HEALTH IN THE KAINGA.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12897, 31 August 1907, Page 8

HEALTH IN THE KAINGA.

Te those who interest themselves in tho advancement of tho native race tbe annual reports of the native health officers and sanitary inspectors aro of particular value, for they show, better than any other official statement, how the Maoris are year by year meeting tho changed conditions of their life. The establishment under tho j Act of 1900, of .Maori Councils, and the appointment of spocj iaV health officers of their own race was an admirable step, and if performance

has fallen short of what might have been hoped, it must be remembered that tho new dispensation had a tremendous amount of leeway to make up before the good effects of its policy could be seen. Tfce _ laori had to learn, in the words of Raureti Mokonuiarangi, one of the native inspectors, that "there was a law pertaining to " the wearing of pakeha clothes, tho "breathing of fresh air, the eating of " pakeha food, and the drinking of "pakeha rum." It was following pakeha customs in Maori fashion that lowered the splendid vitality of the race and made the Maori a prey to every passing disease, and it was the first duty of the native health officers to instil into him a knowledge of the simplest rules of sanitation and health. Considering the ground on which they worked, their success has been most gratifying, hut their reports show that though much has been done, much still remains to do. The tohunga still counts his victims, though tho efforts of the Maori officials and tho more enlightened members of the race to suppress him are having their due result. Waaka te Huia, writing from Russell, reports to Dr. Pomare that there are now no tohungas in that district. "One existed for a short time in the dis"trict of Ngatiwhahia. We st9pped "him from practising his dia"bolical arts." Not all the reports, however, are equally satisfactory, and another inspector declares that some of the Maori Councils have not passed bylaws against tohungaism. because many of the members are themselves believers in tohungas. False prophets such as Rua, of whose evil influence Mr Elsdon Best sends a vivid account, can still secure large Thoir prophecies lead their dupes to abandon work, to wast© their means on the food supplies necessary for the large camps of idle natives, and generally to lapse into barbarism. That is a phase of Maori life which will gradually di© out with th© spread of education. In the meantime Dr. Pomare and his native assistants all preach the gospel of hard work, and in this connection' they insist on the onormous benefit that will accrue to the Maori from the individualisation of native lands. When that is brought about, says Dr. Pomare, "independent effort and its re- " wards will grow; communism with "all its accompanying evils will die " out. . . With the securing of the "fruit of individual effort, the Maori " will not only become a prosperous " tiller of the soil, but his home-life will "become more private and moral, un"til w© find him ultimately absorbed "in th© pakeha." "What tho Maori "really wants," he says in another place, "ia work—it is the only pathway "to health and prosperity. I would " give him work, mak© him work, until "ho finds he cannot live without "work." Raureti, whom we have quoted above, asserts that the alleged indolence of th© Maori is "entirely duo to th© entangle"ment of tho multitudinous laws " which govern the Maori's lands," and he asserts that th© individualisation of those lands is "th© solution of the " problem," because already "it has not " only induced th© Maoris (in the Bay " of Plenty) to supply milk to the dairy " factories, but it has made them be"oome pakeharised in many things." From th© Bay of Islands word comes that as soon as th© land question is settled many more natives will take up dairying, and other inspectors, who it may be mentioned are ail chiefs in good standing with their race, also look forward to the day when their people will have this great incentive to work. Other matters urged by the health officers are the training of Maori girls as nurses, and the compulsory registration of births and deaths. The work of building comfortable houses and making sanitary improvements in the kaingas, under the orders of the inspectors, is being carried on in several districts with exemplary thoroughness. "Th© progress has not "stopped with the building of houses," says on© official, "but bedsteads have " been provided for the inside of them. " Were you to visit th© towns, you " would not now see a native without " boots or hat, as in the days of yore." The northern portion of the North Island is now under the supervision of the assistant Native Health Officer, Te Rangihiroa, M.8., C.L.8., much better known in Christchurch as Dr. Buck. A large part of his report is devoted to his work at T© Araiteuru Pa at the Exhibition, but he also deals with the tohunga evil in Taranaki, which h© shows is diminishing. The death of Tohu did much to shatter tho natives' belief in their "prophets," and Dr. | Buck will evidently feel little regret when Te Whiti is gathered to his fathers, as the last great link with th© superstition of the past will then bo broken.