HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Evening Star, Issue 21523, 22 September 1933, Page 11

HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

' ASPECTS OF MAORI RELIGION ’ ‘ Aspects of Maori Religion ’ was the subject of an extremely interesting and thoughtful lecture by Rev. J. M. Bates, M.A. (lecturer in philosophy at the University), at last night’s meeting of the Otago branch of the New Zealand Historical Association, which was held in Messrs Charles Begg and Co.’s music room, Dr J. It. Elder presiding. The Chairman introduced the speaker, who referred to the difficulty of getting satisfactory ideas about Maori religion in general, especially in the earlier days, owing to the poor quality of the earliest observers and, of course, the state of science at the time. In order for a student to understand the subject of Maori religion or any other kind of religion there were two things necessary—(l) he should be sympathetic, receptive, and judicial; (2) he should himself be religious. This was just as important as the first requirement. These were necessary for any proper study of Maori religion, and in spite of the interesting and valuable accounts from Elsdon Best, the speaker would say that from his reading there was room for study with a greater equipment than he had. Elsdon Best had collected facts, but his collection would have been enriched if he had had that training. The Maori religion, said Mr Bates, covered a multitude of things—there was something in it to interest, the student of philosophy. The Maori had quite a scheme in his own mind how everything came to be. He had a very serviceable counterpart for the early chapters in. the Bible. He had undoubted religion, despite what,some of the early investigators said. He had magic and he had morality, which were linked up in the term Maori religion. The speaker outlined the Maori religious system as shown by the hierarchy of gods, which were classified as follow: —(1) 10, (2) departmental gods, (3) tribal gods, (4) spirits of dead forebears. The departmental gods were agents of 10, and looked after the main functions of life, only very important matters being referred to them. The most important of these were certain offspring of Rangi, the sky parent, and Papa, the earth mother. Tano came first and represented light, the power of light and the principle of life and fertility. Opposite to him was Whiro, the lord of darkness and the underworld. Others were Tu. the god of war and death; Bongo, who looked after the acts of peace (peacemaking between tribes was his special department) ; Tangaroa and Tawhiniwitea, to both of which sailors paid due respects, These were the most exalted beings known to the ordinary Maori, who did not know 10. Beneath them was a third class—a. lower order—which typified activities, and here one entered the realm of images and sacred objects, which were visible forms of. manifestations of supernatural powers. The lower orders of - gods were even used as agents by human beings. Just in the same way the departmental mJs might bo considered agents of 10. The lower a god the more active he was. There they had a fusion of magio and religion. At the upper end the religious quality stood out clear and pure. At. the lower end the magic was almost, unrelieved. Also ordinary people knew ritual only appropriate to the third and fourth classes. No god excelled lo—he was the core of all gods. Nothing was outside his jurisdiction; he was the source of all thought, reflection, memories, and plans. Knowledge of Lo was confiped to a very few,. The Maoris had a kind of a school of theology, where the priests were trained in the lore and religion of the race, and this was not made available to the ordinary people. Mr Bates then dealt with the concept of tapu, which he described as an extremely important one. Instead of this phenomena being confined to a special department of life, with the Maoris it ruled the whole of it. The Maoris believed that the whole tapu system had fallen to pieces on the introduction of Christianity. In conclusion the speaker said that there was in this subject an interesting field of study for anyone who had the leisure and the bent to explore it further. At the conclusion of his address the speaker was accorded a hearty vote of thanks on the ‘ motion of Dr Merrington.