umu

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

n.


Maori word, signifying a native oven.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i.p. 75:

«The tangi had terminated; the umu or `cooking holes' weresmoking away for the feast.»

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika, a Maui,' p. 389:

«The native oven (umu hangi) is a circular hole of about twofeet in diameter and from six to twelve inches deep.»

1872. `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. v.p. 96:

«. . . being all in and around the umus (or nativeovens) in which they had been cooked.»

1882. S. Locke, `Traditions of Taupo,' `Transactions of theNew Zealand Institute,' vol. xv. art. liv. p. 440:

«They killed Kurimanga the priest and cooked him in an oven,from which circumstance the place is called Umu-Kuri.»

1889. S. P. Smith, `Transactions of the New ZealandInstitute,' vol. xxii. p. 98:

«An oven of stones, exactly like a Maori umu or hangi.»

1893. `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. xxvi.p. 432:

«The oumu or haangi, in which food was cooked, was onlya hole scooped in the ground, of a size proportioned to thatwhich was to be cooked.»