182 Transactions. 



Sometimes a brother or sister of the dead would so seclude 

 himself or herself for a time. Then it would be said, " Such a 

 person is in the whare potae." " This action," said a cynical 

 old Native to me, " was hai whalcananaha i tona ingoa " (to get 

 himself talked about). H* said also that people often did such 

 things for the brief fame that it brought them. 



The ritual act of lifting the tapu from mourners is similar 

 to that performed over any person who is tapu from any 

 other cause. The person or persons accompany the priest to a 

 stream, pond, or spring set aside for such sacred rites, where 

 thev divest themselves of their clothing, and. clad in nought 

 save a scanty girdle of green-leaved twigs, they are sprinkled 

 with water by the officiating priest, who then repeats over them 

 a harahia ivhahanoa, or invocation to free from tapu. One autho- 

 ritv states that the mourners had their hair cut at this function, 

 which is probable, as haircutting was often performed as a 

 sacerdotal rite. 



The apahura, or dirge, sung by mourners is usually an an- 

 cient composition. It derives its name from a famous ancestor, 

 one Apakura, a woman, who dwelt in the isles of Polynesia in 

 about the ninth century of the present era.* She is looked upon 

 by the Maoris of New Zealand as a kind of " parent." or teacher, 

 of th„ art of mourning for the dead. 



Pakipaki Mahunga. 



The custom of the preserving of heads {pakipaki mahunga) 

 of the dead by their living relatives has been alluded to. This 

 was done out of a feeling of affection for the dead. The head 

 was severed from the body, the latter being buried, while the 

 former was dried and kept by relatives for some time before 

 being deposited with the bones of the body in the cave or tree 

 used for the purpose. 



Pio, of Awa, speaks — he who has been caught in the snare 

 of Hine-nui-te-Po, and has lifted the dread curtain which con- 

 ceals the realm of Mini : " The great token of affection in old 

 times was to cut off the head of a dead relative and preserve it, 

 which was done by the priest. The head was shaken in order to 

 cause the brains to drop out ; the body was buried in the ground. 

 The priest would carry the head about with him, sometimes 

 exposing it to the view of living relatives, that they might greet 

 and wail over it. This might continue for months, or even years. 

 When unable to carry it about any longer, on account of other 

 matters, the head would be taken to the burial-cave and left 

 there. It was Christianity that put a stop to this custom. While 



* " Journal of the Polynesian Society," vol. viii, p. 15. 



