458 PROCEEDIIVGS OF SECTION F. 



majority do not appear to rise above the level of incantations. Irti 

 njany cases it is difficult to get at the meaning of much of the- 

 phraseology used in these effusions. The whole of such items, from 

 an invocation to the stars to give a plentiful harvest down to a 

 charm to cause a child's top to spin, were known by the generic ternr 

 of Karakia. 



There was no worship of the gods. These gods (so-called) were- 

 mostly malevolent beings, and the gentlest and best disposed of them 

 had the power to punish man for any neglect of the proper rites or 

 obsen^ances due to them. And they used that power. At least the- 

 Maori will tell you so, and who am I that I should doubt him? 



The system was not one of worship, but of placation. The gods 

 were powers for evil. They could, and did, alflict man in divers ways^ 

 hence they must be placated, even the ancestral gods, the deified 

 human ancestors of the people. These remarks apply to all Maori 

 gods I wot of, with possibly one exception. That exception was the 

 mighty lo, of whom moi'e anon. 



The native word that we translate as ■' god " is atua. This term, 

 really means a demon, a malevolent demon possessed of supernatural 

 powers. These powers were mostly inimical to man, only a system ol. 

 placatory offerings and invocations saved him from the pit of destruc- 

 tion. The power of the gods to preserve the life, health, and well* 

 being of man, to cause plentiful crops, &c., was only exercised on the. 

 condition that the above offerings, invocations, rites, &c., were made 

 or performed. Should these things be neglected, or any law of tapu. 

 broken, then trouble followed, and such neglectful persons were made 

 to suffer. 



It seems rather imfortunate that the early missionaries selected: 

 the term atua to define the Creator. It does not bring to the native 

 mind the idea of a beneficent deity, but rather that of a malevolent 

 power. 



Maori religion was a good illustration of poljrtheism, for of a. 

 verity their gods were as the sands of the sea shore. In the first place 

 there were the principal gods, such as Tane, Tu, Tangaroa, Rongo, 

 etc., that were recognised by all tribes of New Zealand and Polynesia,, 

 each having his own empire and functions. Thus Tane was the origin 

 and tutelaiy deity of forests and birds. No tree might be felled, nor 

 bird taken by fowlers, until certain rites were performed in order to- 

 placate Tane- If these rites were not gone through, for example, at 

 the opening of the bird snaring season, then the forest would lose its 

 " health," that is to say, its vitality and productiveness, hence birds- 

 would be scarce. 



Tu was the god of war, and to his service male children were- 

 dedicated with much ceremony. Tangaroa was god of the ocean, 

 origin and tutelary deitj^ of fish. Rongo was the god of peace, and' 

 presided over aginculture. 



Besides these primal and widely known gods there were niany^ 

 minor ones that may be called tribal gods, such as Tunui-a-te-ika, Te 

 Po-tuatini, &c. Many of these were known to several, or many, tribes. 

 But another class consisted of merel}- local demons, who were known,' 

 only in one district, or by one tribe. 



The system of tepM was closely connected with Maori religion,- 

 indeed, was its most prominent feature. The extent to which thisi 



