Raupō in Aotearoa
Raupō in Te Paipera Tapu
The raupō is the dominant plant along the margins of lakes and rivers, often developing extensive colonies in swamps and shallow waterways. They can grow in swampy ground and in up to about a depth of a metre of water. The leaves are up to two metres long from where they emerge above water, and 2-3 cm across. The sheathing, strap-like leaves were used for thatching temporary dwellings, and also for making sails and kites. The centre of the root and young shoots can be eaten cooked or raw; they were also pounded and dried for later use. The roots were said to have aphrodisiac properties, especially effective with young women. A sweet porridge (rerepe) or bread (pungapunga or tāhuna) can be made from the pollen, but the collection of pollen, best done around sunrise, is very labour intensive, and in the days when this was a more regular feature of Māori cuisine required most of the village to take part in the harvest. Murdoch Riley mentions a special dish prepared from mashing the kerewai beetle (Pyronota festiva, also known as the manuka beetle or reporepowai) with raupō pollen, and cooking the mixture in flax baskets in the hāngi.
A number of words other than those noted above are connected with raupō:
Kōreirei, kōareare, "roots of the raupō" (probably local origin, but cf. Proto Polynesian *qufi-lei, "yam species (Dioscorea esculenta); West Futuna Rei "sweet yam").
Hune (with variants Tāhune, Tāhuna, Tāhunga). The mini-parachutes (pappus) attached to the seeds of the raupō, chocolate-brown as the seed-head dries, from Proto-Polynesian *fune "downy core of breadfruit".
The full etymology of this word will be found in the page for PPn *kulu "breadfruit"
Piaka, akakōareare, kōareare, kōreirei, kōuka, "edible rhizome; root of the raupō " (local terms, but the first two incorporate the Maori word aka, "root", derived from Proto-Austronesian *wakaR through Proto-Polynesian *aka, also meaning "root".
Nehu raupō, kōnehu raupō, "pollen of raupo" (made into sweet cakes) (nehu ~ fine powder or dust, from Proto Nuclear Polynesian *nehu "clouded" (of atmosphere or water);
Pungapunga, "pumice", "raupo pollen", "yellow" -- cf. punga "kōwhai when flowers begin to fade", also pungarehu "dust", "raupo pollen", from Proto-Polynesian *Punga "coral rock" + *Nehu (see above) .
Kārito, kōrito, "young unexpanded shoots of raupō" -- from Proto Polynesian *lito "unexpanded leaf shoot": Hawaiian liko "leaf bud";
Maori rito "centre shoot, heart of tī and harakeke; Rarotongan rito "heart of plant"; Tongan lito "tender sprout".
Tō, "stalk of raupo", from Proto Polynesian *tō "sugar cane": Tongan, Samoan, Rarotongan, Tahitian, Marquesan tō, Hawaiian kō, all meaning "sugar cane".
Raupo in Te Paipera Tapu
 Raupō makes two appearances as a plant name in Te Paipera Tapu, firstly in the Book of Job, where it translates the
generic Hebrew word for water plants, suf, which in this case seems clearly to refer to the cat-tail rush, Typha australis (illustrated at the left), a close relative of the New Zealand raupo, growing in swamps and along river banks.
E tupu rānei te wiwi i te mea kāhore he repo? E nui rānei te raupō ki te kāhore he wai? [PT, Iopa 8:11]
Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water? [KJV]
Can Papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water? [NRSV]
“Pe tupu mai ‘ea le kome a lē o i ai se palapala?
pe tupu mai ‘ea le 'utu'utu ‘ae lē o i ai se vai?"
[TP]
Interestingly, this is one instance where the Samoan translators have used the name of a local plant to represent its Biblical counterpart. Papyrus is represented by the Samoan adaptation of the Hebrew gomeh. It is paired with the more general term for water plants, in this case probably referring to the cat-tail rush. This is translated by the indigenous Samoan word 'utu'utu, which denotes the cylindrical-leaved rush Eleocharis
dulcis (Cyperaceae), used in Tonga, but not in Samoa, for weaving mats. The Hebrew referent is vague, but is probably the cat-tail rush, Typha australis (Typhaceae), a close relative of the New Zealand raupō. In the Maori text this plant is paired with wiwi, a generic name for rushes of the genus Juncus (Juncaceae).
The second appearance of raupō is in Isaiah, where it is used for the generic Hebrew word suf, meaning water plants in general, but in this case probably once more referring to the cat-tail rush, Typha australis.
A ka piro ngā awa; ka mimiti, ka maroke nga awa o Īhipa; ka mate ngā kakaho me ngā raupō. [PT, Ihaia 19:6]
And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. [KJV]
Its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up; reeds and rushes will rot away. [NRSV]
E elo fo‘i vaitafe,
e māui ma mamate lava vaitai o Aikupito,
e mamae le ū ma le ‘utu‘utu.
[TP]
In this text raupō is paired in the Māori translation with kākaho, the latter term standing for the Hebrew kaneh, a general term for a group of hollow reeds that grows in swamps and marshes, particularly Phragmites australis (Poaceae). The Maori word stands for culm of the "reed grass" Chionochloa conspicua (Poaceae); the Samoan ū is a large, reed-like grass, Miscanthus floridulus (Poaceae), known elsewhere in Polynesia as kaho or kakaho. Art Whistler ("Annotated List of Samoan Plant Names", p. 484) notes that elsewhere in tropical Polynesia "Miscanthus is known as kaho, kakaho or variations of this. The Samoan cognate of these, 'aso, means thatch rafter, a use to which Miscanthus is put." Similarly, the Māori cognate root word, kaho, means "batten". So in translating this particular verse, the translators of the Samoan and Māori texts have made very similar choices of local words to convey the ambience of the Hebrew.
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