SOME MAORI CUSTOMS AND BELIErS. 



l\x K. W. RKID 



t^XcK- Zealand). 



Though the Maoris of New Zealand are rapidlv 

 adopting the civilisation of the whites, the}' seem 

 reluctant to part with man\- of the customs and 

 beliefs of their forefathers. The settlement of the 

 country by the British and the introduction of 

 British law rendered the old mode of life impossible. 

 Most of those peculiar observances witnessed h\ 

 early navigators and others, wliich were opposed to 

 English ideas, had perforce to cease. But long- 

 established social customs, when not ver\- harmful, 

 albeit not always strictly legal, were never, and are 

 not now, subject to interference from the authorities. 

 Keen recollections of earlv da\s in New Zealand, 

 while police, courts, and judges were \-et unknown, 

 abide to-da\- in the memories of not a few grizzled 

 and tattooed veterans. Thus the writer's friend, 

 Hori (the distinguishing appellation had better be 

 here omitted !) a Ba}- of Plenty chief, is able to 

 confide to those he deems worth\- of being entrusted 

 with the interesting autobiographic information, 

 that, when a voung man, he. on several important 

 occasions, did partake of " kai tangata." An 

 unsuspecting enquirer, learning that " kai " is ^hlori 

 for " food," and that " tangata " is the equivalent to 

 " man," might hastily conclude that "kai tangata" 

 represented an article of diet neither uncommon nor 

 alarming. Hori, however, could explain that, used 

 by him, the phrase meant, not " the food of man," 

 but "man. the food." and that, in ancient Maoriland. 

 was a difference indeed. 



Polygam\% never a common practice among 

 Maoris, and generalh' confined to men of rank, is now 

 almost extinct. An official report of recent date 

 states that there are on!\- three or four cases of 

 Maoris having more wives than one, and that these 

 are among the Ruatahuna natives on the Bay of 

 Plenty. Rua. who lives in the Urewera countrv, 

 and claims to possess certain supernatural powers, 

 six months ago had eight wives. \'er}- likely 

 he has more now. He is the most married 

 inhabitant of New Zealand ; the Maori next to him 

 possesses but the relativeh" modest number of three. 

 When a dweller in pah or kainga (village) dies, the 

 event is followed by a " tangi " or weeping. If a 

 chief, or person of importance, his '" tangi " is attended 

 by hundreds of Maoris ; relations and friends are 

 there, and, in addition, nearlv all the natives of the 



district. The proceedings are not infrequently pro- 

 longed over many days, and become a medley of 

 formal weeping, of feasting and of merriment. 

 Immense sums are often expended on tangis : the 

 cost mav var\- from £50 to £500, according to the 

 rank of the deceased and the financial capabilities, 

 or inclinations, of his relatives. Among the very 

 old, and more curious customs which survive is 

 that of " tapu.'" By that wonderful law shrines, 

 burial places, chiefs, and all things a chief handled, 

 were, in former davs, believed to be rendered sacred. 

 Whatever \\as "tapu" must not be profaned by the 

 touch of common mortals : in olden days death by 

 execution followed an act of desecration. At the 

 present time, even among educated Maoris, a more 

 or less shadowy belief lingers that "tapu" is not yet 

 bereft of its awful potency. For example, the 

 deca\-ing wood of an empty, unclaimed whare, or 

 house, would not be interfered with by a strange 

 Maori. The whare might be " tapu," and its 

 desecration might bring disease and death. 



A striking illustration of the present-day belief in 

 " tapu " on the part of the Maoris is provided by 

 the settlement, or village, of Maungakawa, near 

 Cambridge, in the North Island, \\hich place was 

 once the home of Tawhiao, King of the Maoris. 

 Gre\-, bleached whares are scattered about on the 

 hilltop, grass and wild-flowers grow close to door 

 and w indow . Roofs are falling in, gaps are appear- 

 ing in the raupo walls. Within the buildings lie 

 household goods, articles of clothing, mats : every- 

 thing remains as it was when, sixteen years ago, the 

 owners were called upon to go forth and seek a home 

 elsewhere. For Tawhiao had died and the tohungas, 

 or priests, had laid tapu on the king's council hall 

 and on his house, on the dwellings of the people, 

 and on all the lands of Maungakawa. Since that 

 da\-, whatever curiosity irreverent pakehas (whites) 

 ma\- have exhibited, it is safe to say that few, or no, 

 Maoris have entered within the now sacred circle of 

 the one-time royal settlement. The late king's 

 whare stands apart from the other houses, and is 

 rendered conspicuous by its large size and the wealth 

 of Maori carving with which it is ornamented. 

 Rumour states that Tawhiao's body lies beneath the 

 floor of the whare. .\nother, and a more probable, 

 storv is that, after its interment with Christian rites 



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