GLIMPSES OF MAORI LIFE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9752, 23 February 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

GLIMPSES OF MAORI LIFE.

THE HAHUNGA. * [Concluded.] I have forgotten one very important feature in the life of the Maori in omitting mention of Divine service on the previous evening. Of all things a Maori is methodical. Accepting Christianity he does so with the acceptance of it 3 forms in entirety, and it is a very rare circumstance indeed to find any hapu but what holds morning and evening worship. At early morn and early eve each sect is called to prayers by bells ringing—the Catholic bell, the Church of England bell, and the Hauhau bell. A father may be seen wending his way to the Catholic service ; the mother to the Church of England, or maybe to the Hauhau ; and the various family members to tho particular service they are ediriod with. No discussion occurs with the Maori in matters of religion.

They are all the same to him. Church government differences and schismatical controversies are unknown. Religion is received and accepted outwardly with great fervour. Differences of sect are of very minor importance. Religious growth in the Maori is very erratic? What he is to-day he may by no means be to-morrow. An instance of this comes to my mind from the Bay of Plenty. A Catholic priest visited the district. At that time the natives, religiously, were divided 'bwixb Anglicanism and Hauhauism. In answer to his inquiries I was unable to direct him to a single Catholic family; but, like a good priest, with the faith and strength of his order, he went amongst and ingratiated himself with all and sundry. Late that evening ho informed me that on the morrow (Sunday) he was going to have the pleasure of holding mass, and had already secured sixteen converts, who were then to take the sacrament of baptism. Sure enough on the morrow ho baptised sixteen, and more, if my memory serves mo correctly, and succeeded in building on a rock a branch of his Church, which to this day flourishes. One old convert rather amused mo. She had for long professed Protestantism. I asked her, "If the Protestant clergyman comes round shortly how will you explain your desertion of his Church?" "Ha!" she answered, "I will be baptised again by him. This makes the fourth time I have been so. Aeha ! It is all the same to me, and I suppose 1 am made better every time." And it is all the same that, due to the apostolic and self-sacrificing lives of the priests—due to their indomitable zeal, and the power for moral good they wield incessantly over the natives—that I, a 2?«Mt« Protestant! whose goings, in and

out bring me ever in contact with these matters, assert that slowly but surely the Maoris are turning all to the Church of Rome.

And which to me is a matter of little moment, inasmuch Catholic or Protestant—the Maori is a shallow, superficial worshipper. Makutu and the tohunga's power still roign ever high in his breast—ancient custom arid mythology are embedded deep in Tiis heart—and the power and feelings of his savage cannibal forefathers are still the potent leaveners of his existence in relation to sacred matters.

Now, to hark back to Opanaki. After ablutions the several creeds assembled for worship. I attended the Wosleyan sect, and was unexpectedly treated to some very sweet singing—so sweet that I recollect of no other congregational hymning which made such an impression on me. lb was truly sweet, unlaboured singing, without effort, the soft bass voices of the old men blending admirably with the rich gurgling tones of the young people. Prayers over, pipes wore immediately in full blast, and gossip was indulged in till breakfast. At breakfast I noticed some special food was placed separate from that which we were to partake of, and soon found it was intended for a young woman and an elderly man, who were to be the chief actors in the drama to be enacted during the day. These two were to exhume, handle, and cleanse the bones of those to be disinterred, and already their priestly offices wore making their power felt. After breakfast korero went on in a desultory fashion. An hour later those who were to take any part in the exhumation wore all mounted and on their way to the urupa, or burial-ground. Hereupon Rikihana very kindly had me a horse saddled and bridled, and by his good offices I was able to ioin the party. Slowly we rode from Opanaki to the open fern land which spreads right out to the charming Lakes Ahikiwi,Tahaioa, Waikeri, and Waingata. In the cool shade of the giant kauris which line this delightful road no one felt inclined to hurry. Ere long we reached the urupa, which so prominently presents itself on a high knoll. Our horses tethered, we squatted down some little distance from the cemetery, whilst four men with spades went on to perform the initial work of clearing the earth from upon the coffins. Whilst this was being done my companions tranquilly smoked, but a certain restraint was noticeable in their bearing and conversation. They evidently experienced the common feeling which actuates all mankind when in close proximity to death. Wishing to see the whole ceremony in detail, I made my way to the scene of work. Rikihana considerately called out to me not to extinguish my pipe, for which I was most grateful. The first grave was nearly emptied as I approached. The two men engaged in the work were pleasantly whispering one to the other, and as I leant over the hole the spade of one, who, by his resemblance to and his having only one optic, had acquired the soubriquet of Barney Donovan, struck the coffin. Barney looked up to me, his eye blinking, a suppressed smile on his lips, and, with a most comical air, softly ejaculated, " Gum !" This is the exclamation of the gumdigger on his striking a patch. Now, be it understood that I have not the slightest intention of parodying the hahunga, or attempting to make silly wit of what is to me a most sacred rite. lam simply recording a modern hahunga as it occurred, as it was performed by modern pakeha-&ed Maoris; and my whole chief reason for so doing is to place on record what to hundreds of people is most interesting, inasmuch as it narrates the rite of an erstwhile savage race emerging into the noonday of civilisation. I looked astonished at Barney. He sniggered, blinked, and finished his work, leaving bare the coffin. The other two workers performed similar duties at another grave. Returning with them to the main party we seated ourselves, the old man and young woman who were to recover the bones slowly taking their way to the graves. Wo could hear them each bursting open the coffins, and in a short space of time observed the several bones being thrown up on the sides.

Again I approached the graves, and silently stood 'twixt the two, watching alternately the man and the woman at their gruesome task. On this occasion no scraping was necessary. As is often the case on hills, there is great accumulation of water in any excavation, and the water had permeated the collins and bodies, making the work of the tohunga very light. I have no wish to force on my readers gruesome details. The odour was very unpleasant indeed ; the sight was repulsive, and the whole ceremony was most distasteful. However, 1 kept my station till the two graves were finished, and all the bones of each wore lying in heaps by the gravesides.

Small clean canvas bags were then utilised to contain the bonos. These were carefully tied and laid on one side.

In all six bodies were exhumed, and the sun was making his way well to the westward before the hideous work was completed. The graves were ail refilled, and the spades used in the work left by the grave-sides. Then we all remounted with the exception of the lohungas, who, in our rear, on foot convoyed the bones they had treated. Considerably in their advance we reached the kainga, and seated ourselves with the tribe awaiting their arrival.

As they were observed slowly and reverently advancing, carrying with care their sacred burdens, loud cries of wailing and greeting broke from the assembled body. Tears streamed in torrents down withered cheeks of old men and women as, with falsetto voices, they cent forth the cry of welcome to tho remains of their deceased ones.

" Haere mai! Ilaere mai!" they cried ; " haerc mai, c mara nut,, haere mai e kui ma, haere — mai, hae — re — mai — i!" The haere mat is very tearfully drawn out, and is most expressive. The tohungas slowly approached. Sobs rent the breasts of the throng. Step by step the sacred relics wore brought nearer and nearer ; at last were deposited by their carriers on a shelf specially constructed for the purpose. The skulls were taken from the bags, and side by sido arranged in the sight of the mourners. Then the tangi took place in real earnest. With the grim remnants of their loved ones before them—the very bones of those whose deaths had been regarded as ailuas, or soro calamities—the pent-up feelings of lacerated hearts broke forth, and in one continuous, heart-breaking wail fathers, mothers, and relatives of the departed wept in concert.

This langl went on, I suppose, for two hours. The lamentations gradually grew leas as exhausted nature impelled one after another to desist.

Then Rikihana stood up, first chanting an old timed ivaiata, then addressed tho assembly in a very grave, masterly style. He was followed by others, who in turn apostrophised the grinning skulls, and chanted tho songs of their forefathers applicable to such an event. This duty ended, the tohungas returned the heads within the bag*, which were then carefully closed, and with a lino hung and suspended high from a lofty tree.

Ab this juncture the tangi practically ceases. On tho morrow the bags were conveyed by the tohungas, without any more ceremony, to the mountain cave, where the relics of past generations lay side by side, no more to be troubled by the hand of man, crumbling in peace to the dust from which they sprung. The tohungas remain tapu for some few days. In some few cases they handle their food, though eating alone. In most cases they are fed by relations till they are satisfied that tho tapu has evaporated from their systems, and again take their places as individual members of the tribe.

Tempora mutantur! In one more generation possibly the hahunga will live only in history, and the existing rites of the then Maori will bear pro rata a resemblance to those of to-day as they compare with the customs of native life 00 years ago.