MAORI MEMORIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 October 1939, Page 4

MAORI MEMORIES

EDUCATE FOR “USE." (Recorded by J.H.S. for “Times-Age.”) Adverse criticism and actual condemnation of the Maori come from from those who do not even know their language or the handicaps we have imposed upon them. Much less do we remember that the British race were still “savages” after the lapse of ten centuries of their “progress” from the civilising influence of William the Conqueror. One century of Maori contact in a civilisation with which there is no 1 parallel in human progress, is thought by us to be sufficient for their reformation. For us the recent development in science and invention are miraculous. To the Maori they were nothing short of the Whiro’s (Demon’s) work for the destruction of the world. Strangely enough, our money created the Maori habit of taihoa (wait a bit), which we so heartily condemn. Formerly, continuous industry was necessary for daily sustenance, comfort and protection. Now he can work for a day and rest for six. They are children, and should be subject to “free, compulsory and practical education,” just as our school children are supposed to be. Their schooling, however, must, above all things, be “useful.” In the good old days, every Maori home, village and fort was clean, tidy and orderly. Fighting was nothing more nor less than a recreation. To kill a man painlessly, and without fear of the future, was merely to send him happily in advance to Te Reinga, the underworld, where his past and present friends woud join him. We play at racing, boxing, wrestling, football, motor speeding, well knowing of their average death rate. The only Maori substitute for these was fighting hand-to-hand, after the usual coutesy of a taki (challenge). When the mataika (first victim) fell, peace came.