This old legend was sung during tattoo ceremonies, to the rhythm of the mallet falling on the tattoo comb. She tells how the gods put a taboo (prohibited) on human sacrifices by replacing them with tattoos.
In the most ancient times the gods lived on earth in the midst of humans. One day, they decided to go live in heaven. The men stirred, shouted, howled, wept and finally said to the gods:
– Don't leave us, how could we live without you?
- Fear nothing ! they replied. When you want to call us, let your blood speak. A few drops will suffice when pronouncing our names!
On this promise, the Gods went away into the heavens, leaving humans to live their lives on the Earth which is so beautiful!
Alas, very soon the men were confronted with too many problems that they could not solve and they came to argue. It was as if they no longer spoke the same language. They had become strangers to each other and that amplified their anger.
Long after, as the conflicts between them grew and multiplied, these men who were looking for answers to their questions remembered the pact made with the Gods. To remind them, all over the Earth they made human sacrifices, imploring the Gods to give them more life, more strength, more powers.
Streams of blood flowed over the sacrificial stones of the marae, reddening the earth. At the same time, the names of each of the Gods resounded in these supplications which rose to heaven.
Faced with so much violence and excess, the latter quickly descended to Earth to reassure humans.
Back among the men, their voices thundered as no sound had ever done in the past: Enough of these massacres! Your pleas and a few drops of blood are enough to make you heard!
Their words resounded for a long time on the Earth and a powerful tapu (prohibition) was decreed on human sacrifices.
Having instituted this inviolable prohibition, the Gods granted men their forgiveness and answered their prayers. Then they returned, accompanied by praises and offerings, in the firmament.
It was at this moment that a long and muffled complaint began to rise towards the gods: the animals demanded justice from their tutelary gods. So they came back down to Earth.
When they saw the carnage, their anger was terrifying: men had massacred almost the entire animal world. The sky, the waters of the seas and the surface of the Earth looked like a desert. They brought together all the humans of all the islands and renewed the alliance, the blood pact:
Any man who sheds a few drops of his blood imploring us, that one will be listened to.
Since that time, every time a human gets a tattoo, he gets blood beading on his skin, the Gods approach him to listen to his prayer.
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