THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEALAND

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 3, Issue 71, 11 September 1851, Page 2

THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEALAND

Two Lectures delivered by the Rev. Thos. Buddle, westeyan Minister, at the Auckland Mechanics' Institute, on the evenings of the 25th March, and 12th May, 1851. LECTURE I. •' The two opposite points have yet to be readied:— the Sandwich Island* and New Zealand. The former nre about two thousand five hundred miles north of Tahiti; but the foynge, if made by way of the Marquesas, would not be difficult, because the distance would thus be diminished from six to eight hundred miles, and the voyag'MtaKcn so much to the eastward, lhat they would be waited with great velocity before the prevailing trade wind," Mr. HUia seems to favor the notion that the Islanders came from America, and similarity of language and customs, indicates that the Malays, Polynesians, and Norili Americans were formerly the same people, and had one common origin. It is said flint the carvings of the New Zealanders present u striking analogy to the architectural ornaments of the Mexicans; the kumeia, too, is indigenous there. I am inolined to think lhat the emigration was Irom the contrary direction, and that America was prohabl/ peopled from Asia by way of the Pacific—the whole of which is interpt-rsed with numerous islands, making the passage easy from Northern Asia to America. "The Continent of Asia," says Jarves in his History of the Sandwich Islands, "from the numerous intervening islandsaffords more facilities for reaching Polynesia in this manner than America, though stragglers from the latter have doubtless, from time to lime, added to the population, and thus created a mixture of customs which, to some extent, ind'cate on an origin from both. The probabilities are greatly in favour of Asia." Baron Humboldt, too the celebrated traveller, favour! this idea. And here we must take leave ot this pait of our subject; the point we have endeavoured to establish is, that the New Zealinders have had B common origin with the rest of the copper-coloured tribes of Polynesia, and lhat their origin is Asiatic. Tub Religion and Supeiistitions of the New Zealandbhs. The knowledge of the true God was tot illy losUainong them. Nor had they any tradition corresponding with the doctrine of the Trinity, likethe Hindoo tradition of Bramaand Vishna and Siva. They were not idolator* in the popular acceptation of the Moid. This appears to be the case with most of the other Inlanders —they worship images, and have their god's houses or sacred temples, where the gods reside and receive the homage of

their woishippers. But this was never the case with the New Zcalandcrs. Nevertheless they have gods many. Their mythology very much reminds one of classic Greece and Home. They had a small number of gods ol the first class, possessing various attributes. One, the creator of the Islands; another of man ; another the god of war i another of thieves, and so forth. Then follows a multitude of inferior deities—gods of sen and winds, tutelar divinities of towns, families, tribes, kumern; and ma'ignant spirits, h 'tinting woods, caves, and desert places, whose delight is to torment and annoy the human race. . .. One of the principal gods is Ouenuku. lie },ns his residence under the minbow. He is regarded as a soit of presiding deity, that governs and controls all their affairs. The thunder is his voice. They seek his favour and guidance on going to wur. It the ram''iow, which is his sign, Hinds in front ol »\hem, or on their left side, it is an intimation „f evil, and tlu-v instantly return home. Should it be seen on the righ't, then Ouenuku favours them, and they go forward, confident that they shall be vktotious. Mawe is another principal god. He fished the island fiom the sen. We generally see old maps of New Zealand with the northern island called "He mea hi no Mawe." I have no doubt but the origin of this was Captain Cook asking the Natives the name of their couniry, they repli.d, lie mea hi no Muwe ; that is "It is a thing fished from the sea by Muwe.' 1 This was put down as the name of the country. Mawe is said to have four sons. The father is named Mawe-i-mua. The sons, ilfnu-e-i-ro/o ; Mawe-i-taha ; Mawe-tih-tiki' u-te-rangi; Maine potiki. They have four Mawe's in the Hawaiian mythology, with names very similar—Mawe-i-mua—hope—liilii —and atalana. Tiki is spoken of as the creator of man. He had a wife named H'nu-nui-te-po, by whom men were born to people the earth. The bir'h of her firsi-borii was rendered remarkable by a little bird flying past and laughing at '• Hine nui te po at the birth. She was ashamed or offended, and strangled the child in the birth. This was the cause of death entering the world. Hut for the intrusion of this liltle bird there would have been no death and no night. The Ngapuhi (ihe Northern tribes) have n curious tradition about Mawe and the first sunset. When Mawe saw daikness cover the earth, lie immediately pursued the sun, and brought him bock again in the morning, hut lud no power to keep him from running away again and causing night. He, however, tied a string to the sun, and fastened it to the mnon, that as~the former went down the ither, bring pulled after it by the superior power of the sur, may rise and give Mawe light during his absence. As the men of New Zealand offended him ; and as he could not darken the sun to punish them, nor hide the moon for ever, he placed his hand between it and the caitli, at staled seasons, that they may not enjoy the light it was intended to give. In this way Ihe New Zealander accounts for day and night, and lunar changes. Tu is the Mars of New Zealand—the god of w»r. To him they offered human sacrifices j the first prisoner taken in battle was sacred to Tu. His heart was tuken out and masted in a sacred oven, and then preseuud a great saciifire to Tu. The body, t«'o, was inpu. This was to propitiate the deity, make him favour them, and grant them success. Their «ar songs have constant reference to this god. The following are specimens. The first is a sort of Dialogue-Song, in which a Chief, Hatupatu, returned from battle, after having slain his most powerful enemy, Karika, celebrates his achievement, exhibiting the tatooed head of his adversary, and comparing his o«n prowess with the lesser exploits of his brothers Hanui and Haroa. In the second pait, his father replies in a strain of congratulation, selling forth especially the satisfaction which Tu the god of wur, had received, »MTUPATU*S SON'O Of TnU'llPH. I'uur deeds are nil eclipsed! llatupatu slew Karika: By the tides of the sea lie displayed bis prowess. The doings of our day, ■Let them be recorded i ijlere is tbe face, tatooed on every sjde, Vv(''i« doings of our day I \**ui, llaroa, where ore your trophies! ivatupatu's is here—'lis Karika ! Hy the tides of tbe sea His pron-ess was distinguished. O the doings of our day, Tbe doings of our day, tbem be recorded! REPLY Or HIS FATHER. "Whence have you come Great travellers from Tu ! Have you come from the land— Hare you come from tbe sea.— Great travellers from Tu f y'e have come from seeking vengeance; From seeking satisfaction ; From reaping revengo ye are come, Great travellers from Tu. Tu lias received I 'At ia enriched t

Tu is appeased with A Kre.lt nlonenicnt Of this great day that we sec ! ]I«? has received; ho. is enriched, and appeased ; | JIo turns to us with a smile— Ye travellers, great travellers from Tu. The next is a Lament in which reference is made to Tu. It was sung on the dentil of a chief, whose body it is stitci/, was actually (in the manner alluded to) cut into nieces, that parts of it might be .sent to ihosc who hud been his enemies, to nssura them of hi* having been actually slain; and his bones made into arrows with which (o shoot birds. The allusionsin the last verses are to the venge.mce which the tribes were preparing to inllict upon the foes by whose hands he bad fallen. . I.AMF.NT OP TT. RIUTOTO lOK TK HIAKAI. Thero dawns the day, it mounts aloft, To remind mc of the years in which ho lived. Oh! Ilia, whose fame spread along the heavens! The- moon has lost her horn, 'lis broken. .My heart wert thou ; Thou wort beautiful as the Tiki Kotuku.* Thou didst swim lo tho south as a whale, And to Tu thou wert carried by the winds. To take tho front of halllo was thy wont. Iladst thou hut retired to the rear! Oh ! why did not that arm uplifted Light upon the foe. As in the battle front thou wert sn fearless, Anil led thy columns on to carry all their wrath. Did they cut thee in pieces, that thine Knemies might sec their foo! That Taupo, that Rotorua* might seo thee too? Did they inako arrows of thy bones With which to take the birds That eat the Mirof on tho mountains of Titi i Oh, Father, como back to our canoe ! It rolls, and there is none to steer it. Hut soon the earth will quake: Tliu waters of the Waikato will flow out: My joy is, that ogain tho lightnings of heaven Have rested upon IlakariJ An omen of vengeance for thy death. There i 9 another rlnss of gods which are only deified men j their own friends, in fact, whom they suppose are all deified at dentil. These pods are supposed to sit on the lops of their houses, and to whistle to them, or they appear in the form of a lizard or an insect. I have seen an old chief silling and looking with yreat earnestness at a beetle creeping over his garment, muttering to it. On asking a bystander the meaning of it, i received for reply, He atua nana-. —" It is a god of his." I have sometimes thought these ideas may have originated in the ancient doctiine of Metempsychosis, or transmigratian of souls. They evidently have the idea that souls pass from one body to another. This idea is suggested, 100, by their fears of a god called a Taniwha. lie is a sort of amphibious being, and can live cither on land or water. His principal habitation, however, is the waler, where he is seen in the forniof nn eel, or a slink, or sonic oilier fish. On the land In; assumes the form of a largo lizard, such as they say was very numerous, as long und thick as a man's leg ; —llie species is not yet extinct, but seldom seen. They say if a mother strangles her child, and throws it into the water, it becomes a 'laniwhn. Olthis demon they are in great dread. He docs all the mischief. If a canoe is upset it is a Taniwha seeking for victims. If any serious wound be received, it is the bite of the Taniteha. Their gods aro not regarded as beinos possessed of any moral attributes, rendering them objects to hj" adored and loved : on the contrary) tliey were objects of constant dread; soon offended; punishing the most trivial offences, especially against the law of lapu ; and hence the only motives by which they were iullucnred in their religious homage or service were, with very few exceptions, superstitious fear, revenge toward their enemies, a desire to avert the dreadful consequences of the augf r of their gods, and to 'secure their sanction and aid in the commission of the greitest crimes. By their rude mythology, t!i9 earth was filled with demons, nnd the sea too. The sentiment of Milton, " Millions of spiritual creatures walk tho earth Unseen, both when we wako and when wo sleep," was familiar to their tnimla. They saw themselves suirounded by invisible beings,and saw in common occurrences of every day the movements of mighty spirits; and heard in the ocean's roar, the tempest's blast, tl>« evening's breeze—the voices of the gods. The mountain's summit, the lonely dell, the desolate rock, the deep forest, were all regarded as the adodc or resort of the invisible beings. What a deliverance niunt the Gospel have brought to them ■ From what bondage must it have saved them! What tormenting fears must it hive banished from their minds! What a contrast there exists between the gods nf the heathen and the God of the Bible I But for tho Bible and its revelations they must have remained in this bondage. I have sueii it slated thai they worshipped the sun nnd moon j hut I believe this is n mi'takc—l never heard of such worship among the Now Zenlanders.

* A large wliite crnne. • The enemies to whom portions of the hody were sonf. f A pine, tho fruit of which is the favourite food of elm wood-pigeon. X A mountain.