Old Maori Tapu Laws Saved Birds & Trees
The old Maoris regarded many persons and things as TAPU, “forbidden,” “not to be touched,” or “sacred,” such as, for instance a person who had touched a dead body, or a place where some great chief had rested, and .the TAPU remained until lifted by someone who had the necessary- power. Disaster was expected to overtake any~person who violated a TAPJJ. . Birds and forests, being sacred to Tane, the god of birds and forests, were TAPU, and so must not be touched until the TAPU had been lifted by a ceremony of a religious nature, sometimes very elaborate. This prevented wanton snaring of birds or cutting of trees and so saved them from reckless exploitation. A TAPU was sometimes placed to protect birds, forests or fish, and when thus deliberately imposed was known as a. RAHTJI, a name also given to the warning mark erected.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BPB19500118.2.42
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Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 87, 18 January 1950, Page 7
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Tapeke kupu
152Old Maori Tapu Laws Saved Birds & Trees Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 87, 18 January 1950, Page 7
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