At fenuaIt is traditional to bury the pū fenua, The placenta of a newborn baby, in their garden or on family land, and more specifically at the foot of a fruit tree. A tradition once ritualized, which has been perpetuated from generation to generation, which has survived in practice within Polynesian families, while adapting to contemporary customs with just as much respect for this highly symbolic gesture.
TE PŪ translates to the center, the middle, within a country, to achieve one's goal or the natural water basin, the head of an octopus.
TE FENUA translates to land, territory, property, estate, country.
Isn't this a meaningful combination of terms? pū fenua?
Which, by itself, means everything: it encompasses everything.
It characterizes the Polynesian child and their intrinsic environment, their native land, their motherland. But also and above all: their inseparable link to it, because the pū fenua, The nucleus, the center, or the center-nucleus are all one.
This custom was once highly ritualized: from pregnancy to childbirth.
for the families of ari'i, of chiefs. The tahu'aThe specialist in charge of this ritual was heading towards the marae in order to bury the pū fenua. Thus sealing the child's attachment to this family, to these stones, to this land.
Thus the pū fenua, symbolizes the link between man and his land:
It's a pure and sincere relationship.
The Earth is called Te metua vahine which means Mother Earth, the nourishing one, in Tahitian. This practice symbolizes the vital relationship, recognized by the ancient Polynesians, between the Earth and Man.
For other families, the pū fenua The body was collected during childbirth and preferably buried in front of the family home or in a specific location chosen by the family. Above it, a fruit tree was planted so that it could nourish the child throughout its life. Thus, the term "fruitification" (or "fruitification") takes on its full meaning here.
The Marquesans, for their part, chose to place the placentas of newborns at the foot of a banyan tree. This tree symbolizes the lineage between the kakīuThe ancestors and the newborn. For this tree, with its imposing root system and stature, bears witness to the link between several generations, to new cycles, and to the connection between earth and air, since aerial roots also play an important role, particularly in the formation of... tapa.
Another custom is said to be practiced among fishing families:
THE pū fenua was placed in a seashell and thrown into the channel through which family boats took the route for fishing.
Thus, when the child becomes a fisherman in his turn, he will find the entrance to his pass on each trip to sea.
Another practice has been observed in some islands, according to which
it was necessary to bury the pū fenua in mud or throw it in water so that it would not dry out, otherwise the child risked wasting away and dying.
Today, the tradition of pū fenua, This practice continues; Polynesian families retrieve the placenta after childbirth.
In fact, some clinics and hospitals in Polynesia tolerate this custom and leave it to the families to collect the pū fenua of their newborn.
Nevertheless, the burial of pū fenua is done in a freer and less ritualized way. Just like the choice of the tree planted for the occasion, now ranging from a fruit tree to a sapling of tiare tahiti. Only attachment to the Earth, to ancestors, and therefore to an identity, takes precedence.
To further your knowledge, I invite you to read the book Between nature and culture, the burying of the placenta, by Bruno Saura, lecturer at the University of French Polynesia, published by Haere Pō.
