EARLY MAORI TOOLS AND WEAPONS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 109, 25 May 1937, Page 9

EARLY MAORI TOOLS AND WEAPONS

1!Sr. Ebbett's Address to Historical Society LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS Interesting facts about the ancient Maori and the weapons and tools he used were explained to the Hastings Historical Society last evening by Mr. George Ebbett, at a meeting of tnts Society held in the Methodist Sunday School. The Rev. F. -A. Bennett, Bishop of Aotearoa, presided over an attendance of about 50 persons. The Maoris were thought to have arrived in' New Zealand about the year 13?0, said" Mr. Ebbett, this date being arrived at after examining the family trees of a niimber of Maoris. Before that date, however, the earlier explorers, Toi and Kupe, had come to our shores and populated the country. After what was termed the great migration, these early Maoris were killed or were inter-married with the later arrivals. There were Still cnany Maoris who could trace their ancestry back .to those who came over with Kupe and Toi. Mr. Ebbett showed his audience a carved notched stick on which the Maori chiefs would Tecord their line of descent and teach it to their hoirs. The Maoris had remarkable memories, and the late Mr. Elsdon Best had told' of a man who had recited to him 800 different songs. The Maori had brought with him to Kew Zealand many customs and practices, but he soon adapfed hioiself to "the new conditions, and. it might be said that he was one of the most adaptive and ingenious of primitive .brown races. The Making of a Canoe. As a canoe builder and navigator tho Maori was extraordinary. The making of a canoe often required the felling of a tree about 25 feet in circumference Mr Ebbett doscribed how this wa* done by first bruisiiig the bafk with a stone adzo swung in a harness. Two grooves were cut in this way and then the bark was chipped off and the wood burned-in a further distance with red-hot stones. The processes were repeated for weeks until the tree was finally brought down, when 'the same primitive mcthods had to be used to hollow it out. Thousands of canoes were made in this way in New Zealand after tho Maoris came. Discussing next the Maori methods of hunting, Mr. Ebbott reminded his listeners that there were no native animals in New Zealand except possibly dogs. Birds, however, wero killed and eaten in huge numbers, and otber items | of food were rats pnd fish. When the site of an pld pa in the Thames district had been dug up over 1000 rats' skeletons had been unearthed, which showed the scale on which rats were eaten. Mr. Ebbett displayed an ingenious snare for birds, and also mentioned the use of pet kakas for decoys. Some timo ago a Maori with a primitive bird snare. had competed with a man with a modern shot gun for a wager, and beaten him in the number of birds caught. At last, perhaps booanse of the, deflciencies of a meatless diet, the Maori had embraced cannibalism, and many thousands of native* had been killed and roasted. A favourite delicacy of the Maoris was dried shark, which was ailowed to become alm'ost putrified before being eaten. In this respect the Maoris had a sense of smell and taste entirely differeut from those of ' the pakeiia. Beveoge Turncd Into Music. The Maori. was musical to a certain extent and had flutes aud other instruments. . Flutes were often made from the bones of a greatly-h&ted enemy, this being considered the highesfc form of revenge. The Maoris were courageous fighters aud fai? enemies and the victories of the British soldicrs over them. had been few indeed. Greenstone was the aioat valuable thing the Maori possessed. It was prized because of its rarity, it being proourable in only two places in New Zealand. Both these spots were in the South Island, and the stone had to be brought from the riverbed. Greenstone was harder than ordinary stone and therefore cnore efhcient for weapons. The Maori later started making ornaments from greenstone and. weapons for use on ceremonial occasions. Mr. Ebbett showed examples of these from his ovai collection, ineluding ear pendants, tikis, neck ornaments, gouges, albatross hoobs, fish hooks, bird spears, whip tops, thatchirig needles, fishermen rs charms, flax' serapers, walking sticks, whalebone hair combs, tattooing instruments, lamps, and meres. The Tite of tapu was not merely a useless superstitidn. It prevented stealing or interference and chiefs had occasionally saved the 'belongiugs of the missionaries from interference by making them tapu. At the conclusion of the address a vote of thanks was moved by Mr. E. J. Hallett, after which Mr. Bennett thanked the speaker for his address.