A NEW MAORI PROPHET

Otago Witness, Issue 2722, 16 May 1906, Page 33

A NEW MAORI PROPHET

UNREST AMONG THE NATIVES.

THE SOX OF TE KOOTI. ROTOKtJA, May 10. A Maori named Rua, etyling himself a prophet and brother of Jesus Christ, ie ' causing considerable unrest among the Natives of the Whakatane district. Large numbers follow him from place to place. He claims he can heal the eick, restore sight, and raise the dead if not dead qjore than two hours. He tells the Natives King Edward VII will be in Gisborne on the 25th of June. The Natives are very excited, and say the pakeh'as will be driven out of the land when the King arrvies. A large house is to be built at Giebirne fcr the new Messiah and king at a cost of three millions. Numbers o£ Natives are selling their horses, cattle, and crops to raise money to follow the prophet. It is reported that 500 are following him now. Many of them volunteered, and are with modern firearms. It is feared the result will be a breach of i he. peace. Rua is a son of Te Kooti. INTERVIEW WITH THE HON. J. CARROLL. WELLINGTON, May 11. Speaking to a Post interviewer regarding the utterances of the alleged Maori prophet at Whakatane. the Hon. Mr Carroll said: "It savours very much of th« hysterics." " Rua," he continued, "is not a son of Te Kooti. He is iust «n up3tart, a young fellow, and, like all these charlatans, he promises eternal life to anybody, and you always find human nature susceptible to these promises ; but, like many others, this latest movement is merely a flash in the pan. That's my idea of it. The message refers to 500 followers. From all I can hear there are about 100 to 150. In all my inquiries I have not heard about these persons having modern firearms. They may have a gun or two to 6hoot birds in the bush, for it's all bush country there." Though Rua. is said to be an upstart he haa been at work for a couple of weeks at least. The Minister commenced to quote from telegrams: — ".He was at Whakatane a fortnight since •with about 300 followers/ ran one despatch. "That would be the people of the surrounding country collecting at a meeting, ' commented Mr Carroll. "He was well received," the wire spoke. "Of course people would gather around him to hear him," the Minister declared. '* When a man professes to cure all diseases he is bound to get a crowd around him." "He ie quite a young -man, either a fanatic or a knave," said a. telegram. "He is a fanatic," came the verdict of Mr Carroll. "It is a case , of hysterics and craz««. He doesn't see why he shouldn't have a cut in." The interviewer gathered that Rua was making for Waikaremcana, through the Urewera Country. The Native Minister mentioned that he had given instructions to the police to keep an eve on Rua, and had sent good advice to the chiefs of the district. He did not anticipate that there was any danger of serious ti-ouble, and scouted the suggestion. If there was anything tangible to go on the authorities could arrest Rua at any time, but they could not interfere with the liberty of the subject without fair grounds to go on. If there was any element of danger Rua could be secured any day. The Minister was asked whether the Natives of the Urewera had any grievance ' just now against the whites, and replied that they had none. "At this hour of the day," he concluded, "it is absurd to fear a Maori uprisifig or any hostile demonstration of a very seriously menacing nature. I think it is only a religious tremour," he laughed. " I don'i think it will come to a volcanic outbm-»t." Briefly Mr Carroll believes that a young man, by talking " big and loud," induces a crowd of curious persons to flock around him, and regards this as a type of excitement not confined to Maoris. During last session, when Europeans were talking about certain Maoris' adherence to tohungas, Mr Carroll mentioned Dowie. who was believed to be a sacred prophet by certain Europeans ; ■ and when there was a reference to certain "remedies" prescribed among Maoris the Native Minister retaliated with a roference to Europeans' faith in patent medicines. CF*OU OU* OWS COBBESPONDENT.) WELLINGTON, May 11. The Whakatane district, where the new Maori prophet is said to be causing some stir, is a fertile valley, situate on the south-east coast of the Auckland provincial district, nearly opposite White Island. The lower part of the vallav is settled with Europeans, the main Maori settlement being at Ruatoki, a few miles inland, and on | the borders cf Tuhoe land.- better known as the Urewera Country. The Tuhoe people were the very last of the Maori tribes to own allegiance to the Crown. They have several charactistics different from the other Maori tribe?, both in regard to language, customs, and look 6. When I rode through Tulioa land from Waikaremcana. over the Huia Rau trail to Ruatoki and Whakatane. in company with Lord Ranfur'.y on his farewell visit to the Maori people about two years ago, the Maoris were very friendly, : and had little cause of complaint either against the Government of the pak-eha, and Lord Ranfurly's visit deepened the friendly feeling that already existed. As we entered the village a Maori band greeted us with lively music. Suddenly from the mid^t of the musicians there darted Tupara, an old warrior, wi-th a splendid dogskin mat about him and a greenstone '" mere " in his hand. He was a magnificent-looking man, of tremendous proportions. For a. few seconds he barred the way by flourishing a. " nwre ' , and warlike posturing, and then bke a fla«h was gone, vanishing ap quickly as he appeared. It was a strikinc barbaric greeting, a reminder of the grim pa-t, when the Qu-een'6 writ did not run in Tuhoeland and the white man was safer outside its confines. Subsequently the dancers of the tribe greeted the Governor with war dances • and barbaric chants and dirges, the rolling eyeballs, lolling tongue*, and tense quivering limbs and bodies of the dancers giving a weird impression. On the evening of our arrival the solemn chanting of the Hau Hau service drew us to the big meeting house, which replaced an older house that was exceedingly " tapu," or sacred, no white man being allowed to enter it. Many of the tribe still worshipped under a form of the Hau Ha-ii religion, winch form consisted almost entirely of a somewhat weird chanting of the psalms of David. The originator of this religion was a Native named Te Au, who was eventually caught by two of Captain Mair's men near Wbaka-

tane. and hanged as a rebel The Hau Hau religion of that period was, however, very different from the present form, for the Hau Haus of the sixties even went the length of murdering a missionary and hanging his body on a tree. Some of them even went the length of tasting his blood. This was at Opotiki in 1865. In that case the false propnet who stirred the people was one Patara. He worked both men and women up into a religious frenzy. At the beginning of this trouble a prophet named Kereopa came into the midst of the people bearing the head of a soldier of the 70th Regiment, and placed it at the fool of the worship pole. He then gave a long sermon, speaking for an hour and a half, and winding up by telling the assembled people that the head would speak at sunset. Several excited Natives, putting their ears to its mouth, would fancy it spoke, and then start off as if mad, running about over the plain. Five days later the Rev. Volkmer was murdered, and scenes of gruesome, barbarity were enacted. All this occurred under the guise of the Hau Hau religion only 40 years ago. Rua is no doubt one of the Hau Hau "cranks."' But the Hau Hau of to-day is a very mild fellow compared wjfh his prototype of 40 years ago, and Rua's '" mana " is not likely to be of Jong duration or very dangerous to the European in the country through which Rua with a following of 500 is reported to be proceeding. The Queen's writ would not run in .1893 or 1894, yet when fhe King's Governor visited Rotorua only a few years ago the Ureweras presented themselves before him in fervent loyalty. Of late years the tribe has shown a wonderful adaptability in falling in with the advanced ideas of civilisation. When Lord Ranfurly weintt through their land in principal chiefs protested their loyalty in a remarkable manner I remember one of the great chiefs finishing a speech to 'the Governor in these words: — "Go back to the land of your ancestors, that far-famed land from which all good and all greatness has emanated, that famous country over which King Edward VII reigns suprpme. I wish you long life and happiness. Go back, oh, sir, to your own land." An address from the people signed by all the principal chiefs was read and presented to the Governor, and altogether the reception of the King's representative was of a most cordial nature. Bearing in mind all this. I do not think there need be any ground for alarm in regard to the doing of the newly-arisen prophet. The Hon. Mr Carroll. Minister of Native Affairs, at all events is not inclined to look upon the matter seriously. He has been kept fully advised- as to the doings of the new '* prophet," who, he says, is a fanatical young upstart, and not a son of Te Kooti, as stated. Meantime the police ha\e been instructed 'to keep an eye on Mr Rua, and unless he is particularly careful he may soon be continuing his mission in one of His Majesty's prisons.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

CHRISTCHURCH, May 11. Knowing that Mr H. W. Bishop, S.M., possessed an intimate knowledge of the Native race and their customs, a reporter waited on him this afternoon to secure his opinion of the probable outcome of the Maori trouble reported in this morning's papers. In the absence of more definite information, Mr Bishop hesitated to speak autboratively on the subject, but, in the course of conversation, he remarked: — "I think it extremely improbable that any man could gather together a following of armed Natives, such as Te Rua is alleged to have done. I do not believe they could get the weapons. Te Rua is said to be a son of Te Kooti's, but I did not know he had a son. The term '* Tamaiti," which means son in Maori, is a comprehensh c term, and may mean nephew or grand nephew, and ifc does not follow that because this man is called Te Kooti's son that his father was Te Kooti. I do not think it is worth while taking very much notice of tho matter at present, and I do not see what there is to cauEe a breach of the peace. Fear of a disturbance may have arisen largely through Te Kooti's association with the past history of the district, for, as you know, ho wai responsible for what is known a« the Poverty Bay massacre, and, no doubt, you will also remember that To Kooti created alarm some time ago by starting to go overland some considerable distance, and sureties had to bo found that he would keep the peace. The matter wont to the Court of Appeal, and he was bound o\er to keep the peace. Tho apprehension which arose then was siraplv on account of his connection with the Poverty Bay massacre, and there are people in Poverty Bay who loathe his name and everything in connection with him."

Are the Natives in Poverty Bay district particularly liable to disaffection . a4<ed the reporter. "Well." said Mr Bishop '"the tel^a-rams do not give the locality where this alleged movement has occurred. Ir niav be somewhere inland. The Natives about Gi«borne have always been most loyal, and tho massacre Te Kooti was responsible for was always regarded by _ the Gisborne Natives with horror. Major Ropata belonged to Gisborne, and he was one of the strongest allies we had. I am peifectlv certain this man has not risen and gather* d these Natives round him all at once. Theio is an inclination locally to oxaggerate these alarms, chiefly because Poverty Bay his suffered very severely in the past and on that account it is easy to create a scare. Of course, tho Government will have inllmafe knowl-clsfe of what is taking platv. and they will never allow it to roach a point whero there would ho danger of a breach of the peace They ha>e sources of information from oer'ons connected with the Maoris, and they will get full advice of anything that is taking place."