ACTING PREMIER AT PARIHAKA.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1081, 21 March 1911, Page 6

ACTING PREMIER AT PARIHAKA.

o PAYING HIS RESPECTS. "MEMORY OF THE OLD PROPHETS." (By Telegraph-rress Association.) New Plymouth, March 20. The Hon. J. Carroll, Acting-Prime Minister and Native Minister, spent the week end at l'ariliaka. He explained that he, and members of his party as representing various tribes, were conforming to old Maori custom in paying their respects to the memory of noted prophets and chieftains such as 'l'e Whiti, and that the visit had no political significance. PARIHAKA PAST AND PRESENT. THE MECCA OF THE MAORI. The following interesting sketch. of Parihaka, now weirdly historic, is from tho "Taranaki Daily Kews":— Parihaka! To those who have known it in tho past, Parihaka is associated with much that is of more than passing interest. It was here that Tc Whiti, the dusky chieftain-prophet, the Messiah of the Maori race, appealed to the hearts of his people,, and built for himself a stronghold where he reigned an undisputed monarch for a couple of decades. In later years his power was challenged by the uprising of his chief lieutenant, Tohu. When Tohu Came, For-several years these two prophets, with their different creeds, claimed "the attention of the Natives, and a strange rivalry sprang up;'each prophet had his own large following, and although there was 110 actual hostility between the rival parties, each was as distinct from tho other as it was possible for two factions of one people to be. One sometimes wonders. whether there did not exist a subtle understanding between the two prophets, and if Tohu was allowed to enter the arena in order to create a rivalry, without which the interest and the allegiance of tho Natives could not, perhaps, have, been sustained. Be that as it may, it is certain that with the advent of Tohu the Natives throughout tho Dominion took a keener interest in tho sayings and teachings of the two potentates. Soothsaying in Old Parihaka. The seventeenth day of each month was set aside for the gathering of the Natives within the village of Parihaka, and it was 011 these occasions that the two soothsayers held sway by haranguing the assemblages and quoting to them tho various legends and mysterious incantations that' arc part and parcel of the Maori mythology. Once a year, in the month of March, representative-pilgrims of the various tribes throughout the Dominion journeyed to Parihaka,' the Mecca of the Maori, to take part in the proceedings and listen, with keen appreciation and rapt- attention, to the strange sayings of these two high priests. Despite the fact that at least one of the prophets had assured his followers of his immortality, these two remarkable men were, in the fullness of time, laid to rest. Most readers will remember that when 'J'e Whiti died many of his followers,, especially the old men and women, fully believed that he would rise again from the dead. , This illusion, however, has been entirely dispelled, and To Whiti's remains now; lie entombed under a splendid monument situated in the marae (courtyard') ill front of his Aid meeting-house. Tohu's remains lie in the Maori cemetery on the-hillside', and the spot is net marked by any such emblem of former power as that placed over his great rival. Desolate Place To-day. Parihaka of to-day is but a faint echo of. its farmer self. In the. old days the village contained many inhabitants. Accommodation houses on a. fine scale were kept open for Native and -pakelia visitors. Bake-houses wore kept in full swing,' while water and drainage schemes wero in evidence. Billiard saloons, amusement houses, and shops did good business; To-day its grandeur has faded away. The village presents a melancholy and almost desolate asnect. But for the touch of the oriental that characterises most old Maori settlements, it might be likened to Goldsmith's "Deserted Village." The bustle has departed. Most of' the. inhabitants, especially the vounger generation, are leaving the village, and taking up sections of the adjacent land, where they build houses and engage in farming pursuits. Mr.'Carroll and a Contretemps. Those acquainted with Parihaka know that there are two entrances to tho village, one of. these leading to the late Tc Whiti's quarters, and thq other to Tohu's. All old custom of the place was that whichever party first accosted or welcomed a visitor, that visitor was the guest of that particular party for the time being. On, Saturday it so happened that a Tnlni party first met the. visitors (Hon. Mr. Carroll's party), who were escorted, not to" Te Whiti's courtyard, where the reception committee was. but to that of Tohu. This, of course, upset arrangements for a short while. Maori c-ti-quetle, however, prevailed, and the gathering quickly transferred itself to the scene of operations:. Here the ouamt, weird Maori welcome was given by a number of Native women dressed in mourning emblems. After a short time, speeches were given, first by the Parihaka orators, and then the other side. Most of the speakers recited ancient. Maori stories fliid legends. For an "hour and a half oration succeeded oration, after which the tea-gong was sounded. In tho evening the visitors proceeded to the Te Whiti'portion of the settlement, where a second welcome was accorded them.