THE MAORI LAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13210, 22 June 1906, Page 6

THE MAORI LAMENT.

STRIKING SCENE IN PARLIAMENT

BUILDINGS.

A UNIQUE SPECTACLE

[BT TKLEGRArH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

Wellington, Thursday. This morning Parliament Buildings were given over to the natives, who had assembled' from all parts of New Zealand to pay a final tribute in traditional manner to tho memory of the man recognised by them as their "white father and chief.". Never in the history of New Zealand has such a strange and weirdly pathetic scene been witnessed within the building. Before the curtain of the night had been raised, and the red dawn commenced to creep over the hills to the east of the harbour, little groups of natives gathered round the Wellington Hotel, in front of Parliament Buildings, and in Sydney-street, with one common object in view. Aged chiefs and women whose years pressed heavily on them, stalwart natives in the prime of manhood, girls just out of their teens, children of school aije, and infants in arms—all were there, wearing the green emblem of Maori mourning round their heads and waists. Others appeared in all the glory of native mats. A little group made its way to the main entrance of the buildings about haJf-past six, and a long drawn-out •wail of lament from a female member of the party rent the air, and was p-choed back by another parly advancing from Molesworth-strcet. • In this way the gathering was augmented until the entrance was packed with natives. Ha,lf-an-hour later the last member of the party had arrived, 20 or 30 pakehas. who had heard the-lamentations, and divined that a tangi was to take place, stood in wonderment round the steps, but the Maoris heeded not. They filed into the buildings in self-centred gloom, there to await the arrival of the late Premier's remains. A WEIRD CEREMONIAL. About, eight o'clock the steady tramp of feet was heard in the main entrance. Slowly a squad from the Permanent Artillery, 'bearing the oaken casket on their shoulders, filed into the main lobby to the bier under the portrait of the late Queen Victoria at the west end. The Hon. W. Hall-Jones headed the procession, and then came the other Ministers of the Crown, and the sons and immediate relatives of the dead statesman. ' A door opened at the further end, and a low, mournful wail, thrilled, through the stillness. ; By degrees the refrain was taken up by the other units of the native party in the Legislative 'Chamber, who filed slowly out and up the lobby to the spot where the coffin lay. The principal Maori women led the procession, the men bringing up the rear. Quivering hands were raised above heads, greenery rustled in the air, and long drawn-out lamentations rose above the subdued sobbing. The volume of moaning suddenly •a frenzied haka led by the women of the tribes., Feet stamped with that weird regularity peculiar to the natives.! arm.* gesticulated, eyes were distended, and then everything was quiet again, save for avague sobbing,' which in turn gave way to another frenzied outburst of grief. In response to ; a signal the natives then sat on the floor of the lobby, and chanted a hymn-like lamentation. 1 THE NATIVE : MINISTER. The duty of formally welcoming the natives to the chamber of mourning was carried: out; by the Native Minister : (the Hon. Jas. Carroll). : .; ~: . . "The, sun has set,", he said in his native tongue. "The people have lost their provider. The totara tree of the forest has fallen. Come, tread where he trod when he was alive. Death is no respecter of persons. Man is like a butterfly." "Mate atu, he tet« kura, ora mai he tete kura," In other words: 'One chief dies, another takes his place." "Here we are working in this world,"- Mr. Carroll continued. "For what? Only to be snapped by death. He (the late Premier) loved you in his life. He worked for yon. i In his death you mourn." . Mr.; Carroll then chanted a lament, which was taken up by the natives present. In a few excellently chosen words, the Native Minister then referred to the great grief which the death of the Premier has caused the natives. They felt that the family was living under a great- sorrow. "If nothing will assuage the pangs of sorrow," he said. "their Tittle tribute, which I will read to you, will, they trust, in some way .serve that end.'' Mr. Carroll then read; the following addre<?<s:— Hacre ki paeraii ki era tini I te poi. To Mis. Seddon. in memory of Richard John Seddon, Premier, of New Zealand, from the Maori tribe* tif Aotnaroa unci Tc Waipounawu. Remain. 0 mother, with thy children and children'* children. Tarry yet awhile in the house of mourning, in the chamber of death. ■ Clasp but the cold form of him who was to, thee beloved, ', lie is now from thee departed: gone into the dark night; into that long, long sleep. (iod be with you in your hour of trial. Here he lies in the calm majesty of death. Keel, 0 father. The tribes have assembled to mourn their great locs. Alas, the canoe is cast from it» moorings. The ved-hued kakakura, the '-ornament of Aotearoa, the proud liosM of Waipounamu, the mighty heart of the Isuid. the moving spirit of the people—fare thee well, » long farewe.'l. Pass on, thou noble one, across the lone sar.d'» of Hatimu. beyond the grim .barrier of I'aerau. going before to join the illustrious dead. Woe unto us that are left desolate in the valley of sorrow. In life thou wert great. Ae.roas the wide ocean of Kiwa; beset by the turbulent waves of faction, 'mid the perverse winds of opinion, thou didst essay forth that thy peoples may reap of the benefits, that, these islands and thy mother race may see and do their duty in the broader sphere*, of Empire and .Humanity; Fate, relentless, however, seized thee in the mid ocean of effort, and compelled thee into the still waters of death to rest. Sleep thou. 0 father, resting on great deeds done, sure (hat to generations unborn they will be as beacons along, the highways of history. Though thou art gone, may thy spirit, which so long moved the heart : of thine*, inspire us to greater, nobler ends, j' Stay not your lamentations, 0 ye peoples, for ye. have indeed lost a father. Verily our pa of refuge is razed to the ground: the breastwork of defence for great and small is taken. Torn by the roots is the overshadowing rata. As the .fall of the towering totara in the, deep forest of Tane, so is the tragic death of a mighty man. 'Earth quakes to the lending crash. Our shelter gone.' who will temper the wind? What of thy Maori hereafter unless thou canst from that distant bourne help to inspire the age to kindlier action? So bide, ye in your grief, bereaved ones, though small,our tribute, our hearti hive spoken. Our feet have trod the sacred precincts of the eourtvard of death. Our hearts will be his grave. Love "wilt keep hi* memory green through the long weary years. Farewell. ■ "This. - " said Mr. Can-oil, addressing Captain Seddon, and handing him the address, which was signed by the. Native Minister. the Maori members of the Legislature, and over ,100 representative natives, "is a modest tribute from - your father's Maori friend?." , POETIC LAMENT. Following this touching ceremony the natives once more brake into a mournful , lamentation, and then representatives of

the various districts east, west, north, and south; "delivered ■.". laments.'. For poetic beauty and *;; grandeur ;. of metaphor,- the Maori orator has no compeer.' Hori To Huki, - representing the East Coast, prayed for peace and comfort for the dead statesman's family, and chanted the lament : " Pass, oh ■ father, and join the illustrious dead'. Pluck another shoot from the flaxbush, and hold it high in ihe ranks of the mourners. Our great, our majesty, our pride, and boast, are laid low. Desolate we are left in the valley of sorrow." Another, and yet another, followed in the same strain. 1 . -The women sitting found the bier sobbed bitterly, and the men were not ashamed to wipe away their tears. Rutana Ngahine (West Coast), Timoti Whenaki (Southern Maori district). Wi Peri (East Coast). Tekarangi Miti Kingi (Wnnganui), Hone Heke (Northern Maori district), George Robertson (Little River, Canterbury), added their tribute to the memory of the illustrious dead. The women never ceased their mournings, at times the wailing would die away into a, faint echo, only to be superseded' by. a brief haka. \ "Go ye the way of kings, governors, and protectors,'' said another. "Go friend, go. You were a friend to the .weak, you paid no heed to those of strength." Miti Kingi's lamentation was followed by one mighty reverberating outburst, that shook the building. It was a haka of defiance at death. "We laugh ;at you!'', they shouted, in, one tremendous chorus. "We defy you !" Feet stamped in unison, eyes glared, hands holding meres and twigs of pohuewananga rose in'forests, and shook and trembled, and finally sunk amid one sustained lamentation of grief and sorrow. A LONG FAREWELL. It was nine o'clock before the proceedings terminated. When the lastMaori orator had paid his tribute to the virtues of the deceased statesman, and the last lament- had been chanted, the Native Minister, on behalf of Mrs. Seddon, the members of her family, and their relatives, briefly thanked the natives for their feeling appreciations, and the generous manner in which they had- given utterance to their grief. Valuable mats and other tokens of esteem were laid by the casket in numbers, after the manner of the natives in bidding "good-bye" to a departed chief. Gradually they faded out of the building, after silently shaking hands in turn with Captain Seddon, Mr. T. Y. Seddon, and Mr. Stuart Seddon, and pausing for a moment, with head bowed' in front of the bier.