MYSTERY STONE OF WAITAKI

Evening Star, Issue 22631, 24 April 1937, Page 10

MYSTERY STONE OF WAITAKI

MAORI LORE AND MYTHOLOGY TOHUNGAISM AND MAKUTUISM [Written for the ‘Evening Star.’] There stands upon a rough, uneven spot near the Waitaki River mouth, about 15 miles from the town of Oamaru, a huge block of stone, which has come to be known at the Mystery Stone of Waitaki. 'The stone—in reality it is a block of sandstone—reposed bn a bare, uninviting piece of ground a short distance from the old Maori cemetery and adjacent to the old Maori “ kaik ” (village). There is nothing in its outline and ■ general adornment of clay mould and humus to warrant a suspicion of anything unusual in its design or character, nor does it impress the uninitiated beyond evoking an ejaculation of surprise' at the presence of such a large block of stone in such an isolated area. But that this prosale sandstone has 'a history traceable back to the earliest known Maori times is shown indubitably—for the evidence to prove this assertioA is to be seen and : recognised hv the experienced eye. In view of the importance this find may - have on subsequent findings and investigations concerning ancient Maori lore and mythology, it is necessary to know-'the story of the actual discovery of the Mystery Stone, and to probe into the past in an endeavour to bring to liglit something of the arts and meaning of a custom, known as “ Makutu',” practised by the Maoris and Morioris through the centuries from the earliest times, and considered to have existence even to-day. MYSTERY STONE UNEARTHED. It was in the summer of 1934 that the Mystery Stone was unearthed and taken from its bed, wherein it had lain for many centuries. A farmer owning land south of the Waitaki River fnouth was engaged, with the assistance of two men, in fumigating rabbit holes, and while working close to the old Maori cemetery, one workman noticed a large lump of whitish stone, just level with" the surface between two large tussocks. Probing the soil around the stone with his spade, the discoverer was astonished to find it spreading out on all sides just below the surface. 1 The rabbit poisoning was abandoned temporarily, and the three men devoted their energies to excavating this wholly unexpected discovery. When the stone was laid bare it was seen to be roughlv rectangular—approximately five feet by four—with an uneven surface; much more irregular than any of the stone lying thickly on the land in many places in the vicinity. The land here is very old river bed—many thousands of years old; —and the waterborne stone is all greywracke (greystone), with a smooth, water-worn surface, similar to that found, in all parts of the Waitaki. It is also very hard and compact. The Mystery Stone was not water-worn smooth; it was soft, friable, and porous, with fragments of shell embedded here and there in its mass, and also, more rarely, an occasional round, perfectly-smooth pebble, about one inch in diameter, incorporated in its substance. It took the combined strength of the three men to lift the great mass on to its edge; and it was clearly seen immediately that there had been a large and very hot fire on the soil beneath the stone at some time. The lower side was slightly reddened by heat, and more crumbly than the surface, while wood ash, with many small pieces of charcoal on the bottom of the hole, provided ample proof of the former presepce of fire. It was evident that this great block of whitish sandstone had been brought by the hand of man; and the depth to which it had slowly sunk into the soft loam as centuries of time passed bore testimony to the length of time the stone must have lain there.

Whence came this great block of sandstone?’ Why was it brought, 'and hovs? This was indeed a mystery stone; and a very complete and puzzling mystery at first sight. Realising that their find suggested something in the nature of a peep into' the past, the three men carefully examined the bottom of the hole, then explored the ash with their fingers. Their reward was a few fragments of blackened moa eggshell and several small pieces of calcined moa bone. Pocket knives were produced, and the surface loosened, revealing an oval white quartz stone about the size of a goose egg. As there did not appear to be anything that would be ruined by the use of spades the three now thoroughly interested men set to work with their, implements and dug out a quantity of loam baked into hard lumps and discoloured quite obviously through the agency of heat. The evidence as set out before them was complete; it required only the story to fill in the gaps of time.

THE STORY.

It is quite well known that many different' tribes and peoples, ancient and' medieval, employed fire in the practice of their religious rites; but one and all of these widely' different ceremonies have had one thing in common—they have placed the fire on top of. their stone, or stones, as, for example, the Hebrews of old. Here we have » most unusual rite, where the stone was placed deliberately on top of the fire, and this circumstance served only to 'deepen the mystery. There was no human bone 'in the ash; therefore no human sacrifice was involved in the ancient rite. What was the significance of the egg-shaped stone, and the chips of shell and bone? Apparently there was a kind of burnt offering, where a little food was put into the fire, and the officiating priest, thinking that it. would be a'waste to sacrifice a perfectly good moa egg, put an egg-shaped stone in the tire with a little shell.

,The Maori cemetery in question is not at all ancient; in fact, it is hardly 50 years old to-day. But there is good reason for believing that this particular site was chosen for the performance of the sacred custom because in Maori eyes it is “ wlienua tapu ” (land holy) ; moreover,' it had always been regarded as holy ground, and no one among them (there have always been a nunioer of Maoris living at Waitaki) could say why it was holy. They only knew that it was “ tapu,” and in consequence their cemetery was placed on the holy ground as the most suitable site in the district. This is a reversal of the cus-

tomary order of traditional piety, where, the saeredness is created by the presence of the cemetery. PRACTICES OF TOHUNGAISM. In order to get a clear interpretation of the presence of the Mystery Stone at Waitaki, it is necessary to delve deeply into ancient Maori mythology and ,the arts and practices of Toluingaism. The tohunga was the medicine man —a miracle worker, who claimed to possess great occult powers both for good and evil. Jf yon angered or displeased him by refusing any present he might fancy and demand, then he would threaten to “ makutu,” or bewitch. The average Maori and Moriori lived in terror of the makutu curse. According to Mr ,1. B. Chapman, who has made a study of Maori mythology and is regarded as being an authority on matters pertaining to the Maori, this custom exists even to-day; and he related that when living in the Waikato a few years ago lie was told of a Maori who had just been makutued. He existed in a state of horrified terror for some weeks, wandering into the manuka and out again, saying over and over again, “ To makutu shau ” (he bewitched I). He never slept, nor did he eat or drink, but just meandered about—a lonely, forsaken, terrified individual—until he became so emaciated that death was the conclusion. The tohunga would demand ns a gift absolutely, anything he might fancy—" whare ” (hut), “ whenua ” (land), daughter—and in many cases he inflicted his makutu if refused or haggled with. It sometimes happened, therefore, that a native, who, to his horror, found himself makutued. fled the country, abandoning all. Thus we find descendants of such North Island Maoris living in the South Island to-dhy. There were occasions, also, when a Maori who was a chief and a large landowner found himself makutued, but owing to his superior position could not very well run away, Shch a state .of affairs could have only one result; it brought into being the practice of a makutued chief approaching a rival tohunga and paying him to remove the spell. The Maori always believed that the tohunga was stronger than the makutu; meaning that the power for good was always stronger than the power for evil. The spell was always exorcised by the same ceremony, but it would differ greatly in style according to tb© wealth and rank of the unfortunate under the' spell. CEREMONY OF TAUPIRI. ■The ceremony, so far as authorities have been able to learn, consisted of lighting a sacred fire, or “taupiri,” with accompanying gestures and certain recitations. Then a shell, small stone, or, in the case of the Mystery Stone, a very large block of stone was laid on a regular bonfire. A landless native —one who would be called a working man amongst Europeans—would have a small fire of dead flax leaves, or toitoi; and with scant ceremony a piece of sheill or stone —anything in fact—would be placed on it. In this way, it was thought, the dreaded makutu spell would be lifted, provided; of course, that the freed man never stepped on or over the sacred spot where the ceremonial • fire had been. A prominent chief would have a large fire attended by the tohunga and his pupils, and the ceremony would be long and impressive, during which time the stone was placed on the sacred fire. In the case of sthe Mystery Stone there' is a round patch of cobble stone about 70yds south of the spot where the stone was found, which is thought to have been the site of the “ wharepuni ” —i.e., where the high tohunga himself rested while supervising the work of his pupils. From the evidence revealed, therefore, it is certain that the person makutued must have been a chief of great power and wealth. There are about 150 acres of land more or less covered with old Maori and Moriori ovens in this part of, the Waitaki district; but it is a significant fact that no oven site exists anywhere within at least 300yds of the Mystery Stone. This is proof of the great age of the ceremony, as it shows that the soil at that particular spot was sacred ever after; consequently no oven was permitted near the sacred ground for generation after generation, firstly of Moriojis and subsequently of Maoris. When first discovered the Mystery Stone would weigh about 30cwt. Such a huge block of stone cannot be moved without great labour; yet it has reluctantly come to be accepted that this special stone wa's brought from afar by the hand of man. How the ancients transported the mass of rock where it came from and why the ceremony should be carried out. on such a scale are questions which only add spice to the mystery. There have been tohungas all over New Zealand, but large mystery stones similar to this one are extremely rare. There is a tradition among the Maoris of this particular locality that there have always been Natives living at or near the Waitaki mouth. They say that when their fathers’ Kati Waitaha. (“ iwi,” or tribe) first paddled their canoe along this coast they decided to land at the Waitaki. They suddenly noticed, however, a column of smoke rising from the river flats, and immediately changed their minds; there were “ takata whenua ” (land men) occupying the site. This occurred presumably in the time of theMorioris, and the Mystery Stone must have been lying on its present site for many years even then. One explanation for the presence of the stone at this particular locality runs as follows:—“When the very first Moriori came to the Waitaki mouth they found the land uninhabited, and were very well pleased with it. The river banks and streams w r er© full of “tuna me waikari ” (eels and ducks), while the river flats and fertile hills carried large numbers of xnoa—stupid, big, fat birds, easily caught—and there were no enemies anywhere. The tohunga thought he would like to have a considerable area of this land for his own. He therefore suddenly “ discovered ” that there were many “ taipo ” (evil spirits) in this land; and if he did not exercise them they would make away with the Moriori. Much consternation was evinced at this truly terrible discovery. When the tribe was thoroughly worked up and completely terrified, the crafty tohunga offered to lay the taipo if he were made a suitable gift—such as “ horaai ” in land, whare, etc. When his terms were accepted he selected the site for his ceremony, and when all was ready duly performed it with all possible seriousness and ritual. The ceremony concluded, the whole of the now redeemed tribe must in, future carefully avoid stepping on or over the sacred stone; otherwise all would be undone.” For the benefit of those readers who are cognizant only of North Island Maori vocabulary, the Maori names used in this article are of South Island derivation, with the exception of the word “tohunga,” which is represented in this island by “ tohuka.”