The Rev. Thomas Buddle's Lecture on "The Aborigines of New Zealand."

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 521, 12 April 1851, Page 3

The Rev. Thomas Buddles Lecture on " The Aborigines of New Zealand."

(Continued.) Having dwelt, in the portion of his Lecture which appeared in our last, on the opinions entertained by tlte New Zealand Natives respecting their deities, and the place and condition of departed spirits, Mr. Buddle proceeded to the kindred topic of

The Maori Priesthood. The existence of a separate class of men, exclusively devoted to the service of the gods, and entrusted with all religious matters, is discoverable among all nations. In the earliest ages the head of the family conducted religious services and offered the sacrifices. This was the case with all the descendants of Abraham till the giving of the Law. Among other nations, certain persons were selected and formally appointed to this office. The occision of this, and the manner of its institution, are subjects veiled in gieat obscurity. We know there was a legular order of priests in J'gypt before the time of Joseph. The Magi of Persia and the Priests of Greece existed in very remote antiquity. The ancient Britons had their Druids, who were the authorized priests, Uaclws, and law-givers to their countrymen. All the tribes of Polynesia seem to have an established order of Priesthood. The New Zealanders. no doubt, brought the Institution from Hawaiiki. Mr. Jarves tells us, in his History of the Sandwich Islands, that each chief had his family priest, who followed him to battle, carried his war god, and superintended all the sacred rites of his household. They had also a great high priest, who was immediately attached to the person of the most powerful ruler, and had the keeping of the national war god. Their power, though it partook of a religious character, was scarcely inferior to that of the chiefs. The Institution among the New Zealanders was much the same, only they had no national high pries'-. Every tribe had its priesthood, one of which was chief, and had the greatest influence. In many instances the principal chief was the high piiest as well, uniting in his own person the tank of Ariki, or loid, and chief priest. The office was generally hereditary, passing from father to son ; — the father taking pains to instruct the son in all the mysteries of the order. Every priest had his peculiar forms of Karakia. The secrets of his worship, the language he employed in his intercourse with the god, was hidden from the people. In fact it was a language not to be understood but by tbe initiated. I have heard old Tawaki, a great priest of the Ngatimaniapoto tribes, teaching his son at night, when all had retired and they were alone. Their persons were sacred. They were not allowed to work, their supplies were provided by the tribe. All about them and their houses were tapu. IVy were considered invulnerable to disease, and inviolate in battle. No sickness could affect ihem nor any evil touch them in war, unless indeed they gave offence to the I received from Ngdware, Tawaki's son and successor in the priesthood, a cuiious account of his father, on one of my visits to their *il]age. Tawaki was an interesting looking old man, apparently about eighty years of age, with it long flowing beard white as snow, ap-" pearing as mysterious and singular in all his movements and converse as you might expect such a personage lo be. Ngawhare told me his father was the oldest man in the country; had outlived all his compeers; that no man lived that could compute his age; that he had been proof against all disease ; and, though he had accompanied the tribe on many a war like expedition, no spear could pierce him, no gun had power to touch his iacred person. The secret of all this was, he had a tvalu in bis breast— a sacred red stone, given him by his predecessor, which was his preserver ; nor could he die while it remained within him. "By and by,' 1 said Ngawhare, *' when I see my father so decrepit that he is really sinking beneath the weight of years, and life has become a burden, I shall request him to give the watu to me — then he will die. I shall swallow it, and succeed him in the piiesthood." Their work is to look after the interests of the gods, to see that the law of tapu be not violated, and that no offence is given to the imaginary deity. They are, in fact, the representatives of the gods, and receive all the offeiings winch aie presented to propitiate their deities, part of whuh is to be consumed by themselves. In war they have the regulations of all the movements. From their supposed intercourse with the gods, they are expected to know the mind of the gods. They had their oracles, where they made enquiry as to the incidents of war. A place was selected, and a rude sort of grove prepared. Every thing bong tapu, no food was prepared, no fire lit; the godsjvere invoked, and a quantity of sticks planted to represent the

different divisions of the tribe that were going on the j expedition. These were in a row, and the enemy opposite. When all were placed in order, the warriors were commanded to turn away their faces, when the gods came and threw down the sticks which represented the tribes that were to suffer loss in battle. In this way they pretended to divine. Like the ancient Diuids, too, they divined by Augury —by observations made on the flying and voices of birds; the appearmces of the heavens; and by a variety of other methods. Sometimes they profess to have revelations from the gods. Te " Atua Whera" pretended to hive a revelation that foretold the assault on the pa at Ouhaeawai by the British troops, and our repulse. He gave it in the form of a song, which was sung by the enemy after the repulse.

The Dream of Atua Whera (the Fire God). An attack 1 an attack ! E! Ha! A battle ! a battle ! E ! Ha! A fight on the banks of the river. It is completely stvept and emptied. Oh ! you would fitjht, you would fight. You had better staid at home in Europe Than have suffered such a repulse from Whareahau, Who has driven you back to your God. You may cast your book behind, And leave your religion on the ground. The people are so fully persuaded of their power, and feel so much the importance of keeping on good terms with the goda, that they most scrupulously obeyed their commands. When the priest chooses to halt, they must encamp, and not proceed till he issues the order. When he wishes to consult the gods, he proclaims a fast, and no fire is lit. So great is his influence on such occasions, that none would think of drinking at a stream as they passed to the field, if he had prohibited. Any violation of his orders would be expected to bring disaster and death. On returning from war he led them to a spot some distance from the pa, each warrior with a branch in his hand which he waved, while the priest perform?d the karakia ; then all their implements of war were thrown to a sacred spot and left. Another part of the priest's wo*k was to Jual the sick. All kind of sicknesi was supposed to come either directly 'from the god, who, being offended, entered into the person and was gnawing his vitals ; or indirectly, through the medium of witchcraft. The priests were tlie only physicians. When called to a sick person, the first thing done was to consult the god, which was done by plucking up a piece of fern: if it I came up clean, free from soil, it was a favourable indication. If much earth remained about the root, evil was predicted. He ordered the patient to be taken away into the bush—tapuing all the paths so that no one should approach. If he recovered, an offering was made. Fern root was cooked and presented to their deified friends, male and female. If one by chance was omitted, he would avenge the slight by afflicting again. In cases of supposed witchcraft the class of piiests called " Mata Kite" (face seers) are referred to. They generally go to the water and perform their inc.intations; then profess to see the spirit of the witch in the water ; and hesitate not to divulge his name. In some cases the death of the witch is instantly sought; in others a sy.stem of counter witching is adopted. They profess to have power over the elements. Te Heuheu, the great chief and priest of Taupo, once said to me, " If you and I were on that sea, and a storm were to arke, say not we should peiish. I should command the winds and the waves, and they would instantly obey. So confident was he in his power, that, when a tremendous avalanche of boiling mud came down one of the rivers on the banks 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 his gods till, with about sixty of his people, he was buried beneath the immense mass. He was a fine specimen of a New Zealander, standing upwards of six feet, with more dignity in his mien and nobility in his carriage than any .Native I ever saw. The Lament that was sung by his brother is a fine specimen of native poetry, while it contains many allusions to their customs and belief.

Lament for Te Heuheu. The morning breaks, it looks fonh By the side and through the peaks of Tauhara.* Perhaps my friend comes back to me. Alas ! I swim alone ! He is gone, thou hast taken him ! Go then, thou great one ! Go thou terrible ! Go, thou that weit like a Rata,f And gave shelter to many. Who is the god that has cast you In his anger, to the jaws of death ? Sleep'on, my father, in that much dreaded house. The cord of KaukauJ shall no more grace thy arm. It was the delight of thy ancestor, of Ngahere, Which he left, a sign of chieftainship. Turn this way thy great and noble frame ; Let me see it once again. Like the blue waters is thy face, Marked with a hundred lines. Thy people now are chieftainless, And have no courage left. They stand alone ; they look dismayed, Like the stars of heaven forsaken : — Atutahi is gone and llehua§ the man eater, The great star that slood over the milky way is gone. And thou too, Tongariro,|| stand alone. The prows of the Arawa^f float in the water. Women from the West shall weep, Because thou art gone. Come back from the west, come back from the sea, With thy tatooed body looking as beautiful as that thy lupuna** of Itongomai. The darkness of the Po has enshrouded thee, Son of Rangi. But cease to sleep — Arise and stand forth ! Take again thy meri, And talk o'er thy deeds of valour, How thou didbt tread them down by hosts. Thou wert a rock by ocean shoie ! But thy death was sudden ; By the side of Pepeke-j -\ Thou didsi fall. Thou wert kid on the earth ; But thy fame shall travel while the heavens remain. They have a remarkable custom in reference fo children. At a certain period the child is taken to the priest who either takes it to the water and goes in with it, or sprinkles it and gives it a name, lepeating a form of karakia, the purport of which is, if a boy, that he may be strong to iight and avenge the death of fiiends, and strong to plant food ; if a girl, the burden

* A mountain. f Rata, a tree, at first a climber ; it clasps Ihe tree it clings to, and finally kills it, becoming itself a great tree. % The name of his meri or scalping knife. To this a particular name is usually given, which becomes well known in the tribe. § Atutahi and Rehua, the names of stars. || The burning mountain. ' Arawa was the name of one of the canoes in which it was supposed that the first colonists sailed fiom Hawahki. *♦ Ancestor. •} ( A river.

of the piayer is that she may be strong to make <jarinents and to cook food. It will not be wondered then that the priests possess great influence. In fict the whole of the religious matters and much that was political was entrusted to them. The New Zealanders pray not for themselves, but leave it to the priest.

Tapu. Another subject connected with the priesthood and religion is the superstitious custom or rite of Tapu. It may be defined as a law or restriction that derives its sanction from religion. Originally it meant sacred. It does not imply any moral quality, but it is indicative of a particular distinction or separation from common purposes for some special design. All nations, savage and civilized, hava their peculiar laws. The chief peculiarity of the Tapu as it exists in these Islands is the religious character it sustains. Transgression is a sin against the gods as well as against society. I have met with some excellent remaiks on this subject in the publication of the American Expedition, the substance of which is ns follows :— When certain regulations a>e enforced by religious considerations, they exert an influence on the million they could not else obtain. The history of different religious sects illustrates this. It was not lawful for the Jews according to the Mosaic law to pat certain kinds of meat; or to offer in sacrifice 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 code, the work ot an earthly lawgiver, derives from its supposed Divine origin a force superior to that of any ordinary law. It is not lawful to eat pork, or drink wine, or omit certain ablutions, or to take food during certain months from sun rise to sun set. The Institutions of Lycurgus are another example, owing their authoiity less to their own excellence or to the rank of the legislator, than to the solemn oath by which he enforced their observance and to the mystery of his death. These examples may give us a clue to the probable origin of the rite of Tapu. It may be supposed that theauihoi of the rite uas a person who in the original seat of the Polynesian race united the power of ruler and lawgiver to the dignity of chief priest : who probably pretended to be inspired by the gods, as they often do in the other Islands when they utter oracles. It' so, his laws or tapus, whether or not promulgated as Divine commands, would be leceived and obeyed as such. This yiew is supported by the fact that the ariki or principal chief is often the high priest ; and also by the fact that in nearly all the groups men are found who pretend to be descendants from the gods, and legard themselves as a sort of earthly divinity. I have heard Te Heuheu claim divinity for himself. '♦ Think not," said he, "that I am a man, that my origin is from earth, I came from the heavens ; my ancestors are all there, they are gods, and I shall return to them." I certainly regard the opinion expresied in the American work already referred to ai a very plausible one and likely to be correct,-— " that the lawßifer whose decrees have come down in the form of Tapu was a ruler invested by his subjects with divine attributes." But though the origin might thus be of n sacred and res^al character, yet it has become common property ; — a sort of magic term with which any man can throw a kind of protection over his property ;— can tapu his house or lands or fishing grounds or eel pas, as maj suit his whim, or convenience, and think himself quite justified in defending his tapu with his musket. The multifarious and minute application! of the religious part of thii rite it were difficult to describe. We may just instance a few. Jt applies to persons. The person of a chief is sacred, so that he cannot enter a house where food is cooked or sleep where food has been consumed; nor a slave to enter his house unless all his garments are left behind. Anything touched by a "tangata tapu" (a sacred man) would be thereby rendered tapu, and could no more be used, so that his drinking vessel must be heU by a slave who pours the water into his band, and he drinks out of his own band. A chief's head and hair are most sacred parts of hit person. To touch liis head would be a breach of the law, lequiring certain ablutions and offerings to his god. To burn his hair at afi c where food had been cooked would be a capital offence. "When his hair is cut it is thrown into gome sacred enclosure among other relics that are not to be handled. If he spill his blood the place is tapu. So exceedingly tenacious are these sacred personages that it is extremely difficult for a novice to converge with them without committing some breach of the law of Upu, which may expose him to be robbed of all he may poaiess at tue time. I once seriously committed myself by inadvertantly offending against the tapu. I was sitting in a native hut over a fire in conversation with stYeral natives, when an old chief too sacred to enter such a house sat down outside to listen to the korero. Feeling cold he exclaimed, " I am dead with cold, I slull go. I have no garment." " Here," said I, is a good firr, it will serve instead, come in." This was enough ; the idea of finding him a garment in the fire was a great offence, and off he went muttering his wrath. When 1 arose next morning I found" the bouse and all it contained under tapu. No utensils for cooking breakfast could be obtained, I had to go to old Tawaki and beg him to remove the tapu. This be did by sending a slave to drag out an iron pot and cook six potatoes in it, part of which he eat as the representative of the offended atua, and part were sent j to the offended chief. Thus the law was vindicated and the god appeased. In some of the dialects the improper use ol the preposition for would be a transgression. There are iwo forms of the prepoiition *• for," the ma and the mo. He patu mau would be a thing for you to beat with ; he patu mou, a thing to beat you with. Riwai mau would be potatoes for you to eat ; riwai mou, potatoes to be eaten with your flesh,— an offensive curse. This is not universal. The northern tribes hive not this distinction ; bu» in Waikuto it was universal and the misuse of the word a great offence. Places also are oiten tapued. Houses because of some olfenee to a chief, and roads aud rivers so that canoes could not pas.s. A watchman is placed on the banks to ptotecl the tapu; and they who daied to pass violated the law and must puy the penalty. A chief had only to «ay concerning a place he wished to tapn, Taku iwi tuaroa, "such, a pL-ce or path is my back bone." This was enough to render it sacred in their estimation. The resting place of a corpse is always sacred, and the canoe in which a corpse had been, earned. The place of sepulture is regarded with great veneration and awe ; no foot will dare to tread the 6acre«l du»t, and no hand be so sacrilegious as to touch an object in the sacred enclosure. The penalties of this law partake both of a temporal and a supernatural character. The transgressor was liable to have his plantations burnt up, or hit food taken away, or his canoes broken up, besides being exposed to the an^er of the gods. How buidensome is such a religion as this.! A more powerful sj&'em of religious despotism could ntn t hare been deuced. Its exaciueiits were ol the mobt humiliating and troublesome d scnption ;— U any ining ha.l been wanting to complete ihe bondage in which the New Zealander w.js beld by superstition, this certainly would perfect aud perpetuate his slavery and his fears.

To have got rid of such a burden cannot but have been a greafdeliverance. Formerly a great portion of (beir country was tapu. They could neither travel over it, nor hunt over it, nor mliivatfc, nor make any kind of use of it. Now it is all available. They travelled in dread, lest they should itumble on some tapued spot ; now they go without fear. Their persons and their properties were iis constant danger ; but Chiistianity has freed them fiom these burdensome rites and distressing superstitions. J had intended to have mude some remarks on the customs and character of the Nevr Zealamlers, and given a few more specimens of their poetry, but time is gone. Another opportunity may occur. Let us be thankful to Providence that our lot has been cast among the blessinjrs of civilized life and the privileges of a religion, the yoke of which is easy, and \ the burden of which is light. And let it be our constant effoit to banish all that remains of the old supers-itions of the country, and to diffuse among the aborigines of our adopted land the blessings of an enlightened civilization, and the influence of a'divine and happy religion. j We have thus given — with no other curtailment than the abridgment of a few of the merely introductory passages — the entire of i this valuable Lecture, which we have no doubt our readers will agree with us in regarding as i fraught with information of a very interesting character, and parts of which at least they could scarcely obtain from any of the numerous, hut too commonly unsatisfactory and untrustwoithy, hooks published on the subject. Mr. Bubble's remaining Lecture, — which will treat chiefly on the character of the Aborigines of New Zealand, as developed and illustrated in various of their customs, &c, — will be delivered on Tuesday the 29th inst.