NATIVE LIFE

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 82, 31 December 1926, Page 10

NATIVE LIFE

THE “SPIRIT” INFLUENCE MEDICAL PROBLEMS FORMER NEW ZEALANDER’S OBSERVATIONS Interesting particulars of island life, health, and education, as seen through European spectacles, are contained in a letter received in Wellington this week from a New Zealander now resident in Aitutaki. The writer has drawn his own conclusions as to some of the causes of -illness among the natives, and he does not hesitate to express them. . . “After one has become acclimatised to the tropics,” states the writer, “one feels the cold at times, even when the mercury stands at but a degree or so above 70. I well remember seeing a grate in the sittingroom of one _ of the homes in Rarotonga, and thinking it a curious ornament or sentimental link with life in cooler regions. Now I realise that a small fire on some of the cooler nights would be a comfort, if not a necessity, to people who have been in these islands for some time. So far I have not found the tropics a place of quiet rest. I have come to the conclusion that the casual visitor does not ■ see. the work of the people. Life here for those who are working seems as strenuous as that in cooler climates. A sleep in the middie of the day does not mean that one spends longer in bed; one has to work in the cool of the night. The Tupapaku. “Tuberculosis ,is not an uncommon complaint amongst the Natives. I cannot help thinking that their adoption of the warmer European .clothing is •largely responsible for this. This apparently paradoxical view appears more reasonable when one understands that while the Natives have almost entirely discontinued oiling their bodies with coconut oil, still they think they can work in the rain and sit . round in wet clothes ... Their childlike belief in spirits (tupapaku) is responsible for another medical problem. When thev are sick some of them have a rooted objection to opening ‘windows and other forms of ventilation, lest the tupapaku might get in! Occasionally one finds them even filling up the cracks in the walls—‘to keep the. tupapaku out.’ To get fresh air into a sick room is often difficult, and one realises that as soon as the back is turned the fresh air will be again excluded.” The writer refers to the custom ,of holding a banquet on the death of a Native, and recalls the practice of collecting fowls, pigs, etc., around the house of the sick man and the kindling of the fires for cooking in anticipation of the event. Case for Education. “The association of flies with Native funerals is so marked,” he states, “that to tell a man there is a fly in the room or for him to see one has been known to lessen his chances of recovery. These remarks apply as much to those few who have a good knowledge of English as to those who know little of our tongue or customs. Here is part of. the case for .true education. . . We are only oh the outside edge of the problem. . .". The teaching of reading through a keen’desire to’read for both enjoyment and information appears to be important in any scheme for the" future. I think it is possible to create an environment for English reading in the outer islands as well as Rarotonga, whereas an environment suitable "to the healthy growth of the use of English conversation is impossible unless the Native tongue is ruthlessly crashed out. ...”