THE MAORI.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19669, 12 July 1929, Page 13

THE MAORI.

HIS CONTACT WITH THE PAKEHA. MR JOHANNES ANDERSEN'S LECTURE. Mr Johannes C. Andersen, Director of the! Tumbuli Library, Wellington, was the speaker at last night's meeting of the Canterbury Branch of the New Zealand Historical Association. Mr Andersen's address was a dissertation on the mythological aspects, the folk-lore, the history and psychology of the Maori race, which he summed up as ' One or two points of contact between the Maori and the European." Dr. J. Hight, Rector of Canterbury College, was in the chair, and introduced the speaker as an old, distinguished member of the College. "Mr Andersen is a maker of books and a very loving keeper of books," said Dr. Hight. Mr Andersen in his opening remarks referred to the spiritual side of the Maori race. They had been called savages, but by those who did not understand them. The early _ missionaries could not gauge the ID °® r thoughts of the strange people. TU« Rev. Richard Taylor had been one ol the missionaries who had been able to understand and sympathise with the Maori. There was no use in asking & Maori questions unless his confidence was gained. Here Mr Andersen outlined some of the work of Mr Elsdon Best, now attached to the Dominion Museum, who had done much in Maori research, and who was one of the few to meet the Maori on his own ground. The Maoris handed down their tribal history from generation to generation, and kept no written records. * memory was prodigious, but a number of their learned men had died, the history of their forefathers with them. They were intense!?" philosophical. Their religion was divide into two sections —the fireside version and the superior version. None o those who first came into contact wi the Maori was able to gauge latter, but some of its aspects bad " e discovered later. Some of their nf ligious ideas were superior to tno the white people. A Maori h fear of death till it was taught mm °y the Pakeha. We could not differentiate between 6onl and spirit, t j knew both terms and bad a meaning for each It was g«t the meaning •£ ties*

their stories. Liberality was one of their virtues, and their generous nature was absolutely unstinted. The missionaries and others discouraged the old stories of the brown race, but they" were, highly developed, and have only been drawn out by such men as Mr Best. The arguing power of the Maoris was ingenious, and sometimes amusing. Mr Anderson related one story of how -this power was demonstrated in an incident in the life of the Rev. Samuel Marsden. Marsden was telling some Natives of the creation of the world as related in the Book of Genesis. He was asked to explain the myth of Maui fishing up the North Island from the sea. The Maori thinker being ridiculed by the missionary put the question: "How did Marsden knotv that his version was correct?" Marsden said that he had the record from his forefathers, but the immediate answer, "So have we," was disconcerting. The only flaw in the argument of the Maori lay in the fact that there was 110 written record of the fishing incident, and the Bible was a crushing finale to the argument. The moral code of the Maori was vigorous and strict. A man who unwittingly broke the "civil laws" did not stop at punishing himself even to the point of death. It could be imagined, said the speaker, how the feelings and the beliefs of the Maoris were affected by the coming of the Pakeha and his teachings. When the missionaries first came they could make no impression on their pupils, and the first-comers were not the type to impress. Not until the Rev. Mr Williams arrived in New Zealand was there an appreciable difference in their outlook. Williams, a fine and upright man, certainly had a good effeet on the Maoris. They took to reading and writing with avidity, and were qoiek and attentive in their learning. The Maori was very earnest when he started to take up the 4 ""- religion, but a big mistake was introducing the Old Testament wit 'orified war and glory. When the . &tmc on a new and fanatical religio- ,-as invented by the Natives. Sir Aparana Ngata had done more for the modern Maori than any other man, said Mr Andersen. It was a most difficult thing for the Maori to find his place in civilisation. A Maori even when educated was not always accepted, and it was essential to have every sympathy and consideration for them. It was "probable that the Maori race would be absorbed finally in the overpowering white race. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded the speaker on the motion of Dr. Vaughan Thomas, of Trinity College, London, and the University of Wales, who was introduced by Dr. Hight, and who added an in teres tinf Mmaieataz? to tfee addi*u. ..