IS THE MAORI LAZY?

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6735, 11 October 1928, Page 9

IS THE MAORI LAZY?

WORK AND THE NATIVE RACE INFLUENCE OF. TRADITION. INTERESTING PROBLEMS. “The Maori can’t stick it!” ” Such Seems to be the final declaration with regard to work made not even so much by the pakeha as by the Maori himself, writes Mr; F. M. Kccsing, M.A.. late secretary of the Palmerston North Y.M.C.A., in the Auckland ‘ ‘ Star. ’ ’ Almost in the last forty years it has become an axiom among the tribes, dinned, as a Maori leader has told me, into the growing generations frorii childhood, and only too often perhaps made the bulwark behind which the indolent can hide their inactivity. Have you ’ ever explored the earthworks on the site of some, ancient pa; examined’ the carvings,- canb'cs; waapo’ns, implements,;’houses,. clothing pf olden day’s; read 1 /.of the constant struggle for’ existence —-the cultivating of the’precious kumara crop, the snaring of birds, and catching of fish, tho. engaging aggressively and defensively of enemies? ; Study them; and you 1 canhot help but realisp that the Ilfs of the primitive Maori called for prodigies of energetic work; sustained, skilled and well-organised effort; and the active co-operation of every member of the social group in carrying on the dailyround of tribal life. Has tbe Maori stock so degenerated, then, that to-day the descendants of these folk cannot work, cannot “stick it,” are inherently lazy? If not, there must be reasons for his evil reputation. And when we seek to find them we enter into a tangle of material, social and phychologioal causes. , • The social are perhaps the riiost apparent.! Students of society tell'-us that only through long experiences of slavery, hard knocks, time and economic pressure has “work” as wo conceive it become acceptable to civilised folk. We leave school, and are whirled, some of us of necessity, into the economic machine —eight hours a day at least,. 48 a week, or if wo are in some jobs a great deal more. Wo Jive by. the’clock, the slaves of time.; Saturday/,afternoon and Sunday, should wo bo town dwellers, are our release. Fortp.patG indeed those who have w.ork so congenial that it is utterly absorbing, becoming to them no longer “work-’ but ‘‘play.” their spontaneous self-ex-pression. Such is civilised work. But what of the Maori? All this pressure of time, necessity, monotony, specialisation and division of labour is quite |oreiga to his heritage. ,’U.o had no, clocks or Sundays. His holidays were delightfully irregular events; a tangi (funeral), a reception of visitors, a" feast or ceremonial holiday, an enemy attack. He could “down” adze, not. spade at a moment’s notice according to the social demands. When ho worked he threw himself wholeheartedly’ with his fellows into the task, and it absorbed no grim urge of Ledessity, but a spontaneous willingness to forward the Varied activities of his; community and tribe. He had liappy variety; would • hunt, build, fight, plant,' .play. George French Angus, in his diary of a journey into the interior of New Zealand in 1814, tells how a certain meeting-houso was built with great rapidity, yet never once did he see anyone at work there, though he tried to catch the workers at all. sorts of unexpected times. It was done piecemeal, but it was done. Now introduce “ work ” into the life of the, Maori as it is known to, the pakeha, born and bred to. accept it (excepting tho “cream” and the “dregs” of society, the “lounge lizards”/and the “hobos”). You must oxpect some difficulty of adjustment. Hori’s Dilemma, Horivis in a job. His grandmother or fifth cousin inconsiderately passes away on a Monday instead of a Friday all the family and' kindred gather from various parts of the country for what is perhaps the saddest and gladdest rite in Maori life, the tangi; Hori must go, arid so lose his position, or else be labelled a bad Maori—for few’ employers would allow him a week’s holiday offhand. Such is an ordinary example of the clash of social customs in tins period of adjustment to civilisation. The result is too often that the Maori will not settle down to any work which ties -him, such as dairying, commercial or industrial pursuits. He prefers the shifting positions —gum-digging, sheaving, fishing, timber and flaxmillirig, rabbit-catching, road-making and the like—to earn that money which civili-

sation terms “the necessary.” There arc Maoris who have realised fully tho inevitability of work, and they are willing to face Up to it. Here come in new issues. The first is tho question of how many avenues of work are open to the Maori. Say a young man of ambition undergoes the long training necessary to be a doctor. He comes from college full of enthusiasm. He cannot make a living, however, among his own people, because no Maori will pay him—native, custom demands that he shall give his services freely and cheerfully, and perhaps feed his patients into the bargain! But it is exceedingly difficult for him to establish a practice among Europeans, owing to colour-discrimina-tion. Ho then comes up against a blank wall, that wall which looms so largo before tho educated Maori youth of today, and closes so many of the congenial avenues of occupation. Nevertheless it is a fine thing to find young Maoris increasingly anxious to' cuter professional training, in modioiric'engineering, nursing, the ’ministry, and ,l.Ke’public service, and those arc . doing valuable pioneering in opening the way for a- wider range of opportunity fortheir race.- '■ The Land.Now, again, "comes in another ques-tion—^--that vexing issue of land. Mostauthorities are agreed that the main outlet for Maori work activity should be in tho development of his land. But according to the old ■ social 'order of Maoridom all land was communal, Now a Maori even to-day; may be very anxious to - farm his land, and may even have-available tho all-important finance to back him. But he may not be able to find his land!. For he will have so much interest :in this block, and so much in. that block, and .again some in others perhaps , hundreds of miles away, but no actual soil to which ho may lay his willing hands. Here we have the whole ;slow, unwieldy problem of “individualising’/ native land. There is the tragicffiumoroua example of the enthusiastic Maori farmer "who grew a splendid crop, of vegetables, put all his less energetic neighbours simply came in and carried them off I Some Maori communities are working .hard to-day. I’think of the strenuous roofing of Rua’s Hrewcra stronghold in corrugated iron by his followers to keep out the prophesied falling starfe at the end of the world ho is so fond of predicting. Or the energetic working of Batana’s followers at his settlement near 1 'Wanganui.; ■ Again, conies to mind the -intense fervour, of competition that is driving some rival settlements to work furiously to beat each other, even yerging on active hostilities. But such work-stimuli as, the fervour of religion or of emulation arc generally not very permanent, and tend' to suffer quick slump. Much more interesting are, the constructive workefforts of some other districts, where a definite attempt is being made to, enter into economic : competition with the pakeha. ./The outstanding example is of jcourso tho well-known experiment in communal co-operation being carried on by the’ Ngati-Forcu people on the Bast Coast, inspired /By Sir Apirana Ngata,. M.P., ’ However, to quote this great 'leader/ you cannot safely judge the success of such a work experiment until the lapse of at least 'five to seven years—showing clearly his own distrust of ' the capacity of 1 his people- as yet to sustain regular work-effort- in such an exacting field as dairy farming ever a long period.