title: Libation and sacrifice in the Samoan ‘ava ceremony

authors: Refiti, Albert L.

subjects: Samoan ‘ava ceremony

abstract: This presentation is an analysis of Samoan oral stories connected to the ‘ava ceremony. These foundational stories have an important connection to the role blood sacrifice played in pre ‘ava and post ‘ava Samoa. Dr Refiti argues that the ‘ava ceremony replaced the actual killing of people in religious ceremonies that were required in former times to make sacred important communal spaces. This he shows relates to libation as an offering to the memories of the dead by spilling ‘ava on the ground as a sacrificial prayer or aso that mark and re-memorialise the past in honouring the bones of the dead and sacrificed victim.
‘Ava foundational stories also provide us with clues that the ‘ava plant was brought to Samoa by brothers from Fiti (Fiji) and later the ‘ava ceremony as we know it today was brought to Samoa by the Tagaloa clan which included the aumaga (kava chewers), the tauaga strainer and the use of the taupou (village maiden) as the stand-in for the old priest to distribute the ‘ava. The roles of the aumaga and taupou mirror that of the sacrificer and sacrificial victim.
Sacrifice and the ‘ava ceremony, Dr Refiti I contends, was required to mark, command and bring the passage of time and space to a stop so that people and roles can be redistributed allowing the community to grow and extend (tupu). The main role of sacrifice, as Valeri states, is “the transformation of the community from a lesser state which is indexed by disorder and pollution to a higher more complete state associated with order and purity” (Valeri, V. (1985). Kingship and Sacrifice: Ritual and society in ancient Hawaii (P. Wissing, Trans.). Chicago, ILL: University of Chicago Press).

text: Libation and sacrifice in the Samoan ‘ava ceremony This presentation is an analysis of Samoan oral stories connected to the ‘ava ceremony. These foundational stories have an important connection to the role blood sacrifice played in pre ‘ava and post ‘ava Samoa. Dr Refiti argues that the ‘ava ceremony replaced the actual killing of people in religious ceremonies that were required in former times to make sacred important communal spaces. This he shows relates to libation as an offering to the memories of the dead by spilling ‘ava on the ground as a sacrificial prayer or aso that mark and re-memorialise the past in honouring the bones of the dead and sacrificed victim.
‘Ava foundational stories also provide us with clues that the ‘ava plant was brought to Samoa by brothers from Fiti (Fiji) and later the ‘ava ceremony as we know it today was brought to Samoa by the Tagaloa clan which included the aumaga (kava chewers), the tauaga strainer and the use of the taupou (village maiden) as the stand-in for the old priest to distribute the ‘ava. The roles of the aumaga and taupou mirror that of the sacrificer and sacrificial victim.
Sacrifice and the ‘ava ceremony, Dr Refiti I contends, was required to mark, command and bring the passage of time and space to a stop so that people and roles can be redistributed allowing the community to grow and extend (tupu). The main role of sacrifice, as Valeri states, is “the transformation of the community from a lesser state which is indexed by disorder and pollution to a higher more complete state associated with order and purity” (Valeri, V. (1985). Kingship and Sacrifice: Ritual and society in ancient Hawaii (P. Wissing, Trans.). Chicago, ILL: University of Chicago Press).

year: 2017

title: Eruption and emplacement of the 1.3-Ma Ongatiti Ignimbrite, New Zealand:  Regional pathways, particle processes, and pumice evolution associated with a large-volume pyroclastic flow deposit

authors: Yousef Zadeh, Elham

abstract: Pyroclastic flows are the most devastating phenomena of explosive volcanic eruptions. These hazardous density currents are able to travel several tens of kilometers radially away from their source as fast, hot density currents. Due to the enveloping ash cloud, it is still impossible to directly study pyroclastic flows, however, their deposits (i.e. ignimbrites) provide useful insight into their internal processes.

The Ongatiti Ignimbrite was sourced from Mangakino caldera (1600-950 ka), the oldest volcanic center in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand. The crystal- and pumice-rich ignimbrite offers a unique opportunity to understand an ancient and large-volume pyroclastic flow as well as more details about particle processes and pumice evolution. The minimum deposit volume for the Ongatiti Ignimbrite has been revised to approximately 720 km³, or 512 km³ dense rock equivalent. Previous studies proposed ages from 1.21 to 1.28 Ma by dating methods, such as ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar, K/Ar, and zircon fission-track. This research used the (U-Th)/He method to determine an age of 1.3 Ma. 

This study has combined field facies analysis and GIS methods to characterize the Ongatiti Ignimbrite. The topographic controls on the spatial distribution of the ignimbrite has been determined to understand pyroclastic flow pathways through valleys and over hills. The Ongatiti Ignimbrite was a landscape-modifying event that covered at least the western North Island and as far away as Auckland and Wellington. It is a welded to non-welded, columnar-jointed, cliff-forming deposit, that has been divided into nine facies based on the variation in pumice and lithic clast abundance, and welding rank. 
This study also focuses on the texture and components of the ignimbrite matrix to better understand the magma fragmentation process, the transportational and depositional dynamics of the gas-ash fluid, and the post-emplacement processes. The microtextures of ignimbrite matrix were described and quantified by using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, synchrotron x-ray microtomography, electron probe microanalysis, and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD).
The matrix is poorly sorted and varies in the size and texture of ash-sized pumice fragments, glass shards, crystals, and lithic clasts. Glass shards range in shape between dominantly platy, Y-shaped, and complex shapes, and in size from a few microns to about 900 microns. The matrix is crystal-rich and comprises primary subhedral to anhedral volcanic crystals (plagioclase, quartz, pyroxene, hornblende, and Ti-Fe oxides and range between 100 to a few 1000 microns in size. The degree of welding in the matrix is defined by crystal-crystal contacts and deformation of glass shards around particles, and the highest degree of welding is shown by moderately deformed shards. 
The physical characteristics and chemical composition of pumice clasts were determined, and the main pumice textures were recognised as vesicular, fibrous, microvesicular and dense type.  Tomographic imaging shows different vesicularities and local crystal arrangement within pumice and ignimbrite. Glass chemical analysis shows two different groups, higher-silica (~80-81 wt%), and high-silica (76-78 wt%). 
The Ongatiti Ignimbrite was emplaced by a super-eruption with a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 7, and eruptions of similar size could catastrophically bury a vast area of the North Island. The matrix of the Ongatiti Ignimbrite suggests complex particle interactions within the ash-gas fluid of pyroclastic flows. Microtomographic imaging of ignimbrite components offers new insights into understanding these complex processes.

text: Eruption and emplacement of the 1.3-Ma Ongatiti Ignimbrite, New Zealand:  Regional pathways, particle processes, and pumice evolution associated with a large-volume pyroclastic flow deposit Pyroclastic flows are the most devastating phenomena of explosive volcanic eruptions. These hazardous density currents are able to travel several tens of kilometers radially away from their source as fast, hot density currents. Due to the enveloping ash cloud, it is still impossible to directly study pyroclastic flows, however, their deposits (i.e. ignimbrites) provide useful insight into their internal processes.

The Ongatiti Ignimbrite was sourced from Mangakino caldera (1600-950 ka), the oldest volcanic center in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand. The crystal- and pumice-rich ignimbrite offers a unique opportunity to understand an ancient and large-volume pyroclastic flow as well as more details about particle processes and pumice evolution. The minimum deposit volume for the Ongatiti Ignimbrite has been revised to approximately 720 km³, or 512 km³ dense rock equivalent. Previous studies proposed ages from 1.21 to 1.28 Ma by dating methods, such as ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar, K/Ar, and zircon fission-track. This research used the (U-Th)/He method to determine an age of 1.3 Ma. 

This study has combined field facies analysis and GIS methods to characterize the Ongatiti Ignimbrite. The topographic controls on the spatial distribution of the ignimbrite has been determined to understand pyroclastic flow pathways through valleys and over hills. The Ongatiti Ignimbrite was a landscape-modifying event that covered at least the western North Island and as far away as Auckland and Wellington. It is a welded to non-welded, columnar-jointed, cliff-forming deposit, that has been divided into nine facies based on the variation in pumice and lithic clast abundance, and welding rank. 
This study also focuses on the texture and components of the ignimbrite matrix to better understand the magma fragmentation process, the transportational and depositional dynamics of the gas-ash fluid, and the post-emplacement processes. The microtextures of ignimbrite matrix were described and quantified by using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, synchrotron x-ray microtomography, electron probe microanalysis, and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD).
The matrix is poorly sorted and varies in the size and texture of ash-sized pumice fragments, glass shards, crystals, and lithic clasts. Glass shards range in shape between dominantly platy, Y-shaped, and complex shapes, and in size from a few microns to about 900 microns. The matrix is crystal-rich and comprises primary subhedral to anhedral volcanic crystals (plagioclase, quartz, pyroxene, hornblende, and Ti-Fe oxides and range between 100 to a few 1000 microns in size. The degree of welding in the matrix is defined by crystal-crystal contacts and deformation of glass shards around particles, and the highest degree of welding is shown by moderately deformed shards. 
The physical characteristics and chemical composition of pumice clasts were determined, and the main pumice textures were recognised as vesicular, fibrous, microvesicular and dense type.  Tomographic imaging shows different vesicularities and local crystal arrangement within pumice and ignimbrite. Glass chemical analysis shows two different groups, higher-silica (~80-81 wt%), and high-silica (76-78 wt%). 
The Ongatiti Ignimbrite was emplaced by a super-eruption with a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 7, and eruptions of similar size could catastrophically bury a vast area of the North Island. The matrix of the Ongatiti Ignimbrite suggests complex particle interactions within the ash-gas fluid of pyroclastic flows. Microtomographic imaging of ignimbrite components offers new insights into understanding these complex processes.

year: 2020

title: Grounding our collective Talanoa, Enabling open conversations

authors: Fa'avae, David Taufui Mkiato

abstract: As co-editors in this special issue of the Waikato Journal of Education (WJE), we share our talanoa thoughts and open conversations from the University of Waikato in Kirikiriroa (Hamilton), a place and space that has a special relationship with Waikato-Tainui and the Kīngitanga. We acknowledge our ties with Māori as tangata moana (people of the ocean), noting the past as well as the existing vā connections between the Kīngitanga and other Pacific peoples and leaders, including the House of Tupou, the royal family of Tonga. We are also mindful of our responsibility to honour Te Tiriti and to the honouring of tangata whenua and their mana whenua. At the same time, we embrace the ancestral connections between Māori and Pacific people through shared common heritages (Te Punga Somerville, 2012), of voyaging, wayfinding, knowledge and ako by which they settled Moananuiākea (the Hawaiian term for the Pacific Ocean) in one of “the greatest feats in human history” (Hawaii State Legislature, 2021, n.p.). We hope this volume honours those relationships and our shared whakapapa, whanaungatanga, and kaupapa.

text: Grounding our collective Talanoa, Enabling open conversations As co-editors in this special issue of the Waikato Journal of Education (WJE), we share our talanoa thoughts and open conversations from the University of Waikato in Kirikiriroa (Hamilton), a place and space that has a special relationship with Waikato-Tainui and the Kīngitanga. We acknowledge our ties with Māori as tangata moana (people of the ocean), noting the past as well as the existing vā connections between the Kīngitanga and other Pacific peoples and leaders, including the House of Tupou, the royal family of Tonga. We are also mindful of our responsibility to honour Te Tiriti and to the honouring of tangata whenua and their mana whenua. At the same time, we embrace the ancestral connections between Māori and Pacific people through shared common heritages (Te Punga Somerville, 2012), of voyaging, wayfinding, knowledge and ako by which they settled Moananuiākea (the Hawaiian term for the Pacific Ocean) in one of “the greatest feats in human history” (Hawaii State Legislature, 2021, n.p.). We hope this volume honours those relationships and our shared whakapapa, whanaungatanga, and kaupapa.

year: 2021