THE COOK ISLANDS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 286, 27 August 1908, Page 3

THE COOK ISLANDS.

PECULIARITIES OF THE PEOPLE. THE TOHUNGA. "From certain remarks made in the Parliament of New Zealand during tho session of 1907 I gather," reports the Commissioner, of the Cook Islands to the Minister iu Charge, "that it was believed that tho Government '/of- that 'colony might have- done much towards .improving tho health of the inhabitants of tho Cook and Northern Islands. My experience, gained during a residence of ten years among these people, gives me no ground to hope that any action the Government might take would be beneficial to the Natives,, who are, without, exception, the • most cruel and callous peoplo towards their sick relatives that can be found at tho present day. If you should ask the question as to whether'tho sick person has been fed, they will tell you that lie has not, and that it was unnecessary to feed him, as lw was suro to die. 'l'hey are both obstinate and superstitious, and cling to their old methods and tohungas. "As for tho tohunga, ho is ■as dangerous to the well-being of the people of the Cook Islands as ho has been in Now Zealand for any time during the last fifty years, and in either place he will not easily bo suppressed, for the simple reason that tho Maori has more faith in the tohunga than in the doctor. Thero are certain aspects of the Maori-mind most difficult to deal-with. For - instance, if the first dose of medicino does not effect an immediate cure, it is no good, and he will have no more of it. Again, lie cannot see that the food he is eating can have-any connection with,- or effect :on, the malady "from; which he suffers, and therefore, if 'his complaint be dysentery, he will continue to eat tare or unripe mangoes, and his wife will neglect to : cook him proper food, because she cannot see the necessity for so doing. . "The' point' which ■ I wish to make clear is this: The Government can do nothing; but the. doctor can do almost anything if the people, have confidence iu him. If lie. has personal influence ho may do as Dr. G. Craig and Dr. Pomaro have done; both of these gentlemen were listened to and obeyed. The Natives do not want professional ability in their doctor so much as "firmness of character, and above all things good address. If he has'not the latter the Natives will not go near him. ■ The present Medical Officer of tho Cook Islands is most unpopular by reason of a bad or gruff manner, and, as a natural consequence, the Natives will either neglect _to call him in, or, if they do call upon him, it will only be when the patient is in extremis.

"The'Atiu people suffer from tho fact that they ■ have not made any progress towards civilisation, during the last forty years. They are still;, savages, and tlio Arikis are supreme. In the ease of Mauke I had a sound excuse for ordering that all tho lands should bo surveyed, for the people 'of that island were always quarrelling; but in Atiu the chiefs and Arikis govern with a strong hand, and if there bo quarrels 'they are hidden from me. The people are used to submission; and even though 1 may induce the'chiefs to have the tribal boundaries surveyed, it will bo of little benefit to tho lower ranks of tho people, in whose fortunes I am most concerned. For these reasons Ido not expect any immediate improvement in tho conditions of life ,at Atiu, though the island is .largo and fertile. Tho people, are apt to be both childish, and sulky, , and Relieve that they can arbitrarily, fix the price of island produce. Last year: they were at least 50 tons short of. the usual supply t of copra. They simply refused to use the huts they had bccauso the. high prices of the early part'of tho season • were not maintained, and by somo process of reasoning, entirely their own, they considered that they had been injured by this fact—indeed, that it was tho result of some combination' against them. "With such a people. argument ,is impossible, .for they are not open to conviction;' but time will .work wonders, and Rarotonga will bo tho object-lesson. Tho prosperity of this last-named island is so obvious that tho. other islands are inquiring into the cause thereof,_ and already the Atiuans have formed companies to work and plant their land—a very satisfactory arrangement, for it is ill keeping/ with their old customs."