THE PASSING OF THE MAORI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13501, 27 July 1907, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE PASSING OF THE MAORI.

: No. 11. U iJY ARCHDEACON WALSH. .. fLecturo rend before the Auckland Institute in '.'.'.... July, 1907.] V. ' ■ ■ Vv'AtPIRO. /■; :'.■?■ 'It is stated that, contrary to what is usual amongst savage peoples, the Maoris on their first contact with Europeans, did not take readily to ardent spirits. On the contrary, they 'showed such an aversion- that they gave them the name of ''wai-piio" (stinking water), and refused to touch them after a first trial. The taste probably first came with the association just described, as well as with the shore whalers, who had their stations all along the coast, from the extreme north down to Stewart's Island. But after a time tho craving for intoxicating drink became the ruling passion, and the money, no longer required for the purchase of. arms, was spent in securing a supply. It almost seem- ,: Id as if the system, weakened by the fatigue 'of war, privation, and vice, required some '•/'kind of a stimulant, and for many years .' even" land court, tribal meeting, marriage, • and "funeral was the scene of unlimited indulgence. The evil would not have been as 1 great as it was had the liquor been of even average quality, but a special brand was supplied for tile " native trade," which was maddening • in its immediate effect, and poisonous in its ultimate results. Casks of adulterated beer, and kegs of doctored .rum were carted out to the pas, while be- ■ lated stragglers from the public-houses -- might be seen trying to struggle home, or lying by the wayside in a comatose condi- -' > tion, women unable to suckle their babies, and the men unable to help them along. This craze went on for more than a , generation, more or less, all over the country; but about 20 or 25 years ago the habit began to be given up. Wholesale ; drinking is now practically a thing of the past, and in most districts a drunken Maori is the exception rather than the rule. Still, .. the evil was done, not to.be undone; and its effect, especially on the children begotten and reared under the conditions described, is incalculable. , •■ CHANGE OF HABITS. . The partial adoption of European cus- "' toms and modes of living largely contributed ■ to the decay of the Maori; and that which, under other conditions,' might have been "a. , blessing, has only proved a curse. This is • nowhere more apparent than in the case of. their housing and clothing. It might appear at first sight that a dwelling built in European style, well lighted, floored, and properly ventilated, would be more conducive to'health than the dark, motley whare —hermetically sealed when the door was shut, in which the inmates slept on mats • spread, on the ground, around a smoulderins fire.* The same comparison might be ' made between a comfortable suit of European clothes and the scanty waist-mat which hardly covered their nakedness, sup-v piemented in wet weather by a clumsy rain- .' cloak, which might keep the wearer dry, ' .Vbut scarcely kept out the cold. The reverse is 'really 'the case. The whare was usually built on the sunny side of a hill, in a situation both airy and dry, and it was: sheltered from cold blasts by the palisading of the pa. If the weather, was ■ damp or chilly a handful of embers would ■ raise the temperature to any desired degree. ■'; There was no trouble about wet clothes or insufficient blankets, and the double or triple coating,of raupo which covered the walls ' effectually kept but the draughts; while if ventilation were needed the sliding door had only to be pushed back. Little inconvenience would be caused by the cramped di- ".';' mensions of the domicile, as the whare was : simplv, a sleeping apartment, the porch -formed by the projecting gable being used as the sitting-room; while the cooking and eating were carried on in a separate building, or, if the weather were fine, in the •'■ open air. The European style of dwelling ;," would be very well if the Maori were able m to live up to"it, but with the exception of I the more fortunate natives, about the East .derive, an..income, .from .the.,rent, of their lands, and a very small percentage .-scattered ", : throughout the country, who \ have been able to adapt themselves to the I new conditions, the Maoris' attempt to live . like the pakeha is generally a failure. In ', the first place the house is usually in a bad situation. For convenienceto be near the - cultivation—it is often built on the lowground, probably in the vicinity of a swamp • full of stagnant water and decaying vege- • table matter. Then it is seldom finished. It is a- bare shell. of weather-board or split . paling, often unlined and without paper or ' scrim. There is, perhaps, a chimney of slabs or galvanised iron, but no body of J heat can be maintained, and the only effect of the fire is to draw in the cold air from "' -the hill, or the malaria from the marshy • " ground. . Moreover the Maori generally lives from hand to mouth, and has barely sufficient for present necessities. On a cold night, when a crowd of visitors come to put in? with fiim— and his native hospitality ;■ forbid? him turning any away has to ■ ■■■■ share his canty supply of bedding among them as far as it will go. And when he comes in out of the wet he rarely troubles ,' to change his clothes, if, indeed, -he has ■ ~another. suit to change into, but simply . takes off his coat and boots, wraps himself -in a blanket and steams until he is dry. What wonder, therefore, that even when a Maori is possessed of a European house lie often lives in it as little as possible, and prefers to squat by a fire in an open shed? It is the nearest lie can get to the old native system— system that suits him best. * The adoption of European methods of cul- " tivation was, of course, inevitable, and the . Rev. Samuel Marsden, the founder of the mission to the Maoris, thought that when they were provided with ploughs and bullock teams they would enter on a new era of progress. The new era certainly dawned, but it was not the era expected by that . great humanitarian. Or to be more correct, the new era did not fulful its early pro- ' mise. In the pre-European days every , kind of work was organised and regulated. ;" Whether it was the breaking up of land, ' or the planting or taking up of the crop, . the people worked in gangs, under the di- ' rection of a leader, who marked the time . - R'ith a'song, to which the workers answered with a chorus. Each class of work had „ its appointed season, determined by recog- ., nised signs and portents, as the age of the . moon, or the blooming of a certain tree or . flower; while in cases of doubt or uncertainty the time would be fixed by the I tohunga, and the regulation enforced by the • chief. Growing crops were under strict -tapu, and it was believed that any breach or neglect of the tapu would involve serious *:- '-disaster. In this way punctuality was se- ,(' cured, the labour was greatly lightened, and the work done with cheerfulness and hope. All hands worked together like a Well-ordered team, and each bore his full "share of the common burden. For a time the new system seemed to _ promise very ' well, and as long as something of the old tribal spirit was kept up large quantities vf. of wheat, maize, potatoes, etc.. were grown H with the assistance of European implements if; all over the country. But as the authority ■';'-•' of the chief declined the co-operative spirit .. passed awy; while the mere fact that the work was easier induced an element of failure. The fatal indolence and procrasti- ' nation of the Maori asserted itself, and the ... props were often put in too late, or under improper weather conditions, to be neglect--1 ed during the growing season ; or, perhaps, . in the middle of a job a death would occur ■■ in the neighbourhood,' or some other reason >. gfor a hui would eventuate, when all hands would clear out for a week or more, and leave the work to take care of itself. The -. consequence is that the Maoris have become disheartened, and the whole thing is clone • m an abortive and slovenly manner. There is less and less cultivation "done every year ; wge areas of fertile land lie waste". In many districts there is a chronic shortage ■ of provisions—often even semi-starvation. INTRODUCED DISEASES. In his original state the Maori seems to -. have been ideally healthy. As a usual thing he only died of old age, unless he Wro slain in battle, or fell-a victim to wiakutu, or witchcraft. Tradition states 'hat some six generations perhaps 150 pears— plague, which appears to have been : - » kind of spotted fever,. swept over the • •. country with very fatal results. In Taiasnai, a very!fertile and .populous district, .inland of the Bay of Islands, the number , of deaths was so great that the survivors cleared out in a general stampede, leaving

the .place to be occupied by the Ngapuhi, who spread from Hokianga. It is very probable, however, that as many of the deaths occurred from panic as from the effects of the disease. The visitation passed away, leaving no evil results, but with the advent of the pakeha new diseases came, and came to stay. Certain (venereal) complaints -which appeared for the first time, do not : seem to have made the havoc there might have been expected, though there is little doubt that they largely helped to lower the system and weaken its power of resistance to other maladies. By. great good fortune smallpox has never made its nppeanrnco among the Maoris, but measles and typhoid fever have provedmost fatal. The former has swept through the country on several occasions, sometimes almost exterminating whole settlements, as, e.g., when only two individuals escaped out of a population of 300 in a kainga near the Molyneux .River. The remedies used for the measles were often more fatal than the disease itself. Finding that a bath in cold water would cause the spots to disappear whole parties would immerse themselves in a running stream, with —as might be expected—the most fatal results. Typhoid fever makes it appearance every few years, and once it has visited a settlement* it is sure to recur whenever the atmospheric and other conditions are favourable for its development. Of late years many of the native school-teachers have tried to cope with this insidious disease. They have sup-, plied the Maoris with medicine, and have instructed them in the elements of the rules of health ; but from want of proper sanitation and from the impossibility of getting any course of treatment carried out', their efforts have been mostly unavailing. Besides, the Maori is at all times an unsatisfactory patient. Once his vitality falls below a certain point he loses heart, and frequently dies from the mere want of an effort to live. From an epidemic of typhoid fever 100 died. in a village in the' North out of a population of 500 a few years ago. at a time when almost every settlement had a similar visitation. Asthma and consumption probably always existed among the Maoris to a certain extent, but under the healthy conditions that obtained in their primitive state their prevalence was greatly limited. There is no doubt that the receptivity of the native for these and their contingent diseasesbronchitis and pneumonia —has proportionately increased with the general! lowered tone produced by the causes already enumerated. At the present time, throughout the North—the region in which the contact between the races has been the longest and most intimateit is rare to find a really sound Maori. Most of the old people are troubled more or less with asthma; while amongst the young and apparently the more robust, case's of consumption develop with marvellous rapidity. THE HUI. One of the most fatal mediums for the propagation and spread of disease is the modern hui. There have, of course, always been huis. They are in fact an essential feature of Maori "economy; but the modern hui possesses certain elements - which did riot obtain in the old days. A hui is a gathering of the tribe, the hapu, or the family, and may be held for any purpose of common interest, whether political, social, or religious, for a tribal meeting, for the welcome of distinguished visitors, for a marriage, or a funeral. Any Maori is free to assist at a hui. and European visitors are always made welcome. In a very large hui, to which parties come from a distance, it is not unusual for them to bring contributions of provisions, but the tangata whenua, or local Maoris, are always considered as the entertainers, and it is a point of honour for them to supply as large a quantity of the very best that the tribe or settlement can afford, even if they have to go short for months afterwards." Up to some 20 years ago it was customary for the entertainers to erect temporary sheds of raupo or nikau to serve as sleeping places for the visitors, the.discussions being, earned on in the open air. Of late years, however, it has become the practice to have in every settlement of importance a, large hall, built of sawn timber, to serve the double purpose of hostelry and meeting house. "Although the style and dimensions vary considerably with the impartance of the settlement, the general plan is the same. The hall is a long building, entered from the-end. A bare strip, some eight or ten feet wide, runs up the centre, of the floor* and the,space between this and the side walls is littered down with fern or mange-mange, covered with mats of green flax. This serves as a sleeping place for the Maoris, who lie with their heads towards the wall, from which they a: - separated by a kind of narrow trough,.■filled- with fern, which acts as ageneral spittoon. Each Maori on entering takes his place—a kind of seniority beingj observed —the principal men occupying the upper end. and the women and children gathering near the door. The food,' which is cooked , outside, is set on the floor in the central space, the Maoris squatting in a row along each side.' The business—if there is any to be doneis conducted by a sort of informal debate, which is often carried on far into the night, and the hui, for whatever purpose it may have been called together, usually lasts until the stock of provisions shows signs of giving out. It would bo impossible 'to conceive of a more perfect medium for the dissemination of disease than the hui, as it is now conducted. As it is important to have plenty of food the larger meetings are held, if possible, soon after the crops have been harvested; that is to say, in the late autumn, I when the weather is often cold and wet. A crowd of men, women, and children are packed together, more closely than the passengers on an emigrant ship. A large percentage are suffering from some i pulmonary complaint, or from some inherited constitutional delicacy, which renders them pecu- , liarly , accessible to infection. Night and day they are lying in damp clothes they never wholly" undress— breathing a mephytic atmosphere, poisoned by the exhalations from so many bodies, and from the general spittoon. A person suffering i from influenza comes in, and in a,few hours i the disease has gone the round of the house. Sometimes a death occurs, and the body is kept for days in the vicinity of the food, while the tangi (mourning) goes on. Diseases contracted at the hui are taken away to the homes of the visitors, where fresh centres of infection are started, and although a new supply of bedding is provided the germs • remain about the building to be nursed into life on the next occasion it is used. ' AVARS WITH THE EUROPEAN'S. It was only to be expected that sooner or later the Maoris would come into conflict with the invading race. This first happened when, in 1845, Hone Heke cut down the flagstaff in the Bay of Islands. This action resulted in a war that lasted for two years, and included a good deal of sharp fighting. Owing, no doubt, to the spirit introduced by the missionaries, and the influence of their families, the contest was prevented from developing into a war of extermination. It was conducted on new and civilised lilies. There was no cannibalism or slaying of the wounded, with the exception of the Kororareka episode. Property was respected, and non-combatants were unmolested. It was, in fact, more of a tournament than a war, a trial of strength which left no. sting behind it. •But it was very different with the war of 1860. This war began in Taranaki. and lasted for 10 years, spreading over a third of the North' Island, including Taranaki, Waikato, and the districts about Poverty Bay. Ten thousand men were engaged on the European side, and it is estimated that some £12,000,000 were expended before the contest was brought to a conclusion. Con-, sidering the large forces engaged on both sides the number of men killed in the field was compartively trifling ; but the effect of the campaign as a factor in the passing of the Maori was deep and far-reaching. Multitudes of the most robust and vigorous men were withdrawn from the work which, in normal times, was barely sufficient to maintain them in comparative comfort. These had to be fed, and the production and transportation of the food more than taxed the ability of the women and noncombatants. Houses and cultivations had to be abandoned in the country accessible to the troops, and hunting and fishing grounds were deserted. For years this kind of thing, went on. The whole population of a vast area, extending from sea to sea, was kept in:a state of unnatural tension; and it would be impossible to estimate the numbers that perished from sickness and privation. On the conclusion of the war all native land'beyond a certain line was confiscated by the Government; and the Maoris had to fall back and form new settlements as best they could, often with the total loss of any live stock they might have possessed.