A VISIT TO A MAORI TANGI.

Otago Witness, Issue 2686, 6 September 1905, Page 84

A VISIT TO A MAORI TANGI.

By Go Hon. (Being a Paver read before the Dunedin and Debating Club.) Down in a little sand-scooped bay,-g'u3t inside the Otago Heads, lies the picturesque littlo township of Otakou, commonly called the Maori Kaik by the white people— by whom it is regarded as a favoxtrite picnic ground — and by the number of Maoris who reside there The chief cf the tribe, tho Hon. H. K. Taiaroa, had died at Wellington, and was brought down to ihis little settlement, which is tho homo of his relatives and ancestors, and in accordance with the custom of his triba he was accorded a Maori tangi. What is a tangi? It is a wailing, a lamentation for the dead; and in proportion to the rank of he who has died, so ia the length and importance and general singularity of a tangi. Taiaioa- was a chief, so his tangi was the wailing of rnsmy people. On tho 13th August, the date of the funeral, I made this visit, acompanied by a few friends, and what I saw I shall endeavour to relate. _

Ariiving at the litilo Kaib jetty, I was astonished to see it m such a crowded state Four steamers were berthed alongside, with their flags half-mast, s.nd hundred's of uassengers were disembarking and. making their way around the road to t-he kainga, or hall, where the body of the deceased chief was lying in state. On ne?ring the hall the plaintive crie3 and wails of tho Maoris came to my ears, and plugging over the hills I soon found out that the criao were coming from tho interior of the hail The large paddock in front was on a mass of human beings and bicycles, it being roughly estimated that 400P persons were present, excluding the 200 or 300 Maoris who had come from all parts of the cdony to honour their departed chief. It was indeed a red-letter day for this usually quiet little township, and the residents will rememher it for many a. day, for such a number of people had not visited that place before, and I doubt if there will bo such a gathering again. Cut in th© lazy air and the sunshine in front of the hal! a big flag sagged about its tall pole. It was the New Zealand ensign, and on the body of it were two Maori words in long white letters — words of meaning to the Maori, but to the white man who is ignorant of their language they cannot be interpreted with clearness. At tho entrance to the hall -afcaod a stalwart Maori, his hat bedecked with greenery, v.'ho invited us to go in and view tho body, and to "Pleas© enter by the right and come out on the left, so you won't block the passage." WitE that we entered, and, removing our hats walked up the passage. It was a long hall, a piece of matting running up tho middle of it, and on each side were rows of Maoris lyiEg upon mattresses on the floor. Men, women, and children were there — some sitting up, talking, and scanning the people as they entered; others asleep under blankets of many bright colouis. At the farther end of the hall lay the body of the chi&f Taiaroa in a zinc-lined coffin, and round it were mcii and women and little children.— ©ome sleeping, and some crouching about and talking among themselves. After viewing the body and iks beautiful wreaths around it, we retired by the left, m accordance with instructions, "yours truly" having a good look afc the old Maori women, some of whom, by the way, must have been about 120 or 130 years old, judging by their emaciated and ancient appeaiance. Outiida onco aioxe, ks. gtojad. fo£ a jriiila

watching the little Maori piccaninnies playing. One, I noticed. wa3 attired in a man's coat and hard hat, and was nearly lost to view! We then made our way to the cemetery, at tho rear of the hall, to await the burial, and had no sooner sat down when the wailing, which had been going on during all the days of tho tangi, broke out afresh. And what a wail it was! People who heard it went back to town with it ringing in their ears. What the wail that rang through Otakou that Sunday might have implied could its meaning have been leduced to distinct language is very much a matter for speculation. After waiting at the grave for about an hoiir, and securing an excellent position, the Maoris appointed as pall-bearers appeared with the bier, headed by two ministers — one English and the other Maori, — and some 100 Maoris bringing up the rear. Meanwhile the church bell was tolling. The moment the coffin was laid down by the graveside- tho Maori? commenced wailing and giving vent +o pitiful howls and shrieks that filled iho air with an all-peyvading noise, vhich I fancy I can hear yet. It was indeed an .emotional scena; no pen can adequately describe it. Men and wo'mc-n round the gravocide, with their hsids bowed low, .sobbing and mumbling; now and then a Maori' at tho back vc-uld utter a loiid Maori chant, and t1.9 s-obbiug and crying would increase in volume, especially from the dead chief's relatives. When tho English minister had almost concluded tha sermon the officiating Maori minister read a few lines in the Maori lanpuagc, and then the body was committed to the earth, amid a prolonged howling and wailing which continued for fully half an hour. Thr, relatives of the deceased chief wero then led away, and a few of his friends from tho north rendered what I thought prayers for him in their own tongue. Then they all gradually dispersed, not a happy face amongst them, back to tho hall, to continue their lamentations •and to feast in memory of their departed chief.

ZSTow all was over, and the thousands of visitors from Dunedin were soon embarking on the steamers for the journey back to town, each, no doubt, thinking of what had taken place, and wondeung why the Maoris celebrate the death of on-e of their chiefs in such a peculiar manner. In a secluded little spot in the corner of the little Kaik cemetery the body of the Hon. H. K. Taiaroa, so dearly beloved by all his fellows, Maoris and Europeans alike, rests aJong with his ancestors under a drooping Vvillow tree, leaving an immense gap in the ranks of the Maori race. As I wended my way home I could not help but wonder why the Maoris feast and wail at the same time a.t the passing of a Maori chief, and feeling that the sight I had seen that day was one which I shall ever' remember.