MAORI MEMORIES.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 April 1938, Page 9

MAORI MEMORIES.

- TAONGA—WEALTH (Recorded ,by J.H.S. for “Times-Age.”) In 1826 a seaman related the stories told by a Maori whaler on returning from a brief visit to Australia. At a Hakari he recited in pantomime amid roars of laughter how the Pakeha got drunk, quarrelled, and fought at such meetings. Ten years later, the same seaman saw a notable Maori Hakari, at Matamata. Everything as carried on with perfect order, fun and hilarity prevailing. A review of the provisions indicated the number of guests, the labour of preparation, and their capacity for organisation. The hosts supplied 8000 kits of potatoes, 500,000 smoked eels, 800 pigs, and 15 casks of tobacco. One chief alone distributed 300 Kaitaka mats on behalf of his tribe, each of which to the donor was more valued than a Cashmere shawl to an English lady. Like the nomad Indian tribes who felled the trees for fruit, the Maoris enjoyed the present at the cost of the future. They provided these huge feasts to gain, a reputation for liberality; but we may not judge them by our standards. Britishers respect men who gain wealth; Maoris admire those who give it away. Possession means greed; giving leads to poverty. Maori piles of food mean munificence; civilized banquets 'indicate magnificence and display. The Maori does not dream that industry is the high road to happiness. They have long periods of idleness, yet they never suffer from this curse of civilized people. All men destitute of reading, writing, or real learning are great talkers, so to the Maori, conversation beguiles the time while walking, working, or waiting in the sun or the firelight. Smoking among men and women soon become universal, and no doubt was realized as an aid to reflective thought in their many hours of leisure. To our average youth, though smokers themselves, this habit among girls is not an attraction.