THE BURNING OF PAKOWHAI PAH.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5378, 10 May 1879, Page 3

THE BURNING OF PAKOWHAI PAH.

Sir, — In your issue of the Ist inst] ap? pears the assertion that the house of thelate chief Karaitiana is to be burned as soon as the tangi is over. We know not where you got your information) but' if such a thing occurs it will be £,t [total variance with Maori customs ; such thihgs as his clothes, adzes, hammers, or small things of a like description, will be burned. "' We would call your attention to the late Te Moananui— the greatest chief of all of us. When he died there was no house (burned, .yet were observed all Maori customs. Later. still, Hapuku. 411 the Maori customs were observed at his death, and there was no house burned. Before Christianity was introduced into the island it was customary to do so with those' who were tabooed only. We have no doubt the mistake about the house having !to be burned occurred through some Europeans going to the pah, and hearing that certain things were to be burned thought; the 1 ' 1 house included. | j \ As to the barbarous follies- that are' being enacted , over Karaitiana's grave, how long, we would ask you, have the " barbarous follies " of getting drunk and singing at wakes and howling at funerals been discontinued in Ireland, where the worship of Jesus Christ has been in use | for centuries? , ! j By inserting the above you will oblige, .-. — Yours, &c, . , , RfiNATA ISAWEPO. NOA HUKE. Omahu Bth May, 1879. :