TOKUNGAS, ANCIENT AND MODERN
SOME INTERESTING FACTS. In his lecture last night on Maori customs Mr. Hamilton hod much to say iu tlefencc of the tohungas of old. Nowadays, when people talked about tohunga'., lie said, they meant the quacktloctors of the Maoris, people who ignorautly treated jick folk, and who pretended to possess occult powers. In the old days the tohunga held :i very honourable position. He was possessed of an amazing fund of knowledge which lie cherished and taught to those whose standing in the tribe entitled I hem to receive it. The learning, might be divided into three branches, genealogical, astronomical,- and occult. The tohunga studied the history of the tribes and of families, lie had a knowledge of the heavens, and set the seasons for planting and sowing, and he knew all auout charms and incantations aggressive or defensive.
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Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 863, 8 July 1910, Page 6
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143TOKUNGAS, ANCIENT AND MODERN Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 863, 8 July 1910, Page 6
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