’. People knowledgeable about ritual matters used (and continue to use) manū more often than mana. Mana/manū inheres particularly in the chiefs and gods and underlies their ability to bring about well-being.
Tapu and its cognates (e.g., tabu, tambu, kapu) have been glossed as ‘holy’, ‘sacred’, ‘forbidden’, or ‘demanding of respect’. The concept is intimately associated with mana (see, e.g., Salmond 1989; Shore 1989). Mana can ensure fertility, nurturance, abundance, and general well-being, but it is also dangerous and, if abused, can cause destruction. Hence, an object infused with mana becomes tapu.
Typically, the head is the most tapu part of a person’s body. The body of a Polynesian chief is tapu and may not be touched except upon his invitation. A high-ranking person might freely touch a subordinate, but an inferior should not initiate physical contact with a superior. On islands with less elaborate systems of personal tapu, only bodily contact is forbidden; for those with the most, commoners might have to step aside, sit down, or prostrate themselves on the ground upon a chief’s approach.
Cognates of mana and tapu are found widely but not universally in the Polynesian outliers. The concepts conveyed by these terms vary from place to place and over time in ways reflective of multiple Polynesian and Melanesian languages and cultures. This reflects a variegated past of intercultural contact and isolation, and of religious continuity, evolution, and diffusion from diverse sources that are recognizably Polynesian and Melanesian. Mana, tapu, and allied constructs model notions of supernatural volitional power. They also express the social order, sometimes-reciprocal obligations, and feelings of awe that the apparently uneven manifestation of such power inspires.
Tikopia and Anuta
Notions of tapu and mana may be observed among the Polynesian outliers, but they vary in degree of importance and the degree to which they resemble the concepts as described in the Polynesian Triangle. On Tikopia and Anuta, they appear in a form that is difficult to distinguish from their occurrence in Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, Hawai‘i, or other large and well-known Polynesian archipelagoes and islands. Mana (manū) is typically passed from generation to generation on the basis of genealogical seniority as traced through the male line (cf. Goldman 1970). It is possessed in greatest quantity by chiefs, and they transmit their mana to objects with which they are in intimate contact. Because of their mana, their bodies, possessions, and immediate surroundings are tapu and must be treated with respect. Altitude is associated with sanctity; thus, the head is tapu, while the feet are, by comparison, profane.8 In addition to the prohibition on physical contact with a chief’s or senior kinsperson’s body and head, one’s posture and bodily position serve as an important indicator of rank. One may not stand in the presence of a social and ritual superior while the latter is seated; one does not turn one’s back on a person of superior rank; and one does not point one’s feet in the direction of such a person.
As elsewhere in Polynesia, Tikopians use the word tapu rather broadly. It is applied to the head of the chief as well seemingly minor phenomena; indeed, it is applied to anything that is to be avoided. Thus, children are also told, “E tapu,” should they try to pick up dangerous items such as a cigarette lighter or tamper with any object belonging to someone else.
The Maori word noa ‘desacralized’ or ‘profane’ is the opposite of tapu, and women are often the mechanism for defusing or making ordinary men, objects, or places that had been tapu. Noa has no Tikopian cognate, and women are often seen as dangerous or polluting. Such an attitude characterizes many neighboring Melanesian cultures, and its presence on Tikopia may represent cultural influences from them. Virtually all of Tikopia’s female spirits are dangerous. In the origin myth, the Atua i Fangarere characterizes women’s genitals as dirty. The words Macdonald remembers most to do with womanly things were ‘bad’ (pariki) and ‘dirty’ (kerekere). Menstruation was called te toto pariki ‘the bad blood’, and there was a prohibition on a man touching a woman’s genitals with his hand before intercourse. On both Tikopia and Anuta, menstruating women are forbidden to attend church services.
Nukumanu
At the opposite end of the spectrum is Nukumanu, where, as in many Melanesian societies, the word mana is not used. The Nukumanu expression for ‘power’ or ‘spiritual force’ is hai mahi, the generic term for strength. The head is not regarded as particularly ‘sacred’ (tapu), and people pay little attention to the positioning of one’s body to indicate respect. Parents even carry small children on their shoulders, and the child steadies itself by holding onto the bearer’s head. The word tapu does appear in hakatapu, a term referring to prayers, chants, or spells. Here, as elsewhere in the predominantly Melanesian country of Papua New Guinea where the creole lingua franca Tok Pisin is spoken, tambu (from tapu and its Melanesian cognates) is used generically for in-laws, who must be treated with special respect or deference. By itself, however, tapu is not used with nearly the same frequency that it is on Anuta and Tikopia.
Kapingamarangi
Like the Nukumanu, the Kapinga do not speak of mana, and rarely of tapu. Still, the concepts are present, albeit expressed with different vocabulary. Emory (1965:199-200) reports that the Kapinga use hakamataku to mean ‘sacred’. As in other Polynesian languages, mataku means ‘fear’ or ‘to be afraid’, and haka is the causative prefix. Thus, hakamataku may be glossed as ‘fearsome’, or perhaps ‘awesome’, and is analogous to tapu elsewhere. Somewhat more surprisingly, Emory observes that tupuna and mokopuna, which elsewhere in Polynesia are terms for ‘grandparent’ (or ‘ancestor’) and ‘grandchild’ (or ‘descendant’), on Kapingamarangi mean ‘miraculous power’. He goes on to note that, “Mokopuna takes the place of the term mana, used in other parts of Polynesia” (p. 200), and that it occasionally appears as a synonym for eitu ‘god’ or ‘spirit’.
Sikaiana
Sikaiana do not use mana to denote ‘spiritual power’ although, as in other Polynesian languages, homophones appear as the word for ‘thunder’ and for a part of a shell fishhook (cf. manga in Tikopian and Anutan). Tapu means ‘forbidden’ and is frequently applied to restrictions on interpersonal behavior, especially those involving incest prohibitions and respect toward in-laws. Missionaries used tapu to refer to objects that are sacred according to Christian teachings. Thus, Sunday is te aho tapu ‘sacred day’ or ‘holy day’; communion is kai tapu ‘sacred food’ or ‘sacred meal’; and a church is hale tapu ‘sacred house’ or ‘sacred building’ (Donner personal communication).
Rennell and Bellona
Rennell and Bellona resemble Nukumanu, Kapingamarangi, and Sikaiana in de-emphasizing mana and tapu. Monberg (1991:398-9) notes:
The common Polynesian concept of a particular mana connected with chieftainship seemed absent. The words mana or manamana exist in the language of Rennell and Bellona, but only as a poetic term for thunder and for any particularly unusual event that took place after the death of a high-status person.
Tapu was experienced as a condition, the quality of which was determined by the relationship between the sacred and the people and objects related to it (Monberg 1991:399). Some Bellonese described tapu as if it had a physical power: in its more concentrated form it was described as ‘heavy’ while a less concentrated form could be seen as ‘light’.9 Tapu was stronger for people who lived more distantly from a sacred area; the closer one lived to a sacred place the less dangerous it was. The priests were strongly tapu when they performed their rituals because, to communicate, gods and humans had to be on equal terms. The only arguably non-religious sense in which “tapu” was used was for the very restricted relationship between brother and sister, termed te tapu (p. 400).
Taumako and Vaeakau
Taumako and the Outer Reefs are somewhere in between these two extremes, but on balance they strike Feinberg as closer to Nukumanu and Bellona than Anuta and Tikopia. Hovdhaugen lists mana in his Vaeakau-Taumako dictionary and defines it as ‘power’ (2006:81). Feinberg, however, did not hear the word in common use. He found tapu to be employed in the normal Polynesian sense, and a church is a hale tapu, literally, ‘sacred house’. Yet, little attention was paid to the ritual significance of bodily positioning, and he saw children pull their parents’ hair without being reprimanded for inappropriate or disrespectful behavior. The elderly chief, Crusoe Kaveia, opined to Feinberg that in former times, typical Polynesian gestures of respect such as those found on Tikopia and Anuta were also standard for Taumako. It was unclear, however, whether he was speaking from personal experience or harkening back to a remote past.
Takū
On Takū, the concept of tapu applies to both objects and activities. In addition to the person of the ariki and the interior of his house, specific locations on Takū Island itself are known to be tapu by the presence there of giant clam-shell warning signs, even though the reasons for the access bans may now be unknown. Abandoned former cemeteries are carefully avoided, and people passing through the present cemetery en route to their gardens routinely offer appeasement to dead relatives for any noise they might make by placing leaves on their graves.