TANGIS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 425, 18 August 1908, Page 2

TANGIS.

The Maori tangi is becoming a thing of the past. We remember such gatherings in years gone by and the recollections are not pleasant. Tribes have been impoverished through spending large sums of money to provide great fea-.ts and allow beer to flow like water and dreadful orgies have resulted. The pakeha tradesmen and publica is in the past did a “ roaring trade,” visiting tribesmen contributed their gifts of potatoes, fish, etc., etc., —a timehonoured custom —and feasting, and drunkenness were uppermost. The Maoris travel from one part of the Dominion to the other to attend taugis and the Government grant locomotive facilities per medium of free passes on the railway, yet the whole business has a most demoralising effect upon this noble race. The original tangi was the occasion for mourning and to recount in firey oratory to the assembled tribesmen, the genealogy of the deceased, together with his deeds of valour and those of his ancestors. Then came the desire for the pakeha waipiro and food stuffs, which entailed tremendous expenditure and the hospitable Maori, with no thougnt for the morrow, made the money fly. What has been the result ? Our reader know too well. The young Maori party has set its face against the custom, intoxicating liquors are now prohibited at tangis, and we are pleased to note, as was evidenced last Sunday, a change for the better setting in. Last Sunday’s tangi at Motuiti was a very quiet affair. The leaven of the young party is working, and by and bye the inquisitive and nose-poking ■ pakeha will be shown that his! presence at the pah during the mourning ceremonies and while the last rites are being performed, must be actuated by the same feelings that cause him to attend the funeral of a departed relative or friend.