MORMONS AT NUHAKA

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2163, 11 April 1908, Page 1

MORMONS AT NUHAKA

FIVE HUNDRED "LATTER DAY SAINTS” FOREGATHER FOR ANNUAL HUI. INTERESTING CEREMONIES AT WHICH MAORI CONVERTS PREDOMINATE. NUHAKA, April 8. Tho quite Toutino of everyday life in the settlement of Nuhaka (the East Coast Mail says) has been broken the last few days by tho interest taken in the large hui, or gathering, or tho followers of Mormoinsm. Tho gathering is an annual one, hold at a different placo each year. It is a religious conference, and the majority of elders throughout tho Dominion, some sixty odd in number, together with a number of their Maori followers from both islands, aro gathered hero to hold a series of meetings or sorvices. Tho Tuatea brought about fifty from Gisborno way, and threo boats came from Napier. With tho local natives there must bo four'or five hundred of tho ‘‘Latter Day Saints” at present an Nuhaka. Elaborate and oxtensive nroparations had been made by tho local Maoris for .the accommodation and catering for their largo number of visitors. A temporary eating- house, 100 feet long, was erected, containing thirteen tables with sitting accommodation for over 160. This was surrounded at a short distanco by a brushwood brca'kwind. At ono side of tho eating-house a number of spaces aro fenced off in a similar manner for use as cooking place;,. Here may bo seen dozens of camp-ovens, boilers, kettles, and saucepans, and a number of native ovens or kopaMaoris. Tho amount of food being consumed during the course of tho hui must bo very considerable. Strings of dried cols hang suspended; there are also mutton-birds and slabs of whale llesli. These are in addition to tho ordinary beef, mutton, and pork. In one or two places there aro largo wooden canoes in which potatoes, kuineras and pumpkins aro being pooled and washed. Bread and cake of various sorts aro in abundance. Hero one secs a boiler containing fowls cooking, and there another full of plum puddings. On visiting tho tables wo find them spread with, snowy tablecloths, with full supplies of crockery, cutlery, cruets, etc., all new looking and in good order. In fact tho tables would bo a credit to a well-kept hotel. AJI- the arrangements aro well planned, and all the operations carried out with perfect order. Tho meetings aro held in a commodious marquee, about 40ft by 10ft, said to have cost £6O. Sleeping accommodation is provided chiefly in the Mormon Church and a meetinghouse. A series of by-laws have been drawn up for the regulation of conduct, etc., at the pa during the hui They are posted in a conspicuous placo in English and in Maori. The liotico states that persons breaking these laws “will be severely dealt with or fined.” Then follows a long list of offences with the fines for committing them. The former range from riding at full speed through the settlement to drunkenness, profanitv, insulting a woman, and ranging from 2s Gd to £lO. No dog is to be allowed to be at large, and some sixty or inoro may bo seen chained up in rows to tho fences.. When these animals raise their voices in united chorus as they frequently do, the noise can bo more easily imagined than described. When the sorvices aro not on, the place presonts an animated scene. Groups of tho Elders and tho Maoris are scattered over the ground, sitting or standing, and talking and laughing and apparently enjoying themselves. The majority of the Maoris are young, or at any rate not past tho prime of life, very few of the older generation being present. They are mostly all well dressed—in fact, many of the women aro like Solomon in all his glory. It is striking, too, tho largo number who show by their lighter coloured skins that they can boast of some pakeha blood in their voins. ...

On the arrival of the visiting contingents, they were greeted with hakas of welcome. During the day a group of local natives occupied the centro of the green singing 6ongs of welcome, and in between whiles various orators would stalk up- and down in the orthodox Maori style, grasping a staff in their hands and delivering “liaera Mai” speeches. The bulk of the day and of the evening is taken up with the religious services—the object of the gathering. A well-trained choir of thirty or forty voices singing the hymns very nicely, and solos and part songs are given by some of tho Elders. The solos aro such songs as ‘‘Rocked in tho Cradle of the Deep./’ “A Dream of Paradise,” etc. The prayers and addresses are all in tho Maori tongue, and are delivered i>artly by tho visiting Elders and partly by native speakers. The floor of tho marquee is covered with mats, and on these most of the congregation sit or recline, the principal personages and the' choir occupying seats at one end. Four or five young men, with long slender rods in their hands, stand on duty to see that none of the congregation sleeps. Tho unwary person who nods, or closes his or her eyes for but a few seconds, is quickly detected by these lceen-eyed watchers, and a prod in the ribs or a tap on the head quickly arouses the offender to a sense of his responsibilities ; age or sex is no excuse. On Sunday a number of the settlers from the surrounding district visited tho pa, and were made heartily wejoome to tho meetings and to tho kai. A special service in English was held for them in tho afternoon. At this tho speakers explained some of the main features of their religion, and wherein it differs from the ordinary Christian belief. On Monday evening the hui concludes, though a large number of the visitors will not get away for a day or two after that. A number of the Elders are leaving the Dominion on the 15th inst. to return to their homos in the States, having finished their three years service here. They will, of course, be replaced by others. In the course of conversation with one of the leading Elders, I learnt that there aro now five thousand registered members of their faith in this country; that they have missionaries in every civilised country in tho world, including Japan, India, and China; also in Samoa, Sandwich Islands, and others of the Pacific groups ; and that- their total numbers aro now close on half a million, whereas in 1830 thcro were but six.