The first fruitA tree plantedThe placenta returned to the landFood from the garden
Invocation Approach
Tone
Grounded and quiet
Address
PapaPapatūānukuEarth Mother
Relationship
The land that is the body
Warning
She is the land and the land is not a metaphor
Resonance
Those who work the land those who bury their dead
Symbols
The landWhenuaThe gardenThe graveThe placenta
Mythology Summary
Papatuanuku is the earth mother of the Maori cosmogony and the land itself, who lies beneath Ranginui; their children are separated by Tane, and the land is the mother of the people. In Maori, whenua means both the land and the placenta, and the placenta is returned to the land. The relationship to the land is held by specific iwi and hapu as tangata whenua, not by humanity in general. The account is recorded in Grey's Polynesian Mythology (1855) and in Maori oral tradition.
Modern Practice
Papa is honoured in the garden and at the burial with the first fruit, a tree planted and the return of the whenua to the land. The practice is kaitiakitanga, the guardianship of the land, and the marae is the ground of it. The food from the garden is the offering.