Kautoki

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Clive Ruggles, Youla Azkarrula

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File:Karte von Mikronesien.png

Map of Micronesia with the island of Kapingamarangi labelled.

An asterism representing an adze handle known in the Polynesian outlier island of Kapingamarangi. It is formed of Vega (α Lyr), δ, ε, and ζ Lyr (Johnson, Mahelona and Ruggles 2026: 298).

Concordance, Etymology, History

Variants

• Kautoki
• Gautogi

The American anthropologist Kenneth Emory conducted an expedition to Kapingamarangi in 1947, during which he recorded 28 star names confirmed to him by, and identified with the help of, the informant “King David” (Emory 1965: 341–343). Amongst these is Kautoki (#14).

According to Emory, the name means handle (kau) of the adze (toki), and is formed of α, δ, ε, and ζ Lyr. However, he then states that Vega (α, Lyr) is the head of the adze, δ Lyr and ζ Lyr the handle, and ε Lyr the point of the blade. He adds that it (i.e., the asterism) is also called Me-mua, meaning the “thing in front”, a synonym for adze.

The asterism had been identified earlier (in 1910) by the German ethnographer Anneliese Eilers (1934: 143 #15), who named it Gautogi but mistakenly identified it as Polaris.

Mythology

Emory gives little contextual information about the mythological context, although he does mention (1965: 343) that Kautoki is believed to be the “maker of wind”.

References

• Eilers, Anneliese (1934). Inseln um Ponape. In series Georg Thilenius (ed.), Ergebnisse der Südsee–Expedition 1908–10, sect. II, pt. B, vol. 8 (#23 of 30 vols., 1917–38). Hamburg: L. Friederichsen.
• Emory, Kenneth P. (1965). Kapingamarangi: Social and Religious Life of a Polynesian Atoll. Honolulu: Bernice P. Bishop Museum (Bulletin 228).
• Johnson, Rubellite K, John K. Mahelona and Clive Ruggles (2026). Nā Inoa Hōkū: Hawaiian and Pacific Star Names (3rd edition). Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.