THE MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND 



THE Maoris are in many respects 

 the most remarkable savages 

 with whom the white man has 

 come in contact. Fifty years ago can- 

 nibalistic feasts, at which the flesh of their 

 fallen enemies was served, were not un- 

 common. Today several members of 

 their race are members of the New Zea- 

 land Parliament, and Maori women, as 

 well as the white women of New Zealand, 

 exercise the right to vote. 



When the English first occupied the 

 islands, in the early part of the nineteenth 

 century, it is estimated that there were 

 about 100,000 Maoris in New Zealand. 

 They were divided into tribes, each tribe 

 having its own unwritten laws regarding 

 land, cultivation, and other social mat- 

 ters. The tribes were constantly fight- 

 ing. The English found that they had a 

 genius for war, showing unusual ability 

 in building, fortifying, and defending 

 stockades, and they experienced consid- 

 erable difficulty in subduing them. The 

 Maoris were also skilled in several arts : 

 They tilled the soil with great care ; as 

 carvers and decorators they were un- 

 rivaled in the Oceanic world, and they 

 displayed great originality in the design 



and perfection in the execution of rock 

 paintings, and in carving the ornamental 

 figures of their dwellings, their boats and 

 sacred inclosures. Many of these objects 

 are carefully preserved in museums. 



But the Maoris were also noted for 

 their remarkable tattooing, which was 

 designed to clothe as well as decorate the 

 bod}'. The Maori artist knew how to 

 give endless variety to the curves of his 

 drawings ; the natural furrows, the move- 

 ments of the countenance, the play of 

 muscles — everything was made to en- 

 hance the charm of the design ; and a 

 hale young man certainly presented a fine 

 sight, draped only in this delicate net- 

 work of blue lines on the ruddy brown of 

 his skin. Whoever refused to undergo 

 the protracted tortures of tattooing re- 

 quired at everv important event of his 

 life was regarded as a person by his own 

 consent foredoomed to slavery. The men 

 were actually depilated in order to in- 

 crease the surface to be covered with or- 

 namental tattooing, while for young 

 women the operation was limited to the 

 lips, whence the term Blue lips applied to 

 them by the English. 



There are about 35,000 Maoris left. 



Maoris Practicing- the Old War Dance 



