THE HUI.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2162, 19 August 1907, Page 4

THE HUI.

A GREAT DISEASE SPREADER. One of the most fatal mediums for the propagation and sj>read of disease among the Maoris is the modern liui (says Archdeacon Walsh). There have of course, always been liuis. They are, in, fact, an essential feature of Maori economy; but the modern liui possesses certain elements which did not obtain in the old days. A liui is a gathering of the tribe, the liapu, or the family, and may be held for the purposo of common interest, whether political, social or religious, for a tribal meeting, for the welcome of distinguished visitors, for a marriage, for a funeral. Any Maori is free to assist at a liui, and European visitors are always made welcome. 11l a very large hui, to which paarties come from a distance, it is not unusual for them to bring contributions of provisions, but the tangata wlienua, or local Maoris, are always considered as the entertainers, and it is a point of honor with them to supply as largo a quantity of the very best that the tribe or settlement can afford, even if they have to go short for months afterwards. Up to some twenty years ago, it was customary for the entertainers to erect temporary sheds of raupo or nikau to serve as sleeping places for tho visitors, the discussions being carried on in tho open air. Of late years, however, it has become tho practice to have in every settlement of importance a large hall, built of sawn timber, to serve the double purpose of hostelry and meeting house. Although the style and dimensions vary considerably with the importance of tho settlement, the general plan is the same. The hall is a long bidding, entered at one end. A bare strip, some eight or ten feet wide, runs up the centre of the floor, and the space between this and the side walls is littered down with fern or mange-mange, covered with mats of green flax. This serves as a sleeping place for the Maoris, who lie with their heads towards the wall, from which they are separated by a kind of narrow trough, filled with fern, which acts as a general spittoon. Each Maori on entering takes his place—a. knid of seniority being observed—the principal men oecuying the upper end, and the women and children gathering near the door. The food, which is cooker! outside, is set on the floor in the central space, the Maoris squatting in a row along each side. The business—if there is any to he done—is conducted by a sort of informal debate, which is

often carried on far into tho night, and tho hui for whatever' purposo it may have bon called togothor, usually lasts until tho stock of provisions shows sigiiß of giving out. It would bo impossible to conceive of a more porfoct medium for tho dissemination of disoaso than tho hui, ns it is now conducted. As it is important to havo plonty of food tho larger mootings aro hold, if possiblo, soon after the crops havo boon harvested ; that is to say, in the Into autumn, when tho weather is often cold and wot. A crowd of moil, momen, and children nro packed together, more closely than the passengers on an emigrant ship. A largo percentage nro suffering from some pulmonary complaint, or some inherited constitutional doliency, which renders them peculiarly accessible to infection. Night and day they are lying in damp clothes—as they never wholly undress—and breathing a mephyt'ic atmosphere, poisoned by tho exhalations of some many bodies and from tho general spittoon. A person suffering from influenza comes in, and in a fow hours tho disoaso has gone tho round of the liouso. Sometimes a death occurs, and the body is kept for days in tho vicinity of the food, while tho t-angi (mourning) goes on. Diseases contracted at tho hui aro taken away to tho homes of tho visitors, whore fresh centres of infection aro started, and although a now supply of bedding is provided tho germs remain about tho building to be nursed into life on tho next occasion it is used.