THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEALAND

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 3, Issue 74, 23 October 1851, Page 3

THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEALAND

Two Lectures delivered by the Rev. Tnos. Buddle, Westeyan Minister, at the Auckland Mechanics' Institute, on the evenings of the 25th March, and 12th May, 1851. LECTUIIC I. In cases of supposed whiehcrafl the class of priests called " Mala Kite" (face seers) "re referred to. They generally gi> to the water to perform l/it ir incantations ; (hen profess to .see the spiiit of ill." witch in the water, and hesitate not to divulge his name: In some cases the de uh of the witch is instantly sought ; in other* a system ol'counler witching is adopted. They profess lo liuve power over tile elements, i'e Hejhcu, the great chief ami pii.-st of'Tupo: once said lo nie "It'yntl and 1 were on that sea, .mil u storm were lo arise, say not we should perish. I should command the winds it ml the waves, and they would insiunily obey." So confident was he in h sown power, thai, when a tremendous avalanche of boiling mud came down one of the rivers on the ba:iks of which he was living and threatened their instant destruction, instead of taking to his canoe and escaping into the water, he stood

calling to liis go Us till, with about sixty of his pr-op'c, be was buried beneath the immense mas 9. H« was a fine specimen of a New Zaalander, sinnding upwards of six feet, with nmre dignity in his mien ant! nobility in ln'3 carr»ige than nny Native I ever saw. The Lament that was sung by his brother h a fine spcrimen of native poetry, while it contains many allusions to their custom anil belief. LAMENT TOR TE HIVUEV. TIIO morning breaks, it looks forth l)y Iho side and through tin- peaks of Taulisra.* J'erhops my friend romea back to me. Alas! I swim nl-iif! Ho is gone, tlinu h.-.:.t taken him ! ClO then, tliou f reat one ! (10 thou trrrible! Go lliou that ivt'il like a Rata,r And gave shelter 10 many. Who is the god that has cast you In his anger, to the jnwa of diialh f Sleep on, mv father, in that much dreaded home. Tbi- cord of'Ka'ikau) shall no more grace Uiy arm. It was die delight oftby nucestor, of Xgakeie, Which he left, a sign of chieflaimliip. Turn thi-i way thy great and noble frjmo; Let ir.e see it once again. Like the blue water* is thy facr, Marked with a hundred lines. Thy people nonr arc e hieftainleis, And have no courage left. They stand alone ; Ihey look dismayed. Like tho stars of heaven forsaken:— Atutalii is gone, and Iteliua? the man eater. The great star thai stooil over tho milky way is gone. And thou too, Tongariro,f[ stand alone. The prows of the Arawat float 111 the watur. Women from the West shall weep, Decause tho'j art gone. Coir.e back from the we.it, come hack from the sea. With thy latooed body looking as beautiful aj that of thy tupuna* of Hongomai. The darkness of the l'o has ensluuuded thee Son of Hangi. Hut cease to 6l*ep— Arise, stand forth 1 lake again thy mcri, And talk o'er thy deeds of valour, Hon thou didst tread them dotvji by hosts. Thnu wert n rock by ocean shore! But thy death was sudden; lly the side of I'cpekct Tiiou didst fall. Thou wert laid on the sarin; j llul thy fame shall travel while the heavens remain. They have a remarkable custom in reference to children. At a certain period ihe child is taken to the priest, who either takes it to the wnicr and goes in with it, or sprinkles it and gives it a name, repeating u form of karakai (prayer), the purport ot which is, if a boy that he may be strong to fight and avenge the death of friends and strong to plant for d ; if a girl, the burden of the prayer i« that she may be strong to make garments and to cook food. It will not be wondered that the priests possess great influence. In fact the whole of the religio us matter' and much that whs political was entrusted to them. The New Zealandeii pray not for theintclvef, but leave it to the priest. Tiru. Another subject connected with the priesthood and religion is the supers itious custom or rile of Tty>u. It may le defined as > law i>r restriction that derives its sanction fioin religion. Originally It meant sacred. It dots not imply any moral quality, but it indicative of a particular distinction or separation from common purposes for some special design.

All nations savage or civilized, hare their | peculiar laws. 'Hie cliitf peculiarity of the i Tupu, os it exists in these Islands is Ihe religious rbnriicti rit sustains. Tinntgression is a fin npiinst gods ns well .is against focielv- I have met wiih fume excellent re- J matks on this subject in the publication ofi the American Fxprdiliim, ll=e Hiht-.ance of which 19 "» fallow: —When teilain rcfilila-; lions arc enforced by religious considerations, j thev e.\ctl nn influence on the million that they | couldnolelse obtain. The history of dilleient i religions sects illn.'trale this. Jt was not lawful fir the Je«s, according to ihe Mosaic law, to cfct certain kinds of nirat; or 10 offer in tnciifice the maimed; or to touch the; animal considered unclean; and it was the sanction of religion that gave it its vitality and power. The Mahometan ende, the work of. «n larlhly law-givir, tlcrivrs from its sup- \ posed Pirine a inrce superior to that nf. ■my ordinary law. It is nut lawful to eat; pork, nr diihk wine, or omit ceitain ablutions, j or t» lake fond during certain mtmlhs front j sunn's* lo sunset. The institutions of! Lvcurgus ate another example, owin? their niilhniily Kss to their own excellence or to the rank of the legislator, than to the *oleinn oath by which he enforced their obsertnnce and to the mvi't'-ry of his death. Thc\e examples mm gi*« us n clue to the probable origin ol thu iit« of Tapu. It

may be supposed lliat (lie author of the rite was a person who in the original seat of the Polynesian race united the power of ruler and law-giver to the dignity of chief priest : who propably pretended to he inspired by the gods, as they often do in the other Island when they utter oracles. If so, his laws or tapus, whether or not promulgated as clvine commands, would be received and obeyed as such. ThU view is supported by the f.irt thnr the urikir, or principal chief is often the high priest; and also by the fart that in nearly nil Hie groups men nre found who pretend to be decendinH from the gods, and retard themselves ns a sort oft'A'thly divinity. I have heard Te Huehue claim divinity. "Think not" raid he " that I am a man, that my origin is from earth, I came from the heavens; my anccsioisarc all there, they nre gods, and I shall return to them." I certainly regard the. opinion expressed in the American work already referred to as a very plausible one and likely to be correct, — " thai the law-giver «vhosi; decrees have come ■'own in the form of Tnpu was a ruler invested by his subjects with divine attributes.'' Hiit though the origin might thus be of a sacred and regal character, yet it has heroine common propeily j—a sort of magic t°rm with whieh any txiun can throw a kind of protection over his pr iperty ;—eon tapu his house or fishing grounds or eel pas, at many suit his whim, or convenience, and think himself quite justified in defending his tapu with his inujket. 'l'hi! multifarious and minute -.nplicntion of the religious part of tl.is rite it were difficult to discribc. We may just instance a few. It applies to persons. Tho person of a chid is snered, so that he cannot enter a house where food is cooked, nor sleep where food has been consumed; nor allow u slave to enter his house unless all his garments nre left behind. Any thing touched by a " tanga tapu" (a sacred man) would thereby be rmidi red tapu, and could no more be used, so that his drinking vessel must be held by a slave who pours out the water, and he drinks from his own baud.

A chief's head and hair arc the most encred ports o( his person. To touch his hair would he a breach of tile law, requiring certain nblutions and offerings to his goil. To burn his liflir at a lire where f< oil hud been cooked would hu a capital offence, When his hair is cut it is tin own inio some sjered inclnsuie anion;; other relics tliat aro not to he handled. If he spills his blood the place is tupu. Vea'es, in his work of New Zealand, furnishes a curious account of the manner in which the tapu was regarded. He says he one day found a chief of great importance with a fish hone stuck in his thro it, and though in greH agony, and in a siaW of suffocation no one dnred to touch him nor approach within a certain distance on pain of death, Mr Yeates went to the suffering man, and extracted the bone. Instead of being grateful for lite deliverance, the fust words lie spoke were in command to his people to take from Mr. Yeates the instrument with which the hone hull been extracted, as payment for having drawn blood from him, and for touching his head when he was snored. So exceedingly tenacious are these sacred persons that it is extiemely difficult for a novice to converse with them without committing some breach of the law of tupu, which may expose I dim to he rohbed of all he poises*?* at the time. I once seriously committed myself by inadvertently offending against the tapu- I was sitting in a native hut over a fire in converaiwitli several natives, when an old chief too sacird to enter such a home, sat down onlside. to listen to the korero. Feeling cold he exclaimed," lain dead wiilt cold, I shall go I have no garment." "Here," said I, "is a pood fire it will serve instead, come in.'' This was enough ; tlm idea of finding a garment in the lire was a gr- nt offence, iinii oil' he went mmU-ring his wrath. When I aiosu next moiniii!.'- I found the house anil all it contained under tupu. No utensils for cooking hreaklasl coultl he obtained' I had to go to Tnwuki and big him to remove the Inpu. This he did by sending a slave to drag out an iron pot, and cook six potatoes in it, part of which he ate as the representative of the oireiided ututi, and parts were sent to the offended chief. 'I tins the law was vindicated and the god appcasjd. In some of the dialects the improper use of the preposition for would be a transgression. There are two forms .of the preposition '• for," the ma and the mo lie pulu tnau would he n thing for you to he.-.t with ; he patti uioii, a thing to beat you with. Ithvni man would be potatoes for you to eat; riwai mou, potatoes to hu eaten with your flesh,' —-n offensive curse. This is not universal. The noithern tribes have not tsis distinction; hut in Wnikato it was universal, and the misuse of ihe worrl a great ofl'eiice.

• A inoiintJin. t Rate, n me, n( firft a climber; H clasps the tiee it clings 10, unci linnll/ killtit, becoming Iteelf a gr»>f t Ire. * The name of bis meri or fcaljiinjj linife. To tlm a particular naiiiu :'i usually givtn, vliicli Usconiid tvcll known to tin- tiibi-. $ Atululii mul JUliua, ilio limps of 3tar«. K The burning mountain. . \ /4riiua wus (he uaiiiuof oilcof (he canoes m winch it !>»• suj.pofi'J tlial the lirst colonists fiilcu Irtin Hawn.li. ' • Auctslor. A rirer.