MOURNING THE DEAD.

Mataura Ensign, 23 February 1909, Page 3

MOURNING THE DEAD.

> MAOIU CFItniOMALS. FF.tt UNITED CHESS ASSOCIATION. AI'CKI, u\ T l). Feb 22. The remains of Mr Horn' Hoke, the late meinher for the Northern Maori district, were interred in tin; cemetery : at Kaikohc vesterdav in !he presence of a large ' number of Hi-i ' ielh.wi'oiintryinen and residents vf the district. The tangi was attend"'! bv at le:isl 2000 .Maoris of both sev-s,. the iiiajoi'ilv of whom arrived on the lir.t rlav and remained to the h.vv Thev •aiiK' from all parts of Ihe !>o:ni noi;. When the remains of the late MrH.-ke, attended bv luanv Mauris, mired, ; party of challengers advanced to the party escorting the collin at a given ,ignal, and tin- other parly slopped mil sent out their challengers in return. Both parties then made a halt, and the warriors stepped out. Then followed the war dance—ill 'his case merclv a ceremonial. When it vns concluded the cortege moved lot ward. The ceremony was the greatest military honor that the .Maori accords t» llie dead. All the Maoris joined in die procession to the spot where the tangi was to he held, and on arrival there they were met by the old women mourners —the "criers"—who were waiting in two rows. TJiese women were robed Hi funereal black with evergreens twined round their bodies and in their hair. As the party of men approached liearing the corpse they burst into a melancholy dirge, swaying their bodies •in rhythmic tune to the mournful cries. A sirange contrast was another group of old women crving out a Maori welcome to the hearefs. The body was taken to the mourning house prepared for it, there to lie in state while the umgi lasted. It was surrounded bv ,he neisonal cll'eels of the deceased aiid bv die wreaths sent by friends. These were brought up on a carriage with the coffin. As the tangi proceeded the eolKn and the space at the foot of it be. came covered with handsome Maori mats and native curios, the gifts of "reat chiefs who wished to do a last honor to the dead. Two big marquees, '■u-h capable of accommodating 10b. people, were sent up by the Government. At Kaikohc the crying continued without a pause from Saturday night (the last night of the tangi) till die funeral took place about next midday.

the Minister of Public Works ithe Hon. K. ilclveuzie) visited the tangi on Saturday, deviating from his itinerary of the north in'order to do so. He was received bv the Hon. .lames Carroll. _ Minister of Native Affairs. ilr McKenzie was accorded the honor of a. hnka, and was then escorted to one of tho large marrpiees where several hundred natives were assembled.

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