BUDGET PRONE

Te Ao Hou, March 1967, Page 13

BUDGET PRONE by Jane Emery The old Maori tupunas were ‘budget prone’. The very nature and means of their primitive existence made them so. Their seasonal foods, along with the rest of their tribal needs, were painstakingly husbanded and conserved with ritualistic care and industry. Experience had long taught them to do this or expect the consequences of their harsh and cruel times. Realistically they looked their circumstances in the face, and made adjustments to meet their needs. Their patakas inside their fortified pas, long laid to rest in the past, are mute records of their storage habits. The planned husbanding and conservation of their basic requirements — food, shelter, clothing and defence—exercised the minds of the rangatiras, some more so than others. Their mana, prestige and dignity rose and fell, not only on their war prowess, but equally as much on their ability to feed and clothe the tribe without stifling their exuberant joy, their spontaneous fun and laughter in the zest of living. The ruling rangatiras set the standards for the tribe, sought their co-operation and put into action the plans for their self-servicing, self-sufficient community. The tupunas did not live on chance, or reap the wind. The tribal production of their food and material needs, the long-range storage project of their assets for future use or for sudden emergency, and their happy relaxed hours, taken after toil and tasks well done, were a permanent part of their make-up. Not one iota of their labouriously won bounty was wasted, and not one member of the tribe went hungry and cloakless. With their defences secure and their patakas full, the old tupunas felt happy and free to don luxuriant cloaks with ornamented borders and relax as only a true Maori knows how to. In the manner of their forefathers, from the blue Pacific, they swept along on the poetical lilt of their songs to the heights of fun and happiness. Added to this was the language of their shimmering hands, dancing feet and eloquent eyes, bringing the utmost joy and satisfaction to each and all.