THE REAL MAORI

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 112, 14 May 1938, Page 26

THE REAL MAORI

MAGGIE PAPAKURA'S BOOK In the early days when the white man first settled in New Zealand his observations of the Maori and Maori customs and mode of life was rather ' inclined to superficiality. Maori civilisation was judged by European standards and many Maori customs were not- understood in their full significance. The result was that there was a tendency to give a distorted, and sometimes erroneous, view of the manners and customs of a most remarkable and highly-civilised people. Later writers, notably the late Mr. Elsdon Best, by actually living amongst the Maoris and really entering into their i lives, were able to give a truer picture and truer interpretation. Now we have a Maori writing about her own people, and a Maori peculiarly qualified for this task. This is Makeriti, better known in New Zealand as Maggie Papakura, who died in 1930. She left behind her the manuscript of the book which has just been published by Messrs. Gollanz, Ltd., under the title of "The Old-time Maori." The delay in the publication of the manuscript has been due to the fact that it was sent to New Zealand from England, where Maggie Papakura had been living for some years since her marriage, in order that her tribe, # the Arawas, might correct any errors in it "or delete any part which they thought should not be published. .In view of her ancestry and education, Maggie Papakura was well qualified for the task she essayed. In her book she has set down the history of her people, their customs, tribal rites and beliefs as she heard' them in the days of her youth from the lips of the older generation of Maoris who were strenuously resisting the influx of European'civilisation. It is a most fascinating picture of a very lovable people she paints, and those who imagine that the Maori ought to be grateful to the pakeha for the benefits of the latter's much-vaunted civilisation have only to read these pages to discover that in a great many respects the old-time Maori was far superior in his civilisation to the pakeha. It is with well-merited scorn that Maggie Papakura sometimes refers to what the pakeha taught the Maori, and her suggested origin of the term "pakeha" is by no means altogether complimentapr to the white man. After dealing with the Maori's complicated social organisation and genealogies, Maggie Papakura devotes two chapters to marriage and 'children, the latter being particularly interesting. Food, fire, houses, and weapons are the subjects of succeeding chapters, all of which axe filled with fascinating lore. Many carefully-chosen photographs and drawings illustrate the main points Of . the'text,' the whole being edited by Mir. T. K. Penniman, who is secretary to the Committee for Anthropology In the University of Oxford, and he also contributes a .biography of Maggie Papakura: . From personal observation the present-day New Zealander has no chance of discovering the truth about the real Maori: the Maori he sees and contacts has been entirely altered from the Maori of a hundred years ago—whether for better or for worse is not very difficult to decide, especially after reading this book. Maggie Papakura has rendered a distinct service to her own people by presenting to their European conquerors a true picture of'a noble race.