the.com/tapu
the original terms and conditions, enforced by gods instead of lawyers.
means a maori and wider polynesian sacred restriction marking people, places, or objects as forbidden to touch or use without ritual clearance.
from from proto-polynesian tapu meaning forbidden or sacred, brought into english as taboo after captain cook logged the word in tonga in 1777, mangling it into the modern sense of any hard social no.
cook's spellinghe wrote it tabu, not taboo, first
chiefs as tapua chief's head was untouchable, even by barbers
opposite statenoa means free, common, safe to touch
burial groundsurupa are permanently tapu, no exceptions
for instance
urupa maori cemeteries — legally protected sacred sites across new zealand today
tongan royal tapu — cook recorded chiefs untouchable by commoners in 1777
marae grounds — meeting houses require ritual entry protocols to lift restriction