4. Tangaroa: Father of Shell Instruments
This beautifully made and well worn pūtātara with its tassel of pūkeko feathers comes from the Whanganui region. Collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington (Ref. No. ME003937)
After the separation of Rangi and Papa, when peace had been restored by Hine pū te hue, the god children of Rangi and Papa realised that they did not have all the understanding they needed to establish the vast new world. They discussed this and sent Tānemahuta to climb to the topmost heaven, Rangiātea, to obtain the required knowledge. The task was difficult and made even harder because Tāne’s brother, Whiro, had hoped to be chosen for this task. When rejected he sent his evil hordes of mosquitoes, sandflies and others to try to make Tāne turn back. But Tāne persevered and in that uppermost heaven he received from Io Matua Kore three baskets with their own spheres of knowledge, as well as mauri stones to keep them vital. On his return these kete were used to establish the first whare wānanga or university. To indicate the success of his mission to those waiting below, two pūtā- tara named Hāururangi and Rangi Whakaaraara were trumpeted.
Tangaroa is the mighty God of the Oceans and the fish are his children with Hine Moana. From the largest of the shellfish we get the pūtātara instruments that are first recorded in this myth.
The calls of these shell instruments parallel those of the seabirds of Tangaroa’s realm. They do not sing songs like many land birds but their calls are effective at sending their messages through the noise of wind and waves. In contrast to their strident daytime calls are the night-time murmuring of nesting tītī (Sooty shearwater) recorded on Karanga Voices.
Pūtātara
Pū Whakaoro is a pūtātara made from a triton shell and adorned with three pīngao kete symbolising the Kete Mātauranga of tradition. These shells rarely wash up on New Zealand beaches, and were so unique that instruments could be identified by their call.
The most commonly heard shell instrument is the pūtātara, or pūmoana, a conch shell trumpet. There are stories of its signalling calls being used to transmit messages and some of these calls have been remembered, so that when an instrument was recently presented on a marae in Tūwharetoa the call used by a returning party well over 200 years earlier was used again as its first song.
Pūtātara were not readily available but stories are told of an approaching party being identified by the sound of the shell they played. Large shells like the triton (Triton australis) are not native to Aotearoa, and are only rarely washed up on northern beaches, so the smaller native shells (Charonia lampas rubicunda) were mostly used. Some early examples had a wooden insert fitted to a hole made in the side. As this is seen in more than one museum example, it may have been a way of modifying the sound.
This pūtātara with its sound-altering muka poi was probably collected by Captain James Cook on his first expedition to New Zealand in 1769–71. It is one of only a few known to have a wooden insert stitched over an opening in its bell. Courtesy of Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Pū Whakaoro is a pūtātara made from a triton shell and adorned with three pīngao kete symbolising the Kete Mātauranga of tradition. These shells rarely wash up on New Zealand beaches, and were so unique that instruments could be identified by their call.
A legend from Wharekahika on the East Coast and also from Oaro in the south tells of a strange song that was heard occasionally coming from the depths of the sea. Much speculation arose to explain the phenomenon. Then one day a shell was pulled to the surface clinging to a net and from it came the mystery song. This shell was made into a trumpet and given the name Hinemokemoke, the Lonely Girl, and the singing voice was preserved forever within it.
Although pūtātara were most commonly employed to sound a signalling call or to make an announcement, these instruments can be used in a more melodic way, like Hine Mokemoke, by manipulating the opening with a dampening object like a poi or simply with the hand. Some shells can also be played melodically when cross-blown like a kōauau. A long-stemmed pūtātara is called a pūpakapaka (see illustration).
The conch trumpet is a common instrument throughout the Pacific and beyond but there are few places where a wooden mouthpiece is attached. This combining of shell and wood brings together Tāne and Tangaroa, the mighty Gods of Earth and of Sea Beings. When these are bound together with the leaves of the sand sedge, pīngao, they signify the importance of a peace offering as recalled in the following myth.
This small conch from Farewell Spit is bound to its mouthpiece with the golden leaves of pīngao.
Pingao had been given by Tāne to Tangaroa to cement peace after the anger caused by the separation of Rangi and Papa. Aeons later, when Pīngao poked out her head at a very low tide, she spied the handsome Kākaho, the plumed flower stalks of the toetoe. As she watched them dancing in the breeze she fell desperately in love. She was so infatuated that she sought Tangaroa’s consent to leave the sea and go ashore to be with her beloved Kākaho. Very reluctantly, Tangaroa agreed but warned her of the dangers involved in making the transition. Pīngao set off excitedly but found that trudging through sand was very difficult for a sea plant. Sadly, when the morning sun rose and the time of the magic release had to end she was only three-quarters of the way up the beach. Her cries for help went unheeded: Kākaho was far too busy admiring himself to even hear her. Tangaroa could not help and Pīngao was fixed in her new place, unable to be with her beloved. She remains there today, kept alive by the tears of Tangaroa as they splash on the shore.
Fortunately the story ends with the lovers united as they are woven together in the tukutuku panels of the wharenui or meeting house. This also becomes the symbolic confirmation for the union of two people.
The art of carving is another gift from Tangaroa, and so the carving of the wooden mouthpiece for a pūtātara is another symbolic act of cementing the peace.
Pūpū Harakeke
For the Ngāti Kuri people of the Far North the song of the pūpū harakeke, or flax snails, have made them a treasured guardian. The sounds these pūpū harakeke made as they hastily retreated into their shells when disturbed in the dark of night once alerted the people to an approaching invader and saved their lives. Nowadays the empty shells are blown like a kōauau to create a special song.
Pūpūrangi
In the great kauri forests of northern Aotearoa, what appears to be fairy music is made by pūpūrangi or kauri snails in the high branches of the trees turning the lip of their shell into the breeze and creating an eerie whistle. They also make a whistling sound when retreating into their shells. These ‘fairy flutes’ can also become a fascinating instrument when the empty shells are blown in a similar way to the kōauau. Other shells also sing when blown this way and a trip to the beach takes on a new dimension as you keep trying out shells to find one that sings for you.
Pūpū harakeke, or flax snails eat freshly fallen leaves, and shelter in flax rather than feed on it. They grow to around 90 mm long and, interestingly, the smaller white sub-fossil shell is much heavier than the slightly larger one found recently.
Hinemokemoke
Ko te Pūtara
Ko te Pūtātara
Ko te Pūmoana
Ko te Potipoti
Ko te Pūwharaureroa o Matakaoa.
Hinemokemoke
Aue! Aue! Ai e!
Mokemoke ana
Mokemoke ana
Tangi kau ana te hau
Ki runga te Maraenui o Hinemoana.
Ko te Pūtara
Ko te Pūtātara
Ko te Pūmoana
Ko te Potipoti
Ko te Pūwharaureroa o Matakaoa
Hinemokemoke e i! Hinemokemoke e i!
Aue! Taukiri e!
Hear the signal of the calling shell
of Kiwa
Hear the clarion call of the
trumpet of Tāne
Hark, it is the conch of Tangaroa
Do you hear the voice of
the Gods?
Yes it is the signalling conch of
Matakaoa.
How forlorn and lonely you are
lovely lady.
How abandoned
How lonely and separated
All that remains to be heard
is the whispering winds
On the desolate Marae of
Hinemoana.
The conch of Matakaoa thus calls
Forlorn and lonely lady,
Hinemokemoke
- Hirini Melbourne^
Pūpūrangi, the giant kauri snail, is a carnivore which grows up to 75 mm long and can climb vertically.
