MAORI MEMORIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 August 1939, Page 2

MAORI MEMORIES

INTELLECT OR INSTINCT. (Recorded by J.H.S. for “Times-Age.”) Among the loyal tribes, the names of the Ngatiporou and the Arawa and their Chiefs Ropata and Renata are well recorded in history. Of the rebels. Hone Hoke alone was recognised for his chivalry toward our women and children. In the year 1844 and onward Governor Hobson was at his wits end for lack of troops and arms to protect us against the Maori hordes who outnumbered lhe whites by three to one. Ropata and Renata on our side, with the gallant Heke against us, were the real factors in preventing the extermination of every person showing "the sign of the cross, or of crossing the ocean, as seen in their despised white faces.” So far as I have heard, these three Maori Chiefs have not even been honoured by a monument of stone. The Arawa and Ngatiporou were distinguished by the rarity of the Moko or tattoo on their faces, a peculiarity difficult to account for, considering the reverence with which it was universally regarded among all other tribes. The word “Hongi” is used to describe the practice of greeting by pressing the nose of a friend or stranger. It also means a keen sense of smell such as that of a dog. The Arawa and Ngatiporou were so successful in'tracing the tracks of the elusive Te Kooti and following his devious ways, that both Pakeha and Maori believed them to possess the instinct and capacity of the little Maori dog who followed the tracks of the wingless bird for many hours, and assisted in its capture for his master’s food, and his feather mats, Te Kooti, however, had some other subtle instinct which enabled him to avoid capture to the very end of his hectic career. One may wonder whether intelligence or intellect is better than instinct which seems to be lost by education.