The dictation of these names was followed by the remark: "Without exception, stars were the ariki (controllers, heads) of these months. The year commenced with the appearance of Matariki (Pleiades) on the horizon at dawn."
In the above list not a single name agrees with any of those in the Tuhoe or Awa lists—a remarkable fact. I am not absolutely sure that Aonui was the first month; one native gave Uruwhenua as the first. In addition to these proper orthodox names for the months the popular names referred to above would also be employed.
In native myth the divisions of the year are the care of some of the supernatural beings known as poutiriao, guardians of all things in all realms, appointed to those duties by the Supreme One, Io of the Hidden Face.
The following is a list of popular names of the months for everyday use, as employed in the Takitumu district:
| 1. | Pipiri. | |
| 2. | Maruaroa. | |
| 3. | Te Toru | The Third. |
| 4. | Te Wha | The Fourth. |
| 5. | Te Rima | The Fifth. |
| 6. | Te Ono | The Sixth. |
| 7. | Te Whitu | The Seventh. |
| 8. | Te Waru | The Eighth. |
| 9. | Te Iwa | The Ninth. |
| 10. | Te Ngahuru tuhoehoe, or Poutu-te-rangi. | |
| 11. | ||
| 12. | Te Matahi. |
In many cases Te Matahi is given as the name of the eleventh month, which is more appropriate; it also appears in full as Ngahuru ma tahi (ten and one). Matahi kari piwai is a name for the twelfth month, the gleaning month; and Matahi o te'tau is a name for the first month. There is some doubt as to the correctness of the list given at page 62 of Te Kauwae-runga. One such list gives the name of the twelfth month as Ngahuru whakaawhi.
Dieffenbach, who collected his data in the "forties" of last century, writes: "A year is called tau, and has thirteen months." He gives the list as—
| 1. | Te Tahi | The First. | |
| (And so on, employing the ordinals.) | |||
| 10. | Te Ngahuru | The Tenth. | |
| 11. | Te Ngahuru hauhake kumara | The crop-lifting Tenth. | |
| 12. | Paengawhawha. | ||
| 13. | Te Tahi o Pipiri | The First of Pipiri. | |
This last name is one often applied to the first month. The collector may have here been in error; he could not have been a very accomplished Maori linguist. The Awa folk of the Bay of Plenty employ the term Toruheri (or here) o Pipiri as a monthname, but some confusion exists as to which month it applied to.
In a list of month-names collected by the late Mr. S. Locke the following appear:—
| March | Ngahuru paepaenga nui. | |
| April | Matahi kari piwai. | |
| May | Matahi o tau. | |
| June | Maruaroa. | |
| July | Toru upokopapa. | |
| August | Toruwhiti. |
