Tēnā koutou e ngā whanaunga,
I happenned to be speaking to Pops (Piripi Kapa) and broached this word with him. Although he was familiar with this word being used often at home he wasn't overly sure how the word came about but had a think and came up with this theory. He used to see the old people use a hole which had been cut into the side of a bank, then place the kanae which had been tied onto manuka poles into and across the hole . Then there would be manuka burnt beneath the fish and the hole covered with manuka to keep the smoke in. When tin came along, it was used instead.
Pops reckons that the word 'waa' probably represents 'time' and the word 'mu', and youve probably already guessed it probably means 'umu'. So there you have a kanae spending time in an oven.
Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa.
Marupo (Richard) Kapa
Original Message:
Please help me – ‘Kātahi te ngohi reka rawa atu, ko te kanae wāmu' (There is no more delicious fish than smoked mullet). My question is: How did Te Aupōuri come to use the term 'wāmu' (sic) to describe both verb and noun of smoking fish?
'Wāmu' is pronounced like this but is it the correct spelling? The material I have available include Ngata, Williams, PM Ryan, Pataka Kupu and Wakareo on Line show no derivatives of 'wāmu' – I also tried huāmu without success.
Ngāti Porou, Tūhoe and no doubt other tribes have their word for smoked fish (not wāmu) – How did ours come into being?
Throw my query onto our Te Aupōuri web site – maybe someone with greater knowledge than me has the answer.
Kingi Ihaka
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