MAORI MEMORIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 December 1939, Page 2

MAORI MEMORIES

KAI TANGATA. (Recorded by J.H.S. for “Times-Age.”) The many conflicting reports and surmises concerning the origin or the reason for the practice of cannibalism in New Zealand arise mainly from the horror and consequent avoidance of the subject, by early observers. This was apparent in Captain Cook's first reference to the subject. The reluctance of the Maori to discuss tapu (forbidden) things also contributed to a lack of reliable information. In 1815 the practice of drinking the blood and consuming the cooked flesh as a sacred or sacramental ceremony had given place to other motives. The idea then presented by the ariki (high priest) was that to taste the blood or the flesh of the mala'! ika (first captured or slain in battle) was to partake of his bravery or other virtues. The one thus endowed assumed the rank of a rangatira (leader or chief).

Then came the period when the people were taught to believe that the mana (influence, power, authority) of the family and his tribe was destroyed by the practice. The common curse or witchcraft used to emphasise the fact was “Upoko kohua” (“may your head be cooked”), a remark for which there was no such thing as hohou rongo (purdon).

Finally, after the coming of the missionaries, who condemned, and the whalers, who ridiculed its religious significance, their belief in it turned to an orgy of cannibalism, which as a custom of short duration was relatively little practised in comparison with many other countries.