THE LAW OF TAPU

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4945, 21 January 1937, Page 5

THE LAW OF TAPU

WHEN A TOHUNGA IS "UNTOUCHABLE." The Maori law of tapu is something not readily understood by the white man of to-day. In the old times the pakehas who had dealings with the Maoris had the lessons forced upon him sometimes in a very salutary way. Persons, places and objects of almost any kind, from a canoe to a mere, could be made tapu by the tohunga and woe betide any native who wittingly or otherwise defied that law. Many are familiar with the picture of a Maori maiden feeding a grey-bearded man, as he squats in his kiwi mat before the marae of the meeting-house. He is not allowed to feed himself. His hands must not come into contact with his food, or anyone serving it so long as the aura of tapu is upon him. So the greatest care has to be taken by the girl in feeding the sacred one while he is under the spell of tapu, if it can be called a spell. "And what if she accidentally touches him while in the act of feeding him?" Mr. J. H. Burnet, the curator of the Wanganui Museum, was asked recently. "She would die!" he replied simply. He made it clear that the ancient law of tapu, as understood by the Maoris of pre-pakeha days, was so potent that the will of the people was absolutely subject to its influence, and they died simply because they were wholly convinced that having defied the law of tapu they could not possibly live. "I'll give you another instance of it which occurred to myself," said Mr. Burnet. "Do you see that kiwi mat, or a portion of one, there?" he asked, indicating an exquisite'piece of work in one of the glass show cases in the museum. "There is a story attached to it," he said. "I was visiting a place up the river one day many years ago, when I called at a house of a native friend. I came upon the woman engaged in making that mat." "Now you have spoiled everything!" she said at once as I greeted her. "What do you mean?" I said. "No man must see a woman at this work. It is now tapu." Mr. Burnet said he expressed regret for having caused the trouble, and ended up by offering a sum of money for the unfinished mat, so that his friend would not lose a great deal by his unfortunate intrusion. The old lady accepted the offer, and cheerfully commenced the making of another mat the following day. The beauty of the work in this unfinished mat is apparent to the most casual observer. It is a kiwi mat, with a lovely border of the feathers of the native pigeon. It was just another instance of the curious working of the law of tapu. In Maori lore food was tapu when stored above the head of the chief of the tribe. That is why the Maori storehouses are built fairly low down, though they stand on piles about three feet in height.

At one time the chief Te Heu Heu (his descendant presented Tongariro National Park to the Government) had signified his intention of attending an important meeting of chiefs to be held at the village of Taupo (Te Heu Heu's people favoured the Tokaanu end of the lake). A royal canoe was sent for him to Te Rapa newly built and decorated from stem to stern with conventional Maori carvings. On stepping into the canoe Te Heu Heu received a splinter in his foot which caused the blood to flow. The blood of a chief thus falling upon the canoe made it tapu. The canoe could not therefore be used. It was hauled up on the beach and became the property of Te Heu Heu, because his blood having fallen upon it the canoe became part of himself. Mount Tongariro was considered to be so very tapu that the Maori forbade Angas from sketching it. On one occasion he placed his sketch book under a cooking shed to preserve it from the rain. Its discovery there made the tribe very angry, because it contained a sketch of the sacred head of Te Heu Heu. Although the heads of chiefs may sometimes be used as food by an enemy, the association of such heads with cooked food, even in a sketch or by word of mouth was regarded not only as a desecration and an insult, but also as a portent of death itself to the owner of the head.