A Maori's View of Women's Rights.

Manawatu Herald, 21 September 1893, Page 2

A Maori's View of Women's Rights.

During the discussion of the Electoral Bill in the Legislative Council the Hon. Major Wahawaha made the following speech : — I want to say a few words regarding the position taken up by Natives in olden times in respect to this matter — that is, with regard to the position held by women During a given month in each year the Natives used to assemble for the purpose of holding certain rites. They used to assemble much as we do now in the way wo hold the annual sittings of Parliament. I will mention some of the ceremonies performed by them, , in which the women were not allowed to join. The first is the ceremony performed when making war-canoes, and the rites and ceremonies performed by men before going to war, when they invoked the gods to give them courage to meet their enemies. There were also ceremonies performed in connection with the building of carved houses and carved! storerooms, which ornamental' buildings they erected as sights v for their friends and for strangers. They also held ceremonies when building their large houses for holding theit meetings in, and it was in those buildings they stored their arms and weapons of warfare. There were also ceremonies performed by the men in connection with the cultivation of land, in order that they might insure fruitful returns. These ceremonies were all sacred, and -always per* formed solely by the men. The women were not allowed to join in or interfere with these ceremonies, and if any women were present they were not allowed to interfere, and it was taken as a bad omen if they did . so. I will now enumerate some of the duties which women weri required to perform. First, they had to prepare garments out of flax for their husbands and for their children. They also had to plait the different sorts of mats, and the finer kinds of mats that they used for bedding. They also had to make * kits, in which to gather the food which they had to carry to their homes to feed their huabands and children . They also had to gather herbs for food, and break up firewood^, and carry it home. None of these^f duties that they had to perform were , considered to be in any way sacred. This was the state of things when you arrived in these Islands, and when you came you introduced Christianity, and even then we saw that this same rule applied. No women were allowed to preach. There were no women ministers, neither did you allow them to appear

in your assemblies. It is only within the last few years that the voices of fanatical women have been heard in the streets of Wellington and Gisborne and other places. This has considerably puzzled us. . . . . Every- law that I have yet seen has had some sting contained in it, and it is possible that if the Maori woman are included in the measure some burdens may be laid upon them -which they have no idea of at present. I hope it will be allowed to stand over until next year.