THE DEAD SHALL RISE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 75, 12 December 1949, Page 4

THE DEAD SHALL RISE

Sir, —About 50 years., ago there lived in a southern district an old /■ Maori chief who gave the armed \ forces a lot of trouble. In lact he was arrested on a number of casions. The A.C. Force which was one time sent to arrest the chief was startled when they advanced on the pah to hear blood-curdling noises coming from inside,. indicating that a war dance was in pro- . gress. However, when the soldiers entered the pah all they found was a lot of women yelling their heads off. The men had quietly slipped away. 1 ' • Some time before the old chief died he persuaded his followers that he would rise again on the third dgy. His followers believed him absplutely and sat around when he did die convinced that he would rise again. Of course, they were A-g forced to bury him in the finish. Shortly afterwards an old named Toto did actually rise again, although he had made no, prediction that he would do so. Toto by way of being a chief also and when he died Maoris came from far and near and by the third day of the tangi, with too * much, drink they were in a fit state to spe lots i' of things. The third day being a Sunday a number of pakeha people * from the nearby town visitted the . ' tangi. Amongst these was the town A ■ doctor and his wife. The doctor had a look at Toto all decked out for burial and was not quite sure if he were really dead or only in a very deep coma. He said nothing but slipped back |to town and got some dope, which he quietly injected into Toto. His surmise had been correct and Toto, who could swear fluently in both languages, sat up and turn-/ ed on the works.* I later saw some retreats in France but they were tame compared to the retreat from that tangi of Maoris who were nearly in the ding-bats. Toto died some ninths later '(at least they buried him) but his second tangi was a flop. The Maoris just did not feel up to a possible second dose of '■ Toto’s rising from the dead (which , they ’were quite convinced he done) and drank nothing stronger than lemonade. < Yours etc.,'' OLD TIMER, ; Galatea,;.'