MAORI FAITH HEALER

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 23 April 1935, Page 7

MAORI FAITH HEALER

“PILGRIMS” AT NGARUAWAHIA EXTRAORDINARY CURES CLAIME

OFFENDED BY REWARDS

HAMILTON, April 20.

Attended by two wahines—one as interpreter, the other as masseuse—a well-built middle-aged Maori squats on a mat smoking a- cigarette. His name is Te Huiatahi, and during the last fortnight literally hundreds of natives and many pakehas from all parts of the North Island have visited him at the Ngaruawahia Pa. Numerous cures, ranging from dyspepsia to blindness, have been claimed, following on tlie prophet’s lay.ing-on of hands.

The simple meeting-house where the healings take place has become a sort of grotto for pilgrims, and so great was the demand for his services fast- week that Te Huiatahi .obtained only one night’s sleep. Even to the Maoris the “prophet” is something of an enigma. The story goes that since he was engaged in farming in the Raglan district his disposition has changed, and that lie lias now been transformed into a lover of peace and worker for humanity. How tlie change came about none seems to know. It wa-s early last month that Te Huiatahi took up liis abode at the Ngaruawahia Pa, placing his healing powers at tlie service of the natives, who, after seeing the reported cures, have placed implicit faith in him. Any question of money or reward offends him, for, in his own words,'“the love of God cannot be bought.” He claims that liis ministry comes from God and the Maori King, Koroki. Occasionally, it is said, Te Huiatahi requires the patient to expectorate into his mouth and then repeat the declaration: “To God, King Koroki, and to you I bring all my ailments.” Among the many extraordinary cures -described is that of a Maori girl brought from New Plymouth suffering from curvature of the spine. Three days after the “healing” by layiiig-on-of-hands she was in perfect health. In another case a native woman reputedly suffering from heart trouble, dropsy, and asthma, was freed from all her complaints. Towards the close of each healing it is the custom to place two cups of warm water near tlie healer. For some time Te Huiatahi bends over them in silent prayer. Then in hesitant Maori,' interpreted into faultless English by a native, he speaks about the creation' of the 'earth, " the lineage of the “King” movement and tlie “Triune of God.”

-Although the- pa is crowded daily, with patients and sightseers, the Maoris believe that Te Huiatahi’s ministry will be short-lived and that' his place will be taken by a pakeha., They consider that the period of his power is limited. Te Huiatahi is a Methodist and takes no part in- the Hauhau services conducted at the pa.