Note: Today, for a full understanding of my interpretation you need to be familiar with the biblical Flood story, i.e. "Noah's Ark", the Sumerian Flood story, the Akkadian and Babylonian versions of the Flood including Gilgamesh.
In the story, the god / Enki (but ONE of the Elohim), rebels against his brother Enlil, the king of the gods. Enlil is dead set upon a plan to eradicate the human race. Enki, the actual creator, and therefore father of humanity, can't countenance such a genocide to take place, so he endeavors to leak the secret of the gods' war against humans to his faithful fisherman, Atrahasis, the exceedingly wise, also known as Utnapishtim. To avoid outing himself, he passes the knowledge through an intermediary described as a reed wall, whispering through a tiny crevice.
The moment Enki whispers "reed wall, reed wall" as a protocol for alerting Atra-Hasis / Utnapishtim / Nukh / Noah is preserved in our Maui story as well. Specifically, a Samoan account, but full cognizance of this identity necessitates familiarization with the vast corpus of Maui stories related to the destruction of the House of Maui's mother, Hui-te-Ana-nui, the Burning Down of Maui's Mother's House, etc.
In the Samoan rendition--
Tagaloa-a-Tālaga (Orator) and his son Ta'e-o-Tagaloa (Root of Tagaloa) travel to the Fono (congregation) in the 9th Lagi or highest realm / heaven to engage in some work for the gods. His younger son, Le-Fanoga (Eclipse / Destroyer) also called Ti'ti'i (Tikitiki / Kisikisi) follows behind secretly, observing and learns the chant / password that allows passage between the realms. The first chant is "Reed! Reed!" (it's wordplay on "Bite! Bite!" and "Arrow! Arrow!") / "Le Ū! Le Ū!" / "Le U! Le U!". In Sumerian U₂ (written: 𒌑) means "bread, loaf; food; GRASS, herb; pasture; PLANT(s)!" In Akkadian it was read as #akalu; #rîtu; #šammu.
Ua o’o i le isi aso ua va’ai atu Ti’ti’i *** ua alu atu lona tama, ona mulimuli atu lea o ia ia te ia, a ua le iloa mai e Tālaga o lo o alu atu lona atali’i i ona tua. Ua alu atu Tālaga ma ua fai atu fa’apea, “Le u, le u, mavae ane sei ou alu atu; o au o Talaga; ou te sau ou te galue.” Ona mavae ai lea o le u. Ua o’o atu Tālaga i le pāpā. Ua fai atu Tālaga, “Le pāpā, le pāpā, mavae ane, o au o Tālaga; ou te sau ou te galue.” Ona mavae ai lea o le pāpā.
(Note: the Polynesian tikitiki is a known cognate of kisikisi / kihikihi / 'ifi'ifi. It also appears to be a cognate of the Sumerian for "reed wall" Gi.SIG-GI.SIG (𒄀𒋝𒄀𒋝) and Akkadian 𒄀𒋝𒄀𒋝 /kikkišu, kikkisu/, “large amounts of reeds plaited together”.)
English:
The next day, Ti'ti'i saw that his father was leaving, so he followed him, but Tālaga did not know that his son was following behind him. Tālaga went and said, "Reeds! reeds! let me go; I am Tālaga; I come to work." Then the reeds parted (allowing passage). Tālaga reached the high titles. Tālaga said, "High chief, high chief, let me past, I am Tālaga; I come to work." Then the high chief separated (allowing passage).
"Reed-wall" appears to be a chief's title and this chief is a gatekeeper at an ancient port-of-call or portal to a temple or sanctum sanctorum / holy-of-holies.
Likely Reed Wall is the Maui chief known as "Short Post" in some English versions of the story because the side panels are flanked by the shortest support pillars in the traditional native house. Le U is a brother (another meaning of U is "brother"), Pāpā is metaphorically the paramount high supporter chief, or center column of the façade of the native house. "Tall Post" in some English accounts. He was probably a high priest. The ancient religion of the Sā Tagaloa may very well have been related to Pre-Semitic religion linked to the gods of the Middle East.
Read up on some backstory related to my hypothesis--
"The Ark Tablet narrative quotes verbatim conversations between the kindly god Ea and our heroic captain, Atra-hasis. It begins:
“Wall, wall! Reed wall, reed wall! Atra-hasis, pay heed to my advice, That you may live for ever! Destroy your house, build a boat; Spurn property and save life! Draw out the boat that you will make On a circular plan; Let her length and breadth be equal.”"
For the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature with bilingual links refer to Segment C of the Flood Story:
"SEGMENT C
1-27......seat in heaven. ...... flood. ...... mankind. So he made ....... Then Nintud ....... Holy Inana made a lament for its people. Enki took counsel with himself. An, Enlil, Enki and Ninhursaja made all the gods of heaven and earth take an oath by invoking An and Enlil. In those days Zi-ud-sura the king, the gudu priest, ....... He fashioned ....... The humble, committed, reverent ....... Day by day, standing constantly at ....... Something that was not a dream appeared, conversation ......, ...... taking an oath by invoking heaven and earth. In the Ki-ur, the gods ...... a wall. Zi-ud-sura, standing at its side, heard: "Side-wall standing at my left side, ....... Side-wall, I will speak words to you; take heed of my words, pay attention to my instructions. A flood will sweep over the ...... in all the ....... A decision that the seed of mankind is to be destroyed has been made. The verdict, the word of the divine assembly, cannot be revoked. The order announced by An and Enlil cannot be overturned. Their kingship, their term has been cut off; their heart should be rested about this. Now ....... What ......."approximately 38 lines missing"
The Sumerian transliterated lines read: 18. zi-ud-su3-ra2 da-bi gub-ba jic mu-[un-tuku]
19. iz-zi-da a2 gub3-bu-gu10 gub-ba [...]
20. iz-zi-da inim ga-ra-ab-dug4 inim-[ju10 he2-dab5]
Equally important is the first line that translators have rendered as "seat in heaven":
The cuneiform KI-TUC (𒆠𒆪) means "dwelling place" not just "seat", which is interesting as this is the same structure of the meanings allocated to the Moanan word NOFO / NOHO -- "seat" and "dwelling place" as well as the verbal "to sit" and "to reside". This is besides the point, however, as what I mean to focus on is the succeeding word AN-NA (𒀭𒈾).
And AN-NA (𒀭𒈾) meaning "heaven" or "sky", the abode of ANU the sky father, is the very word used in Moanan for "cave" or "cavern". This is the root word at play in the epithet of Hui-Te-Ana-Nui "The Congregation of the Great Cavern", or Hui-Te-Ana-Nui "The Central Congregation of the Great Cavern" (by comparison with Sāmoan cognates FUI, TE, ANA, NUI. The Akkadian rendition of AN-NA (𒀭𒈾) is ŠAMÛ (𒀭𒈾), which forms the basis of the Aramaic / Arabic / Hebrew Shamayim / Shamé, etc., word for "heaven". This may be the same as the Moana word cluster of HAMU "back of the skull" (the skull as a cave) / SAMUSAMU "to pick up crumbs and fragments, to eat the remains of food." SAMUSAMU is built on a root SAMU, which remains absent and undefined in contemporary English dictionaries. That said, the reduplication can only occur in the presence of a root and suggests that SAMUSAMU has an amplified meaning.
What this appears to suggest is a complex metaphor drawing parallels between the vault of a cavern and the vault of the night time sky. The night sky is a cave. Apropos, since in olden times important family meetings were traditionally held at night. This would have been an excellent time as well to gaze up at the starry night time sky and recount stories around the chiefly circle, much like a cluster of coconuts. This is an important detail to note as the Moānan word for "association, club, congregation, society" is HUI, which is a cognate of FUI. This word is so ubiquitous that it is even found in Chinese HUI (會), which is a pictograph of a lid on top of a container, metaphorically a collective of people, synonymous with a secret society or clandestine organization. And it is this nuance that opens up the possibilities for conceiving of "heaven" as a concentric network of rings within rings, heavens within heavens, MARAE within MARAE, separated by gateways through which only the initiated can pass through. The type of house may originally have been one made of reeds, much like the mudhif arabs / "Marsh Arabs" of Iraq still construct to this day, which features a great many similarities in terms of material selection, spacing and dimensions insofar as the Oceanic sacred meeting house design is concerned with that of the riverine / marshland indigenous of Iraq. In time such houses would evolve as local materials changed across many different landscapes. In the heyday of unsullied Polynesian culture such houses were made from wood rather than merely reeds.
Shortlist of notes--
Etymology of KISI-KISI:
Arabic qašši (قش) ; and qissīs (قِسِّيس).
Aramaic qaššā (קַשּׁא)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic qeššā (ܩܷܫܳܐ), “thin straw, stubble, chaff”
Classical Syriac qaššīšā (ܩܫܝܫܐ) “priest”
Synonymous with: Arabic bābā (بَابَا)
Arabic bābā (بَابَا) "pope; elder; papa, daddy, father, grandfather"
It would appear that Moanan elite culture is an offshoot of / modeled on the structure of the Sky Council of the Mesopotamian gods.
I am 111% sure now that 'Elohim is a cognate of Moanan ALOFI / ALOHI / 'ALO'OFI / 'ALO'OHI.
Glossary:
HUI-TE-ANA-NUI compare with FUI-TE-ANA-NUI:
Fui, s. 1. a cluster of nuts. 2. A wild taro. See Fuitalo.
Fuitalo, s. a wild taro.
Te, v. 1. to be split open, as chestnuts, and seeds of breadfruit when beginning to grow. 2. To burst open, as a cooked banana bursting from its skin. 3. To put out the tongue. 4. To have protruding eyes. Ua tete mata. 5. To have a protruding clitoris; pl. tete.
Ana, s. a cave. ʻO lona ana.
Anaana, a. full of caves.
Nui, v. to be great, to increase, as wind or pain. ʻUa nui i le po. 'Tis near night.
Reo Maori:
Hui, (i), huihui. 1. v.t. Put or add together. 2. v.i. Congregate, come together. Ka huihui mai nga iwi ki te matakitaki i to ratou ito (T. 155). 3. Meet. Ka huihui raua ko tona hoa ko Tiki (T. 130). 4. Double up. Hui ake nga turi ki porokaki, e tuohu kau tatou (M. 131). 5. n. Assembly, group. Takina mai ra nga huihui o Matariki, Puanga, Tautoru (M. 330). huinga, n. Perineum.
Hui (ii), v.t. 1. Take as plunder. Ki te hui koe i taku kakahu, e kore e mahue i a au (W.M. x, 88). 2. Capture. Rere a manu ki te hui matangohi (M. 117).
Hui (iii), v.i. 1. Be affected with cramp. Ka hui toku maui. 2. Twitch, in a way regarded as ominous. I pehea te hui o Tohitapu?
Hui (iv) n. Scorpis aequipinnis, the sweep, a fish.
TĀLAGA:
Talaga, s. 1. the untying, the undoing, as of the ʻafa fastenings of a house, &c. 2. The relating
Talaga, s. a couple of fly-hooks.
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