MAORI MEMORIES

Taranaki Daily News, 21 October 1933, Page 1 (Supplement)

MAORI MEMORIES

FAMOUS WARRIORS

(By

J.H.S.

.—Copyright)

Almost without exception the Maori, man, woman or child, thought only of death in relation to war. He had no mad motorist to fear, and no unearned and undigested surplus food to cause sickness. Naturally therefore, warriors noted for courage, endurance, and ability in battle, acquired distinction in their tribe and fame among distant people. To do so appeared to be the chief aim of life and the end of man’s destiny. Famous fighting generals, as with us, were not necessarily of high birth. Ropata of Ngati-Porou was merely a sub-chief, yet he achieved fame by skill and strategy in war. It was he who forced the turbulent Urewera and the savage Ngati Huri, ever bitterly hostile to the pakeha, to hide in caves and remote gullies.

Names of great warriors, Te Waha roa (long mouth), Hongi (the salute), and Rau-paraha (the broad sword) are the most famous in Maori history. Many anecdotes are told of their skill and ferocity. It must' be admitted that modem chiefs owe their fame to the terror inspired by their skill in using the newly acquired guns. Te Purewa, famous fighter of Tuhoe, was so feared that he was regarded as a demi god. He was spoken of as Atua Whaka haehae (a terrifying demon). Te Ika Poto (short fish) had an enormous head of hair which stood out all round. When he entered a Maori kainga the children fled in terror. In a fight, his opponents were powerless with fear, just as they were with the grotesque figures tattooed on the naked bodies. This kind of hair was a sign of Melanesian blood. When near his death the Chief, by a final effort of will, over which he exercised a singular power, would make his last speech to the tribe, warning them against sloth and carelessness, and the grave danger of neglecting to destroy _ their greatest enemy by ngaunga (chewing their food). These death bed sermons were to them a life long inspiration. Taharua and Kopurua.

A marked influence in Maori warfare is the mixed marriage, that, between members of two tribes. A taha-rua (passing on two sides) would be spared, though living with his wife’s people, the enemy, or even when fighting against his wife’s tribe whilst living among his own folk. Taha-rua were justified in warning their own tribe or that of the wife, of an impending attack. Rakatau of the enemy, being taha-rua to the Urewera, visited and presented them with valuable weapons. This was regarded as a token of affection to ms wife’s people, who in return advised him not to return to his pa, as they were about to attack it.

Another potent factor in the olden time Maori fighting is the kopu-rua, literally, double stomach, the stomach being the seat of the affections with the Maori, who regarded it as we do the heart. The kopu-rua is a man whose mind is divided between victory over the enemy and a sincere pity for the vanquished. It is said that a Maori war party would supply the beseiged enemy with food to enable them to prolong their defence. Two distinct motives may have prompted this —a splendid sense of pity, or the inborn love of a fight. Both were a governing principle with the Maori. Many modes of fighting prevailed in the days of the stone mere and the bone pointed matia— strangely they knew nothing of the bow and arrow, at least not in the last few centuries. The Maori was a master in the arts of scouting and ambush. He had wondrous endurance and patience in beseige or defence, attributable by him to the enforce scantiness of his food, whereby he wasted no energy in the elimination of the harmful surplus.

The magic and potent’ influence of Te Hokowhitu (ten sevens twice told) was a number, always expected to win. Thus did the far famed Taranaki hold Te Namu at Opunake against 500 Waikato warriors who had to retreat to their own country. Inspired by a magic number whatever the odds, they wound themselves up by a terrific war dance and stirring war song, then rushed the enemy.' • Maori Weapons.

Rakau was the original name for a weapon, but it is now only usedL in connection with trees or timber. Elsdon Best made an exhaustive study of the subject, and his records are possibly the only reliable information available. Weapons were the Maori’s constant care. Prompted by a desire to avenge the least slight, and mentally cramped by superstition, he must bear arms by day or night.

Ancient Maoriland was no place for idlers. Labour was and still is the redemption of all mankind. Their old women, like ours, happily engaged m making clothing and ornaments. Their old men, unlike ours, were; never idle. By infinite patience and the happy prospect of utu through their sons, the koroheke (old men) enjoyed the labour of fashioning finely polished toki and patu (adzes and weapons) from hard stone. Their only appliances were sandstone or sand and water for rubbing. A stone pointed drill (tuwhiri) revolved by a bowstring was used for making holes.

The hardest of all woods was Mapara, •which is th? resinous heart of a mature kahikatea (white pine), wrongly named yellow pine by us. The Rev. Jas. Duncan’s house at Foxton .built of this heart wood nearly a century ago, is still so hard that it can only be bored by a steel drill.

Of striking weapons, the mere pounamu (greenstone) was hardest, heaviest, and most valued. The mere was also made from stone, wood, or whale bone. The taiaha, made of ake, maire, kowhai, or manuka, was • used for striking or thrusting, and carried generally by a chief. Spears or darts were variously named. Generally the tao, matia and kokiri were used. They varied from three to ten feet in length. Pointed with the hard black vein of the tree fern, whalebone, or bone of a dead warrior.

The Huata is the longest fighting spear, up to twenty-five feet. It was through the thatched walls or roof or a house in attack, or through the palisade in defence. If used outside, two men manipulated it with deadly effect. Hundreds of spears suspended under the roofs to polish, blacken, and harden by smoke were kept ready for attack. In the incessant work of making them the old men were proud, happy, healthy and useful.