GRAVES DESECRATED
MAORI RESENTMENT
IPer Press Association. — Copyright .l NGARUAWAHIA, This Day.
Strong resentment has been aroused among the Maoris living in the Upper Waikato by several instances of the violation of Maori burial grounds. Burial grounds are strictly tapu to the Maori, and he holds them in the same regard as the Pakeha holds the altar in his church. Violation of a burial ground to the Maori means the same as the holding a cocktail party in a church would —or should—do to a white man.
Several cases have been reported of graves between Mercer and Tuakau being desecrated. Skulls have been removed from caves and exhibited as curios in pakeha homes. The average white man would resent the rifling of a grave where any relative was buried. He should, therefore, understand the feelings of the Maori. But the feelings of the Maori are perhaps more intense. The dead are held in great veneration, and this respect is behind the declaration of burial places as tapu. In ancient days violation such as has been described would have caused war.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NA19361031.2.53
Bibliographic details
Northern Advocate, 31 October 1936, Page 7
Word Count
180GRAVES DESECRATED Northern Advocate, 31 October 1936, Page 7
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