IS THE MAORI LAZY?

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2140, 24 July 1907, Page 3

IS THE MAORI LAZY?

THE-ASSERTION COMBATED. AN INTERESTING ADDRESS. At a meeting of the Gisborne Branch of the Te Auto Association, held a short time ago, a very interesting address on work in relation to the Maori was delivered by the Rev. H. W. Williams. After a few introductory remarks, the speaker said he had met many Pakelias who held the opinion that the Maori was a. lazy fellow, and that he was the embodiment of laziness. He could not agre.-

■with these people. It was true that there were Maoris who could not and woulch not work. But to say tha! this failing was inherent in the Maorr was both untrue and unjust. It wa-' not right for anyone to say that laziness was an inherent characteristic of the Maori race from a few cases simply. The proper thing to do was to look at the race, and from its past history draw conclusions. If a mar wished to get a good idea of . the extent of a country or district, he must take the trouble to climb to the tor of a hill’where he can see the whole of the country at a glance. Unless he did. this his opinion would not hr of anv value. Again, the man who said there were no rapids in a river because the part of the river he sae had none, would be foolish. By these, figures Mr. Williams proceeded to ’1 lustrate from the past history of tin race that laziness was not inhererr in the Maori. The Maori of the pre pakeha davs lived in what was knowi as.the stone age. The life he. lived the food he ate. were all of the snr plest nature. "Rut in spite of tlii simplicitv he had to work very hard His most useful implement was the toki (axe). But the making of the toH was not an easv task for him It was of course made of c t(sne. The selection of the stone itself was no" ii gfisv matter, lieuder tlie stoh* tho hotter it suited . When the stoiT was folind lie had to examine it ver; carefnllv in order to ascertain now r would most easilv split. With th help of a flint he proceeded to mar! a line on .the rough stone, and the? applied it to the fire. Under the* conditions the stone wonld bren 1 alone the line marked. In certan cases the stone did not break as i r onired, and this meant that anothe stone was to be sought and treated i the same way. This, however, did no often happeni as they were general! skilled and experienced. The next pi r cess was the pounding off of th rough projections caused by the split After this, the surfaces had to b smoothed with sand-stone He ha. at last transformed the rffflfli ston into a seemly appearance, hut bov manv weary months had it taken h ,p to do it? His next work was th making of the handle. He selectee a forked stick ; one of. the forks wool, he the handle required and the otlie he would cut off carefully. On t« this fork he hound lus stone axe bmeans of flax carefully plaited to th? purpose. His toki was now com plete, and with its help he conk build his .whare (house) and lus wake (canoe) and other things necessar; for his simple life. T]ie building- of the canoe was tli most laborious task. The whole was done by means of this stone ant other stone implements. The fellur of the tree was a slow process, f irs of all, the hark was removed jur from where the entting was to b made. Now the shape of this mos useful toki was like the modern adze hence it was by no means a verpleasant task to cut down a largking of the forest with an implemon of this sort. However, after the removing of the hark, a scarf was madby means of a stone chisel,, and wlie? that was done, the toki was used t. scoop out what the chisel hae cut Under this treatment the tre-' was felled, and then came the rea shaping and scooping out of tin canoe, all done by the two mstiu ments and hy the aid of fire. Afte’ years of tedious labor lie succeedee in transforming the giant of th. forset into a beautiful craft.. Again,, the matter of procuring lus food was not a light task. To cultivate the soil he had to use a wooder instrument very much like a. stilt -n shape, hence to dig a plot of ground for his kuniara and taro was not an enviable undertaking. He could not catch fish without much labor. Byhad to make his hook, if he was to go a-fishing, from whale hones, and tho instruments for making the hook were all- stone; then the line had to he spun with the hand. If he desired to use a net. he had to work hard te make it. Some of the nets nsec 1 were about a mile long. If ho chose to catch birds, he had to use either snear or snare. The spear was a long instrument made bv means of the stone axe. liven with regard to th? fern root, his commonest food, there was labor done. It had to be dug up with the stilt-shaped spade and then carefully roasted and beaten. Then again, the matter.of lighting his fire was one of considerable labor. He did not have the luxury of matches. He had to carefully select two pieces of. wood, rub the ono vigorously along the other till fire was caused by the friction. Here, the speaker asked whether any of those present had tried to light a fire in that way,

i*u4 those who : did said it‘was r.t) easy Such :and pioro were the

labors ho had to undergo in his domestic life. But ho was more than a home-dweller, ho was by naturo a warrior. Ho lived in fortified “pas” ingeniously constructed on liill-tops. The huge, ramparts or mounds still to bo found on some hill tops show tho amount of labor clone. No doubt those oxcavntions and mounds were

dug by tho same wooden spade. lit times of peace he had to go to his cultivation- below in the morning and climb to tho pa again at oven. Tho work of tho women was to cook ifiul plait mats and in other ways to help tho man’s lot. But nothing in those days was dono without labor. The making of tho toki, tho whare, the caucie, the fish-hook, tho pa, and oven tho fire required hard work. It was work, work, work fo him, and he was a great worker and despised the lazy man. This state of things would

perhaps have prevailed to-day if misfortune had not befallen them. They were destined to undergo a now experience. With the incoming of the pakelia with : hl! his learning, inventions, and civilisation there also came certain evils which not only tended

to demoralize tho Maori race, but also to lessen their estimation of Europeans. They noticed white people who, although they never soiled their hands, yet lived in luxury and ease, and were moreover held in respect. This was not tho Maori law. Those were honorod most who worked hardest. Again, they came in contact with tho very worst of men; men whoso sole desire was to enrich themselves; who took mean advantage A tho ignorance of tho race and who thought nothing of condescending to bribery or other fraudulent means to gain their ends. Such were some • f the evil influences which tended not only to degenerato but to demoralise tlio noble race. Under such circumstances, moreover, tho love of money must naturally arise, and it did so. Ho sold his land, his carvings, his valuables, indeed anything, for tho filthy lucre so tempting and so easily got. In short the European’s-careless ease and luxury caught fire within his breast and he began to despise work. Passing on swiftly in his narration, Mr. Williams then mentioned some of the cravings that existed at the present day. There was a tendency to dress too luxuriously. All desired to keep in touch with tho latest fashions to don the latest cut suits and keep “up-to-date.” This was all very well, but was, in many cases, not only beyond the means but unnecessary and extravagant. Indeed

is a result of this extravagance many educated young men were tempted to forge cheques rather than go forth to their, farms and work. “Money was the. receipt of labor done” said Ruskin. Tho speaker urged the Maoris to work for their money, and longed fo the old-time respect and honor for those who did.

Mr. Williams then touched upon the land question which is in men’s minds to-day, and thought that it was hardly a fitting time for Maoris to occupy their lands. It would be' better for them to go out and work, lease their lands, and learn by practical experience how to cultivate. Then only would they be able to compete with their white brethren to-day. He referred to the large tract of land extending along the Bay of Plenty once under cultivation. A great amount of wheat was produced there all by native hands, and the industry continued to thrive until the war and other disturbances turned the energy of the Maoris in another direction. Ho praised the Ngatiporou tribe (East Coast) for the hearty way in which they were working their farms, and be extended his praise to the Nuhaka and Wairoa people who, reports say, are the best milk suppliers there. These people indeed had realised that work was the best thing for the Maori. Inherent in him was the desire for all manly pastimes, and so such a game as football appealed to him. There were many great exponents 1 1 the game. He was fond of shearing, too, perhaps because the season was short. Some, too, took to bushfalling, but generally this work was too severe for their liking. Reference was then made by the speaker to Booker Washington’s “Up from Slavery,” which, amongst other things, showed the state of the American negro at the time of liis * writing. They, too, were inclined to be lazy. There was also amongst them a growing desire for higher education. How applicable were these two tendencies to the Maori of to-day. Money earned from wages was better than money earned from rent, and the Maori as well as tho negro must work if he wished to maintain his race. The' present generation were not “chips of the old block” in this respect. Mr.. Williams knew of many instances

in the olden days where Maoris worked their passages “Home.” There are very few now who would care to work their passages even to Australia. Others there were who would walk for miles if no horse were handy. In further, illustrating the enterprise and peseverance of the “old stock” he mentioned a certain man who apparently thought nothing if carrying a sack of flour from Gisborno to Tuparoa, a distance cf about eighty miles. When such a spirit is fully revived among the Maoris the race will flourish again.