MAORIS ARE STILL BELIEVERS IN MAGIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 468, 25 September 1928, Page 18

MAORIS ARE STILL BELIEVERS IN MAGIC

DR. ELLISON’S ADDRESS SURGERY AND SUPERSTITION “Where there are Maoris living as Maoris, there is still belief in magic. The race is steeped in superstition, and the Maori has probably forgotten as much about spiritualism as the European knows to-day,” said Dr. E. P. Ellison, of Wellington, Director of Maori Hygiene, last evening. TTB gave an address, his first in Auckland, on the psychological, medical and surgical life of the preEuropean Polynesian. Dr. Ellison based his lecture on personal observations in Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Chatham Islands, and many New Zealand districts. He had interviewed Mr. Elsdon Best on Polynesian doctoring, but Mr. Best had thought that the subject was so influenced by “black magic” that it was difficult to bring out the scientific side. Invocation and superstition were largely linked with Polynesian surgery. “I was surprised to get perhaps the best information from the South Island,” Dr. Ellison said, “where there are half-castes, Maori at heart, who have stored up knowledge. They are the remnants —the “morehu”—of the Takitimu canoe. They held, however, that there was a definite tohunga for medicine who relied on treatment and herbs. Generally, the view coincides with that I have obtained in the Pacific groups. BELIEF IN DRAGONS

“The Polynesian is necessarily a spiritualist; he has been brought up in supersitition. But primarily, he is a theist. and it is well to know his psychology. The Maori had his gods—lo, the supreme being, Tangaroa, Maui, Kongo and Maru. He believed in dragons, and I found this faith among the Moriori in the Chatham Islands.” THE LAST MORIORI Dr. Ellison remarked that Tami Horomona was the only pure-blooded Moriori left, but there were half-castes. Apparently their special taniwha. or dragon, was a shark. The speaker’s own father had had an experience with taniwhas, which had led a canoe load of natives to safety from a storm in Cook Straits. Three whales, so ihe account ran, had responded to the invocation of a priest, and had sheltered the canoe. “But the mana of the Maori has been lost in this respect, the mana in power which could be called up after invocation or prayer. It has been lost in seeking for education.” said Dr. Ellison. The speaker said that the medical and surgical life of the Polynesian should not be viewed from present-day standpoints, for, until 20 or 30 years ago, progress in these directions among civilised races had been slowi With the arrival of the European, the Maori's work with medicine and herbs was dropped. ADVANCED SURGERY Reviewing the surgical side, Dr. Ellison said that flint knives had been

used largely. Amputation, cauterisation, blood-letting and bonesetting were done, and it was remarkable that the Caesarean section was occasionally practised in motherhood. This was only recently introduced in modern surgery, and was a delicate operation under the best conditions. Wounds and skin eruptions were treated with oils and herbs, and incisions had been made. The Polynesian method of saving a person from drowning was simply to hang him upside down over dense smoke. The method was practical and Mr. Hare Hongi (Henry Howell), the well-known writer on Maori, had been saved in this manner after immersion for half an hour. The power of auto suggestion played its part, especially in cases of poisoning. Leprosy was not brought to New Zealand by the original inhabitants, but was the result of communication with the Hawaiians, who were known to the Chinese centuries ago. The disease had come from China, where it was rampant. Dr. Ellison traced other ailments, and, in conclusion, said; “My observations lead me to believe that, abdominally, the Polynesian is stronger than the European, but he now has to take particular care with his respiratory system.” Dr. Ellison mentioned the immunity of Maoris from diphtheria.