THE MAORI "PROPHET."

Otago Witness, Issue 3231, 16 February 1916, Page 17

THE MAORI "PROPHET."

BIG FOLLOWING AMONGST THE NATIVES. Colonel Porter, commandant of the National Reserve of New Zealand, who is at present in Wellington, is very well acquainted with the Eua cult in the Urewera Country, and gave some interesting notes on the "prophet" to a representative of the Dominion on Sunday evening. Rua, he says, has at present a very large following all over New Zealand, and' his adherents, strange to say, include many Maoris of the well-educated class. Furthermore, this following represents a very solid cash book. "Do you really think there may be serious trouble?" the colonel was asked. " There may be, and then, again, there may not. Rua may elect to become a martyr, and sacrifice himself to the law. I had to deal with Rua myself in 1905, when we had trouble with him on the East Coast. There was some talk of Rua making trouble, but he eventually retired with his followers across the boundary into the Urewera. His present headquarters are at Maunga Pohatu ('Rocky Mountain'), where he has established his new Zion City. His cult is known as the ' Elevated Hand' (Te Ringa Tu), from the custom of its adherents of holding up the right hand when at their devotions. Properly speaking, Rua's sect are of ' Te Wairua Tapu' ('The Holy Spirit'), but 'The Elevated Hand' is the more familiar name. "Rua claims to be he of whom Te Kooti prophesied that there would ari.«o amongst their number one who would abide by the laws of God and the laws of the land. He also calls himself Hepzibah, a Scriptural name from the Book of Isaiah, in the Bible—rather curious, too. The verse—the fourth verse of chapter 62 —reads :—' Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be willed Hepzibah, and thy land Boulah: for the Lord delighfceth in theej and thy land shall bo married.' " Colonel Porter added that Rua had been putting it abroad that the Kaiser, if he won the war, would restore to his followers all the land they had lost. "Do vou think that German influence may be behind Rua's present attitude?" Colonel Porter looked doubtful. "Well •—I don't know—it may be, or it may not -—it's not impossible."